The Lord gave him a picture…..

“Then God led Abram outside. God said, “Look at the sky. There are so many stars

you cannot count them. And your descendants will be too many to count.”

Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram’s faith and that faith made

him right with God.

  

Genesis 15:5, 6

The Lord led Abram outside and gave him a picture of his life and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

But as I look back at my life I see how I allowed people to give me a picture. The enemy was in the mix

as well and did everything in his power to enforce the picture he had given me

because I didn’t know better. It took years to break the negative picture I had been

given and thanks to God the healing is still ongoing.

The Lord has a picture for you too. The picture is amazing and glorious but there is so much opposition

from the enemy. he doesn’t want you to walk in the plan God has for your life because that’s what the picture

is about. It’s about where God wants to take you. It’s about what He has in store for you.

But the enemy uses fear, abuse, manipulation and a whole lot of other things to blind you to God’s picture.

Don’t accept the enemy’s pictures. They are all lies.

his pictures get you depressed, fearful, anxious, greedy, and weak.

his pictures are all void of goodness, peace, love, fulfillment, faith, joy and every other good thing

God is.

Reject them at every turn. But you need help. You need the Lord’s help.

The good news is this, the picture you have now can be changed. That’s what happened to me.

My picture was really bad but the Lord came and changed it. He replaced the dark, hopeless,

fearful picture and replaced it with His life-giving, fresh, new, energizing picture!

And that’s what He does for us as His children.

As I end I will leave you with a scripture that sums up what I have been talking about,

“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, 

which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).”

Jeremiah 33:3

Blessings to you, friends

Rolain

Why you need to be excited about your life even when nothing seems to be happening for you………

Is there a reason to be excited about your life? 

 

That’s the question I have been meditating on for the past couple of days. My country has been

going through a tough couple of weeks and it has been hard to see a future when things look so dark.

But the darkness is not only in Zimbabwe, it’s all over the world. And the darkness wants to get us

off our game. It wants us so discouraged that we lose hope. But we need to keep trusting no matter

the darkness.

 

But it’s not just the tough times in my country that made me think about “what my life could be”

As I looked at my weaknesses, the things I am supposed to be doing that I am not doing, and

flaws that are too many to mention I got discouraged. I have messed up so much. I have blind spots

that I am relying on God to expose. With all those things against me I found myself asking,

Can I really be excited about my life with all the flaws that I have?

 

That kind of question demands an answer and an answer is what I got.

 

I do have a reason to be excited about my life because God is in it. 

 

Not only is He in it but He created it. He is the author of my story. I have every reason to be

excited about my life. I need to pump myself up, raise the expectation, because He is in control.

He has crazy things in store for me. His word says,

 

“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this.

He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream,

and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power

constantly energized you.”

Ephesians 3:20, 21

 

 

You may think there is nothing to get excited about in your life but that’s not true. Because God

is at the helm you can expect an amazing life even though things may be hard now.

Nothing may be working for you at the moment but remember this,

Winters end!

Keep trusting God. Hold on to His promises. Expect Him to move on your behalf and yes,

 

You have a reason to be excited about your life….. because He is in it.

 

 

Blessings to you friends.

 

Rolain

God’s purpose for you under attack……

 

We have an amazing purpose to live out that is given to us directly by YAH.

The thing is, the enemy is trying to do all he can to stop us.

As we pursue the dreams Yeshua has put in our hearts we must depend on

Him with our everything.

You may be discouraged and feeling overwhelmed because of the attacks but

take heart because the Lord is with you. Let me share a story with you that illustrates this

truth perfectly;

 

“And [that same] following night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, 

Take courage, Paul, for as you have borne faithful witness concerning Me at Jerusalem, 

so you must also bear witness at Rome.”

Acts 23:10

 

In this verse Yeshua promised Paul he would go to Rome and bear witness of Him.

But in the next verse we read something interesting,

 

“Now when daylight came, the Jews formed a plot and bound themselves by an oath and 

under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they had done away with Paul. 

There were more than forty [men of them], who formed this conspiracy [swearing together this 

oath and curse]. 

Acts 23;11-15

 

Wow right?! Hours after the Lord spoke to Paul the enemy launched an attack against him!

In the natural Paul had no chance against this attack. There were forty Jews who were in on this

including the chief priests and elders.

But we need to look at what was really happening here.

The enemy thought he could stop the Lord’s purpose for Paul. he is so deceived that he thinks he

can stop YAH.

The Lord had promised Paul he would bear witness in Rome. Nothing would and could stop that

from happening. No matter the weapons the enemy used, they would all fail.

