When the woman put her trust in God…….

“Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel

grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”

And she said, “let your maidservant find favor in your sight.”

So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer

sad. “

1 Samuel 1:17, 18

 

This story is very close to my heart. Hannah’s story encourages

me every time I read it.

I want to touch on something that I noticed as I read her story

again.

 

How many of us can identify with Hannah? She was trusting God

for a child. In the meantime she was been ridiculed and verbally

abused by Peninnah. How hard that must of been.

 

Let’s look at another important point.

 

“This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice

to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh.”

1 Samuel 1:3

 

The bible doesn’t tell us the exact amount of years they went to

worship. All we know is that Hannah couldn’t have children.

But every year she went to worship and every year she had to deal

with the onslaught of words from Peninnah. That must of being so

hard to deal with.

 

But there is something I want you to see.

When Eli spoke to her she did something amazing. Let’s look

at the scripture,

 

“Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel

grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”

And she said, Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.

So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer 

sad. “

1 Samuel 1:17, 18

 

“She went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad”

 

That act really spoke to me.

She believed the word. She had faith she had her answer and

changed her attitude and behavior!

 

I haven’t been doing that enough.

I should live with an attitude of faith.

If I am going to receive what God has promised me

there has to be a change of heart, there has to be a change of attitude,

and a change of behavior. I can’t have faith and walk around like nothing

is going to happen. I can’t have faith in God and live like God hasn’t

heard me. That was such a powerful revelation for me.

Hannah didn’t hesitate when she heard the word.

And look at what happened when she did that,

 

“Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the 

Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. 

And Elkanah knew his wife, and the Lord remembered her.

So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived 

and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “

because I have asked for him from the Lord.”

1 Samuel 1:19, 20 (emphasis mine)

 

Not only did she change her attitude and behavior but she

worshiped the Lord with her husband!

Worship is so important in the life of a believer.

In her mind her prayer had been answered and that’s

why she worshiped the Lord!

I don’t know about you but that blows my mind.

What are you worshiping God for today?

If you have your answer worship!

If you don’t see your answer still worship!

We need to live a life of worship.

We don’t just worship when we get stuff,

we also worship Him because He is God!

 

What did their worship sound like?

I think they were worshiping the Lord for giving them a child.

They were worshiping Him because He heard their prayers.

That is amazing.

 

Even the words she spoke changed!

Her faith in God had an impact on what came out of her mouth.

Your faith should be spoken out, friends.

You can’t speak negatively and say you have faith.

You can’t speak negatively and see your breakthrough!

The way you speak must change if you have faith.

You should be worshiping the Lord for the great things He has done for you!

 

As I close I would like you to think about how you are speaking?

What is your attitude and behavior like?

Are you complaining, are you talking about how things

are not going to workout or are you speaking out what you believe?

 

And that is my challenge to you today friends…..

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

What two men prayed…..

The Pharisee stood [ostentatiously] and began praying

to himself [in a self-righteous way, saying]:

God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men –

swindlers, unjust (dishonest), adulterers – or even like

this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all

that I get.

But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would

not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his

breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be

merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am!

Luke 18:12, 13 (AMP)

 

The year is about to end and as it does I want to touch

on a few things I think we need to reflect on before we get

into 2016. The word I am about to share has really been

on my mind for some time. This word brought attitudes

to light, attitudes that were not of God.

 

Just because you think you are humble doesn’t mean

you are humble. This is the kind of erroneous thinking

I had. But this scripture blew that out of the water.

I thought I was humble but truth be told, I was proud!

I couldn’t see it because my pride was cloaked in a

false sense of humility.

 

But to walk in the plan God has for us we need to be

humble! The tax collector was a perfect example of

what it meant to be humble.

I think humility is being able to stay small in our own eyes!

It’s having the wisdom to see that God is in control and

understanding that without Him we are lost.

Humility strips every selfish thought and idea we have.

Humility puts off our own strength and puts on God’s.

Humility doesn’t take pride in it’s own wisdom but

looks to the Lord for true wisdom!

 

The Pharisee stayed big in his own eyes. He saw himself

as more in his own eyes, as very important, while the tax collector

stayed small in his own eyes!

Who are you in your own eyes?

 

Please understand what the tax collector did and didn’t do.

He didn’t talk negatively about himself. He didn’t tell

God how useless and pathetic he was. He didn’t tear himself

down. That is not humility.

He knew he was a sinner in deep need of grace and mercy!

I hope you notice the difference. Stop the negative self talk.

It’s not biblical.

 

It’s so important we stay “small in our own eyes”.

Let us look at another passage of scripture that will help

us understand this truth:

 

Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and

he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s

name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem.

He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as

his father Amaziah had done.

He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed

him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God

gave him success.

2 Chronicles 26:3

 

God had a plan for Uzziah. Actually, He had great plans for him.

