Envision Something Different For Your Life.

Envision big things for your life because God already does.

But it can be hard to do that at times when your current circumstances are

anything but great. When things don’t seem to be working out and you are

having a bad day, week, month or year. But no matter how negative your circumstances

are at the moment the truth is, God has amazing things prepared for you. And we see

this truth all throughout scripture.

Before Abraham was called by God what kind of life was he imagining for himself? Let me

change that a little bit.

“Before God intervened in Abraham’s life.”

We don’t really know. But what we do know is that God took him outside and told him to look up

and try to count the stars if he could.

“He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars-if indeed you can count

them. Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Genesis 15:5

What was happening there?

God was helping Abraham see something bigger for his life.

What about Gideon?

Before the Lord intervened in his life he thought he was the least of the least. We know that

because when the angel of the Lord called him a “mighty man of valor” Gideon told him what

he had known all his life.

“Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in

Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Judges 6:15

But once again, God showed him a bigger picture. He helped Gideon see differently and that’s

another thing to note. We need the Lord’s help to see all that He has for us. After all, He is the

one who created us and our purpose.

He is the one who has prepared the amazing things we are going to walk in.

And that is why we need to envision something different for our lives.

Don’t the let the difficult and negative circumstances blind you to what God has in store for you.

Keep hoping, and trusting Him.

Envision something different for your life because He already does!

Bless you friends!

Rolain

Refuse to give up!

It’s easy in difficult times to throw in the towel. The enemy wants you to give up but no matter how hard things get you must not give up because the Lord has amazing things in store for you and by not giving up you receive what God has for you.

Paul want through a lot in his life but through all that he faced he never gave up. For a run down of all the things he went though read,

2 Corinthians 11:23-26 but I want to focus on a specific story.

Paul was in Lystra ministering and had healed a lame man from birth. But some Jews came from Antioch convinced the people to stone him. When they thought he died they dragged the body outside the city but Paul had not died. And this is what I want to focus on.

Paul nearly lost his life but instead of quitting and giving up, he got up and carried on with his mission. He  went to another town and this is what happened;

 

“They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.”

Acts 14: 21, 22

 

There was no stopping Paul. At the end of his life he had this to say about his life,

 

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7

 

What a testimony.

We can’t give up. In fact, we must refuse to give up. So through the hard times keep going. Trust God every step of the way and ask for His help because He helped Paul on his journey. There is a race to run and finish.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Patiently endure.

God will accomplish and bring to pass what He has promised but in the meantime we

need to patiently endure. 

 

As the Israelites travelled through the desert, the Lord promised them a land flowing 

with milk and honey. He would stay true to what He promised them and get them there 

but they needed to be patient and they needed to endure but that didn’t happen. Let’s 

read what happened to them; 

 

“And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of 

Edom, and the people became impatient (depressed, much discouraged) because [of the trials]

of the way. 

Numbers 21:3, 4

 

And as we know they failed to possess the Promise Land because they doubted the Lord. They didn’t 

hold on to His promises when things were hard and disqualified themselves. Waiting on God’s 

promises takes courage. 

If you are in that space of feeling overwhelmed, depressed and discouraged then I want to urge you 

to keep holding onto faith. The Lord is Faithful and True and will not let you down. 

 

“So now wrap your heart tightly around the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always

keeps His promises.”

Hebrews 10:23 TPT

 

God ALWAYS keeps His promises. 

 

As I close I want to encourage you to never give up. The Lord cares about you and the things that 

are on your heart. Bring Him your worries and concerns consistently. 

And be courageous and patiently endure with the understanding that He always keeps His promises 

to you. 

 

“This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep His commands

and remain faithful to Jesus.”

Revelation 14:12

 

Blessings to you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

Pray today, tomorrow, all the time!

I think we can all agree that this year has been one of a kind.

As I look back at the intense moments (and there were lots of those),

the times when I didn’t know how I would get through the week and season,

the powerlessness I felt, and so many other negative things, I am blown away

by the faithfulness of the Lord.

As I page through my diary it is littered with ticks.

 

They represent answered prayers.

As a situation came up I would bring it to Him and then write it down.

When He answered my prayer I would mark it.

Ninety percent of the prayers I wrote down He answered.

The remaining ten percent are long term prayers that I am still waiting on Him for.

So at the end of the day, all the prayers I made to Him when I was in trouble and

needed help urgently, He answered!

 

And that encourages me to keep praying because He does answer prayer.

 

He hears us when we call and He answers.

You may be in a tough spot at the moment but I want to remind you of the power of prayer.

It is a weapon we have been given. The word says He delights in our prayers so keep praying.

Don’t stop ever. I have to admit there are times I doubt if God has heard my prayers,

times I think God has deliberately chosen to ignore me but in His mercy and grace

He shows me the truth. He always hears us. He cares about everything we are going through

and that is why we can be confident when we pray.

 

As I close I want to share a video I watched that encouraged me to keep praying because the

God we serve is a God who answers prayer.

 

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

No matter what you face…

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

 

“So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever;

for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26:4‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

 

King David went through a lot in his lifetime. 

When it seemed like his strong enemies were close to taking his life, he looked to the Lord for help.

When he had to go into exile his trust was in God. 

God told him he would be king but as the years passed by and the promise seemed to be getting

more and more distant his trust was in the Lord. He trusted in the Lord’s faithfulness.

Through all the trials and challenges he faced, his faith in God never wavered.

