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

 

 

 

A season for God!

I want to ask you a question.

In the season you currently in, are you maximizing it for God?

Are you giving it a 100%?

Young man, young women, God wants you to maximize the

season you are in.

Stop thinking of singleness as a type of “transit” because it’s not.

God expects growth!

Like the men who were given talents to trade with and increase,

God expects the same. (Matthew 25:14-30)

The man who hid his talent was not the hero.

He was not rewarded for being wise.

Instead, he was scolded and rebuked!

 

Life doesn’t start when you get married. It starts now!

Whether you are married or single the expectation is still the same,

“maximize the season you are in.”

I have entitled this post “A season for God” because I believe

we should be bringing Him glory in

whatever season we are in.

If single, if married, bring Him glory by living the life He has

for you! Enjoy it, thank Him for it!

Maximize the season you are in.

 

Priscilla and Aquilla (married)

Paul met this amazing couple when he went to Corinth (Acts 18:2)

They were tentmakers like Paul.

This couple opened up their home to Paul (Acts 18:3)

There were many couples in Paul’s time but the Word mentions

Priscilla and Aquilla!

They were maximizing the season they were in!

 

“Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an

eloquent man and mighty in

the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and

being fervent in spirit, he spoke and

taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only

the baptism of John.

So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.

When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside

and explained to him the way of

the God more accurately. “ (emphasis mine)

Acts 18:24-26

 

Aquila and Priscilla had embraced the season they were in.

As a couple they were advancing the gospel. They were living

out what God called them to.

 

 

Timothy (single)

“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers

in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in purity.

Till I come, give attention to the reading, to exhortation, to

doctrine.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by

prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. “

1 Timothy 4:12-14

 

It is clear from reading Paul’s journeying that Timothy was very

important to him. Timothy was being mentored by Paul.

Timothy was fearless and his love for

God was very evident. He might of being a pastor!

Whatever the case, Timothy maximized the season he was in.

He played a key part in the spread of the gospel.

He was totally devoted to God. He didn’t hold anything back!

He threw himself into what God had called him to do. He was

on fire for God.

 

I shared these two stories so you could understand what I am

saying.

Whether single or married live for God.

Seek Him and His will.

 

If you are single I can’t emphasis enough how important it is

to get started with life.

God has so much in store for you right now!

Take your worry, take your concern and give them to God

because He really does care how you feel. He wants the best for you.

 

As I close will you join me in making a decision to make this

season we are in a season for God?

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

The inside job!

 

“So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do

what they do, for they preach, but do not practice. “

Matthew 23:3

 

Jesus was speaking to the multitudes and his disciples about the

Pharisees. The things they did were so crazy.

 

“Now Jesus turned to address His disciples, along with the

crowd that had gathered with them.

The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in

God’s law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on

Moses. But be careful about following them.

They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it

into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all

spit-and-polish veneer.

 

Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer

shawls one day and flowery prayers the next.

They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking

in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance

of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting

called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend’.”

Matthew 23:1-9

 

They were all about the outward man. They

wanted to be seen, they wanted to be respected, and a whole

heap of other things but they missed something very

important – the inner man. They were not interested about who

they were on the inside. Let me share a scripture with you that

will bring more understanding of what I am saying,

 

“You’re blessed when you get your inside world-your mind and 

heart-put right. 

Then you can see God in the outside world.”

Matthew 5:8

 

How much time are you putting into working on the inner man?

How much time are you putting into changing the way you think?

How much time are you putting into developing your character?

How much time and effort are you putting into loving God with

all of you?

The Pharisees focused on the wrong things.

Because of that they missed Jesus.

If we are to grow in our relationship with God we need to take

more time focusing on the inner man.

We need to be real with ourselves about who we are and bring

it to Jesus. Where is your heart? Where is your mind?

Are you becoming like Christ daily?

Let’s not make the same mistake the Pharisees made.

Let’s get the inside man right first.

 

 

What’s the point of being in a position of power and influence

but you lie, cheat, steal, tear down people, and gossip??

Who are you helping if you have all the money in the

world but are rude, arrogant, brash, cruel, angry

all the time, unloving, uncaring and so on???

 

Let’s take more time working on the inner man. You are blessed

when you do that.

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

 

You give me peace……

Hi friends!

