He changed His environment…..

The Lord wants to do some incredible things in you and through you and because of that you need

to pay attention to what you are exposing yourself to consistently. You need to take a long hard look at the

people you call your friends and ask yourself if they are encouraging you in your faith or are killing

your faith. You need to take a long hard look at all that you digest (social media, music, media) and ask

yourself if it’s strengthening your faith or killing it.

How is it at home? Have you created an environment for Yeshua to speak to you easily or are there

just too many distractions? (I am dealing with this right now)

All this matters. Like I said in the beginning, the Lord has incredible things in store for you.

Let’s look at a story in the bible that will bring home what I am talking about.

 

In Mark chapter 5 a man named Jairus meets Yeshua. His daughter is near death and has come to

the Him for help. The Lord agrees to go with Jairus and we pick up the story when Yeshua

arrives at the house.

 

“And when He had gone in, He said to them, Why do you make an uproar and weep? The little

girl is not dead but is sleeping. 

And they laughed and jeered at Him. But He put them all out, and taking the child’s father and mother

and those who were with Him, He went in where the little girl was lying.”

Mark 5:39, 40

 

The Lord was about to perform a miracle but in order to do that He had to put out the people

who were laughing and jeering at Him. He had to change the environment. It would be impossible for

Him to do what needed to be done if the people stayed.

 

And that is why the parents stayed. They may have had their doubts but their little faith was enough.

All the Lord needs is a little faith. But doubt, and fear are a different story.

In the very next chapter we look at how the Lord could not do any miracles except heal a few people here

and there because the majority of people didn’t trust Him, doubted Him.

 

“But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor (deference, reverence) except in his [own]

country and among [his] relatives and in his [own] house. 

And He was not able to do even one work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few 

sickly people [and] cured them.” 

Mark 6:4,5 (emphasis mine)

 

If there is no faith it makes it hard for the Lord to move, very hard!

 

But to my main point, the Lord had to change His environment by putting out the negative crowd.

If the Lord did that how much more do we need to? We need to take a long hard look at every aspect

that makes up our environment that I mentioned earlier and start making some decisions.

If we are to walk in all the amazing things the Lord has for us we need to cut off the things that

are weighing us down, the things that keep us in fear, the things that make us doubt YAH, the things

that contradict the word the Lord gave us about your lives. When I talk about things I am also talking

about people. We have some really toxic relationships and think it’s okay but it’s not. Those toxic

relationships are doing you major harm.

We need to ask for the Lord’s help and wisdom. This can only be done successfully with Him.

On that final thought enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

The saddest story in the bible…..

The Israelites did secretly against the Lord their God

things not right.

They built for themselves high places in all their towns,

from [lonely] watchtower to [populous] fortified city.

2 Kings 17;9

 

I read this passage and I was saddened as I read it hence

the title. These were God’ s people for crying out loud.

The things they saw…..

The things they heard….

 

How could they have lost all that?

They had great leaders: Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Samuel,

King David, King Solomon…..

Yet they fell, and fell in a huge way.

Let us read more:

 

They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim [symbols

of the goddess Asherah] on every high hill and under every

green tree.

There they burned incense on all the high places, as did the

nations whom the Lord carried away before them; and they

did wicked things provoking the Lord to anger.

And they served idols, of which the Lord had said,

You shall not do this thing.  2 Kings 17:10-12

 

The Israelites saw God’s glory.

They saw and experienced His goodness.

They witnessed His power when He drove the enemy

out for them.

They experienced His faithfulness……

 

They despised and rejected His statutes and His

covenant which He had made with their fathers and

His warnings to them, and they followed vanity (false

gods – falsehood, emptiness, and futility) and [they

themselves and their prayers] became false (empty

and futile). They went after the heathen round about

them, of whom the Lord had charged them that they

should not do as they did.   2 Kings 17:15

 

They despised and rejected the Lord. They refused

to believe in God and yet they still prayed to Him!!!

That blows my mind.

I can’t believe how deep they fell, how far they went.

But this is a warning to us. As I read this I realized

that could be me……!!! It’s a scary thought. A friend

told me one time that, we are a step away from anything.

