What God can do with a life…..

“But when some where hardened and did not believe, but spoke 

evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and 

withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of 

Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, so that all who 

dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews

and Greeks.”

Acts 19:9, 10

 

Look at what happens when God gets a hold of someone.

Paul’s life was not meaningless. God used him in such a

mighty way.

 

The word says he reasoned daily at the school of Tyrannus for

two years and because of that “all who dwelt in Asia heard the

word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

 

That is pretty mind blowing if you ask me.

The whole of Asia got to hear the good news because of Paul!

Did that happen because Paul was qualified? No!

That happened because of God.

 

Look at what else happened through Paul,

 

“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 

so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from 

his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil 

spirits went out of them.”

Acts 19:11, 12

 

“And many who had believed came confessing and telling their

deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought 

their books together and burned them in the sight of all. 

And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty 

thousand pieces of silver. 

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. “

Acts 19:18-20

 

Don’t look at your life and think it’s ordinary because it’s

not. God has a plan and purpose for you.

That will look different for us of course.

Your mission is not the same as my mission.

Your gifts and your experiences are unique, specially designed

to help you accomplish what God has called you to do.

 

Don’t despise what you are doing today.

Paul was reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus for two

years! Did he know the whole of Asia would hear what God

had put in his heart? I don’t know.

But everyday for two years he went to the school and spoke

the good news. It didn’t seem like much.

I don’t think he knew this was how the whole of Asia would

hear the good news!!

But God was in control, guiding him. He knew the truth.

 

As I close this post I want you to see the bigger picture.

Your life is important to God.

The world says you are a statistic but not God.

Don’t be discouraged where you are today.

Your life has meaning.

God is in control of your life.

 

God bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

Why they failed to possess what God promised…..

“The Lord was with Judah, and [Judah] drove out the

inhabitants of the hill country,

but he could not drive out those inhabiting the [difficult] valley

basin because they had chariots of iron. “

Judges 1:19

 

“But the Benjamites did not drive out the Jebusites who

inhabited Jerusalem:

the Jebusites dwell with the Benjamites in Jerusalem to this

day. “

Judges 1:21

 

The Israelites failed to drive out the nations they were supposed

to drive out after Joshua died.

The Lord instructed them to utterly destroy the

surrounding nations (Deuteronomy 7:1-3) but somewhere

along the way the command from God was forgotten or ignored.

 

On paper the enemy was definitely stronger than Israel but

that was not a new revelation. They already knew that.

God had already proved Himself again and again that He

was stronger than the enemies who came against them.

So what happened?

Did they forget that God was more powerful than the enemy?

Did they compare their own resources and weapons against

those of the enemy?

 

Whatever they did robbed them of the promise God made to them.

They were promised land by God but were not able to possess it.

Was it fear?

Did they look at the iron chariots and let fear consume them?

Did they look at all the other tribes failing to possess their land

and think it was normal to fail? (read Judges 1)

 

Even though tribes were failing to possess the land didn’t

mean God had changed His promise.

He wanted Israel to possess the land. He didn’t want His

people to settle for less than he had promised.

He wanted them to dominate and rule.

But they settled.

They had to share the land with the enemy.

That was not God’s plan.

 

What have you settled for today?

No matter how hard things get, God does not want you to settle.

He wants you to possess the land. He wants you to walk into

EVERYTHING He has planned for you. The enemy on the

other hand would love you to settle.

 

Are you relying on your strength to fight the enemy? 

Look to the Lord’s strength as you face the enemy. When you

rely on your own strength to get you through a situation or problem

you are setting yourself up to fail. God is the One who is supposed

to fight your battles. When the enemy confronts you face to face

turn to the Lord for help. He is stronger then every problem

in your life. There is no problem stronger than Him and the

enemy knows this.

 

Are you following the crowd?

What kind of environment have you surrounded yourself

with? I spoke about this in my previous post. The people that

you surround yourself with have a great impact on your life.

Get rid of the negativity in your life.

Just because someone says something is impossible doesn’t

mean it’s true for you.

Always remember, someone else’s truth doesn’t have to be your

truth.

Your truth is what God has told you.

We make the mistake of accepting other people’s truth about

finances, health, family and so on when that truth directly

contradicts God’s word!

Let’s be aware of that.

 

The bottom line is this, God is stronger than the enemy.

