Is the door really closed??

As I considered my options I couldn’t help feeling discouraged. It seemed like I would not

get the breakthrough I was looking for. Should I even keep trying to pursue this opportunity

I asked myself?

 

I have been seeking the Lord for the next steps in my career and I took the step and tried something

new but I was stopped dead in my tracks. Did I hear God wrong?

Was this the direction he wanted me to go in?

 

We all have doors the Lord wants us to go through but there are times when it seems like the door is

tightly shut. At times it feels like the doors the devil has closed can’t be opened again but the Lord helped me

to see the truth.  The devil is not that powerful. He doesn’t have the power to close a door and keep it closed.

 

“And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write; These are the words

of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, 

Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open; 

I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! 

I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut;”

Revelation 3:7-8

 

“And the key of the house of David I will lay upon his shoulder; he shall open and no one shall 

shut, he shall shut and no one shall open.” 

Isaiah 22:22

 

From God’s word, it is clear that when God opens a door, the devil has no power to close it and when

a door is closed he has no power to open it. So just because the devil closes a door doesn’t mean

it will stay closed. That door will be opened. We must not let him deceive us into believing the door

can’t be opened. When I got this understanding I continued pressing forward. I did not give up.

I have faith God will breakthrough for me.

 

Before I go any further I want to add something,

The only time we should stop trying to go through a door is if God has said no but other than that,

we need to by faith keep going through the door. So what I am writing about are the doors the devil tries

to close. Those are the doors we need to bust open.

 

All doors the enemy has closed are meant to be gone through. It can be so discouraging when

things don’t seem to be working out but don’t stop praying and moving in faith.

 

The enemy is always trying to close doors that God wants us to go through. In the book of Ezra,

we read how the Israelites started rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. They were making progress but the

Samaritans opposed them. (Ezra 4:4) They didn’t want the Israelites to finish so they wrote and sent

a letter to the King of Persia who was the ruling power at that time. The letter was malicious and was

the enemy’s way of closing the door on the Israelites. The Samaritans got their wish because the

king commanded the building of the temple to be stopped immediately.

The door had been closed.

 

“Then the work on the house of God in Jerusalem stopped.” 

Ezra 4:24

 

But that was not the end of the story.

All the doors the enemy closes can be opened. He has no power to keep any door closed. Always remember

that.

 

In the next chapter the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Israelites. They encouraged the

people to start building again which they did. The Samaritans tried to stop them again this is what

happened;

 

“Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province [west of] the River, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates,

the Apharsachites who are [west of] the River, keep far away from there. 

Leave the work on this house of God alone; let the governor and the elders of the Jews build this house

of God on its site.” 

Ezra 6;6-12

 

You can read all of the good things the king decreed but the point is this,

 

The enemy tried to close the door of opportunity on the Jews but he had no power to do anything.

The door God opened for His people would stay open no matter how hard the devil tried.

 

Don’t give up when the door seems to be closed on you. If God has not closed it then the

door is still open. The devil has no power to close and keep a door closed.

It is only God who has that power.

 

What to do when a door seems to be closed by the devil? 

 

The bible is very clear on what we are to do when that happens.

 

“Keep asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; 

keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. 

For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking

finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [the door] will be opened.” 

Matthew 7:7-8

 

Don’t give up on the things God has put on your heart. Keep asking, keep seeking and

keep knocking.

Don’t be discouraged when things don’t work out. Keep looking to God. Keep praying to Him.

Things will work out for you. He will breakthrough for you!

Don’t let the devil deceive you in thinking the door can’t be opened. It’s not true.

Every door that he “closes” is not really closed!

Be encouraged today friends.

Bless you.

 

Rolain

 

 

Why wait till tomorrow??!!

“Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs

from me and my people; and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the Lord. 

Moses said to Pharaoh, glory over me in this; dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants,

and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river. 

And [Pharaoh] said, Tomorrow. [Moses] said, Let it be as you say, that you may know that there is no one

like the Lord our God.” 

