Do You Have The Full Picture?

Do you really understand the potential you have stored up in you?

Do you understand the amazing things that God has in store for you?

Because God created us He is the only One who has the full picture I believe. He is the one who sees everything and He knows what we are going to accomplish. So our job is to stop defining ourselves by the things we can’t see yet.

You didn’t create you so you need to be very careful with how you speak to yourself about what you can do and about the things that are in store for you. And you also need to be careful of the information that comes your way from other people. Because people will always have something to say about what you can and can’t do.

I think of Gideon who instead of agreeing with what the angel of the Lord told him he gave excuses as to why he was not qualified to do God’s work. And he got those opinions or ideas from the people around him. He grew up in an environment where he was constantly being told he was the least.

Jesus had this same problem. There were people very close to him who didn’t believe in him.

“You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world! For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.”

John 7:4 NLT

If Jesus had people that didn’t believe in him what more of you and me?

So remember that you don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle and it’s okay. Press into the Lord. Spend time with him and he will reveal what He has called you to do.

Trust Him with your life.

Bless you friends.

Rolain

Fight With A Song

The past couple of weeks have been hectic but there is something that has really helped me in those difficult times.

When I felt overwhelmed I would put on some worship music and begin to praise God. And what a difference that would make. I would come out of there feeling energized and refreshed and answered.

So after that I decided to increase the amount of worship. And it’s really helped. Even though there are difficult days worship takes my focus off the problems and onto God who is bigger than anything I am facing.

I share this with you to challenge and encourage you that worship is a powerful weapon we have been given by God to fight against the devil’s schemes. Because the devil wants to kill the sound of praise in your life. He wants to silence you because he knows the power of praise in your life.

There is a story in the word about Paul and Silas.

They were in prison but at about midnight they began to praise God and as they praised Him there was an earthquake and the prison doors opened. They were free. (Acts 16:25)

You may be in a prison at the moment and you feel beat down and defeated but I want to encourage you to praise God. Make it a habit in your life and use it constantly. Even when things are not going your way, praise Him.

And that’s my encouragement and challenge to you.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God Does!

“Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

Psalm 94:16, 17

The question is obviously rhetorical. The author knows that its God who stands up and rises up for us.

But do you know that?

I want to encourage you in way of reminding you that God stands up for you when trouble comes your way.

God is the one who rises up for you when giants surround threatening to take you out.

He is the one who lights your path and shines his light when there is confusion and you don’t know what to do.

You can call on Him because he is with you.

Bless you friends

Rolain

A Talk About Eggs and Faith

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

This is a popular piece of advise especially when you talk about investing. And all it means is that someone should not concentrate all efforts and resources in one area as one could lose everything. But I read a quote recently that brought my faith walk in perspective. It said,

“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket”

And I love that. That’s the attitude we should have when it comes to faith in God. It’s either we trust Him completely or we live in doubt of his ability. Now I am not talking about being reckless but I am talking about having an attitude of, “I will trust God and I am not looking to so and so or I have another plan just in case”

The word of God says that the just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)

So as you trust God today, do you have a back up plan, for just in case he doesn’t come through or are you all in with your faith? Do you know He will come through for you? Do you know He will never let you down? He has got your back even when it seems like things are going horribly.

True faith sees God as the ONLY option.

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

Bless you friends!

Rolain

The Victory We Are A Part Of – An Easter Story!

Happy Easter to you all.

I hope you are having a great time celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a strong day for us as Christians, a day of power for sure. I am so excited about this weekend because of what it represents. This is what makes the Gospel the Gospel if you know what I mean. If Jesus never died and rose again we wouldn’t be here and Christianity would be nullified. The power of our faith is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:13 so I encourage you to go and read that passage of scripture.

But I want to focus on another story in this post.

“Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”

Mark 15:37

As we all know Jesus died on the cross. And for a brief moment the devil thought he had won. He thought he had victory over Jesus. And for a brief moment Jesus’ followers lost too. But that was not the end of the story…

“The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!”

Luke 24:5, 6

Jesus rose from the dead! He conquered the devil. He won the war.

He was victorious and because of what he did we too have that same victory. And that’s why this weekend is so powerful, so important. There is a grace for us if we will only see. We need to ask the Lord for his help because he was victorious for us.

So if you are in a dark place today, and it seems like the enemy is too strong and the giants are too many I want you to know that there is victory available to you. The devil does not have the last say in your story. Jesus does! He has the last say and it is good and it is final. His Word cannot be overturned by the devil.

When the curtain in the temple tore into two, our access to God was now cleared of all obstacles, We could now go to him anytime. We now have a direct line of communication to the Creator of the Universe, to the Lord of Armies.

So as you can see, a lot of important things happened that day when Jesus rose from the dead and that is why this is such a strong day for you and me. As I come to the end of this post I want to encourage you to reflect on what Jesus did on the cross and how that affects your life. I read a definition of what it means to be a Christian that challenged me recently that goes,

A Christian is someone who believes in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ and lives in light of the implications of that event

I love that and I am so challenged.

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

Have a great and blessed weekend friends.

Bless you!

Can These Negative Thoughts Stop?!

There is so much to be negative about today. Just turn on the news and see. Scroll your Twitter and Facebook feeds and see it all on display. We live in a negative-saturated environment. But that is an obvious observation off course.

What we need to do is look inside of ourselves and see the real battle taking place. People think that the devil’s attack is physical and it is but the other deadly strategy is mental. He attacks your thoughts. I experienced his attack first hand growing up. And for a very long time it looked like he won the war. I had no self-esteem. I thought very little about myself and didn’t expect that to change. And the crazy thing about his attack is that it went into auto-pilot. I didn’t need his help to tear myself down. I was my own worst enemy eventually.

