In 'n wêreld wat buite beheer is, sal ons hou van 'n god wat ons kan beheer: iemand wat ons kan seën, in ons behoeftes kan voorsien en vir ons raad kan gee. Amper soos 'n god in 'n boksie. Maar as dit by Christus kom, werk geen boksie nie. Sy tydgenote het Hom in verskeie boksies probeer plaas, maar Hy het nie in een van hulle gepas nie. Hulle het Hom 'n oproermaker genoem, maar Hy het belasting betaal. Hulle het Hom 'n skrynwerker genoem, maar Hy het geleerdes verwar. Hy was 'n Jood wat heidene na Hom toe aangetrek het; 'n Rabbi wat opgegee het op sinagoges; 'n Heilige Man wat met prostitute gepraat het. Hy het gepraat soos 'n koning, maar gelewe soos 'n pelgrim. Ons kan Jesus ook nie inperk deur Hom te probeer definieer nie. "Wysheid begin met die dien van die Here; wie die Here ken, het werklik insig." (Spr. 9:7 NV). Die meeste van ons vrese is ongesond. Hulle weerhou ons van vrede en blydskap. Om die Here te vrees, het egter die teenoorgestelde uitwerking. 'n Skrywer sê: "Daar niks neuroties daaraan om God te vrees nie. Die neurotiese optrede is om nie bang te wees nie, of om vir die verkeerde ding bang te wees. Dis hoekom God Homself aan ons bekend maak; sodat ons kan ophou om vir die verkeerde ding bang te wees. Wanneer ons verstaan wat God wil hê ons moet verstaan, ervaar ons 'n verandering in ons vrese. 'n Vrees vir God is 'n nederige besef dat ons nie God is nie."
Sielekos: 2 Kron. 29-31; Luk 17:20-37; Ps 119:137-144; Spr. 22:11-13 When our oldest daughter was two, I lost her in a department store. I panicked! All of a sudden only one thing mattered—I had to find Jenna. Shopping was forgotten. The list of things I came to get was unimportant. I yelled her name. What people thought didn’t matter. Every ounce of energy had one goal: to find my lost child. I did, by the way. She was hiding behind some jackets.
No price is too high for a parent to pay to redeem his child. No energy is too great. No effort too demanding. A parent will go to any length to find his or her own. So will God. Mark it down. God’s greatest creation is not the flung stars or the gorged canyons. It’s his eternal plan to reach his children. Heaven and earth know no greater passion than God’s personal passion for you and your return! ADDRESS:
Heaven Rev 21:3-4 FEATURES: Prime River of life front Rev 22 Many rooms with a master suite John 14:2 Spacious love John 3:16-18 and Rom 8:38-39 Open floor plan for peace Psalm 23 Large eat-in grace 2Cor 12:9 Fenced in mercy with room for expansion Rom 3:21-27 Sun room with a marvellous view of salvation Rom 10:9-10 Out of this world security Psalm 91 + Psalm121:3-4 Pearly gates Rev21:21-27 Peaseful Area John 14:27 DIRECTIONS: The only way to the Father is through the Son John 14:6 PRICE: R0.00 - Calvary - Owner financing 1 Cor 6:19-20 COMMUNITY: Friendly angelic neighbours. Col1:16 Great family and friends. Eph 3:14-20 Praise the Lord all day and night.Ps 100 BONUS: Crown of stars, new luxurious robe and golden slippers with matching wings. Bring a friend and get a reward. For more information, call your local agent or representative - Name, address and phone number listed below. NAME: Jesus Christ ADDRESS: Repent Highway and Streets of Gold PHONE: Dial John 3:16 When Satan comes knocking at your door just simply say "Jesus will you get that for me?" I have in my hands two boxes
Which God gave me to hold. He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black box And all your joys in the gold." I heeded His words, and in the two boxes Both my joys and sorrows I stored. But though the gold became heavier each day The black was as light as before. With curiosity, I opened the black, I wanted to find out why, And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole Which my sorrows had fallen out by. I showed the hole to God, and mused, "I wonder where my sorrows could be." He smiled a gentle smile and said, "My child, they're all here with me." I asked God why He gave me the boxes, Why the gold and the black with the hole? "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings, the black is for you to let go." If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.
