2024-11-23
Isaiah 55:9 NKJV
Your internal picture of God decides how you see everything else. The majority of our troubles are not circumstantial; they are perceptual. We can trace our biggest problems back to an insufficient understanding of who God is. God says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
A best-selling author informs us: “Astronomers have spied galaxies 12.3 billion light-years from earth. To put that distance into perspective, consider the fact that light traveling at 186,000 miles per second only takes eight minutes to travel the 93 million miles between the sun and planet earth. Sunlight is only eight minutes old. But light from the farthest galaxy takes 12.3 billion light-years to get here. That distance is virtually incomprehensible. And God says that is about the distance between His thoughts and our thoughts. Your best thought about God on your best day falls 12.3 billion light-years short of how great and how good God really is… Maybe it’s time to stop placing four-dimensional limits on God. Maybe it’s time to stop putting God in a box the size of your cerebral cortex. It’s time to stop creating God in your image and let Him create you in His.”
The more we grow, the bigger God should become. And the bigger God becomes, the smaller our troubles will become. The hymnist, Oscar C. Eliason wrote: “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel Through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He can do just what none other can do.”
Soul food: Gen 4-6; John 12:20-36; Ps 102:12-17; Prov 30:21-23
2024-11-22
Psalm 139:16 NLT
Way before God set earth’s foundations, He had you in mind. He thought of all you could conceivably need. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? A respected author writes: “God planned for every contingency you might ever encounter, before the beginning of time… It is impossible for finite minds to comprehend the sovereignty of God, but let me put it in chess terms.
In 1997 a team of IBM engineers designed and developed Deep Blue, the computer that outmaneuvered chess grand master Garry Kasparov. Deep Blue was equipped with thirty-two processing engines that could calculate 200 million chess moves per second… I have a tough time with the fifty-fifty stuff. True or false. Right or left. Chocolate or vanilla. I can’t even imagine contemplating 200 million contingencies in a split second.
[That’s] laughable compared to the Omniscient One who took every contingency into consideration before a nanosecond had even ticked off the clock of time. Think of your life as a game of chess. You are the pawn and God is the Grand Master. You have no idea what your next move should be, but God already has the next 200 million moves planned out.”
God says, “I make known the end from the beginning” (Isa 46:10 NIV). Are you grappling with knowing God’s will for your life? Here is the simple truth: God wants you to arrive where He wants you to go more than you want to arrive where God wants you to go. And if you keep in step with the Spirit, God will make certain you arrive where He wants you to go.
Soul food: Gen 1-3; John 12:12-19; Ps 102:1-11; Prov 30:18-20
Psalm 139:16 NLV
Lank voor God die aarde se fondasies gelê het, het Hy jou in gedagte gehad. Hy het aan alles wat jy moontlik kon nodig hê, gedink. Verstommend, is dit nie? ‘n Gerespekteerde skrywer merk op: ‘God het vir elke gebeurlikheid wat jy ooit mag teëkom, voor die begin van tyd reeds beplan. Dit is onmoontlik vir ons verstand om die soewereiniteit van God te begryp, maar laat ek dit in skaakterme verduidelik.
In 1997 het ‘n span IBM-ingenieurs Deep Blue, die rekenaar wat die skaakgrootmeester Garry Kasparov uitoorlê het, ontwerp en ontwikkel. Deep Blue was toegerus met twee-en-dertig verwerkingsenjins wat 200 miljoen skaakskuiwe per sekonde kon bereken. Ek sukkel met die vyftig-vyftig goed. Waar of vals. Links of reg. Sjokolade of vanielje. Ek kan my nie eers indink om 200 miljoen gebeurlikhede in ‘n sekonde te bereken nie.
Dis lagwekkend in vergelyking met die Alwetende Een wat elke gebeurlikheid in ag geneem het voordat selfs ‘n nanosekonde van die horlosie van tyd afgetik het. Dink aan jou lewe as ‘n skaakspel. Jy is die pion en God is die Groot Meester. Jy het geen idee wat jou volgende skuif moet wees nie, maar God het reeds die volgende 200 miljoen skuiwe beplan.’
