2024-03-06
Johannes 15:5 NLV
Selfhelp boeke en motiveringsprekers is soos rasieleiers wat op die kantlyn staan en skree: ‘Jy kan dit doen!’ Hulle kan behulpsaam wees, maar as die ‘jy kan dit doen’ filosofie altyd waar was, sou ons nie vir God nodig gehad het nie. Paulus het dit verstaan. Dis hoekom hy geskryf het: ‘Ek kan onder alle omstandighede regkom deur Hom wat my krag gee’ (Filippense 4:13 NLV).
Om die wil van God te ontdek, verg geloof in die onmoontlike en ‘n kinderlike afhanklikheid van Hom. Die Bybel is vol mans en vrouens wat hul roeping in die perfekte wil van God ontdek het, deur dinge te doen wat gewoonlik onmoontlik op hul eie sou wees. Byvoorbeeld:
1) Noag en sy onmoontlike projek. Noag is opdrag gegee om ‘n skip die grootte van ‘n vliegdekskip – met die hand en op land – te bou!
2) Abraham en sy onmoontlike belofte. God het vir hom toe hy negentig jaar oud was gesê dat sy kinders so baie soos die sterre aan die hemelruim en die sand van die see sou wees.
3) Maria en haar onmoontlike swangerskap. Verbeel jouself jy moet vir jou verloofde sê: ‘Ek is swanger en die baba se vader is die Heilige Gees.’
God het nog altyd gewone mense gekies om ongewone dinge te doen. Elkeen van hulle was geroepe om deel van iets groters as sy- of haarself te wees. As gevolg van hulle gewilligheid om aan God oor te gee en toe te laat dat sy doelwitte in hulle geopenbaar en deur hulle vervul word, het Hy hulle op wonderbaarlike wyses gebruik. God vind behae daarin om dinge deur ons te doen wat slegs Hy kan doen, sodat Hy op die ou einde al die glorie, eer en lofprysing ontvang.
Sielskos: Op 5-9; Matt 21:1-17; Ps 77; Spr 6:29
John 15:5 NKJV
Self-help books and motivational speakers are like cheerleaders standing on the sidelines shouting, “You can do it!” They can be helpful, but if the “you can do it” philosophy always held true, we wouldn’t need God. Paul understood this. That’s why he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV).
Discovering the will of God requires faith for the impossible and a childlike dependence on Him. The Bible is full of men and women who discovered their destiny in the perfect will of God by doing things that would ordinarily have been impossible to do on their own. For example:
(1) Noah and his impossible project. Noah was commissioned to build a ship the size of an aircraft carrier – by hand – and on land!
(2) Abraham and his impossible promise. At ninety, after years of trying unsuccessfully to be a father, God told him his children would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea.
(3) Mary and her impossible pregnancy. Imagine telling your husband to be, “I’m pregnant, and the baby’s father is the Holy Spirit.”
God has always chosen ordinary people to do extraordinary things – and they all had something in common. Every one of them was called to be part of something bigger than himself or herself. And because of their willingness to yield to God and allow His purposes to be revealed in them and fulfilled through them, He used them in amazing ways. God takes pleasure in doing things through us that only He can do, so that in the end, He will receive all the glory, honour, and praise.
Soul food: Rev 5-9; Matt 21:1-17; Ps 77; Prov 6:29
2024-03-05
Matthew 5:41 NIV
Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.” Roman soldiers were permitted to force a Jew to carry a burden a mile for them. They treated Jews as tools to be used. So, what do you do in that kind of situation? Jesus invites us to take the high road. A Roman soldier like these could probably be a young boy, a stranger there, probably poor himself. All he receives is local resentment. So, you finish the mile and say, “You look tired. Can I help you some more? Can I carry it for you another mile?” That would blow the soldier’s mind. Nobody asked that! That’s what you’re called to do!
