HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU PRAYED THIS PRAYER? “Father God, is it okay for me to ask again for your help to get me through another challenging time in my life? Your will, not mine. In Jesus name. Amen. And immediately, I song from long ago, comes to my mind: YESTERDAY Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as though theyre here to stay Oh, I believe in yesterday Suddenly, Im not half the man I used to be Theres a shadow hanging over me. Oh, I yesterday came suddenly Why she had to go I dont know she wouldnt say I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play Now I need a place to hide away Oh, I believe in yesterday Why she had to go I dont know she wouldnt say I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play Now I need a place to hide away Oh, I believe in yesterday Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm I have a wonderful friend who walked through a very difficult period in her life. She had several crisis situations, and we often prayed together about them. She saw God break in and work on her behalf time and again. She saw breakthrough in situations that were seemingly impossible. If I look at her life, I see the faithfulness of God over and over. That is her testimony, and that is what God wants to do for us. He is an ever present help in time of need. WE JUST NEED TO ASK. Jesus talked about the kingdom of heaven and compared it to something of great value. He told the parable of a man who found a treasure buried in a field. He went and sold everything he had and bought that field. Jesus said here that if you find the kingdom of heaven, you find the best treasure of all (Matthew 13:44). After more than twenty years of following Jesus, there is no doubt in my mind – to find Jesus, to walk in relationship with God and learn about God’s kingdom principles, exceeds every earthly treasure you could ever have. My experience has been that in life people will hurt you, disappoint you, and not always treat you fairly. What has kept me time and again was my personal relationship with Jesus. He is more important to me than anything else. When I get hurt or am disappointed, I run to Jesus. HE IS MY SAVE HAVEN. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10) Jesus reinforced the parable abouth the kingdom of heaven with a second parable about a merchant seeking a pearl. When the merchant found this very precious pearl, he sold everything he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45 -46). In both situations, the people went and sold everything they had to buy the treasure or the pearl. Jesus said the same thing to the rich man when the man asked him how he can enter the kingdom of heaven (Mark 10:21-23). FOLLOWING JESUS WITH A WHOLE HEART WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING. This doesn’t mean that the we should not own anything; it means our possessions should not be our idols or stand in the way of our following God wholeheartedly. In 1999, we left our home country of South Africa to move to the USA. We downsized until everything we owned fit into a few suitcases. The first few months in the USA, I realized it woud be very easy to just pack up and follow God wherever He led, because we had nothing that tied us down. Eventually we settled down, bought a house, and filled it. Around 2006, I went through a test about earthly possessions again. Our permanent residence status was taking a long time to come though, our visas were expiring, and I wondered what we would do if we had to go back to South Africa. That whole week I was looking at the furniture we accumulated and thought about what I would take and what I would leave. By the end of the week, I knew that if that happened, we would leave the country with a few suitcases. None of our possessions were so valuable that I felt like I had to take them with me. When I got to the point that I released everything we owned, our paperwork came through. It is very freeing if our earthly stuff doesn’t have a hold on us. JESUS WANTS TO BE LORD OVER EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES. Hermie Reynolds ~DISCOVERING GOD So lief het God die wêreld gehad. (Joh3:11-21) Luister baie mooi. Ons praat nie oor dinge wat vir ons vreemd of onbekend is of waarvan ons niks weet nie. Nee, wanneer ons nou met soveel sekerheid hieroor praat, is dit omdat ons dit self gesien het. Nogtans aanvaar julle nie wat Ek vir julle sê nie. Nou ja, as julle nie wil luister wanneer Ek praat oor dinge wat hier onder ons gebeur nie, hoe sal julle My dan nog glo wanneer Ek vir julle van die dieper geestelike dinge vertel? Immers, daar is niemand wat al opgevaar het die hemel in nie, behalwe Een. Dit is juis Hy wat uit die hemel afgekom het: die Seun van die mens. Soos Moses destyds in die woestyn die slang bo-op n houtpaal gesit het, so moet die Seun van die mens ook hoog teen n kruis opgelig word, sodat elkeen wat Hom gelowig aanvaar en vertrou, vir ewig en altyd kan leef. God het bewys hoe lief Hy die wêreld het. Hy het sy unieke Seun na die wêreld toe gestuur sodat elkeen wat in hierdie Seun glo, nie verlore sal gaan nie, maar vir altyd saam met God kan leef. God het nie die Seun na die wêreld toe gestuur om net vir almal te kom sê hoe sleg hulle is nie. Nee, Hy het Hom gestuur sodat die mense wat sleg was weer by God kon uitkom. Dit is soos n hofsaak. Elkeen wat dus in geloof vir Hom ja sê, is deur God vrygespreek. Aan die anderkant klink die oordeelswoorde nou reeds oor dié wat die Seun nie gelowig aanvaar nie. JULLE IS SKULDIG, WANT JULLE DRAAI JULLE RUG VIR DIE UNIEKE SEUN VAN GOD! Hoe die dinge in die hofsaak werk, kan so verduidelik word: Jesus het as die Goddelike Lig in hierdie wêreld kom skyn. Die mense het egter meer daarvan gehou om in die donker te leef as in die lig. En daar was goeie rede daarvoor: hulle dade en optrede was net n onheilige en slegte gekonkel. Daarom doen hulle die dinge in die donker, want hulle is bang dat almal gaan sien hoe sleg hulle dade regtig is. Daarom hou mense wat sulke slegte dinge doen, niks van die lig nie en hardloop daarvoor weg. As die t wat iemand doen, egter goed en sinvol is soos God dit bedoel het om te wees, hardloop hy juis na die lig toe. Hy het mos niks om weg te steek nie. Almal sal duidelik kan sien uit die dinge wat hy doen, dat hy iemand is wat aan God se kant staan en aan wie se kant God ook is. ~DIE BOODSKAP Die Bybel in Hedendaagse Afrikaans Skrywers: Jan van der Watt en Stephan Joubert
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 13:39:53 +0000
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