2020-08-03
Matteus 7:7 NLV
Let drie dinge op: 1) Jesus het nooit gesê dat dit maklik sal wees om Hom te volg nie. ‘…In hierdie wêreld sal julle swaarkry beleef…’ (Johannes 16:33 NLV). Wanneer jy dus groot goed vir God probeer doen, moet jy struikelblokke en vertragings verwag. Wanneer konstruksiewerkers aan ‘n pad werk, sit hulle dikwels ‘n kennisgewing op wat lui: ‘VERWAG VERTRAGINGS.’ Die geloofspad is besaai met sulke kennisgewings. Abraham en Sara het vyf-en-twintig jaar gewag vir Isak se geboorte, hoekom dink jy dat jy onmiddellik antwoorde moet kry? 2) Jy moet volhard om sodoende te kan ontvang. Om te wag is ‘n ongemaklike konsep vir ons. Ons is gewoond daaraan om dinge dadelik op aanvraag te kry. As iemand vir ons sê om te wag, kry ons ‘n toepassing op ons selfoon om die proses te bespoedig. Daar is egter nie ‘n kortpad wanneer dit by volharding kom nie. Soms is geloof pynlik, omdat God jou kapasiteit om te ontvang, vergroot. Druk dus deur die pyn – daar wag wins aan die ander kant! ‘Hou aan met vra, en God sal vir julle gee…’ 3) Die eindresultaat van geloof is groter grondgebied. Twee keer nadat Isak ‘n put gegrawe het, het die Filistyne die water vir hulself opgeëis. Toe hy egter die derde put gegrawe het, het die konflik opgehou en het hy die nuwe put ‘Rehobot’ genoem, wat ‘ruimte’ beteken (sien Genesis 26:18-22). Isak het aanhou grawe en toe die deurbraak gekom het, het hy verklaar: ‘…uiteindelik het die Here vir ons ruimte gemaak. Hier sal ons nou voorspoedig wees’ (vers 22 NLV). Die les wat Isak geleer het is steeds deel van ons geloofskurrikulum. Ons moet ons geloof aanhou strek wanneer dit op breekpunt is; en ons moet aanhou bid.
Sielskos: Deut 5-7; Luk 11:1-13; Ps 78:56-64; Spr 16:33
Matthew 7:7 AMP
Observe three things: (1) Jesus never said that following Him would be easy. “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33 NKJV). So when you attempt great things for God, expect difficulties – and delays. When construction crews work on a road, they often put up a sign: “EXPECT DELAYS.” The walk of faith is littered with these signs. Abraham and Sarah waited twenty-five years for Isaac to be born, so why do you think your answers should be instant? (2) You must persevere to receive. Waiting is an uncomfortable concept for us. We’re used to having everything “on demand.” If someone tells us to wait, we find an app on our iPhone and speed up the process. But there’s no shortcut when it comes to perseverance. Sometimes faith is painful because God is stretching your capacity to receive. So press through the pain – there’s gain on the other side! “Keep on asking and it will be given you.” (3) The end result of faith is larger territory. Twice after Isaac dug a well, the Philistines laid claim to the water. But when he dug a third time, the conflict stopped, and he named the new well Rehoboth, which means “a broad place” (See Genesis 26:18-22). Isaac kept on digging, and when the breakthrough came, he declared, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” (v. 22 NAS). And the lesson Isaac learned is still part of our faith curriculum. We must stretch our faith when there’s no stretch left, and we must pray beyond delay.
