I despised being a man…..!

 

I have been in Kenya for almost a week. I went on a music tour with my church which was amazing. I got back last night. So I will share some of my experiences and things God showed me while in Kenya. But this post is not about how my trip went but it’s about the things I learned concerning being a man. Here is what I learned……

– Every time we go on tour the men HAVE to carry the ladies suitcases. We have to offload their bags and carry them to their rooms. I thought our leaders were being unreasonable at first. They had no idea how heavy those suitcases were. The women never packed light and in my mind I thought they should have to suffer for the way they packed their suitcases. “Let me carry their own suitcases so they learn to pack lighter” was my other thought!  mean right?!!!    hahaha

– As men there is always an expectation to lead. In prayer men should lead, in devotionals we need to be the first ones to take the responsibility to share. This was a hard lesson because there were times I didn’t feel like leading. I didn’t want to be the one who carried such a weight…..

– As men we were told to protect the women. Our job was to protect the women on tour. Protect them by not singling them out. Treat them all the same. There should be no favoritism. Treat them like sisters is what we were told. Don’t play with their feelings by leading them on.

I despised all these things and more but this time around as I was loading all the ladies luggage onto our shuttle with a few other men I realized something. I am glad for all those lessons I was taught by my leaders. They taught us how to lead the women in our lives in love, they taught us how to be real men. They showed us the value of being a man. I am glad I was made the way I was, a man! We have a a mandate from God. We were made the head for a reason. I don’t mind carrying the ladies luggage now!! I welcome it…haha. But this is not only about carrying luggage…..it’s about embracing the things that make me a man. God created us men to be strong, to lead, to be the head.

God has a special calling on the men! If there was a time when men were desperately needed to take their place it is now! The world needs men of God. Men who trust in God. Men who know who they are in Christ. Men who take care of their families, love their wives, guide their children in the way of The Lord. May we be the men God has called us to be!

Rolain

A love that cannot be explained……!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

During my devotional time I read something truly amazing about God’s love. I just had to share it!  🙂

God views Christians the same way He views Christ: sinless and perfect.

Don’t fear He will discover your past. He already has.

Don’t fear disappointing Him in the future. He can show you the chapter in which you will.

With perfect knowledge of the past and perfect vision of the future, He loves you perfectly in spite of both.  Max Lucado

 

Is that amazing or what??!! God sees us the same way He sees Christ!!! That is too much for me to comprehend. All I will say is, walk in that love. My past mistakes and my future mistakes don’t hinder me from receiving His love. He loves me! HE LOVES ME! God’s love is truly amazing…… It cannot be explained. Praise the Lord indeed!!!

Rolain.

The desolate, defenseless, poor & needy….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

Open your mouth for the dumb [those unable to speak for themselves], for the rights of all who are left desolate and defenseless; 
Open your mouth, judge righteously, and administer justice for the poor and needy.  Proverbs 31:8, 9

God has given us the responsibility of speaking up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. We are to defend the defenseless. We are to stand up for those who cannot stand. Who are the people who cannot speak, and are defenseless and cannot stand? They are the poor, they are the abused, the little children, the widows, the castaway, the aids victims, the people who have been trafficked around the world……the list goes on and on. Who can you stand up for? Who can you defend? This is what God has called us to do.

Open your mouth the word says. Administer justice for the poor and the needy! I like that. We are the ones who are to enforce God’s justice on the earth. If you see injustice then do something about it. Don’t just expect someone else to do it.
God has shown me who to stand up for but because of fear I have shrunk back but I know now that God does not want me to shrink back. He wants me to stand and open my mouth. What about you? Who are you supposed to stand up for?

Before you can stand and speak you need to be able to see. If you can’t see the injustice around you how will you defend? Let us ask God to open our eyes. There are people waiting for us. They are in pain, hopeless, hungry, abandoned, broken and at the brink of death literally. We can’t stand on the sidelines anymore. God, please help us………Give us the courage to step out. Give us the strength to stand and speak out. We will not turn a blind eye and ear to the cry of the abandoned, the hurt, the abused and the poor……Give us the wisdom and the fearlessness to do what You have called us to do. How can we live a life content on being comfortable while others suffer and die on a daily basis. The enemy is destroying whoever he can and we just stand idly by!!!!! We go to church and lift our hands in praise but during the week we ignore the poor, the weak, the homeless, the abused….something is wrong with that picture.

I am so guilty of doing this Lord. Please forgive me for acting blind. Please forgive me for closing my eyes and keeping my mouth closed. Help me from this time forth and help everyone else who reads this and has the same desire to stand up and speak up……We need your help Lord, Amen!                         It is so easy to say a prayer but it’s a whole other ball game acting it out and that is what this world needs, more acting out Christians instead of Christians that think a prayer is enough……..Prayer is key, it’s the foundation of all we do but we need action. There has to be a balance. Let us be the voice God has called us to be…….Amen

Rolain

 

 

3 Things To Know About Discipline.

As Christians we need to be disciplined. I believe there are areas where we are disciplined and other areas where we need help in. For example, you may be disciplined when it comes to keeping time but you are not disciplined when it comes to spending money. The goal of this post is to make you see the need to strive to be disciplined in every area of your life. There is a reward for being disciplined. Without wasting anymore time let us get into the 3 points.

 – Character is the by-product of discipline.
Your character as a person speaks loads about how disciplined you are. Are you a person of character? Your character is developed when you are disciplined. You cannot be a man or woman of character if you are not disciplined. Can you call someone who sleeps around a person of character? Can you call someone who is generally undisciplined a person of character?  We need discipline if we want to be men and women of character.

   –  The undisciplined person is always at the mercy of the disciplined person.
That is the truth! If you are not disciplined you will always be at the mercy of the person who is. I don’t want to be at the        mercy of someone else. I want to be in control of what is happening in my life and not succumb to someone else idea because I am not disciplined! Which category are you in? Are you at the mercy of disciplined people or are people following you because you are disciplined?

 – To successfully lead others you need to be able to lead yourself.
Are you self disciplined? If you are undisciplined in your own life then it is impossible to lead others. Master yourself first before you master others. If you are disciplined when it comes to money then you can lead others when it comes to money. If you are disciplined when it comes to purity then you can lead others in purity and so on and so on.

This is the point, men and women of character are not born but are made by choices and decisions they make everyday.
Let us make the right decisions. Let us make a decision to be disciplined. Look at your life and see the areas you need to be disciplined and ask for help. Let us desire to be disciplined in every area of our lives. And remember, it is a process. It doesn’t just happen. You will need to work hard at it.

Rolain.