The Storm and the Word – Part Two.

I said in part one of this post that a storm is either coming your way or you in one now or one has just passed. Storms are a part of every persons life. So how do we deal with them? How are we to act in the midst of a storm which is another word for trials, crisis, challenges and problems? In the book of James 1:2 it said we are to consider it wholly joyful when we encounter storms.
So in this post I am going to show you what the book of Mark teaches about how we are to handle ourselves in the midst of the storms of life.
In Mark 4:37-41 we read an interesting story about Jesus and the disciples. It says:

And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled.
But He [Himself] was in the stern [of the boat], asleep on the [leather] cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, Master, do You not care that we are perishing?
And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush now! Be still (muzzled)! And the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating) and there was [immediately] a great calm (a perfect peacefulness).
He said to them, Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)?

There are a few things I would like to pick out from this passage.
The disciples were faced with two truths on the boat. The first truth was, the boat was sinking. Their lives were in real danger. The other truth was Jesus Christ who is the Son of God was on the boat. Which truth would they believe? The fact is this, one truth was more powerful than the other!
In our lives we face the same dilemna. We have storms that are life threating but we also have the Messiah! One of these truths is stronger than the other. We need to decide which truth to believe. Just in case you didn’t know, Jesus Christ is stronger than any other “truth” we will ever face. We just need to believe it. As we believe this truth all other “truths” will need to subject themselves to Him! (I am going to write a post on which truth to believe. It will probably be my next post)

The other thing I would like to pick out is this, we are given a vivid picture of the storm. It was a furious storm of HURRICANE proportions. I can see the disciples who are skilled fishermen doing all they can to keep the boat afloat. They have been at sea countless times. This is not new to them. But they get to a point where they give up. Their strength and experience has come to nought and that is why they go to Jesus!
Then there is Jesus who is sleeping!!! In the midst of this life threatening storm He is asleep in the stern of the boat!
That is a picture of how we are supposed to handle storms. We are supposed to be at peace during the storm. The first picture of the disciples relying on their experience and strength is NOT what we are supposed to be doing when the storms come. If we trust God we will rest and be at peace in the midst of the storms. We will be serene in the midst of the storm because we know He is with us.
This takes the grace of God. You cannot do it in your strength because you will fail.

As I end, I would like to encourage you to be like Jesus who was at peace during the storm. He was at peace because His faith was in His Father!
Storms will come but our faith in God will sustain us. It will keep us sane and stop us from losing it. Amen!

Rolain.P

The Storm and The Word – Part One.

Storms are the one thing everyone faces. I believe that a storm is either coming your way or you are in one now or one has just passed only for the cycle to repeat itself.
When I use the word storms it just means trials, crisis, challenges and problems that happen in each of our lives. Storms are a part of life. So my next question would be, how are we to deal with the storms that come our way?
We know that even though storms are not pleasant they are critical to our growth as christians and people in general.
In the book of James it says:

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.
Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

How are we to deal with the storms that come our way? James says we are to consider it wholly joyful whenever we find ourselves in a storm. Why? Because we know there is growth and maturity happening.

* please understand, I am not saying we should not experience blessings and peace and rest. Everything has a time. And that applies to storms as well. It is not storm after storm after storm, no! After winter we have summer. That is the way of life. What I am teaching is how to respond WHEN the storms come. God is fair and He knows if our lives were just about storms and nothing else we would die. I want you to understand where I am going with this post and I don’t want you to get it wrong*

In the book of Mark we are given a very vivid picture of how we are to deal with storms and I will pick it up in part two of this post.
For now, consider it wholly joyful when storms come your way!

Rolain.P

Why Do We Get Burnt Out?

As we are busying doing what God has called us to do it is important to not burnout. But why do we get burnout? I was listening to a very interesting podcast by Christine Caine. Her podcasts are called, Coffee with Chris Caine.
If you have not heard any of her podcasts I encourage you to do so. She is amazing. Anyway she has a very interesting view on burnout that I want to share with you.

