I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me.
Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand with some water and held it before me, and said this: "You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes Love." This was how I saw it: As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. However, if you attempt to close your fingers round it and try to posses it, it will spill through the first cracks it finds. This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love... they try to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water spilling out of your hand, love will retrieve from you. For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are people you love, allow them to be free beings. Give and don't expect. Advise, but don't order. Ask, but never demand. It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetime to truly practice. It is the secret to true love. To truly practice it, you must sincerely feel no expectations from those who you love, and yet offer an unconditional caring." Isaiah 41:13
For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the Lord, Who says to you, Fear not; I will help you. - You are not alone. - God is there for you, to take you by the hand. - Be encouraged - God will see you through. - Fear not, for God will help you. PRAYER: Lord, I place my hand in Yours today. Lead me and guide me and help me I pray. Amen. EK'T JOU GESOEK!
Innie suikerpot - omdat jy sweet is Innie museum - omdat jy kosbaar is By di Olimpiese Spele - omdat jy die beste is Maar ek't jou gekry by Jesus se voete - omdat jy Syne is! Sometimes God breaks our spirit to save our soul.
Sometimes He breaks our heart to make us whole. Sometimes God allows pain so we can be stronger. Sometimes God sends us failure so we can be humble. Sometimes God allows illness so we can take better care of ourselves. Sometimes God takes everything away from us so we can learn the value of everything He gave us. Plan, but understand that we only live by God's grace... Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need. Eph 6:18 How do I live in God's presence? How do I detect his unseen hand on my shoulder and his inaudible voice in my ear? … How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas: Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence. Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. Give God your whispering thoughts… Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. Give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Just Like Jesus (Max Lucado) Philippians 2:10
'At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth!' - His name is another powerful weapon in our arsenal. - When you don't know what to say, just say His name. - Call out to the Way, the Truth and the Life. - Speak out His name. PRAYER: Lord, I recognize that Your name is powerful. I speak Your name over my situation and circumstances and I call on Your name for all the help I need. Psalm 119:50
'This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.' - As believers we have the Word of God and it is a powerful tool. - It is a peculiar source of strength. - God's word is living and powerful. - His word can overcome the greatest hurdle. PRAYER: Lord, thank You that no matter what affliction I may be facing at this point in time, it is Your word that can bring me comfort and direction. Amen. Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. Luke 24:27
"When [the disciples] saw who he was, he disappeared. They said to each other, 'It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us'" (Luke 24:31-32). Don't you love that verse? They knew they had been with Jesus because of the fire within them. God reveals his will by setting a torch to your soul. He gave Jeremiah a fire for hard hearts. He gave Nehemiah a fire for a forgotten city. He set Abraham on fire for a land he'd never seen. He set Isaiah on fire with a vision he couldn't resist. Forty years of fruitless preaching didn't extinguish the fire of Noah… Mark it down: Jesus comes to set you on fire! He walks as a torch from heart to heart, warming the cold and thawing the chilled and stirring the ashes… He comes to purge infection and illuminate your direction. The Great House of God (Max Lucado) Quit giving your mind room to accept defeat. Quit talking about failure. Quit talking about defeat. Quit talking about how you can’t take this anymore. Get up and declare to your adversary, “It’s not over until I say it’s over, and it’s not over until I win.”
You may have to stand and tell the devil: speak out right now where you are, you need to hear yourself…come on! Say this aloud: “This is the last time you are going to torment me. This is the last sleepless night I will ever have in my life. This is the last time you are going to damage my marriage. This is the last time you are going to control my children. This is the last time you are going to steal my finances. This is the last time you are going to rob me of my good health. In the Name of Jesus I declare a state of war! I declare that according to the Word of the God of heaven and earth I am destined to succeed and win!” We need to start declaring war on the enemy (you might as well do so because the devil is never going to quit on you, harassing you doing what the Word says: stealing, killing and destroying John 10:10). We need to put on the armour of God and never take it off (Eph 6). We have to march into battle knowing that our victory has already been settled. It has been guaranteed. It has been written…”You shall win! You shall triumph!” The book of Psalm encourages us to: “…shout to the Lord with the voice of triumph…he shall subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet.” (Ps 47:1,3) The voice of triumph didn’t come after the subduing; it came first. You may be facing impossible and complicated situations, or be in a strenuous fight of faith (may be you lost your job, your marriage under stress, or financial lack), but believe in your heart that YOU ARE DESTINED TO WIN. Speak the promises of God from the Word continually out of your mouth regarding your circumstances, and you will see the battle shift in your favour. I have been serving God for over 30 years and I have never seen nor heard God say, “Well I don’t know about this…looks like you’re on your own on this one” no! never. God’s Word is the solution and always will be the solution to life’s problems. The Bible says, Jesus is the way, and believe me HE IS. You have been called up for a battle that has already been won. YOU ARE NOT DESTINED TO FAIL NOR BE DEFEATED. Rise up, my brother, rise up my sister, rise up my friend…it’s your time to stand with praise on your lips and reverence to your God , resist the devil, and you shall see the salvation of God overcome the enemy like never before. Come now! Take your stand against the enemy, speak the Word of God. Speak the promises of God upon your life. Take back what he has stolen from you and march forward. You were created to be a winner…you were created to overcome the world and defeat the enemy. YOU ARE DESTINED TO WIN…AMEN AND AMEN I became a Christian about the same time I became a Boy Scout and I made the assumption that God grades like the Boy Scout’s do…on a merit system. Good scouts move up. Good people go to heaven.
So, I worked toward the day when God, amid falling confetti and dancing cherubim, would drape my badge-laden sash across my chest and welcome me into his eternal kingdom where I would humbly display my badges for eternity. But some thorny questions surfaced. How many badges does He require? How good is good? Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Unearned. A gift. Our merits merit nothing. Let grace happen. Of all the things you must earn in life, God’s unending affection is not one of them. You have it! |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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