2025-02-28
Romeine 1:17 AFR53
Daar is ‘n verhaal van ‘n ma wat vir haar seun gesê het: ‘Dis tyd om op te staan en skool toe te gaan.’ Hy het geantwoord: ‘Ek gaan nie vandag skool toe nie!’ Sy ma het gevra: ‘Hoekom nie?’ Hy het geantwoord: ‘Want die kinders haat my en die onderwysers kritiseer my. Hoekom moet ek skool toe gaan en dit alles deurmaak?’ Sy ma het geantwoord: ‘Want jy is die skoolhoof!’
Die Christelike lewe is ‘n skool. Paulus beskryf elke graad om van ‘geloof tot geloof’ te gaan. In die skool van geloof is die Heilige Gees die onderwyser en die Bybel is die handboek. As jy goed studeer en op jouself toepas, kan jy deur die grade op beweeg. Indien jy dit nie doen nie, sal jy in dieselfde graad bly totdat jy die lesse geleer het en die toetse kan slaag. Jy is soos die dame wat geskerts het: ‘My gunsteling graad was graad vyf. Drie van my gelukkigste jare het ek in daardie graad deurgebring!’
Tensy jy wil hê dat dit jou lot moet wees, lees hierdie woorde en neem dit ter harte: ‘Werk hard sodat God jou kan goedkeur. Wees ‘n goeie werker, een wat nie nodig het om hom te skaam nie; iemand wat die woord van die waarheid reg verduidelik’ (2 Timoteus 2:15 NLV).
As jy God wil ken, moet jy Hom in die bladsye van sy Woord ontmoet. Jy sal ook met die Heilige Gees gevul moet bly: ‘Ons almal weerspieël die heerlikheid van die Here, want die sluier is van ons gesig af weggeneem. Ons word al hoe meer verander om soos die Here te lyk, met ‘n heerlikheid wat steeds toeneem namate die Here, dit is die Gees, dit aan ons gee’ (2 Korintiërs 3:18 NLV).
Sielskos: Eks 19-21; Luk 12:49-59; Ps 70; Spr 6:26-28
Romans 1:17 NKJV
The story has been told of a mother who said to her son, “It’s time to get up and go to school.” He replied, “I’m not going to school today!” His mother said, “Why not?” He replied, “Because the children hate me, and the teachers criticize me. Why should I have to go to school and put up with that?” His mother replied, “Because you’re the principal!”
Seriously, the Christian life is a school. Paul describes each grade as going “from faith to faith.” In the school of faith, the Holy Spirit is the teacher, and the Bible is the textbook. If you study well and apply yourself, you can move up through the grades. If not, you stay in the same grade you’re in until you have learned the lessons and can pass the tests. You’re like the lady who quipped, “My favourite grade was the fifth grade. Three of the happiest years of my life were spent in that grade!”
Unless you want that to be your fate, read these words and take them to heart: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV).
If you want to know God, you will meet Him in the pages of His Word. And you will also need to stay filled with the Holy Spirit: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory [grade to grade], just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV).
Soul food: Exo 19-21; Luke 12:49-59; Ps 70; Prov 6:26-28
2025-02-27
Daniël 11:32 NLV
Die Bybel sê: ‘…Dié wat in hulle God glo, sal egter sterk staan en doen wat reg is.’ Hierdie Skrifgedeelte is nie ‘n lisensie om arrogant of onsensitief teenoor ander mense se gevoelens te wees, of ‘n oordrewe opinie van jouself te hê nie. Dit beteken dat wanneer jy God se Woord, God se maniere en God se wil verstaan, sal jy vertroue hê in wie jy is en in dit wat God jou geroep het om te doen.
Wanneer laas het jy iets vir die eerste keer probeer doen? Jy sê: ‘Ek is bang ek misluk.’ Almal misluk; die wenners is diegene wat aanhou om weer op te staan. Blykbaar het sommige mense in die Nuwe Testamentiese kerk gedink dat Timoteus te jonk was om in die leierskap te dien, dus het Paulus hom aangemoedig om vrymoedig in sy roeping te wees: ‘Timoteus, ek dank God vir jou… Ek weet dat jy die Here opreg vertrou, want jy het dieselfde geloof as jou ma, Eunice, en jou ouma Loïs. Dit is waarom ek jou daaraan herinner om die geestelike gawe, wat God jou gegee het toe ek jou die hande opgelê het, soos ‘n vuur aan te blaas. Want God het ons nie ‘n gees van skugterheid gegee nie, maar van krag, liefde en selfbeheersing. Jy moet dus nooit skaam wees om ander van ons Here te vertel nie… Met die krag wat God jou gee, moet jy gereed wees om saam met my vir die uitdra van die Goeie Nuus te ly’ (2 Timoteus 1:3, 5-8 NLV).
God het nie belowe dat jy nie swaarkry sal ervaar wanneer jy dit doen waarvoor Hy jou geroep het nie, maar Hy het belowe dat jy sal slaag. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus – wees Bybels; wees vrymoedig!
Sielskos: Eks 16-18; Luk 12:35-48; Ps 66:13-20; Spr 6:23-25
Daniel 11:32 NKJV
The Bible says, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” This Scripture is not a license to be arrogant and insensitive to the feelings of others, or to have an overinflated opinion of yourself. It means that when you understand God’s Word, God’s ways, and God’s will, you will be confident in who you are and in what God has called you to do.
Question: When was the last time you attempted to do something for the first time? You say, “I am afraid of failing.” Everybody falls; the winners are those who keep getting back up again. Evidently some folks in the New Testament church thought Timothy was too young to be in leadership, so Paul encourages him to be bold in his calling: “I thank God… when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord… but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:3, 5-8 NKJV).
God has not promised that you won’t experience hardship in doing what He has called you to do, but He has promised that you will succeed. So, the word for you today is – be biblical; be bold!
Soul food: Exo 16-18; Luke 12:35-48; Ps 66:13-20; Prov 6:23-25
2025-02-26
Romans 12:6 NLT
A fascinating study was done on divergent thinking – which is thinking outside the box. The results? Ninety-eight percent of children between three and five years old scored in the genius category for divergent thinking. Between eight and ten, that number dropped to 32 percent. By the time they became teenagers, it dropped down to 10 percent. And of those over twenty-five, only 2 percent scored in the genius category for divergent thinking. That means the older you get, the greater your tendency will become to resist change. It also means you may fail to discover your God-given assignment in life and develop the skills necessary to fulfill it.
The Bible says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function… God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12:4, 6 NLT). God’s plan for your life involves finding out what makes you different and discovering those things you do well.
Too many individuals in too many churches look and act too much alike. Pastors can create this. Peer pressure can create this. If anyplace should celebrate diversity, it’s the church. There never has been, and there never will be, a person like you. And that isn’t a tribute to you; it’s a tribute to the God who created and redeemed you to fulfill His purposes. And that calls for discovering who you are, and who you’re not. Think about it: Wouldn’t you rather be disliked for who you are than liked for who you’re not? So, discover what makes you special.
Soul food: Exo 13-15; Luke 12:22-34; Ps 66:1-12; Prov 6:20-22
