Hope is not lost because God is with us…

“Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 

Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost; we are completely cut off. Therefore prophesy and 

say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold I will open your graves and cause you to come up

out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you [back home] to the land of Israel. 

And you shall know that I am the Lord [your sovereign Ruler], when I have opened your graves

and caused you to come up out of your graves, O My people.” 

Ezekiel 37:11-13

 

I love reading the story of the dry bones coming to life. But I love it even more now because I saw

something I hadn’t seen before. In the scripture above God tells Ezekiel the meaning of what just

happened. The Israelite’s had lost hope. They thought they were doomed.

But God wanted them to know that hope was not lost even in the bleakest of circumstances.

 

They thought all hope was lost,

 

“Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost; we are completely cut off.”

 

But hope was not lost.

 

Are you in a place where you have lost all hope? Are you in a place of despair, in a place where you

can’t see a way out. I am writing this to tell you that it’s not over. As dark as things seem

the Lord will make a way for you. Don’t be afraid to hope again.

 

The Lord will breath life into your dead situation. You will live again.

The Lord is not going to sit idly by as the enemy kills, steals and destroys.

There is hope for you friend!

 

The Lord asked Ezekiel a very important question in the valley of very dry bones;

 

“Son of man, can these bones live? 

 

The answer to that was a resounding yes! The dry bones would live again. You will live again!

Hope in the Lord today. Your situation is not hopeless. The Lord is turning it around.

 

“Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your 

graves, O My people” 

 

Don’t abandon hope. Put all of your trust in Him and see Him do the impossible in your life.

Watch Him bring the dead back to life and turn darkness to light in your life.

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

The promise of God on your life under attack…

“And [that same] following night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, Take courage, Paul, 

for as you have borne faithful witness concerning Me at Jerusalem, so you, must also bear 

witness at Rome.

Now when daylight came, the Jews formed a plot and bound themselves by an oath and

under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they had done away with Paul.

They were more than forty [men of them], who formed this conspiracy [swearing together this oath

and curse].” 

Acts 23:11-13

 

I know I have shared on this verse before but this week God has been speaking to me afresh concerning

this passage of scripture.

Paul had a clear word from God about where he was going. But we see that the very next day

an attack was launched against Paul and that is what I want to speak about.

 

The enemy is not afraid to attack the word God has spoken to you. The enemy wants to destroy the

work God has started in you. he doesn’t want you getting to the place God has planned for you.

he has declared war on you, on the calling God has on your life.

 

After reading Paul’s story I was shown how the enemy was attacking the word of God given to me.

When it comes to finances let’s just my faith has been nonexistent.

I would worry about how my needs would be met and how I would survive the month but God began

to help me through a group of men I am accountable to. He gave me scriptures to stand on and declare

and for a season I was energized and full of faith but somewhere down the line that stopped.

 

I started falling back into worry and fear and that is when God showed me what was happening through

the story of Paul. The enemy was attacking the word God had given me and I didn’t even realize it.

 

I will not let the enemy steal the word God has given me anymore and not just in the area of finances but every

area of my life. He has promised me health, long life, fruitful relationships, restoration, purpose realized

and so much more.

 

I don’t know where you are at today but know that the enemy is attacking the word God has given you.

 

“And he [satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every 

tree of the garden?” 

Genesis 3:1

 

satan had the audacity to challenge the word Eve was given.

he is trying to steal the word God has given

you.

 

Don’t let him steal it. The word God has given you is to carry you and protect

you.  It is to act as a way out of the storm you are in. It’s your light in the darkness.

Without the word you are left vulnerable, hopeless, lost and defeated. The enemy knows this.

 

The way to stop the enemy from stealing the word God has given you is by reading His word and

declaring it! Don’t stop declaring and reading the word no matter how bad it gets, no matter how hopeless

it appears to be.  That’s the mistake I made. I stopped declaring and the enemy took full advantage.

 

God’s word over you will come to pass. It will accomplish what it was meant to do and that is to

nullify the lies of the enemy, to break the chains you are bound by. The word will release you into all

of what God has destined you for. There is so much in store for you. It’s time to walk into it.

Take a stand against the enemy. God is with you.

 

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

What’s the deal with fear?

I was deep in thought thinking about how I was going to make it.

Wondering how the bills would get paid.

Wondering how my life would turn out in the midst of such opposition.

As I thought on those things fear gripped my heart. I was afraid.

 

But it was at that exact moment that I realized something about fear.

 

Fear was not going to tell me everything would be okay.

