2020-02-26
1 Samuel 30:6 NIV
We can feel like we’ll never break free from some issues in our lives, but with God there’s freedom. The Bible says: ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV). When the Amalekite armies destroyed David’s home and took his family captive, there were two things he did. 1) He turned to God for strength to deal with his problem. ‘David found strength in the LORD his God.’ God doesn’t want us to be trying to solve the problem ourselves. There are some things we just can’t fix. There are some issues which we can’t break free from without help. It’s okay to go to God and ask for His strength. God says: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). 2) God gave David a plan to deal with his problem. God told him: ‘Pursue them…You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue’ (1 Samuel 30: 8 NIV). Armed with God’s strength and His plan, David went after the enemy and kept attacking until he recovered everything that had been stolen from him. And God wants to do that for us too. He not only wants to help us find freedom, but He also wants to restore to us the things that the enemy has stolen. He promised, ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten’ (Joel 2:25 NIV). No matter how much has been taken from us, how long we’ve been trapped by an issue, or how far we’ve wandered from God’s path, He can restore us. When we turn to God, He can give us more joy and success in the years ahead than in all the years behind us.
Gen 7-9; Matt 18:1-9; Ps 53; Prov 6:9-11
1 Samuel 30:8 NLV
God se Woord beloof dat jy vrygemaak kan word van dit waaraan jy vandag verslaaf is. Daar is meer! Jy kan dit wat jy verloor het, of selfs iets beter, ook terugkry. Hoe? Deur te doen wat Dawid gedoen het toe die Amalekiete sy huis vernietig en sy familie gevange geneem het: 1) Hy het na God vir krag om sy probleem te hanteer, gedraai. ‘…Dawid het by die Here sy God krag ontvang’ (vers 6 NLV). As jy die probleem self kon oplos, sou jy dit mos al gedoen het, nie waar nie? Moenie sleg voel nie, voel goed daaroor. Om te erken dat jy magteloos is, is die eerste stap na oorwinning toe. ‘…My genade is genoeg vir jou, want my krag kom juis in swakheid tot volle verwesenliking…’ (2 Korintiërs 12:9 NLV). Om te erken dat jy magteloos is, is nie dieselfde as om jouself aan hopeloosheid oor te gee nie. Dit beteken dat jy erken dat jy nie kan nie, dat God kan, en dat Hy sal wanneer jy die probleem vir Hom gee. 2) God het vir Dawid ‘n plan gegee om sy probleme te hanteer. ‘…Ja, agtervolg hulle. Jy sal hulle sekerlik inhaal en alles terugkry wat van jou geneem is.’ Gewapen met God se krag en plan, het Dawid die vyand agterna gesit totdat hy alles teruggekry het wat van hom gesteel is. God wil dieselfde vir jou doen. Hy het beloof: ‘…Ek sal herstel wat julle deur die stropersprinkane… verloor het…’ (Joël 2:25 NLV). Wanneer jy na God draai, kan Hy vir jou meer vreugde en sukses in die jare wat voor jou lê gee, as wat jy in al die jare agter jou geniet het. Dis sy plan van herstel vir jou!
Sielskos: Gen 7-9; Matt 18:1-9; Ps 53; Spr 6:9-11
2020-02-25
2 Korintiërs 3:5-6 NLV
Jesus het vir sy dissipels gesê: ‘Wees waaksaam en bid. Anders sal die versoeking vir julle te sterk word. ‘n Mens se gees is wel gewillig, maar jou liggaam hou nie altyd by nie’ (Matteus 26:41 NLV). Wat het Hy daarmee bedoel? Hy het bedoel dat hulle sonder die bemagtigende teenwoordigheid van die Heilige Gees, wat Hy pas gesê het hulle sal ontvang, nie opgewasse sou wees teen die uitdagings waar voor hulle binnekort te staan sou kom nie. Hy het nie hulle toewyding en gewilligheid om Hom te dien betwyfel nie; Hy het net geweet dat hulle dit nie alleen sou kon doen nie. Jy kan ook nie. Hoe gouer jy dus ophou probeer, hoe beter daaraan toe sal jy wees! God sal jou net seën wanneer jy jou totale afhanklikheid van Hom erken. Dit beteken dat jy moet bid en op Hom moet leun voor jy begin; en aanhou om te bid en op Hom te leun tot jy die wenstreep oorsteek. Dit beteken ook dat as God jou nie stuur nie en jy dring aan om te gaan, of Hy sê vir jou om iets te doen en jy probeer dit in jou eie krag bereik, jy verseker sal misluk. Wat meer is, is dat Hy jou sal toelaat om aan te hou misluk, totdat jy die plek bereik waar jy soos Paulus kan sê: ‘Nie dat ons op eie houtjie iets kan bedink asof dit ons eie breinkind is nie. Ons bekwaamheid kom van God, wat ons bekwaam gemaak het…’ Dis wanneer ons die einde van ons vermoëns bereik wanneer God se krag inskop. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus: In plaas daarvan om op jou eie krag en hulpbronne staat te maak, maak volkome en alleenlik op God staat.
Sielskos: Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Spr 6:6-8
2 Corinthians 3:5 NCV
God doesn’t want us to be trying to do everything by ourselves. He wants us to trust Him and depend on Him for everything we need. We can easily fall into the trap of feeling like we don’t need God, that we can handle everything ourselves. But the truth is that ‘it is God who makes us able to do all that we do.’ God showed this to Gideon when the Israelites were facing a battle with the Midianites. God had called Gideon to lead the army and save Israel. He gathered together all the men who would fight with him and it came to 32,000 men. But God wanted to show that they would win through Him, not manpower. ‘The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men to defeat the Midianites. I don’t want the Israelites to brag that they saved themselves”‘ (Judges 7:2 NCV). So God reduced the number of men down to just 300 (you can read about this in Judges 7). Imagine how Gideon must have felt. In Judges 6 we already see that Gideon felt inadequate (take a look at verse 15). Now he probably felt unprepared too. But God said: ‘Using the three hundred men who lapped the water, I will save you and hand Midian over to you’ (Judges 7:7 NCV). And He did. God wants us to depend on Him for what we need. He provides for all He has made. The Bible says: ‘All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time’ (Psalm 104:27 NIV). He doesn’t want us to be worrying about our situations or becoming prideful about our own abilities. We should stop leaning on our own strength and resources, and instead depend wholly and solely on God.
Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Prov 6:6-8
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV
Jesus told His disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41 NKJV). What did He mean by that? He meant that without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, which He’d just told them they’d soon receive, they weren’t equal to the challenges they were about to face. It wasn’t a matter of His doubting their devotion and willingness to serve Him; He just knew they couldn’t do it by themselves. And you can’t either. So the sooner you quit trying, the better off you’ll be! God isn’t looking for educated, sophisticated, well-meaning flesh, or any other kind of “flesh,” for that matter. He will only bless you when you acknowledge your total dependence on Him. That means praying and leaning on Him before you start, and continuing to pray and lean on Him until you reach the finish line. It also means that if God doesn’t send you and you insist on going, or if He tells you to do something and you try to accomplish it in your own strength, you’ll surely fail. And what’s more, He will allow you to keep failing until you reach the place where you can say like Paul: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent.” It’s when we reach the end of our resources that God’s power kicks in. So the word for you today is: Instead of leaning on your own strength and resources, depend wholly and solely on God.
Soul food: Gen 4-6; Matt 17:14-27; Ps 40:9-17; Prov 6:6-8
