Miracle in South Africa….

I have been on tour in South Africa. It has been an amazing experience especially since this is my first time in South Africa. My pastor’s wife released an album called “Yahweh” and that is why we were on tour. Here is the title track. I hope you enjoy it…….

 

South has been amazing but that was not the case when I first heard I was going. I was filled with fear because of all the stories I heard. We were in Johannesburg which is ranked number 10 of the most dangerous cities in the world! I was really filled with fear about going but God dealt with me in that area. When I got there we were not robbed or held at gun point or anything crazy. It was actually safe! Please understand, I am not saying that it’s the safest place in the world but what I am saying is that you need to have your eyes wide open and I am also saying God will protect no matter where you go if you trust in Him!

The next thing that was on my mind was what God had for me in South Africa. I believe that when I travel there is something God wants to speak to me about and something He wants me to see that I can’t see at home! So I went with that mindset and God indeed showed me things that I never saw when I was at home and He spoke to me about things that I was struggling with at home. So in other words I heard Him so much clearly!
Now for the main thing. I was in  South Africa for four days. I arrived in South on Friday and left on Monday. Our performance was scheduled for Sunday but on Saturday during practice I sprained my foot! It started swelling badly in the evening and I was limping. I was worried about it but then I remembered what I learned at Bible School. It was not an accident that the Pastor taught this but he spoke about your spirit being able to sustain your physical body. He taught that our spirit can be so strong that it can sustain our physical bodies!

Proverbs 18:14 says,
The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up and bear?

So when I realised my ankle was sprained that verse jumped out of my spirit and I started declaring my healing! There was no way I would have a sprained ankle when I travelled so far to minister. On top of that I asked for prayer and the pastor in charge of the team prayed for my ankle.                                                                 The next day we ministered I danced like I was supposed and gave it 110% and I waved those flags like I was a mad man!!! My ankle was completely healed, praise the Lord!!! God is good indeed. That was my miracle on tour. There are a few things I learned from that.

– The spirit man can be so strong that it can sustain the physical man.

– There is power in the laying on of hands and

– God is still the God of miracles…..!

And that ends my testimony.

Rolain.P

Understanding New Testament Worship…

We all have an idea of what worship is. Some people think that worship is a song, others think its going to church and list goes on and on. None of these ideas on worship are wrong. Worship is so big and diverse I don’t think there is a single word that can describe it fully.
I was at Bible school and the lecturer was speaking on worship. What he taught made sense. Worship must not be confined to just church. If we do then we miss out on the other important facets of worship. There are things that make up worship and that is what I am going to talk about in this post.
The first thing New Testament worship is about, is controlling our flesh which includes our our tongue and temper.
There is a problem if we go to church and “worship” but we are reckless with our words and our temper. It is a problem when you call yourself a worshiper but you cannot control your flesh!
Our worship to God needs to be redefined. It’s not enough to just worship God at church and think that’s enough.

Rom 12:1-3 says

12 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

² Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

Part of New Testament worship is renewing your mind. You do that by getting the Word of God in you. You are worshiping God when your mind is being renewed with His word.

Another aspect of New Testament worship is being thankful. We are called to live a life of thanksgiving to God and its not once a week or once a month but daily! Are you a thankful person? A thankful person is a worshiper. If you “worship” at church but you are ungrateful then that is called a problem. That is not worship. Look at what 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says:

¹⁶ Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);

¹⁷ Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];

¹⁸ Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

We need to have a holistic view of worship. Its not just about the songs but its about what we think, what we say, how we treat people, if we are self controlled and so on! Its about whats in your heart. God is very interested about whats in your heart. True worship stems from the heart. When your heart is filled with God it is easier to be thankful. It is easy to control your temper. It is easy to stop focusing on yourself and focus on other people.

I have been meditating on this revelation for a bit now. As you know, I will not teach something for the sake of it. It must be something I am applying in my own life. This is high calling we called to.

As I end please understand that it is OK to worship in church but don’t stop there. Realize that worship at church is one aspect that makes up worship and there are a lot more things that complete it. Don’t focus on just one aspect but look at worship as a whole.

