Romans 8:37Yet in ALL these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

- God wants you to experience victory in all areas of your life.
- We all face battles.
- There must be a battle if there is going to be a victory.
- But God wants to see us through and give us victory!

CHALLENGE: Trust Him this week and live in victory!

Ever watch a food commercial on television and suddenly feel hungry? That's the power of suggestion. Whatever can grab your attention can capture you. Simply repeating, 'I must stop drinking, or smoking, or overeating, or lusting,' doesn't work because it just keeps you thinking about what you don't want. Instead of trying to remove those thoughts, replace them. Once your focus is on something good, evil begins to lose its grip. Only by reprogramming your mind can you keep it centred on the right things. The Bible says: 'Don't let evil get the upper hand but conquer evil by doing good' (Romans 12:21 TLB). Satan can't get and keep your attention when your mind is given to something else. That's why Paul writes: '...Fill your minds with...good...' (Philippians 4:8 GNT). Fighting a thought is futile; it only strengthens the connection between you and it. By dwelling on it you actually reinforce it. Hit the remote; change the channel! Furthermore, you don't overcome temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it engages and draws you. Turn your attention to something better! Your mind is where the battle is won or lost. Start managing your mind and monitoring your media intake. The Bible says, 'Your life is shaped by your thoughts.' The Psalmist prayed, 'Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless...' (Psalm 119:37 GNT). Is this easy to do? No, it takes discipline and practice. But with time, and God's grace, you can change the way you think and overcome temptation.

Soul Food: Hosea 6-10; Matt 27:11-26; Ps 25:1-7; Pr 9:17-18

He felt sorry for them and healed those who were sick. Matthew 14:14

Matthew writes that Jesus "healed their sick." Not some of their sick. Not the righteous among the sick. Not the deserving among the sick. But "the sick."

Surely, among the many thousands, there were a few people unworthy of good health. The same divinity that gave Jesus the power to heal also gave him the power to perceive… I wonder if Jesus was tempted to say to the bigot, "Get out of here, buddy, and take your arrogance with you."

And he could see not only their past, he could see their future.

Undoubtedly, there were those in the multitude who would use their newfound health to hurt others. Jesus released tongues that would someday curse. He gave sight to eyes that would lust. He healed hands that would kill…

Each time Jesus healed, he had to overlook the future and the past.

Something, by the way, that he still does.            

In the Eye of the Storm (Max Lucado)

When you’re in the manufacturing industry, you have to make sure that the rules of the business are strictly adhered to. At the factory where I worked, for example, there was a waiting period of five days for manufacturing. If you order today, Sir/Madam, the product will be ready in five days. Then the line runs well and all you hear is a soft drone back in the factory.

But time and again a client phones, very nervous. He had forgotten to order and if we can’t deliver tomorrow or the next day, the builders won’t have anything to do and his boss will go for him. Please, please help. And because we feel sorry for him, we put his order first in line. Ag, one small order like that won’t actually influence the other clients’ deliveries, or does it?

Tomorrow another client phones with the same request and we help him as well. Before long all these clients that we help so readily keep “forgetting” to order, but they aren’t worried, because they know we’ll help them out. Now the ripple has become a wave and the results are catastrophic: the factory is working under pressure all the time. Orders aren’t completed in time, maintenance of equipment is postoned and cancelled. And you can mention many such examples.

Was this forseen when we helped the first guy? No, certainly not, but slowly we taught our clients and ourselves a culture that affected the factory’s optimum running. Slowly, without us realising it, without us meaning to, we allowed ourselves to break our own rules and step by step chaos crept in.

So it goes in all parts of our lives. If we allow our rules to be bent piece by piece, soon we’ll realise not much is left over of our original way of life. This is also true in our spiritual life, because we allow small things to creep into our lives, small things that aren’t so bad at first, grey things, and the ripple effect isn’t really that bad. But before we know it, these ripples become waves and we are knocked off the road. This also goes for things we know we should be doing, but slipped up doing and yes, there might even have been a good reason. However, it was so easy to skip that little piece of responsibility that the next time it just happened easier and before I know it, I fall asleep on the couch and do not even smell the coffee.

Maybe Peter is standing before you with a stop sign today: Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. “These qualities” refer to the preceding prayer in which Peter showed us that we have to do the right things, know God, have self-control, stand firmly in our faith, glorify God’s Name, and serve and help other people.

