Did John the Baptist really lie…….???!!

The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, Here He is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.

I knew nothing about who He was-only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize Him as the God-Revealer.

John 1:29-31

Did John know Jesus? Was he telling the truth? If you look at his history you will find something quite surprisingly. Not only did John know Jesus, he was related to Him!! Why then did John say he didn’t know who He was?

For proof they were related let’s look at Luke 1:36:

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant!

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her home. Luke 1:56

 

They were related and it looked like their parents had a really good relationship!

I can see it now…….The boys grew up together. Jesus would sleep over at John’s house and vice versa. John and Jesus played together. They were close friends!

So if all this was true, why did John lie about not knowing Jesus?? He knew Him well…..

Let us look at another version to see how John identified Jesus,

 

The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said:

Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29

 

This is what struck me about John’s response. He knew who Jesus was but He didn’t get familiar with him. He could have gone there, but instead he made a decision to not be familiar. He refused to see Him as normal; he refused to become familiar with the son of God even though he was related to Him!

This is the lesson; we all have an amazing destiny so let us look at each other in that light! Let us not become familiar with each other that we don’t see God’s hand on him or her. Let us not get familiar to the point we can’t even encourage each other!

John had every right to be familiar with Jesus but he didn’t. He focused on the call of God on His life. And because of that he got to baptize Jesus!!

How do you look at your friends?? What do you think of them? Familiarity has a way of blinding you from seeing the real part of a person! Familiarity will block you from receiving……I believe John the Baptist would have missed his chance at being blessed if he got familiar with Jesus!

I am not suggesting you get all crazy when you see your friend, crazy like bowing down before them and so on….

All I am saying is, we need to see them as having a destiny and a purpose. We can be friends but at the same realize our friends and people close to us have a purpose and as we begin to treat them like they have a purpose we free them to walk in what God has called them into.

John didn’t lie, he simply made a decision to not be familiar with Jesus and he got to baptize Him! What an honor and a privilege…..

Rolain

 

How He grows your faith…….

“When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, He said 

to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?”

He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what He 

was going to do. John 6:5, 6

 

When Jesus and Philip looked out at the large crowd what did they see?

Philip saw an impossible situation! In his mind it was an impossible situation!

Jesus saw something different when He looked out at the crowd. He knew exactly what He was going to do. Philip on the other hand saw obstacles and barriers but Jesus wanted to stretch his faith.

I have been meditating on this verse for a couple of days now. It is such a powerful scripture…..

We are like Philip in many ways. There are situations in our lives where we look and think, “impossible”! How am I going to do this or do that? How, how , how……but Jesus already knows what He is going to do!

You may be freaking out because you can’t see a way out or a solution but Jesus sees, He has the solution!

But He won’t just come and sort it out, like Philip He is asking us the same question,

“Where can we buy bread to feed these people?”

He wants to stretch our faith. What was impossible in Philip’s mind was possible in Jesus’s mind! He didn’t see barriers, limitations, roadblocks or anything like that………

As long as there is faith, the impossible does not exist! Jesus wants to stretch our faith!  No matter what impossible situation you are facing please know that Jesus has the answer. He wants you to be able to face any situation and know He has the answer!!!! No matter how big, no matter how impossible, He want’s you to know He has the answer. Philip had faith in God but Jesus knew his faith in Him had to grow, it had to be stretched!! I am comforted to know that Jesus wants to stretch my faith! I want my faith to grow……There is so much bad happening around me that the only way to get out of it is to have strong faith in Him! Having strong faith will not erase the situation, instead it will help me walk through it with peace and confidence that He is in control!!! He is so good!

Rolain

 

 

The “Man” who walked out on a city………!!

That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to Him, the whole city lined up at His door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew His true identity, he didn’t let them say a word. 

While it was still night, way before dawn, He got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with Him went looking for Him. They found Him and said, “Everybody’s looking for You.”

Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so i can preach there also. That is why I’ve come.”   Mark 1:32-39 

 

I guess the disciples were pretty confused! Why did Jesus want to go to another town when the whole city was lined up at their door??!!! It was something they probably couldn’t comprehend. They had become rock stars literally overnight, people knew them by name but the star of the show wanted to leave, let me rephrase that, was leaving…..!

It wasn’t like they were doing something meaningless. They were teaching the masses, healing the sick, casting out demons and so much more, amazing things were happening at that place, but Jesus wanted to leave..!!!

They were popular but that was not enough of a reason for Jesus to stay. Have we missed something in this day and age? It seems like being popular takes precedence over everything else.

