The world will know the truth by faith….!!!

And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, [Judg. 4:1-5; 6:1-8, 35; 11:1-12, 15; 13:1-16; I Sam. 1-30; II Sam. 1-24; I Kings 1-2; Acts 3:24.]

 Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, [Dan. 6.]

Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts. [Dan. 3.] (Hebrews 11:32-34 AMP)

In my previous post (you can read it here) I spoke about some of the insights I got about faith from reading Hebrews 11. This is part two of that post. In the first part I asked if we really understand what faith is. I concluded that we don’t and upon reading Hebrews 11 I realized how true that was. So let me move on.

In the scripture I just shared we see some pretty amazing things. Look at what faith did for the men and women of old:

– By faith they subdued kingdoms

– By faith they administered justice

– Obtained promised blessings

– Closed the mouth of lions

– Extinguished the power of raging fire and a host of other things……

By faith they administered justice! The principalities and powers in the time of the men and women of old worshipped idols, burnt their children in honor of them, and committed other atrocious things but by faith the men and women of God administered justice! They never stood by as the world committed unspeakable acts. God called men and women to speak out, and do something. They were the voice of Justice to the world at that time!  When their home was destroyed they looked to Him to repay them for what happened. By faith they administered justice!

Today there are things happening that need to be stopped. ISIS freely killing Christians in Iraq, trafficking is at its highest, Israel is at war and so on and so on. There is just so much injustice happening but by faith justice can be administered! How exactly, I don’t know! Maybe through prayer or maybe through speaking out I don’t know but if the men and women of old administered justice through faith so can we!

We see faith in action in a way we have never understood and have never tried ever. The men and women of old understood much more about faith. They were looking at a much bigger picture, and maybe it’s like that because someone never showed us and told us how to REALLY use our faith, I don’t know, but what I do know is our faith can do much more than heal the flu we had two days ago!! We can use it to affect change in the world. But realize something; the person making the change is God! We are the ones who come to Him in faith and He is the One who does the changing…..!

Faith was used to subdue kingdoms, obtain blessings (which I will talk about in more detail in an upcoming post), administer justice; close the mouth of lions………

It has been hard writing this post because Hebrews paints a very foreign picture of faith. It paints a different kind of faith, a faith that can subdue kingdoms, administer justice, close the mouth of lions; obtain promises and so much more. But what does that mean in our everyday life? If the faith we have been given is so powerful what does this mean for us?

It means we can make a difference. As we have faith in God we can make a difference in the affairs of earth. We don’t have to sit back discouraged and helpless. Our faith can make a difference in a broken world if we only believe in Him. Apart from faith we can do nothing. Apart from God we are powerless. As I think about the things the men and women of old did, they were on their own. They were alone most of the time, abandoned, cast out, persecuted, betrayed, unpopular, considered weird, uneducated, poor and so many other things but because of their faith in God they did amazing things, things that would impact the world forever!! May God give us understanding and may He open our eyes to see the truth. We have been called to do great things but that will only happen when we have faith in God. Trust that He can and WILL do great things through you!

Stay tuned for part three which will be coming soon……..

 

Rolain

 

An Introduction on faith…..

 

Do we really understand all we need to understand about faith? I don’t think so. And as I read Hebrews 11 I was more convinced of that fact. There is so much we don’t understand about faith, so much we need to learn. As we begin to understand more of what faith is the deeper we can walk in it. The men and women of old had a different view of faith and we see it in the stories we read. Let me not get ahead of myself….

As we begin let us look at the definition of faith according to scripture.

Hebrews 11:1 – 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 perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

That is the way the Amplified Version puts it. I like this definition a lot because I understand a little about title deeds. An individual doesn’t need to take people to his house to convince them he owns the house. All he has to do is show them the title deeds. Even though the house can’t be seen the title deed is the person’s proof. And so it is with faith. Your faith is the “title deed” you carry around. We can’t see the house, the car, the career or whatever it is you are trusting God for but the faith you have in God is your proof! It is the tangible proof that God will give you what He promised. But with that being said, how does faith work? To answer that question let us look at another passage of scripture.

