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Month: September 2016

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Waarheidsoomblik met minderwaardigheid

Waarheidsoomblik met minderwaardigheid

superior-inferior

Die groot vrae en soeke in die lewe:

  • Sosiale erkenning en waarde
  • Aanvaarding en liefde.
  • Sin en betekenis van die lewe.

Indien ‘n persoon nie wesenlike antwoorde op hierdie vrae kry nie lei dit tot

  • Jaloesie of selfbejammering.
  • Verwaandheid, ydelheid en leegheid.
  • Liggeraaktheid en onsekerheid.  “Easily offended” – gou op sy perdjie.
  • Twyfelagtige en onvastige bestaan.
  • Onvergenoegdheid en leegheid.
  • Minderwaardigheid  So ‘n persoon loop rond met ‘n reuse vakuum en lugleegte in hulle binnekant wat hulle dan op allerhande maniere probeer vul.

Ons lewe in ʼn wêreld van intimidasie.  Verskillende vorme van intimidasie:

  • Vergelyk jouself met ander in terme van geld, besittings, kennis, vermoëns, skoonheid, geestelikheid, en persoonlikheid.
  • Intimidasie gebaseer op ras, geslag, ouderdom, of ʼn sekere portuurgroep.
  • Kultuur en groepsintimidasie.
  • Tradisies en religieuse sisteme kan intimiderend wees.
  • Elke ware kind van God wat vir waarheid staan en nie meer saam met die stroom loop nie beleef vorme van intimidasie.
  • ʼn Kerk soos Harvester en sy manier van aanbidding en prediking kan intimiderend wees.
  • Die duiwel intimideer ons deur op ons sondes te fokus.  Deur sonde verloor ons, ons vrymoedigheid voor God en sy mense.
  • Elkeen van ons het verskillende swakhede en defekte, waaroor ons skaam en selfbewus is.  Ons kan derhalwe gou geïntimideer word, omdat ons nie graag van onsself ʼn gek wil maak nie.
  • Intimidasie in die werksplek is ʼn werklikheid.
  • Intimidasie wat daartoe lei dat jy nie met vrymoedigheid kan praat en jou saak stel nie, is nie van die Here nie.  Jy kan niks daaraan doen dat iemand probeer om jou te intimideer nie, maar jy kan besluit om nie in te gee nie!

DAAROM: steek ons, ons swakhede weg. Ons plak vyeblare, en soek verskonings. Ons kruip weg en verdoesel die waarheid.  We hide our shame! Ons kompenseer vir ons gebreke, deur ‘n valse lewe te leef.

  • Grootsheidwaan
  • Fantasie lewe
  • Valse mikpunte
  • Valse spesialis
  • Vereenselwig wet Wenners

So sien ons dat Saul ook gesukkel het met minderwaardigheid, toe hy hoor hoe juig die vroue oor Dawid se suksesse. (1 Samuel 18:1-7) Daarom wou hy ook vir Dawid doodmaak.  Die man wat bo al die ander uitgestaan het! Die eerste Koning van Israel was onseker oor homself, daarom raadpleeg hy Samuel en soek sy aanvaarding, uiteindelik raadpleeg hy die waarsêer.  As gevolg van die leegheid in sy binneste voel hy gou bedreig, hy is suspisieus, besluitloos en rigtingloos.  Niks kan hierdie leegheid vul nie, nie eers rykdom of mag.

Sommige mense verlang dat ‘n persoon hierdie leegheid vul.  Maar die skrif sê dat dit beter is om op die Here te vertrou as op mense (Psalm 118:8-9) want in hierdie lewe gaan ons verseker herhaaldelik te na gekom word en teleurgestel word deur mense. (Lukas 17:1) Moenie eers jou vertroue in jou familie en naasbestaandes plaas nie. (Miga 7:5-7)

Op watse fondament is jou huis gebou?  (Matteus 7:26) Geld, besittings, mag, posisie, vermoëns: Dit kan alles in ‘n oomblik van jou weggeneem word en dan?