Rolain

Give God Something To Work With…

This is a continuation of a post I wrote entitled “Bringing obedience into perspective”
The issue of obedience keeps on surfacing so I would like to go deeper. In the post I mentioned I spoke about how God can work with our obedience. I shared from Acts 21:12 about how Paul was about to go to Rome and face imprisonment but I also showed you how he knew that even though it was going to be hard, he would rather be obedient because God could work through his obedience! He was not concerned about his life. He understood that through his obedience God could do mighty things. He understood that his obedience to God was the key.
That is what I was saying and more.
Lets move on.

Your obedience to God is so important. Jesus came to earth and was obedient till death. He could of just saved His life but instead He chose to be obedient even till death. He saw how by His obedience, the world would be saved! Through His obedience God could save the whole world. Being obedient is so important. God wants to do mighty works in the earth but He is looking for sons and daughters who will be obedient to Him no matter what. 
Do you understand that your obedience is exactly what God needs to do miracles.

I see our obedience like this, when we are obedient to God we are giving Him something to work with! Picture your obedience as play dough. The more you obey the more dough God gets so He can build, create and work on this earth and in your life!
Understand that your obedience to God is what allows Him to move in your life! We must desire to be obedient. That should be a goal.

My pastor gave an amazing revelation about obedience. When the Israelite s were in the desert God commanded them to collect Manna for the day and if they tried to keep any of it overnight it would rot, right. So why did the same Manna last two days on the Sabbath? Before the Sabbath they were told to collect enough for two days.
We learn that it was not about the Manna but it was about the Israelite s obedience to God. When they obeyed God the miraculous could happen no matter how impossible the situation seemed!

Obedience is a big thing for me. I want to be obedient to God even more no matter how hard it is.
Let us strive to be obedient to God. We are not forced to be obedient but it is a want to because we love God. That should be our attitude.

Rolain

 

The “Accident” & “Community”!

It has been a crazy week for me. I was involved in a car accident and I wish I could say it wasn’t my fault but it was. I never gave way at an unmanned intersection and crashed into a car. It was the first accident I have ever been involved in. I am ok now but I was pretty shaken up yesterday. I was in shock I guess. Anyway we had to go and collect the policeman and bring him back to the scene where he could record the incident. As all this was going on I was telling all my friends what had happened. I was really overwhelmed by the support I got. People called and messaged me asking how I was. It really blessed me. And that got me thinking about community.

Community is very important. We cannot underestimate the importance of community. We are not an island. God has put people around us to complete us. In actual fact, we are all a community! We are designed with the ability to be a community. It is in a community that we get nourished. God wants you to reach your maximum potential and it is in the setting of community that you do that. Please note, I am talking about a community that has your best interests at heart, a community you can trust, one that loves you. We need community and I seen the power of it yesterday and even today.

Let me finish my story. So yesterday I was told I was supposed to go to court for not giving way! I really didn’t want to go to court. I have never been to court and I was not keen on going. I was scheduled to go to court today at 8:00am but as I was about to get processed for court the policeman changed his mind and just fined me which he was supposed to do in the first place! I believe it was because of the people who were praying for me. Yes I prayed but there was power in what the community was declaring as well!!!

I thank God for the people He has brought into my life. You are all truly a blessing and I am writing this post to honour you all. Your value in my life cannot be measured and I am truly blessed to have you in my life.

My prayer is that you don’t take the people around you for granted. They are in your life to be a blessing.

Rolain

Singleness bad, Marriage good???

 

 

I was so encouraged today as I was reading my Bible. The topic of singleness has been on my mind this past week. We really don’t give it the credit it deserves. So in this post I am going to try to put it back into perspective. There is always this perception among singles about marriage. We can’t wait to get married. We think that marriage is better than singleness but is it?

Paul says in 1 Corinth 7:7 “God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

Another scripture to look at is in 1 Corinth 7; 38, 39

The point is this, singleness is a gift from God and marriage is a gift from God. One is not more important than the other. We need both things to be all God has called us to be.

But this is the other thing, are you being faithful in the season of singleness? Are you doing all you are supposed to be doing or are you distracted because you are dreaming about marriage???

Your season of marriage will come and it will be amazing and it will have it’s fair share of tests but while you single  God has some very important things for you to do. Don’t take them lightly. What you do now in your singleness will greatly affect your success in the next season of your life, marriage.

Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinth 7; 17 – And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life.