Jesus didn’t do what he did so He could be popular. He wasn’t looking at how many “likes” or “comments” he got. His mission was to save us and that took precedence over everything else!

He wept for people, His heart broke for people, He reached out to the outcasts, He ministered to the little children, and the list goes on and on…..He did things that made Him unpopular but that didn’t matter……the call of God on His life was more important to Him. Please understand what I am saying, I am not attacking you if you have a large following and I am not saying get rid of your following if you have one….Jesus was always been followed but his focus remained on the real mission, saving people! The magnitude of the people that followed Him didn’t change His focus.

What is important to you as you live this life? Is being popular more important than ministry? Does it take precedence over everything else in your life? Let us evaluate our hearts as we walk the path God has set before us.

While it was still night, way before dawn, He got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with Him went looking for Him. they found Him and said, Everybody’s looking for you.” Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so i can preach there also.” This is why I’ve come. Mark 1:38, 39.

Jesus was clear about what was important to Him after he prayed. He may have been clear before but the word showed Him going to pray and making a non-negotiable decision. You may be confused about your purpose or confused about what is important but prayer will make it clear, very clear! That is how powerful prayer is…….

Rolain

 

The “dream killer”………!

 

The greatest enemy to our dreams is something called stagnation. A pastor came to our church a few months ago and said something quite profound. He said our nation was plagued by the spirit of stagnation! When I say “our nation” I mean it in its literal sense. I am talking about the nation I live in. I remember being so embarrassed by those words because he was speaking about us as a nation and I knew he was right!

What I wasn’t ready for was to find out I was affected as well. Stagnation had come into my home stealthily! I didn’t even know it at the time. Like a cancer it started eating away at my life. It was sucking the life from me and I didn’t even know it! Unannounced it came, silently it entered my life! One thing undone turned into two then three then four and so on! My mind didn’t register when something was left undone!

These are some of the things that needed to be done:

 

Meet with children’s band to discuss new plan of action for the New Year coming.

Set a date to have children’s seminar. Sit down and plan it.

Map out the song I am doing for Christmas service.

Get together with my friend to create a playlist for the kids.

Work on my book.

Read the books I have been given.

Start revising the material I was given for a course I did.

Change the light bulb.

Buy new dining room chairs.

Find someone who can repair the sofas in the lounge.

Crazy right…..!

 

But something happened this week, maybe it was the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance the word I heard all those months back. I saw everything differently. I saw all the things in my life that were undone, the unread books, the damaged light bulb, and the unfinished projects!!!  It drove me mad…..! Every time I saw something undone my blood would begin to boil. It was my fault, I was the reason! I had no one else to blame but myself!

If you didn’t know, Stagnant has a few other family members. There is Procrastinate and his brother Laziness! Arghhhh…..what a nasty family to be living with!

But no more!!!

There is one way to break the back of stagnation, one way that will silence it for good. Prayer is needed but it’s not the answer I am looking for. What I am looking for comes after prayer. The answer and the key to breaking stagnation is to DO!!

Get into a habit of working. That’s what I did. I got up and started working!! I felt good after that. I want that to be the norm! Stagnation is serious; it is a dream killer and must not be taken lightly! We need to pray and after that get up and do!!!

 

I liked this definition I found for stagnate:

(Verb) Deteriorate by lack of action.

Synonyms for stagnate:

Fester, hibernate, stall, decay, rust, stifle, vegetate, not moving!

 

 

There is no progress, no growth when stagnation is in your life. You are not effective when you are stagnant. It eats away at your potential like a leech. It kills you gradually. It really is the dream killer!

If this is where you are at in your life, will you then stand with me and make a decision to DO…..

No matter how hard it is, do something!

Pray then get up and act!

This dream killer is going down! Amen!!!

Rolain

The purpose that prevails.

We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD ’s purpose prevails. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ MSG)

What are you mulling over in your mind?

Things are not happening the way we thought so we plan in our mind……..

We don’t think things will work out so we look at our options………

We don’t trust God enough so we take matters in our hands…….

We are so full of fear and worry that we decide to do something, anything….

We can’t see our future and don’t understand all that God is doing so we get to work…….

As we have failed over and over again we have lost hope in God and have made a decision to do things on our own…..

BUT IN ALL THESE SITUATIONS THE WORD OF THE LORD IS CLEAR –

His purposes for us will prevail!!!!

We have a choice today, to follow our own path and purpose or to follow God’s purpose! But keep in mind that only one purpose will prevail, GOD’S PURPOSE!!