 

I should expect no encouragement from fear. It is not an option thinker. All it thinks and

sees is negative. It’s not optimistic.

It will never direct me to God in any situation.

It wants me paralyzed.

It wants me to fail.

It doesn’t want me to see God.

It wants me hopeless and discouraged.

 

Fear chooses to forget God in difficult circumstances.

It can’t love, it can’t trust, it can’t hope.

It focuses on the worst possible outcome in any situation we face when it knows there is a better

outcome in God.

Fear ALWAYS sees the negatives in everything and CHOOSES to ignore the positives.

Or in other words, it chooses to see the dead ends, the failure, the death and refuses to see

light at the end of the tunnel, the hope, the answer!

 

And that is why we can’t listen to fear. As I let fear grip me, all I thought about

were the negatives.

 

But the truth of the matter is that there was another option.

There was a better and more positive outcome if I allowed my faith in God to take the lead instead of fear.

Let me rephrase that, there IS a better and more positive outcome…

 

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), 

but (He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind

and discipline and self-control. 

2 Timothy 1:7

 

As we walk out our faith in God, fear will always try to get in the way. It will try to disrupt the faith

we have put in God. Let us fight against fear no matter how long it takes.

This battle can’t be won in our own strength. We need God’s help to show us the areas we

have allowed fear to dominate us. We need His help to overcome Fear so we can move forward

in what God has for us.

The Lord is with us in this fight and leading the charge!

Bless you, friends.

 

Rolain

 

 

 

It’s not your burden to carry…..

I have been worrying about a certain situation this week. It actually started last week. It wasn’t too

serious but enough to warrant a response from me. But in the midst of the worrying a few thoughts came

to me. Was my worrying warranted? What does YAH think when I worry?

Surely it’s okay to worry here and there?

 

Reading the word brought some clarity and that is what I want to share.

No matter how bad things are, no matter what comes our way, His desire for us is to always bring

our problems to Him.

He doesn’t want us wasting even a second worrying.

The call to not worry is a command from the Lord.

Let’s look at a few scriptures in light of this,

 

“Do not fret or have anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, 

by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants

known to God.” 

Philippians 4:6 (emphasis mine)

 

“Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives

do I give to you. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated

and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

John 14:27 (emphasis mine)

 

There is no suggestion or invitation here. it’s definite, resolute.

And that is so for a reason.

 

We worry about things but the Lord wants to take it all.

He doesn’t want us to waste time worrying because He cares for us and loves us. He wants to help us.

He is stronger than anything we will ever face and He knows that.

 

So as I end I want to make us see that worrying does not accomplish the purposes of the Lord in any way.

Worrying opens the door to anxiety, stress, fear and a lot of other harmful things.

When worry comes we need to take it to Him instantly. Don’t hold on to it.

Whatever you are worrying about today know that it’s not your burden to carry.

It’s the Lord’s burden, He wants it to take it from you. Will you let Him?

 

 

“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, 

for I am Your oasis. 

Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, 

humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. 

For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.” 

Matthew 11:28-30 (TPT)

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

….the men told them things that made them afraid!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“I was 40 years old then. When I came back, I told Moses what I thought about the land. 

The other men who went with me told the people things that made them afraid. But 

I believed the Lord would allow us to take the land.” 

Joshua 14:7, 8

 

This was Caleb speaking to Joshua and he was talking about what happened when the 12 spies

got back from spying out the land of Canaan. That was the land YAH had promised his people.

But instead of going to possess it like the Lord promised 10 of the spies managed to strike fear

into the heart of the nation which stopped them dead in their tracks.

I want to zone in on a specific part of the verse I just shared;

 

“The other men who went with me told the people things that made them afraid.” 

 

We have to be careful what we are hearing from others. There is so much stuff happening around

us that can make us afraid which in turn paralyzes us and makes us inoperable.

This is not a casual call I am making but a desperate one.

As much as we can, we need to beware of what we allow ourselves to hear.

 

Israel failed to enter YAH’s promise land because of 10 men who told them things that made them

afraid.  This is serious.

 

Our country is about to have elections and there are a lot of people saying things that have the potential

to make me afraid but I have made a choice to block out those negative conversations. I have to do that

if I want to hold on to YAH’s promises concerning the nation. I know YAH has an amazing plan for my nation

but listening to all the negative things people have to say about what’s happening or going to happen will

not help me declare and hold on to what I need to hold on to.