The Message bibles says it like this,

By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see. Hebrews 11:3

This is the essence of faith. “What we see created by what we don’t see”. God didn’t wait to see, feel, touch, taste for Him to create. Let us learn from Him. Your life may look like nothing is happening but have faith.  Your life seems meaningless but it’s not. You need to speak and act upon what God has shown you. It may seem out of this world but you need to speak it out. Faith doesn’t wait for things to take shape and happen before it acts, no! In the darkness, in the bareness faith works!

To drive this point home let us look at another scripture:

By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. Hebrews 11:7

Let us imagine this because I think it’s pretty amazing. Noah was warned by God about a flood. He had never experienced a flood before. So because he feared God he built an ark. How crazy must he have looked by everyone! The word says, “He built a ship in the middle of dry land”! Wow. Did he have to struggle with doubts? Did he ever stop and think, what the heck am I doing? We don’t know all that but what we know is he built a ship on dry land. God wants us to start building our ships. It may not make sense, it may sound like the craziest thing in the world, people will mock you, but that is not what matters, believing what God tells you is what is important. Having faith in Him is the most important thing.

As I conclude this post let us look at one more scripture:

By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned. Hebrews 11:29

Faith will let you go places other people can’t. Faith will sustain you in situations that would kill other people in normal circumstances. Who has ever walked through the Red Sea or any sea for that matter?? But because the Israelites had faith God parted the Red Sea so they could walk through it. The Egyptians thought it would be an easy task but how wrong they were. If we rely on our flesh we will fail. If we think we are strong enough or clever enough we will fail. The best of flesh is still flesh. Faith is the only thing that will allow us to do the impossible. Faith is the only thing that will get God’s attention.  So let’s picture this scenario,

The Israelites had faith and they walked through the Red Sea

The Egyptians didn’t have faith in God but thought because they were the strongest and fiercest, they could walk through the Red Sea. They were wrong, dead wrong!

As I end this post I would like to share another scripture:

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Hebrews 11:6

Faith is so much more than we imagine. Without faith we will not be able to connect to God. Without faith we are like two people trying to communicate to each other in two different languages. It’s impossible! God responds to faith. God is pleased with our faith. Faith in God is what moves mountains! I am not talking about a faith in self or something like that. I have been talking about faith in God. This is just the introduction. In the next post I will continue sharing insights I got from Hebrews 11. It is really a powerful chapter on faith……..God bless

Rolain

To be continued…….

 

 

Living a life of passion.

I want to be someone who is driven by passion. I don’t want to waste away in the dark because I have no convictions and no drive…….I want to be so passionate that it will be what wakes me up in the morning. So passionate that I will not want to be idle! So passionate that the thing I am passionate about consumes my entire being. So passionate that every fiber of my being is infected! So passionate that people get uncomfortable around me….

Jesus was a passionate person. He was driven by passion.
He was passionate about God. So passionate that he obeyed Him even to death! He didn’t have to die but He did. Yes He loved us but He loved God,  loved Him enough to die!!!
He was passionate about the church, so passionate that He sat down and made a cord of whips and drove people out of the temple…..!
He was passionate about people. He was so passionate that it didn’t matter who they were or what time they would come to Him. He always made time for people. His heart broke for people, He wept for people, He gave His life to save people!
I hope you are starting to see how passionate He was. He wants us to have that same passion! A passion that cannot be extinguished. A passion that impacts the world! Jesus impacted the world forever because He was passionate. The Pharisees tried to stop Him but their efforts were futile! A passionate person cannot be stopped. We live in a world that needs the light of Christ. But that light will shine through passionate people. People who are passionate for God! People who are willing for God to use them. People who are passionate about the things God is passionate about! Are you that person?