Our plans, ideas and purposes will fail because we are simply not capable to lead our selves. We were not meant to. Whatever you are going through know that God’s purpose for your life will prevail!! No plan originating of man will succeed. The day a man’s plan and purpose for your life is fulfilled know you are in trouble…… As I close know, His purpose for you will prevail. Throw away your plans, trust the Lord instead!

Rolain

 

 

 

 

You are not alone in your pain!!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn

through the sleepless nights, 

Each tear entered in your ledger, 

each ache written in your book.      Psalm 56:8

 

You toss and turn in the night. Your mind is busy! Thinking about how you will pay

your bills!

You toss and turn in the night wondering how you will make it through the week!

You toss and turn in the night because you are restless, unsettled, worried, and fearful.

You toss and turn in the night, sleep has escaped you…..it has left you to try and find

and answer to the problems you face but…….

There is Someone who keeps track of your EVERY toss and turn! He not only knows

but gives you help. Sleep, rest, don’t fret, don’t worry because the thing that is keeping

you up has been taken to be solved by the One who is bigger than ANY problem you

will ever face!

God sees your every tear……every tear! He sees your tears and cries with you! There is not

a tear that goes unnoticed and

unrecorded. He knows your every ache! He sees through the mask you have donned to

hide the pain in your heart. He is not a cold hearted God who doesn’t care! On the

contrary, He cares so much that He takes the time to document your pain, your tears.

He cares about the ache in  your heart. He cares about the tears you shed! If you are in

pain run to Him! When the tears flood out look to Him! Don’t believe the lie that no

cares and no one knows! When you are going through your darkest hour remember

Jesus. His heart was in pain, He shed tears but He took it all to God in prayer! He knew

His Father cared and loved Him!

You serve a God who understands and cares for you! You are not alone in your pain.

You may feel like no one understands what you are going through but He does! This is

the God we serve, how amazing is He??!!!!

( In total awe)  Selah!

Rolain……

 

 

 

Throw away that script!!

 

All his life he was abused. His dad was a drunk and his mom was having an affair, an affair that led to divorce! His school life suffered greatly! Who cared about science or geography when life was falling apart! His world as he knew it had been destroyed and was still a living nightmare and yet he was still required to engage at school!!! His teachers called him stupid, his seniors ridiculed him daily. He had no where to run but in himself but even that was hopeless because the person inside would tear him to bits, the person in him would tell him how pathetic he was……no one understood him not even his family….

His script.

I am a nobody and no one loves me! I am better off dead…..I am of no use on this earth! If there is a God, He really really hates me!!! No one understands me.

The boy grew up and for a lot of his life he held on to the script that had been given to him through experiences he went through as a child. He wanted nothing to do with his family, he was treated like trash but it never bugged him because his script said he was trash! He was poor but that was okay with it because his script said he was a nobody and he didn’t deserve anything good! He never expected love from anyone because his script said no one loved him and so it went until…..

Something happened, something that would change his life forever. The boy who was now a man found God or may I say, God found him! God changed the way he saw. God started showing him flaws in the script, not only flaws but lies and deception! It was a difficult time for the boy turned man. A lot of the lessons where painful. The crazy thing about the whole situation was there was a part of the man that wanted to hold on to the script!! It was what he knew and even though it was destroying him he held on to it and didn’t want to let go!

But God in His grace and love saved the man. After years and years of rebuilding and restructuring, and pounding and pain the man began to see something else. He began to see what God had for him…..He began to believe in love again! The script he once had was nothing but a memory now.

It would still come back to haunt him at times but by God’s grace he stood tall and strong knowing who his God was and is, knowing the plans God has for him, confident in the God who loves him!

This is what I would like to say to you. The script you have been given is false. God loves you and cares for you and has a plan for you. Your life can turn out differently despite what people are saying. Your life WILL turn out differently. God did not compose the script you are living by now not if it is a negative one and not if it undermines who are in Christ.

You are not destined to fail.

You are not a loser.

You are not ugly.

You are not useless.

You are not stupid.

You are not just a statistic.

You are not a burden.

You are not clumsy.

God has someone amazing out there for you.

You will succeed, you will win, you will prosper, you are loved, you have been forgiven, you are beautiful, you are rich, you are precious, you are important and so much more……

You don’t have to follow the script you have been given. God wants you to look to Him and trust Him. He wants to give you the best. The script is not true. Throw it away!

