2025-05-09
Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV
A pastor writes: “When God created man, he made him ‘in his own image.’ That was God’s original plan, and it has not changed. He wants to make us like himself… godly. He does it by working on our character through his Word, through his Holy Spirit, and through circumstances. The Greek word for ‘character’… means ‘tested and proven reliable.’ It brings to mind the work of a blacksmith, describing something that has gone through the fire, has been beat on… but has stood the test.”
Notice, one of the first things God said to man was, “Be fruitful.” And Jesus tells us how: “If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit” (John 15:5 CEV). But fruit takes time to ripen. When you try to rush the process, it doesn’t taste as good. Have you ever tasted gassed tomatoes? You buy them at the grocery store. If farmers picked ripe tomatoes and shipped them, they would get smashed en route to market. So, they pick them green, spray them with ethylene gas before they go to market, and the gas quickly ripens green tomatoes into red. Nothing is wrong with those tomatoes, but if you have ever tasted a vine-ripened tomato, you know there is no comparison.
Similarly, it takes time for spiritual fruit to grow in your life. You can’t take a crash course and graduate with spiritual maturity. It requires a lifetime of walking with God, leaning on Him, learning from Him, and loving Him with all your heart. God wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life, so cooperate with Him.
Soul food: Titus 1-3; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 150; Prov 11:16-18
Genesis 1:27-28 NLV
Een pastoor skryf: ‘Toe God die mens geskep het, het Hy hulle na sy beeld gemaak. Dit was God se oorspronklike plan en dit het nie verander nie. Hy wil ons soos Homself – goddelik – maak. Hy doen dit deur aan ons karakter deur sy Woord, sy Heilige Gees en deur omstandighede, te werk. Die Griekse woord vir ‘karakter’ beteken: ‘getoets en betroubaar gevind.’ Dit laat mens dink aan die werk van ‘n ystersmid, wat metaal deur vuur laat gaan en dan in iets vorm wat die toets van tyd deurstaan.’
Een van die eerste dinge wat God vir die mens gesê het was: ‘Wees vrugbaar.’ Jesus verduidelik vir ons hoe om dit te doen: ‘…Wie aan My verbonde bly en Ek aan hulle, dra baie vrugte…’ (Johannes 15:5 NLV). Vrugte neem egter tyd om ryp te word. Wanneer jy die proses probeer aanjaag, proe dit nie so lekker nie. Het jy al ooit tamaties wat met gas behandel is, geproe? Jy koop dit by die kruidenierswinkel. Indien boere ryp tamaties pluk en dit verskeep, sou die tamaties stukkend by die mark uitkom. Dus pluk hulle die groen tamaties en spuit hulle met etileengas voor hulle mark toe gaan. Die etileengas maak dan die groen tamaties vinnig ryp en rooi. Daar is niks fout met daardie tamaties nie, maar as jy al ooit ‘n plaas-ryp tamatie geproe het, weet jy dat daar geen vergelyking is nie.
Soortgelyk neem dit tyd vir geestelike vrugte om in jou lewe te groei. Jy kan nie ‘n blitskursus volg en met geestelike volwassenheid wegstap nie. Dit verg ‘n leeftyd van wandeling met God, vertroue in Hom, om by Hom te leer en Hom met jou hele hart lief te hê. God wil die vrug van die Gees in jou lewe voortbring, werk dus saam met Hom.
Sielskos: Titus 1-3; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 150; Spr 11:16-18
2025-05-08
Psalm 37:23 TLB
To come up with a daily to-do list that keeps your peace and joy intact, consult God. When you take on too much, you set yourself up for failure – and stress. If you’re wise, you won’t schedule more than one or two “majors” in a day. Life doesn’t run smoothly, no matter how badly you want it to. So, build in time for interruptions, traffic jams, lost keys, slow-moving people, etc.
And be careful about multitasking. Studies have connected high-stress multitasking to short-term memory loss. Experts have concluded that multitasking makes you less efficient because it decreases the brainpower needed to execute each task. So, make yourself finish one task before beginning another. To be productive, you must be focused.
