2025-09-24
Johannes 5:6 NLV
Agt-en-dertig jaar lank het hierdie verlamde man tussen die siekes en gestremdes by die bad van Bethesda vir ‘n bonatuurlike ervaring wat sy miserabele bestaan kon verander, gewag. Elke keer het iemand egter voor hom in die bad geklim en gesond weggestap. Keer op keer, wanneer die geleentheid voorgekom het, was daar niemand wat hom kon help nie. Die omstandighede was altyd dieselfde; hy kon homself nie uit sy wanhoop en sy kwynende voorraad van hoop en geloof red nie.
Miskien kan jy met hierdie man identifiseer. Miskien ken jy hierdie verhaal uit persoonlike ervaring. Dit gaan dalk oor liggaamlike siekte, maar dit kan ook oor dinge soos morele mislukking, verslawing, egskeiding, aborsie, berou, ouerskapmislukking, ensovoorts gaan. Soos die man by die bad, kan jou vriende jou nie red nie en jy besit nie die vaardighede wat nodig is om jouself te help nie.
Jesus vra egter vir jou dieselfde vraag: ‘Wil jy graag gesond word? Hy bied jou liggaamlike genesing – en meer – aan. Hy weet dat jy dit nie self kan doen nie. Dit is ‘n kwessie van jou wil. Vir dinge om anders te wees, moet jy jou wil by die proses betrek. Die geloof wat jou gesond sal maak, is nie ‘n emosie of gevoel nie. Dit is ‘n daad van jou wil wat kies om op God se Woord te staan en te glo dat Hy vir jou sal doen wat Hy sê en jou gesond sal maak! ‘Onmiddellik het die man gesond geword, sy slaapmatjie opgetel en weggestap…’ (vers 9 NLV). Dit kan jou verhaal ook wees!
Sielskos: 1 Sam 16-17; Matt 27:32-44; Ps 68:1-18; Spr 22:1-5
John 5:6 NKJV
For thirty-eight years, this paralyzed man waited amongst the sick and disabled at the pool of Bethesda for a supernatural moment that could change his miserable existence. But each time someone got into the pool before him and walked away healed. Time after time, when the opportunity came, there was no one there for him. The story was always the same; he couldn’t rescue himself from his pool of despair and his dwindling stock of hope and faith. Perhaps you can identify.
Perhaps you know the story from personal experience. It may be about bodily illness, but it can also be about things like moral failure, addiction, divorce, abortion, remorse, parenting failure, etc. Like the man by the pool, your friends can’t rescue you, and you don’t have what it takes to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps.
But Jesus asks you the same question: “Will you be made whole?” He offers you bodily healing – and more. He knows that you can’t do it by yourself. So when He asks, “Will you be made whole?” it’s more than “Do you want to be made whole?” It’s a question of your will. For things to be different, you must invest your will in the process. The faith that will make you whole is not an emotion or feeling. It’s an act of your will that chooses to stand on God’s Word, believing He will do for you what He says and make you whole! “Immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked” (v. 9 NKJV). That can be your story too!
Soul food: 1 Sam 16-17; Matt 27:32-44; Ps 68:1-18; Pro 22:1-5
2025-09-23
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
When you learn to forgive and accept yourself, it means you have come to terms with your humanity and learned to be at peace with your imperfections. You realize that what you have been through, together with the grace of God, has made you the person you are today.
Veronica Shoffstall said: “After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul… that love doesn’t mean leaning, and company doesn’t always mean security… that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises, and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead, with the grace of [an adult], not the grief of a child, and you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight. After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much, so you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure, you really are strong, you really do have worth… “
Those words can be summed up in one phrase: “living life on life’s terms.” Is it easy to do? No. And on days when life’s terms seem too hard to cope with, God’s promise to you is this: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And that’s a promise you can stand on!
Soul food: 1 Sam 14-15; Matt 27:11-31; Ps 91; Pro 21:28-31
Jesaja 41:10 NLV
Wanneer jy leer om jouself te vergewe en te aanvaar, beteken dit dat jy vrede met jou menswees gemaak het en geleer het om in vrede met jou onvolmaakthede saam te leef. Jy besef dat dit wat jy deurgemaak het, saam met die genade van God, jou die mens gemaak het wat jy vandag is.
Veronica Shoffstall het gesê: ‘Na ‘n rukkie leer jy die subtiele verskil tussen om ‘n hand vas te hou en ‘n siel vas te ketting. Dat liefde nie noodwendig altyd ondersteuning, geselskap en sekuriteit beteken nie. Dat soene nie kontrakte is nie en geskenke nie beloftes nie. Jy begin om jou nederlae met jou kop omhoog en jou blik vorentoe te aanvaar, met die genade van ‘n volwassene, nie die hartseer van ‘n kind nie. Jy leer om al jou paaie vandag te bou, omdat môre se grond te onseker vir planne is. Na ‘n rukkie leer jy dat selfs sonskyn jou kan brand as jy te veel daarvan kry, dus plant jy jou eie tuin en versier jou eie siel in plaas daarvan om te wag dat iemand vir jou blomme bring. Jy leer dat jy regtig kan uithou, regtig sterk is en dat jy regtig die moeite werd is.’
Hierdie woorde kan in een frase opgesom word: Bepaal jou eie lewenswyse. Is dit maklik om te doen? Nee. Op dae wat dit moeilik raak om volgens jou eie voorwaardes te leef, belowe God jou: ‘Moenie bang wees nie, want Ek is by jou. Moenie ontsteld word nie, want Ek is jou God. Ek maak jou sterk en wil jou help. Ek hou jou vas met my reddened regterhand.’ Dis ‘n belofte waarop jy kan staan!
Sielskos: 1 Sam 14-15; Matt 27:11-31; Ps 91; Spr 21:28-31
2025-09-22
Deuteronomy 32:11 NIV
In Even Eagles Need a Push, David McNally describes a mother eagle teaching her young to fly: “The eagle gently coaxed her offspring toward the edge of the nest. Her heart quivered with conflicting emotions as she felt their resistance to her persistent nudging. ‘Why does the thrill of soaring have to begin with the fear of falling?’… The ageless question was still unanswered for her… Her nest was located high on a shelf of sheer rock face. Below there was nothing but air to support the wings of each child. ‘Is it possible that this time it will not work?’ she thought.
Despite her fears, the eagle knew it was time. Her parental mission was all but complete. There remained one final task – the push. The eagle drew courage from innate wisdom. Until her children discovered their wings, there was no purpose for their lives. Until they learned how to soar, they would fail to understand the privilege it was to have been born an eagle. The push was the greatest gift she had to offer… her supreme act of love. And so one by one she pushed them, and they flew!”
The Bible says, “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them… The Lord… led him” (v. 11-12 NIV).
Is God pushing you out of your comfort zone? Have you lost your job and your financial security? Or a relationship you thought would last a lifetime? Do you feel like you’re being pushed out of your nest and over the cliff’s edge? Don’t be afraid; God will catch you. Better yet – He will teach you to fly.
Soul Food: Num 29:1-6; Matt 24; Rev 11:15-19; 1 Cor 15:50-58
