What Does A Closed Door Mean?

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7, 8 NLT   

It’s exciting to know that God has open doors for us. We know what open doors mean. It means an answer to our prayers, breakthrough, long-awaited promises coming to pass and so many other amazing things. But I want to go deeper as we talk about open doors. Because when a door is open it’s another sign that God is leading and guiding us and that’s great to know. But what about closed doors? What do they mean for us?

There needs to be a mind shift when it comes to how we view closed doors. For the longest time there has been a negative connotation connected to closed doors, but closed doors are not an accident. I recently heard a statement that really spoke to me regarding closed doors. It actually changed the way I thought about closed doors. The statement was,

“If God didn’t close doors, we wouldn’t know which ones to go through.”

I know, the statement seems so obvious, and it is but at the same time so profound. When God closes a door it’s another way He leads and guides us. He doesn’t just close a door and leave you standing there wondering what next? He has a better door for you to go through and closing a door is the way He insures you walk into the best that He has for you. And I know, closed doors are difficult. It’s not easy because we had an idea of what we wanted, and that open door would get us there, but God is in total control of your life, and He loves you so much. He wants you to have the best of what He has for you. God has amazing doors He wants you to walk through and to get through them all He will have to close a few of them. Like I said, it’s a mind shift we need to adopt. The truth is that a closed door is not a bad thing.

“Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Holy Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, Come over to Macedonia and help us! So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.”

Acts 16:6-10 NLT

Closed doors for Paul and Silas weren’t a bad thing. God wanted them to preach the Good News in Macedonia and the way He directed them to the right place was by closing some doors. God’s plan was made very clear because of the closed doors. So, you may have some doors closed on you and are thinking that God is being mean, but He isn’t. He is directing your steps to something better. Don’t be afraid when He closes doors. He is making your path clearer. God opens doors and closes doors. And the motive behind doing that is love, goodness and faithfulness. Armed with that truth you can come to a place where you have such a trust in God, that you are so confident that He is directing your steps. If a door closes and you don’t get your way don’t get upset. The door didn’t close by accident. God closed it on purpose and what God closes we shouldn’t want open. God is so good and wants you to have only the best.

Bless you friends

Rolain

In Jesus We Have Newness

“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:5 ESV

Are you expecting new things in your life? Your past may have been horrible, and you thought that defined how your future would be like, but I want to tell you that God has something new for you. Don’t settle for the old. Instead trust Him for the new. And the best news is that God gave us something new in His Son Jesus. Because we have Jesus, we MUST expect the new. God is constantly doing new things through Christ who is our Saviour. He wants to make things new in or lives. In scripture, we see that so clearly.  When He was on this earth, He was constantly doing new things in the lives of people. There was a woman in the bible who was suffered with an illness for a really long time.

“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

Mark 5:25 ESV

Her life was filled with sickness before Jesus came. Twelve years is long time. And no matter what she tried the illness remained and would probably have been permanent if Jesus didn’t show up. But when He showed up, He did a new thing in her life. He healed her of her illness.

“She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well. And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”

Mark 5:27-29 ESV

And that’s just one story. There are so many other stories where Jesus was doing new things. Because of Jesus, we can expect the new. It takes faith to walk into the new that He has for you. The woman with the issue of blood heard the reports about Jesus and believed that He could heal her. She was tired of dealing with her sickness and she stepped out in faith and went to Jesus and got her healing. We need to go to Jesus for the new things He has for us. We need to trust Him to do something new because He has declared and promised it. He loves you and cares for you. So, embrace the new things He has in store for you.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:18, 19 ESV

Bless you friends

Rolain

It Is Finished!

Happy Resurrection to you friends!

I know, it’s been a while, like a really long while! I had decided to take a break after Christmas and was waiting for the right time to start writing here again. And that time has come. It’s so good to be back. A lot has been happening and I am really excited for what God is doing.

Today is so special, so significant. It’s our day of power. It’s a time of completion because what Jesus did on the cross marked the completion of His plan – to rescue us from the devil. We once were not a people. We were lost and we were in darkness. We were in a prison, and we didn’t even know it. We thought the darkness was normal. The enemy stole and destroyed so much in our lives with the intention to kill. He stole our joy, our peace, our purpose and so many other things before we accepted Christ into our lives. He had free reign. We were slaves and were powerless to do anything. But Jesus changed all that.

