What God expects today……

“For it is like a man who was about to take a long journey,

and he called his servants together and entrusted them with

his property.

To one he gave five talents [probably about $5000], to another

two, to another one-to each in proportion to his own personal

ability. Then he departed and left the country. ”

Matthew 25:14

 

I shared this scripture because it illustrates perfectly where I am

at the moment. God has been speaking to me about the talents He

has given me. I haven’t been faithful with them I am sad to say.

I have been slacking for lack of a better word.

I haven’t been living to my full potential and I know it!

 

I was the man who was given the one talent who hid it in the

ground. But this is the thing, the only way to get to the five

is being faithful with the one talent!

 

I want you to think about something along the same line,

 

Is getting the five talents the main goal or is it being

faithful with however many talents you have?

 

They are both important but I think being faithful with the talents

you currently have is more important.

 

At the level you are at are you being faithful? (are you faithful

today?)

If you have one talent, are you being faithful?

Are you faithful with the two talents God has given you or

are you looking at the guy or girl with the five talents and

wishing you were them??

 

God wants us to be faithful with the talents He has given us.

 

For me, it means being faithful with this blog, being faithful with

my job, and being faithful in the areas of ministry I serve in (those

are my two talents metaphorically speaking).

God is looking at my faithfulness in those areas.

Getting the five talents is not the main goal.

Being faithful with the two is.

 

I am walking in His amazing purpose when I give 200%

into what He has given me to do now, no matter how small

it seems.

 

When increase, promotion and growth come (which always

do)  I will still be required to be faithful. God will still expect me

to bear fruit.

But it starts now. I should be bearing fruit with the two talents

I have right now. There will be no progress if I sit on my talent.

There will be no blessing in my life if I am not moving!

 

As I end here I would like you to think about a few things.

Are you faithful with the talents God has given you?

If not what can you do to change that?

Are you envious of other people who seem to have

more than you?

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

Why we need to endure in a broken world…..

This is crazy. There is so much bad happening in the world

at the moment. It’s enough to make you go crazy.

And it’s not just in one place, no. It’s everywhere. War, famine,

natural disasters, economic meltdown, and so on. You don’t

have to go far to know all the bad that’s happening in the world.

At times, the bad gets really overwhelming. It all feels so hopeless.

What is the answer in such perilous times and make no mistake

about it, we are in very perilous times. If you are not careful

your faith can get snuffed out by the bad that is happening around

you. I deliberately moderate the amount of news I ingest.

It’s guaranteed that if I spend a significant time watching the

news or reading it I will be left in a state of fear.

In times like these the prospect of heaven seems really

appealing.

 

“God will wipe away every tear from thier eyes; and death

shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and

mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions

and the former order of things have passed away. “

Revelation 21:4

 

I don’t know about you but I want that.

 

Things on earth can

be so diffcult so what is the answer?

Does God enjoy seeing us suffer?

Does He want us to have a hard life?

Does He have a plan in the midst of such tragedy?

 

I have to say, being born in Zimbabwe makes it a bit

easier to deal with what’s going on in the world. Our country

has gone through some incredible challenges which I have

talked about countless times. We have had to trust God

with everything we have got. The pressure we have

experienced has forged iron in us. The people who have

stayed and endured have come out stronger in faith.

 

God has a plan for keeping us in this broken world. In fact

I want you to see how imperative it is you endure all the

pain and hardships on this earth. Yes, we are just passing

through and yes we are not citizens of earth but we need

earth more than we think. Look at what James 1:2-4 says,

 

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are

enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into

various temptations.

But let endurance and steadastness and patience have full play

and do a thourough work, so that you may be [people]

perfectly  and fully developed [ with no defects], lacking in

nothing. “

 

 

Let me be clear, without the trials, and pain we encounter

on a daily basis we would not be fully developed. That’s what the

word is telling us. There would be no endurance, patience and

steadfastness built into us. We would be incomplete without hard

times and storms.

 

(let that sink it for a bit)

 

We need heaven but at this moment we need to endure on

earth for a bit longer! You may be fed up with the craziness

that is happening all around you but hold on, don’t give up!

God has a plan and He is in control.

 

So when something crazy happens to you or you hear of

bad things happening in the world don’t fret or panic. Like

James said, we need to count it all joy when those things come.