– Chris says, what some people do to replenish themselves actually depletes them.
– What do you do to replenish yourself? Make sure it does not deplete you.
When we need to be recharged we spend our time doing the wrong things.
Let me just say something on this point, our strength comes from God. He is the One who renews us. So if you are burnout spend your time reading His word or listen to some uplifting music, read a book that challenges you and so on. The point of all these things is to allow God to speak to you. Do things that will help you hear God’s voice but when you are burnout and you are doing things that are taking your mind away from God then you are depleting yourself.
– Chris says, burnout is not about the amount of time off but it is getting rid of the nothiness in your life.
I will say that a lot of us spend our time doing things that are not according to God’s pattern for our lives. So instead of doing A we are busy doing F.
Seek God about what He wants you to do. When we know what God has called us to do we will not waste time doing things totally unrelated to what we are meant to be doing.
Chris says, burnout is like a car that broke down. It broke down because it never got serviced regularly.
You burnout not because you work hard but because you don’t service your spiritual life regularly.

We need to be in the presence of God regularly. Without Him we will burnout.

Rolain.P

Why Do We Get Burnt Out?

As we are busying doing what God has called us to do it is important to not burnout. But why do we get burnout? I was listening to a very interesting podcast by Christine Caine. Her podcasts are called, Coffee with Chris Caine.
If you have not heard any of her podcasts I encourage you to do so. She is amazing. Anyway she has a very interesting view on burnout that I want to share with you.

– Chris says, what some people do to replenish themselves actually depletes them.
– What do you do to replenish yourself? Make sure it does not deplete you.
When we need to be recharged we spend our time doing the wrong things.
Let me just say something on this point, our strength comes from God. He is the One who renews us. So if you are burnout spend your time reading His word or listen to some uplifting music, read a book that challenges you and so on. The point of all these things is to allow God to speak to you. Do things that will help you hear God’s voice but when you are burnout and you are doing things that are taking your mind away from God then you are depleting yourself.
– Chris says, burnout is not about the amount of time off but it is getting rid of the nothiness in your life.
I will say that a lot of us spend our time doing things that are not according to God’s pattern for our lives. So instead of doing A we are busy doing F.
Seek God about what He wants you to do. When we know what God has called us to do we will not waste time doing things totally unrelated to what we are meant to be doing.
Chris says, burnout is like a car that broke down. It broke down because it never got serviced regularly.
You burnout not because you work hard but because you don’t service your spiritual life regularly.

We need to be in the presence of God regularly. Without Him we will burnout.

Rolain.P

Faith – Do You Have Your “Title Deeds”?

This is not a post about buying or selling houses but about faith. We all have a measure of faith. Some have big faith and some have small faith but we all have a measure of faith. I would like to share what I got from Hebrews 11:1. We all know this chapter and verse. I would like to read it from the Amplified bible. Hebrews 11:1 says:

Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith percieving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

I really like the way the Amplified explains faith. Faith is the confirmation and the title deed of the things we hope for.
We have a lot of things that we need God to come through for. Our faith is the “title deed” of those things. In the natural we know what a title deed is. A title deed is given to someone who owns a house as proof that the house is theirs. You can try and convince the owner that the house is not theirs, or you can take them to court but it is all in vain if they have the title deed.
So the word says our faith is like the title deed of a house. People can say you won’t succeed or that you won’t own your car but your faith nulifies all those negative things. If you have faith, you have the “title deeds” to what you hoping for! No one can take it from you. Is that not amazing?

The verse goes on and says that faith is percieving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.
You may not have that house yet but in your mind it is real. You can see the colours. You can see the car park. You can see yourself sitting in your lounge. You can see yourself cooking in your kitchen. Your house is real to you. That is what faith is about. You may be living in a rented house now, struggling to make ends meet but you can see your “other” house. You have a conviction that it is real. You have a conviction that God has answered your prayer. That is faith!

As I end I would like to say that we are commanded to live by faith. When God commands it is not for the sake of being difficult but because we will be blessed if we listen to Him.
Hebrews 10:38 says:

The just shall live by faith.

He is not asking you to live by faith. He is not suggesting it. He is commanding you. He is saying, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!!
We need to live by faith all the time. It is for our own benefit. The men and women of faith died controlled and sustained by their faith. Faith in what? They died controlled and sustained by their faith in God! Hebrews 11:13 –

These people all died controlled and sustained by their faith.