God sê: ‘Ek maak die einde bekend vanaf die begin…’ (Jesaja 46:10 NLV). Sukkel jy om God se wil vir jou lewe te ontdek? Hier is die eenvoudige waarheid: God wil hê jy moet aankom waar Hy wil hê jy moet gaan, meer as wat jy wil aankom waar God wil hê jy moet gaan. As jy in pas met die Gees bly, sal God seker maak jy kom waar Hy wil hê jy moet gaan.
Sielskos: Gen 1-3; Joh 12:12-19; Ps 102:1-11; Spr 30:18-20
2024-11-21
Spreuke 4:18 NLV
Wanneer dit by groei kom, kom jy nooit by jou ‘bestemming’ uit nie. Dis nie ‘n plek wat jy bereik nie; dis ‘n pad wat jy stap. ‘Die pad van die regverdiges is soos die lig met dagbreek. Dit word al helderder tot die volle dag aanbreek.’
‘n Pastoor skryf: ‘Baie mense leer net deur probleme. Moeilike ervarings leer hulle lesse op die harde manier en hulle verander – soms tot voordeel, soms tot nadeel. Die lesse is willekeurig en moeilik. Dis baie beter om jou groei doelbewus te beplan. Jy besluit waar jy wil of wat jy nodig het om te groei, jy besluit wat jy wil leer en jy volhard met dissipline teen die pas wat jy gestel het. Dink wat dit is wat jy wil doen. Wie jy wil wees? Maak ‘n lys van dinge wat jou sal help om jou doelwit te bereik en daardie persoon te word. Is daar iets op daardie lys wat jy nou kan doen? Vandag? Doen dit dan. Of jy nou aangespoor voel of nie, dit is nou die tyd om te begin groei.
As jy nie reeds doelbewus groei nie, moet jy vandag begin. As jy dit nie doen nie, kan jy dalk sekere doelwitte bereik wat jy kan vier, maar jy sal uiteindelik ‘n plato bereik. Wanneer jy egter doelbewus begin groei, kan jy aanhou groei en aanhou vra: ‘Wat is volgende?’ Wanneer jy aktief na jou doelwit begin werk, sal jy vind dat die deur na persoonlike groei ‘n skrefie begin oopgaan. Deur daardie skrefie sal jy orals nog geleenthede vir groei begin sien. Jou wêreld sal vir jou begin oopgaan. Jy sal meer bereik. Jy sal meer leer. Ander geleenthede sal hulself begin voordoen.’
Sielskos: Pred 9-12; Joh 12:1-11; Ps 76; Spr 30:15-17
Proverbs 4:18 NKJV
When it comes to growth, you never “arrive.” It’s not a place you reach; it’s a pathway you walk. “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”
A pastor writes: “Many people learn only from the school of hard knocks. Difficult experiences teach them lessons ‘the hard way,’ and they change – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The lessons are random and difficult. It’s much better to plan your growth intentionally. You decide where you need or want to grow, you choose what you will learn, and you follow through with discipline going at the pace you set. Think about what it is that you want to do. Whom do you want to be? Make a list of things that will help you reach that goal and be that person. Is there something on that list you can do now? Today? Do it. Whether you feel prompted to or not, now is the time to start growing… You will never get much done unless you go ahead and do it before you are ready.
If you’re not already intentionally growing, you need to get started today. If you don’t, you may reach some goals, which you can celebrate, but you will eventually plateau. But once you start growing intentionally, you can keep growing and keep asking, ‘What’s next?’ When you start working actively toward your goal, you will find that the door of personal growth opens a crack. Through that crack, you’ll begin to see more growth opportunities everywhere. Your world begins to open up. You accomplish more. You learn more. Other opportunities begin to present themselves.”
Soul food: Ecc 9-12; John 12:1-11; Ps 76; Prov 30:15-17