We don’t have to fear, we don’t have to settle.

We can boldly confront the enemy knowing we are

not facing him alone.

You don’t have to downsize your dream.

God does not want you to downsize your dream.

The enemy on the other hand wants you to do that.

He wants you to fail.

He wants you to think small, he wants you to not expect much.

But it’s all a lie!!

 

God has so much in store for you.

There is no limit to what God has for you.

Make sure you pursue everything God has for you.

Don’t listen to the enemy.

Don’t listen to people who put limits on what you can trust God for.

Make sure you are following what God has told you.

Hold to that path rigidly!

God bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

A story like no other….!

 

Did you know your story is unique? The story God has written

for you is like no other. No one else has your story. That is how

great God is. He has given every man and woman a story and

that story is not the same.  Our stories are all unique. That

blows my mind.

I posted these thoughts on my Facebook page but I want to go

deeper. It’s important to know your story is unique.

Without that understanding you will live your life comparing

yourself to others. God never meant us to live someone

else’s life. I will say that again,

 

God never meant us to live someone else’s life!

 

No one else has your story. Your story is unique.

God is not lazy. He never copies and pastes stories.

And that’s why you have to very careful when judging others.

Everyone is on a journey.

 

Let’s look at the story of Hannah and Peninnah.

 

^” When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give to

Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters portions [of the

sacrificial meat].

But to Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved Hannah,

but the Lord had given her no children.

[This embarrassed and grieved Hannah] and her rival provoked

her greatly to vex her, because the Lord had left her childless.”

1 Samuel 1:4-6

Hannah was on a journey. At this point her story had

only just begun but Peninnah didn’t understand that. She didn’t

understand God had a different story for everyone. As hard

as it was to understand and accept God had written a unique

story for Hannah.

Peninnah came in at a critical part of Hannah’s story thinking it

was the WHOLE story. How wrong she was.

God had something amazing in store for Hannah.

Don’t despise where you are at this moment in time. God is

the One who has written your story and He is so faithful!!

Please remember that your story is original. No one else

has a story like yours. There is no need to compare your story.

Run YOUR race and not the next person’s.

Let’s encourage each other in this friends.

God bless you

Rolain

A talk about singleness and the future….

 

I want to share a scripture that ministered to me recently.

 

“My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation, but I

hope in Your word.

My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promise,

I say when will You comfort me?

For I have become like a bottle [a wineskin blackened and

shrieveled] in the smoke [in which it hangs], yet I do not forget

Your statutes.”

Psalm 119: 81-83

 

I really needed this scripture. I have been

thinking about my singleness and when God will bring the woman

He has for me. I have written about the times I tried to speed up

the process in my own time and how that didn’t work. I have also

written about the decision I made to wait on the Lord concerning

the one.

Waiting is not easy but the scripture I shared talks about how

we must hang on to His word even when we are at the end of

ourselves. Even when nothing is happening, we must hold on

to His word.

 

“My soul languishes and grows faint for Your salvation”

“My eyes fail, watching for [the fulfillment of] Your promise”

“For I have become like a bottle [a wineskin blackened and

shrieveled] in the smoke”

 

The author is fighting a battle. He is at war in the midst of the

wait. I will say it again, waiting is not easy.

He seems to be losing actually but……

Even when everything is going wrong around him, even though

his answer hasn’t been answered yet, even though there is no

evidence that suggests any kind of change in his situation,

his hope is in the Lord!

 

Reading that gave me hope. As I was thinking about all this I

realised something,

 

God has got my situation in control for sure and He is faithful.

But I have been letting marriage consume me

again and forgetting about the now. I have not been appreciative

of the season of singleness I am in now! It’s a gift….

If He wants me to be married I will be but right now I need

to be focusing on what He has for me right now.

I know that I know God is in full control of my life. He is

directing my every step and even though the wait is so

hard at times He wants me to trust Him for my future but

live!

He doesn’t want the future to paralyse me in the present. If

it’s doing that then there is a problem.

God never intended the future to paralyse me in the

present. He has amazing things in store for me in the future but

He also has amazing things in store for me right now!

 

If you are single don’t fall into the same trap I fell into.

Understand God has got you. He knows all of your concerns

and fears. He has heard your prayers concerning the One.

