What’s the deal with fear?

I was deep in thought thinking about how I was going to make it.

Wondering how the bills would get paid.

Wondering how my life would turn out in the midst of such opposition.

As I thought on those things fear gripped my heart. I was afraid.

 

But it was at that exact moment that I realized something about fear.

 

Fear was not going to tell me everything would be okay.

 

I should expect no encouragement from fear. It is not an option thinker. All it thinks and

sees is negative. It’s not optimistic.

It will never direct me to God in any situation.

It wants me paralyzed.

It wants me to fail.

It doesn’t want me to see God.

It wants me hopeless and discouraged.

 

Fear chooses to forget God in difficult circumstances.

It can’t love, it can’t trust, it can’t hope.

It focuses on the worst possible outcome in any situation we face when it knows there is a better

outcome in God.

Fear ALWAYS sees the negatives in everything and CHOOSES to ignore the positives.

Or in other words, it chooses to see the dead ends, the failure, the death and refuses to see

light at the end of the tunnel, the hope, the answer!

 

And that is why we can’t listen to fear. As I let fear grip me, all I thought about

were the negatives.

 

But the truth of the matter is that there was another option.

There was a better and more positive outcome if I allowed my faith in God to take the lead instead of fear.

Let me rephrase that, there IS a better and more positive outcome…

 

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), 

but (He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind

and discipline and self-control. 

2 Timothy 1:7

 

As we walk out our faith in God, fear will always try to get in the way. It will try to disrupt the faith

we have put in God. Let us fight against fear no matter how long it takes.

This battle can’t be won in our own strength. We need God’s help to show us the areas we

have allowed fear to dominate us. We need His help to overcome Fear so we can move forward

in what God has for us.

The Lord is with us in this fight and leading the charge!

Bless you, friends.

 

Rolain

 

 

 

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We are happy when we go to Him for help!

“I asked the Lord for help, and He answered me. 

He saved me from all that I feared. Those who go to Him

for help are happy. They are never disgraced.”

Psalm 34:4, 5

 

I needed to hear that today and thought you did too!

We need His help today and we will need His help tomorrow.

We simply have to ask for it and He will answer.

Life can be tough and unbearable at times but the Lord doesn’t want us going through it alone.

We should never get to a place where we deal with problems without Him. He cares about every

part of our lives and wants to help. He doesn’t like seeing us suffer.

He wants to bring to an end the things that are tripping us up. He wants to stop the trials

from having victory over us. He wants us to win. He wants us to be victorious.

 

Let me say this, the trouble you are facing today will pass because the Lord is helping you.

No matter how dim things appear they will get better. Trust in the Lord. He has got you.

He is on your side. The enemy will not win.

Ask the Lord for His help always.

Bless you, friends.

 

Rolain

Focus on Him, not the waves…

Life can be really tough right and what makes it worse is when we focus all our energy and attention on

the problems we are facing. We worry, stress out, fear, panic and fret as we dwell upon all the problems

we face but there is a better way.

I was stressing out this week. Things were not going well and I was panicking and anxious but I remembered

Peter.

In faith, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water but as he was approaching the

Lord the word says he began to be aware of his surroundings (the enormous waves and the wind)

and became frightened and began to sink. (read Matthew 14:27-30) 

 

“Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, 

O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

Matthew 14: 27-31

 

As long as Peter set his gaze upon the Lord he walked on water but when he took his eyes off the

Lord and focused on what was happening around him he began to sink and I know that’s what

was happening to me. But the Lord wants me to keep my eyes on Him in the midst of the trouble that

comes my way.

What are you focused on today?

Are you focused on your problems more than the Lord?

 

Consider  Psalm 91:14, 15:

“Because he has focused his love on Me, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows

my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in his distress. I will 

deliver him, and I will honor him.” 

 

The enemy would like us to get our minds off Christ. he doesn’t want us being victorious. he loves

it when we are in bondage, in fear, anxious and stressed.

