2019-07-19
Proverbs 4:25 NIV
Years ago an airliner crashed into the Florida Everglades. On its approach to the Miami airport, the light indicator for proper deployment of the landing gear failed. They flew circles over the swamps of the Everglades while the cockpit crew checked to see if the gear truly had not deployed, or if the bulb in the signal light was defective. When the flight engineer tried to remove the signal light assembly it wouldn’t budge, so the other members of the crew joined in and tried to help him. As they struggled with the light assembly, none of them noticed that the aircraft was losing altitude. As a result the plane flew right into the swamp, killing 101 people on board. All was lost because the crew fiddled with a six-dollar lightbulb and took their eyes off what mattered most. In life you’ll be tempted to choose what seems urgent over what seems important. As you try to keep your eye on the ball, this dilemma will constantly threaten your focus: “How do I choose what is best over what is merely good? Or the long-term perspective over the short-term one?” You must not lose focus; your task is too important. Solomon bottom-lines it: “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left” (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV).
Soul food: Acts 22-23; Matt 10:32-42; Ps 65; Prov 16:8-9
2019-07-18
1 Kronieke 16:11 NLV
In Catherine Marshal se boek, A Closer Walk, skryf haar man Leonard LeSourd oor die begin van hulle huwelik. ‘Catherine het groot aanpassings gehad om te maak. Sy het haar droomhuis in Washington verkoop en na Chappaqua getrek, sodat ek kon aanhou om na my werk in New York te pendel. My kinders – Linda, tien; Chester, ses; Jeffrey, drie – is deur ‘n paar ontstellende jare waar hulle aan ‘n verskeidenheid huishoudsters gewoond moes raak. Hulle het gemengde gevoelens gehad om na ‘n nuwe huis toe te trek en veral teenoor ‘die nuwe ma wat Pappa gaan huis toe bring.’ Catherine se seun, Peter, wat negentien was, was besig om deur ‘n rebelse tyd by Yale Universiteit te gaan. Catherine en ek het so baie dinge gehad om oor te bid dat ons begin het om ‘n uur vroeër in die oggende op te staan om die Bybel te lees en saam antwoorde te soek. Haar dagboek het langs ons oop gelê in daardie tye wat ons voor sonsopkoms gebid het, waarin sy ons veranderende behoeftes en God se onveranderlike getrouheid neergeskryf het.’ Soos die lewensdruk meer word, moet jy meer bid, nie minder nie. Jesus het voor sonop opgestaan om te bid. Soms het Hy deurnag gebid. Ander kere het Hy die eise van die skare agtergelaat om te gaan bid. Hoekom? Omdat jou krag, vrede, vreugde en effektiwiteit direk aan die tyd wat jy in gebed spandeer, gekoppel is. Hoekom bid ons dan nie daagliks nie? Vir dieselfde rede wat mense by ‘n gym in Januarie aansluit en teen Februarie nie meer gaan nie. Gebed verg dissipline wat slegs jy in plek kan stel. Dit bring egter groot belonings mee.
Sielskos: Hand 20-21; Matt 10:21-31; Ps 14; Spr 16:6-7
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
In Catherine Marshall’s book A Closer Walk, her husband Leonard LeSourd writes about the beginning of their marriage. “Catherine had huge adjustments to make. She sold her Washington dream house to move to Chappaqua, so I could continue to commute to my job at Guideposts in New York City. My children – Linda, ten; Chester, six; Jeffrey, three – had been through a deeply unsettling two years, adjusting to a variety of housekeepers. They had mixed feelings toward moving into a new house, and especially toward ‘the new mommy that Daddy’s bringing home.’ Catherine’s son Peter, who was nineteen, was going through a period of rebellion at Yale…Catherine and I had so many things to pray about that we began to rise an hour early each morning to read the Bible and seek answers together. Her current journal lay open beside us in these predawn prayer times, recording our changing needs, and His unchanging faithfulness.” As the pressures of life mount, you need to pray more, not less. Jesus rose before dawn to pray. Sometimes He prayed all night. Other times He left the demands of the crowd to pray. Why? Because your power, peace, joy, and effectiveness are directly related to the time you spend in prayer. Then why don’t we pray daily? For the same reason people join a gym in January and quit by February. Prayer requires discipline that only you can put in place. But it brings great rewards. Hymnist Fanny Crosby wrote: “Oh, the pure delight of a single hour, that before Thy throne I spend. As I kneel in prayer, and with Thee my God, I commune as friend with friend.”
