2023-07-31
Psalm 78:41 NLV
Die Bybel sê: ‘Hoe dikwels het hulle in die woestyn teen Hom in opstand gekom, en het hulle in die woesteny sy hart bedroef! Weer en weer het hulle God getart en die Heilige van Israel gepynig. Hulle het vergeet van sy mag, van die dag toe Hy hulle verlos het van die vyand’ (verse 40-42 NLV). Die Israeliete het aanhoudend in die woestyn God se toorn uitgedaag en sy hart gepynig. Hoe het hulle dit gedoen? Deur Hom te beperk! Hulle het dit wat Hy vir hulle en deur hulle kon doen, beperk.
Ons doen dieselfde wanneer ons nie die gawes en kreatiewe gedagtes wat Hy vir ons gee, herken en gebruik nie. God wil hê dat jy uit die ‘boks’ van jou eie geskiedenis, emosionele kwessies en persoonlike beperkings moet breek. Een van die maniere hoe jy dit kan doen, is om jouself aanhoudend aan nuwe idees, plekke en mense bloot te stel. God se Woord sê: ‘Maak jou woning groter. Span jou tent wyer, en moenie huiwer nie. Maak die tentlyne langer en slaan die penne dieper in. Want jy sal na links en regs uitbrei…’ (Jesaja 54:2-3 NLV).
Kreatiwiteit is net onderrigbaarheid. Is jy dus onderrigbaar? Die woorde op ‘n grafsteen het gelees: ‘Gesterf op veertig, eers op tagtig begrawe.’ Tensy jy aanhou leer, groei en jou denke uitbrei, kan dit ook jou lot wees. Jy sê: ‘Maar ek is nie van nature kreatief nie.’ Kreatiwiteit is nie noodwendig iets waarmee jy gebore word nie; dit kom vanuit die ontwikkeling van jou Godgegewe gawes en die aangryp van die geleenthede wat Hy oor jou pad stuur. Wil jy uit die boks breek? Dís hoe jy dit doen!
Sielskos: Hand 27-28; Mark 1:9-20; Ps 78:9-16; Spr 16:25
Psalm 78:41 NKJV
The Bible says: “They provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power” (vv. 40-42 NKJV). The Israelites continually provoked God’s anger and grieved His heart in the wilderness. How? By limiting Him. By limiting what He could do for them and through them. And we do the same when we fail to recognize and use the gifts He gives us and the creative ideas He places within our minds. God wants you to break out of the “box” of your own history, hang-ups, and personal limitations.
One of the ways in which you do that is by constantly exposing yourself to new ideas, new places, and new people. God’s Word says: “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left” (Isaiah 54:2-3 NKJV). Note the words “enlarge” and “stretch out” and “lengthen” and “strengthen” and “expand.” Creativity is just teachability. So, are you teachable?
The words on a tombstone read: “Died at forty, was buried at eighty.” Unless you keep learning, growing, and expanding your thinking, that can be your fate too. You say, “But I’m not naturally creative.” Creativity is not necessarily something you’re born with; it comes from developing your God-given gifts and seizing the opportunities He sends your way in life. Do you want to break out of the box? That’s how you do it!
Soul food: Acts 27-28; Mark 1:9-20; Ps 78:9-16; Prov 16:25
2023-07-30
Genesis 33:14 ESV
Today there is a tendency on the part of some parents to try and make their children grow up too quickly. They rush them through the milestones of childhood and thrust them into the turmoils of adolescence. This is the conclusion of developmental psychologist Dr. David Elkind, who called this cultural phenomenon the “Hurried Child Syndrome.” It happens when parents encourage their children to act like teenagers, such as buying makeup for preschool girls, allowing early-teenage dating, treating kids more like grown-ups, expecting them to make adult-level choices, dressing them in designer clothes, and especially, subjecting them to graphic sexuality in television, music videos, movies, and the internet.
Years ago, parents understood the necessity of a safe and orderly progression through childhood. There were cultural markers that defined the ages at which specific behaviours and activities were deemed appropriate or inappropriate. Today these markers have vanished, or they have been moved downward. And it can be a big mistake. When you treat your children as if they’re already grown, it becomes very challenging to set limits on their adolescent behaviour in the near future. How can you establish a curfew for a thirteen-year-old, for example, who has been taught to view himself or herself as an adult?