 

Trust God for your future and trust Him in the now. He is in both

times! How amazing it will be when you get married but don’t

discount the season you are in now. God has got so much for you

in your season of singleness.

For a long time people have thought “singleness” and “in transit”

were the same but they were wrong. Singleness is not a sort of

“transit” as you get to the real destination (marriage).

He wants you to be blessed now as well as in the future.

 

So what am I saying?

 

Wait on the Lord. No matter how hard it gets, wait on Him.

Hold on to His word. Understand beyond a doubt that He has got

you. He has heard your prayer and He will bring to pass what

you are trusting Him for.

But don’t let the desire for marriage blind you from what God

is doing now. Don’t let it blind you from living 100% for God

today.

Don’t let the fears and anxieties you have about the future

steal your joy now. Don’t let those things keep you in a state

of fear and hoplessness!

God will lead you to the person He has for you. That is not

even a question. Have faith and live!

Blessings to you…..

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our responsibility today…..

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“O Timothy, guard and keep the deposit entrusted [to you]!

Turn away from  the irreverant babble and godless chatter

with the vain and empty  and wordly phrases, and the

subtleties and the contradictions in what is falsely called

knowledge and spiritual illumination. “

1 Timothy 6:20

 

“Guard and keep the deposit entrusted to you”

 

God had deposited something precious into Timothy.

Timothy was commissioned to guard it and keep it safe!

Are you protecting the things God has deposited in you?

I believe He has deposited amazing things in each and every

of you. But that deposit is being attacked. The enemy wants

you to lose the deposit God has given you.

 

You have a responsibility friends to protect the things God has

deposited in you.

As part of guarding and keeping the deposit, Timothy had to

turn away from godless chatter. He had to watch the way he

spoke.

Are you speaking yourself out of your destiny? Are you talking

about all the things you can’t accomplish that God has called you

to do? Are you talking about what you don’t have?

Are you watching who you hang out with?

Are you watching the things you are watching and listening to?

The bottom line is this,

Guard and keep the deposit entrusted to you by God with

all vigilance!

 

Rolain

 

 

Was he really a “dead dog”???

 

“So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show

you kindness for Jonathan’s sake, and will restore to you

all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat

at my table continually.”

2 Samuel 9:7

 

David was speaking to Mephibosheth in the passage I just

shared.

Mephibosheth didn’t have an easy childhood.

He lost his father in battle and to top it off he was lame.

His nurse fell on him as she fled.

 

“Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet.

He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan

came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled.

And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and

became lame. His name was Mephibosheth. “

2 Samuel 4:4

 

It must of been hard for him growing up. He didn’t ask

to be lame. His loving father was killed in combat.

His family wasn’t the most popular at the time. The

house of Saul was looked upon with disdain.

How hard it must of been?

 

Did he have bitterness in his heart? Did he have anger?

There seemed like there was no hope for him. He would

die in shame but then in the blink of an eye, his life changed!

 

– All the land his grandfather possessed was restored

to him! Not some of the land but ALL!!!

– He would eat at the king’s table all the days of his life!

 

“Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant,

that you should look upon a dead dog as I?”

2 Samuel 9:8

 

This is a story about David fulfilling a promise he made

to Jonathan but there is more. We are being given a picture

of how God deals with us His children!

Mephibosheth didn’t do anything to deserve the unusual

favor of the king and yet he got it. He thought he was a

nobody. Actually he thought of himself as a dead dog but

that was not true. His life turned around in a way

no one could ever imagine!

 

We need to understand that God can do the same thing

for us. We may think our lives are going nowhere but that’s

not true. We may think we don’t deserve the blessings of

God but He blesses us anyway!

 

No one could of ever imagined how Mephibosheth’s life

would of turned out. No one had a clue what was about to

happen! And that is true for you.

No one has a clue what is about to happen in your life.

Believe in God…..

He has something amazing in store for you beyond anything

you can ever imagine!

No matter how hard things are God is moving in your life.

Your story is not about to end. It’s only just beginning!

Trust Him always…..

 

As I end I would like to wish all the mother’s a Happy

Mother’s Day.

I hope you enjoy this Mother’s Day video that was made

by our children in the Children’s Ministry!

 

 

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

 

 

 

 

God in the mundane….in the ordinary!

I came across one of the most amazing passages of scripture

today! It’s so beautiful, it makes my heart leap! I never noticed it

before but today, I noticed!