 

You cannot operate in faith and fear at the same time. It’s either you believe or you fear. It’s that simple.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for news and trying to keep up to date with a situation, or things

happening around you but it gets tricky when those things perpetuate fear and dread instead of

faith and hope. You decide.

 

Joshua and Gideon refused to believe what the 10 men said. They were fully confident that YAH could

deliver them.

On the flip side, are you the one telling people things that make them afraid? It’s so easy to talk about the

bad things. Let’s change what comes out of our mouths.

When you do talk about a problem make sure you have a scripture, or word of encouragement that speaks

directly to the problem. Don’t leave the room or person on a negative.

 

“The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a well of life, but the mouth of the 

wicked conceals violence.” 

Proverbs 10:11

 

If you have heard or read things that have made you afraid then bring them to YAH.

Ask Him to replace that fear with faith and peace and hope.

One of my friends had destructive words spoken to him that were directly targeted to what YAH

had called him to.

Those words hit him hard, harder than he could ever imagine. He is still dealing with the effects

of it today.

Negative words are destructive.

Let’s learn to speak life and healing. That brings glory to YAH.

With that I am out…..

 

Blessings to you friends….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Forty days of fear!

“And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day; 

give me a man, that we may fight together. 

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine,

they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

1 Samuel 17: 10, 11

 

One would think that would be the perfect opportunity for the

Philistine’s to attack Israel.

It would be an easy battle for them.

Saul and ALL Israel were dismayed and fearful.

But the enemy didn’t attack.

Instead of attacking, Goliath came out morning and evening

for FORTY days!

Yes, forty days!!

 

“The Philistine came out morning and evening presenting 

himself for forty days.”

1 Samuel 17:16

 

That is so crazy to think. It’s like the enemy enjoyed seeing

Israel cower in fear.

They loved seeing the Israelites in fear.

 

“David left his packages in the care of the baggage keeper

and ran into the ranks and came and greeted his brothers. 

 

As they talked, behold, Goliath, the champion, the Philistine

of Gath, came forth from the Philistine ranks and spoke the 

same words as before, and David heard him. 

 

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from 

him terrified. “

1 Samuel 17:22-24

 

And this went on for forty days, morning and evening!

Who knows how long it would have gone on for if David had

not come along.

 

And this my friends, is one of the enemies most effective strategy.

He wants you to live in fear as long as possible.

He wants you to be paralyzed by it.

He wants you to be bound by fear to a point where you can’t

think and you can’t step out in faith.

 

You don’t have to go far to find it. Fear is everywhere. It’s the

headlines you read on your way to work.

It’s in the 8:00 news.

It’s littered on your Facebook page.

 

Because the Israelites were gripped with fear they could not

move in  faith.

Fear blinded them to the truth.

They forgot the Lord Almighty was stronger than the enemy

they were facing.

 

The enemy used fear to stop the Israelites from moving

forward in their purpose.

 

We can’t let fear win friends. If left alone it will steal

everything good in our lives.

 

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, 

of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us 

a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced

mind and discipline and self-control. “

2 Timothy 1:7

 

We need God’s help to overcome fear. God has brought me

so far as I look back at my life. I was so fearful but He continues

to take me to new levels of boldness. This is not an easy battle

friends. But we are not alone facing this enemy.

Fear’s hold on our lives must be broken.

The God we serve is stronger than every fear we face.

He is stronger than the author of fear!!

Take heart.

Blessings to you

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

Challenged by a soldier.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

 

Then Jesus turned to the captain and said,

“Go. What you believed could happen has happened.”

At that moment his servant became well.

Matthew 8:13 (MSG)

 

I read this scripture last night and thought to myself,

Is faith really that simple? Have I made it out to be

complicated, and mysterious?

I was challenged by the Roman centurion’s faith. It was

bold, unwavering…..sure!

 

Jesus offered to go to his house but the centurion refused!!

If I was in his shoes my answer would be a big yes!

“Off course You can come to my house Jesus……”

But not the centurion! He had so much faith in Jesus that

he knew just a word from the Savior would heal his

servant!!! Can you imagine that? That was bold!

 

 

“What you believed could happen has happened. At that

moment his servant became well.”

 

As I meditated on that verse I looked at my own life.

What am I believing for in my life?

What do I believe can happen in my life?

You may have the same questions and let me tell you,

these are important questions.

 

The Roman centurion believed Jesus would heal his servant

and he received what he believed.

 

In my believing, in your believing, are you confident Jesus

will come through for you?

 

Do I believe I will get what I am believing for, do you?

 

Like I said, these are important questions and they must be

answered.