Exodus 8:8-10

 

I am stumped! The land of Egypt was overrun by frogs (this was the second plague in a series of plagues).

When Pharaoh couldn’t get rid of them he called Moses and Aaron to pray to YAH to get rid of them.

When they came, Moses gave him an interesting proposition if you can call it that,

 

“dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be 

destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river.”

 

Instead of saying “immediately” Pharaoh told Moses to pray “tomorrow”!!!

And that’s what got me stumped! Why wait till tomorrow???

The plague could have stopped immediately but instead, the plague would stop the next day!!

 

How many of us are like that though?

How many of us are tolerating today waiting to pray tomorrow??? (I am guilty of this!!)

Yeshua is waiting to move in your life today not tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.

He wants to move in your life today. He wants you to pray today, to put your faith in Him today!

You may think you need to wait for everything in your life to get right before you pray but that’s a lie.

The time is now!

The time to seek Him is now, not when you are perfect.

 

Pharaoh’s problem could have been solved straight away but he decided tomorrow would be the day.

Please get the heart of the message. Now is the time to get your breakthrough.

Yeshua is ready to move today and not tomorrow.

Don’t wait to ask, don’t wait to pray.

Your victory is not scheduled for some day in the future so be expectant today.

Expect YAH to move in your life today because today is the day!

Bless you friends….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

I challenge your faith……

 

And it has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us. And Jesus said, [You say to Me], If You can do anything? [Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes! At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith! (‭Mark‬ ‭9‬:‭22-24‬ AMP)

“But if You can do anything, do have pity on us and help us.” 

Not a bad request I must say. The man was being modest.
Maybe he thought His prayer was too much, maybe he thought
Jesus couldn’t heal his son. Whatever the reason he didn’t
see the need to be specific, precise and definite in his request.

Jesus on the other hand saw things differently and He challenged
the man’s faith. Jesus was not cool with “maybe’s and if’s”…..
He wanted faith! After challenging the man’s faith, the man cried out
to the Lord, “help my weakness of faith”!!!

I can relate to this story so much. How many times I have been
afraid to be specific in my request, maybe because I was scared
I would not get what I asked for or I thought Jesus would say no!
But this is the thing, Jesus wants us to be specific!
We either believe God or we don’t, it’s that simple!
It’s either, “Lord heal my son” or “if you can, please heal my son!!”

I have two friends who have been trusting God to go back to
university. It’s been a battle for them. There were times it looked
like God was not going to come through for them, there were
times it seemed like everything was lost but as I write this post
one of them has already left for school and the other friend is leaving
sometime next week!!! What a faithful God we serve!

Your faith in God is not misplaced, when you put your trust in God
He WILL come through for you, He will answer you. The times of
testing will always come, the times of trial will always come but we can
trust Him.

“Why,] all things can be (are possible) to him who believes!” 

Don’t be afraid to trust in the Lord fully! Don’t hold anything back.
He is waiting for you to believe in Him. He is waiting for you to
trust in Him fearlessly! Step up your faith in Him. No matter
how hard it gets trust in Him! As you do that, no matter how long
It takes, He will answer you! That is the best news in the world! Don’t you think so…..😄

Rolain

 

 

The key to breakthrough is……

We need prayer in our lives. Prayer is the key to the breakthrough we are

seeking in our lives. But how do we pray for the breakthrough?

Luke 11 has the answer.

“Here’s what I am saying:

 

Ask and you’ll get;

 

Seek and you’ll find;

 

Knock and the door will open. 

 

Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. 

 

This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. 

Luke 11:9

It is that simple, actually too simple! But this is the thing. I have

had things I have asked for and sought which I still don’t have.

There are some things I have been waiting for weeks, months and years.

Are there things you have been praying for that you are still waiting for from God?

Has He forgotten or simply just ignored those requests? No!

The answer is in the story He tells before hand…..

“Then He said, “Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of

the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend travelling through

just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand. 

