God has a name for you.

“And they journeyed from Bethel and had but a little way to go to Ephrath [Bethlehem]

when Rachel suffered the pangs of childbirth and had hard labor. 

When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid; you shall have this son

also. And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; 

but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand]. 

Genesis 35:16-18

 

As Rachel was dying she called her son Ben-oni and rightly so in her mind because she was about

to die. Because of the pain she was experiencing she named him but Jacob gave him another name.

A name of blessing which spoke of God’s plan and purpose for his life.

 

The temptation is great to listen to the names people call us because we think they “know” us.

We allow the words of man to define us because we think they really do know us. Either because

they have been friends for a really long time or because they are family but the truth of the matter

is that God is the only One who really knows us. We need to look to Him to tell us who we are and

not man.

 

I am not saying we should stop listening to the encouraging words of friends, family, mentors, teachers

and the other people in our lives but what I am saying is that we need to be very careful we don’t stop

with what they tell us we can be or do.

 

Rachel is a picture of man who makes decisions about us and speak based on what they see.

Jacob is a picture of God and what He sees. Even when it’s not clear to us or anyone else, God knows

the plans He has for us.

He knows all the great things we will do and that’s what He speaks over us.

 

“Jabez was honorable above his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, 

Because I bore him in pain. 

Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and 

that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! 

And God granted his request.”

1 Chronicles 4:9, 10

 

Jabez was given a name by man but he prayed for God to bless him. He was tired of being called

Sorrow-Maker. He knew God had something better for him so he prayed and God granted

his request! I love that so much. You don’t have to live by what man says you can or can’t do.

Just because man thinks you can’t doesn’t mean that’s true. What matters is what God thinks and

says about you!

 

For a long time I lived by other people’s scripts. I was okay with living in the box they made for me. But

when I gave my life to Christ things changed radically. The Lord opened my eyes to what He had in store

for me. He showed me a glimpse of what He had in store which was so much higher and greater than

what man said I could do. Bit by bit the chains began to be broken off.

Don’t let man define what you can do. Let God’s word be what directs you and drives you.

Don’t be limited by all the perceptions and images man has put on you.

 

God has an amazing plan for your life.

Let go of the words that have been spoken over you that have limited you and live

by who God says you are.

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

Bad news doesn’t mean the end of you…

We live in a world that is saturated with evil. But how do you respond

when bad things happen? Just the other day I got some news that was bad but I had to stop myself. How was

I going to respond to it. was I going to freak out and lose it? Was I going to let fear get the best of

me?

We always have a choice of how we respond to bad news.

 

Jairus was in trouble. His daughter was very sick and he needed help. That is when he decided to go to

Jesus for help. All was going well. He met with Jesus and told Him his problem and Jesus agreed

to go with him to his daughter. But on his way to his daughter something happened;

 

“While He was still speaking, there came some from the ruler’s house, who said [to Jairus], 

Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further?”

Mark 5:35

 

In that split second Jairus’s world collapsed. His daughter died. Despair was already walking through the

door of his soul.

Like I said before, we live in a world that is saturated with evil. Bad things happen. But how we respond

is so important. Let’s move on.

 

Despair was almost through the door but before it could make itself comfortable Jesus stepped in.

 

“Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 

Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing.” 

Mark 5:36

 

In the face of bad news, Jesus told Jairus to believe and not give in to fear. He told him to believe

that He could turn things around.

We don’t have to give in to the bad news that comes our way. I don’t know what kind of news you

have received today but you don’t have to accept it. There is another option. You have another

choice. You can keep on believing…

You can decide to keep trusting God instead of giving in to fear, instead of accepting the bad news

you have been given. It takes faith to do that. Choosing to trust God over believing the bad news

takes faith and only faith.

 

King David was another man who had to deal with some really bad news. When he got back to

Ziklag he found his home had been plundered. The enemy had taken everything of his and his soldiers.

Their families were taken, their possessions were gone. There was nothing left.  There was even talk

among the soldiers of killing David. He was in a really bad place but he did something really amazing.