Instead of destroying us those things make us grow into the

people God created us to be.

Don’t run away from trials and storms.

Look to the Lord.

In a world so broken God wants us to step up, not back down.

 

Let me say it again, without pain, without trials, without storms,

without hard times we will not be complete. We need not pray

for those times but when they come our way our trust should

be found in the Lord…..

He is a good God who is directing our every step through the

most intense darkness the world has ever seen.

Will you shrink in fear when you hear or read of all the craziness

happening in the world or will you allow God to build patience,

endurance and steadfastness in you??

That is the question….

 

Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

A talk about singleness and the future….

 

I want to share a scripture that ministered to me recently.

 

“My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation, but I

hope in Your word.

My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promise,

I say when will You comfort me?

For I have become like a bottle [a wineskin blackened and

shrieveled] in the smoke [in which it hangs], yet I do not forget

Your statutes.”

Psalm 119: 81-83

 

I really needed this scripture. I have been

thinking about my singleness and when God will bring the woman

He has for me. I have written about the times I tried to speed up

the process in my own time and how that didn’t work. I have also

written about the decision I made to wait on the Lord concerning

the one.

Waiting is not easy but the scripture I shared talks about how

we must hang on to His word even when we are at the end of

ourselves. Even when nothing is happening, we must hold on

to His word.

 

“My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation”

“My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promise”

“For I have become like a bottle [a wineskin blackened and

shrieveled] in the smoke”

 

The author is fighting a battle. He is at war in the midst of the

wait. I will say it again, waiting is not easy.

He seems to be losing actually but……

Even when everything is going wrong around him, even though

his answer hasn’t been answered yet, even though there is no

evidence that suggests any kind of change in his situation,

his hope is in the Lord!

 

Reading that gave me hope. As I was thinking about all this I

realised something,

 

God has got my situation in control for sure and He is faithful.

But I have been letting marriage consume me

again and forgetting about the now. I have not been appreciative

of the season of singleness I am in now! It’s a gift….

If He wants me to be married I will be but right now I need

to be focusing on what He has for me right now.

I know that I know God is in full control of my life. He is

directing my every step and even though the wait is so

hard at times He wants me to trust Him for my future but

live!

He doesn’t want the future to paralyse me in the present. If

it’s doing that then there is a problem.

God never intended the future to paralyse me in the

present. He has amazing things in store for me in the future but

He also has amazing things in store for me right now!

 

If you are single don’t fall into the same trap I fell into.

Understand God has got you. He knows all of your concerns

and fears. He has heard your prayers concerning the One.

 

Trust God for your future and trust Him in the now. He is in both

times! How amazing it will be when you get married but don’t

discount the season you are in now. God has got so much for you

in your season of singleness.

For a long time people have thought “singleness” and “in transit”

were the same but they were wrong. Singleness is not a sort of

“transit” as you get to the real destination (marriage).

He wants you to be blessed now as well as in the future.

 

So what am I saying?

 

Wait on the Lord. No matter how hard it gets, wait on Him.

Hold on to His word. Understand beyond a doubt that He has got

you. He has heard your prayer and He will bring to pass what

you are trusting Him for.

But don’t let the desire for marriage blind you from what God

is doing now. Don’t let it blind you from living 100% for God

today.

Don’t let the fears and anxieties you have about the future

steal your joy now. Don’t let those things keep you in a state

of fear and hoplessness!

God will lead you to the person He has for you. That is not

even a question. Have faith and live!

Blessings to you…..

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do we really understand His faithfulness??

“For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are

everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all

generations. “

Psalm 101:5

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

This verse has been on my heart this week. The Lord is so

faithful. This past week has been interesting because I have

been reminded about the things I am trusting God for. Those

things haven’t come to pass as yet. Nothing seems to be

happening. I have asked God the “why” question and the

“when” question and as I have done that the scripture I shared

has been bubbling in my spirit. Even in the “hard to understand

times” God is faithful!

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

It may “seem” like nothing is happening at the moment but

the Lord is faithful! He really is….

 

The word says “His faithfulness and truth endure to ALL

generations!”

God was faithful to Abraham when He told him to

leave his home to go to a place he didn’t know.

 

“The Lord had said to Abraham, “Leave your native country,

your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land

that I will show you.”