In short, the “Hurried Child Syndrome” deprives our kids of childhood and puts them on an unnatural timetable that’s detrimental to their mental and physical health. If you’re wise, you will heed the advice of Jacob to his brother Esau: “I will lead on slowly, at the pace of… the children.”
Soul food: 1 Sam 5:1-6:16; Rev 11:15-19
Genesis 33:14 DB
Daar is deesdae ‘n tendens onder sommige ouers wat probeer om hulle kinders te gou te laat grootword. Hulle jaag hulle deur die mylpale van hul kindertyd en stoot hulle in die woelinge van adolessensie in. Dis die gevolgtrekking van die ontwikkelingsielkundige, dr David Elkind, wat hierdie kulturele fenomeen die ‘Haastige Kind sindroom’ noem.
Dit vind plaas wanneer ouers hul kinders aanmoedig om soos tieners op te tree, soos om grimering vir hulle voorskoolse dogters te koop en toe te laat dat hul kinders in hul vroeë tienerjare ernstige verhoudings aanknoop. Hulle behandel hulle kinders meer soos volwassenes, verwag van hulle om volwasse besluite te maak, trek vir hulle ontwerpersklere aan en onderwerp hulle veral aan die grafiese seksualiteit op televisie, in musiekvideos, rolprente en op die internet.
Jare gelede het ouers die noodsaaklikheid van ‘n veilige en ordelike vooruitgang deur die kinderjare verstaan. Daar was kulturele merkers wat die ouderdomme waarop spesifieke gedrag en aktiwiteite as toepaslik of onvanpas geag is, gedefinieer het. Vandag het hierdie merkers verdwyn, of hulle is afwaarts geskuif. Dit kan ‘n groot fout wees. Wanneer jy jou kinders behandel asof hulle reeds groot is, word dit baie uitdagend om in die nabye toekoms perke op hul adolessente gedrag te stel. Hoe kan jy byvoorbeeld ‘n aandklokreël vir ‘n dertienjarige, wat geleer is om hom- of haarself as ‘n volwassene te beskou, instel?
Kortom, die ‘Haastige Kind sindroom’ ontneem ons kinders van hul kinderjare en plaas hulle op ‘n onnatuurlike pad wat nadelig vir hul geestelike en fisiese gesondheid is. As jy wys is, sal jy op die raad van Jakob aan sy broer Esau ag slaan: ‘…Ek kom dan rustig met… die kinders agterna…’
Sielskos: 1 Sam 5:1-6:16; Op 11:15-19
2023-07-29
Psalm 139:14 NLT
Do you remember the old TV series The Six Million Dollar Man? He was built and equipped with nuclear-powered bionic limbs and implants. Well, he has nothing on you! You’re unique… one of a kind… a genuine marvel of God’s creative genius. For example, your tongue; four hundred little taste buds, each one capable of discerning the difference between asparagus and lemon meringue pie. And how about your intestinal system? Twenty million little mouths capable of digesting almost anything. Then, there is your cooling system. Frigidaire has nothing like it; three hundred fifty thousand sweat glands per square inch. And how about your sensory system? A network of ten million nerves, the branches of which send and interpret messages and also formulate a response for each. You’re one in seven billion! Nobody else has your voice pattern, fingerprints, or DNA.
When you were born, God didn’t stop and say, “What are we going to do with this one?” No, you were given your father’s name (See Isaiah 43:1). You were bought with a price (See 1 Corinthians 6:20). You were made a member of His redeemed family (See 1 John 3:2). Your steps are ordered by him (See Psalm 37:23). He has already planned your success (See Jeremiah 29:11). He loved you when you were unlovable and chose you before you could do either right or wrong. Doesn’t that give Him the right to say, “I want your praise and obedience, I want you to spend time with Me, I want you to read the letters I’ve written to you, and I don’t want anybody or anything to come between us”? The word for you today is – you belong to God!
Soul food: Acts 24-26; Mark 1:1-8; Ps 78:1-8; Prov 16:23-24
