God Turns Our Ugly Story Into A Beautiful One.

“ And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the Lord loved him.”

2 Samuel 12:24 KJV

In David’s darkest time , in the midst of the monumental mess he made, God turned that situation around into something beautiful.

Solomon came out of that mess and the Word says God loved him.

I always think to myself, why didn’t God do something through Abigail who was an amazing woman. There was no drama there but I think it’s for a good reason. The reason I think is because God wanted to show how powerful He is.

The enemy had been victorious over David in the case of Bathsheba and Uriah. There was no doubt about that and I believe it was the devil’s end goal to stop David’s purpose. But God in His power went into that mess and turned it into victory so the defeat could be turned into triumph and God would get the glory, not the devil.

The enemy will not have the last say in your life friend. He would like you to believe so but it’s not true. God has the last say and as you are in a dark place right now know that God will turn your ugly story into a beautiful one. That’s how much He loves you.

And it’s not about what you can do, your strength, how intelligent you are etc.

It’s about God’s amazing grace, His love, His mercy towards us, His strength! The devil is totally powerless against all of that.

I am also reminded of Peter who also made a huge mistake.

“Jesus answered, “Die for me? I tell you the truth, Peter – before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you know me.”

John 13:38 NLT

Peter denied Jesus and if you are thinking of an ugly story that just about tops it. But once again his ugly story was turned into a beautiful one. The devil did not have the last say in Peter’s story. He thought he did but once again he was very wrong and he is wrong about your life. And we see the same pattern in Peter’s life.

Peter’s story was changed because of God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness. Jesus knew Peter would deny him.

“But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:32 NLT

So no matter how bad it seems know that God turns your ugly stories into beautiful ones.

We must not listen to the devil’s lies. He is going to try everything he can to get you to focus on the ugly. He is going to use that to bring in shame, condemnation and guilt. He is going to make you feel unworthy of being used and loved by God. He will try to isolate you so he can take you out. But it’s a lie.

God loves you and forgiveness is available to you. All you have to do is ask Him to forgive you and receive the grace He freely offers you.

So as I close remember that your story is not even close to finishing. He is turning your ugly into something beautiful.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God is Bigger Than Our Mistakes

Don’t let the devil lie to you that your sins are too much for God to handle.
Don’t let him tell you that you are beyond saving.
It’s not true.

God is bigger and greater than your biggest sins.

“Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins.
They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death’s door.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.”

Psalms 107:17-20 NLT

We will sin and fall, that’s a definite but there is grace, mercy and forgiveness available to us. God is ready to forgive us and all we need to do is go ask Him.

When his people cried to Him, He saved them from their distresses even though they were the cause of the pain they experienced, even when they made the mistakes.

The other thing the devil will try to lie to you about is your past. He will try to tell you that there is no hope for you and God is not going to forgive your past but that too is a lie. He will use condemnation, guilt and shame to try to stop you.

But the Word of God is very clear in Romans 8:1 when it says,

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

God is greater than the sins you have committed.
Grace, mercy and a second chance are available to you today so receive it.

Bless you friends!

Rolain

This Is How God Delights In Us!

“By this I know that you delight in me;

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.”

Psalm 41:11

I love this verse. As I read it I got excited and I knew I had to share it with you.

Because God delights in us He will not let our enemies shout in triumph over us.

Whatever battle you are in at the moment, take heart that God will not let the enemy be victorious over you.

The enemy will not win over you. You may fall but you will get up and be victorious all because God loves you and delights

in you!

And don’t let the devil or anyone else for that matter tell you that God doesn’t care for you. Don’t let the negative voices

lie to you that you are unloved and alone because they are all lies. God cares for you and is for you. He thinks about you

all the time and loves you.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than

the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”

Psalm 139:17

God delights in you!

He loves you!

And because of that you will be victorious!

Your enemies will not triumph over you!

Bless you friends.

Rolain

God Doesn’t Stay In a Box!

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built.”

1 Kings 8:27 ASV

God is so big and cannot be contained. Even Solomon the wisest man on earth acknowledged this truth.

He knew that the temple he built could not contain the God of the Universe.

We know God is big but do we REALLY know it?

The way we see God is determined by the way we have been conditioned in the past. That can be by people close to us, TV, news, books we have read and so much more.

But that needs to change. We need the limitations broken because God is crazy big.

This week I cried out to Him to break the box I have put Him in. There are so many big things I am trusting Him for and I feel like there are limitations I have put on Him. Sometimes we put Him in a box without even knowing it.

But, God doesn’t not stay in a box.

The only way we can break the negative conditioning about God’s bigness and greatness is by immersing ourselves in the Word of God which is the Truth. We need an increase of God’s presence in our daily lives because this is the thing, God is big but our view of God is small at times. So when we consume more of His Word and get into His presence our perception of God begins to get bigger, it begins to grow.

We need to reprogram our minds with the Word of God.

God wants to perform miracles in our lives but if we only see a weak, powerless and feeble God then how is that going to happen? Remember the Israelites and what they said when they arrived to the land God promised them?