* Depression is real and needs to be taken seriously. If you want to understand it more and know how

to deal with it please click on the link below*

https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/depression/10-depression-quotes-that-may-change-your-life/

Rolain

The promise of God under attack!!

 

 

I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets….Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. Hebrews 11:32

 

I have been writing a series on faith for the past month or so and I have been meaning to finish it which I will do in this post. If you want to read the last post I wrote on faith please click here.

The word tells us the men and women of old obtained promised blessings by faith! God had promised them things but they could only obtain them by faith! There was no other way those things could be obtained!!

That got me thinking, what does it mean to obtain promises by faith? What does that look like? When the word says we need faith to obtain the promises He has promised us what does that mean? Why do we need faith to obtain what God has promised us?

The word is filled to the brim with answers. Let me show you a few.

• Abraham was given some amazing promises. (Genesis 17) But there was a slight glitch…..

Abram was ninety-nine years old when the LORD appeared to him again and said, “I am God All-Powerful.  Genesis 17:1

Did this very important fact slip God’s mind??? How could He call a ninety-nine year old man seriously? But this is God the Creator of the Universe we are talking about. He knew what He was doing. He knew the only way Abram would walk in what He promised him would be if he trusted in Him. There was no other way he would obtain the promise!

God knows what your situation is, He knows the circumstances you are in and He wants you to trust Him no matter how impossible things seem. Let’s face facts, without faith you will not be able to obtain the promise. I didn’t say “not willing” but “NOT ABLE”!!! You will not be able to no matter what you try. God’s calling for your life is too much for you to accomplish on your own which would mean in your flesh! You will fail….. Yes, you just heard me say you will fail. I didn’t make a mistake or mix up my words! You will fall and not be successful.

Let us look at another example:

• The Israelites were in a hard place. On one side there was the Red Sea and on the other side the Egyptian army! There was no way for them to turn back and fight the Egyptians because they had no weapons and they were not trained warriors! They would be massacred….In front of them was the Red Sea. They didn’t know how to swim, they would surely drown but by faith the word says, “They walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.” (Hebrews 11:29)

I hope you are beginning to see how important a role faith plays in you obtaining God’s promises. Without faith you will not be able to obtain what God promised! The Egyptian army thought they could walk through the Red Sea but like we all know, they couldn’t! The water crashed in on them and killed them! They didn’t know about faith! And without faith they died…..Is that the reason things don’t seem to be working out for you? Maybe you have been trying to do this in your own strength when God wants you trusting in Him. Sometimes doing nothing and waiting patiently for the breakthrough is what you need to do and at times that is so much harder to do. Anyway let’s move on….

• The Israelites thought taking the promise land was a small thing. They thought they were strong enough but that was quickly proven wrong. The Israelites were finally at the gate of the land flowing with milk and honey. All they had to do was obey the word of God and storm the city but they believed the ten spies! They believed them and were filled with fear. There was talk of appointing a new captain to lead them back to Egypt and there was talk of stoning Joshua and Caleb! But God stepped in and everything changed. The Israelites repented but it was too late, the damage was done! Let’s pick up the story in Numbers 14:39

 

When Moses told all of this to the people of Israel, they mourned long and hard. But early the next morning they started out for the high hill country saying, “We’re here; we’re ready – let’s go up and attack the land that God promised us. We sinned, but now we’re ready.”

 

As we know, the Israelites were defeated. Without faith, without God they couldn’t obtain what God had promised them! Let that be a sober reminder for us all…….I am going to stop here in the hope you got the heart of what I was saying!. God has some really amazing things in store for us but we will need to exercise our faith to obtain those amazing things. If you don’t know what God has planned for you know He has great and amazing things in store for you, things that are too big for you alone to handle and accomplish. If you can accomplish it on your own it’s probably not from God! It is clear in scripture that God called the men and women to a greater vision one that was too much for them! But with God and faith in God they accomplished what God had planned for them. It was not because of their wisdom or their good looks, or their strength but it was through faith!

 

I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets….Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. Hebrews 11:32

 

God has a plan for us, so may we take it by faith!

 

Rolain

To say goodbye….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I have a confession to make, I hate goodbyes! I really really hate them. I had to say goodbye to a friend today and it was not fun! That got me thinking………

Why does it hurt to say goodbye?

Is it a reminder we are missing something? SOMETHING we as humans cannot function without, SOMETHING we cannot do without, that if we tried to do without we would die??!!

Just because goodbyes are a normal part of our lives doesn’t make it natural or something that was meant to be. It seems cruel. We go through the whole process of meeting someone only to have them leave!!

