What are you practicing?

Hi friends. 

I was going over an old journal of mine recently and came across a post that I wrote based

on a devotional I had read. The post was about the power of action or practice. 

What are you practicing today or what are you taking action on today? 

These are the questions the devotional was asking me to answer. 

It’s not enough to listen to something and at times we can fall into the trap of thinking listening

is the main thing but it’s not. The change and the growth comes in the action, in the practice. 

So we can attend the best workshops, and webinars, or read the top books in the industries we are in but

if there is no mindset of, “what do I need to act upon”, then growth and change won’t happen. 

And when it comes to faith, James chapter two states that faith without works is dead. Faith is faith when action is applied. 

Reading the word has some benefit but reading and acting upon the word is where the real power is. 

The author of the devotional went on to talk about how we need both the abstract and the practical. 

The abstract is the faith, the belief, the hope which are not tangible then there is the practical part which is the action or practice. 

We need both. 

So as I close, what are you practicing today?

Do you have both the abstract and the practical locked down? 

Have a great weekend friends 

Rolain

A reasonable excuse

“And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are

oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out

of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites

out of Egypt?””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3:9-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 

God had a purpose for Moses and when He told him to go to Pharoah, instead of saying “yes Lord”,

He came up with excuses.

God kept reassuring him He would be with him but Moses kept giving excuses.

As I reflect on my journey of writing my first book I can identify with this story because that’s what I did, a lot! Instead of taking a step of faith I hid behind excuses.

At the core of the issue I was fearful. Fearful of the unknown, fearful of how people would respond, fearful of not completing the task at hand…

But He was patient with me and even though I had excuses He brought me to a place of action.

That’s what happened with Moses eventually. He did what the Lord told him to do and led the Israelites out of Egypt!

We need to take a long hard look at the excuses we give. The Lord wants to use you but the excuses need to be put aside.

I understand there are legitimate reasons for not doing things but that’s not what I am talking about here.

I am talking about the excuses we give as a form of hiding or as a way of getting out of doing what God has called us to do. Those are the excuses we need to put aside.

Stop making excuses because of fear. Now is the time to move ahead in faith.

 

Bless you friends

 

 

Before I go I would like to let you know I had an interview on Monday talking about my first book which is being released in four short days!! (19 September).

It was fun to do and I had a great time with my friend Simu who was hosting me.

Here is the link if you like to go behind the scenes and know the challenges and fears I had to overcome as I wrote it.

Click here to watch the interview on Instagram.

If you would like to pre-order your copy of my book click here.

Rolain

And the fans waited in anticipation….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

What a world cup this has been! There have been surprises at every corner and the team you thought

had a chance is probably gone home. Anyway, I was watching the France vs Belgium game the other

day and I remember the feeling and emotion I had. What a game it was, the suspense, the action, the

spectacle.

But then I saw something that triggered a thought. I saw something to this effect;

I saw fans standing in anticipation. In the frame I saw, there was no one sitting. The expectancy from

both sides was palpable.

They were waiting for a goal.

This is a great picture of how we should be waiting on the Lord. Your expectancy as you wait should

be palpable.

 

No one goes to watch a game like this, feeling meh;

 

 

Fans are energetic, excited, and expectant, something like this;

 

I learned a lesson seeing those fans. There is a way to wait upon the Lord. Having an attitude of

whatever happens, happens is not the way we wait. We should be waiting with an expectancy and

excitement that YAH will come through, that He is answering our prayers because He is!

 

“In the morning, Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my request before You and wait

expectantly.” 

Psalm 5:3

 

Have a great weekend friends…..

 

Rolain

Be deliberate about what you think on daily.

What are you thinking about every day? Have you thought about what you think about lately?

I had to train myself with my thoughts. It’s crazy how easy it is to let your mind wander

to thoughts of defeat and hopelessness.

Just last week I was wrestling with thoughts of inadequacy. Someone said something to me and I

had to catch myself in the moment. I was not about to accept the words that were spoken to me.

