“While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream.” (Mat 1:20, The Message)
The Bible tells us that Joseph, the Nazarene carpenter engaged to Mary, was a noble man. Chagrined by the shocking discovery that Mary was pregnant, he sought to handle the matter with discretion, so as not to bring shame to Mary, or her family. And while he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. And that dream changed the world. While the challenges you may be facing in these tumultuous days may not register on the same historic scale with Joseph’s dilemma, nevertheless it is still true that God often speaks to troubled men in their dreams — showing them what to do. The Book of Job tells us, “For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword” (Job 33:14-18, NIV). Ask God to speak to you in a dream. Sometimes it’s the only way He can get through all of our whirling thoughts and emotions, bypassing our natural disposition to debate what He is saying or doing in our waking lives. Before you close your eyes in sleep tonight, pray the words of Solomon, “I sleep, but my heart is awake, listening for the voice of my Beloved!” (Son 5:2). You just might awake to a new day in the middle of the night! W. A. Criswell vertel dat voor enige steen by St. Paul's-katedraal gelê is, het Sir Christopher Wren dit in sy geestesoog gesien. Voor hy die marmer gebeitel het, kon Michelangelo vir Moses daarin waarneem. Waarom verbaas dit ons dan dat die Ontwerper van die heelal 'n plan en doel met Sy skepping gehad het? Die Psalmdigter sê: 'U het my aanmekaargeweef in die skoot van my moeder' (Psalm 139:13 NV). Voordat jy selfs verwek is, het God alles oorweeg wat jou lewe kan raak, insluitend: '...tye en omstandighede [wat] verander...' (Daniel 2:21 NV), besluite van politieke leiers (Spreuke 21:1), en hoeveel jy sal hê (Lukas 12:7). Dink hieroor na as jy 'n slegte dag beleef. Dr. Robert Jeffress sê: 'God se ontwerp sluit nie slegs omstandighede buite jou beheer in nie, maar die wat volgens jou onder beheer is. Jy mag dink jy bestuur jou tyd, die pad werktoe, die goed wat jy in die supermark koop, maar die Here besluit wat 'n mens sal doen (Spreuke 20:24 NV). Al jou keuses! As jy gebore is uit twee hormoongedrewe tieners se voorhuweIikse verhouding of selfs uit 'n verkragting, sou jy nog reken dit was 'n ongeluk, nadat jy Psalm 139 gelees het? Op 'n manier het God die morele val van ander gebruik om Sy plan te volvoer. En as Hy ander mense se foute ten goede kan gebruik, waarom is ons verbaas as Hy ons foute kan gebruik vir Sy oogmerke? Dis 'n verbysterende gedagte wat hoop bied vir diegene wat gefaal het.' Sielskos: 2 Kron 12-15; Luk 20:1-8; Ps 142; Spr 19:21-23 Your heart will be where your treasure is. Mat 6:21 The most powerful life is the most simple life. The most powerful life is the life that knows where it's going, that knows where the source of strength is, and the life that stays free of clutter and happenstance and hurriedness. Being busy is not a sin. Jesus was busy. Paul was busy. Peter was busy. Nothing of significance is achieved without effort and hard work and weariness. Being busy, in and of itself, is not a sin. But being busy in an endless pursuit of things that leave us empty and hollow and broken inside—that cannot be pleasing to God. One source of man's weariness is the pursuit of things that can never satisfy; but which one of us has not been caught up in that pursuit at some time in our life? Our passions, possessions, and pride—these are all dead things. When we try to get life out of dead things, the result is only weariness and dissatisfaction. Walking with the Savior (Max Lucado) Being lead by the spirit does not mean we never make mistakes. The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes but we do. Start stepping out in what you believe is God's heart for your life. If you do not see fruit step back and pray more.Prov 28:1The wicked will flee when no man pursues them, but the uncompromisingly righteous are bold as a lion.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Galatians 4 : 6
Have you ever realized that God was never known as “Father” until Jesus came to earth and revealed Him as such? In His prayer to His Father, Jesus said, “And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26) What name was Jesus referring to? It was the name “Father”. If there was anything close to Jesus’ heart, it was to introduce God as “Father” to us. In the Bible, Jesus said, “Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’… For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:31–32) Once, He said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) Jesus wants you to always have this image of God in your mind — that He is your Abba, Father. Why? Because He wants you to know that there is nothing more important or too insignificant for the Father when it comes to His children. Imagine a father playing with his five-year-old son, when he notices a splinter embedded in his little boy’s thumb. The concerned father asks, “When did you get this?” “A few days ago,” the boy answers. “Why didn’t you tell Daddy about it?” “I thought you were too busy and that I shouldn’t bother you.” If you were that father, wouldn’t it break your heart to hear your child say this to you? A splinter in one’s thumb may be a small thing, but there is nothing too small when it concerns your child because if it affects him, it affects you too. Now, no matter how old you are today, you are still God’s child, so don’t think that your problem is too small for God. If it is important to you, it is important to your Father too. Beloved, always remember that He is your Abba, Father! God's LOVE is: JESUS, and JESUS is LORD ! “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again...”(Proverbs 24:16, NIV)
