2023-11-11
Hebrews 6:18 MSG
Does your situation look impossible? Are you getting ready to quit? Don’t! Emilie Batisse was seventy-nine when she was injured in a hit-and-run accident and wasn’t expected to live. When Norman Vincent Peale went to visit her, he noticed a row of brand-new poetry books that hadn’t been opened. When he asked her about them, she said, “‘I love poetry, but I haven’t read those… I’m saving them for my old age.'” Mrs. Batisse lived to read those books many times, and when she eventually died at ninety-one, she was planning a trip to Europe.
Hope is wishing for something to come true; faith is believing it will happen. Hope is wanting something so desperately that despite all evidence to the contrary, you keep believing God for it. And the remarkable thing is that the act of hoping produces a strength of its own.
When Cornell University conducted a study on the effects of hope, Dr. Harold G. Wolff reported that people with hope can endure incredible burdens. One group comprised twenty-five thousand soldiers imprisoned during World War II. Subjected to forced labor, bad food, and filth, many died while others showed only slight damage. Interviews with survivors revealed a far-above-average ability to hope!
How were they able to keep their hope alive? By drawing pictures of the girls they planned to marry, designing their future homes, and organizing business management seminars. Hope not only kept them well, it kept them alive! It’s easy to see why Paul describes hope as “an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past… appearances… to the very presence of God” (v. 19).
Soul food: 1 Chron 3-5; John 8:31-41; Ps 99; Prov 25:26-28
2023-11-10
Efesiërs 5:17 DB
Om God se plan vir jou lewe te vervul, moet jy die volgende doen:
1) Beplan jou dag. Beplan hoe jy jou tyd gaan bestee en hou daarby. Net een uit elke drie mense doen dit. Een leierskapskundige sê: ‘Dis min dat ek in die oggend opstaan en wonder wat ek daardie dag moet doen.’ Dis hoekom hy ‘n leier – en ‘n kundige! – is.
2) Doen die eerste dinge eerste. Goethe het gesê: ‘Dinge wat die meeste saak maak, moet nooit aan die dinge wat die minste saak maak, uitgelewer wees nie.’ Die meeste van ons kom eers in die middag by die belangrikste take uit. Ons maak take wat ‘n lae prioriteit is eerste klaar sodat ons kan voel ons het iets bereik. Dis egter nie wys nie. As jy jou dag beplan en nie daarby hou nie, sal jou resultate dieselfde wees as diegene wat glad nie ‘n plan het nie.
3) Wees gefokus, maar buigbaar. Verwag die onverwagte en leer om aan te pas. Omstandighede verander voortdurend, dus moet jou metodes om dinge klaar te maak ook verander.
4) Leer om te delegeer. Mense val in twee kategorieë: die wat vasklou en die wat afpak. Diegene wat vasklou weier om enigiets wat hulle belangrik ag, te laat gaan, of hulle nou die regte persoon vir die werk is of nie. Diegene wat afpak, is egter vinnig om take uit te deel sonder om te dink hoe goed die werk gedoen word. Hulle doel is om die werk so gou as moontlik van hulle lessenaars af te kry. Behoorlike delegering vereis dat jy wys moet wees, seker moet wees wie jy is en vrygewig teenoor ander moet wees. Dit beteken ook dat die werk reg gedoen word – op die ou einde is dit wat jy wil hê.
Sielskos: 1 Kron 1-2; Joh 8:21-30; Ps 115; Spr 25:23-25
Ephesians 5:17 MSG
To fulfill God’s plan for your life, you need to do these:
(1) Map out your day. Plan your time and stick to your plan. Only one out of three people do that. One leadership expert says, “It’s… rare… that I get up in the morning wondering what I’ll be doing that day.” That’s why he is a leader – and an expert!
(2) Keep first things first. Goethe said, “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” Most of us don’t get to our most important tasks until midafternoon. We complete low-priority tasks first so we will have a sense of accomplishment. That’s unwise. And if you plan your day but don’t follow through, your results will be the same as those who don’t plan at all. As Dwight Eisenhower observed, “Taking first things first…often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.”
(3) Be focused but flexible. Expect the unexpected and learn to adapt. Conditions constantly change, and so must your methods of getting things done.
