A Place For The Young And A Place For The Old -Part One

I was watching one of my favorite series recently, Masterchef Australia. I love this show so much. Anyway, the latest season is champions versus fans or something like that. There was one contestant who was the first winner of Masterchef Australia who is probably in her late fifties or sixties I think.

She was talking about how she was struggling with the fact that she didn’t think she had nothing much to offer. She didn’t think she had anything new to bring to the table amongst a thriving and growing industry. The home cooks have got so much better, the creativity has blown through the roof.

And that struck a cord with me because in the world older people have been for the most part been relegated to the back. They are overlooked and not considered much but that is not the case in God’s kingdom. In His kingdom there is a place for both the young and the old. The world may be quick to tell you when your expiry date is but not so with God.

As far as I am concerned our expiry date is when we die and everything else before that is open game. No matter how young or old you are know that God wants to use you. And as you look into the word you will see a place for the young and a place for the old.

I think about Caleb who was eighty five years old when he went to Joshua and asked for his mountain. He didn’t let his age limit him. His faith was in God and that’s all that mattered. Age was certainly just a number in his case.

Don’t let age stop you from walking into what God has called you to do. He has so much in store for you. Remember Abraham and Sarah.

They had to wait for a really long time to see the fulfillment of what God had promised them but they kept their eyes on Him. They didn’t let their age or what people said about their age stop them!

“And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.”

Romans 4:19, 22 NLT

This is part one of this series so I will be talking about the young people in the next post.

I will see you next week.

God bless you friends!

A Talk About Eggs and Faith

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

This is a popular piece of advise especially when you talk about investing. And all it means is that someone should not concentrate all efforts and resources in one area as one could lose everything. But I read a quote recently that brought my faith walk in perspective. It said,

“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket”

And I love that. That’s the attitude we should have when it comes to faith in God. It’s either we trust Him completely or we live in doubt of his ability. Now I am not talking about being reckless but I am talking about having an attitude of, “I will trust God and I am not looking to so and so or I have another plan just in case”

The word of God says that the just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)

So as you trust God today, do you have a back up plan, for just in case he doesn’t come through or are you all in with your faith? Do you know He will come through for you? Do you know He will never let you down? He has got your back even when it seems like things are going horribly.

True faith sees God as the ONLY option.

And with that I have come to the end of the post.

Bless you friends!

Rolain

The Victory We Are A Part Of – An Easter Story!

Happy Easter to you all.

I hope you are having a great time celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a strong day for us as Christians, a day of power for sure. I am so excited about this weekend because of what it represents. This is what makes the Gospel the Gospel if you know what I mean. If Jesus never died and rose again we wouldn’t be here and Christianity would be nullified. The power of our faith is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:13 so I encourage you to go and read that passage of scripture.

But I want to focus on another story in this post.

“Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”

Mark 15:37

As we all know Jesus died on the cross. And for a brief moment the devil thought he had won. He thought he had victory over Jesus. And for a brief moment Jesus’ followers lost too. But that was not the end of the story…

“The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!”

Luke 24:5, 6

Jesus rose from the dead! He conquered the devil. He won the war.

He was victorious and because of what he did we too have that same victory. And that’s why this weekend is so powerful, so important. There is a grace for us if we will only see. We need to ask the Lord for his help because he was victorious for us.

So if you are in a dark place today, and it seems like the enemy is too strong and the giants are too many I want you to know that there is victory available to you. The devil does not have the last say in your story. Jesus does! He has the last say and it is good and it is final. His Word cannot be overturned by the devil.

When the curtain in the temple tore into two, our access to God was now cleared of all obstacles, We could now go to him anytime. We now have a direct line of communication to the Creator of the Universe, to the Lord of Armies.

So as you can see, a lot of important things happened that day when Jesus rose from the dead and that is why this is such a strong day for you and me. As I come to the end of this post I want to encourage you to reflect on what Jesus did on the cross and how that affects your life. I read a definition of what it means to be a Christian that challenged me recently that goes,

A Christian is someone who believes in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ and lives in light of the implications of that event

I love that and I am so challenged.

With that I have come to the end of the post.

Have a great and blessed weekend friends.

Bless you!