What a week its been! I came out of our annual church

conference! It was amazing!! It started on Wednesday and

finished yesterday. It has also been a busy week. It’s always

busy for everyone at this time. There is so much work to do.

So last week in my busyness I was asked a question that has

haunted me till now. This is what was asked,

 

“Why do you get stressed so easily?”

 

I was running around like a headless chicken prior to the

question being asked. After he left I couldn’t shake the

question. I tried to defend myself to myself and even

justify myself but he was right, I do get stressed easily.

Shucks!!

I want to be that person who stays calm when everything

is falling. I just want to be calm!

That got me thinking about peace……Can I be at peace when

everything is

going wrong? Can I be at peace when the mountains shake?

That is when God gave me a scripture that helped me that

I hope will help you!

 

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give you and

bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither

let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated

and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful

and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

John 14:27

 

I was thinking about the peace the world gives versus the peace

Jesus gives. The peace the world gives focuses on the external.

No war means peace, living in harmony, avoiding confrontation is

seen as keeping the peace.

Then there is meditation, clear your minds they tell us.

So as you can see, the world’s peace is very different.

The main thing to keep in mind about the peace the world

offers is that it doesn’t have Jesus as it’s source and a peace

without Jesus at it’s core is not peace at all!

Without Jesus you will never have peace!

 

The peace that Jesus offers is inward focused. When everything

is collapsing around us, the peace Jesus gives us keeps us steady.

When it looks like the enemy is going to win His peace gives us

hope that things will turn around.

The peace Jesus gives us is dependant on Him!

When we know He is in control, we have peace!

 

So I was challenged to stop stressing so much. The word is

very clear, we must not allow our hearts to be troubled,

we must stop allowing ourselves to be agitated and disturbed,

We must not permit ourselves to be fearful, intimidated

and cowardly in the face of danger, pressure, and so on…..

It’s a decsion to be at peace!

 

This is not just about me having peace at work but this post

is about having peace in hard times. It’s about having peace

when there is so much fear in the world. When my friend asked

me that question I realized later on that, God wants me to walk

in peace, period! Being agitated, stressed and anxious is not from

Him. As I end I would like to share one more story with you from

the word.

 

“And when Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord,

Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel

of the Lord face to face!

The Lord said to him, peace be to you, do not fear;

you shall not die.

Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it,

The Lord is Peace.

To this day it still stands in Ophrah, which belongs to the

Abiezrites.

Judges 6:22-24

 

Gideon’s fear was real. He thought he would die because he

saw the face of God but God told him not to fear. I think

something more happened when those words were spoken.

I think Gideon saw or felt something, something that had

to be told to the generations to come! What ever he saw or felt

compelled him to build an altar and name it, The Lord is Peace

(Jehovah Shalom)!!!

I want to walk in that peace everyday, the peace Jesus gives!!

 

Whatever trouble you are going through remember,

to not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,

stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed, and do

not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated, cowardly

and unsettled!

He is our Peace! Things may be falling apart around us but

we are at peace because He is with us holding us up!

Amen….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting road…..!!!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

 

The road of right living bypasses evil;

Watch your step and save your life.

Proverbs 16:17

 

We are on the road of right living and it’s an

interesting road indeed. The interesting thing

about this road is, it bypasses evil!!!

I don’t think that was a mistake.

As we walk on this interesting road we have

a decision to make:

Keep walking, don’t turn to the left or the right,

look straight ahead or

get distracted by the evil. Stop and allow the evil

to take you off the path!

 

The warning to us is, “watch your step and save your life!”

 

As you walk on the road God has for you watch your step.

It bypasses close to evil, within touching distance!

God would not allow us to walk that way if it could destroy us!

One thing is most definite, the road to right living will

not be an easy one…..! Watch your step friends!!!

 

Rolain

 

 

Something really amazing……

Fools make a mock of sin and sin mocks the fools [who are it’s victims; a sin offering made by them only mocks them, bringing them disappointment and disfavor], but among the upright there is the favor of God. Pro 14:9

I would like to focus on the last part of that verse, the part that jumped out to me as I read it.

“But among the upright there is the favor of God’.

Please know His favor surrounds you as you go. His favor guides you in all your goings. Sinners don’t have His favor but you do. Don’t be discouraged. You have the favor of God and because of His favor doors will open, opportunities are realized, dreams come to reality. It’s because of His favor you win, it’s because of His favor the enemy will not be victorious in your life. It’s because of God’s favor that the enemies plans against you are stifled. Because of His favor you have hope. Because of His favor you have a fighting chance. Because of His favor your future is bright.