But the enemy thought he could challenge that!

 

The enemy’s plans for you will not succeed. Hold on to that truth with all you got.

The truth is this, he is a defeated foe and no plan against you can prosper because the Lord

is with you.

No matter the scheme, no matter the plan, no matter the weapon, they will all fail because the Lord

is protecting you and guiding you on your journey. His plan for your life will come to pass and that

is why I said you need to trust Him with everything you got. The enemy will try to deceive you into

believing he is winning but it’s a lie.

Trust the Lord’s leading, trust He is protecting you, trust He is in total control.

The journey we are on is long and there is plenty opportunity to get discouraged. But even when we

fall we must always remember that the Lord is with us. He is protecting us and directing our every step.

As I end this post I want you to see how powerful the Lord is. Look at the way he thwarted the enemy’s

attack;

 

‘Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.”

Acts 23:16

 

The Lord used a young man! That’s all He needed. He didn’t break a sweat stopping the enemy’s plan.

The Lord has defeated the enemy and will continue doing so on our behalf with ease!

Don’t be discouraged. Keep trusting, keep praying…..

He will accomplish what He promised you.

Bless you friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a “truth” that limits and disarms us…..

I read something very interesting a few days ago on one of the writer’s platforms I am

on. The writer was talking about how hard (impossible) it is for African writer’s to be

authors! He talked about the odds an African writer has to be a success.

But this guy had done his homework. He wasn’t just winging the article. It wasn’t

some random post he did on the spur of the moment. It wasn’t a mash up of thoughts from someone

who didn’t know what he was talking about. On the contrary, It was a well researched article. He had

the stats to prove his point, results from surveys and so on. It was a really well written,

accurate post.

Even though the the facts were there, even though I could see the graphs and the results of

surveys done I didn’t believe it. Even though it was a well written article the truth he was

talking about was “his truth.”

It’s a truth the author experienced in his own journey but it doesn’t have to be my truth!

 

 

I won’t except his truth. If I do, then as a writer I am doomed. I would better just stop now or

minimize the dream to a size that fits that truth! (That’s not going to happen)

We need to be very careful about the truth we are hearing on a daily basis. There is only one

truth and that is the Word of God. All other “truth”can and should be challenged and examined.

The other problem is this, just because someone is an “expert”in a certain area we easily accept

what he or she has to say. Again, we need to be very careful about the “experts” we allow to speak

into our lives.

I am not advocating you not listen to anyone but to simply be careful about the truths you accept.

Make sure the people you listen to have your back. Make sure they are passionate about you fulfilling

God’s call on your life. Make sure they are not intimidated by you.

 

So as I conclude I want you to think about something;

 

What “truth”are you living by today?

Is the “truth”you living by the real truth?

Is the “truth” you living by limiting you? Do you have to adjust your dreams because

of the “truth”you are living by?

 

Remember that the only truth that is beyond contention is the Word of God.

That is the truth we are to live by and accept wholeheartedly.

All other truth no matter how water tight it seems can be contested and challenged.

Analyze the truth you live by today and hold it up to the unchanging word of God.

Does it line up to the word or does it contradict it?

If it contradicts the word of God you probably shouldn’t be living by it…..discard it!

If it lines up, you are on the right track!

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

On paper……

On paper I am not supposed to be where I am today. It doesn’t

make sense.

On paper, it tells of a totally different life than the one I am living now.

I am not supposed to be here.

But here I am and it wasn’t any of my doing!

 

So today I was thinking about all the bills that have to be paid,

and all the places I am yet to travel to, and all the other things that

require money and once again, on paper I won’t be able to do all

that I want to do. My salary is not going to make all that happen.

 

So on paper my life is comprised of paying bills and keeping my head

above water! But as look back at the good things that have happened to me

I see how my salary has never been enough. In fact, my salary had very

little say in the things that have happened to me and for me!

It was YAH all along! Everything good that has happened to me and I mean

everything is because of YAH’s grace and mercy on my life.

It all happened because He is good and because He loves me!

 

So it may seem like it’s bad on paper right now but that is not a true

reflection of my life. I serve a God who is great and mighty!

Let me share a few scriptures with you,

 

“Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh;

is there anything too hard for Me?”

Jeremiah 32:26, 27

 

“Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance,

and the ends of the earth for your possession.”

Psalm 2:8

 

“Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count

the stars if you are able to number them.”And He said to him, “So shall your descendants

be.”

Genesis 15:5

 

“Jesus replied, “truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,

not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say

to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done.”

