Your life and your words……

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“Establishing and strengthening the souls and hearts  of the disciples,

urging and warning and encouraging them to stand firm in the faith,

and [telling them] that it is through many hardships and tribulations

we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Acts 14: 22

 

Paul strengthened, urged, warned and encouraged the saints.

What’s important is how he did it. He didn’t try

to sugar coat the truth. He was honest with them, transparent.

He made sure what he taught was what he was living out.

He didn’t say, life was a bed of roses. He didn’t try to hide what life was

really about.

When Paul said “it is through many hardships and tribulations

we must enter the kingdom of God” you better believe he was talking

from a place of experience.

Before Paul spoke to the saints about hardships and tribulations look

at what happened to him prior to that talk.

 

“Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the

crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city,

thinking he was dead.

But after that the disciples had gathered around him he got up

and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left

for Derbe “

Acts 14: 19

 

It was directly after being stoned that Paul strengthened, urged, encouraged

and warned the saints!

He was real about what was going on.

 

Are you being real with the people around you?

Are you being transparent about what’s happening in your life

or are you sugar coating it?

Are you living out the advise you are giving out to others?

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

Where The Pharisees Missed It.

What comes to mind when you think about the pharisees? A lot comes to my mind when I think about them.
In the word Jesus had a lot of things to say about them. Jesus was never euphemistic when He spoke to the pharisees. He called them vipers, pretenders, blind fools and so on…..
What I would like to do in this post is talk about where they missed it. The pharisees followed the law of Moses. They were THE leaders in their time. They tithed like we do and probably more consistent than we do, they fasted consistently, they prayed as well, they went to church and taught, they memorized scripture and were probably more committed than us. The Bible was their history book so they could probably recite it! If we could compare them to some pastors of today, they could probably beat them hands down but they missed it somewhere. Jesus shows us where they missed it. I believe we can learn from the mistakes the pharisees made.

Jesus makes a very important statement concerning the pharisees in Matthew 23:1,2–
Then Jesus said to the multitudes and to His disciples,
The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses seat [of authority].
So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice.

I could stop the post right there, “for they preach, but do not practice”.
Jesus hit the nail on the head. The pharisees did not practice what they preached. They focused on teaching but never applying what they were teaching and what they were taught. They never meditated on what the Word was saying to THEM. They never allowed the word to work in their hearts. What was important to them was what people saw them as. It was all about putting on a show. They tithed not because they loved God but because it was law. They thought their actions were more important than what was in their heart!
They thought God was more impressed with their “show” of holiness than what was in their hearts! They neglected focusing on what was harboring in their hearts. There was evil in their hearts but they never dealt with it.

In Matthew 23:25,26, 27 it says,
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but within they are full of extortion (prey, spoil, plunder) and grasping self-indulgence.
You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may be clean also.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you are like tombs that have been whitewashed, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead mens bones and everything impure.

The pharisees never took time to look at what was in their hearts. They never took the time to really look at the state of their hearts instead everything they did was focused on what people saw. What people saw them doing was more important than what was on the inside. They cared more about what people thought of them than of what God thought. They wanted the praise of man more than God’s approval. I have not come across a scripture where I see the pharisees crying out to God. I have never heard them repenting of their sins or being humble!!!!

And this is where they missed it. Let us learn from them. Let us take stock of our hearts. Are we people who preach but don’t do? Are we always doing things that will be seen by people so we can get their praise or are we focused on pleasing God??
The pharisees did all the things a Christian is supposed to be doing but they thought works was the only thing that mattered. Works are important but they only make up part of the picture.  They never trusted their lives to God. They refused to surrender their lives to God.

Let us allow God into our hearts and deal with us. Let us cry out to Him and allow Him to work in us. Let us be humble. Let us also tithe and fast and pray but understand those things should be done from a heart of love and not because of law!

God bless.

Conversations As A Prayer.

 

What kind of conversations do you have with people? I know it will vary depending on who are you speaking to but what kind of conversations are you having? A lot of people nullify God’s power and miracles because they are not careful about the kind of conversations they have. Some people simply don’t know how powerful conversations are! We are indeed perishing because of a lack of knowledge but that must change.

To build my case I am going to be sharing from JOHN 11:1-53.

This is the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. As we know, Jesus is told that Lazarus is sick and we also know that Jesus gets to Martha and Mary only to find out Lazarus has been dead for four days! We then see Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is truly an amazing story but a story that raises a very important question.

The question is, when did Jesus pray for Lazarus to be healed when there is no record of that prayer?

–          Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou has sent me.                                       John 11:41,42

 

                                                                                                                  

 

We find the answer in John 1:4. Jesus is actually having a conversation with the disciples. Listen to what He says:

 

When Jesus heard that, He said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

 

Conversations have power. Jesus understood this and amazing things happened. We on the other hand need to understand. How many times we have prayed for something, for example, we have just asked God for money for a trip we want to take, so in church we experience the power of God and we are sure that God has heard our prayer. We praise Him and thank Him for His goodness and mercy but the following week when we are with friends at the coffee shop we are telling our friends how we think the money is just too much to raise!!!

This is just one example but there are many situations where we nullify what God has said over us. And we do this mostly in our conversations. CONVERSATIONS HAVE POWER!!

 

What you say to your friends or anyone else matters. Please understand that it is allowed to have fun and joke around. What I am talking about is when you have asked God for something specific and you nullify it when you are speaking with people.

You are creating your life with your words. Opportunities are been created when you speak. Answers to prayers are being answered as you speak but the vice versa is also true. If you are being negative in your conversations after you have just declared God’s greatness then you are shooting yourself in the foot! You need to stop doing that. We need to stop doing that!!! J And this is where I am going to end. I have finished my case and it is now your turn to assess where you at.

 

On a last note, I am not advocating for you to be fake. If you are having a bad day then you are having a bad day don’t sugar coat it. There is a need to be transparent but in the midst of the bad speak life. End with hope. That is the way to do it. God bless!

 

Rolain.P

 

 

 

 

Are you being real or fake?

What a week it has been for me. It has been one of learning and discipline. God has been dealing with my heart concerning sin. The crazy thing about this whole matter is, I am the one who started it. I let myself indulge in sin only to find that it had turned into a monster!
I also found out that I had exalted it above GOD. I had made it an idol.
The next craziest thing is, I never told anyone about what I was going through and because of that I was being fake. People would ask me how I was doing and I would say great! But that was a lie. That is what hiding sin can do.

I have now seen that the way forward is to expose sin. It needs to become a habit. As hard as it may be we need to expose the sin we have tried so hard to hide. Hiding it away will only make it worse. It will lead us to a life of duplicity. We become decieved without even knowing it.

Do you have someone who you can be real with? Do you have someone who knows the real you? It will help if you are to live a life of continually exposing sin.

The scripture that has really ministered to me in this season is in Ephesians 4:25 – Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another. (Amplified)

We need to see that we are all part of one body. If one part is hurting, the body fails to function properly. If you are not being real because of sin, the “body” is not functioning at its full capacity. You are needed to complete the “body”. And that is why we cannot keep on being fake. We need to be at a place where we can share our weaknesses because we all part of one body.
The word says that we need to reject falsity. Make a decision to be real. Make a decision to expose sin continuously. Be real with yourself and other people.

Ephesians 5:13 shows us the advantage of being real:
But when anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and where everything is visible and clear there is light.

Let us make a decision today to be real. You are not alone in this. We are all part of one body. Your part in this story is critical. Reject falsity at all costs. Take a risk and be real. It takes courage to be real.
So let us do this. Amen

Rolain.P