I was not about to let that word take root in me.

 

You need to know the enemy is not taking a back seat when it comes to

your thoughts. He is trying to get you to think a certain way, in a way that is destructive. He is not waiting

for you to think negatively. He is being proactive in affecting the way you think.

So must we take a back seat then when it comes to our thoughts? No!

We need to be vigilant and proactive.

 

There are so many opportunities to think negatively these days. We need to be vigilant when it comes

to guarding our minds. Let’s look at what the word says,

 

“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and 

gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh

and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. 

Philippians 4:8

 

Let’s take this word to heart. This is our offensive attack against what the enemy is trying to do.

If we are going to protect ourselves against the world’s infiltration we need to be proactive about what we

think about. Like I said before, there is so much opportunity to think negatively about our lives and

everything going on around us. Let’s be deliberate about our thoughts. Have a plan!

 

ACT ON IT: Right down ten things (using the Philippians 4 model) that you can think about on a daily basis.

What do you think about when you think about your life? 

Write down three things you feel YAH has spoken to you about concerning your life. 

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

The past no longer has a say……..

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“Jephthah was from the people of Gilead. He was a strong soldier. 

His father was named Gilead, and his mother was a prostitute. Gilead’s wife

had several sons. When they grew up, they forced Jephthah to leave his home. 

They said to him, “You will not get any of our father’s property. You are the son of another

woman.” 

Judges 11:1, 2

 

 

Jephthah didn’t have the greatest story and because of it he was judged and treated wrongly. He didn’t

have a say in who his dad married but he was treated like he did have a choice. He was an outcast through

no fault of his.

 

Our past can be so powerful, so real, so tangible.

 

But there is a truth we must embrace and accept. YAH used Jephthah mightily despite his upbringing.

Yes, he didn’t come from a perfect family but that didn’t stop YAH from using him.

His past did not determine what YAH could do through him.

 

The enemy tries to make us think we are useless and worthless because of our past but

he is wrong. The Lord’s purpose for our lives is stronger than our past, period.

 

I can attest to this for sure. The enemy tried to use my past to derail me and I believed the lie

for a time but YAH delivered me. The past had a vice grip on me that I could not break free from.

I could not accept the good things the Lord had for me because of my past.

But all praise to Him for changing the story……

What He did for me, He can do for you.

 

Don’t believe the lies of the enemy.

The Lord can and will use you if you put your faith in Him. He will take your

life and do the impossible. Don’t let the past dictate what you can and can’t do. Don’t let it

determine who you will become. Don’t let it stop you from accepting all the good things YAH has

for you.

Jephthah could have simply accepted what everyone said about him but he didn’t. He trusted YAH

and was used by Him.

 

Remember, YAH’s purpose for your life is stronger than your past.

 

ACT ON IT  – It’s not enough to talk about something. There needs to be action.

 

YAH used Jephthah in a mighty way even though his past wasn’t great.

 

Think on and write down a few ways your past has impacted your life to this point? 

What can you do today to make sure your past doesn’t dictate your future? 

Have you surrendered your past to the Lord? 

 

Get with a friend or partner, or whoever you confide in after reading this post and

talk about your answers to the above questions

Make sure you are not walking this journey alone.

 

Be blessed friends…..

 

Rolain

One way to ensure your faith is alive and active……..

“So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up),

by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

But someone will say [to you then], you [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works.

Now show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can],

and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith.”

James 2:17, 18

 

The book of James was part of my daily reading this week.

I am always so challenged when I read the scripture I just shared.

But something happened this week that brought it to life for me.

I was at training this week and after we were done we prayed.

The guy praying thanked God for divine healing.

He thanked God for keeping us healthy and he also prayed that

God would keep us in good health!

 

We always pray but this week the prayer struck something in me.

I realized I was looking at faith and action working hand in hand.

We have a desire to be healthy and fit so we train but our faith is

in God to grant us a healthy life!