Matthew 21:21

 

The point is this, let’s trust YAH for the desires He has put in our hearts.

Let’s call to Him to help us with every problem in our lives.

Don’t let your salary determine what you can or can’t do.

Don’t let it determine what you can or can’t have.

The God of the universe has so much in store for you so don’t

let what’s on paper make you down size your dream.

Everything YAH has in store for you far exceeds the figure on your

payslip. Look to Him instead. He will open doors your salary can’t.

 

What’s on paper is not a true reflection of the amazing things YAH has

in store for you. Don’t settle for a life the paper creates.

What’s on the paper is so limiting. It closes the door to ALL that

YAH has for us.

 

As I close know there is more in store for you.

But to experience the more you need to trust YAH.

Don’t go by what’s on paper…….

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

What’s killing potential and dreams today??

“And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the 

Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching. 

But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with

much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it 

nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone?

Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along

with me]! 

Luke 10:39-42

 

The story of Mary and Martha is very popular. There is something

I would like to zone in on that is highlighted in their story.

Jesus had come to their house and Mary decided to sit at the feet

of Jesus and listen to Him while Martha busied herself with

serving. The word says she was occupied and distracted!

 

And that is what I want to talk about in this post. Today we have

a lot of distracted people. “Everyone seems distracted”

As the years have gone by the amount of distractions has

exponentially increased. Just about anything can distract

you today. Your phone, television, your phone, Facebook,

your phone…..need I go on??

 

We may not want to admit it friends but we have a real problem

on our hands. Being distracted is a real problem and it’s

stealing and killing potential and dreams like never before!

As sons and daughters of the Most High we need to

understand that the battle is for our relationship with God.

The distractions are directly affecting our relationship with

Him and that is a problem. If not dealt with, we will remain

powerless and empty with no fire.

 

I must admit I have been so distracted. I didn’t take it seriously but

as I look back I can see how much ground I have given up

because I was distracted!

My time with God is not what it used to be.

My relationship has changed.

The amount of word I read has diminished drastically.

Distraction has stolen a lot from me and I didn’t even notice it!

I am frustrated to put it mildly!

I am angry because I treated distraction so lightly but the truth

is that distraction steals, kills and destroys!

It steals potential, it destroys dreams, it kills relationships and so

much more.

We need help friends. We can’t take it on by ourselves. We need

the Holy Spirit to come and help us. I asked the Lord for help

and He is helping me. I lose but I win at times.

 

Martha had Jesus come visit her and instead of stopping

everything she was doing to spend time with Him, she busied

herself with something that wasn’t really important.

Serving could wait.

I can’t blame Martha because I can see myself in that story.

Instead of spending time with Yeshua I got distracted with

other meaningless things that seemed important at that moment.

 

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for help. We must

fight friends. Distraction cannot win, it must not win!

I want to be like Mary who chose to sit at Jesus feet.

What about you?

 

How do you deal with being distracted?

 

God bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

A strategy to destroy a dream!

“Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, 

Why have you come out to draw up for battle?

Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants

of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let 

him come down to me.  1 Samuel 17:8 

 

How could Goliath speak to the people of God

like that? These were the people of God for crying

out loud. Didn’t Goliath know who they were?

That is irrelevant because God’s people lost

sight of who they really were.

 

When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the 

Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 

1 Samuel 17:11

 

God loved His people, He had big dreams for His

people but…….

 

The Philistine came out morning and evening, 

presenting himself for forty days.  1 Samuel 17:16

 

….but for forty days Goliath came and defied the

armies of God! Why didn’t they just attack Israel?

We already know Israel was greatly afraid

when Goliath came out to taunt them.

They could of taken Israel out and in a way,

they did.

The enemy managed to instill fear in the heart

of the Israel. They didn’t stop after the first

week, instead, they taunted them for forty

days……

The enemy knew exactly what they were doing.

They knew the power of fear. For forty days

Israel saw the giant. That’s all they saw.

Fear made them see the giant and everyday the

giant kept on getting bigger. The stories kept

getting grander. During the forty days, Israel

saw nothing else but the giant. They never

saw a chance of victory, they never saw hope,

all they saw was a giant……

 

Fear blinded them from seeing God!

The army of God never saw their God!

 

You need to know that the enemy’s strategy has

not changed. He still uses fear to paralyze you, he

still uses fear to stop you from seeing God.

He still uses fear to destroy any hope you may

have. If he had his way, he would keep you in fear

for the rest of your life.

 

But then David came!