Because of what He did on the cross, He freed us from the devil. He turned our lives around in such a miraculous way. We didn’t save ourselves, He did. He chose us, we didn’t choose Him. He broke the chains that bound us and freed us from the grip of the enemy. He changed the course of our life from darkness to light, from death to life. The old has gone and new has come. We are free. And there is something else I have been meditating on that I would like to share with you.

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John 19:30 ESV

It is finished!

 As I look at my life there are a lot of unfinished things. Unfinished in the sense of prayers unanswered, desires that have not been met yet, broken relationships that need to be repaired, wrongs that are still to be dealt with, breakthroughs that need to happen, and the list goes on. What are some of the unfinished things in your life? What are you trusting God to come through for you in this season? Some of those unfinished things take time to finish and we need to be patient. In the right time God will finish it. He will bring to pass what He has promised you. But you need to wait on Him.

Know that because of what Jesus did on the cross those unfinished things in your and my life will be finished! That’s the good news we can hold on and the good news this day brings. This is a great opportunity for you to make some decisions and to declare some things over yourself. It’s time to hope again, to be expectant. There is a lot to be excited for. God is so good! This is a day of power for us so let’s maximize it as much as we can.

It’s so good to be back.

God bless you friends!

Rolain

Even When It’s Hard, Hold On To God’s Promises!

Even when it’s hard and God’s promises to you seem impossible and out of reach, keep holding on.
Keep trusting God.
He will surely come through for you and fulfill what He promised

I read a story in the bible this week that encouraged me of this truth that I would like to share with you.

And it’s the story of Isaac and Rebekah.

God brought them together in such an amazing way (read the story in Genesis 24). And as Rebekah was about to leave her family to be with Isaac they gave her a powerful blessing,

“So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him.”

Genesis 24:59, 60 ESV

But there was one “tiny”problem – she was barren (Genesis 25:21). And I am sure her family knew she was barren but that didn’t stop them from declaring she would have children!

But isn’t that how God works?

God is all about doing the impossible. He could have easily have given Isaac a woman who could have children but He didn’t. I believe it’s because He wanted Isaac and Rebekah’s faith to grow and to show them how powerful He was.

And we always need to remember that, God’s promises can only be obtained by faith and nothing else.

“And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.”

Genesis 25:21 ESV

Isaac trusted God and that’s why he prayed. They never gave up trusting God for a child even in the midst of Rebekah’s barreness and the long season of waiting. Yes, it took a long time for the promise t come to pass.

When Isaac married Rebekah, he was forty years old (Genesis 25:20). And by the time they had children, Isaac was sixty years old,

“Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.”

So for twenty years, give or take, Isaac prayed for a child. Isaac and Rebekah held on to God’s promise for twenty years and they received what God promised!

No matter how hard things are, or how impossible the fulfillment of the promise seems at the moment, you need to keep holding on to God. Keep on believing that God will fulfill what He has promised. Don’t give up. Keep praying and hoping. God is faithful and He is good and He will bring to pass what He has promised you.

That’s my encouragement to you today friends. I will see you next week.

God bless you

Rolain

A Word In The Wilderness

No matter how hopeless your circumstances seem to be, you need to make sure you hold on to what God has promised you. Even when you can’t see a way out, this is not the time to give up and quit but to continue believing that God will come through for you. Because it’s in the difficult times when it’s easy to listen to the negative voices. But God fulfilling His promises in your life are not dependent on whether your circumstances are good enough. Even when your circumstances look bad, God can breakthrough for you.

David was in a really bad place after Samuel had anointed him king. He was on the run from Saul who was trying to kill him. David had to run away to the the wilderness.

David now stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and in the hill country of Ziph. Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.

1 Samuel 23: 14 NLT

Here was the future king of Israel on the run from Saul in the wilderness. It must have been a challenging time. But David did not give up because his circumstances seemed hopeless. In the wilderness, God was with David

“Saul hunted him day after day, but God didn’t let Saul find him.”

And Jonathan his friend came to him and encouraged him in the desert,

Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.” So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.”