But the Lord wants us to be free. He wants us to receive the answers and solutions we need to

the problems we are facing.

Let’s stop focusing on the waves. Let us focus on the Lord no matter how terrifying the storm is.

He is bigger than any storm we will ever face and that is why He wants us to focus on Him!

Bless you, friends…

 

Rolain

 

Move ahead in faith…

“And the people grumbled and deplored their hardships, which was evil in the ears

of the Lord, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the 

Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.” 

Numbers 11:1, 2

 

The Lord was with the Israelites and expected them to respond in faith but that’s not what happened.

Instead of trusting Him when things got really difficult they responded in unbelief and fear and that was evil

in the eyes of the Lord.

 

Possessing the land of Canaan was an impossible task. Giants resided there.

But no matter how impossible the task was the Lord wanted His people to trust Him. He wanted them

to be confident in His power, strength, and faithfulness.

Sadly, that never happened. The Israelites shrunk back in fear. Because unbelief and fear filled their hearts

they couldn’t possess what God promised them.

 

The Israelites couldn’t move ahead because they didn’t have faith. Instead, they were pushed back because

of their unbelief. And that’s what unbelief and fear will do if you entertain them. They will push you back when

you are supposed to move forward.

 

“Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country and smote the Israelites

and beat them back, even as far as Hormah.” 

Numbers 14:45

 

The Lord doesn’t want us to be pushed back. The enemy wants that. God wants us

to move ahead in faith. It’s faith in God that will allow us to defeat the giants standing in our way.

It’s faith in God that will enable us to tell mountains to get out of the way as we make our way to the place

God has promised.

Because God is with you,

you can move forward confidently no matter how hard the journey is, and no matter

how intimidating the enemy is. Don’t let fear and unbelief dictate your response to God.

Always respond in faith!

 

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

A time of endurance…

“So Moses and Aaron gathered all the elders of the Israelites. 

Aaron told them everything that the Lord had told Moses. 

Then Moses did the miracles for all the people to see. So the 

Israelites believed. They heard that the Lord was concerned about them

and had seen their troubles. Then they bowed down and worshipped

Him.” 

Exodus 4:29-31

 

The Israelites were in bondage for a really long time. Things had been really

difficult for them. So when Moses and Aaron told

them that God was concerned about them and had seen their troubles they must have

been encouraged.

 

But the hope they had quickly disappeared when the pressure intensified. The joy, the hope,

the faith they had was replaced with doubt, fear, and anxiety. They were not patient with the

Lord. They wanted the deliverance to happen that very instant.

 

“As they were leaving the meeting with the king, they met Moses and Aaron. 

Moses and Aaron were waiting for them. So they said to Moses and Aaron, “May the 

Lord punish you. You caused the king and his offices to hate us. You have given them 

an excuse to kill us.”

Exodus 5:20, 21

 

That story spoke to me today. We need to endure as we wait for God’s promise

to materialize in our lives. His promise for our lives, our families, and our countries will be

contested against by the enemy. There is no way he is going to just sit and let you

stroll into what God has promised you. he is the adversary and by the very nature of

that name he opposes and fights against everything good that God has prepared for us.

 

The Israelites thought it would be a walk in the park but it wasn’t. They had to trust God with

all that they had. They had to believe His word was true. They had to endure.

God’s promise was true and He would deliver them and they needed to understand that no matter

how bad things got.

 

“He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant. His feet they hurt with fetters;

he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into iron. 

Until his word [to his cruel brothers] came true until the word of the Lord tried and tested him.”

Psalm 105:17-19

 

When the promise seems like a fantasy we must keep trusting, we need to endure. His promise

is true, it will come to pass. The Lord is not a man that lies. His word is sure and if He promised

it will come to pass.  Difficulty doesn’t mean the promise won’t come to pass.

There is nothing that can stop the word of God from coming to pass.

Hold on in the storm. Endure, put your faith in Him.

He will fulfill what He promised you.