The friend answers from his bed, don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my 

children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything. 

But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your 

ground, knocking and waking all the neighbours, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need. 

Luke 11:5-8

There is a principle in this story that I totally believe in and apply. A principle that keeps me asking and stops me from giving up. The principle is this, Friendship is not enough at

 times when it comes to prayer,

“But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend….“

We have a relationship with God but that doesn’t mean He will hear us all the time. Sometimes we will need to be persistent! The friend gave the bread because of the persistence of the other friend!

There is a saying I have, Persistence will get you what friendship can’t. I even wrote a post about it some time ago. I can’t get into it right now but all you need to know is,

to get breakthrough you need to persist. Friendship will help at times but at other times we need something more.

The point is this. Be specific when you come to God in prayer. Be very clear. Ask, seek

and you will find. Then persist. If something doesn’t come through keep knocking,

keep seeking, and you will find! God is not trying to hide things from you. He has so

much in store for you. God bless.

Rolain.

When the doubts come……

 

“If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”

Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” Mark 9: 22

That is a very bold word from our Lord don’t you think? As bold as it may seem this is what I believe God is saying. The man had asked the disciples to heal his boy but they could not so when Jesus came down the mountain the man must of thought it impossible.

I have to admit and say there are things that I ask God without even thinking twice. I just know He will come through and then there are things that are harder to ask for. But from this whole passage we see this should not be so. We are to trust in God. Mark 11:22 says,

And Jesus replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. (Amplified)

When we come to God we must not come doubting. It must be in total trust. But the story continues and we see something very important.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, Then I believe. Help me with my doubts! Mark 9: 24

We want to believe and we do believe but doubts get in the way. What are we supposed to do? The man cried out to the Lord for help. We need help when it comes to our doubts. If you don’t struggle with doubts then bless you……But for those who struggle with it then look to God. There are no “ifs” in God’s vocabulary and there shouldn’t be in ours.

You may be in a place where you think “it’s too much, I can’t ask God for that” or “can He really give me what I have asked for” but know that there are no “ifs” when it comes to God. It’s either, ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Nothing is too big for God. Bring your requests to Him in total faith and if you struggle with doubts then cry out to him for help. He will help. He wants to help us in our areas of weakness…..God bless

Rolain.

Form your purpose.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

How do we accomplish what God has for us……? Proverbs 20:18 gives us some insight.

Form your purpose by asking for counsel,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then carry it out using all the help you can get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form your purpose by asking for counsel, then carry it out using all the help you can get. Proverbs 20:18

God bless.

 

Rolain.P

Your Help in Time of Need……….

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever –
John 14:16

As I was reading the word this morning a scripture stood out. I have always read it but today was different. My eyes were opened to what the role of the Holy Spirit is. I know who the Holy Spirit is but after reading this scripture I got more understanding. The Amplified makes it so clear. This is what I was shown about Him:

The first thing the verse calls the Holy Spirit is Comforter – When we are alone, when we have been hurt, when we have been abandoned, when we have been abused, when we have lost someone close, the Holy Spirit is there to comfort us! Look to the Holy Spirit to comfort you because He is the Comforter and the word is very clear when it says, the Holy Spirit is to remain with us forever!!! Praise the Lord…..

He is our Counselor – When you are confused or not sure about something turn to Him because He is your Counselor. He is to be our first point of call. He is more than capable to lead us down the right path, or to help us make the right decision. When you don’t understand call on Him. When you are unsure about your life, call on Him. He is able to make things clear in your life!!! He is your Counselor!

He is our Helper – How we need help in our everyday lives. The fact of the matter is this, we are not strong enough or capable enough on our own! It’s the truth. We need help. What happens when we get to a hard and difficult place that is too much for us? A place where our strength is not sufficient? We look to the Holy Spirit. What happens when your kids are losing their way and you have tried everything humanly possible to change the circumstances but to no avail? Look to the Holy Spirit. He is your Helper!! There are so many other impossible situations that need the hand of God….