We have the favor of God…..!!!!!

Please help us understand what that means Lord. Give us a revelation of what having Your favor means. That is my prayer to You Lord……Amen!

Rolain.

Being “realistic” and it’s dangers……

“So it happened that the men Moses sent to scout out the land returned to circulate false rumors about the land causing the entire community to grumble against Moses – all these men died. Having spread false rumors of the land, they died in a plague, confronted by God. Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were left alive of the men who went to scout out the land. 
Numbers 14:36-38

Let us take a look at the report the men brought back:
– We went to the land to which you sent us and, oh! It does flow with milk and honey! Just look at this fruit!

– The only thing is that the people who live there are fierce, their cities are huge and well fortified. Worse yet, we saw descendants of the giant Anak. Amalekites are spread out in the Negev; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites hold the hill country; and the Canaanites are established on the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan. 

– But the others said, We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are. 
They spread scary rumors among the people of Israel. 
Numbers 13: 27-33

Moses had given them specific instructions when they went out to spy out the land and they brought back the information they gathered according to what was asked of them. Please note, as far as we know they did not fabricate anything- The walls were fortified, giants lived in the land and so on and so on. Everything was true yet the word calls it false!!! The spies focused all their attention on what they saw and forgot about God. Yes, there were giants in the land but they did not compare them to God. Yes, the walls were fortified but they did not compare them to God. They forgot about the God who parted the Red Sea, the God who destroyed the most powerful kingdom on earth at the time. There is a lesson for us in this story.

Any news that excludes God out of the equation is false.
Another thing to know is, your circumstances don’t endanger what God can and will do in your life. Your circumstances don’t affect God. And your circumstances don’t determine what you will have in the future. God can and, is turning your situation around!
Your circumstances might say there is no hope but the truth is there is hope.
Your circumstances might say you are done for but it’s not true.
Your circumstances might say the giants are too big but it’s false.
Your circumstances might say your financial status will never change but once again, it’s false.
Your circumstances might say sickness will win but it’s wrong.
Your circumstances might say your future is dark but it’s actually bright.

God has something to say if you will trust Him. Don’t believe the false news.

This is what I have been trying to get at. The spies thought they were being realistic when they brought back the news. They seen giants and they seen fortified cities. How could they conquer against such impossible odds? They failed to see God and and there report was called false.

There are so many things we face as people and there is a temptation to think that’s how it’s going to be. There is a temptation to throw in the towel and give up but God doesn’t want us to do that. He want’s us to know, there is another way – Him! He can turn your circumstances around just like that. He is God and He can do that. We just need to trust Him and not believe the “false” report. Amen!

Rolain

The mystery of The “Sand” Revealed…..!

You might be wondering what “sand” I am referring to! And no, this post is not about sand. Instead the sand I am referring to is the sand Naaman took with him……It had a lot of significance as I am about to show you.
With that said I would like to share one of my favorite bible characters with you. As I have already said, his name is Naaman. (2 Kings 1)
He was the commander of the army of the king of Syria.
The bible says he was a mighty man of valor but he was a leper.
This is not why he is one of my favorite characters. He is one of my favorite because he had an encounter with God which changed the direction of his life forever. God used Elisha to heal him of his leprosy.

When he experienced the power of God he made a decision to follow Him. He then makes a weird request to the man of God Elisha. He asks him for ‘two mules’ burden of earth!!! (2 Kings 5:17)
This is what he says,
For your servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offerings nor sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord.
In this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master [the king] goes into the house of [his god] Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, may the Lord pardon your servant in this thing. (2 Kings 5:17,18)

Naaman made a decision and he was committed to that decision and nothing was going to change that. The “sand” signified a change. It signified a change of heart. He chose God and he was not turning back! I get so challenged when I read his story. As I have made a decision to follow God I ask myself, am I as determined as Naaman? Am I committed and focused as him?
Are you as determined and focused and set as Naaman? He was an alien but when he saw God’s power he made a decision. He was probably more committed than most people in Israel at that time.

In this day and age we need to have the same determination and commitment. We cannot serve God halfheartedly!!! It’s either God or something else. Let us be like Naaman and make a wholehearted decision to serve God with everything within us!!!

Rolain