“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! So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought too.”

Numbers 13:30-33 NLT

God doesn’t stay in a box. He is crazy big, He is the God of the universe and nothing is too big for Him. There is nothing He can’t do.

God break the box we have put you in and the limitations we have put on You!

Show us your greatness and awesomeness anew again!

Amen

Bless you friends

Rolain

The “Impossible” Question

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. “

Luke 1:45 ESV

When the angel of the Lord visited Mary and told her she would have a baby boy, she didn’t doubt. She believed completely. And because she believed, her cousin Elizabeth being prompted by the Holy Spirit declared to her the words in the scripture above.

There is a blessing for those who choose to believe the promises God has promised them no matter how impossible it seems at the time. God is the God of the impossible and He wants you and me to trust Him.

So my question to you is, Do you believe God can do the impossible in your life today?

No matter how impossible things seem, do you know that you know, God will answer you and come through for you?

Let’s be like Mary who believed the Lord without a single doubt.

The Lord will never let you down so believe in Him always!

Bless you friends

Rolain

Stop Eating “JUNK” Food!

In the past few weeks God has been teaching me to stop eating what the devil is dishing out.

Because the devil has a lot of crazy stuff he would like you and me to believe. And I was just there eating what ever he was dishing out which caused fear, anxiety, and hopelessness in me. I would cry out to God to help me in the midst of the attack because it was intense but God began to show me that I was not filtering the thoughts I was getting.

Our filter is the Word of God and that’s how we need to be measuring up everything that comes our way.

So He showed me that I need to reject the lies instead of entertaining them. And that’s what we tend to do right? Instead of taking the lies to God immediately we start thinking about what ifs, and project possible outcomes that are totally not according to God’s will for us. We let the fear shut us down.

But if we are going to hold on to the promises God has for us we need to stop doing this. We need to stop eating everything the devil is dishing out.

IT’S ALL LIES…

IT’S ALL LIES…

Resist and reject all of it. It’s not going to be easy I understand but God is with you and He will help you as you cry out to Him. The thoughts will come but they don’t have to pitch their tents in your mind. Cast them out with the authority Jesus has given you.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

So as I come to the end of this post I want to encourage you with one more scripture,

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4:8 NLT

Change what you think about. Stop thinking about the negative things the devil keeps trying to remind you about but instead think on the things God is doing in your life, the words He has spoken to you, on His beauty, on His grace, on the amazing things He has in store for you, His promises and so much more.

With that I have come to the end of the post.

Bless you friends and have a great weekend!

Rolain

Hold On

You need to hold on to God’s promises because He has so much in store for you. He has amazing things lined up for you. But it’s the standing in faith that is not as easy as it seems. It’s a fight to hold on to what God has promised you.

It’s our responsibility to do the hard work of standing on God’s truths and promises for our lives in the face of attack and opposition. It won’t be easy. We will fall and fail numerous times but we must always get back up and dig our feet deeper in our faith in God. Because He will fulfill and bring to pass what He promised us, period!

I think of Abraham and Sarah who held on to God’s promises. They held on to His promises despite the challenges they faced and the challenges were tough. But in all that they didn’t give up and lose heart. Even when they fell short, they still got up and dug deeper in their faith in God. And as they did that they received what God had promised them.

So as I come to the end of this post I want to encourage you to keep holding on to God’s promises in the face of opposition and attack. It’s going to be a fight for sure but even when you fall make sure to get back up and dig deeper in your faith in God, even when you haven’t seen the answer to your prayers yet, and when you haven’t seen the breakthrough because God is faithful. You will receive what God has promised you!

Bless you friends

Rolain

It’s Just A Matter Of Time.

When it comes to God’s faithfulness, it’s just a matter of time.

He WILL come through for you and He HAS heard your prayers. Nothing can stop God’s faithfulness in your life. The fact that you are here is proof alone that He is faithful.

Don’t entertain the enemies lies about God’s faithfulness. The enemy will try to make us believe that God is not really good, that He doesn’t care for us, and that we can’t really trust Him because He is not reliable. There are so many other lies he tries to tell us but we must NOT give in to them.

When talking about God’s faithfulness it’s not a question of ‘IF’ God is going to come through for us or ‘IF’ we will see His breakthrough in our lives or ‘IF’ He will hear our prayers. Because of His faithfulness He has heard and answered our prayers, and breakthrough is guaranteed!

I think of the Israelites who were slaves for about 400 years (Acts 7:6, 7). Was there a time in that period as they were crying our to God that they doubted Him? Did they think He didn’t care about what they were going through and that He didn’t hear their prayers? I don’t know.

But one thing I do know is that for the Israelites it wasn’t a question of ‘IF’ God would deliver them and hear their prayers, it was a matter of ‘WHEN’. And at the right time God did deliver His people out of bondage because of His faithfulness.

