God Doesn’t Stay In a Box!

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built.”

1 Kings 8:27 ASV

God is so big and cannot be contained. Even Solomon the wisest man on earth acknowledged this truth.

He knew that the temple he built could not contain the God of the Universe.

We know God is big but do we REALLY know it?

The way we see God is determined by the way we have been conditioned in the past. That can be by people close to us, TV, news, books we have read and so much more.

But that needs to change. We need the limitations broken because God is crazy big.

This week I cried out to Him to break the box I have put Him in. There are so many big things I am trusting Him for and I feel like there are limitations I have put on Him. Sometimes we put Him in a box without even knowing it.

But, God doesn’t not stay in a box.

The only way we can break the negative conditioning about God’s bigness and greatness is by immersing ourselves in the Word of God which is the Truth. We need an increase of God’s presence in our daily lives because this is the thing, God is big but our view of God is small at times. So when we consume more of His Word and get into His presence our perception of God begins to get bigger, it begins to grow.

We need to reprogram our minds with the Word of God.

God wants to perform miracles in our lives but if we only see a weak, powerless and feeble God then how is that going to happen? Remember the Israelites and what they said when they arrived to the land God promised them?

“Let’s go at once to take the land, he said. We can certainly conquer it!

But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are! So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought too.”

Numbers 13:30-33 NLT

God doesn’t stay in a box. He is crazy big, He is the God of the universe and nothing is too big for Him. There is nothing He can’t do.

God break the box we have put you in and the limitations we have put on You!

Show us your greatness and awesomeness anew again!

Amen

Bless you friends

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

A lesson to learn from the Pharisees concerning children…

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. you’re the judge and jury.”                                                                                                                                                         The crowd answered, We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.” Matthew 27:24, 25    (The Message)

The Pharisees were out of control. They had no clue what they were doing. I could of understood if they condemned themselves but they went on to condemn their children. That was not on…..you can’t just say that!!!!                                                                                                                                              But there is a lesson to be learnt from this. The Pharisees actions were going to affect the next generation to come. The problem is, the Pharisees  spoke but the children couldn’t object. They were either too young or not born yet. Whatever the case it was wrong.

I have to confess something though. I am up in arms about the Pharisees response because I read one of my other favourite scriptures a few days ago. This is what it says,

 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!

 For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your gates, and He has blessed your children within you.        Psalm 147:12, 13

What an amazing scripture this is. God has blessed my children within me!!! It’s such a wonderful truth. If you are single and not yet married know that God has blessed your children within you. If you are married and you have kids then know that your kids are blessed and they were blessed by God a long time ago. I hope you can see why I am not happy about what the Pharisees did. Their children had been blessed by God but they were bringing a curse on them. What did they do to deserve that? This a warning to us as well. Yes God has blessed our children within us but we have a responsibility to grow them up in the ways of the Lord. We have to pave the way for them. We need to pray for our kids and teach them and guide them. As a single person you have to watch yourself. What you do determines how your kids will grow up. If you commit adultery you are going to make it harder for them. If you go to jail for murder or if you steal you are just going to make it harder for them. We have a part to play in this. God will hold us responsible if we don’t take this seriously.

I am going to do my part by asking for God’s help in the areas I am struggling in. I will try and live a life of purity. I will seek God and make sure He is always first so that when my kids come I can teach them the way correctly. I know God has great things in store for them and I want to prepare them as much as I can. I want them to trust God completely, I want them to be confident in who God has called them to be. I want them to love God with all of their hearts. I know it’s not just a want of mine but a desire, a declaration. They will do great things for God because He has blessed them. They will love and trust the Lord with all their hearts but I have a part to play. You have a part to play. The word says, “He has blessed your children within you”.

The life you live is not just for you. It’s so much bigger than you. God bless….

Rolain

 

No matter what happens, God is in control!

You have a calling….. You were brought to earth for a reason and that is the truth. What I have been thinking about are the journey’s of all the great men and women in the bible. I don’t believe the road God paved for them was easy. And this is the thing though, we read their stories and we know their ending but the actual people didn’t. For example, look at Joseph, Esther, and Rahab.

Joseph – We know his story but imagine what he went through. He was sold as a slave. What was going through his mind at that precise moment? Just before that his brothers threw him down a pit and were planning his death! Did he think his life would amount up to something? Did he feel like God had abandoned him? Did he lose hope? Did he ever feel like just giving up? I think he went through all these things but when we read his story we know the end. We know God would deliver him in a mighty way. We know he would become second to Pharaoh! We know he would save the world from a severe famine but did he? I don’t think he knew that when he was in the pit. But the fact is this, God was in control, even when things didn’t seem like that. He knew the end and that is what matters. Joseph may of felt abandoned because of the circumstances he found himself in but he wasn’t abandoned. God had not abandoned him! God was guiding him and making a way for him. God was preparing him for something big.

Esther – She was orphaned. She didn’t know who her parents were. She was abandoned and was being raised by her uncle, Mordecai. (Esther 2:7) And to top things off, she was a women. Not the greatest thing to be at that time in history. What did she struggle with? Did she even think she was called? Did she know God had an amazing plan for her? Did she struggle with identity and rejection? But as we read the story we know the end. We know she would be crowned the new queen and she would save an entire race! Did she know that in the beginning? I don’t think so but again, God was in control. She may off thought of herself as dirt but God had planned something so amazing for her. He loved her and God was with her. I wonder if she knew that in the beginning????

