As jy iemand in die tyd van die Ou Testament per ongeluk doodgemaak het, het daardie mens se familie die reg gehad om jou dood te maak. Daarom het God ses "asielstede" aangewys, drie aan elke kant van die Jordaanrivier, sodat jy oral toegang tot God se genade en beskerming gehad het. Jy kon na een van daardie stede toe hardloop, vir die stad se ouderlinge vertel wat gebeur het, en hulle moes jou laat inkom. Die enigste voorwaarde was dat jy in daardie stad moes bly totdat die hoëpriester sterf. Wanneer dit gebeur het, kon jy na jou gesin terugkeer en alles terugkry wat jy verloor het. Kan jy 'n geestelike parallel hier raaksien? Jesus word "die Hoëpriester van die geloof wat ons bely" genoem (Heb. 3:1 NV). Wanneer jy by Hom gaan skuiling soek, hoef jy net jou sonde te bely. Jy word vergewe, gesien as 'n "nuwe skepping" en onder God se beskerming geplaas. Net soos wat die bloedverwant nie in die asielstad kon ingaan nie, kan satan ook nie oor die "bloedlyn" tree en jou seermaak nie. Toe Jesus op die kruis uitgeroep het "Dit is volbring!" (Joh. 19:30 NV), is al jou sondes ten volle betaal. En omdat Christus, jou Hoëpriester, gesterf het en weer opgestaan het, sal Hy alles wat jy verloor het as gevolg van die sonde se mag in jou lewe aan jou terugbesorg.
Sielskos: Eseg. 22-23; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 142; Spr. 19:21-23 MARK 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
God’s Word tells us that we can have what we ask for in prayer—by simply believing that we already have it! As you are praying, know that you already have your answer or breakthrough—“believe that you receive them”. The Bible also tells us that we already have whatever we are praying for because we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) And you are in Christ the moment you received Him as your Savior. So when you pray, you are actually releasing your faith to lay hold of what you already have in Christ. And as you keep saying that you already have it (Mark 11:23), you will see the manifestation of it in the natural realm. In one of our church camps, a church member shared about the back problem she had had for 15 years as a result of a fall from her rooftop. She needed an operation to help stop the shooting pains in her spine. She had also been taking anti-stress pills for five years. After coming to church, she realized that she had already received her healing through the finished work of Christ. Refusing the operation and even the pills, she would rebuke the pain which kept coming back, saying, “In Jesus, I believe I am healed. I am not trying or going to be healed. I am already healed. I have a brand new backbone for I am in Christ. As Christ is, so am I in this world.” It was not very long before this sister saw the manifestation of her healing. Sometimes, the symptoms of a sickness or lack may return and you think that you still have not received your blessing. That is the time to release your faith and declare that you already have it. You are not confessing to get it. You are confessing because you already have it in Christ! My friend, the Bible tells us that Christ is in us. (Colossians 1:27) This means that right now, your healing, wellness, family’s well-being and everything your heart desires are in you. So say, “I have everything I need in Christ right now!” Oh, the things we do to give gifts to those we love! Grownups in toy stores, dads in teen stores, wives in the tool department, and husbands in the purse department. We’re at our best in giving.
Have you ever wondered why God gives so much? We could exist on far less. He could have left the world flat and gray, we wouldn’t have known the difference. But He didn’t. He splashed orange in the sunrise and cast the sky in blue. If we give gifts to show our love, how much more would He? In Matthew 7:11, Jesus asked, “If you sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask Him?” God’s love came not wrapped in paper, but in passion. Not covered with ribbons, but sprinkled with blood. The gifts of the Cross! PROVERBS 4:20–22 My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
God has given us a sure way to receive the answers to our problems and challenges. It is His Word. Every answer or solution we need is found in the Bible. Yet, many Christians are not walking victoriously in certain areas of their lives. This is because the devil continuously wages a war of distraction against them. He has managed to take them away from the one thing that can bring them victory—the Word. He will do everything possible to prevent them from opening the Bible because he knows that the Word will deliver them. The distraction can be very subtle: A lot of things to get done, a lot of TV programs that interest you, or it may take the form of a big problem that makes you feel that you need to focus all your attention on it. The enemy knows that if he can get you to take your eyes off the Word of God, he can keep you from winning the battle. When you are going through a tough time, it is not enough to know that God’s answer to the problem is “somewhere in the Bible”. Find the scripture in which God has promised the solution. Meditate on it until the truth of that scripture is revealed to you. When you do this, no demon or devil can prevent that word from God from bearing fruit in your life. Even Jesus Himself used the Word to defeat the devil in the wilderness—“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) The way to defeat the enemy is with “It is written…” My friend, there is no substitute for the written Word. God tells us that we will find life and health if we give our attention to His Word and keep it in the midst of our hearts. So get into the Word and let God’s promises abide in you. And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing you will receive.