I also think of Abraham and Sarah who had to wait a long time until God’s promise to them were fulfilled. Then there was Hannah who was barren and had to endure ridicule for a season but through it all, God came through for them. He was faithful to them. He never let them down.

So as I come to the end of this post I want to encourage you to not doubt God, don’t give up just because your situation doesn’t seem to be turning around, don’t listen to the negative voices that are trying to get you discouraged and trying to get you to make you lose your faith in God. Don’t let fear overwhelm you because after all is said and done,

God is faithful forever!

And there is nothing that can ever change that truth.

Bless you friends!

Rolain

Is God Really Good?

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 NLT

If there is something we as sons and daughters of God need to always remember is that God is good. At His core of who He is, He is good. And it’s important to have that truth secured in your heart because the devil will try to challenge that truth by using the painful things we have been through, the heartbreak, the rejection, the loss, the unanswered prayers and so many other things. And we need to be careful to not listen to the lies he tries to tell us as he reminds us of the painful things that happened to us. A good example of that is with the people of Israel. God delivered them from 400 years of slavery but destroying Pharoah and his people but even on their journey to the promise land they doubted God. Their trust in him failed numerous times. Let’s look at what happened when they reached their destination.

“Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness! they complained. Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:1-3 NLT

God in His goodness had led them to the promise land to give them what He had promised but the people didn’t understand that. Instead they thought God wanted to kill them and their children!! And this kind of talk happens a few times in the desert.

The enemy wants us to believe God is a cruel God, he wants us to believe God is evil, unforgiving, mean, hateful, uncaring, unloving and so many other negative things but we can’t let him convince us because at the core of who God is He is good. He loves us so much.

So let me ask you this.

What do you believe about God in the difficult times, when your prayers haven’t been answered, when things are not going your way? Or let me ask it in this way. Do you believe God has got you in the midst of all the terrible things you have been through? Do you believe there will be a turnaround in your situation because He is good? Look at some of the people in the bible. Job went through some terrible trials but God showed him His goodness by revealing Himself to him and restoring double what he lost. Then there is Hannah who was barren. God gave her a son eventually. He showed his goodness to Abraham and Sarah by giving them a child in their old age and fulfilling the promise he made to them. And then David. Even though he sinned numerous times God in his goodness extended his grace and mercy to him. He called him a “man after his own heart”

God at His core is so so good. Hold on to that truth no matter what comes at you. As I close I want to share one more scripture;

He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him.”

Proverbs 11:27 AMPC

So because God is good we need change our expectations. We need to expect good. The Word says we must SEEK good because when we do that we seek God’s favor! We go through so many tough things that at times we just expect bad things to happen. “No good things happen for me” is what we tell ourselves but that’s contrary to God’s word. We need to expect and seek His goodness to show up in our lives. Expect Him to answer your prayers. Expect the breakthrough to come. Expect the door to open for you. If I could sum it all up I would say,

Expect Him to be good to you! Period.

So with that I have come to the end of the post.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Bless you friends!

A Place for The Young and a Place For The Old – Part Two

This is the last post in this two part series I have been doing.

Last week I spoke to the seasoned people and if you want to know what “seasoned” means I encourage you to go back and read last weeks post.

Last week I talked about how we really don’t have an expiry date. In fact the only expiry date we have is when we die. Everything before that is open season.

I also talked about how God can you use anyone no matter how young or old you are. Don’t let your age limit you.

Today I want to talk to the young people.

God wants to use you and He doesn’t care how old you are. This is the time to ignite that fire for him. It’s time to pursue Him with all that you have. Look at what happened to the boy with the few fish and loaves. Jesus used that little boy and look at David, Jonathan, Mary and so many other young people.

Even though there is a lot to do at school and life make sure you are putting God first.

Get rid of the distractions that can so easily hinder you from achieving what God has called you to do.

Parents, make sure you are speaking to your little ones about the great plans God has for them. Make sure they grow up knowing that they are not a cog in a huge machine but that God created them on a purpose to do amazing things. Teach them that God can use them at the age they are now.

Proverbs 22 verse 6 says,

Direct your children onto the right path and when they are older, they will not leave it.” NLT

As I close I want to say one more thing to the seasoned readers.

Last week I spoke about how Caleb went to Joshua and asked for his mountain at the age of 85 years of age. Age was just a number to him. But there is something else in that story I want to show you.

“Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, amd Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him.”

Joshua 14: 6 NIV

I will stop there. When Caleb went before Joshua to ask for his mountain, he didn’t go alone. He went the rest of the tribe of Judah. He managed to pass on his faith to the people he was leading. They too had faith and that is why they went with Caleb.

We all have something to pass on to the next generation. The experiences you have gone through and the lessons you have learned are for a reason. God has put so much in you. Not just to use to accomplish what He has called you to do but to pass on to, to the next generation. There is a whole generation that needs mentors, that need men and women of God to love on them and show them the way. Will you be that person to step up to the plate?

As I end remember that God can use anyone no matter how young or seasoned they are.

Don’t let your age limit you.

Bless you friends

Rolain