The war I didn’t see coming…….

“Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.”

Psalm 73:25

 

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When 

shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 42:2

 

These scriptures paint a picture of my love for God. I really

need more of Him everyday. I am nothing without Him.

Where could I go and what could I do without Him???

He really is the love of my life!

 

But I am in a war right now and the results of the war will have

a huge impact on my relationship with God.

The fight caught me unawares. For some time I supplied the

enemy with the arsenal he needed to have an edge on me.

Can you imagine that?!!!

I was totally blindsided by the enemy.

 

You see, the war I am engaged in is not happening on a plain

that is easily recognizable.

The war I am engaged in is happening right at my doorstep, as a

matter of fact it’s happening closer than that. This war of epic

proportions is happening right in my home!

 

How could I miss it? How did I not recognize the enemy’s tactic?

A face to face confrontation wouldn’t have done the trick. I would

have quickly dismissed him. Instead he came slyly into my

home through television, social media, and so on. I used to spend

so much time with Yeshua in the past. When I would get home

I would make sure I spent my time in prayer, and word.

Yes I would do other things but they were not the “main” things.

Spending time with God was on the top of the list.

 

But one day that pattern changed.

I would get home and put on the television.

If there was nothing to watch I would go online.

There was even a time I would forgo church functions to watch

sport!

The war is real friends.

 

When God by His grace opened my eyes to what I was doing

I realized I had to cut things out of my life. The first thing to go was

the television. I had to look to God for help. I couldn’t do it alone.

But that didn’t go without a fight!

What the heck!!

 

I am slowly gaining the ground I lost in the beginning. The fight

has been brutal but I will keep fighting because my relationship

with God depends on it. He is the love of my life.

He is the One I desire above all else and I am not alone in this.

He is right by my side helping me!

I want to fall deeper in love with Him and nothing must stand in

the way of that.

 

Friends, as hard as that was to write the goal is to help you see

how far the enemy is willing to take the battle. Your battle will

be different from mine but you must know that the enemy will

take the battle to your home!

if you are single this post is for you especially, the time you have

now is so important. It is in this time you get deeper with God.

Don’t make the mistake I made by allowing distractions to take

away the precious time I had kept aside for God.

And if you are strong in this area then please pray for me.

I need all the help I can get!

Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

 

The desire of her heart……

I hope I find you all well. There is something on my heart

I would like to talk about. That something is the deep desires

God has put in our hearts. We all have desires, things we really

want.

I believe we all have desires from God. There are some very

specific things He has put into our hearts which He wants

to bring to pass in our lives. They are real and not a figment

of our imagination.

 

I know I have deep desires in my heart. I may not be able

to articulate them but they are real. I can feel them!

The thing though is as the years have passed, something has

happened, life! A lot of life has happened and life at times

made me doubt the desires God put in my heart.

To this day there are people who keep telling me to abandon

the desires God has put in my heart. “That doesn’t make

sense” they tell me.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Why are you making things difficult for yourself”

 

Then there is dissapoinment. How much dissapoinment can a

person take? There have been desires that have not come

to pass. That has been confusing to say the least. Why

have a desire when it won’t come to pass??? It’s almost cruel.

 

But as time has passed I have grown in my relationship with God.

I understand He created me and I am unique.

I am not some object you can understand by

reading a manual! God designed me and He is the only

One who really knows me, He is the only One who really knows

the desires He has put in me and what I need to do is understand

He knows what He is doing. He will bring to pass the desires

He has put in my heart. If a desire has not come to pass, then

there is a reason. That goes for you too. You life is unique.

Your life is not a book someone reads and is done with in an hour!

Your desires are not one dimensional. There is so much more than

meets the eye.

It’s much more complex than that if you understand what I

mean!!

 

I want to show you a scripture that stood out for me that will

help paint a picture of what I am trying to say.

 

“And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite.

When he had called her she stood before him. “

2 Kings 4: 12

 

There was a woman who would feed Elisha everytime he passed

by her house. She and her husband made him  a small chamber

so he could rest as he travelled. Elisha wanted to return her

kindness so he called her to ask what he could do

for her.

