May 2017 - The Word for Today
What do you want to achieve in life? Years from now, when you’re looking back over your life, how will you measure how successful you’ve been in achieving it? A lot of the time, the world’s usual measure of success is something like how much money you’ve managed to make, or the possessions you own. But that doesn’t really match up with God’s idea of success. God isn’t opposed to us acquiring and achieving things in life. But He wants us to know that this life can only offer us so much, and unless we live each day in the light of eternity, we’re going to waste our time on the wrong things. It’s okay to enjoy temporal things, as long as our main focus is on eternal things. Matthew 6:24 reminds us of this: ‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money’ (NIV). Anything that takes our focus away from God is going to end up harming us at some point. Paul said: ‘My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God’ (Acts 20:24 NLT). What do you feel God’s calling you to achieve, for Him? Today, let’s re-focus on fulfilling the assignment He’s given each of us here on earth. Let our measure of success be hearing God say to us, ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23 NIV).
One day a man was talking to an angel. The angel said, “What can I do for you?” The man said, “Show me the Wall Street Journal one year from today. This way, I’ll know where to invest my money and become a multimillionaire.” So the angel snapped his fingers and out came a Wall Street Journal dated one year in the future. The man flipped the pages of the newspaper, studying the listings and observing which stocks would be high and which ones would be low. But in the midst of his joy, tears began to roll down his cheeks. Why? Because when he looked over the obituary column, there was his face. God is not opposed to you acquiring and achieving things in life. But He wants you to know that this life can only offer so much, and unless you live each day in the light of eternity, you’re going to waste your time on the wrong things. It’s okay to enjoy temporal things, as long as your main focus is on eternal things. Paul said: “My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (Acts 20:24 NLT). In the UK if you live to be one hundred, you may receive a “Congratulations” telegram from Buckingham Palace, signed by the Queen of England herself. But it doesn’t compare to the “well done” you’ll receive from God for fulfilling the assignment He has given you here on earth.
Fokus op dit wat waarlik saak maak
Lukas 12:15 NLV
Eendag het ‘n man met ‘n engel gepraat. Die engel het gevra, ‘Wat kan ek vir jou doen?’ Die man het geantwoord, ‘Wys my die Wall Street Journal ‘n jaar van nou af. Dan sal ek weet hoe om my geld te belê en ‘n multimiljoenêr word.’ Die engel het sy vingers geklap en vir die man ‘n Wall Street Journal van een jaar in die toekoms gegee. Die man het deur die koerant geblaai en noukeurig bestudeer watter aandele gaan styg en watter gaan val. Te midde van sy vreugde, het trane egter oor sy wange begin rol. Hoekom? Omdat hy sy eie gesig in die kolom van die doodsberigte raakgesien het. God is nie daarteen gekant dat jy besittings het en sukses in die lewe behaal nie. Hy wil egter hê dat jy moet weet dat hierdie lewe jou net soveel kan bied en tensy jy nie elke dag in die lig van die ewigheid lewe nie, sal jy jou tyd op die verkeerde goed mors. Jy mag die tydelike dinge geniet, solank as wat jou fokus op die ewige dinge bly. Paulus het gesê, ‘Al is my lewe kosbaar, ag ek dit van geen waarde as ek nie my lewenstaak en my bediening wat ek van die Here Jesus gekry het, kan klaarmaak nie: om die Goeie Nuus te verkondig dat God mense liefhet sonder dat hulle iets hoef te doen om dit te verdien’ (Handelinge 20:24 NLV). As jy in Brittanje ‘n honderd jaar oud word, mag jy dalk ‘n telegram van gelukwensing van die koningin af kry. Dit beteken egter niks teenoor die ‘Welgedaan’ wat jy van God sal ontvang wanneer jy sy opdrag vir jou, hier op aarde vervul het nie.
When God redeems you, He owns you. And what He owns, He protects! This is illustrated in the story of Belshazzar. The Bible says: “King Belshazzar held a great feast for his one thousand nobles…heady with the wine, [he] ordered that the gold and silver chalices his father Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from God’s Temple of Jerusalem be brought in so that he and his nobles, his wives and concubines, could drink from them” (Daniel 5:1-2 TM). Now, if they’d just abused some worthless old cup it might not have mattered, but God valued these sacred vessels too much to let them be mishandled. So out of the invisible sleeve of the night, the finger of God wrote the fate of Belshazzar on his palace walls. “That same night…Belshazzar was murdered… Darius the Mede succeeded him” (vv. 30-31 TM). As a redeemed child of God, here’s an unchanging principle you can stand on: “He permitted no man to do them wrong… saying, ‘Do not touch My anointed ones'” (1 Chronicles 16:21-22 NKJV). You may have to fight on foreign soil, work at home in a difficult situation, or endure hardship for your faith. But you can be sure of one thing – God has too much invested in you to let you be destroyed. And any time Satan tries, God will interrupt his party and say, “This vessel is off limits – it took Me too long to teach this woman to pray…I’ve invested too many years training this man how to overcome…They’ve endured too much for My name’s sake for Me to let you harm them. Take your hands off them; they’re Mine!”
Jy behoort aan God
Jesaja 43:1 NLV
Wanneer God jou verlos, besit Hy jou en Hy beskerm sy besittings! Dit word deur die verhaal van Belsasar geïllustreer. Die Bybel sê: ‘Koning Belsasar het vir 1 000 van sy vooraanstaande amptenare ‘n groot fees gehou… Terwyl Belsasar so aan die drink was, het hy beveel dat die goue en silwer voorwerpe wat sy voorganger Nebukadnesar uit die tempel van Jerusalem verwyder het, daarnatoe gebring word. Die koning wou saam met sy vooraanstaande amptenare, sy vroue en sy byvroue daaruit drink’ (Daniël 5:1-2 NLV). As hulle net ‘n waardelose koppie so misbruik het, sou dit nie saak gemaak het nie, maar God het hierdie heilige voorwerpe te veel waardeer om hulle so te laat misbruik. Dus het die vinger van God in die nag die noodlot van Belsasar op die paleismure geskryf. ‘Daardie selfde nag nog is Belsasar die koning van die Babiloniërs doodgemaak’ (vers 30 NLV). As ‘n verloste kind van God, is daar ‘n onveranderde beginsel waarop jy kan staan: ‘Hy het nie toegelaat dat iemand hulle verdruk nie. Hy het konings oor hulle gewaarsku: ‘Moenie vat aan my gesalfdes nie’…’ (1 Kronieke 16:21-22 NLV). Jy mag dalk by die huis aan ‘n moeilike situasie moet werk, of teenspoed oor jou geloof ervaar. Jy kan egter van een ding seker wees – God het te veel in jou belê om toe te laat dat jy vernietig word. Wanneer Satan dit probeer, sal God hom onderbreek en sê, ‘Hierdie mense mag nie aan geraak word nie – dit het My te lank gevat om hierdie vrou te leer om te bid… Ek het te veel jare spandeer om hierdie man op te lei om sy probleme te oorkom… Hulle het te veel vir my naam verduur. Haal jou hande van hulle af; hulle is Myne!’