2018-05-21
Exodus 3:8 NIV
For four hundred years the Israelites were enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters who oppressed them and “made their lives bitter” (Exodus 1:14 NIV). Many of us can relate to their feelings of helplessness when we think about areas in our own lives where we struggle with habits. Whether it’s food, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, or abusive relationships, we’ve all experienced a sense of powerlessness in our repeated attempts for freedom. Failure can produce chronic hopelessness, to the point where you give up trying. Broken and crushed, Israel cried out to the Lord and He responded, “I have…seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out…and I am concerned about their suffering” (Exodus 3:7 NIV). Notice how God extended compassion toward them: “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into…a land flowing with milk and honey” (v. 8 NIV). God came down to bring them up – and He can do the same for you today. Israel’s deliverance called for the slaying of a spotless Passover lamb. They applied its blood to their doorposts and the death angel passed over them. The Bible says, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV). Jesus Christ, our sacrificial lamb, shed His blood to set us free from whatever it is that’s enslaving you. What are you struggling with today? You can be released from captivity – not by your own futile efforts – but by trusting in the God who answers the cries of His people.
Soul food: Judg 1-3; Mark 10:1-12; Ps 88:1-9a; Prov 13:1-3
Eksodus 3:8 NLV
Vir vierhonderd jaar was die Israeliete slawe vir Egiptenaars wat hulle onderdruk en ‘…die lewe bitter swaar gemaak het vir [hulle]…’ (Eksodus 1:14 NLV). Baie van ons kan hulle gevoel van hulpeloosheid verstaan wanneer ons aan die areas in ons eie lewens waar ons met verslawing sukkel, dink. Of dit nou kos, alkohol, dwelms, seks, geld of afbrekende verhoudings is, ons het al almal die sin van magteloosheid ervaar in ons herhaalde pogings om daarvan vry te breek. Gebroke en platgeslaan, het Israel tot God geroep en Hy het geantwoord, ‘…Jy kan seker wees dat Ek gesien het hoe swaar my volk in Egipte kry. Ek het gehoor hoe hulle teen hulle slawedrywers om hulp roep. Ek is baie bewus van hoe swaar hulle kry’ (Eksodus 3:7 NLV) Let op hoe God deernis aan hulle bewys het: ‘Daarom het Ek gekom om hulle van die Egiptenaars te bevry en hulle weg te lei uit Egipte na hulle eie mooi, groot land. Dit is ‘n land met oorgenoeg kos…’ (vers 8 NLV). God het gekom om hulle op te help – en Hy kan vandag dieselfde vir jou doen. Israel se verlossing is deur die slag van ‘n vlekkelose paaslam bewerkstellig. Hulle het sy bloed aan hulle deurkosyne gesmeer en die engel van die dood het hulle oorgesien. Die Bybel sê, ‘…Ook vir ons is daar immers ‘n Paaslam geslag – Christus’ (1 Korintiërs 5:7 NLV). Jesus Christus, ons Offerlam, het sy bloed gegiet om ons vry te stel van wat ook al dit is wat van ons slawe maak. Waarmee worstel jy vandag? Jy kan uit slawerny bevry word – nie deur jou eie vergeefse pogings nie – maar deur God te vertrou wat die roep van sy mense beantwoord.
Sielskos: Rig 1-3; Mark 10:1-12; Ps 88:1-9a; Spr 13:1-3
2018-05-20
Proverbs 31:11 NKJV
If you want a happy marriage, here are two things you must always keep in mind: (1) Never demean your mate in public. When you do, you demean yourself. Solomon writes, “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her…She does him good…all the days of her life” (vv. 10-12 NKJV). Somebody said, “Before you criticize your mate’s taste, stop and remember they picked you!” The fact is we all have habits, struggles, weaknesses, fantasies, childhood memories, unspoken needs, and longings hidden deep inside. Our yearning for someone to trust is profound and unchanging. That’s why God designed marriage to be a safe haven in a dangerous world. If you can’t trust your mate – who can you trust? (2) Always have shared dreams and goals. Today couples are divorcing at an alarmingly high rate between the seventeenth and twenty-fifth year of marriage. Do you know why? That’s usually when the last child graduates from high school or college and leaves home. Now there’s just the two of you. And when you’ve spent all your time focusing on your kids and neglecting one another, you can wake up one day and feel like you’re living with a stranger. So how do you avoid that? By having lifetime goals and dreams you’re both working toward. Remember, you’re more than just parents – you’re people – and God has a plan for your lives as a couple. If you haven’t discovered it yet, talk about it, then pray together and ask God to reveal it to you. That’s a prayer He’ll answer!