 

“And he said to Gehazi, Say now to her, You have been most

painstakingly and reverently concerned for us; what is to be

done for you? Would you like to be spoken for to the king or

to the commander of the army? She answered, I dwell among

my own people [they are sufficent]. “

2 Kings 4:13

 

In other words, she was okay and needed

nothing. But Elisha was not satisfied with her answer. So

he probed deeper and found out she had no child.

 

“Later Elisha said, What then is to be done for her?

Gehazi answered, She has no child and her husband is old. “

2 Kings 4:14

 

I really believe the woman wanted a child but couldn’t have

one. I also believe Gehazi was the one who spoke more

frequently to the woman and the husband. He was not

saying she had no child as a mere observation but I believe

she had tried and couldn’t have. It was a deep desire she

had which didn’t seem to come to pass. She had buried

it so deep that when asked what she wanted, it didn’t even

register. It must of been painful discovering she couldn’t

have children. So she did what most us do, she buried it deep

never to be unearthed.

I could be way off with that theory but bear me a little longer

as I show you why I think that was so.

Look at her response when Elisha told her she would have a

child,

 

“Elisha said, At this season when the time comes round, you

shall embrace a son.

She said, No, my lord, you man of God, do not lie to your

handmaid. 

But the woman conceived and bore a son at that season the

following year, as Elisha had said to her. “

2 Kings 4:16

 

If she had no desire at all and never thought about having

a child then the word spoken by the man of God would of been

good news! Instead, she reacted differently. It was like she

was saying, “don’t awaken hope again! I believed once but it

didn’t happen so please don’t lie to me. Just leave it alone. I ‘am

okay as I am. I don’t want my heart to be broken again.”

 

God granted the woman her deepest desire. That desire

she had buried deep. That desire that caused her pain.

He brought that desire to pass. That really encouraged me.

He will bring to pass the desires He puts in us.

If it hasn’t come to pass, He has a reason.

Trust God with the desires He has given you. He can be

trusted!!!

Blessings to you all……

 

Rolain

What God thinks about our desires…….

You have given him his heart’s desire and have

not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

[pause, and think of that]! Psalm 21: 2 (Amplified)

 

A very interesting passage of scripture if you ask me.

As I read it I thought about desire. What role does

desire play in the life of a believer?

What does God think about our desires?

I guess that’s the most important question.

If we are going to talk about desire we need

to talk about disappointment. How many times

desire has come only to be disappointed……

but is that God’s plan?

 

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you

the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:3

 

The thing a wicked man fears shall come upon

him, but the desire of the [uncompromisingly]

righteous shall be granted. Proverbs 10:24

 

May He give you the desire of your heart and

make all your plans succeed. Psalm 20:4

 

I think you will agree with me that God wants

us to have desires.

I may even dare say that some of the desires you

have where given to you by God…!!!

 

This is my point, don’t abandon desire. It is

not wrong to have desires.

 

The pharisees did away with desire. They were

into following rules and traditions. All I am saying

is that, God wants to give you the desires of

your heart.

But desire is much too complex to end here.

It is your responsibility to bring your desires

before God. You can pick up desires from the

wrong things and that is why you need

to bring them to God. An unchecked desire

is a dangerous thing so be careful.

 

Let’s look at the Psalms 21:2 again:

 

You have given him his hearts desire

and have not withheld the request of

his lips. Selah [pause, and think of that]

 

David may have written this Psalm so

he may be talking about himself.

If that’s so then God gave him his hearts

desire and never withheld his the request

of his lips!!! That is amazing right….

 

Are you talking to God about the desires

that are in your heart or have you buried

them deep, so deep that you don’t

even know what they are? You have not

allowed yourself to desire because you

fear being disappointed.

My advice to you is, don’t abandon

desire. There is a chance it might be

thwarted but desire anyway. That

could just mean it was not of God.

Don’t be afraid of your desires.

Stand them up to the word of God and

let them go if they are not from God.

He has given you the desires of your

heart and His desire is that they be

fulfilled…..

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Looking after the other “Temple”…..