2019-07-17
Psalm 107:9 NIV
Successful people are often just people who were a little hungrier and thirstier for success than the rest of us. What we desired, they pursued. Napoleon was born in poverty. His classmates made fun of him in school. But he devoted himself to his books, excelled in his studies, and became the brightest student in class. Before his life was over, he conquered much of the world! If a seedling tree has to fight its way up through rocks to get to sunlight and air, then wrestle with storms and frost to survive, you can be sure of one thing: Its root system will be strong and its timber resilient. Nature itself teaches us that it’s impossible to succeed without going through adversity. If you’re successful and haven’t experienced hardship, you can be sure someone else has experienced it for you. And if you’re experiencing adversity without succeeding, there’s a good chance somebody else will succeed because of the price you paid. Either way, there’s no achievement without adversity. The acid test of character is determined by what it takes to discourage you and make you quit. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan tells of a man whose shop burned to the ground in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Next morning he arrived at work carrying a table which he set up amid the charred ruins. On it he placed a sign that read, “Everything lost except wife, children, and hope. Business as usual tomorrow morning.” Solomon said, “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings” (Proverbs 22:29). You say you want to succeed? The question is – how “hungry” are you?”
Soul food: Acts 18-19; Matt 10:11-20; Ps 146; Prov 16:4-5
Psalm 107:9 NLV
Suksesvolle mense is dikwels net mense wat ‘n bietjie hongerder en dorser vir sukses as die res van ons was. Wat ons begeer het, het hulle nagejaag. Napoleon is in armoede gebore. Sy klasmaats op skool het hom gespot. Hy het homself egter tot sy boeke gewend, in sy studies uitgeblink en die slimste student in sy klas geword. Voor sy lewe verby was, het hy groot dele van die wêreld verower! Wanneer ‘n saailing sy weg deur rotse moet veg om sonlig en suurstof te kry en dan deur storms en ryp moet worstel om te oorleef, kan jy van een ding seker wees: sy wortelstelsel sal sterk en sy hout veerkragtig wees. Die natuur leer ons dat dit onmoontlik is om sukses sonder teenspoed te behaal. As jy suksesvol is en nie swaarkry ervaar het nie, kan jy maar vir seker weet dat iemand anders dit namens jou ervaar het. In alle gevalle, is daar geen prestasie sonder teenspoed nie. Die toets van jou karakter word bepaal deur wat dit neem om jou te ontmoedig en te laat tou op gooi. Dr G. Campbell Morgan vertel van ‘n man wie se winkel in die groot brand in Chicago in 1871 tot op die grond afgebrand het. Die volgende dag het hy met ‘n tafel daar aangekom wat hy in die as en puin van sy winkel opgestel het. Op die tafel het hy ‘n plakkaat staangemaak wat gelees het: ‘Alles verloor behalwe vrou, kinders en hoop. Besigheid is weer van môreoggend af oop.’ Salomo het gesê: ‘Sien jy iemand wat bedrewe is in sy beroep? Hy werk vir konings en nie vir gewone mense nie’ (Spreuke 22:29 NLV. Jy sê jy wil suksesvol wees? Die vraag is – hoe ‘honger’ is jy?
Sielskos: Hand 18-19; Matt 10:11-20; Ps 146; Spr 16:4-5