 

He had a relationship of God that was so amazing.

He loved God and his heart was for God. David

had a relationship with God that was like no other.

 

When he went to visit his brothers he was the only

one who saw something wrong. He was the only one

who didn’t fear the giant!

 

God’s presence in your life will break the hold

of fear.

Because David spent time with God he could easily

identify the fear and confront it head on.

Am I saying David never struggled with

fear ever? He battled with it indeed but as

he spent time with God he overcame it.

 

The enemy wants you in fear because he knows

that will get your focus off God.

But when you spend time with God, you will be

able to fight the fear. David didn’t rely on his

own strength. He trusted God as he approached

the giant.

 

As I read this story I realized the enemy will

do anything to stop us from accomplishing our

destiny. He knew God had a plan for Israel

but he used fear to stop them!

He might be doing the same thing to you today

but I am here to say there is a way out.

You don’t have to listen to the fear.

Look to God, trust Him, spend time with

Him! He is the answer.

Don’t be afraid of the future. God has an

amazing plan for your life. He is personally

guiding you.

I saw that so clearly today. There are some things

happening in my life that have made me fear but

God doesn’t want me to focus on the fear. He wants

me to look to Him and realize He is in TOTAL

control. Fear distorts the truth……

At the end of the day I made a decision to trust

instead of fear.

What will your decision be….?

 

Rolain

The “dream killer”………!

 

The greatest enemy to our dreams is something called stagnation. A pastor came to our church a few months ago and said something quite profound. He said our nation was plagued by the spirit of stagnation! When I say “our nation” I mean it in its literal sense. I am talking about the nation I live in. I remember being so embarrassed by those words because he was speaking about us as a nation and I knew he was right!

What I wasn’t ready for was to find out I was affected as well. Stagnation had come into my home stealthily! I didn’t even know it at the time. Like a cancer it started eating away at my life. It was sucking the life from me and I didn’t even know it! Unannounced it came, silently it entered my life! One thing undone turned into two then three then four and so on! My mind didn’t register when something was left undone!

These are some of the things that needed to be done:

 

Meet with children’s band to discuss new plan of action for the New Year coming.

Set a date to have children’s seminar. Sit down and plan it.

Map out the song I am doing for Christmas service.

Get together with my friend to create a playlist for the kids.

Work on my book.

Read the books I have been given.

Start revising the material I was given for a course I did.

Change the light bulb.

Buy new dining room chairs.

Find someone who can repair the sofas in the lounge.

Crazy right…..!

 

But something happened this week, maybe it was the Holy Spirit bringing to remembrance the word I heard all those months back. I saw everything differently. I saw all the things in my life that were undone, the unread books, the damaged light bulb, and the unfinished projects!!!  It drove me mad…..! Every time I saw something undone my blood would begin to boil. It was my fault, I was the reason! I had no one else to blame but myself!

If you didn’t know, Stagnant has a few other family members. There is Procrastinate and his brother Laziness! Arghhhh…..what a nasty family to be living with!

But no more!!!

There is one way to break the back of stagnation, one way that will silence it for good. Prayer is needed but it’s not the answer I am looking for. What I am looking for comes after prayer. The answer and the key to breaking stagnation is to DO!!

Get into a habit of working. That’s what I did. I got up and started working!! I felt good after that. I want that to be the norm! Stagnation is serious; it is a dream killer and must not be taken lightly! We need to pray and after that get up and do!!!

 

I liked this definition I found for stagnate:

(Verb) Deteriorate by lack of action.

Synonyms for stagnate:

Fester, hibernate, stall, decay, rust, stifle, vegetate, not moving!

 

 

There is no progress, no growth when stagnation is in your life. You are not effective when you are stagnant. It eats away at your potential like a leech. It kills you gradually. It really is the dream killer!

If this is where you are at in your life, will you then stand with me and make a decision to DO…..

No matter how hard it is, do something!

Pray then get up and act!

This dream killer is going down! Amen!!!

Rolain

Why finding your purpose is not easy……

I thought I had a pretty good idea of God’s plan for my life but I was wrong. What I knew was close to nothing. Finding out God’s plan for your life is not as easy as I thought. Knowing God’s will for your life is not a formula. Do this, do that, don’t do that, stay away from that and so on and so on….

God has a unique pattern for each individual. What works for me will not work for you. We are just too different. We can learn though from people that have gone before us. There is always something that we can learn but we are never meant to replicate exactly what they did. We are just so different.

