2021-03-05
Philippians 2:13 NLT
You will only have good ideas if you value ideas. Otherwise you’ll drift through life living off other people’s ideas. Creative thinkers:
1) Explore every option. Exploring a multitude of possibilities helps to stimulate your imagination, and imagination is crucial to creativity. Albert Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ Why? Because it looks for new ways to put your knowledge to work.
2) Embrace ambiguity. Creative people don’t feel the need to stamp out uncertainty. They see all kinds of inconsistencies and gaps in life, and they take delight in exploring those gaps or using their imagination to fill them in. When you find an unmet need, you can either conclude that nothing can be done about it, or pray and look for a way to meet that need (see Philippians 4:19).
3) Celebrate the offbeat. Creativity explores off the beaten path. Kingman Brewster, former president of Yale University, said, ‘There’s a correlation between the creative and the screwball. So we must suffer the screwball gladly.’ To foster creativity, you must be willing to tolerate originality and oddness.
4) Are not afraid of failure. American philosopher Charles Frankel said, ‘Anxiety is the essential condition of intellectual and artistic creation.’ Creativity requires a willingness to look stupid. It means going out on a limb knowing that limbs often break. Creative people know these things and still keep searching for new ideas. They refuse to let the ideas that don’t work prevent them from coming up with ones that do.
Soul food: Gen 40-41; Matt 21:1-11; Ps 136:13-26; Prov 6:32-35
2021-03-04
Genesis 1:27 NLT
Why do we celebrate the birth of our children? Because like God, we helped to create something. The famous American football coach Vince Lombardi said, ‘The joy is in creating, not maintaining.’
It’s a mistake to believe that God is only interested in ‘spiritual things’ and not ‘secular’ things. Yes, you must grow spiritually. But you must also use the gifts He’s given you to fulfil His purpose here on the earth, and to bless others. You don’t have to be rich or have a high IQ in order to be creative. You could be a creative hairstylist, or come up with a new recipe, or create a job opportunity for prisoners by which they rebuild their lives. That’s not just secular, that’s spiritual!
You’ll notice that the cross has two posts: vertical and horizontal. The vertical post represents your relationship with God, what He wants to do for you and what He wants you to do for Him. The horizontal post represents what He’s called us to do for each other. You say, ‘But I’m not very creative.’ Once you discover your God-given gift, it will release your creativity. Paul writes, ‘Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them’ (Romans 12:6 NKJV).
Stop putting yourself down just because you are not as creative as you’d like to be. Creative thinking isn’t necessarily original thinking. In fact, people mythologise original thought. Most often, creative thinking is a composite of other people’s thoughts discovered along the way. So the word for you today is: be creative.
Soul food: Gen 37-39; Matt 20:29-34; Ps 136:1-12; Prov 6:30-31
Genesis 1:27 NLT
God loves to be creative, and He’s given us the ability to be creative too, in all kinds of different ways. We shouldn’t think that God is only interested in ‘spiritual’ things and not ‘secular’ things. We must grow spiritually, but we must also use the gifts He’s given us to fulfil His purpose here on the earth, and to bless others. For example, you could be a creative hairstylist, or come up with new recipes, or find ways to create job opportunities for prisoners to help them rebuild their lives. That’s not just secular, it’s spiritual too. Each of those things blesses others in some way.
One way to think of the cross is to imagine its two posts: horizontal and vertical. The vertical post represents our relationship with God, what He wants to do for us and what He wants us to do for Him. The horizontal post represents what He’s called us to do for each other. You might think you’re not very creative, but once you discover your God-given gifts, it’ll release your creativity.
Paul wrote, ‘We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us, The person who has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in agreement with the faith’ (Romans 12:6 NCV). We all have the capacity to be creative in some way, so we shouldn’t put ourselves down if we’re not as creative as we’d like to be or we think we should be.
Creative thinking doesn’t necessarily mean original thinking. Often, creativity is a mixture of other people’s thoughts and ideas that we’ve picked up and blended together to create something new. So let’s resolve to use our creativity to glorify God and help others.
