2024-09-13
2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV
Close your eyes and try walking without sight, and you will get an idea of what it means to walk by faith. Faith in what? The unchanging character of God, goodness of God, love of God, and truth that He always has your best interests at heart. With God, information is given on a need-to-know basis. And God determines who needs to know what and when. Here is an example of this: The early church needs to decide if God is calling them to include Gentiles. After much prayer, they send out this letter: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” (Acts 15:28 NIV).
Really? Seemed good? The future of the entire human race is at stake, and the best you can do is “it seemed…?” Yet the church leaders were quite comfortable sending out this letter. Apparently, God’s will for His people was that they should not be told precisely what His will was, or at least not all the details. Presumably, He knew they would grow more if they had to think and discuss and hash it out rather than get a memo. Evidently, they didn’t require certainty. They were happy to settle for heartfelt obedience.
When Paul says we “walk” by faith, he is referring to the slowest form of transportation known to man. He is also referring to a process that happens one step at a time. God has the satellite view; He sees your entire journey from beginning to end and plans each step. And He says, “Do what I have given you to do, and when you have done it, I will show you what I want you to do next.”
Soul food: Neh 1-4; Luke 21:12-24; Ps 78:17-31; Prov 23:26-28
2024-09-12
2 Korintiërs 2:12 NLV
‘n Bekende skrywer sê: ‘Mense wat entrepreneurs bestudeer sê hulle presteer in iets genaamd ‘geleentheidswaaksaamheid’. Hulle kyk na dieselfde omstandighede as almal anders, maar hulle merk geleenthede op wat tot dusver misgekyk is. Hulle is voortdurend waaksaam, wagtend en ontvanklik vir geleenthede wat kan opduik.’
Paulus was so ‘n persoon. ‘Toe ek in Troas aangekom het om die Goeie Nuus van Christus te preek, is ‘n deur vir my deur die Here oopgemaak’ (vers 12 NLV). Hy het ‘goddelike geleentheidswaaksaamheid’ beoefen. Jy kan dit ook doen. Die deure wat God vir Paulus oopgemaak het, het dikwels tot swaarkry gelei. Dit het egter ook tot groot prestasie gelei.
Oop deure kom nie met ‘n noukeurige stel instruksies oor presies wat jy moet doen en presies wat as gevolg daarvan sal gebeur nie. Om te ontdek wat aan die ander kant van die oop deur wag, moet jy daardeur stap. Sal jy vrees ervaar? Elke keer wat jy die onbeproefde en onbekende aanpak, sal jy vrees ervaar. Dis dan wanneer jy jouself daaraan moet herinner dat God daar vir jou sal wag, maak nie saak wat vir jou aan die ander kant van die deur wag nie.
Hier is twee dinge wat jy in gedagte moet hou: Eerstens beteken ‘n oop deur nie noodwendig dat jy êrens nuuts gaan opeindig nie; dit beteken dat jy soms ‘n nuwe en voorheen onopgemerkte geleentheid op ‘n ou plek kan raaksien. Tweedens, oop deure bestaan nooit slegs tot voordeel van die mense vir wie dit aangebied word nie. Dit is ‘n geleentheid om ander mense te seën (sien Genesis 12:1-3). Het God vir jou ‘n deur oopgemaak? As Hy het, moenie huiwer of wankel nie; loop daardeur.
Sielskos: Kol 3-4; Filemon; Luk 21:1-11; Ps 78:9-16
2 Corinthians 2:12 NKJV
A noted author states: “People who study entrepreneurs say they excel in something called ‘opportunity alertness.’ They look at the same circumstances as everyone else, but they ‘notice, without search, opportunities that have hitherto been overlooked.’ They are ‘alert, waiting, continually receptive to something that may turn up.'”
Paul was such a person. “I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord” (v. 12 NKJV). He practiced “divine opportunity alertness.” And you can too. For Paul, walking through the doors God opened often led to hardship. But they also led to great achievement.
Open doors don’t come with a meticulous set of instructions about precisely what you should do and exactly what will occur as a result. To discover what’s on the other side of the open door, you have to go through it. Will you experience fear? Any time you attempt the untried, unknown, and undone, you will experience fear. That’s when you need to remind yourself that whatever awaits you on the other side of that door, God will be there.