(4) Learn to delegate. People fall into two categories: clingers and dumpers. Clingers refuse to let go of anything they think is important, whether or not they’re the best person for the job. Their goal is perfection. Dumpers, on the other hand, are quick to off-load tasks without giving much thought to how well the job gets done. Their goal is to get it off their desk ASAP. Proper delegation calls for being wise, secure in who you are, and generous toward others. It also means the job gets done right – and in the end, that is what you want.
Soul food: 1 Chron 1-2; John 8:21-30; Ps 115; Prov 25:23-25
2023-11-09
Psalm 19:8 NLV
Die advertensiebord buite ‘n klein plattelandse kerkie het gelees: ‘Jesus het gesê …’ Dis dit – niks anders nie! Natuurlik is die werknemer onderbreek voordat hy die werk voltooi het, wat die onvolledige boodskap vir verbygaande bestuurders gelaat het om self te voltooi. Ongetwyfeld sal sommige bestuurders min daarvan gedink het. Die meer Bybels-gesinde bestuurders kon dalk deur hulle geheue vir die regte antwoord gesoek het. Sommige mag dalk gedink het dat die werknemer ‘n geleentheid verbeur het om woorde te verkondig wat lewens kon verander. Jesus het gesê: ‘…Die woorde wat Ek aan julle gerig het, is Gees en lewe’ (Johannes 6:63 NLV).
Dawid het die wonderlike voordele van God se Woord verstaan. In Psalm 19:8-12 sê hy vir ons dat God se Woord noodsaaklik vir die volgende is: 1) ‘Dit gee nuwe lewenskrag.’ God se Woord is onuitputlik, maar ons is nie! Ons sloof onsself met tyd en moeite af en het herstel en herlewing nodig.
2) ‘Dit maak die eenvoudige verstandig.’ God se Woord gee jou insigte vir belangrike besluite wat jy elke dag moet neem. Dit verg nie ‘n hoë IK nie; die Bybel is vir gewone mense. Dawid het gesê: ‘Ek het meer insig as my leermeesters, want ek oordink u waarskuwings. Ek het meer begrip as ouer mense, want ek lewe volgens u bevele’ (Psalm 119:99-100 NLV).
3) ‘Dit bring vreugde vir die hart.’ Geluk hang daarvan af of jy die regte mense en omstandighede in jou lewe het. Vreugde is egter anders; jy verkry dit deur volgens die Skrif se beginsels te lewe.
4) ‘Dit gee insig vir die lewe.’ Wanneer jy ‘n probleem in jou persoonlike lewe, by die huis of by die werk ervaar, bied God se Woord jou ‘insig vir die lewe.’ Dis jou handboek vir die lewe!
Sielskos: 1 Joh 3:11-5:21; Joh 8:12-20; Ps 15; Spr 25:21-22
Psalm 19:8 NLT
The marquee outside a little country church read: “Jesus said…” That’s it – nothing else! Obviously the custodian was interrupted before finishing the job, leaving the incomplete message for passing drivers to fill in the blank. Doubtless, some would drive by giving it little thought. The more biblically minded might search their memory for the right answer. Some might think the custodian missed an opportunity to proclaim words that can transform lives. Jesus said, “Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word and so it is life-making” (John 6:63 MSG). The words of people can inform us, but only the words of God can transform us.
David understood the awesome benefits of God’s Word. In Psalm 19:7-11 NLT, he tells us it’s essential for these:
(1) “Reviving the soul.” God’s Word is inexhaustible, but we’re not! We wear down with time and effort, and need restoration and revitalizing.
(2) “Making wise the simple.” God’s Word gives you insights for crucial, everyday decision-making. A high IQ isn’t required; the Bible is for regular and ordinary people. David said, “I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts” (Psalm 119:99-100 NAS 1995).
(3) “Bringing joy to the heart” (Psalm 19:8 NLT). Happiness is dependent on having the right people and circumstances in your life. But “joy” is different; it’s an inside job that comes from living by the principles of Scripture.
(4) “Giving insight for living.” When you have a problem in your personal life, homelife, or working life, God’s Word offers you “insight for living.” It’s your handbook for life!
Soul food: 1 John 3:11-5:21; John 8:12-20; Ps 15; Prov 25:21-22
