He promised it!

“The Lord made a promise to David. 

It was a sure promise that He will not take back. 

He promised, “I will make one of your descendants rule as king after you.” 

Psalm 132:11

 

Happy new year to you, friends! I hope you had a great holiday and are ready to continue walking

with God in this new year. God has done so much already and in this new year, He will

continue the work He started all those years ago. He has so much more in store for you.

It’s good to be back writing and I am expectant about what God has in store this year.

 

God’s promises to us are sure. He doesn’t take back what He has promised. He doesn’t change

His mind. When He promises, it comes to pass. When God promised David he would have

a son to rule when he died God is the one who brought it to pass in spite of David’s failings and weaknesses.

(remember the mess with Bathsheba)

 

If we are relying on our own abilities and strength to receive God’s promises then we have missed it.

He wants us to look to Him, to rely on Him. He is faithful to fulfill the things He promised us.

So as we go through the new year let’s remember His promises to us are sure. 

There is no “maybe” or “might” attached to His promises. They are sure and that’s enough for us.

Enjoy your weekend friends.

 

Rolain

 

 

We are the church!!

“All this energy issues from Christ: God raised Him from death and set Him on a throne in

deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments,

no name and no power exempt from His rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He

is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the

church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.

The church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts, by which He fills everything with His presence.”

Ephesians 1:20-23

 

I love this passage of scripture. I love how it describes the role of the church in our lives,

 

“At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.

The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world;

the world is peripheral to the church.

The church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts,

by which He fills everything with His presence. “

 

What a powerful passage of scripture about the church.

According to this scripture, the world is peripheral to the

church and not the other way round but it actually feels like

it’s the other way round. To a lot of people church has become

mundane, boring and irrelevant.

The church has become peripheral to the

world for a lot of Christians.

But that is not the way it’s supposed to be.

The church is meant to be the answer to a dying world.

But some where along the way, we have missed it.

 

I understand the church is not perfect. How can it be?

People make up a church! People are imperfect, people say the wrong

things, people judge, people make mistakes and on and on the list goes…..

But for some reason we have this idea that church is supposed to be this

perfect place! How wrong we are!

Church is messy, church is hard at times but what matters is the big picture.

When Christ comes back He is coming for His Bride (the church)

 

If you didn’t know, the church is not a building. The church are the people in the

building! We are the answer to a lost world. We are meant to show the people THE

way. The church needs to be a light in a dark place. We are meant to make an impact

in our community, city, and nation.

 

But that only happens when the church is the main thing. It happens when the world is peripheral

to the church in our lives and not the other way round.

 

Amen

 

Rolain

Build right!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

^” And after this one rose up Judas the Galilean, [who led an uprising] during the time of

the census, and drew away a popular following after him; he also perished and all his

adherents were scattered.

Now in the present case let me say to you, stand off (withdraw) from these men and let

them alone. For if this doctrine or purpose or undertaking or movement is of human origin,

it will fail (be overthrown and come to nothing);

But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop or overthrow or destroy them;

you might even be found fighting against God!”

Acts 5:37-39

 

As I read this scripture a few thoughts ran through my mind.

Are the things I am doing of God or of human origin? Am I 100% certain that God

is in it?

Gamaliel the Pharisee understood this principle.

He knew that if something was birthed of God it could not be stopped!

No matter how hard that thing was fought and resisted it would not be

stopped. Seek God’s guidance in all that you do. There is a blessing in that.

God cares about what you are doing today.

 

In all that you do make sure God is in it. Make sure it’s born of God and not man.

If it’s born of man it will not last. It was be stopped and burned up.

Make sure you are not using your time on the wrong things.

If you are not sure if what you doing is of God then pray.

If you not at peace about anything you doing then that’s a good indicator

it’s not from God.

God wants you to be focused on the right things.

He doesn’t want you to waste time on the wrong things.

Ask Him to come and make things clear.

He cares about you and is passionate about you accomplishing

the things He has for you.

As I close I want to encourage you with one more scripture,

 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the guards stand watch in vain.”

Psalm 126:1

 

Rolain

Does God See Me???

God sees what you do. You may think your work for Him is going unnoticed but it’s not.
Take Benjamin and Hasshub for example. (Nehemiah 3:23) Work was going on around them as the  walls of Jerusalem were being built. People were getting involved.