These are the rules for being a Christian. These are the minimum standards if you wan to be a child of God. If we allow ourselves to drop just one standard a little bit, we allow our vision of Christ to dim a little. The relationship that I have with Jesus, weakens a little bit. Before I know it, like with a factory’s manufacturing line, I unconsciously allowed non-compliance with my minimum standards and soon everything is way off track. Then comes the question: “Where is God?” stopping me in my tracks at a crossroad in my spiritual life.

Just come to a standstill at Peter’s stop sign for a while, here at the crossroads, and make sure that you are not becoming blind to the small things that you are allowing into your life more and more. It can push you off the road. Find out whether there are things that you did in the past with a lot of joy that are now no longer so visible in your spiritual life. Take the frogs out of the pipe. Clean up. Start again. Open your eyes and live according to the minimum standards again. This is God’s will for you today.

Reflection

Where have you started being blind to God’s will?

What do you think are God’s minimum standards for you?

What are you going to do about it?

John 15:4

'Take care to live in Me, and let Me live in you!'

- Stay connected to your Saviour.
- Don't allow anything to bring a separation between you and God.
- Abide in, remain in and hold fast to Him.
- He is the source of everything you long for and need.

PRAYER: Lord, come and live in Me. May You find a home within my heart and help me to stay connected and close to You. Amen.

“You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it!” (see Col 2:6-7, The Message).

The way in, is the way on. The same faith and courage, love and surrender, trust and obedience it took for us to take our first fledgling steps in becoming followers of Jesus — is the same way we continue following Him through all the ups and downs, ins and out, tunnels and hills, on the byways and highways of this thing called Life.
 
The Bible assures us that we have been given everything we need to not only go the distance, but to make a meaningful difference along the way. “He by His own power has given to us everything we need to live a truly good life, a life that pleases Him” (see 2 Peter 1:3).
 
The straight talk about the faith walk comes down to this — “School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it!”
 
Reading a manual on sky-diving is not the same as jumping out of the plane. In the same manner, reading and studying the Bible is not the same as living the dynamic life of faith which it celebrates on its pages. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only,” we are told.
 
When we “get with the program” our lives become the best advertisement for the authenticity of Christ’s Message anywhere. And once we see the effects of grace extending through us to others, our lives spill over into thanksgiving — sometimes like Niagara Falls!

Kom ons vra vindag vir jesus om ons teen Sy boesem vas te druk en alles wat ons so moeg en oorlaai laat voel in sy hande te laat en laat hom in beheer oor alles.

Geniet dit

Kom rus 'n bietjie hier in My teenwoordigheid­­­­. Kom vertel my wat dit is wat die trane vandag so in jou oë laat blink. Jy dink niemand sien die hartseer raak nie, maar My kind, weet jy dan nie dat Ek jou ken voor jy uit die moederskoot gekom het nie. Ek ken jou omstandighede, Ek verstaan die seer, Ek sien die rustelose rondrol as die nagstilte om jou vou, daarom wil Ek hê jy moet eers 'n rukkie hier by My voete kom sit en rus vind.

Jy veg so teen omstandighede wat jy nie kan verander nie, maar Ek kan.

Jy stoei met finansies wat nie wil balanseer nie, maar vra My ek kan dit vir jou doen.

Die kinders lyk asof hulle buite beheer is, maar het jy al die probleem met My bespreek.

Die huwelik se pilare wat krake in het, onthou ek is die Meester bouer.

Ek wil nie hê dat jy sulke swaar laste moet dra nie, Jy is my kosbare kind, die een vir wie Ek my lewe afgelê het. En net soos wat jy enige iets vir jou kinders sal doen, sal Ek enige iets doen om weer vreugde liggies in jou oë te sien blink.

Ek het vandag 'n begeerte om jou teen My boesem vas te druk, om saggies met jou te praat, en vir jou te sê, My uitnodiging staan nog: Kom na My toe as jy moeg en oorlaai is, Ek gee jou rus. Raak rustig, raak kalm, en los jou laste net hier by My voete, ek sal sorg, en al wat jy moet doen is om My te loof en te eer. Jy is geskape sodat Ek my in jou kan verlustig, en nou hou jou laste jou weg van My af.

Ek vee nou al jou trane af, en ek neem al jou laste weg; Vertrou My net en laat die res aan My oor.

Ek het jou lief met 'n ewige liefde, 'n liefde wat nooit vergaan nie, 'n liefde wat soos die oseaan 'n begin het, maar jy nie die einde daarvan kan sien nie. Jy is My kosbare kind, hou My hand styf vas en weet Ek het beheer oorgeneem.