MATTHEW 21 : 22 DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER DOUBLE UP YOUR DETERMINATION Nothing in life that is worthy,is ever too hard to achieve. If you have the courage to try it, and you have the faith to believe. GALATIANS 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?... Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not. Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving. But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So if we go back to the above example, God wants to heal both the alcoholic and the nice elderly pianist. All they need to do is to receive by grace, or unmerited favor, through faith. You see, we cannot earn the blessings of God. We receive them by believing God’s love and grace toward us. If we receive the greatest blessing—salvation—by simply believing that Jesus did it all for us and not by working for it, what makes us think that the other lesser blessings can be obtained by our works? So if my daughter Jessica falls sick, I don’t go to the Father and say, “Father, heal my daughter because I am Pastor Joseph Prince and I preach healing to the people.” No, I go to Him by the blood of Jesus and say, “Father, I thank You that 2,000 years ago, Jesus bore Jessica’s sickness in His body. On that basis alone and by Your grace, I pronounce her healed in Jesus’ name.” When you simply believe that you receive your blessings based on Jesus’ finished work and by His grace alone, you will receive your blessings! INTRODUCTION
• Many people are facing challenges and issues in this day and age. • Just this week I have received over 1000 prayer requests detailing tremendous issues and obstacles. As I read these request my heart was stirred by the magnitude of the things people are facing. • Life is not always easy and often the battle can be more than we ever thought possible. • Perhaps you are in just such a position or perhaps you know someone going through something challenging right now. • Do you know how to cope with the challenge you are facing? • Do you know how to advise others and encourage them in the process? • The truth is we all face things in the course of life. • We must always remember that we live in two realms. The material world and the spiritual world. The visible realm and the invisible realm. • And God wants to bring us to a place of overwhelming victory and He wants us to be more than conquerors. SCRIPTURE READING Romans 8:35-37 ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ (NLB) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 1. OUR FAITH WALK CAN BE COMPARED TO..... • Our faith walk is not a mere stroll in the park, nor is it a bed of roses. • The Bible compares it to: 1. A Race – Hebrews 12:1 ‘And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ In the Amplified Bible it says: ‘and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us!’ The term RACE speaks of an athletic contest, but the Greek original is wider than this and it speaks of a ‘struggle in the soul’. The original Greek word is ‘agon’ and we get the English word agony from this word. We are given some keys in handling the race! We must run with PATIENT ENDURANCE. We must run with STEADY AND ACTIVE PERSISTANCE. We must run THE APPOINTED COURSE SET BEFORE US. We can’t and should not try to run someone else’s race. 2. A Building That Is Under Construction – 1 Corinthians 3:10 ‘By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.’ None of us are there yet. We are building and our lives can be compared to a building that is still under construction. We all would prefer the finished product. But GOD is not finished with us yet. I remember reading a quote some years ago and it said: ‘Be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet!’ Your life is a building that is still under construction. 3. A Fight – 1 Timothy 6:12 ‘Fight the good fight of the faith.’ Again the original Greek word for this term ‘fight’ is ‘agon’ meaning a struggle in the soul from which we get the English word agony or agonize. And we should handle the fight as one who recognizes that he has an adversary. It is not just a matter of the ‘road being steep’ but we have an adversary – the devil, and we must fight on. We must never surrender and we must never throw in the towel. Our faith walk can be compared to a fight. 4. A Wrestling Match – Ephesians 6:12 ‘We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.’ A wrestling match is a very intense picture of a struggle. God’s Word translation: ‘This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent.’Wrestling is a form of combat. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two (occasionally more) competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. God wants to give you and I the upper hand and we must realize we are in this fight and our battle is not against flesh and blood. The odds are much higher. Our faith walk can be compared to a wrestling match. 5. Our Faith Walk Is Warfare - 2 Timothy 2:3-4 ‘Take your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.’ The analogy the Bible uses is that we are soldiers. You and I are soldiers, soldiers of Christ. He is our commander and the battle is His. We can’t just coast through the challenges of life. Our faith walk is warfare and we are soldiers. There is a great old hymn with the following words: Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; forward into battle see His banners go! Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. 2. GOD'S PLAN - OVERWHELMING VICTORY • This is God’s plan for your life. • Your situation may look far from this, but God wants to bring you to this point. • Romans 8:35+37 ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ • (NLB) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. • What is a conqueror? • A conqueror is someone who overcomes. • It is someone who gains the upper hand. • It is someone who defeats that which would like to defeat him! • It is someone who prevails. • It is someone who is completely and overwhelmingly victorious. • This is God’s plan and purpose for you. 3. WE HAVE POWERFUL WEAPONS AT OUR DISPOSAL • We have not been left to fight the battle with no weapons. • God has given us what we need in order to stand firm and fight any onslaught that may come against us. • 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ • What are these weapons that we have access too? • 1. The Word Of God – Psalm 119:50 ‘This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.’ The old translation says: ‘Thy word hath quickened me.’ As believers we have the Word Of God and it is a powerful tool. As believers we have a peculiar source of strength. Others may think it strange, but God’s word is living and powerful and His word can overcome the greatest hurdle. The word quickened means to ‘make alive’. That is exactly what God wants to do for you and His Word is that powerful tool in your arsenal. Look to His Word, no matter what trial you may be facing, it will never fail you! Ralph Erskine said the following: ‘I can trust the words of God; but when they are the words of men, it costs me an effort to think whether I may trust to them.’ Charles Spurgeon said: ‘There is more in one divine sentence than in huge folios of human composition.’ Let your soul leap at the very sound of the Word of God. It is by every word of God that men and women are made to live and are kept alive. Feed on God’s word no matter what your fight may be. • 2. The Name Of Jesus – Philippians 2:10 ‘that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth!’ The name of Jesus is another weapon in our arsenal. His name is powerful. I recently heard a song with the following words: ‘When you don’t know what to say, just say Jesus!’ Just say Jesus! Just say Jesus! Call out to the Way, the Truth and the Life. Speak out His name. There is just one name! Acts 4:12 ‘No one else can save us. Indeed, we can be saved only by the power of the one named Jesus and not by any other person.’ • 3. The Blood Of Jesus – Revelation 12:11 ‘They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb!’ The original Greek word for the word we translate as ‘triumphed’ includes coming off victorious from the battle. To conquer, prevail and overcome. Apply the blood of Jesus to all areas of your life. There is another old song that captures this: ‘Oh, the blood of Jesus! x3 It washes white as snow. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. x2’ • 4. Our Confession – Romans 10:10 ‘For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.’ Watch what comes out of your mouth. Don’t allow negativity and doubt to come out of your mouth. Speak life, speak hope, speak purpose, speak His Word. Romans 10:9 ‘If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ What we say and our confession is vital. Proverbs 18:21 ‘The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.’ • 5. Praise and Worship – 2 Chronicles 20:22 ‘As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.’ Praise and worship is a powerful key to overcoming and conquering. You may say; but this is a silly thing to do? It may seem silly, but it is a powerful tool. When we praise and worship we focus on God and His greatness and the focus moves off our problems and challenges and sets us up for success. Get some good praise and worship cd’s and fill your heart and mind with it. If you can’t afford that, just take some of your favorite praise and worship songs or some of the great hymns and start singing them. Praise is most unconventional warfare. Get ready for a turnaround for your victory is in your praise. • 6. Prayer – Philippians 4:6 ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.’ Turn your worries and cares into prayer. When we pray, we open the door for God to come into our problems and situations and work on them. John Bunyan said the following: ‘Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God and a scourge for satan.’ Corrie Ten Boom, who survived the holocaust said the following: ‘Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.’ Arthur Hopkins: 'Our prayer and God’s mercy are like two buckets in a well; while one ascends, the other descends.' Psalm 107:28-30 ‘Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and He brought them to their desired haven.’ PRAYER Lord Jesus I acknowledge that You are my God. I submit myself to Your Lordship in my life – rule in my life Lord Jesus. And now, Satan and every evil spirit that is attacking me, I resist you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I refuse you access to my life, my body, my family, my finances, my mind and my possessions. All that I have and am belongs to Jesus, the Son of the living God. Satan I break any hold you have on me. I have been washed in the blood of Jesus and I declare that you have no authority or right over me. Jesus lives in me and greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. Satan, I cast you out of my life. I break any influence you may have had over me and declare you to be the loser. You are totally defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Flee in Jesus’ name. Thank you Jesus. Amen 2 Corinthians 2:14 ‘But I thank God, who always leads us in victory (triumph and Victory) because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It's like a fragrance that fills the air.’ By: Andrew W Roebert These notes may be shared with others HEBREWS 8:10,12 …I will put My laws in their mind…I will be their God… …I will be merciful to their unrighteousness…their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
You may be feeling stressed at work today because your boss just gave you a list of things to do. Maybe he told you, “You have to type this letter. You have to meet this client. You have to write this report. You have to…” Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss had, instead, said, “I will type this letter for you. I will meet this client for you. I will write this report for you. I will…”? Well, your boss may not be that gracious, but your Father in heaven is! When He found fault with the old covenant and established the new covenant (Hebrews 8:7–8) in His Son’s blood, His “Thou shalls” became “I wills”. You see, under the old covenant, the focus is on you--Thou shall not…Thou shall not…Thou shall not…It is all about your performance, your obedience, your works. But under the new covenant, God says, “I will put My laws in their mind…I will be their God…I will be merciful to their unrighteousness…their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is no longer you working for God, but God working for you, in you, through you! “Isn’t there something for me to do?” you may ask. My friend, the only thing for you to do is to believe God’s “I wills”. The more you believe His “I wills” or promises, the more you will see His heart for you and the more your faith will grow. It is foolish for me to just tell you, “Come on, man, have faith!” You will still find it hard to have faith because I am not giving you anything to build faith in you. But if I were to tell you all about what God says He will do for you, faith will arise in your heart. Faith is a response to knowing what God says He will do for you. So the best thing you can “do” under the new covenant is to not focus on what you must do for God, but what God says He will do for you! "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalm 51:17
Are you struggling with a life-crisis caused by a personal character flaw, indiscretion, or misstep? Consider the mess Moses got himself into. At age 39, Moses was at the apex of society, of status, of wealth, of educational pedigree, as the adopted son of the most prominent man in the world - Pharaoh. He was at the pinnacle of all society. And then he murdered an Egyptian he saw beating a slave. He buried the body and thought he had gotten away with it. But Moses was exposed the next day and had to flee for his life in the wilderness. Moses went from high society to desert nomad within just a day. And you're talking about a drastic change in everything about his life. Moses probably felt like his life was over and thought there was no chance for him ever again doing anything of significance. But even though what Moses did was evil and wrong, God did not abandon him. God took Moses' evil and turned it into a means for good by preparing him for the challenge of his life - calling on Pharaoh to release all the Hebrew slaves. Perhaps you can relate to what Moses went through. No matter how bad your fall or how serious your character flaw or how much difficulty you face in life - don't give up. Turn to the Lord with trust and let God do something powerful in your life. Let God develop all the Godly attributes that He wants you to have in your life. Just like He did for Moses, God still has great plans for your life! He humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross. Philippians 2:8
When human hands fastened the divine hands to a cross with spikes, it wasn't the soldiers who held the hands of Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. Those same hands that formed the oceans and built the mountains. Those same hands that designed the dawn and crafted each cloud. Those same hands that blueprinted one incredible plan for you and me. Take a stroll out to the hill. Out to Calvary. Out to the cross where, with holy blood, the hand that placed you on the planet wrote the promise, "God would give up his only Son before he'd give up on you." Six Hours One Friday (Max Lucado) |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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