In fact, that’s what got him through all those challenges.

So today I want to encourage you to continue trusting the Lord through whatever circumstance you are in.

Trust in the Lord forever because He is faithful. He won’t let you down because He is the everlasting Rock! 

 

Bless you friends. 

 

Rolain

What we can hold on to when things get hard…

David was in serious trouble. Saul was tracking him down and to make matters worse, Achish recognized him (1 Samuel 10:21-23). He had no army at the time to fight so his back was against the wall. But in the midst of all those hopeless odds the Lord delivered him.

Achish let David go because he thought he was mad and Saul never managed to capture him. How David managed to survive all that is found in Psalm 34. I want to zone in on a few key scriptures;

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”

Psalm 34:6

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles.”

Psalm 34:17

David called to God and He heard his cry and saved him out of all his troubles. That’s a truth we can hold on to through the most difficult of times.

We see this pattern and truth throughout the word.

“With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]”

Psalm 3:4

When you call the Lord will hear and answer you. Let your voice be heard when trouble comes. Lift up your voice to the Lord.

He wants to fight for you and He wants to help you through every trouble you face. The Lord will carry you through the storm like He did for David.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Don’t give up.

Perseverance outlasts persecution

This is one of my pastor’s favorite sayings. But it’s more than a saying. It’s a kingdom principle. That’s what he taught me and it’s true. 

When Jesus came to earth He persevered. He didn’t give up or throw in the towel when things got intense. No, He pushed on towards His goal and He achieved it.

Don’t throw in the towel in this season. Keep looking at the prize. Keep persevering and know as you do,  the door will open, the breakthrough will come the prayer will  be answered. The Lord will carry you through. He can be trusted. 

But you need to keep moving forward no matter how hard it is. Keep taking that step then another then another. 

As I wrote this today I was reminded of a video that perfectly illustrates perseverance.

Here is the link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V38QYllfYtM&t=36s

I came across it as I was preparing to teach some kids. Even though it is for kids I really enjoyed it and I think you will too. It has no sound but the message gets  across and if you have kids you can show it to them too🙂

Bless you friends

Rolain

From inside the fish…

We all know the story of Jonah. How he tried to run away from God but instead

was swallowed by a huge fish. It is there I want to pick up the story.

He was in the fish three days and three nights (Jonah 2:1)

Did he know he would live? Did he think God had abandoned him and was punishing

Him for his disobedience?

All we know is that in that dark, empty, solitary watery grave he prayed!

 

“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.”

 

He was at the bottom literally and metaphorically speaking and it is there that he called out

to the Lord. He didn’t remain silent or give up. He prayed.

You may be in a dark place today. A place of pain and a place where God seems to be

absent. I want you to know that He is not gone from you. He is right there with you.

 

Jonah was in the belly of the fish. In the deepest part off the sea where no man could hear

and help. He could have tried to shout all he liked but no one was going to hear him down

there. There was only One who could and did hear his prayer. In that place where no man could

hear and help the Lord heard him and answered him.

 

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help and You listened to my cry.”

Jonah 2:2

 

Don’t remain silent in your pain. Don’t think you are alone in that dark place.

When you have no one to help God is your help!

Call out to Him today because you are not alone.

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

A belief problem.

What we believe is so important if we are going to achieve all that God has for us.
Our beliefs can either hinder or propel us so we must be very aware of what we
believe. For a very long time I believed I was nobody and nothing good would happen
to me and that shaped the way I looked at life and the way I lived life.
When great opportunities came my way I would turn them down because it was “too good”
for me. I didn’t expect much to happen to me because that is what I believed.

We can see the danger of a wrong belief system in the word of God. The Israelites
were chosen by God. He had amazing plans for them. But they didn’t believe they
were special. They had a belief problem. When they were by the door of the promise
land they stumbled and fell short because of what they believed.

 

“But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are
stronger than we are.”

They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there
are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the
Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to
them.”
Numbers 13:31-33

 

They had so much potential because they were sons and daughters of God but what they
believed trumped the potential in them.

“It doesn’t matter how much potential you have, it’s what you believe that matters” is what
I was taught.

So in other words, what you believe is stronger than the potential in you.
Before I gave my life to Christ, I didn’t see myself as much. I thought nothing of myself
and even though I had the potential, my wrong beliefs silenced the potential in me.
What do you believe about yourself today? What do believe about God? Do you believe
all the good things the word of God promises you?

It’s time to take a long hard look at what we believe and ask God to help us as we believe
what He has said about us, and as we believe His promises for us.
The enemy is working overtime to get us to believe the wrong thing but we can’t let him
win. May the Lord reveal wrong beliefs that we have adopted that have stopped and hindered
us from growing and progressing.

The Lord has put so much in us and it must be realized and released. It must be unleashed all
for His glory and this is the season to start!
Bless you friends!

Rolain

 

God remembered her…

“Then God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and enabled her to conceive.” 

Genesis 30:22

 

Rachel couldn’t have children but that all changed because God remembered her.

Don’t lose heart.

Keep praying and keep believing God will come through for you.

We serve a God who never ever forgets us and because of that we can have hope.

 

Rachel prayed and prayed and it seemed like God wasn’t listening but He was.

He is always listening.

No matter what it seems like today know that the Lord remembers.

You will have breakthrough this year because the Lord remembers you.

Trust Him in the difficult times when nothing seems to be happening.

He is always faithful.

 

Bless you friends