Wow, wow, wow!! I love that. Where you are right now is God’s place for you!! Don’t despise where you are. This applies to every other area of your life. God wants you to trust Him where you are right now.. Don’t wait till you get married to get blessed or to do great things. Start right now in your singleness. There are things that God wants you to do now that you won’t be able to do when you married.

God, not your marital status, defines your life!

As I end I would like to leave this question with you. Are you being faithful with the gift of singleness and marriage?

Rolain

Can we look to God when we sin?

I was reading a very well known passage of Scripture this morning during devotional. I read it and spoke to God and left for work. But during the day I had a revelation about that chapter. At Bible School I was taught to read Scripture in context and this chapter is crazy. The chapter I read was Psalm 78. It talks about the mercy of God, the patience of God, and the love of God.

Can we look to God when we sin? I believe this scripture answers the question very well. Let us go through a list of things Israel did while they were in the desert:

 

–          The children of Ephraim were armed and carrying bows, yet they turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk according to His law and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them. (Ps. 78:9-11)

–          And they tempted God in their hearts by asking for food according to their [selfish] desire and appetite. They spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish [the food for] a table in the wilderness? (Ps. 78;18,19)      

 

I will stop there for a bit and highlight something. In Psalm 78:22, 23 it says: “Because in God they believed not [they relied not on Him, they adhered not to Him], and they trusted not in His salvation (His power to save). Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven;                                                                                                         

 

God still had mercy on them. He never withdrew His hand from them despite all the crazy things they were doing. God will forgive you and has forgiven you if you will let Him in. We don’t fully understand God’s mercy. Don’t let the devil lie to you into thinking that God can’t get past your sin no matter how “bad” you may think it is. God can get past your sin and He has….

Let us continue and take a look at more of Israel’s “sins”.

 

–          The wrath of God came down upon them and slew the strongest and sturdiest of them and smote down Israel’s chosen youth. In spite of all this, they sinned still more, for they believed not in (relied not on and adhered not to Him for) His wondrous works. (Ps. 78:31,32)

–          Nevertheless they flattered Him with their tongues. For their hearts were not right or sincere with Him, neither were they faithful and steadfast to His covenant. (Ps. 78:36,37)

–          And time and again they turned back and tempted God, provoking and incensing the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not [seriously the miracles of the working of] His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy. (Ps. 78:41).

–          Yet they tempted and provoked and rebelled against the Most High God and kept not His testimonies. But they turned back and dealt unfaithfully and treacherously like their fathers; they were twisted like a warped and deceitful bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim]. For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [for idol worship] and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, He was full of [holy] wrath; and utterly rejected Israel, greatly abhorring and loathing [her ways], so that He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tent in which He dwelt among men [and never returned to it again], (Ps. 78:56-60)

 

This is where a lot of people usually stop. Israel did crazy things, they went overboard. But if we are to fully understand the chapter we must read it in context. Up to this point we see them worshiping idols, tempting God, provoking Him and rebelling against Him. Can you imagine, incensing God??? But let us read the last part of Psalm 78 because this is what counts! It says,

 

Then the Lord awakened as from sleep, as a strong man whose consciousness of power is heightened by wine. And He smote His adversaries in the back [as they fled]; He put them to lasting shame and reproach. (Ps. 78:65, 66)

 

I believe this scripture was speaking of the enemies of Israel.  He still fought on Israel’s behalf even after all they did. After rejecting God, turning their backs on Him and so on God still had their backs!

I don’t know what sin you in but please know that God is a gracious God. He wants you to turn back to Him. Don’t think your sin is too much for God because it isn’t.

But at the same, don’t take advantage of God’s grace. The first few generations of Israel died. They took God’s forgiveness for granted. Some were killed and punished because of their rebellion. God is a holy God and He will not entertain a blatant disregard of His ways. In Numbers 16 we see how holy God is.

Please don’t take God’s grace and mercy for granted. If you want to change and are sincere forgiveness and grace are available no matter what you have done! Your sin can be forgiven. He knows that we were born into sin. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. You just have to do your part, turn to Him!!!

 

Can we look to God even when we sin? The answer is Yes!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

                                                                                      

Has The Song of Your Heart Died???