 

“Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to

Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. “

Ruth 2:3

 

(the last part is what I want you to see. It’s the amazing passage

of scripture!)

 

“and she happened to come to the part of the field

belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech! “

 

Don’t worry, I haven’t lost my marbles…haha

I love that phrase because it shows the beauty of how God

works in the lives of people! Let me explain,

 

I have written so much on Ruth. She is totally amazing and no, I

will not stop writing about her! 🙂  She is one of my favourite people

in the bible. So no surprises if I tell you I was reading Ruth today!

I shared on this particular scripture before but I got another

revelation today that I would like to share. In actual fact, it’s been

on my mind and heart the whole day. The truth it teaches is so

powerful.

 

“So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the

field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find

favor.”

And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.

And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to

Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

Ruth 2:2, 3

 

I love this…..My heart jumps at how good God is.

Ruth thought she was simply going to glean grain but God

had much more in store for her. God was directing Ruth’s

steps in such an amazing way. On the surface, her gleaning

grain seemed so mundane, so ordinary but it wasn’t. In the mundane

God led her to the field of Boaz. At the time, she didn’t know

who he was. She had no idea she would be married to him.

He was a man of God and he would cherish her all the days

of her life.

She had no idea she would be a descendant of David and

Jesus Christ!!! She would be part of the lineage of Jesus Christ!

Wow….What an honor! All made possible by God who just

“happened” to lead her to the field of Boaz!

 

Her story teaches us that no step we take is aimless, of no

purpose! Every step we take has a purpose!

God is directing our every step. In the seemingly mundane

details of our lives, He is guiding us. He has carefully

prepared our every step.

Don’t take for granted the leading of the Lord. Don’t doubt He is

leading you to something amazing.

 

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his

steps and makes them sure. “

Proverbs 16:9

 

“Man’s steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a

man understand his way? “

Proverbs 20:24

 

“The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by

the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself

with his every step].”

Psalm 37:23

 

Today, I was reminded what it means to be led by God.

This is not a “nice” passage of scripture. A ‘feel good” passage.

This is truth and it’s alive, powerful and active. I was challenged

to believe, to have faith.

I declared, like Ruth, God is directing my steps!

God is directing our steps and that is amazing!

Like Ruth, He is directing your steps!

Amen

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

 

 

 

 

Unworthy!

As I got ready to serve at church today I had a thought;

 

I am not worthy to stand before the Lord.

I am not worthy to serve before His people.

 

Today is Resurection Sunday and it is a strong day!

Jesus conquered the grave and set us free and here I was

having these thoughts.

My mind immediately went to the movie “Thor”

Yes people, I was thinking about “Thor” during church!    😦

 

I thought about his hammer and how the only person able

to wield it had to be “worthy”!

There was a time in “Thor” when he wasn’t worthy. His dad

banished him from Asgard and took his hammer.

As he banished him to another world he sent the hammer

after him and spoke to it saying, “anyone worthy enough would

wield it”. Those are not the exact words but they were something

to that effect.

 

But this is the thing, can we be worthy?

Thor became worthy after he realised the errors of his ways.

By his own strength he became worthy but I think they got it

wrong there.

We cannot become worthy on our own. It’s impossible!

In fact, I don’t think it’s about that at all.

On this earth we will always be flawed. We will sin and struggle

with sin but it’s because Jesus Christ is worthy that we can

stand before Him!

 

“Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “

Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was

able to open the scroll, or look at it.

Revelation 5:2, 3

 

No one was worthy to open the scroll!

No one IS worthy still…..!!

No one but Him!

 

“So I wept much, because on one was found worthy to open and

read the scroll, or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion

of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open

the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the

four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb

as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,

which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him

who sat on the throne.

Revelation 5: 4-7

 

It’s a long passage of scripture and I encourage you to read

the whole chapter but the point is this. He was and is the only

One who is worthy! Our mission is not to become worthy but

we are to trust in the saving power of the cross every single

day of our lives. We are to trust in the One who is worthy!

That’s what this day is about.

Death, the enemy, thought he

had won but he was wrong. Jesus Christ was the winner.

He saved us and made us righteous. Because of Him we can

stand confidently!

 

I don’t serve because I am worthy because I am the man,

because I am perfect, far from it! I serve because God makes

me able to serve.