I have already spoken about how my year has been and what I am expecting for 2015. But in this post I am going to speak about something else that is very close to my heart. It’s a passion and desire I have had for many years.

A passion that has brought me joy and has grown me as a person.

And that passion is “Fitness and Health”!

I am passionate about being healthy and staying fit! The origins of that passion can traced back to about 2012 when I was introduced to a group of doctors who worked for something called “Maximized Living”. They are chiropractic doctors but with a difference and they changed my whole perspective on health and fitness.

According to these guys, nutrition, exercise, right thinking, and adjustments all play a part in what you call health! I am not a doctor so I will not even attempt to explain all they do. All you should know is because of them my view on health has changed drastically!

I used to drink soda’s before I met them (Coca – Cola, Pepsi and so many more but it’s been at least 2 years from the last time I had a soda.

I loved all things sugar but once again in the past two years my sugar intake has dropped significantly! I stopped having sugar in tea or coffee.

Honey has been a great substitute! But the battle continues. My desire is to stop ALL artificial sugars! That is the goal.

I have done lots of 5 kilometer runs and even purchased exercise equipment since meeting the maximized doctor’s! I have attempted Crossfit but I am not ready for that yet. There is some work to do till I can do Crossfit! 🙂

These are just a few of the things that have changed since I met Maximized clinic but what does all this mean and what am I trying to say?

My goal is to get you to think about your temple, your body!

We are the temple of God and it is our responsibility to look after it!

A lot of people have not made the connection yet! What you do with your temple will determine how far you will go in your calling!

I have heard it being said, How can you lead and look after the body of Christ when you can’t even look after your own body?

Crazy huh???

There is some truth to that statement. How we look after our bodies is connected to God’s purpose for our lives!

God wants us to live a long and fruitful life but how will that be accomplished if we eat and drink junk and don’t exercise???

How will that happen if you don’t look after yourself??

Please understand what I am saying. We have a part to play in how long we live but it’s God who has the ultimate say. I have heard of people who are health freaks die at a young age. God is the one who has a say on how long you live but you have a responsibility to look after your body.

Let me give you an example of how this plays out in real life. I am a kids leader and as a leader I have to be fit and energetic all the time. But what happens if I don’t exercise and I don’t look after myself? It will be hard to give of myself fully! I won’t be able to jump with them and rum with them and play with them because I am so unfit! So as a leader it is my responsibility to stay fit and eat healthy and think healthy!

I hope that has given you a clear picture of what I am trying to say! Our health is important. So as the new year comes there are a few things I need to do concerning health and fitness. I need to step up and eat better than I am doing now! What I eat has changed so much but I could do better. There are enemies that have to go down! Giants that need to be slayed!

Red velvet cupcake!

I need to make another point clear. I am not talking about total abstinence!! It is okay to have a slice of cake once in a while. It’s okay to have that cheesecake occasionally! It’s okay to spoil yourself but there needs to be a balance! I am serious, a better word would be, I try to be serious during the week and then I spoil myself during the weekend! But even during the weekend I don’t go over the top!

This “enemy” is going down! haha!

As 2015 fast approaches what are some of your health and fitness goals? If you have any??

Just remember to go at YOUR pace! Do what you can do. If your goal is to cut out one teaspoon of sugar compared to the 15 teaspoons you usually have then by all means do so! Haha…..Don’t change anything because someone is pressuring you. It needs to be what you want, a personal conviction.

It took me a long time to change the mindset I had and even now, change is still happening but it has been so worth it! And it’s just the beginning! I am getting healthier as I get older.  What will your testimony be?

As I conclude I would like to leave you with a thought:

She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.  Proverbs 31:17 (Amplified)

It’s interesting how the Amplified describes strength! Strength here is described as spiritual, mental and physical fitness! So if that is what strength is the question is,

Are you preparing yourself like the Proverbs 31 woman? As a Christian you are complete when you are working on all three areas. You cannot just focus on the spiritual! And you can’t just focus on the mental part. It has to be ALL three! You are the temple of God and you have a responsibility to look after it! But focusing on the spiritual is not enough. You need all three!

With that thought I will leave you friends!

God bless

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