2018-11-11
Philippians 3:8 NKJV
Ever hear of “one-way missionaries”? They purchased a one-way ticket to the mission field, and instead of packing a suitcase they packed their belongings into a coffin, knowing they would never return home. A. W. Milne was one of them. He went to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing that headhunters had martyred every missionary before him. But he didn’t fear for his life because he had already died to himself. For thirty-five years he lived among them and ministered to them. When he died, the tribe buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed these words on his tombstone: When he came there was no light. Nowhere in Scripture does God send us to safe places to do easy things. Faced with the cross, Jesus prayed the ultimate prayer of commitment: “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). And today He’s asking you to be totally committed to Him. Paul wrote: “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:7-10 NKJV). It’s when you’re willing to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings that you get to experience the power of His resurrection. So the word for you today is: Be totally committed.
Soul food: Job 1; Job 2:7-10; Job 40:1-5; Job 42:7-17
2018-11-10
Prediker 9:10 NLV
Wat jy op die oomblik doen mag dalk onbelangrik lyk, maar dit kan jou vir iets wat God deur jou in die toekoms wil doen, voorberei. Die Bybel sê, ‘Dit is mos God wat julle gewillig maak om te doen waarvan Hy hou, en Hy gee julle ook die vermoë om dit te kán doen!’ (Filippense 2:13 NLV). Toe Daniel Webster as prokureur begin praktiseer het, het hy ‘n saak teen ‘n fooi van slegs twintig dollar aanvaar. Die saak het egter baie ingewikkeld uitgedraai en in voorbereiding daarvan moes hy na Boston toe reis, wat hom meer as twintig dollar uit die sak gejaag het. Hy was egter vasbeslote om sy werk deeglik te doen en die saak te wen, wat hy toe ook reggekry het. Jare later het ‘n besigheid hom op kort kennisgewing genader en hom gevra om ‘n saak te aanvaar waarvoor hulle bereid was om hom die grootste fooi wat hy nog ooit ontvang het, te betaal. Toe hy die saak bestudeer, het hy agtergekom dat dit amper identies is aan die saak wat hy twintig jaar tevore nagevors en gewen het; en waarvoor hy net twintig dollar ontvang het. Hy het die saak aanvaar en net soos tevore was die uitspraak ten gunste van sy kliënt. Wanneer jy slegs dit waarvoor jy lus is of dit wat jy geniet, doen, kan jy verhoudings miskyk en ervarings onderwaardeer wat noodsaaklik vir jou toekoms is. Jou bestemming in die lewe bestaan uit oomblikke, ervarings en ontmoetings wat op die oog af betekenloos lyk. Jou vandag is verbind aan jou môre, put dus die meeste uit elke geleentheid en verhouding wat oor jou pad kom. ‘Doen met toewyding alles wat jou hand vind om te doen…’
Sielskos: Jes 63-66; Joh 9:13-23; Ps 115; Spr 29:7-10
Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV
What you are doing right now might seem insignificant and unrewarding, but it could be preparing you for something God wants to do through you in the future. The Bible says, “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13 NKJV). There’s a saying: “Nothing is lost in God’s economy,” and it’s true. When Daniel Webster started out as a lawyer he took a case for a fee of just twenty dollars. The case turned out to be a very difficult one, and in preparing for it he had to make a trip to Boston, which cost him more than twenty dollars. But he determined to do a thorough job and win the case, which he did. Years later a company approached him on short notice, asking him to undertake a case for which they were willing to pay him the largest fee he had ever received. In reviewing the case, he found it was almost identical to the one he’d researched and won nearly twenty years earlier, and for which he was paid only twenty dollars. He took the case, and just as before, the verdict was in favor of his client. When you do only what you feel like doing or enjoy doing, you can overlook relationships and undervalue experiences essential to your future. Your destiny is made up of seemingly insignificant moments, experiences, and encounters. Your today is connected to your tomorrow, so maximize each opportunity and relationship that comes your way. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”
Soul food: Isa 63-66; John 9:13-23; Ps 115; Prov 29:7-10
2018-11-09
Psalm 89:35 NLV
Mediese kundiges sê dat elkeen van ons depressie in een of ander vorm gedurende ons leeftyd sal ervaar. ‘n Groot gedeelte van die bevolking word elke dag in ‘n wolk van somberheid wakker. Jy mag dalk een van hulle wees. Daar is ‘n gewilde kinderboek genaamd Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander raak aan die slaap met kougom in sy mond en word wakker met die kougom in sy hare. Sy boks graanvlokkies het nie ‘n speelding in nie en hy kry dit nie reg om, ten spyte van sy beste pogings, sy onderwyser te beïndruk nie. Hy besluit etlike kere om na Australië toe te verhuis. Ongelukkig werk geografiese kure nie. Jy los nie die probleem op nie; jy verskuif dit net. Wat kan jy dan doen? Draai na die een bron van krag, hoop en bemoediging wat nooit faal nie – God se lewende Woord. God sê, ‘Ek sal my verbond nie verbreek nie, en wat Ek gesê het, nie verander nie.’ As jy vandag mismoedig voel, is hier ‘n paar Skrifgedeeltes waaraan jy kan vashou: ‘Met ‘n woord het Hy hulle genees, en hulle van die dood weggeruk’ (Psalm 107:20 NLV). ‘Tog is ek daarvan oortuig: Die Here se goedheid sal ek sien hier in die land van die lewendes’ (Psalm 27:13 NLV). ‘In tye van nood sal ek U aanroep, en U sal my antwoord’ (Psalm 86:7 NLV). ‘Die Here is nie te swak om julle te red nie. Hy is nie te doof om julle te hoor nie’ (Jesaja 59:1 NLV). ‘U sal my in eer herstel en weereens my vertrooster wees’ (Psalm 71:21 NLV).
Sielskos: Jes 58-62; Joh 9:1-12; Ps 15; Spr 29:4-6
Psalm 89:34 NKJV
Medical experts say that every one of us will experience depression in some form during our lifetime. A large portion of the population wakes up each day in a cloud of gloom. You may be one of them. A popular children’s book is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Alexander falls asleep with gum in his mouth, and finds it in his hair upon waking. His breakfast cereal box lacks a toy in the bottom, and he can’t impress his teacher despite his best efforts. He resolves several times to move to Australia. Unfortunately, geographical cures don’t work. You don’t solve the problem; you just relocate it. So what can you do? Turn to the one source of strength, hope, and encouragement that never fails – God’s living Word. God says, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.” If you’re feeling down today, here are some Scriptures you can stand on: “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:20 NKJV). “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13 NKJV). “In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me” (Psalm 86:7 NKJV). “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isa 59:1 NKJV). “I will go in the strength of the Lord God” (Psalm 71:16 NKJV).
Soul food: Isa 58-62; John 9:1-12; Ps 15; Prov 29:4-6