There are things I am trusting God for and after reading this

scripture I am challenged to hold on to what I believing for

no matter how “impossible” they seem.

God will not let me down. When I put my faith on the line

He will respond, it may take time at times, or He may respond in a

way I am not expecting which is almost always the case but

the fact is this, He will respond when I believe in Him, when

I trust in Him completely and He will most definitely respond

to you.

 

He is control friends. Don’t be afraid to believe in Him.

He responds when we put our trust in Him and that is a

fact! All glory to Him!

 

Rolain

 

What God thinks about our desires…….

You have given him his heart’s desire and have

not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

[pause, and think of that]! Psalm 21: 2 (Amplified)

 

A very interesting passage of scripture if you ask me.

As I read it I thought about desire. What role does

desire play in the life of a believer?

What does God think about our desires?

I guess that’s the most important question.

If we are going to talk about desire we need

to talk about disappointment. How many times

desire has come only to be disappointed……

but is that God’s plan?

 

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you

the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3

 

The thing a wicked man fears shall come upon

him, but the desire of the [uncompromisingly]

righteous shall be granted. Proverbs 10:24

 

May He give you the desire of your heart and

make all your plans succeed. Psalm 20:4

 

I think you will agree with me that God wants

us to have desires.

I may even dare say that some of the desires you

have where given to you by God…!!!

 

This is my point, don’t abandon desire. It is

not wrong to have desires.

 

The pharisees did away with desire. They were

into following rules and traditions. All I am saying

is that, God wants to give you the desires of

your heart.

But desire is much too complex to end here.

It is your responsibility to bring your desires

before God. You can pick up desires from the

wrong things and that is why you need

to bring them to God. An unchecked desire

is a dangerous thing so be careful.

 

Let’s look at the Psalms 21:2 again:

 

You have given him his hearts desire

and have not withheld the request of

his lips. Selah [pause, and think of that]

 

David may have written this Psalm so

he may be talking about himself.

If that’s so then God gave him his hearts

desire and never withheld his the request

of his lips!!! That is amazing right….

 

Are you talking to God about the desires

that are in your heart or have you buried

them deep, so deep that you don’t

even know what they are? You have not

allowed yourself to desire because you

fear being disappointed.

My advice to you is, don’t abandon

desire. There is a chance it might be

thwarted but desire anyway. That

could just mean it was not of God.

Don’t be afraid of your desires.

Stand them up to the word of God and

let them go if they are not from God.

He has given you the desires of your

heart and His desire is that they be

fulfilled…..

 

Rolain

 

 

 

A strategy to destroy a dream!

“Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, 

Why have you come out to draw up for battle?

Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants

of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let 

him come down to me.  1 Samuel 17:8 

 

How could Goliath speak to the people of God

like that? These were the people of God for crying

out loud. Didn’t Goliath know who they were?

That is irrelevant because God’s people lost

sight of who they really were.

 

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the 

Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 

1 Samuel 17:11

 

God loved His people, He had big dreams for His

people but…….

 

The Philistine came out morning and evening, 

presenting himself for forty days.  1 Samuel 17:16

 

….but for forty days Goliath came and defied the

armies of God! Why didn’t they just attack Israel?

We already know Israel was greatly afraid

when Goliath came out to taunt them.

They could of taken Israel out and in a way,

they did.

The enemy managed to instill fear in the heart

of the Israel. They didn’t stop after the first

week, instead, they taunted them for forty

days……

The enemy knew exactly what they were doing.

They knew the power of fear. For forty days

Israel saw the giant. That’s all they saw.

Fear made them see the giant and everyday the

giant kept on getting bigger. The stories kept

getting grander. During the forty days, Israel

saw nothing else but the giant. They never

saw a chance of victory, they never saw hope,

all they saw was a giant……

 

Fear blinded them from seeing God!

The army of God never saw their God!

 

You need to know that the enemy’s strategy has

not changed. He still uses fear to paralyze you, he

still uses fear to stop you from seeing God.

He still uses fear to destroy any hope you may

have. If he had his way, he would keep you in fear

for the rest of your life.

 

But then David came!

 

He had a relationship of God that was so amazing.

He loved God and his heart was for God. David

had a relationship with God that was like no other.

 

When he went to visit his brothers he was the only

one who saw something wrong. He was the only one

who didn’t fear the giant!

 

God’s presence in your life will break the hold

of fear.

Because David spent time with God he could easily

identify the fear and confront it head on.