Rahab – She was a prostitute! I can only imagine what she went through before the spies visited her. She had to struggle with people mocking her. Did she struggle with abuse, physical and verbal? I most definitely think so. Did she struggle with self-esteem? People looked down on her? She was treated like trash. She wasn’t even a Christian!!! She was a prostitute for crying out loud. In her eyes and the eyes of everyone else around her, her life path was clear, there was no mistake of what she would amount to. She would amount to nothing!!! There was no hope for her. Did she believe that God had chosen her? Did she know something amazing was about to happen to her?? I don’t think so. But again, God was in control. He had a plan for her even if she couldn’t see it, even if everybody else around couldn’t see it. God had a plan and that made all the difference!

This is what I am trying to get to. God has a plan for your life. Even if like Rahab everyone says you are going nowhere, God has a plan for your life. Put your faith in God. His plan for your life is going to blow you away. Take comfort in the fact that, GOD has a plan for you. Your circumstances might be saying the complete opposite but God has a plan. Don’t give up. At times I don’t see. The circumstances around me get my focus off the bigger picture. But God has a plan even if it seems like He has abandoned me. Don’t believe the lies. God is in control. He created your beginning but He also created your end and it is wonderful!! It is grand and it is breathtaking!!! He knows how it’s going to end because He is the one who WROTE the end!!

Rolain.

Seeing God in the small things!

I would like to share with you something that happened to me two days ago. I lost my diary/journal two days ago. I turned my house upside down looking for it. When I didn’t find it I looked for it at work! I looked everywhere with no luck. The crazy thing is, I had used it on the day I lost it but couldn’t remember where I put it. I know what you thinking, it’s just a diary! It is just a diary but it’s important to me. I had borrowed a book from a friend and I was writing notes and thoughts on the book in my diary and that is why I was so desperate to find it. But after day one with no luck I gave up. I prayed a small prayer asking God to help me find it  and put it out of my mind but not completely. The next day was just as bad. I was trying to trace back my steps hoping to find it but  with no luck. It wasn’t an expensive diary. I actually got it for free at a conference but it was important to me. Then out of nowhere, one of my friends came to my house this morning and asked me if the diary she was holding belonged to me!!!!!! I was overjoyed to say the least!

This is my diary! 🙂

God had answered my prayer as small and insignificant as it seemed, He answered me. There is a lesson to take home in this. We always expect God in the big things, and miracles and so on and He does show up but do we expect Him in the small things? God cares about our EVERY need. No matter how small you think it is, God thinks it’s important. This is what I realized this morning. I should expect miracles and big things but at the same time I should look for God’s hand in the small and insignificant things in my life!!

God is so big that He can show up in the small things! When we focus on the big we can miss God. There needs to be a balance. God’s does big things and He works in the small things……

Rolain

The Power of Giving…….

There is power when we give. The thought of the day is taken from Proverbs 11:24 which says,

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.  (Message)

Does your world seem small? Do you want it to be bigger? Then give! What a beautiful picture this verse creates. As we give our world becomes larger and larger. This was a revelation for me. I have not been consistent in my giving this year. At the start of the year I made a decision to give differently. I wanted to stretch myself every time I gave but I have been very inconsistent. When I read the scripture I just shared I got challenged. I saw giving in a new light. As I give my money, time, energy, resources, love, patience, attention and so on my world is growing larger and larger but as I withhold those things my world is getting smaller and smaller!!!

I don’t want my world to grow smaller instead it should be getting larger and larger!!! I declare it is growing larger and larger!!! Is yours? No wonder the word of God says, “I am more blessed when I give than when I receive”    Acts 20:35

The choice is yours. What is it going to be??

Rolain.

 

How Do I Make God Bigger In My Life?

I was so challenged by the Word my pastor preached during the evening service yesterday. He was speaking about magnifying God in our lives. There are a few things that stuck with me that I would like to share with you.

– We need to overcome small thinking when we come to God. Our mind will block us from seeing God as He really is. We need to eliminate any and every wrong thought that we have of God.

– I cannot have big faith if I have a small God! How big is your God? So many of us focus on how big the enemy is instead of focusing on how big God is. Yes we have problems but let us focus on God who is bigger than our problems! When we focus on God, He becomes bigger in our lives and the enemy gets smaller and smaller. But when we focus on the enemy, God becomes smaller.

– We have little faith because we have a small God. It is very hard to have big faith when your picture of God is small! But at the same time it is very hard to have small faith when you have a big God! And this is the thing, you will know you serve a big or small God by your actions and prayers. Someone who serves a small God is always complaining about the problems they are facing. They are always speaking about how hard things are and so on but people who serve a big God have this presence about them. They are unmovable in hard times as they quietly wait on God. They are confident, not in themselves but in God. They speak about how great God is. They are worshippers. They are thankful people. They focus on how they can help people in the midst of what they are going through. How big is your God?

So how do you make God big in your life? Psalm 69:30, 31 has the answer. It says:

I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving,
And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs.

We cannot make God any bigger than He is now. So this scripture is talking about how our praise and thanksgiving will make Him bigger in OUR lives. God is so big but the problem is that we don’t see it. When we praise and thank Him, He becomes bigger in our lives.
Another way to make God bigger in our lives is to read His Word. The more Word you read the bigger your picture of God becomes!
Another way to make God bigger in your life is through worship. When you praise and worship Him He becomes bigger in your life. And we need to do this everyday of the week not just on sundays or saturdays!

As i wrap up I would like you to think about something.
What would happen if you really served a Big God?! What would your life look like if you served a big God?

Rolain.P