Genesis 12:1

 

A hundred and one things could of gone wrong for Abraham.

Leaving what you know to go to a place you have

never seen and never heard of is crazy right.

But Abraham obeyed and went and God’s faithfulness protected

him as he went. God blessed Abraham, protected him and

directed his every step. Abraham had favor where he went.

That was God’s faithfulness operating in his life.

 

The Lord was faithful to Adam and Eve when they ate of the

tree that God told them not to eat. They were doomed when they

ate the fruit. The enemy had won if it wasn’t for God’s

faithfulness to Adam and Eve! (Genesis 3)

Without God’s faithfulness we would be doomed.

 

“His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations”

 

Generations later we see God’s faithfulness in the life of Hannah.

She was barren and because of that she was constantly

ridiculed by Peninnah. It seemed like Peninnah would be

victorious. It seemed like her negative words would ring

true in Hannah’s life.

 

“So Peninnah would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because

the Lord had kept her from having children.

Year after year it was the same – Peninnah would taunt Hannah

as they went to the tabernacle.

Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not

even eat.”

1 Samuel 1:6, 7

 

But God was faithful to Hannah! He answered her prayer and

granted her heart’s desire by giving her a child, Samuel!

Year after year it seemed like nothing was happening for

Hannah. There was no relief from the taunting. But God is

faithful and even in that dark time God’s faithfulness prevailed.

Because of God’s faithfulness Hannah had a child and

a testimony! (1 Samuel 2)

 

“And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from

God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home

is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be

His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear

from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or

crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Revelation 21:2-4

 

God’s faithfulness is everlasting. Even in the end of time we see

His faithfulness!

 

Throughout scripture we see God’s faithfulness. Generation after

generation we see His faithfulness at work. His faithfulness

was at work then and it’s at work now. I know things don’t

seem to be happening right now but God is faithful.

Last month I went on tour to Zambia and I was involved in

a very serious car accident. I was supposed to be dead. At the very

least I was supposed to be seriously injured but because of

God’s faithfulness I escaped unscathed.

When my country came to a standstill in 2008 with no food

in the country and our dollar crashing it was God’s faithfulness

that kept me. When I didn’t know where the next meal would

come from God was faithful. So no matter what is happening

or not happening at the moment I know God is faithful!

 

Why I am sharing this with you? I am sharing this with you

because no matter what you going through know that God

is faithful. Troubles will come in their droves but

God is faithful and He will deliver you from them all!

He was faithful yesterday, He is faithful today and He

will still be faithful tomorrow!

His faithfulness will outlive us all!!

Because He is faithful your darkness will turn to light.

Because He is faithful everything will turn out alright.

The enemy will not win over you because of God’s faithfulness!

You will have a testimony because of His faithfulness.

Because of His faithfulness your posterity is blessed!

 

It will take all of eternity

to write of God’s faithfulness so as I close my hope is that you

will get a revelation of God’s faithfulness in your life.

I hope the very few stories I have

shared will encourage you to rely on His faithfulness in your hard

times. In the dark know He is faithful.

His faithfulness might not manifest itself in the way we expect and

the time we expect but know this, He is faithful!  That truth is

irrefutable! Have a blessed day friends…….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our responsibility today…..

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“O Timothy, guard and keep the deposit entrusted [to you]!

Turn away from  the irreverant babble and godless chatter

with the vain and empty  and wordly phrases, and the

subtleties and the contradictions in what is falsely called

knowledge and spiritual illumination. “

1 Timothy 6:20

 

“Guard and keep the deposit entrusted to you”

 

God had deposited something precious into Timothy.

Timothy was commissioned to guard it and keep it safe!

Are you protecting the things God has deposited in you?

I believe He has deposited amazing things in each and every

of you. But that deposit is being attacked. The enemy wants

you to lose the deposit God has given you.

 

You have a responsibility friends to protect the things God has

deposited in you.

As part of guarding and keeping the deposit, Timothy had to

turn away from godless chatter. He had to watch the way he

spoke.

Are you speaking yourself out of your destiny? Are you talking

about all the things you can’t accomplish that God has called you

to do? Are you talking about what you don’t have?

Are you watching who you hang out with?

Are you watching the things you are watching and listening to?

The bottom line is this,

Guard and keep the deposit entrusted to you by God with

all vigilance!

 

Rolain