Soul food: Deut 5-7; Luke 11:1-13; Ps 78:56-64; Prov 16:33
2020-08-02
1 Tessalonisense 5:17 NLV
Gedurende sy leeftyd het die negentiende eeuse Britse evangelis, George Muller, meer as $7.5 miljoen ‘ingebid’ om die weeskinders in sy sorg te voed – meer as $113 miljoen in vandag se terme. Hy het nie daarin geglo om sy finansiële behoeftes uit te saai nie, tog het hy altyd genoeg gehad om sy kruideniersrekening te betaal – omdat God bonatuurlik gesorg het. Muller se geloof is egter ook op ander maniere gestrek. Hy het byvoorbeeld op ‘n gereelde basis vir vyf mans gebid wat hy graag wou sien vir Christus gewen word. Die eerste man het na vyf jaar sy lewe aan Christus gegee, die tweede en derde na tien jaar en die vierde man na vyf-en-twintig jaar. Muller moes egter ‘n ellelange twee-en-vyftig jaar lank vir die vyfde man se bekering bid! Die man het inderwaarheid eers ‘n paar maande na Muller se begrafnis ‘n verklaring van geloof afgelê. Sou jy vir twee-en-vyftig jaar lank vir iets bid sonder om ‘n teken van ‘n antwoord te sien? Jy sou, en jy moet! In Muller se eie woorde: ‘God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.’ As jy bid en vir God vra: ‘Sal U?’ is sy antwoord: ‘Ek sal!’ Psalm 91:15 sê vir ons: ‘Hy sal roep, en Ek sal antwoord; in nood sal Ek by hom wees. Ek sal hom red en in eer herstel’ (NLV). In Jeremia 33:3 sê God: ‘Vra My, en Ek sal jou ‘n antwoord gee. Ek sal jou van ongelooflike dinge vertel…’ (NLV). Die woord vir jou is dus vandag – hou aan bid en glo.
Sielskos: 1 Sam 16; 1 Sam 17:32-51; Hand 13:21-22
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV
The Bible encourages us to pray relentlessly. Nineteenth-century evangelist George Müller had a list of five people who he was desperate to see meet Christ. He prayed for them regularly, and saw one person on the list become a Christian after five years. After ten years, another two became Christians, and a fourth after twenty-five years. Müller prayed for the fifth person for fifty-two years, and shortly after Müller’s funeral, they made a commitment to Christ. He didn’t get to see that person meet Jesus, but he had prayed ‘without ceasing’ and God did answer. We know that God’s promise is simple; in Jeremiah 33:3 He says, ‘Call to me and I will answer you’ (NIV). If we can learn to take God at His word, to believe that He will always answer when we meet with Him, then we too can grow the faith to pray expectantly for fifty-two years without yet seeing that answer. Müller himself said ‘God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.’ Believing that God hears us and is at work takes practice and patience, especially if we don’t see any answers right away. In those times, cling to verses like 1 John 5:14, which tells us that ‘if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us’ (NIV). Sometimes we have the privilege of seeing prayer answered. Sometimes though, we don’t get to see the outcome, or it doesn’t look the way we expect. Still, know that God always moves if we call to Him.
1 Sam 16; 1 Sam 17:32-51; Acts 13:21-22
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV
During his lifetime, nineteenth-century British evangelist George Muller “prayed in” more than $7.5 million to feed the orphans in his care – more than $113 million in today’s terms. He didn’t believe in broadcasting his financial needs, yet he always had enough to pay his grocery bill – because God supernaturally provided. However, Muller’s faith was stretched in other ways. For example, he prayed regularly over a list of five men he earnestly desired to see won to Christ. The first man gave his life to Christ after five years, the second and third after ten years, and the fourth after twenty-five years. But here’s the clincher: Muller prayed for the fifth man’s conversion for a whopping fifty-two years! In fact, the man made a profession of faith in Christ a few months after Muller’s funeral. Would you pray about something for fifty-two years without some visible sign of an answer? You should, and you must! In Muller’s own words: “God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.” If you’re praying and asking God, “Will You?” His answer is, “I will!” Psalm 91:15 tells us, “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him” (NKJV). And in Jeremiah 33:3, God says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (NKJV). So the word for you today is – keep praying and believing.
Soul food: 1 Sam 16; 1 Sam 17:32-51; Acts 13:21-22