 

That got me thinking about faith and action.

James 2:18 is not suggesting faith works if there is action. It’s telling

us that faith only works when there is action!

Faith without works is dead!

 

One person acting out of his or her faith can do more than 100 people

professing their faith without action!

 

It’s so true friends. I want to be that person who shows they have faith by

their works.

I really needed to be reminded of this truth!

 

Now, it’s not my place to tell you what action you need to take.

That’s between you and God. You are the one who knows what steps

God wants you to take.

As I read this verse I knew almost instantly the things I needed to be doing

right now that I was not doing.

Now remember, you can’t just act for the sake of  doing

something. God will ask you to do something specific for the thing you having

faith for. Allow Him to show what that thing is.

He may want you to be patient and wait,

He may want you to give into something,

He may want you to befriend someone,

He may want you to start writing that first chapter of that book,

He may want you to serve in a specific area at your church,

and the list goes on and on……

You need to be sensitive to His leading.

Remember, don’t act for the sake of acting.

That could do more harm than good.

God is surgical in the way He works.

What action is it that God wants you to be doing right now?

 

One thing is crystal clear though,

 

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

James 2:26

 

We have work to do friends……

Bless you.

 

Rolain

What true wisdom looks like……

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Hey friends!!

I hope I find you all well!

As the year closes I want to talk to you about something I was

thinking about recently.

 

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they

say, behold a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors

and [especially wicked] sinners!

Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does (her 

deeds) and by her children. “

Matthew 11:19

 

“Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does

(her deeds) and by her children.”

 

I was challenged by this verse. Do I really have wisdom?

After all, wisdom is justified and vindicated by her deeds and by

her children (fruit)

Wisdom is reflected by action and fruit!

Is there fruit in my life?

I can say I have wisdom but is it translating into works and am I

bearing fruit?

If there is no fruit in my life I am not really wise!

If I am really wise there will be action and there will be fruit

in abundance!

Wisdom will compel us to act, to stand up and make the

change! Wisdom does that.

 

This was hard to receive because I realized I haven’t really

taken the time to meditate on the things I have received.

I haven’t really put acting out what I know as the top

priority.

I need to be more deliberate and determined about applying

the wisdom I have received. It’s not enough to acquire

information.

 

Wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does (her

deeds) and by her children.

 

I want to really walk in wisdom. I am not content on just knowing

stuff cause that is not wisdom. Real wisdom is followed by action

and fruit! With real wisdom comes change.

If there is no improvement in my life and no fruit to show ‘

then I am living deceived!

 

If you are in the same boat I am in there is hope! We can start

2017 anew. We can make a decision to start again but this

time with a new understanding.

The Holy Spirit will help us if our desire is to walk in real

wisdom. I truly believe it. We may have blown it but we have a

second chance at this.

Have an amazing 2017 friends.

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

 

The words she spoke…..

“She had heard the reports concerning Jesus, and she

came up behind Him in the throng and touched His

garment,

For she kept saying, if I only touch His garments, I

shall be restored to health.

Mark 5:27, 28

 

The light came on as I read this story today. The woman with the

issue of blood needed a miracle. She had seen doctors but

they left her broke. To make things worse her condition had

deteriorated……

 

This is what I want you to see, even when she lost everything,

she kept saying!

She didn’t say it one time, no. She kept speaking what she was

believing for. She kept speaking it over and over!

And notice she didn’t say, “I hope I can be restored…”

She said, “If I only touch His garments, I SHALL be restored!”

(emphasis mine)

 

There is something that happened as she kept speaking,

her words moved her to go and touch His garment!

Her words provoked her to action!

Faith ALWAYS requires us to move. God doesn’t want us

to do everything but He wants us to demonstrate our faith

in Him. For example, there is something I am trusting God

for and He has shown me a step I need to take as an

expression of my faith in Him.

 

What is coming out of your mouth today? Are words like can’t,

impossible, I am doomed, coming out?