Soul food: Lev 23:15-22; acts 2:1-18
Spreuke 31:11 NLV
As jy ‘n gelukkige huwelik wil hê, moet jy altyd hierdie twee dinge in gedagte hou: 1) Moet nooit jou maat in die openbaar verneder nie. Wanneer jy dit doen, verneder jy jouself. Salomo skryf, ‘Waar sal jy ‘n knap vrou kry? ‘n Goeie vrou is meer werd as edelstene. Haar man het volkome vertroue in haar… Haar hele lewe lank bring sy vir hom net voordeel…’ (verse 10-12 NLV). Iemand het gesê, ‘Voor jy jou maat se smaak kritiseer, stop en onthou dat hy/sy jou gekies het!’ Die feit is dat ons almal diep binne in ons gewoontes, swakhede, worstelinge, fantasieë, herinneringe uit ons kindertyd en onuitgesproke begeertes het. Ons hunkering na iemand om te vertrou is diep en onveranderlik. Dis hoekom God die huwelik ontwerp het om ‘n veilige hawe in ‘n gevaarlike wêreld te wees. As jy nie jou maat kan vertrou nie – wie kan jy dan vertrou? 2) Koester altyd gedeelde drome en doelwitte. Deesdae skei ‘n skokkende hoeveelheid paartjies tussen die sewentiende en vyf-en-twintigste huweliksjaar. Weet jy hoekom? Dis gewoonlik wanneer die laaste kind met skool of universiteit klaar maak en die huis verlaat. Nou is dit net die twee van julle. As jy al jou tyd spandeer het om op jou kinders te fokus en mekaar verwaarloos het, word jy eendag wakker en voel of jy saam met ‘n vreemdeling leef. Hoe vermy mens dus hierdie situasie? Deur lewenslange doelwitte en drome te hê waarnatoe beide van julle werk. Onthou, julle is meer as net ouers – julle is mense – en God het ‘n plan vir julle lewens as paartjie. As julle dit nog nie ontdek het nie, praat daaroor en bid dan en vra dat God dit aan julle sal openbaar. Dis ‘n gebed wat Hy sal beantwoord!
Sielskos: Lev 23:15-22; Hand 2:1-18
2018-05-19
Romans 8:28 NIV
Novelist A. J. Cronin had been practicing as a physician for almost ten years when he developed a gastric ulcer that required complete rest. So he went to a farm in the Scottish Highlands to recuperate. He says, “The first few days of leisure were pleasant enough, but soon the enforced idleness of Fyne Farm became insufferable…I’d often, in the back of my mind, nursed the vague illusion that I might write. I had actually thought out the theme of a novel – the tragic record of a man’s egotism and bitter pride…Upstairs in my cold, clean bedroom was a scrubbed deal table and a very hard chair. Next morning I found myself in this chair facing a new exercise book open on the table, slowly becoming aware that, short of Latin prescriptions, I’d never composed a significant phrase in my entire life. It was a discouraging thought, as I picked up my pen. Never mind, I began.” Even though Cronin struggled to write five hundred words a day and ended up throwing his first draft on the farm’s trash heap, he finished Hatter’s Castle. The book was dramatized, translated into twenty-two languages, and sold some five million copies. The world had lost a physician, but gained a novelist. When God gives you a dream, sometimes the circumstances required to fulfill it won’t be to your liking. In Joseph’s case it involved betrayal and false imprisonment. But that’s what it took to get him to the throne of Egypt. So ask God today, “What are You saying, or trying to show me, in the middle of this situation?”
Soul food: Ruth 1-4; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 18:30-50; Prov 12:25-28