Net die liefde van die Here kan hierdie leegheid vul. Hoor hoe praat die bruid van Salomo oor haar geliefde.  “Ek is bruin gebrand maar ek is mooi, vroue van Jerusalem. Ek is so bruin soos die tente van Kedar, soos die tentdoeke van Salomo. Moet my nie so aankyk omdat ek donker is nie, omdat die son my gebrand het nie: my broers het my so bruin laat brand, hulle het my die wingerde laat oppas; ek kon my eie wingerd, myself, nie versorg nie. (Hooglied 1:5-6) Sy moes verseker geïntimideer gevoel het tussen al die mooi meisies van die koningshof, tog styg sy bo dit uit. Hoekom? Want sy het geweet sy het die Koning se hart gewen!  Hy het haar gekies! Die man wat ek liefhet, is myne, en ek syne. (Hooglied 2:16) Salomo is ook nie skaam om sy bruid vir almal te wys, en ook hoe lief hy haar het nie.  Hy is nie skaam vir ons nie en is nie bang om in die openbaar saam met ons gesien te word nie. Hy wil met ons geassosieer word.  Hy vat my na ’n feesplek toe; hy straal van liefde vir my. (Hooglied 2:4)

So het God ons ook lief, en is Sy liefde ons sekuriteit en teenmiddel teen intimidasie.  Die evangelie is die goeie en blye nuus, dat Hy ons liefhet en Sy lewe vir ons afgelê het.  (Joh 3:16) Baie mense vra egter; “hoe weet ek dat hy MY regtig liefhet?” Paulus gee vir ons ʼn barometer van liefde in 1 Korintiërs 13:4-8  Die eerste bewyse van iemand se liefde is geduld.  Is God geduldig met jou?  Is God sagmoedig met jou? Wel daar is jou bewys! Lees gerus deur die hele gedeelte en toets God aan Sy liefde vir jou.

Die Here jou God is by jou, Hy, die krygsman wat red. Hy is vol vreugde oor jou, Hy is stil-tevrede in sy liefde. Hy jubel en juig oor jou: (Zephania 3:17)

Van ver af het die Here Hom aan Israel bekend gemaak: Ek het jou nog altyd liefgehad, daarom het Ek jou met geduld verdra. (Jeremiah 31:3)

Omdat jy vir My kosbaar is, omdat Ek jou hoog ag en jou liefhet, gee Ek mense in jou plek, volke in ruil vir jou lewe. (Isaiah 43:4)

Hy self was die engel wat hulle gered het. Hy het hulle verlos deur sy liefde en ontferming; Hy het hulle opgetel en hulle altyd gedra. (Isaiah 63:9)

Ek dank God dat ons nie die enigste mense is wat gesukkel het met intimidasie nie.  Dawid het maar ook gesukkel.  “Maar ek is ’n wurm en geen man nie, ’n smaad van die mense en verag deur die volk.” (Psalms 22:7) Later verander sy perspektief en hy verklaar: Ek loof U, omdat ek so vreeslik wonderbaar is; wonderbaar is u werke! En my siel weet dit alte goed. 15My gebeente was vir U nie verborge toe ek in die geheim gemaak is nie, kunstig geweef in die dieptes van die aarde. 16U oë het my ongevormde klomp gesien; en in u boek is hulle almal opgeskrywe: dae dat alles bepaal was, toe nog geeneen van hulle daar was nie. (Psalms 139:14-16)

Uiteindelik bou ek my selfvertroue (confidence) nie op wat ek doen en is nie. Ek kyk en fokus op die perfekte werk wat Jesus gedoen het. My legitimacy, rightness, confidence is based on/in Him. Hierdie geloof in Hom, bemagtig my om die onmoontlike te doen.  Die para-olimpiese spele toonbeeld mense wat ten spyte van ‘n fisiese gebrek, oefen en meeding op internasionale vlak!  ‘EK IS TOT ALLES INSTAAT DEUR CHRISTUS WAT MY DIE KRAG GEE’ Ek kon nooit skool toe gaan nie, met Sy hulp gaan ek terug skool toe, en kry my matriek sertifikaat.  God gaan dit nie vir jou doen nie, Hy wil dit deur jou doen.  Ons oorwin minderwaardigheid in die waarheidsoomblik met Jesus. Die vrou by die put se lewe is ontbloot voor Hom, en tog is sy nie daardeur geintimideer nie. Sy kry egter haar skeppingsdoel, en gaan vertel die mense wie sy ontmoet het. Sy word die instrument wat redding bring aan haar hele gemeenskap.  Wanneer ons voor Hom staan, staan ons naak en onbeskaamd.  Soos ons gehoorsaamheid leer in ons swaarkry, ontdek ons wie ons is, om die outeur te word van ons storie, sodat ander daardeur ook lewe kan ontdek. Heb 5:8

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Oorwin die laagtes in jou lewe!

