Because he had no convictions he……….

 

Hi friends…..

It has been a while. A lot has been going on. God has been working on me so much. He has been

revealing a lot of stuff I need to deal with. I want the passion I had when I first came to the Lord.

I have put a lot of other things first and I am having a hard time pushing them down. I definitely

need His grace in this season. Please keep me in your prayers in this season. Simply put,

I need a revival in my life, an awakening! There are so many things I am trusting God for but

they all count as nothing if I don’t have God, if He is not first in my life……

 

Anyway there is something I would like to touch on concerning destiny. As I always say and will

keep saying, God has a plan for your life. He created you for a reason. You are not a mistake.

On the road to discovering your destiny there is something you need and can’t do without.

That ‘thing’ is conviction.

To accomplish your destiny you need to have convictions.

 

PS.   When I talk about conviction I am talking about it in context of our walk with God.

There are lots of people who have conviction about the wrong things. We need conviction

but it needs to line up to the word of God! I wanted to make that clear as I start.

 

I want to share a scripture with you:

 

Your personal convictions [on such matters]–exercise [them] as in God’s presence,

keeping them to yourself [striving only to know the truth and obey His will].

Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he

approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do].

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because

he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not

originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its

approval by God is sinful]. (‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22-23‬ AMP)

 

The passage was speaking about people having a conviction concerning what they

decided to eat but there are lessons we can take from it that apply to our daily lives.

It is very clear from this passage that there is a connection between faith

and conviction. You cannot have convictions without faith. For example, I have a

conviction that God has a plan for me right. That conviction stems from my faith in God

that He has a plan for me. Do you see that?

It is important to have convictions in your walk with God even if they don’t

make sense to the people around you. Look at what this passage says:

 

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God],

because he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith.

For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done

without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. (‭Romans‬ ‭14‬:‭22-23‬ AMP)

 

I have a friend who doesn’t eat pork. He has never eaten it ever!

Before I read this scripture years ago I made it my personal goal to change

his mind. I tried everything but I failed. But I am glad I lost because He

pleased God! He stuck to his conviction even though I didn’t understand.

We need to be like him! If my friend gave in to me, It would of been sin.

When I give in to someone else’s conviction even though it goes against my

own conviction it’s sin! Do you see how important it is to have your

own convictions based upon what GOD HAS SHOWN YOU…?

It may not make sense to the next person but that doesn’t matter.

 

What has God put in your heart? There are things God has put into

each and everyone of us! Will we listen to that strong voice or

will we shrink back in fear?

 

But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating,

and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because

he is not true to his conviction and he does not act from faith.

 

The truth is this,

You are condemned if you are not true to your convictions….ouch!

Stand by what you believe. Don’t be ashamed to believe what you

believe. Stand up for what you believe!

No matter what people say, stick to your convictions….

 

There are times I shrunk back. I shrunk back because I

wanted to please my friends,

I shrunk back because I didn’t believe what God had promised me would come

to pass.

I shrunk back because I was the only person and it seemed crazy to keep believing!

But whatever the reason it’s wrong!

Stick to your convictions friend!

Convictions reflect how much faith we have in God!!

Rolain

 

 

photo credit: Google images

 

 

 

 

 

I Killed HIS Baby.

One of the most honest, raw, heart-wrenching posts you will ever read! This is a must read…..

How to make your life count……

 

Do you want to stand out? Then step down.

Be a servant. If you pull yourself up, you’ll

get the wind knocked out of you.

But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life

will count for plenty.

Matthew 23:11-12 (MSG)

 

I really love this. To stand out in the world, we do crazy

things to get people’s attention. The world teaches us to

push whoever is in our way, we are taught that the other

person doesn’t matter, we are taught to tear down anyone

who is better than us, steal, cheat and a whole host of other

things must be implemented if we are to stand out but that

is just not true!

 

To stand out we must be willing to step down and …….

BE A SERVANT!!

 

Standing out is about putting others first. It is about sacrificing

what you want to help someone else. It is about serving others.

God will make a way for you when you truly stand out!

Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yet He came to

serve. He didn’t force people to worship Him but instead He came

to serve. He didn’t seek the limelight. Standing out requires

humbleness. There is no way you can truly stand out if you

are proud.

 

The true heart of a believer always wants to serve.

The limelight is not the most important thing in his or her life.

Pleasing God is the most important thing.

Will you truly stand out for God today?