We need to watch the words we are speaking on a daily basis.

We need to be consistently speaking God’s promises.

Our words have so much power and if we are not careful, we

could talk ourselves out of His promises.

No matter what is happening we need to learn to speak

life. The woman lost everything but she still allowed

faith to speak.

We need to be like the woman who kept speaking what she

was believing God to do. She didn’t speak it once off but

continuously! She kept saying……

 

Let us speak what we want God to do in our lives no matter

what. There is power in the words we speak…..

 

 

Rolain

 

 

photo credit: google images

“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

 

 

Becoming that man…..

 

Being a male is a matter of birth but being a man

is a matter of choice

 

I love this quote because it is so true…..but I am

not here to discuss the quote. I am here to discuss

something more, something that has been stirred

in my heart this past weekend.

Our church had its annual conference which was

so powerful. It started on Wednesday evening and

ended on Sunday. The messages were all so relevant

and powerful but the men’s meeting we had on Saturday

stood out the most. I love our men’s meetings because

there is something powerful that happens when men

get together to worship the Lord!

 

My pastor was speaking about becoming THAT man in today’s

crazy world. He said as men we are on the road to becoming

THAT man. That got me thinking……..

 

I am committed to becoming THAT man!

But what does that really mean?

 

Becoming that man means making God first in my life.

I am not the man! God is the THE Man. He died for me

And He is the One who is directing my life.

 

Becoming that man means making a stand for purity!

We live in a sex-saturated world and as men the battle

is everywhere. There is no sitting on the fence for this

battle. A line has to be drawn, a decision must be made.

Will you get swept away in this sex-saturated world or

will you make a stand for purity?

 

I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes;

how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?

Job 31:1

 

Becoming that man means living by the word of God.

The word must be our guide. We can’t rely on our own

strength. As men we feel the need to show our strength but

we need to realize God wants us to trust Him. Our strength

doesn’t count for much in God’s eyes. Look to God and not

yourself.

 

How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking

heed and keeping watch [on himself] according

to your word [conforming his life to it].

Psalm 119:9

 

This is the thing men, the world doesn’t want men

to take their place. It doesn’t want us to walk in

what God has called us to. The world is distorting

the image of man. We have a lot of males but not

a lot of men! Don’t believe the lie…….

 

Men are not better than women, God just made us

different. It’s not about who is better, faster, cleverer….

God made man and woman in HIS image!

That means we are an expression of God, man and

woman!

I think we can all agree that God is strong and powerful.

There is nothing weak about God, so if we are an expression

of God why do we see women as weak and treat them like

they are insignificant????

God is all powerful. He doesn’t have one strong side (man)

then one weak side (woman)…but there are men who think

that by the way they treat women!

It makes me mad when men think they are better than women

just because they are men!!!

But God made women to express a part of Himself so please help me

understand why you think He would make them weak and useless

when He isn’t any of these things????

That kind of thinking has to stop.

(I don’t know where that came from because I didn’t plan

on talking about that)…..

 

Without a man leading a home, a family is lost!

The enemy is destroying our kid’s right under our noses.

We leave our kids in front of the TV and think that’s

parenting but that is wrong! We need to take responsibility

men. We must protect our family…..

We need to protect the women in our lives.

Would Eve have eaten the fruit if Adam had protected her

from the enemy??? She had to face the enemy alone and

deal with him alone! But things would have been different

if Adam stood up for her and protected her…..

Young man, you are called to protect. Don’t play with women’s

emotions. You should be protecting them!

The women you are playing with are precious in the eyes of the

Lord. He loves them and has a unique call on their lives….

Why do you think the enemy is working overtime to destroy

her?

 

As I end I hope I have challenged you to become THAT man!

A lot of people are waiting for us to walk into our calling

as men! The enemy will not win. I refuse……!

 

As a man I make a decision to be THAT man…..!

Will you be THAT man too?

 

Rolain