Let’s take a look at what he did;

 

“David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them

all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. 

But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” 

1 Samuel 30:6

 

His hope in the face of the bad news was in the Lord. He didn’t let fear overcome him. Instead,

he encouraged himself in the Lord. He reminded himself of how good the Lord was to him.

He brought to remembrance how the Lord delivered him from his enemies!

(That’s what I think he was doing!)

 

How do we respond to bad news? I hope you can see it’s really important how you respond.

You can either accept what has happened or make a decision to put your hope in the Lord.

Let’s make the right decision today, the decision to trust God.

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

Siding with doubt…..

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Let’s make something very clear, there is no justification to side with doubt. There is no situation in life that

makes it okay to walk in doubt . No matter how bad things are, or impossible they seem, we should always

side with faith.

I did that recently. I was in a situation where the odds seemed bleak and guess what I did? You guessed right,

I began to doubt if YAH would come through. I am not talking about doubting and then coming back to my

senses and trusting YAH. No, I am talking about a resignation, a buckling to the pressure and deciding the

situation was lost, making a decision that nothing could be done!

 

We need to always have faith no matter how dim things appear. There is a a story in the bible that perfectly

illustrates what I am talking about;

 

“Jesus was still speaking to her when some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. 

The men said, “Your daughter is dead. There is now no need to bother the teacher.”

But Jesus paid no attention to what the men said. He said to the synagogue ruler, 

“Don’t be afraid; only believe.” 

Mark 5:35, 36

 

Yeshua did not allow the man to entertain doubt. As soon as the men spoke to the ruler, Yeshua urged

him to believe, to not falter, to not doubt.

One could argue that there would be nothing wrong if the man simply accepted the news and went his

way. His daughter had died after all. But Yeshua wouldn’t have any of that. He challenged the man’s faith.

He challenged him to take his faith a step further.

Like I said in the beginning, there is no situation that warrants us to walk in doubt and unbelief.

We need to always side with faith no matter how dark a situation seems. Even when everyone is telling

you there is no way, side with faith, stand on it, declare it.

Doubt is not from YAH. Doubt makes it hard for Him to work in our lives.

Doubt makes it hard for us to see His power and miracles. It makes no room for Him to move.

 

When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were commanded to bow down to the kings statue this is how

they responded;

 

“You can throw us into the blazing furnace. The God we serve is able to save us from the furnace and your

power. If He does this, it is good. 

But even if God does not save us, we want you, our king, to know this: 

We will not serve your gods. We will not worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Daniel 3:7

 

There was no compromising even in the face of a blazing furnace. They would trust YAH even if it meant

death! And that’s the kind of attitude we should have when it comes to faith.

Doubt must have no room in our lives. We should always choose faith.

Even when the whole world is doubting, choose faith. Don’t ever side with doubt.

 

“The just shall live by faith” is what the word teaches us so let’s do exactly that, walk by faith.

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

What is change?

I am back and it feels like I have been away forever but I needed

the break and I am really excited about this next season.

I hope the year has started off well for you.

As the year has started the word on everybody’s lips and mind

is “change”. Some people usually take this time to take a stock of

where they are in life and make the required changes.

With all this talk about change and the pressure to change I think

it’s important to understand what change really is.

Change is not an immediate transformation. Change is

incremental but let me not get ahead of myself.

As I talk about change I would like to talk about Zacchaeus

(Luke 19:5)

 

“And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to

him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your

house today.

So he hurried and came down, and he received and welcomed

Him joyfully.”

Luke 19: 5, 6

 

He was the chief tax collector in Jericho. Let me say this, there

is a good chance he was mean, a swindler and so on. Look at the

people’s reaction when Jesus calls him down from the tree.

 

 ^“And when the people saw it, they all muttered among themselves

and indignantly complained, He has gone in to be the guest of and

lodge with a man who is devoted to sin and preeminently a sinner.”

Luke 19:7

 

The people’s reaction tell us a lot about the kind of person

Zacchaeus was. This was more than a bit of jealousy. The bible

doesn’t say “a man complained” but it says “the people complained”.