 

For the past two weeks I have been asking God to show me what my destiny is! Like I said in the beginning I thought I knew my purpose but I was wrong. Talking to other people I realized I was not alone in this. I have met very few (very few) people who know their calling. They have an idea yes, but to say they know exactly what God has for them, no……At times it has been confusing and at times it’s been hard to understand. At times I have just been totally clueless! I was saying to a friend that I know God has a plan for me without a doubt. It is an amazing plan. The problem is I don’t know what it is exactly and I don’t know how I will get there. Someone else also told me that God always shows us just a part of our calling. He never shows us everything at once. We wouldn’t be able to take it all in.

Within all this uncertainty and confusion on my part I read a scripture that cleared up a lot of things. Let me read it to you:

 

A man’s goings are of Jehovah; 

How then can a man understand his ways? 

Proverbs 20:24

 

As I meditated on this scripture things began to make sense. The reason I am constantly struggling to come to grips with my purpose and the reason there is such a constant battle trying to understand my purpose and the reason I am clueless at times and uncertain is because I am not the one in control!!!! I am not the one calling the shots. The Person calling the shots is not human, He is not even from this planet, and in fact He created the universe!!! This is what He says about Himself:

 

For my thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares The Lord.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Isaiah 55:8-9

 

What am I trying to get at? If I was left in control of my own life I would orchestrate things in a way that would be comfortable. I would make sure things were easy. Life would be a walk in the park for me. The best example I can use is that of a little child. Can you imagine if he or she had to direct their own lives at that age? They would only think about how to have fun all the time. They would think about sweets and ice cream and cake and more fun……kids are not capable of leading their own lives. I am not saying I am a child and I am not saying I can’t handle responsibilities given to me. What I am trying to say is, my life would be a disaster if I was left to run my own life and direct my own life. As a human I am not capable of seeing everything, I am not perfect. My life would be a monumental flop. Am I glad God is the one directing my steps and not the other way round…..!

 

So after much meditation and consideration I have come to a conclusion. Life is hard to understand at times and figure out not because of the One who is directing us. He is God and He cannot be comprehended. He is just too big to be put in a box. Who can say they have figured out God????

The only assurance we have, the only thing we can be certain of is His love for us. Everything He does for us stems from love. But even with that said, we still don’t know how much He loves us. The important thing is, He loves us. He guides and directs us because He loves us. He wants us to have His best. He wants us to succeed. He wants us to grow. This is the only thing we can be sure of.

How do we begin to understand someone whose ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours? The answer is we don’t.

 

What does this mean then? If you are confused or if you have questions or if you are clueless about your purpose then that just confirms you are human. The One who is directing your path sees so much farther than you. The One who guides you is God…..don’t fret or panic just trust. He has your best interest at heart. His motive for everything He does in your life is love and blessing and growth. He never does anything because He wants to hurt you. He is God……

 

Rolain

The unknown truth about the rich and the poor……

It has been four days, four days since I read that specific scripture. I have not been able to shake it. God wanted to show me something and I think I see it now. The scripture I read is in Proverbs 22;2 and it says,

The rich and the poor shake hands as equals – God made them both. 

God made the rich and the poor and they are equal. The rich have abundant possessions and are wealthy but they are still equal to the poor, to the man and women on the street who have nothing, who struggle just to get a single meal a day, who have to beg to get by day by day, the rich and the poor are equal! We don’t treat the poor like they are equal though. In fact, we demand they beg! How dare they come and embarrass us as we walk. Our money is our weapon against them! They are not our equals. We are superior over them. They must jump when we say jump. We think by having more than them makes us more superior, we are wrong……Lord please forgive us. We are equal! We need to treat them as such.

In the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” we see this kind of erroneous attitude at work. John Daggett who is very wealthy confronts Bane because plans have not gone according to plan.

Daggett tries to assert his authority over Bane because he is wealthy but it doesn’t work. Bane kills him. It’s this kind of attitude that the world has and even Christians. The attitude that looks down on the poor because they have nothing not realizing that God says we are equal!! I was that person. Yes, I had made a point to give to the poor as much as I could but I always saw them as inferior. But I see now, that was wrong. We are equal. The reason God has given what He has given me is so I can be a blessing. Why the poor are poor is none of my business, God just wants me to be a blessing. He wants me to see the poor the way He sees them. He wants me to treat them with respect and He wants me to honor them. They are human beings after all. They have families as well. They have problems and they have doubts, and they have dreams. They have desires and aspirations!!

Just know God has made the poor and rich alike. They are equal. Let us treat them the way God would like us to treat them. God bless….

Rolain