2026-09-15
Colossians 1:10 NKJV
Many people know how Helen Keller overcame the difficult physical challenge of being left without hearing, speech, and sight after contracting fever as a baby and how she eventually learned to communicate by learning Braille. Her life inspired millions of people. One of her ardent admirers was author Mark Twain. She was invited to visit every president at the White House from her childhood on.
What many people don’t know, however, is how hard Helen worked as an adult. After graduating with honours from Radcliffe College, she worked to help others until her death at the age of eighty-eight. She authored numerous articles. She gave lectures for the American Foundation for the Blind and raised millions of dollars for them. On her eightieth birthday, she was given the Helen Keller International Award for those who give outstanding help to the blind.
In the Bible, Paul prayed for the Colossian Christians: “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him” (Colossians 1:10 NKJV). And he gave them two ways in which they could do this: “Being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (NKJV). Faith and works; spirituality and service; ministering to the Lord and meeting the needs of others. That’s how Helen Keller lived.
You say, “But my goal is to please the Lord rather than people.” Here’s how you do that: “With goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:7 NKJV). Hymn writer Charles Meigs wrote: “Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee.”
Soul food: Hab 1-3; Mark 13:24-37; Ps 78:56-64; Pro 24:5-10
Kolossense 1:10 NLV
Baie mense ken die verhaal hoe Helen Keller die moeilike fisiese uitdaging oorkom het om sonder gehoor, spraak en sig gelaat te word nadat sy as baba koors opgedoen het, en hoe sy uiteindelik geleer het om deur braille te kommunikeer. Haar lewe het miljoene mense geïnspireer. Een van haar vurige bewonderaars was die skrywer Mark Twain.
Wat baie mense egter nie weet nie, is hoe hard Helen as volwassene gewerk het. Nadat sy met lof haar graad by Radcliffe College voltooi het, het sy tot haar dood op die ouderdom van agt-en-tagtig gewerk om ander mense te help. Sy het talle artikels geskryf. Sy het lesings vir die Amerikaanse Stigting vir Blindes gegee en miljoene dollars daarvoor ingesamel. Om en by haar tagtigste verjaardag het sy die Lions Humanitêre Toekenning vir haar uitstaande diens aan blindes, ontvang.
In die Bybel het Paulus vir die Christene in Kolossense gebid: ‘Dan sal julle leefstyl tot eer van die Here wees en Hy sal daarmee tevrede wees…’ (Kolossense 1:10 NLV). Hy het ook vir hulle twee maniere om dit te doen gegee: ‘Julle sal produktief wees in elke goeie werk en God al hoe beter persoonlik leer ken.’ Geloof en goeie werke; geestelikheid en diens; om die Here te dien en in die behoeftes van ander te voorsien. Dit is hoe Helen Keller geleef het.
Jy sê: ‘Maar ek wil eerder die Here as mense behaag.’ Hier is hoe jy dit doen: ‘Doen julle werk entoesiasties, asof julle dit vir die Here doen en nie vir mense nie’ (Efesiërs 6:7 NV). Die gesangeskrywer Charles Meigs het geskryf: ‘Others, Lord, yes others, let this my motto be. Help me to live for others, that I may live like Thee.’
Sielskos: Hab 1-3; Mark 13:24-37; Ps 78:56-64; Spr 24:5-10
2026-09-14
Joshua 10:12-13 NKJV
God said: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV). You’re to call on God for great things as well as little things.
Joshua’s army was battling the combined might of five hostile armies, and he was winning. But he was running out of time and needed more daylight. So he did something no one in recorded history has ever done before: “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still.’… So the sun stood still… till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:12-14 NKJV).
Like Joshua, who was battling five kings, you may be battling discouragement, disease, despair, defeat, or death. Respond in prayer – honest, continual, and audacious prayer. You are a member of God’s family. You come to Him not as a stranger but as an heir. Confidently approach His throne (see Hebrews 4:16). Earnestly make your requests known (see Php 4:6), not because of what you’ve achieved but because of what Christ has done on your behalf. Because Christ shed His blood for you, you can confidently pour out your heart before God, knowing you’ll get results.
Soul food: Mic 5-7; Mark 13:12-23; Ps 78:40-55; Pro 24:1-4
Josua 10:12-13 NLV
God het gesê: ‘Vra My, en Ek sal jou ‘n antwoord gee. Ek sal jou van ongelooflike dinge vertel. Dit is nou nog vir jou ‘n geheim, en jy weet niks daarvan nie’ (Jeremia 33:3 NLV). Jy moet God in die groot dinge sowel as die klein dingetjies aanroep.
Josua se leër het teen die gekombineerde mag van vyf vyandige leërs geveg en was besig om te wen. Die son was egter besig om onder te gaan en hy het meer daglig nodig gehad. Hy het dus iets gedoen wat niemand in die opgetekende geskiedenis al ooit tevore gedoen het nie: ‘Op die dag dat die Here vir Israel oorwinning gegee het oor die Amoriete, het Josua die Here om hulp gevra. Voor almal het hy by die Here gebid: ‘Son, staan stil…’ Die son het stilgestaan. Die maan het net daar bly hang totdat Israel sy vyande uitgewis het… Die son het halfpad in die lug vasgesteek. Hy was nie haastig om op sy gewone tyd onder te gaan nie. So ‘n dag was daar nog nooit voorheen en nooit daarna nie. Die Here het geluister na wat ‘n mens vir Hom vra! Die Here het aan Israel se kant geveg’ (Josua 10:12-14 NLV).
Soos Josua, wat teen vyf konings geveg het, veg jy dalk teen ontmoediging, siekte, wanhoop, nederlaag of dood. Reageer in gebed – eerlike, voortdurende en vermetele gebed. Jy is ‘n lid van God se familie. Jy kom nie na Hom as ‘n vreemdeling nie, maar as ‘n erfgenaam. Nader sy troon met vertroue (sien Hebreërs 4:16). Maak jou versoeke ernstig bekend (sien Filippense 4:6). Omdat Christus sy bloed vir jou gestort het, kan jy met vertroue jou hart voor God uitstort, wetende dat jy resultate sal kry.
Sielskos: Miga 5-7; Mark 13:12-23; Ps 78:40-55; Spr 24:1-4
2026-09-13
Matthew 21:22 NCV
Max Lucado wrote about the power of prayer in the life of his friend Greg Pruett: “He is trained as an engineer, linguist, and Bible translator. But his most significant contribution might be in the area of ‘extreme prayer.'” In Greg’s book by that name, he related how he returned from Guinea, West Africa, to assume the role of president of Pioneer Bible Translators. It was 2008 – the Great Recession. The ministry’s financial chart indicated a freefall toward insolvency. Greg had no experience in leading such an organization and no tangible place to cut expenses. Resources were few, and the donors were disappearing. Greg knew of only one response: prayer. “That’s when I began to learn not to pray about my strategies, but to make prayer the strategy.”
In July, he wrote a half-page letter to his teammates worldwide, calling them to prayer. He urged them to stand before God’s throne with specific and bold requests. Greg described the result: “When I saw the end of the year report, I knew God had heard our prayers. My eyes welled up with tears… If a financial expert were to analyze this graph, they would put their finger on the month of July and say, ‘What did you do right here? Whatever it was, you need to do a lot more of that.’ I searched in vain for a tangible explanation. I wanted to find trends to explain how it worked, so we could do it again. I never could… I just knew God provided. All I had was God – and prayer.”
Is that all you’ve got? That’s all you need!
Soul food: Gen 15:6; Jer 23:6; Matt 6:33
