2022-06-18
Jesaja 43:18 NLV
Ons almal het emosionele solders en kelders waar ons ons ‘gemors’ bêre. Dit werk dieselfde met ons verhoudings. Dis moeilik vir ‘n verhouding om te floreer wanneer beide partye nie hul geestelike en emosionele gemors al verwerk het nie. Ons praat hier van: 1) spyt oor foute in die verlede, 2) wrokke waaraan ons vashou omdat ons voel dat ons verkeerd behandel is, en 3) seer wat ons onder ‘n wolk van woede, twyfel en isolasie wegsteek. As jy die tipe persoon is wat wrokke koester en aan foute in die verlede vashou, weet jy hoe dit voel om deur jou geestelike en emosionele gemors afgerem te word.
Wanneer jy aan seer vasklou en wrokke koester, sal dit jou siel vreet, jou blydskap verorber en al jou vordering van jou steel. Soos blaam, hou hierdie gemors jou in die verlede vasgevang. As ‘n eks jou seergemaak het en jy dit nooit laat gaan het nie, sal jy elke keer wat jou maat iets soortgelyks doen, met onbillike drif daarop reageer, asof hulle die oorspronklike persoon is wat jou seergemaak het. Gevolglik is jou maat ontsteld en deurmekaar oor jou oordrewe reaksie op ‘n klein oortreding, wat op sy eie onbeduidend is.
Jy sal nie weet wat jy in jou lewe het, om nie te praat van wat jy nodig het, totdat jy nie die gemors van die verlede hanteer het sodat jy die seën van die ‘hier en nou’ kan geniet nie. Dit kom daarop neer om hierdie twee Skrifgedeeltes te gehoorsaam: ‘En vergeef ons ons sondeskuld soos ons ook óns skuldenaars vergewe het’ (Matteus 6:12 NLV), en 2) ‘Vergeet al die dinge wat in die verlede gebeur het. Dis niks in vergelyking met wat Ek nog gaan doen nie. Ek gaan iets nuuts doen…’ (Jesaja 43:18-19 NLV). Hanteer vandag die gemors.
Sielskos: 2 Kon 13-15; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 73:17-28; Spr 13:20
Isaiah 43:18 NKJV
We all have emotional attics and basements where we store our “junk.” And it’s the same in our relationships. It’s hard for a relationship to thrive when either party hasn’t processed their mental and emotional junk. We are talking about (1) regrets we have over past mistakes, (2) grudges we hold on to when we feel we have been wronged, and (3) hurts we hide under clouds of anger, scepticism, and isolation. If you’re the type to hold grudges and hang on to past mistakes, even your own, you know the feeling of being weighed down by your mental and emotional junk.
Clinging to hurts and nourishing grudges will eat your soul, consume your happiness, and rob you of all progress. Like blame, this junk keeps you trapped in the past. If an old beau has hurt you and you have never let it go, every time your mate does something like it, you will react with unjustified fervor, as if they were the original person who hurt you. As a result, your mate is left upset and baffled at your excessive reaction to a slight infraction that on its own was insignificant.
You won’t know what you have in your life, let alone what you need, until you clear out the junk of the past so that you can experience the blessings of the “here and now.” It all comes down to obeying these two Scriptures: (1) “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12 NKJV) and (2) “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV). Today, deal with the junk.
Soul food: 2 Kings 13-15; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 73:17-28; Pro 13:20
Isaiah 43:18 NLT
Many of us have a drawer, a loft, or a cupboard under the stairs where we can stash clutter and hide away things we don’t want others to see. It might hold broken things that we intend to fix ‘one day’, stuff that we haven’t got round to throwing away, and things that we just don’t know what to do with. And we also have lofts, basements and cupboards in our minds where we store and hide away mental and emotional ‘clutter’, and it’s hard for us thrive until we begin the process of clearing it out. We’re talking about things like 1) regrets we have over past mistakes, 2) grudges we hold on to when we feel we’ve been wronged, and 3) hurts we hide under clouds of anger, scepticism, and isolation. Clinging to hurts and nourishing grudges can eat away at our souls, consume our happiness, and halt our progress. It keeps us trapped in the past.