He is our Intercessor – We need someone to stand in the gap for us. The Holy Spirit intercedes to God for us. We are not perfect and we fail constantly but the Holy Spirit is forever interceding on our behalf….
Thank you Lord….

He is our Strengthener – When we are weak, He strengthens us. When we cannot finish, He gives us the strength to do so. When we don’t have the strength to do anything He comes to our aid and strengthens us. We constantly need God’s strength to do what He has called us to do. He is our Strengthener!

He is our Standby – Through the pain, the confusion, and through the storms, He stands by us. He doesn’t leave us. In the midst of darkness, He stands with us. When we are abandoned, He is with us. When we are rejected, He stands by us.

The Holy Spirit is truly amazing. He is worthy of all our praise!!

Rolain

Dealing With Envy…..

I was preparing to teach at Kids Church this week and the topic we had to read on really spoke to me. It’s one of those things where you are reading for the sake of teaching but God begins to work on you because that is something that needs to be dealt with. As God was showing me things about myself I began to wonder how many people were going through the same thing hence the post. Envy is one of the ten commandments but one would think it’s not too serious, but it actually is. It is devastating to a person.  The first thing I would like to start with is the meaning of envy. What is envy? Very simply put it is wanting something someone else has. But I went deeper and searched other definitions of envy and one stood out to me. It said,

Envy is the painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage!!!

That hit me like a ton of bricks because God showed how I was doing that. I couldn’t believe it. The thing about envy is it can’t be spotted easily compared to stealing or murder or something like that. Envy is a heart issue. You can hide envy easy but God knows. So the lesson I learned is this:

– Envy can be hidden in our hearts                                                                                                                                                                                 – Even though no-one else may know we are envious, God knows.

Envy is hard to detect and because of that we need to be extra careful about what we harboring in our hearts. Envy is sin. You cannot have what somebody wants. I was envious about a situation and I wanted it to turn in my favor but that is a sin. I repented to God. The other thing that shocked me was how quietly it crept into my heart.  Envy will creep into your heart so stealthily. Do you have envy in your heart? If so, it needs to be dealt with. Ask God to show you if you have envy in your heart.

What is the answer to envy? Being content with what you have will help. It may be small or seem unfair but be content. This is something I am learning. I am being content knowing in due time God will bless me as well. It takes trust to be content. Be content with what God has given you at this time because He will bless you even more at the right time. Instead of envying someone else, be glad that person has those things. God will bless you when you bless someone else.

I am saying that by faith as well. It is not easy dealing with envy but it needs to be uprooted out of your heart. Just ask God to uproot it. That’s what I did. I am so glad that God does not leave us. He cares for us so much that when He sees something destroying us He will come in and help us get over it. That is the same for you. God will help you when you call on Him.

Rolain

 

Persistence vs Friendship. Part 1

There is something God taught me that I would like to share with you. It is actually a principle that I try to live by as consistently as I can.

PERSISTENCE WILL GET YOU WHAT FRIENDSHIP CAN’T!

Persistence is very important in a person’s life. Can you say that you are persistent in all that you do? Believe it or not but there is power in persistence.

Jesus tells a story about persistence and in this context, prayer. In Luke 11:5-10 He tells a story about a man who in need of bread goes to his friend at midnight. Even though he has a legitimate reason we read that the friend will not get up to give him bread. This is his friend who needs help but doesn’t get it. Friendship in this case is not enough. But listen to what will get him what he needs,

“I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”
Luke 11:8

Please understand, there are things that you can’t get because of friendship that you can get only through persistence!
What is the lesson here? It is ok to say you know God but He wants you to be persistent.

“So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you.
For everyone who asks and keeps on asking recieves; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
Luke 11:9,10

I have been in a lot of incidents where I wanted something from a friend but never got it only to get it after I bugged them daily!!!
This principle works. I have experienced it first hand.

In part two of this post I will expound more on this principle.
As I end always remember, Persistence will get you what friendship can’t!!

Rolain.