On this strong day I realised I am unworthy, yes! But because

of what He has done He has makes me able to stand.

I rely on His grace and mercy consistently because without it

I would be a dead man walking, I would have no future, no hope,

nothing!

He is the One who is worthy! Amen and amen!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday to you all!

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

How to live out your purpose!

God has a purpose for our lives. That’s the truth but what

does that really mean? Yes, God has a plan for you, for me but

how does that apply to our lives? How does that apply to us now?

 

God showed me something the other day about purpose.

God has a plan for me but what I do daily has an impact on my

purpose.

Am I being faithful with what is in my hand at this moment in

time?

I realized God was looking at what I was doing now!

For example,

This blog is something God has

put in my hands (a talent) and He is looking on to see

if I will make a profit or if I will hide it in the ground!!!!

Do you get it?

 

What about my purity?

God has given me this precious gift and is also looking to see

what I do with it. Do I cherish it or do I disgard it? It matters!

 

God wants me to be faithful with the finances He has given me.

Do I save, do I invest? Do I plan how I use the money I have?

Do I give to the poor? Do I tithe?

In the big picture, the way I use my finances matter!

 

Over the years He has shown me how important it is to

exercise and eat healthy. Am I looking after my temple

by exercising regularly and eating right?

 

I could go on and on but I believe you get the idea. Walking

in purpose means doing the small things He has put in our

hands. He has given you talents and is looking to see if you

will be faithful with them.

Remember the story in the book of Matthew25:14-30

To one He gave five talents, to another He gave two talents and

to the last servant He gave one talent.

They were given a different amount of talents but what mattered

is if they went and did something with the talents they were given!

You may be complaining about the one talent you have been given

but are you being faithful with that one talent??

 

I was so convicted when I realized God wanted me to be faithful

with the one talent He had given me! Sitting on it or burying it

because it was a talent was not going to cut it.

 

Walking in your purpose means being faithful with the one, two

five talents you have been given.

 

I would like to leave you with this thought friends.

God has given some of you five talents, some two talents and

some just one talent but when you are faithful with what He

has given you, He will give you more! If you are that person who

has one talent, be faithful with it. He knows what He is doing!

He is so good!

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

“Get me out of here”!!!!

“Only think of me when it goes well with you, and please

show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharoah and get me

out of this house.

For in fact I was taken (stolen) from the land of the Hebrews

by [unlawful] force, and even here I have done nothing for

which they should put me in the dungeon.

Genesis 40:14, 15

 

I think you will agree with me that life gets crazy at times.

Being in the place God has called you to be is not easy at times.

There is joy, happiness and memorable moments but there is

the other stuff. There is the stuff that doesn’t make sense.

There is the stuff that makes you doubt what God told you.

There is the stuff that wants to make you throw in the towel….

 

Yes, I am talking about the call of God. All this stuff, the good,

the bad define purpose! Joseph knew this so well.

There was a time he wanted out! He felt betrayed and unfairly

treated. He was confused and hurt.

 

Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and

he placed the cup in Pharoah’s hand. But he hanged the chief

baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Yet the chief butler did not mention Joseph, but forgot him.

Genesis 40:21-23

 

It would take two years before the butler remembered Joseph.

It wasn’t easy for him. He had to overcome a lot of things

on the road to fulfilling his purpose. He had to forgive a lot

of people. There was a lot of growing up that had to

happen. It was intense…..

 

“Now two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine

came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On,

bore to him.

Joseph named the firstborn, Manasseh (causing to forget),

for he said, God has made me forget all my trouble and hardship

and all [the sorrow of the loss of] my father’s household.

Genesis 41:50, 51

 

All I want you to see are the hard times Joseph went through.

God had a plan in the midst of the pain and hardship.

The story of Joseph is one of my favourites. It reminds

me that no matter how bad things get, God has a plan.

When things seem at their worst, He has a plan. Don’t

give up. Don’t throw in the towel. When the odds are

stacked up high against you look to God. You are not

enough on your own! God will bring you through…..

 

We need to trust in His goodness friends. God is so good.

He is not partially good. He is all good. He has good things

in store for you. The fire you are in will not consume you. You

will come out victorious. There will be good times. There will

be laughter. There will be joy. He will fulfill what He planned for

you…..and that’s a promise!

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images