 

The first term of bible school has finished but there is so much to reflect on, so much I have learned! As the lecturer was teaching on being jammed full of God he was talking about the song in our heart. “When we are full of God we have a song in our heart” he said. He is so right. I remember having a song when I first became a Christian. As time went on that song began to get softer and softer until it died!!! How it died I don’t know. I served God, I read my bible, I thought about Him but the passion had gone!! How……..???

I have seen how it is my responsibility to stay full of God. It is not God’s responsibility but mine. It is your responsibility to be full of God.

I thought the song would just continue with no deliberate effort but the song died. I was so wrong!

 

But things have changed now. I am not going to make the same mistake. I need God my whole life. We NEED God! It is my responsibility to stay edified.

One way of staying full of God is by continually ministering to God, by praising Him and worshiping Him and thanking Him!

We need to pay attention to our spiritual condition. How is your spiritual condition? Are you on empty or getting there?

One way of testing your spiritual condition is by watching what comes out of your mouth. Do you complain and murmur a lot? We hinder ourselves from receiving from God by murmuring and complaining.

 

Praise is the highest type of prayer we can give to God. When we thank God we are demonstrating our faith in Him. Giving thanks to Him will strengthen you. It will put things into perspective, small problems, BIG GOD!!!

 

My desire is to be jammed full of God. When I am full of God there will no space for nothing else! And that is the same for you. I looked up the definition for saturate and found out that part of the meaning is to, infuse or completely fill. May God completely fill you and infuse you with Himself!!!!

The song is getting louder and louder and so it should. And remember, you are responsible for your spiritual condition!!! Amen

 

Rolain

 

The Problem With Mission Impossible!

Throughout our life God will ask us to do things that seem beyond our reach, crazy, to big for us to handle, in other words impossible. But what are we to do in those times? Where do we start?
There seems to be a battle that rages in us when we know what we are called to do. But those times are what will determine if you succeed or not.

Look at Israel for instance. They were at the door of the promise land. They sent out 12 spies to go and spy the land. Please keep in mind the fact that they were right by the door of what God promised them.
It says the spies went out to spy out the land and when they came back they brought fruit as evidence that they were surely close to the land of milk and honey!
Ten of the spies begin to give the people the facts! The people over there are giants, their walls are impenetrable, we have no chance and so on and so on. The spies did not tell the people lies. The facts were true. This was surely a mission impossible!! But God is not interested in facts but faith! You may be in debt or you may be sick or lonely but He wants faith. One problem with mission impossible is we tend to rely on what we see and not on what God is seeing for us!

But this is where the problem was, they began to speak negatively. They allowed fear to settle in. They had no chance in the natural and we see that later on when they tried to go and conquer the land on their own! They didn’t count on God. They began to grumble and complain.

God has called us to dream the impossible. Our destiny is so much bigger than us but what are we speaking? Believing is important but speaking what you believe, that is where the power is!

I am reminded of a situation I am going through. It seems so big, so far out there. I would speak myself out of it by saying God made a mistake, I was not the right person and so many other things. On top of that I would listen to the words of close friends who said I don’t have a chance!  I thought I was being humble but it actually was sin. God is the One who qualifies us. He calls us not because we have the qualifications but because of His grace! So I will keep on believing right and speaking right because God is in control. My life is in His hands and He will not let me go.

Be very careful what you think and say when you are confronted with an impossible situation.

This is what I am trying to say to you. Believe God no matter how big your situation is. Believe God no matter how big and impossible the thing He has called you to do is! He wants faith and nothing else.

In Numbers chapters 13 and 14, we see how Israel missed their promise because of what they were saying. They disqualified themselves because of their words.

I found Numbers 14:36 very interesting. It says, So it happened that the men Moses sent to scout out the land returned to circulate false rumors about the land causing the entire community to grumble against Moses-all these men died. Having spread false rumors of the land they died in a plague, confronted by God.

This passage is interesting because the spies told the community the facts. There were giants and they had fortified walls but the bible says they were spreading false rumors! You may think you are being realistic about your calling by talking yourself out of it because you think you are not qualified but it is false. God thinks it is sin. When God calls say YES! Don’t start asking why me?

You have a mission impossible but it is only by trusting in God that you will get through to the other side. Don’t look at your weaknesses and what you don’t have, instead look to God. You will accomplish the calling on your life no matter how impossible it seems when you look to Him.

Rolain