Am I saying David never struggled with

fear ever? He battled with it indeed but as

he spent time with God he overcame it.

 

The enemy wants you in fear because he knows

that will get your focus off God.

But when you spend time with God, you will be

able to fight the fear. David didn’t rely on his

own strength. He trusted God as he approached

the giant.

 

As I read this story I realized the enemy will

do anything to stop us from accomplishing our

destiny. He knew God had a plan for Israel

but he used fear to stop them!

He might be doing the same thing to you today

but I am here to say there is a way out.

You don’t have to listen to the fear.

Look to God, trust Him, spend time with

Him! He is the answer.

Don’t be afraid of the future. God has an

amazing plan for your life. He is personally

guiding you.

I saw that so clearly today. There are some things

happening in my life that have made me fear but

God doesn’t want me to focus on the fear. He wants

me to look to Him and realize He is in TOTAL

control. Fear distorts the truth……

At the end of the day I made a decision to trust

instead of fear.

What will your decision be….?

 

Rolain

Will you hold on…???

I had an amazing couple of days this past weekend.

The month of April in my country

marks the end of the first school term so that means holiday

time and holiday camps! And since I serve in our kids ministry

I went for camp with the kids I teach.

This was one of the best camps I have been on. Yes, I was

involved in the planning and organizing of it but I still had fun!

The kids we went with had a blast! As a leader it was a privilege

serving the children.

But what stood out the most for me was how God came and

ministered to me and the other leaders. I have been trusting

God for a lot of things and I have to admit it gets hard. It’s

hard holding on in faith and this weekend my faith was tested.

But in the testing God used the three days I was on

camp to re-adjust my focus.

This is what He spoke to me about:

 

“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they

were all expecting Him.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell

at Jesus feet, pleading with Him to come to his house

because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Luke 8:40-55″

 

We all know the story very well but there are a few things

that I saw that jumped out at me that I would like to point out:

 

– Jairus came to Jesus because he had faith in Him. He believed

Jesus would heal his daughter. Jairus was desperate! He may

of tried a few doctors but with no luck.

 

– Jesus stopped walking when the woman with the issue of

blood touched Him. I am sure Jesus knew how desperate and

serious Jairus’s situation was but He still stopped?? How do we

know the woman with the issue of blood had that problem for

twelve years and how do we

know she used all her money on physicians with no change?

We know all this because one of the disciples must of taken

the time to speak to her. He must of spent some time asking

questions or Jesus must of simply listened to a healed ecstatic

woman tell Him how she had spent

all her money on physicians with no results and tell Him how

long this went on for!

Whatever the case, Jairus was waiting! What was on his mind as

all this was happened? Did he push Peter to speak up…?

 

“When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are

crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45

 

Where was his faith then?

Did he convince Peter of the absurdity of Jesus question? We

don’t know…..!

Then it happened….!

 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the

house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is

dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49

 

What exactly was going through Jairus mind? It was faith

and desperation that led him to Jesus but was that faith

still there? Did Jesus take His time with the woman knowing

Jairus was desperate?? Did He want Jairus to endure

in his faith???

Having faith and enduring in your faith are two completely

different things. We do well when we trust God but is that enough?

We must also learn to endure in our faith. That’s the lesson

I learned on camp.

Jairus had faith in Jesus but his faith was tested. He had to

learn to endure in his faith he soon found out.

Don’t lose hope along the way! Jesus has not forgotten your

faith! Jairus may of felt like Jesus didn’t care or had forgotten

him but He didn’t!

 

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized

with alarm or struck with fear;

Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she will be

made well.     Luke 8:50

 

When Jairus faith was failing, Jesus was right there

to encourage him. Jesus wants us to endure in our faith.

You may be trusting God for something and weeks,

months and years have passed without anything happening

but be assured,

something will happen as long as you endure in your faith!

Don’t give up in your faith. Don’t let fear cloud the truth

about your faith.

The truth is, God will come through!

God has heard you and will not let you down!

He wants to help you more than you will ever know!

Your faith is precious to God!

Your faith pleases Him.

As long as you have faith, the enemy will always lose!

 

At the end of the day, Jairus got his daughter back. Jesus

did a miracle in his life because he endured in his faith no

matter how bad things seemed!

Jesus knows where you are at. He has not forgotten about

you. He says,

 

“Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she shall be

made well.” Luke 8:50

 

Believe He is able to help you.

Believe He has heard you because He has.

 

As I sign off I want to encourage you to endure in your faith.

That is what I was challenged to do on camp!

God bless….

 

Rolain