If one man got upset we could challenge the idea that Zacchaeus

was a mean and unfair man but a group of people responded the

the same. That was not a coincidence.

 

But something happened, Jesus called Zacchaeus and stayed

at HIS house! What a privilege, what an honor! Zacchaeus

was obviously ecstatic. Look at what happens next,

 

 

So then Zacchaeus stood up and solemnly declared to the Lord,

See, Lord, the half of my goods I [now] give [by way of restoration]

to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I [now]

restore four times as much.

Luke 9;8

Something significant happened at that moment.

Zacchaeus declared he would give half of his goods as a way

of restoration to the poor!

What happened was what I call change.

You see, Zacchaeus didn’t declare he would never sin again, no!

That would be real change right? Wrong!

Look at what Jesus says,

^” And Jesus said to him, Today is [Messianic and spiritual]

salvation come to [all the members of] this household, since

Zacchaeus too is a [real spiritual] son of Abraham;

 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 9: 9, 10

I have no doubt in my mind Zaccheaus was a changed man but it

would happen a bit at a time. His transformation would not take

a day but a lifetime.

This is what change is about. It’s allowing the Lord to come and

change you little by little. It’s allowing Him to deal with you

in His way. It’s allowing Him to come and open every closed

room in your heart. It’s giving Him access to the hidden

and locked places within you so He can do His work.

Change will take time friends. Transformation is for a lifetime.

You may have looked back at 2016 and seen all the things that

didn’t go according to plan and the things

that didn’t change in your life, like the habits, mindsets and

so on and got discouraged but know God is still working in your life.

He is working in a way you can’t see at times.

God doesn’t only work within the time frame of a year

but for some reason we think like this. We start at the beginning

of the year with a decision, a resolution about a change we want

to see in our lives and when the change doesn’t happened we get so

discouraged and repeat the cycle once again for another year!!

Surely that is not the way we are supposed to live.

There must be a better way.

As I close I would like you to re examine your definition of “change”

The more important question we must ask ourselves is,

How does God see change?

When He thinks of change what does it look like?

It’s great to be back friends.

God bless you.

Rolain

photo credit: google images

 

 

An interesting road…..!!!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

 

The road of right living bypasses evil;

Watch your step and save your life.

Proverbs 16:17

 

We are on the road of right living and it’s an

interesting road indeed. The interesting thing

about this road is, it bypasses evil!!!

I don’t think that was a mistake.

As we walk on this interesting road we have

a decision to make:

Keep walking, don’t turn to the left or the right,

look straight ahead or

get distracted by the evil. Stop and allow the evil

to take you off the path!

 

The warning to us is, “watch your step and save your life!”

 

As you walk on the road God has for you watch your step.

It bypasses close to evil, within touching distance!

God would not allow us to walk that way if it could destroy us!

One thing is most definite, the road to right living will

not be an easy one…..! Watch your step friends!!!

 

Rolain

 

 

The “Man” who walked out on a city………!!

That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to Him, the whole city lined up at His door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew His true identity, he didn’t let them say a word. 

While it was still night, way before dawn, He got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with Him went looking for Him. They found Him and said, “Everybody’s looking for You.”

Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so i can preach there also. That is why I’ve come.”   Mark 1:32-39 

 

I guess the disciples were pretty confused! Why did Jesus want to go to another town when the whole city was lined up at their door??!!! It was something they probably couldn’t comprehend. They had become rock stars literally overnight, people knew them by name but the star of the show wanted to leave, let me rephrase that, was leaving…..!

It wasn’t like they were doing something meaningless. They were teaching the masses, healing the sick, casting out demons and so much more, amazing things were happening at that place, but Jesus wanted to leave..!!!

They were popular but that was not enough of a reason for Jesus to stay. Have we missed something in this day and age? It seems like being popular takes precedence over everything else.

Jesus didn’t do what he did so He could be popular. He wasn’t looking at how many “likes” or “comments” he got. His mission was to save us and that took precedence over everything else!