It was only when Jesus came into my life that He destroyed all the strongholds the enemy had built. Through reading His word, and teachings my mind began to be renewed.

The mental war is real and it’s taking a lot of people out. What kind of thoughts are you battling today? It’s time to wage war on them because the thoughts the devil feeds are all lies. There is not even one that is true. And it’s easy to identify his attacks. Whatever thoughts cause you fear, panic, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, terror and so on are not from God.

Renew your mind with the Word of God. His Word is truth. Jesus is truth!

The only way to take down the strongholds in your mind is with the truth. I love Philippians 4:8 and this is what it says,  

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

This kind of thinking doesn’t just happen. Thinking positive doesn’t come naturally because we were born into sin. Because of Adam’s sin we are not perfect. And that is why Jesus had to come save us. On our own we would always lose. 

We need to train ourselves to think positive, to think about God’s word. We need God’s help to change the kind of thoughts we struggle with on a daily basis. We need His help to tear down strongholds that have been built on our minds.

You don’t have to fight alone. You don’t have to face the negative thoughts alone. Look to God. Bring Him the thoughts that are attacking you and let His truth replace the lies of the devil.

Bless you friends.

Rolain

The Answer to Fear

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 56:3

There are a million reasons to be fearful today. Global pandemics, war, sickness, starvation, debt and so many other things can easily thrust anyone in a state of panic and fear. But amidst the fear there is a way through for you and me. In Psalm 56:3 the writer states,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

The answer to fear is trust in Jesus. He defeated fear a long time ago and because of that we have somewhere to look to when fear is banging on the door of our hearts and minds threating to take permanent residence. When we are paralyzed by all the terror filled news around us, we have Someone to run to and take shelter. The Lord is our Strong Tower of Refuge. He is a trillion times a trillion stronger than fear. Fear is a defeated foe.

But fear wants us to believe it is stronger. It wants us to forget that God is on our side. It wants us to forget God in the midst of the chaos but we must not give in to fear because the Lord is with us through the darkest of times.

The answer to fear is looking to Jesus and knowing beyond a doubt that He is with you.

As I end this post I came across a painting of Daniel that encouraged me so much. I hope it encourages you like it did me.

Bless you friends.

Rolain

Don’t Be Impatient

“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Exodus 32:1

If only the Israelites were patient.

But they were not and because they were impatient they sinned. God had not forgotten about them. He knew where they were and He had a plan for them but the people let impatience get the best of them. And also note that Moses did not tell them when he would be back but they had an expectation of when he was supposed to be back and that expectation got them into trouble.

I am not going to sit here and say waiting on God is easy because it’s not. Courage is needed, to wait on God’s timing. But you can be assured of this one thing, He knows where you are at and what you need. He loves you and He doesn’t make you wait just for the fun of it. There is always a reason for the wait and one of those reasons is love. He loves you so much and wants the best for you.

So I want to encourage you to continue waiting on the Lord. He will come through for you. Look to Him and His strength as you wait.

God bless you friends

Rolain

How to Overcome Insecurities As You Walk In God’s Calling.

I don’t know about you but I feel inadequate often when it comes to God’s purposes for my life. I look at the things He is leading me into and I am like, how am I going to do this Lord? And with that comes the insecurities. Thoughts like,

I am not worthy

I am not qualified

Who am I to do this?

Where do I even start?

And so many more like thoughts ravage my mind.

Recently I was feeling very insecure but God reminded me of a few things that I want to encourage you with if you are facing the same feelings of insecurity.

• God’s purpose for your life will always be infinitely greater than your current abilities and strengths
• He knows very well that you are not able to accomplish His purpose in your own strength.
• He is very in tune with your weaknesses and failings but in His grace and mercy He has still chosen you!
• He wants you to trust Him wholeheartedly every step of the way because that’s the only way you can accomplish what He has called you to.

Another thing I realized is that the devil wants you to focus on your weaknesses, and sins so that you can disqualify yourself from God’s calling. Remember Moses.

When God called him, what did he do? Instead of saying yes Lord, he started giving excuses why he wasn’t the right candidate. Excuse after excuse he gave until he pleaded,

“But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else”

Exodus 4:13

The answer to feeling overwhelmed and out of your depth is not digging in and going at it alone in your own strength but it’s diving deeper into God and seeking His strength and wisdom.

Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. You are enough because God calls you His son and daughter. He chose you not because you were strong enough, clever enough, rich enough, born in the right neighborhood, or because you went to the right school. It’s because He loved you and extended grace to you.

Whatever you do, don’t talk yourself out of his purpose. Take your insecurities to Him and drop them at His feet. Unpack every burden you feel and don’t hold anything back.

The Lord has amazing things planned for you so trust Him every step of the way.

Bless you friends

Rolain

When You Can’t See A Way…

There will be times when you are met with dead ends, closed doors and walls but you need to remember this simple truth,

God makes a way when there seems to be no way.

Think about the Israelites when they left Egypt. They got to the Red Sea and were resting there when suddenly they saw the Egyptian army marching towards them. In front of them was the Red Sea and behind them were the Egyptians. They were trapped. But God made a way for them through the Red Sea. They experienced breakthrough in the most unexpected way.

You may be in a tough situation and it seems like you are trapped with no way out but I want to remind you that there is a way even if you can’t see one because God is with you. He will make a way for you in the most unexpected way.

Before I move on I do want to make something clear. There are some dead ends and closed doors that are God-ordained and you need to be able to discern them. You need to ask God for wisdom and you need to ask Him if He has closed a particular door but that’s not what I am talking about in this post.

What I want to encourage you with today is that God will open closed doors and dead ends that are stopping you from moving forward in His purpose. He will make a way for you where the enemy has barricaded.

Don’t give up and lose heart when there seems to be now way instead trust God to make a way for you.

Bless you friends.

Rolain