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

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

With So Many Reasons To Live In Fear, Trust God Instead.

There are so many reasons to live in fear today.

You don’t have to go far to find fear. It’s all around us.

It’s on television, radio, the newspaper, Facebook feeds, WhatsApp Group Threads and so much more.

So what must we do when we come face to face with fear?

For the answer let’s get into the Word Of God.

In the second book of Chronicles chapter twenty, King Jehoshaphat was given some bad news.

A huge army was about to attack him. Let’s read what happened next,

“Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat saying, There cometh a great multitude

against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar,

which is Engedi.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout

all Judah.”

2 Chronicles 20:2, 3

When the king heard the news he feared. He didn’t try to hide it or ignore it.

But instead of allowing fear to overwhelm and paralyze him he set himself to

seek the Lord for help against the mighty army that came against him.

And when he sought the Lord for help, the Lord fought for him and destroyed

the army that came against him.

So like Jehoshaphat, seek the Lord for help when you are face to face with fear.

He will help you always.

He will hear your prayer as you cry out to Him.

Put your trust in Him in times of fear.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Faith In God Makes The Impossible Possible.

Abraham and Sarah had an impossible situation.

God promised them a son but Sarah couldn’t have children and they were old.

But faith in God made it possible for them to have a child.

As you trust God for the impossible know that your faith in Him makes the impossible

possible. Don’t be intimidated or discouraged when nothing seems to be happening.

We serve a God who does the impossible.

Luke 1: 37 tells us that nothing is impossible with God.

I use an illustration to teach this truth. I attempt to put a needle through a balloon

without it popping.

Click the link below to see how the illustration turns out.

Have a great weekend friends.

Bless you

Rolain

Where You Start Is Not Where You End.

On one of my recent podcast writing episodes I talked about this.

If you didn’t know, I have a podcast where I talk to authors and aspiring authors.

I provide tips, advice and encouragement. The podcast is called,

The Writer’s Creative Space.

If you would like to listen to the episode here is the link.

Anyway, as I recorded the episode I realized this was not just a life principle but a

spiritual principle.

“Where you start is not where you end” is a spiritual principle too.

I am reminded of Rahab. She didn’t have the best start. She was a prostitute and people

saw her in one way. Her narrative for a time was negative. I don’t think anyone saw

greatness in her. But that all changed when some Hebrew spies came to her.

Her life changed forever. Her narrative changed for good.

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed

with those who were disobedient.”

Hebrews 11:31

Her end was so much better than her beginning. And if you search deeper into her

story you will find she was included in the lineage of Jesus Christ!

What an honor, what an ending.

So you see. where you start is not where you end.

Let me share one more example.

The disciples were ordinary men with no real purpose before Jesus. They were fishermen.

I wouldn’t say being a fisherman was bad but it wasn’t the greatest thing to be.

The disciples were probably overlooked. They probably overlooked themselves!

But look at what happened when Jesus came onto the scene.

Everything changed. Their lives were changed forever.

They became fisher of men and turned the world upside down!

And that’s the other thing I want you to see.

Only Jesus can change the narrative.

Only Jesus can change the ending.

You may be in a place today where you can’t make sense of how your life is going.

You may not understand how God can turn it around but He can and will.

No matter how you have started know that your end will be very different.

Look to Jesus for help.

Trust Him to change the narrative in your life.

Trust Him to change the ending.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Zoom Out And See God’s Big Picture.

God has an amazing plan for our lives. But at times we can get so engrossed in the now, the present

and forget that God is moving in our lives.

We need to learn to regularly take a step back or zoom out.

I was given a picture of this as I played a game. The game is called, Guess The Picture.

And the point of the game is to decipher a magnified picture as quick as you can.

The game is best played with a group of people.

In the beginning, you can’t make out the picture because it is magnified to the max but when

the game starts the picture begins to zoom out and the picture gets clearer and clearer.

And that’s what happens when we are so zoomed in. The picture makes no sense because

it’s a blur.

But as we take a step back and look at the answered prayers, the breakthroughs, the things

God has done for us, we begin to realize that God really is in control. He knows exactly what

we are going through. Taking a step back strengthens our faith as we see God’s faithfulness.

But also remember that God is working through the tests and trials we face. They are not

meaningless or pointless.

Think about a an image for a moment.

What makes an image? Pixels right.

An image is comprised of millions of pixels.

But this is the thing, without pixels, there is no image. A picture cannot exist without pixels.

Pixels play a very important role in the formation of a picture and that is the same in our lives.

The difficult times, the trials, the tests, all have a purpose. We are learning to trust God more.

We are experiencing His faithfulness and greatness in the hard times.

We are growing in the midst of intense opposition.

So don’t disregard what you are going through today. It’s not meaningless or pointless.

God is working in the midst of the tests, trials and hardships. Trust Him.

As I close I want to remind you that God is at work in your life, even in the times when it doesn’t

seem like it. Take a step back and see His hand in every aspect of your life.

And if you like what I write and want to support me financially you can now do so by buying

me a coffee or two. I have signed up with “Buy Me A Coffee” and it’s an easy way to support me.

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God bless you friends

Rolain

How To Talk To “Giants”

How do you speak to the giants that come against you?

As I read the Bible this week there was a story that made me think about that.

There is a way we are meant to speak to giants. We are not supposed to

cower away in fear or terror because God is our Protector.

He is so much stronger than the giants we face

I was reading the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 and there

were a few things that stuck out to me that I would like to share about how we

should speak to giants.

• David didn’t talk to Goliath about his strength. He spoke about God’s strength and power.
• David knew the battle wasn’t his but the Lord’s. He knew that the God who delivered him from lion and the bear would deliver him from Goliath.
• David never negotiated or pleaded with Goliath. He TOLD him what was going to happen to him.
• Because David had faith in God, he knew he was going to win.

We don’t have to let giants determine what happens to us.

Our faith in God will make us see giants differently and will make us talk differently because that’s what

happened to David. He didn’t run away in terror when he saw Goliath, he defeated him and told him

he was going to kill him.

Keep trusting the Lord and don’t let go. Let your faith be the driving force behind the words and actions

you speak and take against the giants that come against you.

And before I go I have some exciting news.

If you like what I do here and would like to support me financially, you can now do so.

With a coffee or coffees you can support on Buy Me A Coffee.

You can also become a member if you really enjoy what I do.

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Bless you friends

Rolain