 

photo credit: google images

 

Rolain

The true gift……

                                    photo credit: google images

 

I want to bring something back into order, something that

has been tarnished, and diminished in the world

today. The world may have forgotten but we must not forget.

We cannot forget. “What is he rambling on about”, you might be

asking??

 

What do you think is the best gift God can give you?

Salvation yes…!!!! But I am talking about what comes

after salvation.

The world has put value on possessions. Some think God’s

best comes in the form of money. But the word is very

clear about what God’s best gift is:

 

Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?

The fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Psalms 127:3 (MSG)

 

We have been deceived as the body of Christ because we have put

other things first. We have desired other things which is not a

bad thing. Don’t get me wrong….God has so much in store for us.

But we must not lose sight of His greatest gift to us, children!

Parents need to teach their kids about family and legacy!

As single men and women we need to think about our legacy.

Our career is important but I feel we have put that ahead of

everything else. It’s not “cool” to think about family anymore!

God’s definition of the best gift is children but do we think like that?

As I write this it is cutting me as well. It’s a hard

thought. We have become so selfish. We only think about

ourselves and what WE can get. But God is thinking so

much grander…..

May we get a revelation today…….Amen!

 

Rolain

The children were doomed…….

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a 

riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed 

his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing

my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From 

now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”

The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and 

our children after us.   Matthew 27:24, 25 

 

I don’t know about you but I was in shock when I read this

scripture. How could they say things like that?

That was so unfair, so selfish…..

I don’t think the kids would approve. The

crowd cursed their kids just like that. There was no

thought behind what they were really doing. Blinded by

hate they doomed their children!

 

I was angry at the crowd’s ignorance. Shame on anyone

who thinks only of themselves, and forgets there is a much

bigger plan at play. I was hurt by the words they spoke.

What did their kids do????

They were innocent in all of this. They had dreams and

aspirations. But their futures were in danger because of the

carelessness of their parents!!!! That made me so mad.

But as I was thinking about that the attention shifted from the

crowd to myself.

What am I doing now that will prepare the way for my kids?

Am I speaking life, prosperity, victory, peace and other

strong words into their lives or am I cursing their future with

my words???

But it goes much deeper than just words. As a single man

I have a part to play in the future of my kids lives.

Understand what I am saying here. I have a part to play.

I thank God my kids futures are not dependent on my

success or else they would be in deep trouble. God is

the One who is holding them in His hand. He is the One

who created them and called them. He is the One

who knows them by name and is holding their lives in

His powerful hand.

I have a part to play in this amazing story.

Let’s look at a scripture,

 

And David the king went in and sat before the

Lord and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what

is my house and family, that you have brought

me up to this?

And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O

God; for You have spoken of Your servant’s

house for a great while to come, and have regarded

me accordingly to the estate of a man of high

degree, O Lord God!

1 Chronicles 17:16, 17

 

God as you know has a plan for you but He also has

a plan for your kids. That is the exciting news if you ask

me.

Not only has He got a plan for your kids but He has a plan for

their kids and so on and so on!

In other words He has a plan for your posterity!

Let us take a look at another scripture:

 

David told the crowd:

God chose my son Solomon to build the temple,

but Solomon is young and has no experience.

This is not just any building – this is the temple

for the Lord God!

That’s why I have done my best to get everything

Solomon will need to build it – gold, silver, bronze,

iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, colored gems, all kinds of

precious stones, and marble.  1 Chronicles 29:1, 2

 

I love this…..David didn’t sit and expect his son to

walk in his calling. He prepared the way for him. He knew

God had called Solomon and he did all he could do to help

Solomon. We have the awesome responsibility of preparing

the way for our kids even in our singleness. We will not

curse our kids with our words like the crowd did.

How we live our lives has an impact on our kids too. We are

not perfect but we can do something to prepare the way…..

When God sees me and my life He sees a generation.

When He blesses me, He doesn’t stop there, He blesses

my posterity! Today I will make sure I am running after

God’s plan for me. I will pursue purity. I will pursue a

deeper relationship with Him, because all those things have

an effect on my posterity.

 

For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your 

gates, and He has blessed your children within you. 

Psalms 147:13

 

This is one of my favorite scriptures. The Lord has blessed

my children within me and because of that I am grateful.

It wasn’t because of me that He blessed them but it was

because of His grace! And even now by faith I declare that

my kids will do great things for God not because I am

perfect but because I trust in a great big God. Their

future is secure I declare.