1 Samuel 23:16-18 NLT

Even though the circumstances were really bad, David and Jonathan would not let them dictate their faith in God. David never let go of his faith in God. So as I read this story I was so encouraged. No matter how dead, and hopeless your circumstances seem, don’t give up. Hold on to the promises God made to you because He will bring them to pass. And that’s what happened to David. God did fulfill His promises to David. God is faithful and we can trust Him.

So no matter what you are facing today, keep on holding to your faith in God. No matter how bad things seem to be right now, they will change for the better because God is with you. Don’t give up. Keep trusting God.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God Is Stronger Than Your Past

You may have had a difficult past and all you feel is hopelessness, fear, and shame. Because of your past you think life will not get better for you or you think you don’t deserve a better life because of your past.

Whatever the case I want to remind you that God is stronger than your past. He knows what happened to you or what you did in the past but He still loves you. He has chosen you. You are His child. Don’t believe the lie that says your life cannot get any better because of your past. Don’t let your past determine what your future will be like.

Because God has chosen you, there is a reason to be excited. God has forgiven you and He wants to free you from the chains of your past. Just let Him in. I think of Esther who had a difficult past. She had no father and mother. I can only imagine the rejection, and loneliness she felt. But thank God she had Mordecai (Esther 1).

But even in those difficult circumstances, God had amazing plans for her. He used her to deliver His people. God chose Esther even though she didn’t have parents. We see clearly through the life of Esther that God was so much stronger than her past and it’s the same for you. God is stronger than your past.

Bring your past to Him. Know that He loves you and cares for you and has amazing plans for your life even though your past hasn’t been great. Trust Him friend and always remember that God is stronger than your past.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God’s Promises Are Stronger Than Facts

As God has given you promises you need to remember that His promises for your life are stronger than the facts that come your way. No matter how difficult your circumstances are and how impossible things seem, know that God has got you. Choose faith over the facts because the facts can shout so loud and tell you why the promise won’t come to pass but you must not listen to them. Trust God instead.

The Israelites were faced with the same thing. God promised them a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17) but when they arrived to the land God promised they chose to believe the facts instead of trusting God. They didn’t believe that God’s promises for them were stronger than the facts before them.

“But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!” But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”

Numbers 13:30 NLT

The saw the facts and believed them and threw away the promise God had given them. If only they knew that God’s promises were stronger than the facts, then the giants that were before them.

Abraham was another man who had to choose to trust God over the facts that were before him. Sarah was not able to have children and then to add to that they were getting old. They eventually got old waiting for the promise but Abraham never gave up trusting God. He chose to trust God over the facts that he was faced with.

“And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead-so was Sarah’s womb.

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”

Romans 4:19-21 NLT

Abraham didn’t try to ignore the facts. He acknowledged them but chose to trust God. he knew God would come through for him. He knew that God would fulfil what He promised him.

And we need to learn from that example too. Even though the facts seem convincing and they are shouting really loud we need to choose to trust God. We need to believe that He will come through for us even when it seems like the promise won’t happen, even when it seems like the giants are too strong.

Because at the end of the day, God is faithful. He won’t let us down. We can trust Him to fulfill the promises He promised us period.

And as I end this post I would like to make an announcement. My second book, Delayed But Not Forgotten is about to be released. I am aiming to release it at the end of December. I am so excited that it is finally done. I will give you more info next week about when it’s launching.

For now, I have created a free teaser of the book which has 3 chapters. i encourage you to get a copy of it.

It will give you an idea of what the main book is about. So click here to receive the free teaser on email.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Keep Believing In God

When it comes to trusting God the real battle is to KEEP standing in faith when your back is against the wall, and when it seems like hope is lost.
But we must not give up in our faith if we are to receive what God has promised us. We must endure in faith.
He is faithful.

That’s what Hannah, Samuel the prophet’s mom had to do. She was unable to have children and she was being ridiculed for that. Her husband had another wife named Peninnah and she was able to have children and she made sure she made Hannah’s life difficult.

“So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.”

1 Samuel 1:6 NLT

We don’t know how many years Hannah endured Peninnah’s ridicule but Hannah kept trusting God even though it was difficult. She kept praying to Him and eventually God heard her prayer and gave her a son.

“When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

1 Samuel 1:19, 20

And this is important to remember. We need to KEEP trusting in God. We must not give up because God will come through for us if we endure in faith. He remembered Hannah and answered her prayer after a long time of waiting.