The Answer to Fear

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 56:3

There are a million reasons to be fearful today. Global pandemics, war, sickness, starvation, debt and so many other things can easily thrust anyone in a state of panic and fear. But amidst the fear there is a way through for you and me. In Psalm 56:3 the writer states,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

The answer to fear is trust in Jesus. He defeated fear a long time ago and because of that we have somewhere to look to when fear is banging on the door of our hearts and minds threating to take permanent residence. When we are paralyzed by all the terror filled news around us, we have Someone to run to and take shelter. The Lord is our Strong Tower of Refuge. He is a trillion times a trillion stronger than fear. Fear is a defeated foe.

But fear wants us to believe it is stronger. It wants us to forget that God is on our side. It wants us to forget God in the midst of the chaos but we must not give in to fear because the Lord is with us through the darkest of times.

The answer to fear is looking to Jesus and knowing beyond a doubt that He is with you.

As I end this post I came across a painting of Daniel that encouraged me so much. I hope it encourages you like it did me.

Bless you friends.

Rolain

When You Can’t See A Way…

There will be times when you are met with dead ends, closed doors and walls but you need to remember this simple truth,

God makes a way when there seems to be no way.

Think about the Israelites when they left Egypt. They got to the Red Sea and were resting there when suddenly they saw the Egyptian army marching towards them. In front of them was the Red Sea and behind them were the Egyptians. They were trapped. But God made a way for them through the Red Sea. They experienced breakthrough in the most unexpected way.

You may be in a tough situation and it seems like you are trapped with no way out but I want to remind you that there is a way even if you can’t see one because God is with you. He will make a way for you in the most unexpected way.

Before I move on I do want to make something clear. There are some dead ends and closed doors that are God-ordained and you need to be able to discern them. You need to ask God for wisdom and you need to ask Him if He has closed a particular door but that’s not what I am talking about in this post.

What I want to encourage you with today is that God will open closed doors and dead ends that are stopping you from moving forward in His purpose. He will make a way for you where the enemy has barricaded.

Don’t give up and lose heart when there seems to be now way instead trust God to make a way for you.

Bless you friends.

Rolain

What’s It Going To Be, GOD or Giants?

I was watching a live stream this week of an upcoming movie and the presenter was talking about a book he was reading from Eugene Peterson called Leap Over A Wall ( I think)

He talked about how David had a God-dominated imagination while Israel had a Goliath-dominated imagination. And because David had a God-dominated imagination he wasn’t afraid of the giant and that is why he stepped out in faith. He not only took on the giant but killed him. All he saw was how strong God was.

Israel on the other hand had a Goliath-dominated imagination and they cowered away in fear. All they saw was the giant and God was no where in sight. They were not able to get the victory because the giant was so strong in their mind.

And that really spoke to me.

It’s time to switch from a Goliath-dominated imagination where all you see is giants and not God, to a God-dominated imagination where all you see is God no matter the giants that come up against you.

You are sons and daughters of God and your portion is victory but the enemy wants to corrupt your mind. he wants you to believe he is stronger and there is nothing you can do. He wants you to forget about God and to not even consider Him as an option when the fight is at it’s thickest. Don’t let him do that.

Let God be all you see when the enemy rises against you. Let Him be the One you cry out to when you are overwhelmed and have no answers to the trials and tribulations you are facing.

God bless you friends

Have a great weekend!

Rolain

The Big Plans of God for You

Today I want to talk about the plans God has for you. I know you have been told numerous times to pursue what God has for you but today I want to remind you and encourage you of God’s amazing plans for your life. They are pretty awesome and like nothing you could have ever imagine.

In Genesis 15:5, 6 God took Abraham outside and showed him the amazing plans he had for him.

In case you forgot, God is not trying to hide his plans for you from you. He wants you to be fully assured that his plans for your life are real, very real. You are not on this earth to just survive or to get by.

In this life we go through difficult things and at times those things can make us believe we have nothing to get excited about. We go through life thinking we are just a statistic. But it’s not true.

And the amazing thing about God’s plans for us is that it’s a gift.

God hasn’t given you purpose because you are more intelligent than others, or because you went to the right school, you got a degree, or you grew up in the right family etc

He has given you a purpose because of his grace and mercy.

It’s by faith and only faith that you can walk in the amazing purposes he has for you.

