2025-12-16
Matteus 14:14 NLV
As jy wonder: ‘Hoe kan ek seker wees dat God gewillig is om my gesond te maak?’ lees dan die volgende: “‘n Melaatse man het na Hom toe gekom, voor Hom gekniel en Hom gesmeek met die woorde: ‘As U wil, kan U my gesond maak.’ Jesus het hom innig jammer gekry, sy hand uitgesteek en hom aangeraak met die woorde: ‘Ek wil dit vir jou doen. Word gesond!’ Net daar het die melaatsheid verdwyn – die man was gesond… Gevolglik het soveel mense Jesus begin omring…” (Markus 1:40-42, 45 NLV).
Nie net is God gewillig om ons te genees nie, Hy reageer met deernis op ons siekte en lyding. ‘Toe Jesus dit hoor, het Hy in ‘n skuit daarvandaan weggegaan na ‘n afgeleë plek om alleen te wees. Maar die skare het dit uitgevind en vanuit hulle dorpe oorland agter Hom aan gekom. Toe Jesus uit die skuit klim, sien Hy dat daar reeds ‘n massa mense bymekaar was. Hy het ‘n diepe deernis vir hulle gevoel en hulle siekes gesond gemaak’ (Matteus 14:13-14 NLV).
‘Twee blindes wat langs die pad gesit het, het gehoor dat Jesus daarlangs verbygaan. Hulle roep toe aanhoudend: ‘Here, Seun van Dawid, ontferm U tog oor ons!’… Jesus het gaan staan en hulle laat roep. ‘Wat wil julle hê moet Ek vir julle doen?’ vra Hy vir hulle. Hulle het gesê: ‘Here, ons wil sien!’ Daarop het Jesus hulle innig jammer gekry en hulle oë aangeraak. Dadelik kon hulle sien, en hulle het agter Hom aan gegaan’ (Matteus 20:30, 32-34 NLV).
Het Christus se krag afgeneem? Nee. Het Hy vandag minder medelye teenoor sy verloste kinders as wat Hy destyds vir die menigte gehad het? Nee. Kom dus met vertroue na Hom toe, bid en glo Hom vir jou genesing.
Sielskos: Sag 5-8; Joh 20:19-31; Ps 67; Spr 30:29-33
Matthew 14:14 KJV
If you’re wondering, “How can I be sure God is willing to heal me?”, read this: “And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed… and they came to him from every quarter” (Mark 1:40-42, 45 KJV).
Not only is God willing to heal us, but He responds to our sickness and suffering with compassion. “He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick” (Matthew 14:13-14 KJV).
One day two blind men were sitting on the roadside when they heard that Jesus was passing by. Immediately they cried out: “‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.’… And Jesus… said, ‘What will ye that I shall do unto you?’ They say unto him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’ So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him” (Matthew 20:30, 32-34 KJV).
Has Christ’s power diminished? No. Does He have less compassion toward His redeemed children today than He had for the multitude back then? No. So, come to Him with confidence, praying and believing for your healing.
Soul food: Zech 5-8; John 20:19-31; Ps 67; Prov 30:29-33
2025-12-15
Hebreërs 11:34 NLV
‘n Pastoor skryf: ‘Aan die einde van die twintigste eeu het ‘n baanbrekersielkundige genaamd Alfred Adler die teenintuïtiewe teorie van kompensasie voorgestel. Adler het geglo dat wat as swakpunte gesien word, dikwels eintlik sterkpunte is, omdat dit ons dwing om benaderings en vermoëns wat andersins onontdek sou bly, te ontwikkel. Dit is slegs wanneer ons daardie swakpunte probeer oorkom dat ons grootste gawes onthul word.
Sewentig persent van die kunsstudente wat deur Adler bestudeer is, het optiese afwykings gehad. Hy het opgemerk dat sommige van die geskiedenis se grootste komponiste, insluitend Mozart en Beethoven, gehoorprobleme gehad het. Hy het ‘n wye verskeidenheid beroepe van mense wat hul swakpunte gebruik het om nuwe sterkpunte te ontdek, aangehaal. Adler het tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat swakpunte, soos geboortedefekte, fisiese kwale en armoede, trappe na sukses kan wees. Hierdie sukses word nie ten spyte van daardie sogenaamde swakpunte behaal nie, maar as gevolg van hulle.
In een studie van kleinsake-eienaars het 35 persent aangedui dat hulle disleksies is. Daardie sogenaamde swakpunt het hierdie groep entrepreneurs gedwing om verskillende vaardighede te kweek. Sommige van hulle het vaardiger in mondelinge kommunikasie geword omdat lees vir hulle so moeilik was. Ander het geleer om sosiale vaardighede te ontwikkel om die uitdagings wat hulle in die klaskamer teëgekom het, te oorkom. By almal van hulle is ‘n werksetiek gekweek wat dalk dormant sou gebly het as hulle maklik kon lees. Ons grootste sterkpunte kan in ons grootste swakpunte versteek wees, dus moet ons leer om ons swakpunte te benut.’
Dis rede genoeg om God vir jou sogenaamde swakpunte en uitdagings te prys.
Sielskos: Sag 1-4; Joh 20:10-18; Ps 57; Spr 30:24-28
Hebrews 11:34 NCV
A pastor writes: “Around the turn of the twentieth century, a pioneering psychologist named Alfred Adler proposed the counterintuitive theory of compensation. Adler believed that perceived disadvantages often prove to be disguised advantages because they force us to develop attitudes and abilities that would have otherwise gone undiscovered. And it’s only as we compensate for those disadvantages that our greatest gifts are revealed.
Seventy percent of the art students that Adler studied had optical anomalies. He observed that some of history’s greatest composers, Mozart and Beethoven among them, had degenerative traces in their ears. He cited a… wide variety of vocations, of those who leveraged their weakness by discovering new strengths. Adler concluded that perceived disadvantages, such as birth defects, physical ailments, and poverty, can be springboards to success. And that success is not achieved in spite of those perceived disadvantages. It’s achieved because of them…
In one study of small-business owners… 35 percent of them were self-identified dyslexics… That disadvantage forced this group of entrepreneurs to cultivate different skill sets. Some of them became more proficient at oral communication because reading was so difficult. Others learned to rely on well-developed social skills to compensate for the challenges they faced in the classroom. And all of them cultivated a work ethic that might have remained dormant if reading had come easy for them… Our greatest advantages may actually be hidden in our greatest disadvantages, if we learn to leverage them.”
That’s sufficient reason to praise God for your perceived disadvantages and challenges.
Soul food: Zech 1-4; John 20:10-18; Ps 57; Prov 30:24-28
2025-12-14
John 13:35 NKJV
Designer clothes brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren are recognized by their designs and by their trademarks. These trademarks make them immensely visible and identifiable. Sometimes workers in certain industries are identified by their attire, such as a surgeon who wears scrubs, or a policeman who wears a uniform, or a judge who wears robes.
Jesus has given to us something as irrefutable evidence that we are close to God – a test whereby you can evaluate your own spiritual growth. In fact, so amazing is this trademark that He said it would be the foremost declaration of your faith. Jesus said it like this: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (vv. 34-35 NKJV). Francis Schaeffer, the great Christian apologist, said, “Love is the final apologetic. It is the defence for which there is no defence.”
When a woman is pregnant with a child, there comes a point where we say that she is “showing.” The life growing inside her begins to grow and show on the outside. Likewise, the Bible says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5 KJV).
John writes, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11 NKJV). Love; it’s the ultimate test of your discipleship.
Soul food: Gen 11:1-9; Phil 2:1-11