He wept for people, His heart broke for people, He reached out to the outcasts, He ministered to the little children, and the list goes on and on…..He did things that made Him unpopular but that didn’t matter……the call of God on His life was more important to Him. Please understand what I am saying, I am not attacking you if you have a large following and I am not saying get rid of your following if you have one….Jesus was always been followed but his focus remained on the real mission, saving people! The magnitude of the people that followed Him didn’t change His focus.

What is important to you as you live this life? Is being popular more important than ministry? Does it take precedence over everything else in your life? Let us evaluate our hearts as we walk the path God has set before us.

While it was still night, way before dawn, He got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with Him went looking for Him. they found Him and said, Everybody’s looking for you.” Jesus said, “Let’s go to the rest of the villages so i can preach there also.” This is why I’ve come. Mark 1:38, 39.

Jesus was clear about what was important to Him after he prayed. He may have been clear before but the word showed Him going to pray and making a non-negotiable decision. You may be confused about your purpose or confused about what is important but prayer will make it clear, very clear! That is how powerful prayer is…….

Rolain

 

What does God see when He sees you?

I will sing of the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation. Psalm 89:1

I have established the fact that God has a plan for you. But there is more. God has a plan for you but He has a plan for your children and their children and their children and so on. God doesn’t just see you. When He looks at you He sees generations. He doesn’t want to just bless you but the generations after you!! We need to begin to see like He does. We need to think like Him  in every sphere of our life. When you make a decision concerning your life, know that it is going to affect the generations after you. Where will your kids be and what will they believe, who will they worship? Do you want them to be blessed? Do you want them to do great things for God? Well, you have a part to play in that.

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

God has already blessed your children within you! If you are single, know that your kids are blessed. If you are married and you have kids, God has blessed them. God has a plan for them and He has a plan for their children. There is more to God blessing you than just blessing you. There is a part you are to play in all of this.

When King David dwelt in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within curtains. 2 Samuel 7:1, 2

We know the story. Nathan comes back to him and tells him he will not build the house for God but because the thought came into his mind God would bless his children.

And when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up after you your offspring, who shall be born to you, and I will establish his kingdom. 2 Samuel 7: 12
(read the whole of chapter 7)
God blessed David by blessing his generation to come!

“Your throne shall be established forever.” 

Wow!!!! I hope you are beginning to see it. You are not just living for yourself but for the generations to come after you and God doesn’t just see you but the generations that are to come after you. He is not just blessing you but He has blessed the generation after you! When you understand that, the way you live changes. The way you make decisions changes.
Remember, when God sees you, He sees generations. Amen

Rolain

The mystery of The “Sand” Revealed…..!

You might be wondering what “sand” I am referring to! And no, this post is not about sand. Instead the sand I am referring to is the sand Naaman took with him……It had a lot of significance as I am about to show you.
With that said I would like to share one of my favorite bible characters with you. As I have already said, his name is Naaman. (2 Kings 1)
He was the commander of the army of the king of Syria.
The bible says he was a mighty man of valor but he was a leper.
This is not why he is one of my favorite characters. He is one of my favorite because he had an encounter with God which changed the direction of his life forever. God used Elisha to heal him of his leprosy.

When he experienced the power of God he made a decision to follow Him. He then makes a weird request to the man of God Elisha. He asks him for ‘two mules’ burden of earth!!! (2 Kings 5:17)
This is what he says,
For your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offerings nor sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord.
In this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this thing. (2 Kings 5:17,18)

Naaman made a decision and he was committed to that decision and nothing was going to change that. The “sand” signified a change. It signified a change of heart. He chose God and he was not turning back! I get so challenged when I read his story. As I have made a decision to follow God I ask myself, am I as determined as Naaman? Am I committed and focused as him?
Are you as determined and focused and set as Naaman? He was an alien but when he saw God’s power he made a decision. He was probably more committed than most people in Israel at that time.

In this day and age we need to have the same determination and commitment. We cannot serve God halfheartedly!!! It’s either God or something else. Let us be like Naaman and make a wholehearted decision to serve God with everything within us!!!

Rolain