2018-12-13
Job 5:26 NIV
Author Norman Cousins said, “No disease is more lethal than the boredom that follows retirement.” Here’s a true story of a lady in her eighties who went to her doctor for a checkup. He asked if she stayed active. She gave him a big smile and said, “I jog about four or five miles every day.” Surprised, he told her she needed to be careful and not overdo it. “Take it easy,” he suggested. She took his words to heart and decided to slow down. She reduced her jogs to slow walks, and cut back to one or two days a week. Within a year she was dead. After hearing about her death, the doctor who’d given her such advice told a friend, “Never again will I tell a patient who’s doing so well to take it easy.” The Bible is filled with the stories of people who lived on because they had something to live for! Remember Caleb? At eighty-five he attacked the giants in the hill country, drove them out, and became a land developer (See Joshua 14). And how about Noah? He began building the ark when he was five hundred years old. And a hundred years later he helped to start the world all over again. Age means nothing unless you’re cheese! And wrinkles, gray hair, and spots on your hands mean less than nothing. As long as God chooses to leave you on this earth, don’t just exist – live! Claim the promise: “You will come to the grave in full vigor.” Keep dreaming. Accept new challenges. And don’t even think about taking it easy!
Soul food: Gen 50; Hag 1-2; John 20:1-18; Ps 105:1-7; Ecc 5:13-16
Job 5:26 NLV
Die skrywer Norman Cousins het gesê, ‘Geen siekte is meer dodelik as die verveeldheid wat met aftrede gepaard gaan nie.’ Hier is ‘n ware verhaal van ‘n dame in haar tagtigs wat na haar dokter vir ‘n algemene ondersoek gegaan het. Hy het vir haar gevra of sy aktief bly. Sy het hom ‘n groot glimlag gegee en gesê, ‘Ek draf omtrent vyf tot sewe kilometer elke dag.’ Verras het die dokter haar gemaan om versigtig te wees en dit nie te oordoen nie. Sy het sy woorde ter harte geneem en besluit om dinge stadiger te vat. Sy het haar drafsessies na stadige wandelinge verminder en dit na een of twee keer ‘n week gesny. Binne ‘n jaar was sy dood. Nadat hy van haar afsterwe te hore gekom het, het die dokter wat haar die raad gegee het, vir ‘n vriend gesê, ‘Nooit weer sal ek vir ‘n pasiënt wat so goed doen sê om dit rustig te vat nie.’ Die Bybel is vol van verhale van mense wat aanhou leef het omdat hulle iets gehad het om voor te leef! Onthou vir Kaleb? Op vyf-en-tagtig het hy die reuse in die heuwelgebied aangeval, hulle verdryf en ‘n landontwikkelaar geword (sien Josua 14). Wat van Noag? Hy het die ark begin bou toe hy vyfhonderd jaar oud was. ‘n Honderd jaar later het hy gehelp om die wêreld weer te begin. Ouderdom beteken niks, tensy jy kaas is! Plooie, grys hare en vlekke op jou hande beteken minder as niks. So lank as wat God kies om jou op die aarde te hou, moenie net bestaan nie – lewe! Hou aan droom. Gryp nuwe uitdagings aan. Moenie eers daaraan dink om dit rustig te vat nie!