Like Uzziah, God has great and amazing plans for us. But look

at how the story changed……

 

But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.

He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple

of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

2 Chronicles 26:16

 

The priests were the only ones allowed to burn incense but

because Uzziah was proud (failed to remain small in his own

eyes) he never walked in the full promises of God!

God had made Uzziah powerful but he failed to realise

that.

When I start thinking I can’t do certain things because they are

beneath me or I am too important to do them

or if I think I should

only do certain things because I am important, that is a good

indicator I have become

proud. God wants me to walk in everything He has for me

but pride will destroy that very quickly!

 

Let us be like the tax collector. He remained small in his own eyes

and because of that the Bible says he went home justified!

 

My desire and prayer is that I walk in true humility, that

I stay small in my own eyes for the rest of my life!

Stay small in your own eyes!

God bless friends……

 

photo credit: google images

 

Rolain

Cleansing the ‘temple’………….?

 

For as long as I can remember I have always looked up to King Josiah. He had a heart after God. Unlike his predecessors He followed hard after God. He didn’t turn to the left or the right. He loved God with all of his heart. This past week I read his story and there were a few things that stood out to me.

 

– When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay.                  2 Kings 22:11

 

–  Then the king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, his associate priest, and The Temple sentries to clean house – to get rid of everything in the Temple of God that had been made for worshipping Baal and Asheroth and the cosmic powers. He had them burned outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and then disposed of the ashes in Bethel. 

 

– He fired the pagan priests whom the kings of Judah had hired to supervise the local sex-and-religion shrines in the towns of Judah and neighborhoods of Jerusalem. 

 

– In a stroke he swept the country clean of the polluting stench of the round-the-clock worship of Baal, sun and moon, stars-all the so-called cosmic powers. 

 

– He took the obscene phallic Asherah pole from the temple of God to the Valley of Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it up, then ground up the ashes and scattered them in the cemetery. 

 

– He tore out the rooms of the male sacred prostitutes that had been set up in The Temple of God; women also used these rooms for weavings for Asherah. 

 

– Then Josiah demolished the Topheth, the iron furnace griddle set up in the Valley of Ben Hinnon for sacrificing children in the fire. No longer could anyone burn son or daughter to the god of Molech. 

 

– As Josiah looked over the scene, he noticed the tombs on the hillside. He ordered the bones removed from the tombs and had them cremated on the ruined altars, desacralizing the evil altars. 

 

 

I could go on and on. Please read the whole chapter to see how extensive the cleansing was! Josiah didn’t hold back. Once he heard the word he did everything in his power to make things right.

As I read this chapter I believe God spoke to me. He challenged me to have Josiah’s attitude towards sin. Josiah didn’t tolerate it at all. The land he cleansed and the temple he cleansed are a picture of our bodies, of our lives. He did not compromise with sin. He saw all the idols and images that were set up and he tore them down. What idols need to be torn down in your life? He was ruthless with sin. He didn’t play with sin. I want that same attitude concerning sin. There is sin I take seriously but there is other sin I take too casually! There is nothing casual about sin. I serve a HOLY GOD. Yes, I am a sinner and I have flaws but what I can do in my own power I should do……

Josiah did everything He possibility could and why? Because he loved God!!!!

 

In verse 25 of 2 Kings 23 it says,

 

There was no king to compare with Josiah-neither before nor after- a king who turned in total and repentant obedience to God, heart and mind and strength, following the instructions revealed to and written by Moses. The world would never again see a king like Josiah. 

 

It is time to cleanse the “temple”. Let us not take sin lightly. Let us take it seriously. As Josiah took care of the sin in his land God set him apart. There is a truth we need to know as we plan on taking on sin, we can’t fight sin on our own. We need to ask God for His help. What God wants of us is to see sin as He sees sin. I had taken sin lightly but it was sin that put Christ on the cross, OUR sin……

 

With all that said, how do you treat sin in your life? Are you as zealous as Josiah when it comes to dealing with sin or do you have a laid back attitude? This is a challenge for all of us.

 

God, please help us be like Josiah! He never tolerated sin. He never became comfortable with sin. He saw sin the way God saw sin. Josiah loved God so much that his love translated into a hate for sin! May we have that same love for God……..

( Please note: As I post this I have sinned extensively today and yesterday and day before that…… I have found it extremely hard not to sin! No matter what I try do blows up in my face! I can’t believe it….I have tried day after day but it seems like I have sinned even more!

But is this not the story of our lives? Is sin not a daily struggle which we face ? So how does the “Temple”get cleansed? It get’s cleansed by relying on His righteousness! He paid the price for us. Sin has been defeated. Our job is to trust in His grace and mercy in which He so abundantly gives).

