2020-06-10
Genesis 19:26 NLV
Voor Sodom en Gomorra vernietig is, het engele van die Here vir Lot en sy familie gered. ‘Buite die stad waarsku die engele: ‘Vlug vir julle lewe! Moet nêrens in die vlakte stilstaan nie! En moenie omkyk nie! Vlug na die berge, anders sal julle doodgaan’ (vers 17 NLV). Lot se vrou het egter omgekyk ‘en in ‘n soutpilaar verander.’ Daar is ‘n belangrike les vir elkeen van ons hieruit te leer: Weerstaan die versoeking om in die dryfsand van die foute van die verlede te talm – jou eie of ander mense s’n. Dit kan moeilik wees om vorentoe te kyk wanneer daar afgryslike goed met jou in die verlede gebeur het. Wanneer jy egter in die verlede vasgevang word, mis jy die goeie dinge wat God in die hede vir jou beplan. Die goeie nuus is dat dit nooit te laat is om God toe te laat om jou te gebruik en jou vorentoe in jou lewensreis te beweeg nie. Hy kan die wonde wat ander mense op jou gelaat het, weer heel maak. Hy kan jou wyser as gevolg van slegte besluite wat jy in die verlede geneem het, maak. Dis nie te laat om te word wat jy kon gewees het nie. God verlustig Hom daarin om ons swakhede in sterkpunte te omskep. Hy kan skatte uit dit wat jy as gemors weggegooi het, omskep. As jy van die pad wat Hy wil hê jy moet volg, weggedraai het, is dit nou die tyd om na sy hoofweg toe terug te keer. “‘Ek weet wat Ek vir julle beplan het,’ sê die Here. ‘Ek beplan voorspoed vir julle, nie teëspoed nie. Ek wil hê dat julle hoop vir die toekoms moet hê'” (Jeremia 29:11 NLV). Beweeg dus vorentoe – en moenie omkyk nie.
Sielskos: Op 15-18; Mark 15:1-20; Ps 132:11-18; Spr 13:7-8
Genesis 19:26 NKJV
Before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, angels of the Lord rescued Lot and his family. “When they had brought them outside…he said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed'” (v. 17 NKJV). But the record reads: “His wife looked back… and…became a pillar of salt.” There’s an important lesson here for each of us: Resist the temptation to linger in the quicksand of past mistakes – either your own or other people’s. It can be hard to see ahead when horrendous things have happened to you in the past. But when you get bogged down in the past, you miss what God has for you in the present, and fail to see its connection to your future. The good news is that it’s not too late to allow God to use you and move you forward on your journey. He can heal the wounds others have inflicted on you. He can make you wiser as a result of the poor decisions you made in the past. It’s not too late to become who you might have been. God delights in transforming our weakness into strength. He can create treasure from what you’ve discarded as trash. Even if you’ve backslidden and detoured from the path you know He wants you to follow, now is the time to return to His highway. “‘I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope'” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT). So move forward – and don’t look back.
Soul food: Rev 15-18; Mark 15:1-20; Ps 132:11-18; Prov 13:7-8
Genesis 19:26 NIV
How much time do you spend thinking about the past? There are usually two reasons why we focus on the past. Firstly, we feel trapped by it and can’t forget the things that have happened to us. We struggle to break free from the things that have happened to us or the guilt of the things we’ve done. Secondly, we look back to the good times, and wonder why our lives aren’t as good as they used to be. We long for times when we felt happier or closer to God. We look back in regret because things aren’t the same any more. But the Bible tells us: ‘Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions’ (Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV). Before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, angels of the Lord rescued Lot and his family. ‘One of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”‘ (Genesis 19:17 NIV). But ‘Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.’ God doesn’t want us to be continually looking backwards. Sometimes we need to look back in order to remember God’s faithfulness or to learn from our mistakes. But when we’re fixated on the past, we miss what God has for us in the present, and prevent ourselves from walking forwards into the future He’s planned for us. Just like Lot’s wife, when we look backwards, we can become stationary. We can’t move into all the new things God has for us. But if we let God in, He’ll help us deal with the things we’ve been through and then show us the way ahead.
Rev 15-18; Mark 15:1-20; Ps 132:11-18; Prov 13:7-8
2020-06-09
Psalm 119:11 NLV
Voel jy ontmoedig omdat jy dieselfde sondes oor en oor begaan? Hier is jou antwoord: Week jou gedagtes in God se Woord! Net soos jy ‘n spons in water laat week en dit druppend en vol water is wanneer jy dit uithaal, so moet jy jou gedagtes in die Skrif week totdat dit tot oorlopens toe vol is met God se Woord. Wanneer jy dan versoek word om verkeerd te doen, sal jou reaksie deur die Gees en die Woord bemagtig word. As jy dus moeg en siek daarvoor is om nederlaag op nederlaag te ervaar, kan jy die volgende Skrifgedeeltes gebruik om jou gedagtes te vul en jou heel te maak: ‘Hoe kan ‘n jongmens (of ‘n ouer een!) ‘n skoon lewe lei? Deur gehoorsaam te wees aan u woord’ (vers 9 NLV). ‘Julle is reeds skoon gesnoei deur die boodskap wat Ek met julle gedeel het’ (Johannes 15:3 NLV). ‘…Deur die water van die Woord was Hy die kerk (en jou) skoon’ (Efesiërs 5:26 NLV). ‘Die woord van God is vol lewenskrag en energie. Dit is skerper as die ontleedmes van ‘n chirurg. Dit sny diep tot binne-in ons innerlikste wese, tot in ons gewrigte en murg. Dit vlek ons diepste motiewe en oorwegings oop’ (Hebreërs 4:12 NLV). ‘Toe U gepraat het, het ek mooi geluister. Ek het elke woord ingeneem. U woorde het my bly gemaak. Dit maak my opgewonde om te weet dat ek aan U behoort, o Here God die Almagtige’ (Jeremia 15:16 NLV). Hierdie Skrifgedeeltes lei almal tot een gevolgtrekking: As jy ernstig daaroor is om in oorwinning te stap, moet jy jouself in God se Woord verdiep en God se Woord in jou verdiep. Daar is nie ‘n ander manier nie.
Sielskos: Op 10-14; Mark 14:66-72; Ps 132:1-10; Spr 13:4-6
Psalm 119:11 NLT
Are you discouraged because you keep committing the same sins over and over again? Here’s your answer: Soak your mind in God’s Word! Just like you soak a sponge in water and it comes out dripping and filled to capacity, soak your mind in Scripture until it’s filled to the brim with God’s Word. That way, when you’re tempted to do wrong, your first recourse will be a “Spirit and Word”¬ empowered response. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting the same results. So if you are sick and tired of living in defeat, here’s a time-tested prescription from God’s Word for making you whole: “How can a young person (or an older one) stay pure? By obeying your word” (v. 9 NLT). “You are already clean because of the word…I have spoken to you” (John 15:3 NKJV). “That He might sanctify and cleanse [you] with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26 NKJV). “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit…joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV). “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name” (Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV). These Scriptures all lead to one conclusion: If you’re serious about wanting to walk in victory, you must get into God’s Word and get God’s Word into you. There is no other way.
Soul food: Rev 10-14; Mark 14:66-72; Ps 132:1-10; Prov 13:4-6