Are goodbyes meant to remind us that God is the ONLY one who can complete us and NO person can ever fill that gap no matter how great they are…..

(please bear with me as I rant!!!!)

Are goodbyes a reminder we are not home yet???

I long for home because when I am home there will be no more goodbyes!!! What a thought! In heaven we will never have to say goodbye ever again!!! Our friends and family will always be there but more importantly, Jesus will be with us! No one will ever have to say goodbye! I long for that day. But for now I know God has a reason He allows goodbyes to happen. I don’t know why exactly, I just know He has a plan!

I do admit there are things and PEOPLE we need to say goodbye to. We need people and at the same time we don’t. Some people really need to go because they are drowning us! But that is a post for another day!

All I am saying is, I hate goodbyes! They are never easy and I long for the day I will never have to say goodbye!!!!

Rolain

 

The disturbing dialogue…..and purity!

Going about my day I came across two guys talking. The conversation they had was quite disturbing and I couldn’t believe they were talking about it so casually. One of the guys was talking about his girlfriend. He was telling his friend how “hot” various parts of her body were. He went on to tell him about the tattoos she had and where they were on her body! Like I said, it was quite disturbing. To make it worse these boys were on the way from school which meant they were teens!

That got me thinking about purity. Was does it mean to be pure? As a young person what does it mean to keep yourself for the person God has for you? I don’t think not having sex before marriage is what makes you pure. There is much more….

Being pure means watching how you speak. That young boy was disrespecting his girlfriend by the way he spoke about her. If you are waiting for God’s one for you then watching how you speak is something you have to watch out. Instead of speaking in a obscene way pray for her. Speak the word. Build her up with your words. Respect her with your words. If you haven’t met her yet that doesn’t mean you have to wait. Start learning to be pure in the way you speak to the people around you. Let it be natural by the time you meet her. Speak life to your friends. Encourage them and build them up with your words.

Being pure means watching how you think. Those guys were not being pure. What are you thinking about? As a young person you need to learn how to control your thoughts. It doesn’t start when you get married. It starts now!! Change the way you think. Being pure is about being strict about what you watch because you know it will affect what you think about. There are a lot of things that can contaminate you if you are not careful.

Young men, what I have written falls heavier on you. I want you to make the connection between keeping yourself for your wife to be and thinking pure thoughts and speaking life. They are intertwined, connected! They all form together to create purity in its purest form! You can’t abstain from sex but have no control over your mouth! Or you cannot abstain from sex but always thinking about the naked women you saw on the internet! See how crazy that is. When you meet your wife you want to be completely whole, not partially whole! That is my goal and desire and I will fight for that.

We cannot allow the enemy to steal our purity. If you didn’t know that is what the enemy is doing. Bit by bit he is destroying our purity. He is doing everything he can to corrupt us. If it’s not through movies it’s through the music we listen to, if it’s not music then it’s the news we watch and the news we ready daily that puts us in a state of fear! We have all been affected but thank God for His grace because when we fall and fail He is there to pick us up! It’s hard writing this because I see how easily I fall, I see how I get deceived. I am all for purity and I am in this fight but the enemy has won a lot…….A lot of times I feel helpless and weak, like I don’t stand a chance and in a way I don’t if I am relying on my flesh. But even in the face of those kind of circumstances I will get up and dust myself off and fight.

The picture that comes to mind when I think about this fight we fight is one of Zeus and Atom, characters from the movie Real Steel. Atom is the under dog and doesn’t stand a chance against the reigning champion the mighty Zeus! During the fight Atom takes a lot of hits. Atom gets knocked to the floor constantly. But every time he gets knocked out he manages to some how get up. No matter how bad he has been beaten and thrown around he still gets up!!! And then something amazing happens, Atom begins to fight back. The champion that never got challenged, that never broke a sweat begins to get beaten. As the fight ends Zeus gets knocked to the floor which is something that has never been seen. We are Atom, we have a chance because God lives in us. He is the one that gives us the strength to stand again and again. He is the reason we don’t stay down after unrelenting attack! He is the reason we can face the fierce giants who threaten to destroy us!

Zeus and Atom!

The conclusion, purity is something worth fighting for. Don’t give up. No matter how much the enemy has stolen, you still have a chance because it is because of God you have a chance! We can face the onslaught of the enemy knowing God is with us. The enemy will  not win. We will protect this precious gift God has given to us to the death! The enemy will not steal our purity. He may be stronger, we may get knocked down but we WILL win, we WILL stand up again because God is with us! That is amazing…….!

Rolain