He will not embarrass you……

“Don’t embarrass me by not showing up;

I’ve given you plenty of notice.

Embarrass the wicked, stand them up”

Psalm 31: 14-18

 

That’s my prayer at the moment.

There are decisions I have made, and declarations I have uttered boldly.

It would be quite embarrassing if God didn’t come through for me!

 

But, is it possible for God to embarrasses His children??

For Him to embarrass us would mean He isn’t able to

show up for us.

 

As I meditated on this scripture today the more and more I realized

how unlikely it would be for me to be embarrassed by Him.

 

Let’s look at some scriptures to illustrate my point,

 

“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might

humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight and

right way for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

 

For I was ashamed to request of the king a band of soldiers and horesemen

to protect us against the enemy along the way, because we had told the king,

The hand of the our God is upon all them for good who seek Him, but His

power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”

Ezra 8:21, 22

 

Ezra declared the goodness and greatness of God to the king and because

of that Ezra didn’t get soldiers and horsemen to protect the families on

their journey.

 

“So we fasted and besought our God for this, and He heard our entreaty. “

Ezra 8: 23

 

“We left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to

Jerusalem;

and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the

enemy and those who lay in wait by the way.”

Ezra 8:31

 

God showed up for His people and because He did His people were

not embarrassed.

What are you trusting God for?

What have you been praying to Him about?

 

Remember, He will not embarrass you by not showing up for you.

He is faithful and true and He will show up for you.

 

As we wait on the Lord, lets remember that He will always show up for

us. It may not be in the time frame you are expecting and it may not be

in the way you are expecting but He will always show up.

Don’t abandon the prayer.

Don’t think He has abandoned you.

He will show up!

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

It’s about people not fame……!

“At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all

who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.

And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases,

and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons

to speak, because they knew Him. “

Mark 1:32-34

 

Talk about a successful ministry! Yeshua had the whole city

at His door. Miracles were taking place, people were being

touched, diseases were being cured, demons being cast out.

It’s the desire of many ministers that their ministry flourish

like what we read in this passage.

 

Let’s look at another scripture,

 

“Now in the morning having risen a long while before daylight,

He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He

prayed.

And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him.

When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking

for You.”

Mark 1:35-37

 

Yeshua was popular. He was the talk of the city. I can only imagine

what His followers were thinking!

 

“We made it to the big leagues”

“We are going to be so rich’

“What am I going to do with all the silver and gold?”

“I didn’t know signing autographs was so much fun”

‘This good news stuff works”

 

I imagine those are the kind of thoughts they were thinking.

 

It’s always nice to have a whole city at your door eager to listen

to you and it’s cool being the talk of the town;

but the story didn’t end there.

Let’s read on,

 

“But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I

may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come

forth.”

Mark 1;38

 

I can see the disciples expressions! I can see looks of shock

and  disbelief!

 

“The WHOLE town is looking for You and you want to leave”, they

must have thought!

 

I don’t even think they went back to say goodbye. Yeshua said,

“Let us go into the next towns,”

 

There is no mention of a farewell.

 

There is such an important lesson in this story.

The gospel is not a broad way show.

Following Yeshua will not bring us popularity, it will

bring persecution, ridicule, and hardships. (Acts 14:22)

Yeshua came to save  mankind! He didn’t come to be famous.

 

If you are in ministry so you can be recognized, then you have

missed the point completely.

If Yeshua came to be popular He would have stayed in that

city. But His calling far exceeded being popular.

He could of been a mega super star but that paled in comparison

to saving a soul. That was much more valuable than any distinction

man could ever give!

 

What is your motive for serving? Are you looking for the

applause, the recognition, for the accolades??

If you never get recognized for the work you do in the

ministry would you stop serving?

What’s more important to you as you serve,

getting applause or seeing a soul transform under the power

of God??

Yeshua didn’t come seeking fame and popularity.

He came to serve!

Let us follow His pattern and put people being transformed

and changed as the main thing.

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

Pursuing the wrong things…….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

“He who tills the land shall be satisfied with bread, but he who follows

worthless pursuits is lacking in sense and is without understanding. “

Proverbs 12:11

 

As I read this verse a few days ago a thought came to me.

Am I following “worthless pursuits”?

In other words, what things/activities am I using my time on that have

no benefit to me in any way??

 

A few things came to mind.

 

The word is very clear, he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense and is

without understanding.

I know God has things for me to do and understanding would be to pursue

those things with reckless abandon.

 

“He who tills his land shall be satisfied with bread” is what the word tells us.

When I focus specifically on the things God has for me and I do them things will

happen for me.