Oorwin die laagtes in jou lewe

Conquer your lowland

So the Lord was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron. Judg 1:19 “Die Here was by Juda, en hulle het die Bergland in besit geneem. Maar Juda kon nie die inwoners van die Vlakte verslaan en hulle stede verower nie, want hulle het yster strydwaens gehad.”  Judah se roeping en “destiny” is om te regeer. Gen 49:8-12 Hy was bestem om al sy vyande te oorwin, en tog as gevolg van een nederlaag, gee hy moed op en neem nie hierdie land in beslag nie.  Daar is areas in ons lewens, waar ons nie in oorwinning lewe nie, omdat die vyand sterker wapens het.  Die Here was met Judah, maar hy kon nie die gebied inneem oor hierdie baie wettige en wesenlike probleem. Die vraag is, kon Judah nie ook leer om strydswaens van yster te vervaardig nie? Hoekom net hierdie probleem aanvaar asof dit nou maar net so is, en niks verder daaraan doen nie?

Daar is sekere areas in ons lewens waar ons gevange gehou word en beperk word deur wesenlike weerstand, maar God is met ons, Hy het bedoel dat ons die vlaktes “lowlands” in besit neem, nou word ons net tot die bergagtige gebied beperk.

Elke mens het ‘n wettige verskoning om iets nie te doen nie.  Baie verskonings: legally, realities Luk 14:16-2 Die een het ‘n os gekoop, die ander ‘n vrou getrou, en die ander het ‘n stuk lang gekoop. Wettige verskonings om nie die fees by te woon nie.

Ons is maar as mens altyd bang om ‘n nuwe vaardigheid aan te leer. ‘n kind aanvaar ‘n 50% punt vir wiskunde, ek is nie goed met somme nie, die onderwyser is moeilik en pik op my, die onderwyser verduidelik swak… Alles dalk wesenlike verskonings, maar beteken dit nou dat jy moet dit nou maar aanvaar? Ek kan nie swem nie, daarom gaan ek nie in water in nie… Daar het ‘n opposisie reg oorkant ons winkel oop gemaak daarom…

Terwyl ons onlangs in Uganda bedoen het, hoor jy die talle “challenges”:

Bv. Droogte in ‘n hoë reënval tropiese gebied – Feitlik geen besproeing word gebruik nie.

Grond is gefragmenteer – Hoekom werk julle nie saam in Kooperasies nie?

Elke groot uitvindsel van die 21ste eeu, was eertyds ‘n reuse probleem.

Words spelled out in the 18th Olympics in 1964 in Tokyo “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle, the essential thing is to have fought well”.

•George Stephenson spent fifteen years to perfect the locomotive.

•Watts worked for thirty years on the condensing engine    

•Charles Goodyear spent ten years of study, poverty and public ridicule.

William Wilberforce early became enflamed with the idea of stopping the slave trade and slavery in England. He succeeded in becoming a member of Parliament. Goaded by William Pitt, he spoke often against slavery and the slave trade but suffered repeated defeats in Parliament. In 1807 he persuaded his colleagues to ban the slave trade. Not until 1833 did both houses of Parliament finally abolish slavery in Britain. The news of total victory came to Wilberforce on his deathbed. He was motivated in his life’s career by an idea whose time finally came.

“Our men were not braver than the enemy. They were brave five minutes longer” (attributed to Lord Wellington after the great victory won over Napoleon at Waterloo).