Rolain

How to pray for your future wife!

This post is a response to a post I read a few days ago, a post that  challenged me to the core. If you are a single woman I urge you to read it. The title of the post is called, “Dear Future Husband” and it is written by Samantha Hardcastle. You can read it here.

Men, I urge you to read it as well. It is an excellently written post and I think as men we need to know the kind of women we want and Samantha does a great job of holding up a Proverbs 31 woman. Anyway, let’s start. After reading the post I realized how important it is for us as men to do our part. We too need to pray for our wives. Samantha says,

‘These women don’t know if he has brown hair or orange hair – if he enjoys his coffee black or sweet – or if he’s been through hell and back. But they all share a common thread that all too easily, could be a lost art in one’s love life – and that is the act of praying.”

Men, prayer is important. Prayer is powerful and not to be taken lightly. I say that to you and to myself as a reminder. But I would like to go further with this because as men our responsibility is so much greater not because God made men better than women, but because God has a plan. We are to be the head. We are called to lead our families. We are called to protect and take care of them. The responsibility we have been given is very serious. So the question stands, how are we as men to pray for our wives?

I mentioned the first point. The actually act of praying is very important and key.

For the second point I would like to share something else from Samantha’s post,

“As I go through my past letters, a common theme I have prayed over him is that He would be a bold man for the things of God, bold in loving others, bold in living selflessly, bold in risking his personal comfort for more of Jesus. A man who is bold is the kind of man I want to hold”.

Another way of praying for your future wife is by preparing yourself in your singleness.

What habits need to be changed now? We don’t start when we get married, no! We start now. Ask God to show you habits that are not honoring to Him and ask your closest friends about the things you do that annoy them. Maybe you talk with food in your mouth or people can hear you from the other side of the world when you eat. Maybe you like getting up late every day or maybe you can’t resist flirting with other women, I don’t know. Just change habits that need to be changed.

Have a vision. As a man you are going to lead your family but how will you lead if you don’t have a vision? Let me rephrase that. How can you lead your family if you don’t know what your purpose is? Everyone has a purpose from God. Ask God to show you His purpose for your life.

Seek God with all of your heart. I put this third but it’s actually the most important thing a man can do. Without God we are nothing. He must be first in your life. He must be your consuming passion. He must be the one who occupies your thoughts constantly. He must be the one that completes you. Please listen to me on this point. A woman will not complete you. God is the only one, I repeat , the only one who will complete you…..The media has lied to us through movies and music that a man or woman will complete us but that is so not true. GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL COMPLETE YOU. Ladies, if you find yourself relying on a man for meaning and purpose then you have been deceived! God is the only one who can give you that.

I will stop there for today. I have lots to share but I will stop there. I hope you got the gist of what I am saying. As men we need to pray for our wives too. They need our prayers as we need their prayers……It’s a two way thing.  Be vigilant; don’t take the assignment you have been given by God lightly. Your future wife is depending on you, she is praying for you!

Rolain

The Paradox

Please join me in prayer for Scott and Chelsea and their precious little daughter Davy…..

Scott Cason Frazier

Davy is ok, yet I write today with heaviness in my eyes, exhaustion deep-set within my bones and weariness of soul.

The NICU is a paradox. It’s is a beacon of immense hope for some and simultaneously a memorial of unspeakable grief for others.

For Chelsea and I, the NICU is still a lighthouse in the midst of this tumultuous sea. Yet sadly, the family next door has lost the light and the baby didn’t make it through the day. I couldn’t confirm with the nurses (rightfully so for the privacy of the family), but it’s hard to hide the heavy sobs reverberating off the hospital walls.

I HATE this place but I LOVE this place.

I hate sickness but love the medicine that heals it. I hate that babies have to come here but I love that they have a chance at life. I hate that jobs like these…

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So you want to date…..?