Romans 4:16-21 says,

 Therefore, [inheriting] the promise is the outcome of faith and depends [entirely] on faith, in order that it might be given as an act of grace (unmerited favor), to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the devotees and adherents of the Law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is [thus] the father of us all.

If you are going to walk in all the amazing things God has for you then you will have to do it by faith and faith alone. So trust God today to guide your steps.

Bless you friends

Rolain

God loves To Come Through For Us

“But she said, “I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house.

And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug.

I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.”

1 Kings 17: 12

The widow at Zarephath was in a crisis. The little food she had left was about to run out.

She had gone to gather a few sticks she could use to cook the last meal for her and her son then die.

Like I said, crisis.

But God came through for her. He sent Elijah and when she obeyed him by making him a meal

first the Lord provided for her in an amazing way.

“So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days.  

There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised

through Elijah.”

1 Kings 17:15, 16

I share this scripture because it teaches us a truth about our God – He loves to come through for us.

No matter how bad things get God has got your back.

No matter how deep you are in trouble, God will help you out.

When there seems to be no way out of the trouble you face, He will ALWAYS come through for you.

Throughout scripture we see this truth play out over and over and over.

With Daniel when he was thrown in the lions den

With David, when King Saul was hunting him down

When Hannah was being ridiculed for being barren

When the Israelites were trapped by the Red Sea as the Egyptians chased them

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.

God loves to come through for you.

So in whatever trouble you find yourself no matter how bad it is, remember that

God is for you. He wants to help you.

Ask for His help always!

Bless you friends

Rolain

Silence The Negative Voices At All Costs

“But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were

with him, and went in where the child was.”

Mark 5:14

Negativity is all around us. That’s a given.

But we don’t need to live it out in our lives. The enemy is trying to use it to bring us

down but we must not let him succeed. We need to fight against the negativity

that comes our way, the voices that say we are ugly and the voices that say we will

never amount to anything, that nobody will love us and so many more words that

we are told.

In the scripture above we see that Jesus had to do the same thing. He had arrived

at Jairus house to heal his daughter but the people in the room laughed and made

fun of him.

And what did Jesus do?

He chased them out of the room. He didn’t give negativity a chance.

We can’t give negativity a chance.

What is your environment like?

What are you watching, listening to and reading on a daily basis?

What king of thoughts do you have of yourself and your situation? Are they

positive or negative?

What kind of words do you speak everyday?

All these things need to be looked at if you want to change your environment, if you want to

change the negativity that comes your way.

Encourage yourself with the word of God.

Surround yourself with the right friends.

Change what you read and listen to, replace negative words with positive ones.

But do something. Don’t just let negativity infiltrate your life without fighting it.

Take the necessary steps to change your environment.

God has amazing things in store for you and He is with you every moment of your life.

Bless you friends

Rolain

What Hard Times Teach Us About God

We don’t face difficult times for the fun of it. The world is broken and there is nothing

we can do to escape the tragedies that come our way but there is a hope for us in the

midst of the darkness. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we can

be guaranteed that the Lord is with us. He won’t let us be consumed by the enemy.

Look at what happened to Daniel. (Daniel 6)

The king had intended to promote him but the governors around him were jealous

so they tricked the king into making a law that banned anyone from making any

requests to any god besides the king. But as was his custom Daniel opened his window

and prayed to God.

The jealous people saw this and took him to the king for punishment.

The penalty for disobeying the king’s command was a trip into the lion’s death.

Daniel was in serious trouble.

But in one of his darkest times the Lord never left him. He protected him in the lion’s den.

The lion’s den was the enemy’s way of destroying Daniel but instead of death, Daniel

experienced the faithfulness of God.

I also think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and how they were in trouble when they

refused to bow down to the king’s idol. The penalty for disobeying the king’s command

was death by fire but once again, instead of dying in the fire, they saw the Son of God!

In their dark time the Lord showed up for them and delivered them in a powerful way.

I want to remind you that in your difficult times, the Lord is with you like He was with

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego.

In the fire, and in the lion’s den the Lord is with you.

Trust in the Lord like they did.

As I conclude I want to share Isaiah 54:17 with you

“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,”

Bless you friends

Rolain