But when I take my focus off those things and fix them on

worthless pursuits is when things become tricky.

 

Let’s look at another version of this verse,

 

“A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat. People who waste time will always

be poor. (Good news translation)

 

I love this translation.

Worthless pursuits are sure to do one thing, and that is to waste our time.

We need to stop following worthless pursuits if we are going to accomplish

the purpose Yeshua has for us.

 

This my challenge to me and my challenge to you!

We need to take a look at what’s eating our time and cut it out of our life.

We need to stop following worthless pursuits.

There have been a few things I have cut out of my life but there is still

so much more to be cut out.

What about you?

What worthless pursuits are you following?

Ask Yeshua to help you with this. Without Him you won’t be able to stop

anything.

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

There will be rejoicing again…….

“The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings

of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly

and achieves strength!”

Psalm 118:15

 

I love the picture this verse paints. What a statement right?

 

This verse is prophetic for me in this time. There were seasons in the past

where the sound of rejoicing had been heard in my home.

But not at the moment.

There are things I am waiting on God for, things I am praying for

and that is why this verse spoke to me.

 

The victorious rejoice, the sick woman who has had her prayer for healing

answered rejoices, the man who has finally gotten a job rejoices, a young

man or woman who has received a full scholarship to the university of their

dreams rejoices.

 

Like I said before, this verse is a prophecy, a prophecy for the person who is in the

dark right now, for the person who is crying out to God for an answer, for

a miracle!

It’s declaring that, even though things may seem to be falling apart

in your life and things may seem like they are never going to get better,

and the pain will never go away, don’t despair because the day of rejoicing will

come. The day of rejoicing will come friend.

 

The healing will come, the breakthrough will come, the answer will come,

salvation will come!

That is a promise!

Let’s read that verse again,

 

“The voice of the rejoicing and salvation is in the tents and private dwellings

of the [uncompromisingly] righteous: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly

and achieves strength!”

Psalm 118:15

 

No matter what the enemy throws at us there will be rejoicing and salvation in our

homes. No matter how hard he tries to keep us down he will not succeed. Let’s

look at another amazing passage of scripture,

 

“When the Lord brought back the captives [who entered] to Zion, we were like

those who dream [it seemed so unreal].

Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing.

Then they said, among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.

The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!. “

Psalm 126:1-3

 

I love this passage of scripture! The people of Israel condemned themselves when

they forsook the Lord.

They were taken captive because of their unfaithfulness to God.

Their enemies thought they had won. They thought they had eradicated them

for good. But that was not the end of the story for them.

He delivered them from the land of their captivity!

He turned their mourning and their darkness into rejoicing, into laughter!

There was singing and laughter where there was once dismay, pain and crying.

Where there was guilt and condemnation there was now favor and grace!

Where there was hopelessness there was now hope!

 

This was their testimony,

 

“The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!”

 

Your winter will end. The sound of rejoicing and salvation will be in your home!

You will not die, but live!

Believe in God’s word. No matter what you facing today believe there will be rejoicing

and salvation in your home. You will be rejoicing because God has been good to you.

There will be rejoicing because your prayers have been answered.

You will rejoice because the Lord has been faithful and continues to be faithful to you!

As I end I want to leave you with one more scripture,

 

“I shall not die but live, and shall declare the works and recount the illustrious acts

of the Lord.”

 

Bless you friends……

Rolain

 

Because He loves us, He commands…..!

I was thinking about God’s commands today.

Did you know God commands us to follow His commands?

(If you love me keep my commandments. John 14:15)

 

He doesn’t suggest we forgive someone who wrongs us,

He commands us to forgive.

(Bear with each other and forgive one another if any

of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the

Lord forgave you. 

Colossians 3:13)

 

He doesn’t suggest we live pure lives, He commands us

to be pure.

(As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires

you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who

called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written:

‘Be holy, because I am holy.  1 Peter 1:14-16)

 

He doesn’t suggest us to praise Him, no, He commands us to

praise Him.

(The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My

praise.  Isaiah 43:21)

 

I could go on and on but you get the picture. There is so much

God has commanded us to do.

But that word, “command” isn’t a word we like too much.

It’s so abrupt, so definite so final!

When we hear the word command walls come up. A lot of people

have commanded us before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

So when we hear, God commands, the defenses are raised

instantaneously.

 

But I want to show you what God showed me about His commands.

When God commands, it’s not because He is drunk on power and

wants us to feel His awesomeness!

He doesn’t command for the sake of making life hard for us like

others have done.

He is God and not man.

When God commands, He has our well being in mind.