Life is full of things that try to push us down. We all face disappointments and setbacks. Maybe you received some bad news about your health or perhaps a relationship didn’t work out. That was a setback. It’s easy to get discouraged or lose your enthusiasm or even be tempted to just settle where you are. But if we’re going to see God’s best, we have to have a “bounce-back” mentality. That means when you get knocked down, you don’t stay down. You get back up again. You have to know that every time adversity comes against you, it’s a setup for a comeback! Remember, as a believer in Jesus, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives on the inside of you. There is no challenge too difficult, no obstacle too high, no sickness, no disappointment, no person, nothing that can keep you from your God-given destiny. If you stay in faith, then God will turn what was meant to be a stumbling block into a stepping stone, and you’ll move forward in strength, full of faith and victory! Father, thank You for setting me up for success in everything I do. I choose to trust and rely on You knowing that Your plans are for my good. I know my best days are ahead of me and look ahead to the blessings You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen. JOHN 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: When God made man, the Bible says that God crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5) The word “crowned” here means to encompass or to surround like a glorious circle. The glory of God was therefore man’s clothing. In other words, Adam’s whole being was gloriously radiant.
When man sinned against God, he forfeited the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) But when Jesus Christ was born, the glory of God came down. (Luke 2:9) And many years later, Jesus, before He died, said to His Father, “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” So the glory of God which man forfeited has now been restored to him because Jesus has come. When He died on the cross, He took our shame, gave us His righteousness and restored the glory of God to us. But what exactly is the glory of God? Doxa, the Greek word for “glory” here, means having a good opinion concerning one that results in praise, honor and glory. This means that in restoring to us His glory, God wants us to have the sense that we are praiseworthy, honorable and glorious because of His constant good opinion of us! Beloved, because God’s glory is on you, there is a weightiness about you. People don’t know why, but their spirits are lifted when they are in your presence. There is something about you that impacts them even if they have only been with you for a short while. When you talk, they listen because there is substance in what you say. Also, because God’s glory is on you, you can expect it to touch every aspect of your life—your finances, relationships, work and health. Your body, for example, will glow with divine health. So my friend, because Jesus has come and restored the glory of God to you, be conscious of God’s constant good opinion of you. Know that there is a weightiness about you and arise, shine! “He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].”(Isaiah 40:29, AMP)
In the Bible, Joseph went through seasons of difficulty. He was rejected by his family, sold into slavery, lied about, mistreated, abandoned, falsely accused and thrown in jail. But through it all, Joseph never gave up. He kept pressing through and doing the right thing even though the wrong thing kept happening. The Bible says in Psalm 105 verse 18 that as Joseph lay in prison in those chains of iron, his soul entered into that iron. In other words, as Joseph just kept on fighting life through, his soul became as strong as that steel. God developed a supernatural strength in him that no one could take away. If you are going through difficulty today, God wants to increase your strength. He wants to increase your power to overcome. He wants to make your inner man as strong as steel. When you keep standing, keep believing, keep doing the right thing, you are opening yourself to God’s supernatural strength. That’s when you know you are growing in Him. Be strong today. Keep pressing forward because God is at work increasing strength in you so that you can live in victory in every area of your life! Father in heaven, today I surrender every difficulty to You. I release the questions, hurts and frustrations. I choose to trust You and do the right thing. Increase Your strength in me so that I can live in the victory You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen. Success at all cost. Becoming a legend in one’s own time. Climbing the ladder. King of the mountain. Top of the heap. We call it blind ambition!
We make heroes out of people who are ambitious. We hold them up as models for our kids. And rightly so, for this world would be in bad shape without people who dream of touching the heavens. Ambition is a gift in the soul which creates disenchantment with the ordinary. But left unchecked it becomes an insatiable addiction to power and prestige. The husband who feeds his career with twelve-hour days, the social-conscious mother who never misses a chance to serve on a committee. “It’s all for a good cause,” she fools herself. Blind ambition. Distorted values. God won’t tolerate it. Blind ambition is a giant step away from God and a step closer to catastrophe! |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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