 

Bless you, friends…

 

Rolain

 

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

When in doubt and fear, remember the good things the Lord has done!

Walking in faith is not an easy thing to do. There will be days you will get discouraged and doubt if

the Lord will come through for you. I have been learning to be patient as I wait on Him for my answer

to prayer but there have been days when believing is really hard. I had one of those days a few days ago.

As I brought my requests to Him thoughts of doubt flooded my mind. Will He really answer my prayers,

I thought. But as my mind was racing I began to think about the things He had done so far. I began to pull

out all the things He had already done for me. As I did that my faith began to increase. At the end of the

exercise my faith was restored. I was full of faith and AM still full of faith He will come though for me,

that He will answer my prayers.

 

And that got me thinking about how powerful remembrance is. We don’t give it the credit it deserves

but it is powerful.

 

“Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth.”

1 Chronicles 16:12

 

There are so many scriptures on remembrance if you want to get deeper understanding. What I experienced

was the effect it had on me as I did it. It increased my faith. My hope was renewed. Because the fact of the

matter is that the Lord HAS done amazing things for me. In different seasons of my life when I needed a

breakthrough, when I was in chains, when I was in darkness, when I was desperate, He came and saved me,

He came and picked me up, He came and fought for me, He came and delivered me.

 

I know the Lord has done amazing things for you too. What you need to do though is remember those

things constantly. They will help you in really tough times. The only time remembrance doesn’t

work is if nothing has happened and as we all know, that is not possible. Yeshua is constantly doing

great things throughout our lives.

 

“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them? you 

shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to

all Egypt.” 

1 Chronicles 16:12

 

As long as we live we will always be faced with giants and they come in different forms and sizes. But

we need to remember the giants that have come in the past which the Lord defeated! There are many

defeated foes. That will help you as you face the giants standing in your way now. That’s what David

did, remember?

 

“I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! Goliath, the Philistine who is not circumcised, will be 

like the lion or bear I killed. He will die because he has stood against the armies of the living God. 

The Lord saved me from a lion and a bear. He will also save me from this Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:36, 37

 

David remembered how the Lord delivered him from the lion and bear and and that is why  I think he was

so confident when he went to face Goliath. He remembered how powerful the Lord was. We need to remember

the good things the Lord has done for us more frequently. Forgetfulness is a thief and we must not allow it to

continue stealing.

Let’s ask the Lord to help us in this area.

 

Will you do something for me as I close? Write down the top ten things you think are amazing that the

Lord has done for you. Ten is the minimum. If you want to write more feel free to write more. The Lord

has done so much for us and there is so much He is about to do. Let’s not forget. Let’s always

remember the things He is doing because He is always doing.

Also feel free to share a few of the things He has done for you in the comments below. Your testimony

will bless someone!

Blessings to you friends…..

 

Rolain

Take a step, attempt, try……

I went to a camp recently with the kids that I teach. It was our first time going to this particular

camp site and the kids really enjoyed it. Compared to other camp sites this one had a lot more activities.

One of the activities we did was the climbing wall. It was really high and after the kids got their turn, I gave it

a shot and got half way up. My arms felt like lead and I had no power to pull myself up to the top.

I have to admit it was a bit intimidating before I did the climb.

The kids responses were varied. Some were afraid, some were hesitant, and some were happy.

 

Anyway, after the exercise the instructors got the kids together for a feedback session. After all the feedback,

the instructor said something that really stuck with me. He didn’t have a sheet that rated everyone

on how high they went and there was no prize giving ceremony for the people that made it to the top.

Instead, he congratulated everyone for attempting. In his eyes, attempting the course was winning.

The mere fact of putting on the harness and taking the first step up the course was the victory. It didn’t

matter to him who won.

 

That really struck me. There is so much emphasis today on being number one, and winning but could that

be a partial picture?

Is there a place for a first step, an attempt, pursuing, trying?