When someone takes advantage of you, you want to think of them as unlikable rather than a real person with their own story. It’s said that a friend offered to introduce English essayist Charles Lamb to a man whom Lamb had disliked for a long time. “Don’t make me meet him,” Lamb said. “I want to go on hating him, and I can’t do that to a man I know.”
Understand this: You can give the gift of empathy. You can remember that the person you don’t like is also a human being. You can put yourself in his place. You can take the time to imagine how he feels, what he has been through, and how life has treated him. When you do that, your problem becomes an opportunity to practice the Christ life. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you signed up for in the first place?
Soul food: Rev 1-4; Matt 20:17-34; Ps 70; Prov 6:26-28
Matteus 5:41 NLV
Jesus het gesê: ‘As ‘n soldaat jou dwing om sy goed een kilometer ver te dra, dra dit vir hom twee kilometer ver.’ Romeinse soldate was toegelaat om ‘n Jood te dwing om hulle bagasie een kilometer ver te dra. Hulle het Jode as ‘n stuk gereedskap om te gebruik gesien.
Wat sou jy in so ‘n tipe situasie gedoen het? Jesus raai ons aan om die mindere te wees. ‘n Romeinse soldaat soos hierdie kon heel waarskynlik ‘n jong seun, ‘n vreemdeling en waarskynlik self arm, wees. Wanneer jy dan die kilometer klaarmaak, sê jy: ‘Jy lyk moeg. Kan ek jou nog help? Kan ek dit vir jou nog ‘n kilometer dra?’ Dit sou die soldaat verstom. Dis egter wat jy geroep word om te doen.
Wanneer iemand jou uitbuit, wil jy aan hulle as onaangenaam, eerder as ‘n regte persoon met hulle eie verhaal, dink. Daar word vertel dat ‘n vriend die Engelse skrywer Charles Lamb aan ‘n man wat Lamb vir ‘n lang ruk op ‘n afstand gehaat het, wou voorstel. ‘Moenie my dwing om hom te ontmoet nie,’ het Lamb gesê. ‘Ek wil aanhou om hom te haat en ek kan dit nie doen aan ‘n man wat ek ken nie.’
Verstaan die volgende: Jy kan die gawe van empatie gee. Jy kan onthou dat die persoon van wie jy nie hou nie, ook ‘n mens is. Jy kan jouself in sy skoene plaas. Jy kan die tyd neem om jou in te dink hoe hy voel, waardeur hy is en hoe die lewe hom behandel het. Wanneer jy dit doen, word jou probleem ‘n geleentheid om die Christelike lewe uit te oefen. Is dit nie wat jy wil hê nie? Is dit nie waarom jy jou in die eerste plek bekeer het nie?
Sielskos: Op 1-4; Matt 20:17-34; Ps 70; Spr 6:26-28
2024-03-04
1 Chronicles 28:11-12 NIV
The first Jewish temple ranks as one of the architectural wonders of the ancient world. Built in the tenth century BC, the project’s scope was so massive that Solomon employed thirty thousand loggers and eighty thousand stonecutters. More than three thousand foremen managed the seven-year project. The temple was the epicenter of Judaism. It was the place of sacrifice. It was the place of worship. It was the place of pilgrimage. But like everything else, the temple was once a figment of the imagination.
The cumulative history of the Jewish temple can be traced all the way back to an idea in the mind of King David. But it wasn’t David’s idea. “David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord.”
We have no idea how God downloaded the plans to David. JPEGs? PDFs? Mental images? Detailed drawings? One thing is sure: The plans for the temple were not manufactured in David’s mind, they originated with the Spirit of God. The temple wasn’t just a good idea, it was a God idea.
So, ask God for an idea. Pray for a plan. Why? Two reasons. First because the Bible says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NIV). Second, when something is conceived by God’s Spirit, it is sure to succeed.
Soul food: 1 Kings 21-22; Matt 20:1-16; Ps 66:13-20; Prov 6:23-25