 

Let me show what I mean.

This is a command. When you see the sign you know exactly

what it means.

This is not a suggestion. They are commanding you to keep

out because they know the danger it will cause to you.

That sign was made with you in mind. It’s a way of protecting you.

And when you see it you don’t complain because you know it’s to

keep you safe.

 

When a parent commands their child not to talk to strangers

it’s not because they love making things hard for their child,

but it’s to protect them.

It’s out of love they command their child!

 

And that is how we need to look at God’s commands.

He has you and me in mind when He commands. It’s because

He loves us, that He commands us.

 

We need to stop fighting His commands.

 

I was fighting one this week. I had an argument with someone

and instead of forgiving them

I brought up reasons why I shouldn’t. I tried to justify myself but

that’s not what God commands.

He commands us to forgive as He has forgiven us. It’s not because

He enjoys seeing me in pain but

because He wants to see me grow and move to another level in my

walk with Him.

 

Are you obeying His commands?

Do you try to run away from the things He has commanded you?

We have an opportunity to do the right thing.

His commands are for our benefit.

He commands because He loves us deeply.

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

The war I didn’t see coming…….

“Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”

Psalm 73:25

 

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When 

shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 42:2

 

These scriptures paint a picture of my love for God. I really

need more of Him everyday. I am nothing without Him.

Where could I go and what could I do without Him???

He really is the love of my life!

 

But I am in a war right now and the results of the war will have

a huge impact on my relationship with God.

The fight caught me unawares. For some time I supplied the

enemy with the arsenal he needed to have an edge on me.

Can you imagine that?!!!

I was totally blindsided by the enemy.

 

You see, the war I am engaged in is not happening on a plain

that is easily recognizable.

The war I am engaged in is happening right at my doorstep, as a

matter of fact it’s happening closer than that. This war of epic

proportions is happening right in my home!

 

How could I miss it? How did I not recognize the enemy’s tactic?

A face to face confrontation wouldn’t have done the trick. I would

have quickly dismissed him. Instead he came slyly into my

home through television, social media, and so on. I used to spend

so much time with Yeshua in the past. When I would get home

I would make sure I spent my time in prayer, and word.

Yes I would do other things but they were not the “main” things.

Spending time with God was on the top of the list.

 

But one day that pattern changed.

I would get home and put on the television.

If there was nothing to watch I would go online.

There was even a time I would forgo church functions to watch

sport!

The war is real friends.

 

When God by His grace opened my eyes to what I was doing

I realized I had to cut things out of my life. The first thing to go was

the television. I had to look to God for help. I couldn’t do it alone.

But that didn’t go without a fight!

What the heck!!

 

I am slowly gaining the ground I lost in the beginning. The fight

has been brutal but I will keep fighting because my relationship

with God depends on it. He is the love of my life.

He is the One I desire above all else and I am not alone in this.

He is right by my side helping me!

I want to fall deeper in love with Him and nothing must stand in

the way of that.

 

Friends, as hard as that was to write the goal is to help you see

how far the enemy is willing to take the battle. Your battle will

be different from mine but you must know that the enemy will

take the battle to your home!

if you are single this post is for you especially, the time you have

now is so important. It is in this time you get deeper with God.

Don’t make the mistake I made by allowing distractions to take

away the precious time I had kept aside for God.

And if you are strong in this area then please pray for me.

I need all the help I can get!

Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

 

We are the church!!

“All this energy issues from Christ: God raised Him from death and set Him on a throne in

deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments,

no name and no power exempt from His rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He

is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the

church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.

The church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts, by which He fills everything with His presence.”

Ephesians 1:20-23

 

I love this passage of scripture. I love how it describes the role of the church in our lives,

 

“At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.

The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world;

the world is peripheral to the church.

The church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts,

by which He fills everything with His presence. “

 

What a powerful passage of scripture about the church.

According to this scripture, the world is peripheral to the

church and not the other way round but it actually feels like

it’s the other way round. To a lot of people church has become

mundane, boring and irrelevant.

The church has become peripheral to the

world for a lot of Christians.

But that is not the way it’s supposed to be.

The church is meant to be the answer to a dying world.

But some where along the way, we have missed it.

 

I understand the church is not perfect. How can it be?

People make up a church! People are imperfect, people say the wrong

things, people judge, people make mistakes and on and on the list goes…..

But for some reason we have this idea that church is supposed to be this

perfect place! How wrong we are!

Church is messy, church is hard at times but what matters is the big picture.