Sielskos: Gen 50; Hag 1-2; Joh 20:1-18; Ps 105:1-7; Pred 5:13-16
2018-12-12
Habakuk 2:3 NLV
Het God jou iets belowe wat jy menslik gesproke nie kan sien hoe dit kan gebeur nie? Sukkel jy om daarvoor te wag? Lees hierdie Skrifgedeelte: ‘Wag geduldig, al voel dit of dit stadig gaan. Wees seker dit gaan gebeur, dit sal nie onnodig talm nie.’ God doen dinge volgens sy skedule en jou afspraak is nog steeds op sy kalender. Weet verseker dat niks wat die Vyand doen God se plan vir jou lewe kan vooruit loop nie. Wanneer Hy jou ‘n belofte gee, is dit soos ‘n saadjie. Dit moet eerstens in die vrugbare grond van geloof val en tyd gegee word om te groei. Dan moet dit gereeld deur gebed en die Woord van God natgegooi word. Dit sal nie gebeur omdat jy dit druk en probeer manipuleer nie: ‘…Nie met mag of krag nie, maar deur my Gees, sê die Here die Almagtige’ (Sagaria 4:6 NLV). Die verhaal van Josef se lewe kan met hierdie Skrifgedeelte opgesom word: ‘Sy swaarkry het aangehou totdat God se plan waar geword het…’ (Psalm 105:19 DB). Hoekom word iets getoets? Om die krag daarvan te openbaar; om te sien of dit onder druk ineenstort. Wat het God aan jou belowe? Glo jy Hom? Hoe sterk is jou geloof? As dit swak is, sal God jou terug in die skool van geloof plaas sodat jy die lesse kan leer en die toetse kan slaag. ‘As jy nie glo nie, is dit onmoontlik om God tevrede te stel. Wie tot God wil nader, moet glo dat Hy werklik dáár is en dat Hy dié wat na Hom soek, daadwerklik beloon’ (Hebreërs 11:6 NLV). Die woord vir jou vandag is: Hou aan om God te glo en dit sal gebeur.
Sielskos: Gen 47-49; Joh 19:25-42; Ps 150; Pred 5:10-12
Habakkuk 2:3 NLT
Has God promised you something and humanly speaking you see no way it can come to pass? Are you having a hard time waiting? Read this Scripture: “If it seems slow…wait patiently, for it will surely take place.” God does things on schedule, and your appointment is still on His calendar. Be assured that nothing the Enemy does can preempt the plan of God for your life. When He gives you a promise, it’s like a seed. First it must fall into the fertile soil of faith and be given time to grow. Then it must be watered regularly through prayer and the Word of God. It won’t come to pass because you push and try to manipulate: “[It’s]…not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). If God has promised you something, stand on His Word and remind yourself, “My life can’t end before this comes to pass.” The story of Joseph’s life could be summed up in this Scripture: “Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him” (Psalm 105:19 NKJV). Why test something? To reveal its strength; to see if it holds up or falls apart under pressure. What has God promised you? Do you believe Him? How strong is your faith? If it’s weak, God will put you back into the school of faith so you can learn the lessons, pass the tests, and graduate. “Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is…a rewarder” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV). The word for you today is: Keep believing God, and it will happen.
Soul food: Gen 47-49; John 19:25-42; Ps 150; Ecc 5:10-12
2018-12-11
Psalm 19:1 TLB
Whether you look at the universe through a telescope or a microscope, you discover that God is the great designer. Let’s look at three of the things He designed: (1) Temperature. The sun’s surface is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and we’re 93 million miles away from it – just the right distance. If the earth’s temperature was 50 degrees hotter or colder all life would cease. Think about it: Why wasn’t the earth placed twice as far away, or twice as close? (2) Rotation. We rotate 365 times a year as we pass around the sun. Suppose we only rotated 36 times? Well, our days and nights would be ten times as long. We’d be terribly hot on one side, unbearably cold on the other, and life as we know it would cease. (3) Air. Oxygen constitutes 21 percent of our atmosphere: the precise balance of air we need to breathe. Why not 50 percent? Because the first time somebody lit a match we’d all be toast! So ask yourself, is the 21 percent by accident or design? And if there’s a design then it follows that there must be a designer. And there is. Would you like to know Him? You can. At creation He revealed His great power, but at the cross He revealed His great love (John 3:16). Through Jesus His Son you can know the great designer personally and receive the gift of eternal life. If you don’t, you’ll enter a lost eternity. Any chance you’ll be an exception? None! The people in heaven will be those who got there by choice, not chance.
Soul food: Gen 44-46; John 19:1-24; Ps 148:7-14; Ecc 5:4-6