And just like sorting through the junk in a house, once we clear out the clutter of the past, letting go of the things we don’t need and fixing the things that still have value, we get a clearer view of the good things we have in our lives right now and can appreciate them even more! Clearing out the clutter comes down to following these two Scriptures: 1) ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors’ (Matthew 6:12 NKJV) and 2) ‘Forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT). So today, deal with the clutter, and look forward to what God’s going to do!
2 Kings 13-15; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 73:17-28; Pro 13:20
2022-06-17
Hebreërs 11:17 NLV
In Genesis 12, het God vir Abraham gesê om sy land, sy familie en sy sekuriteit te verlaat. Abraham het op die krag van ‘n belofte op ‘n onbekende pad na ‘n onbekende bestemming gereis. Sonder om te aarsel, het die vyf-en-sewentig-jaar oue patriarg ‘…verhuis soos die Here hom beveel het…’ (Genesis 12:4 NLV). Vyf-en-twintig jaar later is Isak gebore; die wonderwerkseun wat God se belofte sou vervul dat Abraham se nageslag: ‘…die draer van seën vir al die nasies op die aarde [sal wees]. Ek sal dit doen omdat Abraham na my geluister het en gehoorsaam was…’ (Genesis 26:4-5 NLV).
Dan maak God ‘n hartverskeurende bevel: ‘Neem jou seun… ja, vir Isak wat jy so liefhet, en gaan na die land Moria. Offer hom daar as brandoffer…’ (Genesis 22:2 NLV). In gehoorsaamheid aan God se Woord, het Abraham: ‘Die volgende oggend… vroeg opgestaan… en ook sy seun Isak geneem om saam te gaan…’ (vers 3 NLV). God se beloofde seën het van Abraham se gewilligheid om dit waarvoor hy die liefste was te laat gaan, afgehang. Dit sou natuurlik en verstaanbaar gewees het indien Abraham besluit het om dit nie te doen nie, maar dit sou die beloofde seën geblokkeer het.
Waaraan klou jy vas wat God se seën in jou lewe blokkeer? Is dit jou kinders, vriendskappe, reputasie, mag, besittings, gemak of gewoontes? Abraham se gewilligheid om Isak te offer was die hoogste daad van geloof. Hoe kon hy dit doen? ‘Hy het daarop gereken dat God sy kind selfs uit die dood sou kon opwek…’ (Hebreërs 11:19 NLV). Abraham het geglo dat met God, beteken om te laat gaan nooit dat jy verloor nie, maar dat jy iets beters terugkry. Jy sal ook!
Sielskos: 2 Kon 10-12; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 73:1-16; Spr 13:17-19
Hebrews 11:17 NKJV
In Genesis 12, God told Abraham to leave his country, his family, and his security. When he said yes to God, he traveled an unfamiliar path to an unknown destiny based on the strength of a promise. Without hesitating, the seventy-five-year-old patriarch “went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4 NIV). Now fast-forward twenty-five years and Isaac is born; the miracle son who would fulfill God’s promise that through Abraham’s descendants “all the nations of… earth [will] be blessed because Abraham obeyed my voice” (Genesis 26:4-5 KJV).
Then God makes a heart-wrenching demand: “Take your son… whom you love – Isaac – and go to… Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2 NIV). And in obedience to God’s Word, “the next morning Abraham got up and… took with him… his son Isaac” (v. 3 NIV). God’s promised blessing was contingent upon Abraham’s willingness to let go of what he loved most. Holding on to Isaac would have been natural and understandable, but it would have short-circuited the promised blessing.
So, what are you clinging to that’s blocking God’s blessing in your life? Is it your children, friendships, reputation, power, possessions, comfort, habits? Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac was the supreme act of faith. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.” How could he do it? “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life” (Hebrews 11:19 NLT). Abraham believed that, with God, letting go never means losing but getting back something better. And you will too!
Soul food: 2 Kings 10-12; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 73:1-16; Pro 13:17-19