When Christ comes back He is coming for His Bride (the church)

 

If you didn’t know, the church is not a building. The church are the people in the

building! We are the answer to a lost world. We are meant to show the people THE

way. The church needs to be a light in a dark place. We are meant to make an impact

in our community, city, and nation.

 

But that only happens when the church is the main thing. It happens when the world is peripheral

to the church in our lives and not the other way round.

 

Amen

 

Rolain

He said, “Come”!

“As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him, begging Him,

and saying, Lord, my servant boy is lying at the house paralyzed and distressed

with intense pains.

And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him.

But the centurion replied to him, Lord, I am not worthy or fit to have You

come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant boy will be cured.”

Matthew 8:5-8

 

Our faith in God is so important we can all agree. The word says, “without faith it’s

impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6)

The story of the centurion reveals something amazing about the faith we are supposed

to walk by.

Before the centurion came to Jesus the pattern was this, Jesus would go and lay hands on the

sick person or the sick person would come to him.

But when the centurion went to Jesus and offered to go with him to heal his servant, the

centurion said no. He knew all Jesus had to do was say the word and his servant would be

healed!

 

Look at Jesus response to the centurion’s faith,

 

“When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you,

I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Matthew 8:10

 

The centurion’s faith was very unorthodox.

He didn’t look at what everyone else was doing.

He had a revelation of Jesus and held on to that.

He knew there was no limit to his faith in God even if it meant asking for something

that seemed impossible.

Jesus didn’t tell the centurion to fall into line and trust the way everyone was trusting.

He marveled at the unorthodox faith of the centurion.

 

Don’t hold back when it comes to trusting in God.

No matter how big, and impossible it seems, keep trusting Him.

Don’t let people tell you what to trust Him for and how to trust Him.

He wants you to exercise your faith in Him.

 

Let’s look at one more story,

 

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea,

they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!”And they cried out for fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not

be afraid.”

And Peter answered Him said, “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You

on the water.”

So He said, “Come.”

And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to

Jesus.

Matthew 14:25-29

 

Again we see someone exercise their faith in an unorthodox way. Peter broke all

protocol if there ever was any, concerning faith. At Jesus command he jumped out of the

boat and walked on water. When Peter asked Jesus to call him to walk on the water,

Jesus didn’t complain and tell Peter to tone it down! No!

He encouraged Peter to step out. When Peter started sinking this is what He said to him,

 

“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried

out, saying, Lord, save me!

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him,

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt? “

Matthew 14: 30, 31

 

Peter’s faith wasn’t perfect but he still walked on water. His sinking is evidence of that.

But his rushed, raw, unchecked, bold, imperfect faith made him walk on water.

Jesus didn’t stop him from jumping out of the boat.

Jesus told Peter to “COME”!

 

Friends, it’s time to take the limits off our faith.

 

I was speaking to a friend a few days ago and he was telling me about the struggles

he was facing applying for university. He told me he was now looking at doing his

course on line because it was “easier”.

My friend is so talented and God fearing and I know God has great things in store

for him but I was afraid to tell him to keep trusting God to go to university. So I ended

my conversation and left it like that.

I made the mistake of looking at his situation through natural eyes and agreed with him.

I was meant to challenge him to throw off the limits.

I was meant to encourage him to trust the Lord for anything and everything, to make him

see that the Lord could and will open any door for him.

When I see him again I will do so and not hold back.

 

Are we letting the circumstances around us determine what we trust God for?

God wants us to trust Him for the impossible, whatever that may be.

Even if it seems crazy to the people around us, we must trust!

He will answer our crazy prayers. God loves it when we exercise our faith.

 

We must be like the centurion and Peter. We must be bold and ask Jesus for whatever

He has put in our heart no matter how impossible it seems.

We can’t be conventional with our faith.

We need to take the “training wheels”off our faith because what the training wheels

really are, are hindrances, and obstacles.

Let’s ask God to help us to break the box we have put Him in.

He doesn’t live in a box. He lives in a place where anything is possible.

Remember, we are the ones who see limits, not God. He doesn’t see

limits.

With faith there are no “out of bounds”areas, there are no areas that are “sectioned off”.

Everything is open game when we talk about faith.

Don’t shelve anything unless God tells you to.

My prayer for us is to throw off all restraints when trusting God.

 

God, help our unbelief. Now is the time to trust.

It doesn’t take great faith to move a mountain.

According to Matthew 17:19, 20 all it needs is faith as small as

a mustard seed to move a mountain!

 

Let’s not wait for our faith to be “perfect”

Let’s start now. God will come in and work with our mustard seed faith.

He will start moving with the faith we have now!

Amen!

 

Rolain