Will we be those kind of people? Can we live a life being controlled and sustained by faith? I think we can. Let us carry our “title deeds” with conviction! Amen.

Rolain.P

What You Need To Win In The Race of Life.

We live in a very competitive world and there is a certain criteria to follow if you are to win in this world. But in the Kingdom of God we don’t follow that criteria. The world has a way of doing things and God has a way of doing things. The wisest man of all time made a very interesting observation which I think needs mention.

I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither is bread to the wise nor riches to men of intelligence and understanding nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11

This observation by King Solomon is simply amazing. A race as we have seen over and over again is won by the fastest person but in this verse the race is not won by the fastest person, Hmm?!
In a battle the obvious winner would be the strongest person but again this is not the case in this verse. The strongest person doesn’t win.
Are you getting the jist of all this? The obvious things are not the things that will make us successful. You cannot depend on strength, speed, wit and so on, even though they have their place. King Solomon boils it down to time and chance! People who knew the times and seasons were the ones who won!

I hope you see that you have a chance. You may be thin or overweight, called slow, and so on and so on but I want you to know you have a chance! Time and chance is going to happen to you. The question is, will you be able to recognise it when it comes? Will you be ready for it when it comes?

Rolain.P

Why Discontentment Is Healthy.

Just imagine if everything in your life stopped changing? What I mean is, what if everything in your life stopped improving?
The type of life you living would never change. Your salary would never change. Your health would never change.Your marriage would never get better. Can you imagine that? It would be hell on earth!
But to get all God has for us we need to be discontent with where we are in our lives. When we don’t see any “problems” with our lives we flatten out. It is only when we become restless with where we are that things begin to change.
You cannot change if you think everything is ok. You will not work for a car if you think walking is fine. You won’t push yourself to earn more money if you are satisfied with what you getting right now.
We need to get discontent with where we are if we are to grow.
Always remember that there is no growth without discontentment.

I would just like to make something clear. The Word is clear about being content with what we have. I am not challenging that at all. I thank God for all I have. I know there are people much better off than me be it financially, physically and so on but that does not move me. God has blessed me with what I have and I am grateful. I love my life,
but what I am talking about is something entirely different.
God wants to bless us beyond our wildest dreams. He wants us to accomplish all that He has for us but that won’t happen if we don’t push ourselves. That won’t happen if we don’t see bigger. That won’t happen if we don’t stretch ourselves.

So where are you in life? Are you happy with you are? I am not happy with the level I am living my life. There is so much more out there for me. I am going for it. Discontentment is healthy. Learn to create “problems” for yourself. Let me explain “problems” in the context of this post.
If you are touching 10 people a month but you are not happy with that and you want to touch 50 people instead that is called a “problem”.
An easier way of creating “problems” for yourself is setting goals. Do you have goals? My mentor says, without goals we will die.
Goals are very important if we are to grow.
So remember, without discontentment there is no growth.

Rolain.P

How Do I Make God Bigger In My Life?

I was so challenged by the Word my pastor preached during the evening service yesterday. He was speaking about magnifying God in our lives. There are a few things that stuck with me that I would like to share with you.

– We need to overcome small thinking when we come to God. Our mind will block us from seeing God as He really is. We need to eliminate any and every wrong thought that we have of God.

– I cannot have big faith if I have a small God! How big is your God? So many of us focus on how big the enemy is instead of focusing on how big God is. Yes we have problems but let us focus on God who is bigger than our problems! When we focus on God, He becomes bigger in our lives and the enemy gets smaller and smaller. But when we focus on the enemy, God becomes smaller.

– We have little faith because we have a small God. It is very hard to have big faith when your picture of God is small! But at the same time it is very hard to have small faith when you have a big God! And this is the thing, you will know you serve a big or small God by your actions and prayers. Someone who serves a small God is always complaining about the problems they are facing. They are always speaking about how hard things are and so on but people who serve a big God have this presence about them. They are unmovable in hard times as they quietly wait on God. They are confident, not in themselves but in God. They speak about how great God is. They are worshippers. They are thankful people. They focus on how they can help people in the midst of what they are going through. How big is your God?

