2021-04-24
John 12:24 NLT
Jesus said, ‘Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels.’ It’s been estimated that one kernel of wheat will produce a stalk bearing three heads of wheat. In each head there are between 15 and 35 kernels – that means there’s close to 100 kernels per stalk. After they’re planted, these kernels will go on to produce 10,000 kernels. When those are replanted, they’ll produce a million kernels. And if you keep going, you’ll cover the whole earth with wheat!
It’s amazing how quickly a small thing can multiply. And it’s the same with us – we can achieve so much when we commit our lives to Christ and start where we are. D.L. Moody once said, ‘The world has yet to see what God can do through a man who is yielded to him.’ He decided to simply start where he was, and ended up impacting the world for Christ.
When Peter, James, and John met Jesus, their goal in life was to make a living. Then Jesus invited them to follow Him and make a difference. And today He’s inviting each one of us to do the same thing. He’s inviting us to find a need that no one is meeting and allow Him to use us to meet it. He’s asking us to find a cause greater than self-interest, (in other words, His cause) and pour our lives into it.
When Jesus asked the disciples to leave their jobs and their security, He was turning their world upside down. But when they said yes to Him, they became so successful that their enemies accused them of ‘turning the world upside down’ (take a look at Acts 17:6). Today, let’s allow God to use us and turn the word upside down for Him.
Num 1-2; Mark 4:13-25; Ps 144:1-8; Prov 10:19-21
2021-04-23
Philippians 3:10 MSG
One pastor tells of a lady who was battling a weight problem. She had tried just about every diet there was, but her weight kept fluctuating up and down. A few months passed without him seeing her at church. Then one Sunday she appeared, and he was shocked. He barely recognized her because she had lost so much weight. How did it happen? She had met a man and fallen in love! She explained to the pastor that they were going to get married and that she wanted to look her best for him in her wedding dress.
There’s an important lesson here. When your approach to Christian living is based on rule keeping, you’ll find that it’s a hard, up-and-down road to travel. But not when your approach is relationship based. This woman was able to conquer what had plagued her for years because she had developed a relationship and was seeking his pleasure.
Intimacy with Christ brings power. It also brings joy. That’s why Paul wrote: “I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.”
How close to the Lord are you today? Would you like to get closer? You can; He’s just waiting for you to make the first move. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8 NKJV). How do you draw near to God? By “giving up all that inferior stuff,” and making it your life’s goal to know Christ intimately.
Soul food: Jam 3-5; Mark 4:1-12; Ps 7:10-17; Prov 10:17-18
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
There are a million resources out there telling us what we’d need to change to make our lives perfect. There are articles, books, podcasts, self-help seminars, and countless other sources of information that are just raring to improve us. Sometimes we take their advice, and we’re enthusiastic about changing ourselves for about a week. Then the inspiration fades and everything goes back to normal.
The truth is, we have very little power to change ourselves. God has more than enough power though, and he’s willing to share it with us. The word ‘power’ occurs fifty-seven times in the New Testament. The most important instance of power is Jesus’ resurrection (see Luke 24). About that, Paul wrote: ‘ I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead’ (Philippians 3:10 NLT). He also wrote: ‘ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour’ (Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT).
Both times there, Paul uses the Greek work for power, dunamis. From there we get the words ‘dynamite’, an explosive force, and ‘dynamo’, a source of constant power. In God, we’re offered both of those things. He gives us the instant, landscape-changing dynamite power to make a change in the first instance. He then sustains us with dynamic power to keep the change up for good. Deep, lasting change can only come through these types of godly power. The most amazing thing is that to see that kind of change, all we need to do is ask Him!
Jam 3-5; Mark 4:1-12; Ps 7:10-17; Prov 10:17-18
Filippense 3:10 NLV
Een pastoor vertel van ‘n dame wat met haar gewig gesukkel het. Sy het omtrent elke dieet onder die son probeer, maar haar gewig het aanhou op en af wissel. ‘n Paar maande het verbygegaan sonder dat hy haar in die kerk gesien het. Een Sondag het sy weer haar verskyning gemaak en hy was geskok. Hy kon haar kwalik herken, omdat sy soveel gewig verloor het. Hoe het dit gebeur? Sy het ‘n man ontmoet en verlief geraak! Sy het vir die pastoor verduidelik dat hulle gaan trou en dat sy op haar heel beste vir haar aanstaande in haar trourok wou lyk.
Daar is ‘n belangrike les hieruit te leer. Wanneer jou Christelike lewe daarop gebaseer is om reëls na te kom, sal jy agterkom dat dit ‘n moeilike, op-en-af pad is om te stap. Dis egter nie die geval wanneer jou benadering op ‘n verhouding gebaseer is nie. Die vrou was in staat om dit wat haar al jare gepla het te oorkom, omdat sy ‘n verhouding ontwikkel het waar sy hom wou behaag.
Intimiteit met Christus bring krag mee. Dit bring ook vreugde mee. Dis hoekom Paulus geskryf het: ‘Op hierdie manier kan ek Christus persoonlik ken en die krag beleef wat Hom laat opstaan het. Deur saam met Hom te ly kry ek deel aan sy dood’.
Hoe naby is jy vandag aan die Here? Wil jy graag nader beweeg? Jy kan; Hy wag vir jou om die eerste tree te gee. ‘Kom nader aan God, en Hy sal nader aan julle kom…’ (Jakobus 4:8 NLV). Hoe beweeg jy nader aan God? Deur dit jou lewensdoel te maak om Christus intiem te leer ken.
Sielskos: Jak 3-5; Mark 4:1-12; Ps 7:10-17; Spr 10:17-18
2021-04-22
Jonah 2:10 NKJV
Some folks question the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale and living to tell about it. Here are two reasons you should believe it:
First, because Jesus did. “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40 NKJV).
But here’s a second reason for believing the story. In 1891 off the Falkland Islands, two fishing boats encountered a huge sperm whale. The first boat shot harpoons into it, while the other boat came around to do the same thing from the other side. The whale’s tail hit it and knocked it over. There were two men on that boat. One drowned, and the other was not found. Two days later, a few other boats found the same sperm whale and killed it. They brought the whale to the shore and slit it open, and guess what they found? The second man. He was unconscious but still alive, and after care, resumed his life.
Dr. Tony Evans comments: “The miracle is not that a fish swallowed a man, because that has happened before. The miracle is that the fish paid attention to the Lord.” You say, “What has any of this got to do with me?” Simply this; when you turn to God for help and He speaks to you, supernatural things begin to happen on your behalf. Jesus said, “Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24 NKJV).
Soul food: Jam 1-2; Mark 3:20-35; Ps 7:1-9; Prov 10:16
