2025-03-16
Jeremia 7:23 NLV
‘n Vooraanstaande Christelike sielkundige sê dat daar ‘n direkte korrelasie tussen die stres wat ons ervaar en ongehoorsaamheid aan God se Woord is. Kan dit waar wees? Kan daar ‘n skakel tussen die stres wat jy ervaar en jou vlak van gehoorsaamheid aan God wees? Ja. Dink daaroor. Wanneer jy as verloste kind van God Hom wetend ongehoorsaam is, pla jou gewete jou en voel jy konflik en vooroordeel in jou binneste.
Wanneer jy bewustelik sy Woord skend, voel jy ongemaklik in jou eie vel. Wanneer jy dan tot God bid en Hom iets vra, voel dit asof jy met ‘n skuldeiser oor jou onbetaalde rekeninge praat. ‘Geliefdes, as ons gewete ons nie veroordeel nie, het ons vrymoedigheid om na God te gaan. Wat ons ook al bid, kry ons van Hom omdat ons sy opdragte gehoorsaam en dié dinge in sy teenwoordigheid doen wat Hom bly maak’ (1 Johannes 3:21-22 NLV).
Soms kan ons nie die presiese oorsprong van die stres wat ons ervaar vasstel nie; dit voel net asof iets nie reg is nie. Wat moet jy doen? Stop en neem voorraad! Die twaalfstap-program verwys hierna as “‘n deursoekende en vreeslose morele inventaris”. Dit moet gedoen word sodat ‘n alkoholis of verslaafde van dit wat hulle bly terugdryf na hul verslawing, kan loskom.
Lees die volgende Skrifgedeelte versigtig en met gebed: ‘Wat Ek beveel het was die volgende: ‘Wees aan My gehoorsaam en Ek sal julle God wees en julle sal my volk wees. As julle doen wat Ek sê, sal dit met julle goed gaan’ (Jeremia 7:23 NLV).
Sielskos: Est 4:13-5:3; Matt 6:16-18; Mark 2:18-22
Jeremiah 7:23 NKJV
A leading Christian psychologist says there is a direct correlation between the stress we experience and disobeying God’s Word. Could that be true? Could there be a link between the stress you are feeling and the level of your obedience to God? Yes. Think about it. As a redeemed child of God, when you knowingly disobey Him, your conscience bothers you and you feel conflicted and condemned.
By knowingly violating His Word, you get uncomfortable in your own skin. Plus, when you need to pray and ask God for something, it can feel like you’re addressing a creditor with your unpaid bills. “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:21-22 NKJV).
Sometimes we cannot pinpoint the exact source of the stress we’re feeling; it just feels like all is not well. What should you do? Stop and take inventory! The twelve-step program of recovery refers to this as “a searching and fearless moral inventory.” It must be taken in order for a suffering alcoholic or addict to break free of what keeps driving them back to their habit. Would you like to de-stress?
Read this Scripture prayerfully and carefully: “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you'” (Jeremiah 7:23 NKJV).
Soul food: Est 4:13-5:3; Matt 6:16-18; Mark 2:18-22
2025-03-15
2 Kronieke 34:30 NLV
Toe Josia koning in Jerusalem geword het, het hy werkers aangestel om die tempel reg te maak. Daar het hulle ‘n kopie van die boek van gebooie van die Here, in die puin ontdek. Niemand het dit in jare gesien nie! Josia het geredeneer dat Juda se afgodsdiens direk verband daarmee hou dat hulle nie meer God se Woord lees nie. Dus het hy al die mense van Juda bymekaar laat kom, persoonlik vir hulle God se wet voorgelees en hulle gelei om hulle weer daaraan toe te wy om volgens die beginsels van God se Woord te leef.
Moenie die skakel misloop nie! Omdat hulle nie God se Woord gelees en daarvolgens geleef het nie, het God se mense in afgodsdiens verval. Jy ontdek God se prioriteite vir jou lewe in die Bybel. Wanneer jy nie God se Woord lees, dit bestudeer en oor die voorskrifte daarin mediteer nie, fokus jy uiteindelik op jou eie belange en skeep God se prioriteite af.
Enigiets wat jy bo God plaas, is ‘n ‘afgod.’ Soms is ‘n afgod ‘n sondige praktyk wat jy weet verkeerd is. ‘n Afgod kan egter ook ‘n wettige iets soos ‘n werk, of ‘n verhouding, of ‘n besondere belangstelling wees wat soveel van jou tyd en energie in beslag neem dat dit jou verhouding met God kortwiek of totaal verwaarloos. Die gesangeskrywer William Cowper het geskryf: ‘The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.’
As jy ernstig daaroor is om God beter te leer ken, nader aan Hom te beweeg en Hom eerste in jou lewe te stel, moet jy die besluit neem om elke dag tyd met sy Woord deur te bring.
Sielskos: Job 18-20; Luk 18:1-17; Ps 116:1-11; Spr 8:8-9
2 Chronicles 34:30 NKJV
When Josiah became king in Jerusalem, he assigned workers to repair the temple. There they discovered a copy of God’s law in the ruins. No one had seen it in years! Josiah quickly reasoned that Judah’s idolatry was directly tied to the absence of the reading of God’s Word. So, he gathered all the people of Judah together, personally read to them the law of God, and led them in a rededication to live according to the principles of God’s Word.
Don’t miss the connection here! Failure to read God’s Word and live by it led God’s people into idolatry. In the Bible you discover God’s priorities for your life. When you fail to read it, study it, and meditate on its precepts, you end up focusing on your own interests and neglecting God’s priorities.
And anything you put ahead of God is an “idol.” Sometimes an idol is a sinful practice you know to be wrong. But an idol can also be a legitimate thing like a job, or a relationship, or a particular interest that consumes so much of your time and energy that your relationship with God gets shortchanged or totally neglected. The hymn writer William Cowper wrote, “The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.”
If you’re serious about getting to know God better, drawing closer to Him, and putting Him in first place in your life, make a decision to spend time each day in His Word.
Soul food: Job 18-20; Luke 18:1-17; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
2025-03-14
Nehemiah 2:18 NIV
There is a time to pray, and there is a time to take action. Sometimes that means filling out the job application, or writing the check, or setting up the appointment, or having the conversation, or making the move.
Peter Marshall said: “I wonder what would happen if we all agreed to read one of the Gospels until we came to a place that told us to do something, then went out to do it, and only after we had done it, began reading again? There are aspects of the Gospel that are puzzling and difficult to understand. But our problems are not centered around the things we don’t understand, but rather the things we do understand… Our problem is not so much that we don’t know what we should do. We know perfectly well, but we don’t want to do it.”
One of the big mistakes we make is requesting God to do for us what God wants us to do for Him. Before God parted the waters of the Jordan River to allow the Israelites to enter Canaan, He told the priests to take a few steps into the river. Why did God do it that way? Maybe it was because He wanted to know if they had enough faith to get their feet wet. As long as your feet are planted on dry ground, God won’t part the river for you. You say, “I’m waiting for God to move.” Perhaps God is waiting for you to step out in faith and make the first move. If so, the word for you today is – take action.
Soul food: Job 15-17; Luke 17:20-37; Ps 19; Prov 8:6-7