 

The journey we are on is long and hard. Yeshua is not looking for number one. His desire is for us to

finish the race. No matter how difficult things are take the step, attempt, try. If you fall, get back up and

try again. Just don’t stay in one place, don’t freeze, don’t give up. Rely on Him for strength.

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

Watch what goes in……

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

contaminate:

to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association

 

Today I will be talking about the contamination that happens in our hearts. We really do need to be careful

what we hear, who we hang out with, what we watch, what music we listen to….

Because it’s through those things we can contaminate ourselves.

 

Let me share a story with you of something that happened this week;

I was with some people who were speaking really negatively about a situation concerning the country.

The more the conversation went on the more uneasy I became. I could literally feel the fear creep in to me

as they spoke. I wanted to get out of there but I didn’t. I stayed. (wrong choice)

 

There is so much in this world that can contaminate and pollute our hearts so we must be on our guard

at all costs (Proverbs 4:23).

What are you listening to on a daily basis?

Who are you hanging out with?

What are you watching?

 

It’s hard to hear Yeshua’s voice when your heart is corrupted. It’s especially difficult to move in faith

when fear has entered your heart.

It’s hard to pray for healing when all you have filled yourself with, is words of death.

Stay away from toxic conversations. Reduce the amount of news you watch or read if that’s what gets

you out of peace?

Stay away from things that make you fearful and terrified, anxious and worry.

Those are the things that contaminate and pollute.

Guard your self at all costs!

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He leads us on purpose……

“Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps 

you take to get there.”

Proverbs 16:9

There is one fact we can’t deny, the Lord is directing our every step. I look at where I am and where

I have been and can clearly see the Lord’s hand in where I am now. I could have never in a thousand

years planned where I am now. I shudder to think where I would be today if I was left alone to direct

my own steps.

But I can also see countless times I fought, scratched, shouted to go the way I thought was right,

because the Lord’s way didn’t seem to be the best, the times I thought He made a grave mistake.

At the time it didn’t make sense, it was confusing and frustrating but the Lord kept urging me to trust

Him even when I didn’t understand what He was doing. We can trust His leading.

Let’s look at the word for a bit and go deeper into a story that shows us how the Lord leads our steps.

From the time of Yeshua’s birth to His death and resurrection, the good news was only preached to the

Jews. After His death his followers reached out to His chosen people, the Jews. No one saw the bigger

plan. Yeshua had died for everyone and not just the Jews so He needed someone – Peter.

“Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda.”

Acts 9:32

This was important because in Lydda, Peter healed a man who was paralyzed and was bedridden for 8 years.

When he healed the man the word tells us everyone in Lydda and Sharon  turned to the Lord (Acts 9:35)

Peter being in Lydda was important because in a nearby town of Joppa a woman named Dorcas who was well

known by the community died. The disciples in Joppa heard Peter was in Lydda and since it was so close

they sent for him. (Acts 9:38)

Side note: Peter may have had no idea why what was happening was happening but the Lord did. There was

something much bigger going on that Peter wasn’t aware of. But as the Lord directed Him, he followed obediently. 

Let’s move on.

Peter arrived in Joppa and brought Dorcas back to life. (Acts 9:40) which was amazing. Peter may have thought

that was why he had come to Joppa which was partly true but there was more. Something much bigger,

something that would impact the world. It’s while Peter was in Joppa that we hear of Cornelius the Roman

centurion who was visited by an angel and was commanded to send for Peter.

Peter goes without reservations and sees the “Gentiles” receive the Holy Spirit like the Jews!

The way of salvation was now officially opened to the “Gentiles” and Peter was instrumental in that happening.

He was obedient to the the Lord’s leading. He never complained or grumbled. He trusted!

Don’t take Lord’s leading lightly. You are where you are for a reason. Stay humble, be obedient, trust

that He knows what He is doing. He sees the bigger picture and we don’t but that’s okay because He has

our best interests at heart. We just need to trust Him and know He would never led us to destruction.

There is a purpose in His leading, there is love in His nudging.

Bless you friends.

Rolain