And one more thought – a very important one: Solitude is essential to success! Before Jesus picked His disciples, fed the multitude, and calmed the storm, He took time to be alone with God in prayer. He did, but we don’t, and it shows up in the results we get! We pick the wrong people, lack the necessary resources to meet the need, and the storms of life overwhelm us. The great thing about prayer is that you can do it anywhere – in a traffic commute, in the checkout line at the grocery store, on your lunch break, or when your eyes first open in the morning. Bottom line: Since God “delights in each step” of your life, begin to involve Him more.
Soul food: Jonah 1-4; Mark 5:31-43; Ps 62; Prov 11:15
Psalm 37:23 NLV
Wanneer jy ‘n daaglikse doenlysie wil opstel wat jou vrede en vreugde verseker, moet jy God raadpleeg. Wanneer jy te veel op jouself neem, stel jy jouself vir mislukking – en stres – oop. As jy wys is, sal jy nie meer as een of twee ‘groot’ dinge ‘n dag skeduleer nie. Die lewe verloop nie glad nie, maak nie saak hoe graag jy dit wil laat glad verloop nie. Maak dus tyd vir onderbrekings, verkeersknope, verlore sleutels, mense wat stadig beweeg, ensovoorts.
Wees ook versigtig om te veel dinge op dieselfde tyd te probeer doen. Studies het ‘n verband tussen hoë-stres ‘multitasking’ en korttermyn geheueverlies, ontdek. Navorsers het bevind dat ‘multitasking’ jou minder doeltreffend maak, omdat dit die breinkrag wat jy vir elke taak benodig, verminder. Maak dus seker dat jy een taak voltooi voor jy met ‘n volgende een begin. Om produktief te wees, moet jy gefokus wees.
Nog ‘n baie belangrike gedagte: Stiltetyd is noodsaaklik vir sukses! Voor Jesus sy dissipels gekies het, die skare gevoed het en die storm laat bedaar het, het Hy tyd geneem om alleen met God in gebed te wees. Ons doen dit nie altyd nie – en ons resultate wys dit! Ons kies die verkeerde mense, het nie die nodige hulpbronne om aan die behoefte te voldoen nie en word deur die storms van die lewe oorweldig. Die wonderlike ding van gebed is dat jy dit enige plek kan doen – in die verkeer, in die ry by die winkel, wanneer jy middagete geniet, of wanneer jy jou oë in die oggende oopmaak. Aangesien die Here die rigting van jou lewe bepaal, moet jy begin om Hom meer daarby te betrek.
Sielskos: Jona 1-4; Mark 5:31-43; Ps 62; Spr 11:15
2025-05-07
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
Lack of faith is not a failure of logic; it’s a failure of imagination. Lack of faith is the inability or unwillingness to entertain thoughts of a God who is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (v. 20 NIV). Did you get that? God wants to empower your imagination!
A pastor writes: “If we are going to have an eternal impact on our culture, we can’t just criticize it or copy it. We’ve got to create it. If we are going to reach our generation with the gospel, we can’t just appeal to logic. We’ve got to capture their imagination. And C. S. Lewis is a great example of both. Can you think of anyone more left-brain logical than Lewis? His theological writings, from Mere Christianity to The Problem of Pain, are as logical as logic can be. But Lewis combined left-brain logic with right-brain creativity. The Chronicles of Narnia continue to capture the imagination of new generations. The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. And there are certainly pockets of ingenuity and imagination, but we’re nowhere near our creative potential.”
Perhaps this is because we have a false definition of faithfulness. Faithfulness is not doing it how it has always been done. It’s not preserving the status quo. No, we must never water down the gospel or promote biblical compromise for cultural relevancy. Bottom line: Our message must never change, but our methods must change if we are to gather in the final harvest before the Lord of the harvest returns.
Soul food: Num 34-36; Mark 5:21-30; Ps 57; Prov 11:14