I had the amazing opportunity of being one of the best men at a friend’s wedding.I have been to weddings before but have never been this closely involved before. Being this close made me realise a few important things. As my friend and his wife exchanged their vows I realized a covenant was being made. A covenant is something we don’t take lightly at all. God is a God of covenant and marriage is a covenant.

The other thing I realized was how there is so much pressure to date. If I like someone I must date. If it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out. But dating is so much more. The end goal of dating should be marriage. When we go into dating we should be thinking if this is the person we could marry. Dating with no goal in mind is not really dating. If you have no intention whatsoever to marry the girl or guy  you are dating and you are dating because it’s just the thing to do then please stop. You will save the both of you a lot of heartache.

Dating is great if you understand marriage could be the end result. The whole process of dating is very focused because you have an end in mind, a goal. It may not work out and I understand that but don’t just date for the sake of dating. The person you are dating might be your husband or wife. If that is not what you want then stop.  Dating for the sake of dating just causes unnecessary pain. Do your partner a favor and stop right there.

Saying “I DO” doesn’t start on your wedding day. The process of saying those words begins when you start dating. Let us not take it lightly. Allow God to lead you in your relationships. Guard your heart and your partners heart by not getting into something you know that you know has no future. God will bring the right person at the right time! (I say that by faith….. ).    😉

Rolain

I lost the battle against sin…..?!

I don’t know about you but I have weeks where I feel like I am literally in a boxing ring with sin. Monday I won, Tuesday I lost, Wednesday sin won, Thursday I won and so on and so on. Other weeks I know nothing can touch me. Christ died for my sins and I have been delivered and that’s it!

This week has been a week of fighting guilt and shame and condemnation. Sin seems to be getting stronger in my life, getting the upper hand. I have been delivered for crying out loud but sin seems so strong!! But it also feels like I am in an unfair battle. There is a part of me that wants to sin. It deceives me and betrays me to the enemy. I understand more and more what Paul was speaking about now. My desire is to be free, to get closer to God more and more but he betrays me. I betray me!!!

With all those things going on within me The Lord showed me something!

“For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering]. Hebrews 2:18

Jesus came in a form of a man, was tested and tried but didn’t succumb to sin. He humbled Himself so as a High Priest He could identify with our struggles!

He understands everything we go through and I mean everything!

He doesn’t sit by and watch us in our suffering, No!! Instead He comes to our rescue.

The word says, He IMMEDIATELY runs to our cries!! He IMMEDIATELY runs to assist and relieve us.

If you need help cry out to Him! He wants to help you. He understands what you are going through. The fact is this, we are all exposed to suffering but in your suffering don’t remain silent. In my suffering I was silent and that is when guilt and shame and all those other lies penetrated me but they can’t win if you open your mouth. The enemy cannot win if you call on the One who saves!!! His love for us is so deep and cannot be fathomed. He is our Savior……Amen

Rolain

The man in the sack…..!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

I had just got back into town and was waiting for someone to pick me up to take me home. It was still early in the morning and it was cold when I heard a noise next to me. I looked down and this is what I saw.

A man sleeping in a sack!

I was feeling cold so just imagine what he felt. And this was his home……

 

His home…..

There were other people sleeping in the box. I saw this and realized how much God has given me. When I think about my life I think about all the things not in place yet. Things still to be accomplished, problems to be solved and so on but seeing that man made me realize I need to live a thankful life. I have a LOT to be thankful for….Things not going my way should never be an excuse to not be thankful.

Can we be thankful for all He has done and all He is doing?

Remember, no matter what is happening in your life right now, you ALWAYS have a reason to be thankful!

Rolain

Was he properly honored??

I was shocked when I heard the news of Robin Williams death. He was such an amazing actor and he really impacted a lot of people. I loved a lot of his movies. As I thought about how great an actor he was I had another thought. Did he know the kind of impact he made in people’s lives? Did he know how many people loved him and appreciated him? It seems human instinct to honor people when they die but is that right? How great would it have been if he was alive to read and hear all that had been said about him today!