Gen 37-39; Matt 20:29-34; Ps 136:1-12; Prov 6:30-31
Genesis 1:27 NLV
Hoekom vier ons die geboorte van ons kinders? Omdat ons, soos God, gehelp het om iets te skep. Die beroemde Amerikaanse voetbalafrigter, Vince Lombardi, het gesê: ‘Die vreugde word in die skepping, nie die onderhoud daarvan nie, gevind.’
Dis ‘n fout om te glo dat God net in ‘geestelike’ dinge en nie in ‘sekulêre’ dinge geïnteresseerd is nie. Ja, jy moet geestelik groei. Jy moet egter ook die gawes wat Hy vir jou gegee het gebruik om sy doelwitte hier op aarde te vervul en ander mense te seën.
Jy hoef nie ryk te wees of ‘n hoë IK te hê om kreatief te wees nie. Jy kan ‘n kreatiewe haarkapper wees, of met ‘n nuwe resep vorendag kom, of werksgeleenthede vir gevangenes skep om hulle lewens mee te herbou. Dis nie net sekulêr nie, dis geestelik ook!
Jy sal oplet dat die kruis twee balke het: vertikaal en horisontaal. Die vertikale balk verteenwoordig jou verhouding met God, wat Hy vir jou wil doen en wat Hy wil hê jy vir Hom moet doen. Die horisontale balk verteenwoordig wat Hy ons geroep het om vir mekaar te doen. Jy sê: ‘Maar ek is nie baie kreatief nie.’ Sodra jy jou Godgegewe gawe ontdek, sal dit jou kreatiwiteit vrystel.
Paulus skryf: ‘Ons het gawes wat van mekaar verskil volgens die genade wat God aan elkeen van ons gegee het. Ons moet hierdie vermoëns reg gebruik…’ (Romeine 12:6 NLV). Hou op om jouself te kasty net omdat jy nie so kreatief is soos jy graag wil wees nie. Kreatiewe denke is nie noodwendig oorspronklike denke nie. Dikwels is kreatiewe denke net ‘n samestelling van ander mense se gedagtes wat jy langs die pad ontdek het. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus: wees kreatief.
Sielskos: Gen 37-39; Matt 20:29-34; Ps 136:1-12; Spr 6:30-31
2021-03-03
Markus 3:35 DB
Die Bybel sê: ‘Die mense het om Jesus gesit toe hulle Hom kom roep. ‘Jou ma en broers wag hier buite vir jou,’ sê hulle. Jesus sê toe: ‘Wie is regtig my ma en broers?’ Hy kyk toe na die mense wat om Hom sit en sê: ‘Hier is my regte familie. Elkeen wat doen wat God van hom verwag, is deel van my familie. Hulle is regtig my broer, my suster, my ma’ (verse 32-35 DB).
Een van die grootste toetse van jou geloof sal familielede wees wat nie jou waardes of visie verstaan of deel nie. Dit sal wysheid en genade van jou kant af verg. Ten spyte van sy familie se onvermoë om Hom te verstaan, het Jesus aangehou om vir hulle om te gee en hulle te respekteer. Hy het egter geweier dat hulle Hom voorsê of om sy opdrag van God, te verander. Sy prioriteit was die mense wat byeen gekom het om te hoor wat Hy vir hulle wou sê.
Voel jy vandag verwerp en misken deur jou familie? Bid dan die volgende gebed: ‘Vader, help my om te lewe soos Jesus geleef het; deur diegene wat my misverstaan in die oë te kyk. Deur hulle woorde aan te hoor en die angel van hulle beskuldigings te voel, maar te leer om dit te bowe te kom. Help my om genadig teenoor die een te wees wie se lewe deur wrokkigheid verteer word en deur vrees verlam word. Bring my volsirkel na ‘n plek van vrede, sodat dit nie sal saak maak wie my misverstaan nie, maar dat ek in staat sal wees om aan te gaan soos Jesus aangegaan het – al die pad na die kruis, die opstanding en die prys toe. In Christus se naam bid ek dit. Amen.’
Sielskos: Gen 35-36; Matt 20:17-28; Ps 77; Spr 6:29