Here are two things you need to keep in mind: First, sometimes an open door doesn’t signify going to someplace new; it means recognizing a new and previously undetected opportunity in an old place. Second, open doors never exist solely for the advantage of the people offered them. They are an opportunity to bless others (See Genesis 12:1-3). An open door never exists for your benefit alone. Has God opened a door for you? If He has, don’t hesitate or vacillate; walk through it.
Soul food: Col 3-4; Philemon; Luke 21:1-11; Ps 78:9-16
2024-09-11
Filippense 4:8-9 NLV
Een skrywer sê: ‘Die navorser Sheena Iyengar het gevind dat die gemiddelde persoon daagliks omtrent sewentig bewustelike besluite maak. Dis 25,550 besluite ‘n jaar. Oor sewentig jaar is dit 1,788,500 besluite. Albert Camus het gesê: ‘Die lewe is ‘n som van al jou besluite.’ As jy al daardie 1,788,500 besluite bymekaar sit, is dit wie jy is. Victor Frankl was ‘n briljante dokter wat deur die Nazis in ‘n konsentrasiekamp opgesluit is. Hulle het sy lewensbestaan weggevat, sy besittings gekonfiskeer, sy waardigheid gespot en sy familie doodgemaak. Hulle het hom in ‘n sel waaruit hy nie kon ontsnap nie, opgesluit. Hy het egter ‘n deur gevind waarvan sy wagte nie geweet het nie: ‘Alles kan van ‘n mens weggevat word behalwe een ding: die laaste van die menslike vryhede – om jou houding asook jou eie pad in enige gegewe omstandigheid te kies.’
Hy het gevind dat wanneer sy omstandighede elke buitedeur vir hom toemaak, dit aan hom die deure wat baie meer saakmaak openbaar – die deure waardeur ‘n siel vrees kan verlaat en moed kan binnelaat, haat kan verlaat en vergifnis kan binnelaat, onkunde kan verlaat en kennis kan opdoen. Hy het ontdek dat sy wagte inderwaarheid baie meer vasgevang was – deur wreedheid, onkunde en dwase gehoorsaamheid aan barbaarsheid – as wat hy deur mure en doringdraad gevange gehou is. Sommige mense besef dit en word vry; sommige mense besef dit nooit en bring hul lewens as gevangenes deur.’
Die verskil is die deur wat jy kies en die houding wat jy kies. Dis hoekom Paulus skryf: ‘…beplan alles wat waar, eerbaar, skoon, suiwer, lieflik en lofwaardig is…’ (vers 8 NLV). Kies vandag die regte houding!
Sielskos: Kol 1-2; Luk 20:41-47; Ps 78:1-8; Spr 23:19-21
Philippians 4:8-9 KJV
One author writes: “Columbia researcher Sheena Iyengar has found that the average person makes about seventy conscious decisions every day. That’s 25,550 decisions a year. Over seventy years, that’s 1,788,500 decisions. Albert Camus said, ‘Life is a sum of all your choices.’ You put all those 1,788,500 choices together, that’s who you are. Victor Frankl was a brilliant doctor whom the Nazis imprisoned in a concentration camp. They took away his livelihood, confiscated his possessions, mocked his dignity, and killed his family. They locked him in a cell with no way out… But he found a door that his guards did not know about: ‘Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.’
He found that when his circumstances had closed every outer door to him, they revealed to him the doors that matter far more – the doors through which a soul can leave fear and enter into courage, leave hatred and enter into forgiveness, leave ignorance and enter into learning. He discovered that his guards were actually far more imprisoned – by cruelty and ignorance and foolish obedience to barbarism – than he was imprisoned by walls and barbed wire. Some people learn this and become free; some never see it and live their lives as prisoners.”
The difference is in the door you choose or the attitude you choose. That’s why Paul writes: “Whatsoever things are true… honest… just… pure… lovely… of good report… think on these things” (v. 8). Today, choose the right attitude!
Soul food: Col 1-2; Luke 20:41-47; Ps 78:1-8; Prov 23:19-21