Honoring people when they are dead is too late. Honor them today. Don’t wait till they die. It would really honor them if you honored them while they were still alive. That is the way it’s meant to be. It’s great that Robin Williams is being honored today for all his work but how much greater would it have been if he was honored like that while he was still alive?!

This post is not about why we are not honoring actors enough. I want people to realize they don’t have to wait till people die  to honor them, no! Let us honor and appreciate the people who are in our lives today.

Rest in peace Robin Williams.

Rolain

God has a plan for you but when does it start…..???

 

I was thinking about destiny today. When did Israel start walking in what God called them to do?

Was it in Egypt or maybe in the desert? It must have definitely started when they got to the land of milk and honey! That is what I thought for a long time. Everyone has a land of milk and honey to get to. That is our destiny right?

When did Moses start walking in what God called him to do? Was it when he was growing up in Pharaoh’s palace or was it when he was living in the desert with Jethro? It must of being when he went back to Egypt and God used him to deliver the Israelites!! It must of being when the Israelites got to the promise land and crossed it….that must be it!

From these two scenarios we see the dilemma of destiny. When did God’s plan for these and more people start?

To answer that question I will have to tell you about my week. My week was sort of ok (whatever that means) but I was thinking to myself how I would love it when things start happening concerning my destiny. I was looking forward to that day. That day when I am doing all God has called me to do. It would be glorious I thought but I was wrong because another thought came to mind. Maybe it was God maybe it was just me but what came to mind as I was thinking all this was, YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING YOUR DESTINY!!

Moses destiny started before he was even born. Everything that happened to Israel prior to Moses being born happened in a way that God could use him specifically. God had a plan for Moses a long time before he was born and that plan started back then! It did not start when he was born.

 

 

“Then Joseph died and all his brothers-that whole generation. But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm. There are too many of these Israelites for us to handle.  Exodus 1: 6-8 

When we get to the book of Exodus and read these scriptures we get excited because we know Moses was about  to be introduced. The Israelites did not see it like that though. Life was hard, extremely hard and they had no idea God was about to perform a miracle. The way we know what Moses was going to do before his story starts is the same way our lives are. You may think life is hard and difficult and challenging and impossible with no hope of rescue but know that God has a plan. You are living in the path He has set out for you. You are walking in your destiny now! Be patient, trust and you will see what He will do.

Another scripture to read is Genesis 15: 12-15:

Then the LORD said:

Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. 

But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn’t belong to them. They will be forced into slavery for 400 years. 

But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions. 

In that scripture we see a part of God’s plan for Moses! God was talking about him to Abraham!! God didn’t mention his name but that’s who He was thinking about. He knew about the slavery and knew about the deliverance. He knew He would call Moses and Aaron to carry out His plan! Isn’t that amazing?? And that was far back as Abram!!!!

 

So what does all this mean? As I was discouraged about the season I was in now I realized I was already living my destiny. Yes it’s hard and yes it’s difficult and yes it’s confusing but I am living in my destiny now. The pain, and difficulty, and confusion is part of my destiny. My destiny does not start when I get to the land of milk and honey but it started in Egypt! When I was in the wilderness I was walking in what God had planned for me. Before I was born His plan for my life was activated. And that goes for you to. You may be going through hard times but know you are walking in God’s plan for you.

Joseph may have hated being sold into slavery by his brothers and he may have thought he had no destiny but he was wrong. When his brothers sold him into slavery he was in God’s plan. Through all the hard and testing times he went through he was living out what God called him to. His destiny had been activated a long time ago! It didn’t seem like it but that was the reality!

I was filled with hope when I got this realization. I may be going through hard times now but I am living in my destiny now. The hard times complete the picture. I hope that all makes sense. God has a plan for you and it started a long long time ago. What you are going through now is not in vain. God sees and He has a plan for you. Trust Him…..

 

Rolain