We are a step away from sin, a step away from grace. No

one is exempt from the power of temptation. Just one

wrong decision and all is lost. We need the grace of God

to help us indeed.

The word says, “The Israelites did secretly against the Lord

their God things not right.”

 

The secret things need to be dealt with. The secret thoughts,

the secret habits, the secret addictions……we need to confront

them head on. Our heart belongs to God. Let us not allow the enemy

to steal it. Our brothers and sisters fell and our job is to not say,

“how could you” but we are to look at their lives and learn. We are

to look at their lives and fall down on our knees and cry out to God

to save us from ourselves.

We are to plead with Him with tears and a broken heart realizing we

cannot do this alone……

 

The true you shows up when you are alone. When you are

alone what kind of thoughts consume you?

What kind of programs do you watch?

How do you speak when no one is watching?

What kind of habits do you have when you are alone?

 

The Israelites rejected God in their hearts

In their hearts they refused His commandments

 

There is hope for us. There is always hope!

Let us open our hearts before God.

Let us allow Him access to every part of our

hearts.

No part should be off limits to Him.

Nothing should remain in the dark.

No doors should be closed to Him.

We need to be totally open for Him to come!

Amen

 

Rolain

 

 

 

Will you be that friend??

 

 

 

 

 

And her [promised] husband Joseph, being a just and upright man and not willing to expose her publicly and to shame and disgrace her, decided to repudiate and dismiss (divorce) her quietly and secretly.    Matthew 1:19

This is such an inspirational verse and it is one of my favorite scriptures. As I read the scripture this time round relationships came to mind.
In verse 18 we see that Mary was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit but Joseph didn’t know that. It normal circumstances it meant Mary would be stoned to death. Was Joseph hurt? It could be possible. He had every right to be angry at her and tell everyone what she did but he didn’t……
Instead, he protected her, he covered her. Men, we need to learn to have that same mindset. We need to protect the women in our lives. We need to cover them. But I don’t want to just talk to the men. Let us look at this passage in the context of friends. As friends we need to be there for one another. The word says Joseph was NOT willing to expose her publicly! We need to cover our friends and not expose their faults for the whole world to see. If you see something not adding up in their life then you have a right to confront them but in a way that builds them up.

When you are confronting them or rebuking them do it with the mindset Joseph had. He didn’t want to expose Mary publicly even though it seemed like she slept with another man.
He didn’t want to disgrace and shame her. I would dare to say that his relationship with her was far more important than the “sin” he thought she committed.
Our friends need our support and love. They need us to be transparent and real. They want us to have their back. Will you be that friend?

Rolain

Bring it to the light.

Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another. 
Ephesians 4: 25

We all go through hard times, diffiult times but we need to bring those things that we are struggling with to the light. It’s a biblical principle. In the light the power of the enemy is weakened. If we are to walk in light, and reject falsity we need to be transparent with someone about what’s going on in our lives. I have done some crazy things in my life but as soon as I did that crazy thing I first asked God for forgiveness then went to my best friend and told him what I did. No sin should be left hidden. Sin in meant to be exposed. It will only get stronger if it remains hidden. This is what I strongly believe. When I commit sin I tell someone I trust. The goal, to never live with anything hidden, in the dark! It has been a great burden off my shoulders to have someone to tell about the sin in my life. Do you have that someone you can tell anything to? Read what the next scripture says,

Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to expose and reprove and convict them.
For it is a shame even to speak of or mention the things that [such people] practice in secret. 
But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visble and clear; 
and where everything is visible and clear there is light.  Ephesians 5:11-13

Is everything in my life visible and clear? Has every dark place being exposed? Nothing about my life should be hidden, or in the dark. And this is how we are to live. We are to live in the light but sin can hamper that. Don’t allow sin to remain hidden in your life. It will only get stronger and stronger if you let it remain in the dark. Sin hates the light. Be diligent to find a person or people you trust who you can be transparent with. It’s not easy but it’s needed. How serious are you about exposing darkness in your life? We are not an island. Let us bring ALL darkness to the light……..!

Rolain