2019-12-26
Isaiah 46:11 NIV
God has a plan for your life that requires certain things to happen at a particular time. And since He sees the big picture and you’re working with limited information, you must trust Him – even when you don’t see how it will all come together. God can take the loss of a relationship or a job and make it work for your good. The trouble is, while He’s doing all this, you can feel uncomfortable and downright miserable. Seven hundred and eighty-two years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah said that He would be born in Bethlehem (See Micah 5:2). But Mary and Joseph were living in Nazareth. So how did God solve the problem? The Roman emperor Augustus decreed that a census should be taken: “All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son” (Luke 2:3-7 NLT). Are you worried about the future? “Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season he will honor you with every blessing” (Psalm 37:34 TLB). Relax: the God who arranged for His Son to be born into the right family, at the right time, in the right place, is looking out for you today.
Soul food: 1 Cor 10-11; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 139:1-12; Prov 31:25-27
Jesaja 46:11 NLV
God het ‘n plan vir jou lewe wat vereis dat sekere dinge op ‘n spesifieke tyd moet gebeur. Aangesien Hy die groter prentjie sien en jy met beperkte inligting werk, moet jy Hom vertrou – selfs al kan jy nie sien hoe dit alles bymekaar gaan kom nie. God kan die verlies van ‘n verhouding of werk gebruik en dit ten goede vir jou laat uitwerk. Die probleem is egter dat jy ongemaklik en heeltemal ellendig voel terwyl Hy besig is om te werk. Sewehonderd en twee-en-tagtig jaar voor Jesus se geboorte, het die profeet Miga gesê dat Hy in Betlehem gebore sou word (sien Miga 5:1). Maria en Josef het egter in Nasaret gewoon. Hoe het God die probleem opgelos? Die Romeinse keiser Augustus het beveel dat ‘n sensus opgeneem moes word: ‘Almal het teruggegaan na hulle eie dorpe om vir die sensus te registreer. En omdat Josef ‘n afstammeling van koning Dawid was, moes hy na Betlehem, Dawid se tuisdorp, gaan. Hy het vanaf die dorp Nasaret in Galilea vertrek. Hy het sy verloofde, Maria, wat teen dié tyd ver swanger was, saamgeneem. Terwyl hulle daar was, het die tyd aangebreek dat haar kind gebore moes word. Sy het geboorte gegee aan haar eerste Kind, ‘n seun…’ (Lukas 2:3-7 NLV). Is jy bekommerd oor die toekoms? ‘Hou die Here se hand styf vas; doen net wat Hy sê. Op die regte oomblik sal Hy jou hoog bo al jou probleme uitlig…’ (Psalm 37:34 DB). Ontspan: die God wat gereël het dat sy Seun in die regte familie, op die regte tyd, in die regte plek gebore word, sorg vandag vir jou.
Sielskos: 1 Kor 10-11; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 139:1-12; Spr 31:25-27
2019-12-25
Galasiërs 4:4 NLV
God raadpleeg ons nie om seker te maak dat sy planne in lyn met ons tydsberekening is nie. Maria was van plan om met Josef te trou en dan ‘n kind te kry, maar God het ‘n ander plan gehad. Die kind moes sonder sonde gebore word, dus het Hy die perfekte vader nodig gehad en dis hoekom die Heilige Gees ingeroep is om die werk te doen. Menslik gesproke, kon die tydsberekening nie slegter gewees het nie. Maria het voor haar troue swanger geword en Josef was nie die vader nie. Behalwe dat sy verstoot sou word, het die wet gesê dat sy gestenig kon word. Hoe het sy gereageer? Verstommend: ‘Maria het geantwoord: ‘Ek is die Here se dienares en gewillig om te aanvaar wat Hy ook al wil hê. Mag alles wat jy gesê het, waar word’…’ (Lukas 1:38 NLV). God het ‘n vasgestelde plan en Hy werk altyd daartoe. Die probleem is dat ons met beperkte inligting werk, dus word ons ongeduldig en ontsteld wanneer Hy nie ons gebede volgens ons tyd of op die manier wat ons wil hê, beantwoord nie. Daar word gesê dat George Muller, ‘n evangelis en stigter van die Ashley Down Kinderhuis in Bristol, Engeland, op ‘n keer op die hawe gestaan en wag het vir ‘n spesiale stoel om afgelewer te word. Hy het ‘n slegte rug gehad en het die stoel vir sy seereis nodig gehad. Toe die vertrektyd aanbreek en dit nog steeds nie afgelewer is nie, het sy vriende aangebied om vir hom een te koop. Muller het egter gesê: ‘God sal voorsien, of Hy sal vir my die genade gee om daarsonder klaar te kom.’ Toe, net soos die einde van ‘n sprokie, het sy stoel net betyds daar aangekom. Vertrou op God – Hy weet wat Hy doen!
Sielskos: Jes 9:1-7; Matt 1:18-25; Miga 5:2-5a
Galatians 4:4 NLT
God doesn’t consult us to make sure His plans line up with our timetable. God sets the schedule; sometimes we have to run to keep up, and other times we have to slow down in order to get in step with Him. Mary planned to marry Joseph, then have a child, but God had a different plan. The child had to be without inherited sin, so He needed a perfect father; therefore, the Holy Spirit was called on to do the job. Humanly speaking, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Mary became pregnant before she got married, and Joseph wasn’t the father. Besides being ostracized, the law said she could be stoned to death. How did she respond? Amazingly: “Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'” (Luke 1:38 NKJV). God has a set plan, and He is always working toward it. The trouble is, we are only working with limited information, so we become impatient and upset when He doesn’t answer our prayers when we think He should, or in the way we think He should. It’s said that George Muller, evangelist and founder of the Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England, once waited on the dock for a special chair to be delivered; he had a bad back and needed the chair for his ocean voyage. When departure time came and it still hadn’t arrived, his friends offered to buy him one. But Muller said, “Either God will provide or He will give me the grace to do without.” Then, just like a Hollywood ending, the chair arrived right on time! Trust God – He knows what He’s doing!
Soul food: Isa 9:1-7; Matt 1:18-25; Micah 5:2-5a
2019-12-24
Ephesians 1:7 NKJV
Today, some people are trying to remove any public mention of Christ at Christmas, while others seem bent on secularizing it completely. So let’s look at the meaning of some of the Christmas symbols. The small holly berries are thought to have originally reminded Christians of the drops of Christ’s blood caused by the crown of thorns He wore on Calvary. The evergreen trees speak of the promise of never-ending life resulting from His resurrection. The Celtic cross has a circle surrounding the intersection of the vertical and horizontal axis of the cross. Some believe it originated with St. Patrick, who, upon seeing a round symbol of the moon goddess, drew a Christian cross over it – changing a Druid symbol into a new symbol for Irish Christianity. In the same way that St. Patrick adopted a pagan circle and gave it a new meaning, so other Christians adopted the evergreen wreath and gave it a new meaning. When early Christians changed the Roman winter solstice of the rebirth of the sun (originally on December 21), to a celebration of the birth of the “Son of Righteousness,” the evergreen wreath was adopted. Instead of simply being a garland, the round Christmas wreath now speaks of the never-ending unity and fellowship we have with God through Christ. So when you hang a wreath on your door or over your fireplace this Christmas, remind yourself that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39 NKJV).
Soul food: 1 Cor 7-9; Matt 1:17; Ps 97; Prov 31:22-24