God has blessed the work of their hands.

Favor is with them everywhere they go.

They will bring many people to the Lord!

They will have wisdom far beyond their years.

They will walk in purity

and most importantly of all, they have a deep

relationship with God.

God will be the first and the most important thing in

their lives. They will be sold out for God……

 

That is my declaration….what is yours???

We will not curse our kids but bless them in word

and in deed.

Amen!

(Our children’s ministry is having a camp so I will be away for a

few days starting today. Please pray for me and the team that is

going. Pray for the kids as well.)      🙂

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A thought about the impossible!

                                             photo credit: google images

 

“Lord,”Martha said to Jesus, “if You had been here, my

brother would not have died.

But I know that even now God will give You whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise in the resurrection

at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The

one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?

John 11:21-26

 

I had to share the whole passage with you because it’s key to

what I want to speak on today. I was supposed to share

what I am about to share with you last week but something

happened last week to shake my faith. I was trusting God

for something huge and it didn’t happen! I was broken and

wondered why it never came to pass. But I realized

something. Just because something doesn’t happen in our lives

doesn’t mean it is too much for God, it just means it wasn’t

part of His plan for our lives. It took time processing that.

 

Anyway, lets move on. Last week God showed me something

that gave me so much hope! I was thinking about the big

things I am trusting God for but there was one thing in

particular I was doubting. As I was doubting if this thing

would happen I had a thought and wrote it down in my

journal:

 

We all know God does the impossible but there is

something you need to get into your spirit,

God can do YOUR impossible.

Whatever I am believing for that I think is impossible,

God can do. He is doing my impossible!

 

Look at Martha. She believed Jesus was the resurrection

and the life. She believed Jesus could do the impossible!

That was not the issue. But Jesus wanted her to know He

could accomplish her impossible! There is a big difference

between believing God can do the impossible and believing

He can do YOUR impossible!

 

Nothing in your life is too big for God to handle. When

you read of all those great things Jesus did in the bible

know He can do those same things in YOUR life. He cares

about you……

I was so encouraged when I got that revelation. I thought

to myself about the things I was trusting God for. I could

pray to God about that thing. He actually wanted me to

come to Him with “my impossible” things!

 

God has great things in store for you and no matter how

impossible they seem please understand He is the God of

the impossible, the God of YOUR impossible! Don’t doubt

Him. If something doesn’t happen after you have brought

that thing to Him then know that it wasn’t in His plan!

There is no such thing as, too big for God!

He wants to show Himself strong on your behalf!

Trust Him.

Amen!

 

Rolain

“I don’t understand”…….

   image credit: google images

 

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the

man void of understanding;

and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had

covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was

broken down.  Proverbs 24:30, 31

 

This is a very familiar passage of scripture. As I read it

something jumped out at me that I didn’t see before. People

who know this scripture talk about it in context of laziness

but there is more.

 

The lazy man was not just lazy but was void of understanding!

Those two things are not the same.

Look at the effects of not having understanding:

 

His vineyard was all grown over with thorns

The nettles had covered the face thereof

The stone wall thereof was broken down!

 

To own a vineyard you had to have some sort of wealth.

This man had wealth. He knew stuff but…..

What happened??

How could he let things just decay like that?

My pastor taught me that

the problem in the world today is not a knowledge problem.

We have a wisdom problem!  And I think that applies here.

In all his “knowing” the man didn’t apply what he knew. He didn’t

pursue understanding! In other words, he didn’t seek to

understand what was going on. He was wealthy but he didn’t seek

to understand how to use it!

 

I was challenged when I read that scripture. Laziness is deadly

but not having understanding is just as deadly. The man’s walls

were broken down!

We need to make it a goal to get understanding. Don’t settle

for knowledge only but seek understanding!

 

As I looked at my life after reading this scripture I saw areas

where I was like the man who was void of understanding.

Laziness crept in because he had no understanding!

I asked myself, do I have understanding?

It’s not enough to just know about something? It’s not enough

to have information, because that is all it will ever be, information.

Understanding comes when you apply what you know.

 

It’s not too late to get understanding. There

is so much going on today. A lot of people don’t have understanding

and it’s destroying them. Their walls are broken down, with thorns

all grown over. We have a chance……

 

Am I void of understanding or

Am I seeking to understand?

 

Where are you at?

 

Rolain