My conclusion has to change then. Have an attitude like Josiah’s toward sin but rely on God’s mercy and grace everyday because we will sin, that is a fact but He provides us an opportunity to ask for forgiveness! We need to realize we can’t deal with sin because it was already been dealt with by Jesus. He died and rose so we could be free  from sin!  Amen

Rolain

 

Rolain

The unknown truth about the rich and the poor……

It has been four days, four days since I read that specific scripture. I have not been able to shake it. God wanted to show me something and I think I see it now. The scripture I read is in Proverbs 22;2 and it says,

The rich and the poor shake hands as equals – God made them both. 

God made the rich and the poor and they are equal. The rich have abundant possessions and are wealthy but they are still equal to the poor, to the man and women on the street who have nothing, who struggle just to get a single meal a day, who have to beg to get by day by day, the rich and the poor are equal! We don’t treat the poor like they are equal though. In fact, we demand they beg! How dare they come and embarrass us as we walk. Our money is our weapon against them! They are not our equals. We are superior over them. They must jump when we say jump. We think by having more than them makes us more superior, we are wrong……Lord please forgive us. We are equal! We need to treat them as such.

In the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” we see this kind of erroneous attitude at work. John Daggett who is very wealthy confronts Bane because plans have not gone according to plan.

Daggett tries to assert his authority over Bane because he is wealthy but it doesn’t work. Bane kills him. It’s this kind of attitude that the world has and even Christians. The attitude that looks down on the poor because they have nothing not realizing that God says we are equal!! I was that person. Yes, I had made a point to give to the poor as much as I could but I always saw them as inferior. But I see now, that was wrong. We are equal. The reason God has given what He has given me is so I can be a blessing. Why the poor are poor is none of my business, God just wants me to be a blessing. He wants me to see the poor the way He sees them. He wants me to treat them with respect and He wants me to honor them. They are human beings after all. They have families as well. They have problems and they have doubts, and they have dreams. They have desires and aspirations!!

Just know God has made the poor and rich alike. They are equal. Let us treat them the way God would like us to treat them. God bless….

Rolain

In trouble, he slept like a baby……..!

Everyone faces trouble. Everyone faces storms and trials  and testing in their lives. That is one thing we cannot escape. I had a really bad day today. One of those days where you want to just throw in the towel. It really has been a crazy day. This is the thing though, troubles and problems are a part of life and my job is to learn to cope, learn to trust God in the midst of confusion and hopelessness……So in the midst of all that I read a pretty amazing story. The story was about Peter when he was arrested by Herod. The word says,

All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jail house, the church prayed for him most strenuously.

Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!    Acts 12: 5, 6

I could not believe what I read. Peter was surrounded by guards and was even shackled to the guards. He was in very real trouble. He was going to die the next day but the word says he slept like a baby! He never complained or worried. He was not fearful, instead he slept like a baby. I would of being freaking out if I was in his shoes. Herod had doubled the guards. He was not taking any chances.

I want to have that same kind of attitude. Peter was in perfect peace. James had just being killed but that never phased Peter. His trust was in the Lord. His faith in God was deep, and unshakable. He was in a storm but he knew who was watching over him. When the storms of life come how do you respond? When trouble comes what thoughts come to mind? Let us  learn from Peter. I want to walk in the kind of peace he walked in. The fact that he wasn’t in fear showed where his faith was at. Your response to situations determine where your faith is at.

The lesson for me is, rely on God. In the midst of pain and confusion trust Him. Let the peace of God reign. Remember Peter……….

Rolain

Does Your Attitude Stink? Part 2.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my post on attitudes. This is the conclusion. In my last post I said that attitudes are neither good or bad until you set a goal. And that is why we need goals in our lives. Goals are one of the ways we can detect negative attitudes.
What are you gravitating towards? Are you leaning towards the right things and leaning away from bad things?
When you lean away from things you block out information. So if you are leaning away from something that you are supposed to be leaning towards you are in trouble. Let me give you an example of what I mean:

I was applying to go for school in another country a few years back. I was excited about it. My attitude was positive. I was hard at work doing all I could to get ready until I was told that I needed to get injections. Not one but several! I hated injections. I was scared of them. So my attitude was negative. I never changed my attitude and things got worse. In the end I was willing to abandon going to school overseas because I had a bad attitude about injections! See how ridiculous that was. But thanks to God, He opened my eyes to the craziness of what I was doing. So I changed my attitude and got the injections I needed. And that is the danger of having a bad attitude. How many of you miss great opportunities because you have a bad attitude towards something you see in that opportunity?
The good news is, you can change your attitude. It is not too late.

Look and see what attitudes you have and test them. What are you leaning towards and leaning away from? Are your attitudes advancing you or are they hindering you?
Are they advancing you into what God has for you or are they blocking you from all the amazing things God has for you?
If you have a bad attitude about something that is essential to your life, you got two choices. You can either change the attitude or drop the goal? It is your choice. Remember, attitudes determine how far you go in life.

Rolain.P.