And Hannah didn’t just have Samuel, she had more children.

“And the Lord blessed Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.”

1 Samuel 2:21 NLT

Did Hannah know she would have more children? I don’t know. But by not giving up and keeping at it and trusting God, she received more than she imagined. A barren woman was able to give birth to five children all because she kept believing God without giving up even though it was extremely difficult.

If you have been waiting for God to answer your prayer and it seems impossible right now I want to encourage you to continue trusting Him. Don’t give up. You will receive what you are trusting Him for even when it seems hopeless.

Jairus was in similar shoes. His daughter was very sick and he asked Jesus to come lay hands on her. But on their way to Jairus’ daughter some messengers were sent because his daughter had died. Let’s read what happened,

“While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Mark 5:35, 36 NLT

Jesus told Jairus to keep believing and not give in to fear. The news was really bad. His daughter had just died but even in those terrible circumstances, Jesus told Jairus to keep trusting Him. And as he did, his daughter was raised from the dead.

Keep on believing in God no matter how hectic things seem.

Keep hoping in God when the giants seem to be too powerful and appear to have won.

God is faithful and He will come through for you. He will not let you down ever!

Bless you friends

Rolain

Trust God Every Step Of The Way

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.”
Psalm 37:23 NLT

Trust God to direct your steps.
Even when it seems like nothing is happening in your life or it things may seem bleak, trust Him to lead you. He loves you and will not let you down. I was reminded of this truth this week as I read the word.

“So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.”

Ruth 2:3 NLT

Ruth had lost a lot to this point. Her husband had died and she left her home for a brand new one. She had decided to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi. But even in those difficult circumstances God did something pretty amazing. The bible says, Ruth “happened” to work in the field that belonged to Boaz but we know better. That was God directing her steps to that field.

Ruth had no idea how significant that was. She didn’t know who Boaz was and didn’t have a clue what God was about to do. She didn’t know that she would marry Boaz and they would have a child named Obed who would have a son named Jesse who would have a son named David! She certainly didn’t know that Jesus Christ would come from David’s lineage!

So as you can see, God was leading Ruth in such an amazing way. He cared for her and loved her. No man could orchestrate such a thing and that’s something we always need to remember. The way God leads is not something easily understood and explainable. It doesn’t make sense to us. And that is why we need to trust God with our lives. We need to allow Him to lead us and not try to lead ourselves. I love how Jeremiah says it;

“O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps.”

Jeremiah 10:23 AMPC

It’s not easy giving up control but it’s something we must do if we are going to walk in the amazing plans God has for us. He has beautiful things in store for us and we need to let Him direct us.

Trust Him to guide your every step.

Trust that He knows what He is doing even when things don’t make sense at the moment.

As I finish I want to leave you with one last scripture which speaks about how amazing God is and why you should let Him direct your steps.

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”

Ephesians 3:20 TPT

Bless you friends

Rolain

It’s God Strength We Need

God wants to show Himself strong on your behalf. He wants you to rely on His strength and not your own strength.

He is not impressed with your show of strength and an attitude of “I can do this on my own”.

You don’t have to deal with life on your own. God is with you and wants to fight for you. You don’t have to fear when life gets hard and the giants seem powerful because God is stronger. Trust Him and ask for His strength. We see this so clearly in the story of Gideon.

As you might remember, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and called him a mighty man of valor but I want to focus on another part of his story. There were three armies that came to fight against him. Not one, or two armies but three armies came against him. And the army in total was massive. We are given an idea of how big these armies were,

“So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp. The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!”

Judges 7:11 NLT

There were too many to count but to top it off God had cut down Gideon’s army to 300.

“The LORD said to Gideon, The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me saying, my own hand saved me.”

Judges 7:2 NLT

God cut down the army because He wanted to show Himself strong on his people’s behalf. He wanted them to know that He would fight for them and He didn’t want them to rely on their own strength.

God wants to do the heavy lifting in your life. Your job is to take the steps of faith He wants you to take and to stand in faith fully confident that He will come through for you. You don’t have to strive and push in your own strength. It takes humility to admit you are not strong enough. it takes humility and faith to let God take the lead but that’s what we must do if we want Him to fight for us.

At the end of the day, it’s His strength you need, and not your own.

Bless you friends

Rolain