“How can we get involved” they must of being thinking? I don’t think they ever imagined beyond their wildest dreams that thousands of years later people would know the part they played in the building of the wall!!! The word says they repaired the wall opposite their house!!! It was as simple as that. A lot of people think God’s will is complicated and complex but it’s not. What is in your hands?  How you live this life counts. Especially a life lived for God…….

What you do in this life counts but it goes the other way as well
There were a group of people who didn’t think what they did mattered. They didn’t take the work God had called them to do seriously.

Next to them the Tekoites repaired, but the nobles or lords did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
Nehemiah 3:5

Let that not be our story. God has a plan for your life. Take it seriously!
The enemy comes against us and his goal is to discourage us. To say we should never get discouraged is unrealistic. We will get discouraged but how we respond is key.

And [the leaders of] Judah said, The strength of the burden bearers is weakening, and there is much rubbish; we are not able to work on the wall.
Nehemiah 4:11

The people were getting tired. They were working and working but nothing seemed to change. The rubble was still there. They thought their work was in vain. But let me ask you this, what if you were sent back into time to to speak to the people now? If you have read the rest of Nehemiah you will know that the people completed the wall. You know how the story ends.  So with what you know wouldn’t you tell them to keep on pushing and not give up???

Be encouraged because God sees our lives like that!! He sees the start and the finish line. He sees a good end. We are like the people in the story. We need to ask God to teach us how to see differently. We need to see like He does. How would life be if we saw like He did? What if we saw the BIG PICTURE! It would be different for sure. We would push longer and we would trust Him. We would be assured our lives would work out. And that is what I am here to tell you. Everything will be OK. Your work is not for granted. What you do in this life matters to God.

Rolain

Is Doing Something Great For God the Most Important Thing?

Solomon was the wisest, richest, most prosperous man that ever lived! He was the son of one of the greatest kings that ever lived. What a resume!! God had amazing plans for Solomon no doubt.
But somewhere down the line he missed it. There is a very important lesson to learn from his life.
Solomon had it in his heart to finish off the temple his father David wanted to build for God. But as Solomon was building God says something pretty profound to him. It could of been a warning. Whatever it was it was profound. This is what God told him:

The word of God came to Solomon saying, “About this Temple you are building – what’s important is that you live the way I’ve set out for you and do what I tell you, following my instructions carefully and obediently.
Then I’ll complete in you the promise I made to David your father. I’ll personally take up my residence among the Israelite’s – I won’t desert my people Israel.”  1 Kings 11-13

Wow right!! Could it have been possible that Solomon thought building the Temple would bring him closer to God??? Did He think God would love him more because of what he was building??? Did he think God would be even more pleased with him because of this “great work” he was doing because it was great!!!????

How many of us are like that. We rely on our works and think that’s enough but it’s not. Your destiny is not determined upon how much you do. It is determined on your obedience to living according to God’s word. So for example, you may travel around the world meeting the needs of orphans. That doesn’t mean God is more pleased with you than with the person who followed the call of God to serve in his local church to be a kids minister!!! Being a pastor doesn’t mean God loves you more than a young person who serves in his youth group!!! What matters is if you are following the path God has laid out for you and if you are listening to Him!!!

And this is what I think God was trying to tell Solomon. Let us determine to be people who do what God tells us to do and who follow the path God has laid out for us.

Rolain.

I Spoke and You Got Hurt!!!

How do you speak to people? I was with a friend this past week and we were joking with each other. But the problem was that I didn’t know when to stop. In retaliation they said somethings which really hurt. Simple words but powerful enough for me to cancel spending the afternoon with other friends later that day. I swear I tried to stop thinking about what was said but I just couldn’t get them out. My afternoon was spent just thinking. I was struggling on the inside with the negative words that were spoken. If I had been careful in how I spoke I would not have to deal with negative words that were spoken. They would not have been spoken. My friend must of being struggling with the same problem. That experience just showed me how powerful our words are.

Your words have power. You can either build someone up or tear them down. What are you speaking?
Look at what Ephesians 4:29 says:
Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.

That is a high call for all of us. We need to examine how we speak to others. People should be better off after we have spoken to them. People should look forward to spending time with us. Speaking life doesn’t come naturally. You need to make a decision to be someone who speaks life. Even when you joking.
I just wanted to challenge you in how you should speak. Think about the scripture I wrote. You are the only one who knows what needs work in your life. So make the relevant changes to establish a new habit. You can do it.

Rolain.P