2021-08-31
Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
Author Betty Mahalik wrote that we’re surrounded by messages that scream, ‘My life would be perfect if only I’d a different job…house…car…bank account (you fill in the blank). Or if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears well ordered and perfect. Well this week I stopped playing “my life would be perfect if,” and started playing “my perfect life”.
What’s the difference? Three things: 1) Being in the present; 2) An attitude of gratitude; 3) Taking action with what’s available now…When we’re caught up in the “my life would be perfect if” trap, we lose touch with the present and can no longer practise gratitude. Think about it: it’s difficult to be grateful for what you don’t have…and what you don’t have is always somewhere in “future-ville”. Look around you…do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? A few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them…You’re probably sitting there thinking “Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier, or whatever”…stop focusing on what you lack and start focusing on what you’ve already got.’
The Bible says, ‘Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.’ If we refuse to settle for anything less than perfection, we’ll keep ending up with nothing. We’ll never have a perfect life on this earth, but that’s okay, because Christ has clothed us in His righteousness and made us ‘complete in him’ (Colossians 2:10 KJV).
Eze 14:1-16:52; Luke 19:1-10; Ps 103:1-12; Prov 19:12-16
Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
Author Betty Mahalik says in this day and age we’re surrounded by messages that scream, “My life would be perfect if only I’d a different job…house…car…nose…spouse…bank account (you fill in the blank). Or if I could be like some celebrity whose life appears well ordered and perfect. Well this week I stopped playing ‘my life would be perfect if,’ and started playing ‘my perfect life.’ What’s the difference?
Three things: (1) Being in the present; (2) An attitude of gratitude; (3) Taking action with what’s available now…When we’re caught up in the ‘my life would be perfect if’ trap, we lose touch with the present and can no longer practice gratitude. Think about it: it’s difficult to be grateful for what you don’t have…and what you don’t have is always somewhere in ‘future-ville.’
Look around you…do you have a roof over your head and food to eat? A few good friends or close relationships? Then appreciate them…You’re probably sitting there thinking ‘Yes, but I want more money, a better relationship, more time to travel, to be thinner, happier, or whatever’…stop focusing on what you lack and start focusing on what you’ve already got.”
The Bible says, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” If you demand perfection-or-nothing, you’ll keep ending up with nothing. The fact that “God…made us what we are” (Ephesians 2:10 TLB), means while our best is always commendable, none of us will attain perfection this side of heaven. And that’s okay, because Christ has clothed us in His righteousness and made us “complete in him” (Colossians 2:10 KJV).
Soul food: Eze 14:1-16:52; Luke 19:1-10; Ps 103:1-12; Prov 19:12-16
Prediker 11:4 NLV
Die skrywer Betty Mahalik sê: ‘Ons word deesdae deur boodskappe omring wat skree: ‘My lewe sou perfek gewees het as ek net ‘n ander werk… kar… huis… neus… eggenoot… bankrekening (jy kan die spasie invul), gehad het. Of as ek soos een of ander beroemde wie se lewe goed georden en perfek is, was. Wel, hierdie week het ek opgehou om die ‘my lewe sou perfek wees as,’ speletjie te speel en het begin om die ‘my perfekte lewe’ speletjie te speel. Wat is die verskil?
Drie dinge: 1) Om in die hede teenwoordig te wees; 2) ‘n Houding van dankbaarheid; 3) Om aksie te neem met dit wat nou beskikbaar is.
Wanneer ons in die ‘my lewe sou perfek wees as’ strik trap, raak ons uit voeling met die hede en kan ons nie meer dankbaarheid uitoefen nie. Kyk rondom jou: Het jy ‘n dak oor jou kop en kos om te eet? ‘n Paar goeie vriende en naby verhoudings? Waardeer hulle dan.
Jy dink seker: ‘Ja, maar ek wil meer geld, ‘n beter verhouding, hê; ek wil maerder, gelukkiger of wat ook al wees.’ Hou op om op dit wat jy nie het nie te fokus en begin op dit wat jy wel het, te fokus.’ Die Bybel sê: ‘As jy heeldag na die wind kyk, sal jy nooit saai nie. En as jy na die wolke kyk, sal jy nooit oes nie.’
Die feit dat ons God se handewerk is (sien Efesiërs 2:10), beteken dat alhoewel ons beste altyd prysenswaardig is, geeneen van ons perfeksie op aarde sal kan behaal nie. Dis egter in die haak, want Christus het ons in sy regverdigheid geklee en ons ‘…het die volheid in Hom…’ (Kolossense 2:10 AFR53).
Sielskos: Eseg 14:1-16:52; Luk 19:1-10; Ps 103:1-12; Spr 19:12-16
2021-08-30
Job 29:24 NLT
A pastor tells of being in a church for twelve years. He had a custom during Sunday morning service of calling the children forward just before his sermon so that they could go to a ‘children’s church’ especially for them. The children would march past the pulpit and he would make it a point to smile at each of them. In return he received smiles.
‘It was one of the high points of the service for me,’ he recalled. But one day he apparently missed smiling at a child. A four-year-old girl ran out of the line and threw herself into the arms of her mother, sobbing as if her heart was broken. After the service he went to find out what happened. The mother explained to him that her child had said, ‘I smiled at God, but he didn’t smile back at me!’ The pastor reflected, ‘To that child I stood for God. I had failed with my smile, and the world went dark.’
Just like the pastor, we have the opportunity to reflect God to everyone we meet. And our encouragement could be something as simple as a smile. Job experienced more troubles in a year than most of us will experience in a lifetime. But though he was down, he lifted others. Though he was in despair, he encouraged others. How did he do it? ‘They longed for me to speak as people long for rain…When they were discouraged, I smiled at them. My look of approval was precious to them’ (vv. 23-24 NLT).
We might think there’s little value in a smile, but to someone who’s experienced only unkindness and thoughtlessness that day, a kind and encouraging smile could be very precious to them.
Eze 10-13; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 84; Prov 19:11
Job 29:24 NLT
A pastor tells of being in a church for twelve years. He had a custom during Sunday morning service of calling the children forward just before his sermon so that they could go to a “children’s church” especially for them. The children would march past the pulpit and he would make it a point to smile at each of them. In return he received smiles.
“It was one of the high points of the service for me,” he recalled. But one day he apparently missed smiling at a child. A curly-headed four-year-old ran out of the processional and threw herself into the arms of her mother, sobbing as if her heart was broken. After the service he went to find out what happened. The mother explained to him that her child had said, “I smiled at God, but he didn’t smile back at me!” The pastor reflected, “To that child I stood for God. I had failed with my smile, and the world went dark.”
As you go through this day, commit yourself to using the smile strategy. You say, “I’ve got more troubles than Job, so I’ve got nothing to smile about.” Job experienced more troubles in a year than most of us will experience in a lifetime. But though he was down, he lifted others. Though he was in despair, he encouraged others. How did he do it? “They longed for me to speak as people long for rain…When they were discouraged, I smiled at them. My look of approval was precious to them” (vv. 23-24 NLT).
Soul food: Eze 10-13; Luke 18:31-43; Ps 84; Prov 19:11