So how do you make God big in your life? Psalm 69:30, 31 has the answer. It says:

I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving,
And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs.

We cannot make God any bigger than He is now. So this scripture is talking about how our praise and thanksgiving will make Him bigger in OUR lives. God is so big but the problem is that we don’t see it. When we praise and thank Him, He becomes bigger in our lives.
Another way to make God bigger in our lives is to read His Word. The more Word you read the bigger your picture of God becomes!
Another way to make God bigger in your life is through worship. When you praise and worship Him He becomes bigger in your life. And we need to do this everyday of the week not just on sundays or saturdays!

As i wrap up I would like you to think about something.
What would happen if you really served a Big God?! What would your life look like if you served a big God?

Rolain.P

How Are We To See And Read God’s Word?

I think we need to review the way we see the Word of God. I need to review how I see the Word. This is no ordinary book.

Hebrews 1:1,2 says:

In many seperate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the Truth] and in different ways God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets,
[But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]. (Amplified)

In these last days God has chosen to speak to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. His Word is so powerful but do we as christians get all we are supposed to get from it?

Hebrews 4:12 gives us a very vivid picture of how powerful God’s Word is:

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Amplified)

Is that what happens when we read the Word? Do we desire the Word to expose our deepest thoughts or to sift and analyze the purposes of our hearts?
What is our mindset like when we read the Word? Do we just read for the sake of reading or do we expect God to speak to us? The Word judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart. So my other question would be, does all this happen when you read the Word?
We need to review how we read the Word. I have been challenged to change the way I see the Word. I have known this scripture and even quoted it but as I was reading it again I felt God challenge me about His Word.

God wants His Word to change us. He wants to speak to us. He wants us to experience the power of His Word because it is powerful. The first part of Hebrews 4:12 says,

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective];

His Word is alive and full power. It is active, operative, energizing and effective. Are you being energized as you read the Word? Is it being effective in your life?
Together let us change the way we see God’s Word. One word from God can change your life.

Rolain.P

What Unbelief Will Do To Your Life.

How dangerous is unbelief to a person? Unbelief is disasterous to a person’s life. Hebrews shows us how dangerous it is. To find the answer we will look at the Israelites. They were God’s chosen people. They saw God’s awesome power. They were witnesses to His amazing miracles. They were led by Moses a man full of faith and hunger for God.
Hebrews 3 is one of many scriptures that sheds light on the danger of unbelief in our lives.
Out of all people the Israelites were supposed to be the most passionate people. They were supposed to be the most hungry for God. They were supposed to be the most believing. Why? Because they saw things. They saw their tormentors being destroyed by plagues. Then they saw the Red Sea being parted. After that they saw rocks turn to water, quail falling from the sky, manna on the ground, a pillar of cloud and fire, clothes not getting torn, sandals not being damaged. They saw God as fire, they heard His voice! They saw and heard things.
And yet they failed to get into the promise land. Hebrews says they failed to enter God’s rest. Why?

Let us look at Hebrews 3:12 which says:
[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.
But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamour of his sin may play on him]. (Amplified)

Unbelief will harden your heart towards God. It will seperate you from Him. The bible warns us of an unbelieving heart. But the thing is this, unbelief will come in stealthly. You won’t even know it until it is too late and that is the why we need to constantly check our heart condition. Unbelief cannot be left unchecked.
When I read this passage I started looking at myself. I asked God to show me if I had unbelief in my heart. You can believe that God can heal but at the same time you may doubt God as your Provider. You may believe that God is faithful but at the same time you may doubt His love for you at times!
Unbelief will creep into every area of your life. In which areas are you living in unbelief? Where are you struggling in?
The Israelites went through a lot when in slavery and that may have played a part in them doubting God. Don’t let your bad experiences make you doubt God.

Let us look at one last scripture which reads:
So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].
Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified)

As I end I would really like you to see how unbelief stopped Israel from walking into God’s rest. Dispite all the amazing things they saw they refused to believe in God and because they refused their hearts got hardened. Unbelief will seperate you from God.
We need to eradicate ALL unbelief! We cannot entertain it. Ask God to help you as you search your heart.
We will enter our rest because we live a life of trust in God.

Rolain.P