Edison did not give up when his first efforts to find an effective filament for the carbon incandescent lamp failed. He did countless experiments with countless kinds of materials. As each failed, he would toss it out the window. The pile reached to the second story of his house. Then he sent men to China, Japan, South America, Asia, Jamaica, Ceylon and Burma in search of fibres and grasses to be tested in his laboratory. One weary day on October 21, 1879—after 13 months of repeated failures—he succeeded in his search for a filament that would stand the stress of electric current. This was how it happened:

 

 

 

 

 

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How not to loose your Identity in Christ

How not to loose your Identity in Christ

We fail in life when we forget who we are in Christ. We forget who we really are, and because of our mistaken identity we fall into sin and error. This is actually the root of the word sin, mistaken identity. The Greek word for sin is “hamartia” which literally means “to miss the mark”. When you look up the word mark in any dictionary it has the following meaning: identity, blueprint, to make you mark, signature, consciousness.
Jesus had no sin, why? He knew who He was, and He never forgot or gave up who He was. Even when he was still a young boy he explained to His earthly parents why he remained behind in the temple; “do you not know that I’m busy with My Father’s business.” (luk 2:49) This is such in contrast with most of our teenagers today, who suffer an identity crisis, and conform so easily to the images of the world. Jesus’ struggle was never to understand or believe who he was, it was getting people to believe who He was. (John 6:28-29; Mat 16:15)
We are sons and co-heirs with Christ, a holy priesthood, seated in heavenly places, more than conquerors, set apart, sanctified, justified, righteous, well accepted and loved by God our Father. We have great boldness through the Spirit working it in us, to call the Creator of the universe “Dad”!
And raised us up together, and MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS (Ephesians 2:6)
To the praise of the glory of His grace, by WHICH HE HAS MADE US ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. (Ephesians 1:6)
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:1) Yet in all these THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM who loved us. (Romans 8:3)
IN HIM ALSO We Have Obtained An Inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (Ephesians 1:11)
But now IN CHRIST JESUS YOU WHO ONCE WERE FAR OFF HAVE BEEN BROUGHT NEAR by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)
Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)
Now thanks be to God who ALWAYS LEADS US IN TRIUMPH IN CHRIST, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Therefore, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
For YOU ARE ALL SONS OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS.(Galatians 3:26)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST, (Ephesians 1:3)
For we are His workmanship, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
The curse of work, is not work itself. “In toil you shall eat of it” & “in the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread” Gen 3:17-18. God gave Adam & Eve work to do before they sinned. “Subdue the earth, multiply and be fruitful” Gen 1:28 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. Gen 2:15 and later to give all the animals their names. Gen 2:19. We say “rest in peace” when someone has died, because we think there is no one working in heaven. Working and being productive is enjoyable. Many people when they retire, work harder than ever, now having time for their passions. Work is not a curse, loosing your identity, and continue work without purpose is the curse. Adam & Eve did not realize they were already made in God’s image. They did not have to eat of the fruit to be like God. Gen 3:5-6 But to satisfy their immediate fleshly needs, they missed their purpose and identity. The root of sin – missing the mark, mistaken identity. Esau selling his birthright. Gen 25:32; Heb 12:16
We recognize our true identity when we discover and see Jesus face to face. When one turns to Him, the veil is removed. 2 Cor 3:14. As we continue to look at Him, we are changed and restored to our true identity. 2 Cor 3:18 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Heb 12:1 our lives are hidden in Him Col 3:2 because we were made, destined, fore-ordained to be like Jesus. Rom 8:29.
Reasons why we loose our Identity in Him.
1) False beliefs. We have not heard the truth. We believe the lies of what we have been told and experienced over years. Know the truth Joh 8:32
2) Why do we forget so easily who we are? But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25) The word must become flesh in our lives.
3) We do not know how to feed our Spirit, Soul and flesh. Luk 12:16-31 The man did not know what his soul required. Like feeding your wood table some marmight. Jesus offered spiritual water to the women at the well. Joh 4. He knew how to feed himself in the Word, when satan tried to test Him with bread. Mat 4:4
Our body: Food, sleep, exercise,
Our soul: Connections, growth in learning something new, accomplishing and being fruitful to help someone.
Spirit: Encounters with the Word & Spirit, winning souls, hearing God’s voice.