If you forget me, one of the ways I remember who I am will be gone. If you forget me, part of who I am will be gone. Your life and my life flow into each other as wave flows into wave, and unless there is peace and joy and freedom for you, there can be no real peace or joy or freedom for me. To see reality--not as we expect it to be but as it is--is to see that unless we live for each other and in and through each other, we do not really live very satisfactorily; that there can really be life only where there really is, in just this sense, love. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" - Proverbs 13:20
There is a clear connection between the quality of life we live, and the type of friends we choose. We have all heard the old idiom that goes, "Birds of a feather flock together." Another way of putting this is eagles fly with eagles, and turkeys trot with turkeys. While association in the animal kingdom may be set by its fur and feathers, man is afforded a higher option. In other words, you can choose the sort of people you want to associate with; the kind of people you want to be around. But realize this – those you spend your time with will shape your thoughts, your character, and your future. Choose wisely. Solomon said, "Stop being gullible. Leave the company of foolish people, and live. Follow the way of knowledge; walk in the way of insight and understanding." (Proverbs 9:7, pastor's paraphrase). Paul echoes this in the New Testament. "Don't fool yourselves," he writes, "Bad friends will destroy you. If you hang around and associate with evil people, your good character will become corrupted and your good morals depraved. Don't let anyone deceive you about this. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people. Wicked friends lead to evil ends" (1Corinthians 15:33, pastor's paraphrase). In other words: Spend time with losers, and you will become a loser. Spend time with a godly man or woman, and you will become godly. So, who are you spending time with these days? And, here's an inescapable question — If someone spent time with you, what kind of person would they become? Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. To handle yourself, use your head; To handle others, use your heart. Anger is only one letter short of danger. If someone betrays you once, it is his fault; If he betrays you twice, it is your fault. Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. He who loses money, loses much; He, who loses a friend, loses much more; He, who loses faith, loses all. Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, But beautiful old people are works of art. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. Friends, you and me…. You brought another friend…. And then there were three. We started our group…. Our circle of friends…. And like that circle…. There is no beginning or end.. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift." I was speaking at a youth conference, and we all had breakfast in the
cafeteria together. And then when we got together for our morning session I said, "Now, I want you guys to imagine that somebody who was at breakfast with us comes in the room and his cheeks are all puffy and you ask him what's wrong, and he just goes, "uh...uh... uh..." And you go, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Here's a piece of paper." And you give him a piece of paper and he writes down, "I'm starved." Now I ask him, "Did you eat breakfast?" "Uh-huh." "And you're still hungry?" "Uh-huh." And then I would ask him, "Did you swallow it?" "Huh-uh." "Oh, maybe that's why you're still hungry." See, it isn't enough just to ingest your food; you've got to swallow it for it to do anything for you. Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Swallowing What You Eat." Now, our word for today from the Word of God is in Joshua 1:8. And you might say it's about spiritual eating and spiritual digestion, because ingestion is not enough to satisfy your appetite. Ingesting food is not enough to nourish you. Joshua 1:8 puts it this way in the biblical formula for personal success. It says this, "Do not let this book of the law (the Bible) depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night." In other words, be saturated with the Bible. Take a Bible bath. You should be in it day and night, really knowing what it's saying. But listen, it says, "So that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Did you catch those words "careful to do"? It doesn't say, "I want you to read the Bible to just know what it says." I want you to read the Bible to do what it says. The purpose of being in God's Word is to memorize it, meditate on it, but then to do what you read. In other words, until the Bible gets into your real life; until you've found a change you're going to make because of what you've read, all you've done is sort of take it in, kind of hold it in your mouth spiritually, but it's not in your system. So when you study the Bible, if you're going to read it to do something, that means before you close the Bible each morning when you're with the Lord, you say, "Lord, help me make a connection to something I'm going to face today." Always make that connection between what you're reading and what your life is doing right now. So, if you're reading about loving your brother, you say, "Okay, which brother am I having a hard time loving?" Okay, "Love your Ralph." Or whoever's the hard guy to love. If it's talking about patience, you say, "Let's see, who do I need to be more patient with right now? Okay, Lord, help me be more patient with my Mom, or my wife." If it's talking about temptation, then you say, "Which temptation am I facing right now?" And you put that temptation into the verse. So if it says, "Do not let sin control your body." Then which sin? Okay, so you put in there, "Do not let gossip control your body (the one you struggle with, whatever it is)." For example, in James 1. Let's try this. You're reading the book of James, and it says, "Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds." Now if you're just ingesting, you'd kind of go, "Today I read about trials." Now, wait a minute. No, no! Which trial are you facing right now?" You go, "Oh, man, my boss!" Or you might say if you're married, "My in-laws." Okay, then make it in the verse, "Whenever you face trials of many kinds (with your boss), (with your in-laws) because you know that the testing of your faith (by your boss), (your in-laws) develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Now, that verse could just be about trials in general, or it could be about someone or something you're facing today. When you make that connection, you begin to swallow what you're eating. God's got a lot of fat children who've never put into use what they're reading. Every day ask yourself the question, "What am I going to do because of what I read?" And once you do that and start to make those changes, you are well on your way to an exciting new you; one day, one change at a time. Hey, don't be content to just ingest the Bible, digest it. That's the only way you grow. If you can disappoint yourself as much as you love yourself and you still manage to disappoint yourself then why are you shocked when other people that you love disappoint you.
Isn't it funny how God will let you be at the right place at the right time with the right people to get what you want from the Lord. Nobody wants somebody who wants them for what they have or the position they're in--you want somebody who wants you for you. In case it all goes crazy and it all turns to dust. I want somebody who loves me in the welfare line, eating gumbo, eating fish,black eyed peas and rice. I want somebody that loves me. God wants you to love him, not his cars, not his house, not his blessing--love him. I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your Word. Psalm 119:147
My eyes fluttered open, but the room was still dark. It was too early to get up. I sighed, adjusted my pillow, and hoped for sleep. Unfortunately, a lengthy to-do list bombarded my brain. I needed to buy groceries, deliver a meal to a friend, answer e-mail, schedule a doctor’s appointment . . . . If you’ve ever been overwhelmed and worried, you know how it feels to stare at the ceiling when you should be sleeping. The writer of Psalm 119 was no stranger to this experience. He wrote, “I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your Word” (v.147). God’s Word delivered special comfort during the psalmist’s sleepless nights. Although he couldn’t make his problems disappear, he said, “My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your Word” (v.148). At night he reviewed God’s Word over and over in his mind. He concentrated on Scripture rather than his concerns. This practice allowed him to proclaim, “Oh, how I love Your law!” (v.97). When worry wakes you up, remember, “The Word of God is living and powerful” (Heb. 4:12). Select a passage and mull it over. Our cares cannot compete with God’s Word! |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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