The Power of Giving…….

There is power when we give. The thought of the day is taken from Proverbs 11:24 which says,

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.  (Message)

Does your world seem small? Do you want it to be bigger? Then give! What a beautiful picture this verse creates. As we give our world becomes larger and larger. This was a revelation for me. I have not been consistent in my giving this year. At the start of the year I made a decision to give differently. I wanted to stretch myself every time I gave but I have been very inconsistent. When I read the scripture I just shared I got challenged. I saw giving in a new light. As I give my money, time, energy, resources, love, patience, attention and so on my world is growing larger and larger but as I withhold those things my world is getting smaller and smaller!!!

I don’t want my world to grow smaller instead it should be getting larger and larger!!! I declare it is growing larger and larger!!! Is yours? No wonder the word of God says, “I am more blessed when I give than when I receive”    Acts 20:35

The choice is yours. What is it going to be??

Rolain.

 

Is Your Life Balanced?

There needs to be a balance in our lives. A lot of Christians like to get stuck in one truth and that’s all they ever see. Some of us get stuck in prosperity or giving, or faith forgetting the other important things that make up Christianity. We need to strike a balance in our walk. It is not one or the other thing but it is all those things that make us successful.

 At bible school the lecturer made a very interesting observation. He said a lot of Christians pray and pray but don’t praise. He then told a true story about a traveling pastor who was sick. Every where this pastor went he asked people to pray for him but nothing changed. His sickness remained. One day the pastor went before God and asked Him why he was still sick despite the countless prayers being offered for him. God showed him a vision of measuring scales. On one scale was praise and the other was prayer. The scale which was prayer was filled and it far outweighed praise. God then told him that the reason nothing was happening was because there was no praise in his life. The man began praising God everyday and within no time he was healed of his sickness completely!!! That is the power of prayer and praise. The two go hand in hand.

Let me show you this principle in action in scripture. In Acts 16:23-36 we read about Paul and Silas.

In verse 25 up to 26 it reads, “but about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved; and all the doors came open, and everyone’s chains came off.
Notice, they prayed first but only as they praised God did the deliverance come through. A lot of the time we have prayed and prayed but with no answer while God was waiting for us to praise Him! There is power in prayer, no doubt but there is also power in thanksgiving and praise.

For another example we are going to look at 2 Chronicles 20. In verse 2 we read how Jehoshaphat got some disturbing news about a great army coming towards him. In his fear, he prayed to God for help. But notice that he didn’t get his deliverance then. The Lord answered his prayer but he didn’t get his manifestation then.  The manifestation only came when he praised God! The enemy still advanced after he prayed but it is only when he praised that the deliverance came.

It is the same with us. We should pray, we NEED to pray but it should be coupled with praise! Is your life balanced? Is your scale balanced? This is for all of us. I know that my scale is not balanced. My praise and thanksgiving is very low but I want it to increase!

Praise is acting like we have the answer – David Divelbiss

I have been so challenged by this word, I hope you have too. Let us practice praying and praising. Our praise is an act of faith towards God. It is our praise to God that releases our faith! Prayer is powerful, praise is powerful but together you become unstoppable!

God bless

Rolain

 

What is the cost of helping others?

I was reading my bible the other day when i came across a scripture. It’s not the first time i have read it, in fact it is one of my favourite scriptures. That scripture really ministered to me personally. It resonated deep within me. There is nothing better than scripture speaking to you. I am not talking about just reading your bible. What i am talking about is getting a “rhema” word. The word that speaks to your heart at the appropriate time. At a time when you need it. It feels like God is speaking to you directly. That word.
The scripture i am speaking to you about is in Psalms 54:4 and it says: Behold, God is my Helper and Ally; the Lord is my Upholder and is with them who uphold my life.

What a scripture right?! But on this day, i had come across this scripture and saw something i never saw before. I could not believe that i hadn’t seen it before but here it was jumping out at me. This is what i seen, “the Lord is my Upholder and is with them who uphold my life”.
The Lord is the One who holds me up but He also upholds them who uphold us. This last statement blew me away. God is also watching over those people that bless me and care for my well being. People who take the time to speak into my life and help me when i need help. He upholds those people as well.
So a question came to mind as i was reading that scripture. Are you upholding others? Do you place value on building other people because I do! God places value on upholding people.
This is what hit me about this scripture. I realised how i love recieving gifts. I take pride in gifts people have given me. But it shouldn’t stop there. God wants us to be a blessing. He wants to bless us but He wants us to desire being people who bless other people as well.

In Acts 20:35 we read: It is more blessed (makes one happier and more to be envied) to give than to recieve.
It is more blessed to give than to recieve. This is a value we need to learn to adapt more and more. I live in Africa, a land of boundless wealth which has not being tapped into because we have this “feed me” mentality! Like my Pastor asked, as a nation who have we given to? It’s always give, give and not “how can we bless other nations”!!! But we are going to get there someday. We are the people who are going to change that.

I have seen how i had adopted this same mentality. But that is changed now. God will uphold me as i uphold other people especially of the household of faith! If i concern myself with helping other people God is sure to help me. But a word of warning, don’t do this because you can get something. God can see your heart. Are you being motivated by love or a selfish ambition to be blessed? It has to be by love that we uphold other people. We need faith as well.

Where are you concerning helping other people? Remember, it’s more blessed to give than to recieve. God will uphold you when you uphold someone else. Have that as a value because God values helping people. Have a vision when it comes to blessing people. Make it big because as you do God will uphold you. Amen.

Rolain.P

What does it mean when God promises you something?

This is a totally legitimate question. I have known the answer for quite a while. But recently i had a deeper revelation of the answer. So i would like to share it with you.

What does it mean when God promises me something?
It means that i get what He has promised me. Easy right. God is a God of His word. If He promises you prosperity then its yours. If He says you will have long life, then long life it is.
The point is this, God will give you what He has promised you.
But this past week He has been showing me something i never really had a full revelation off.
There is more that meets the eye than just being given something by God.
There is a process you need to go through. It’s not actually a process, it’s a fight. You are going to have to fight if you want to recieve what God has promised you.

Let me give you an example of what i am talking about.
I have a company which i know is from God. But even as i know God spoke to me about it i still have to make it work. It’s not going to work by itself. I need to strategise and plan. I have to invest money and time and effort into it. God has made me responsible for what He has promised me. I would be a “wicked steward” if i just sat back and expected everything in my company to fall into place just because i thought it was ordained by God! It doesn’t work like that.
It’s the same with married people. There is work involved, hard work. I have heard of couples who have told amazing stories of how God brought them together supernaturally and are fighting divorce! The principle is the same for them as well. You have to fight to obtain and keep what God has promised you. Even if an angel had to come down today and tell you that you are chosen by God to do something, you would still need to get up and work at what you have been told. In other words you would still need to do your part.

What does it mean when God promises me something?

I hope you beginning to see the full answer of that question. He does not let us go through all that just to be mean or difficult. He allows us to go through that for our benefit. He does that so we can grow! He does that so we can trust in Him completely because even though He gives us what He has promised us we cannot obtain them in our power. It’s impossible to obtain the promises of God in our own strength. It cannot be done. Look at the Israelites.
God had a promise land for them. A land flowing with milk and honey. But before all that they had to get free from Eygyptians. In the natural Israel had no chance but God delivered them with a strong hand. In the desert God watched over them. A pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night to lead them. In there own strength it was impossible to guide themselves to the promise land.
Just know that God wants to lead you to what He has promised you. He has great plans for you and He wants you to look to Him for help and guidance. That is how good He is. He wil not leave us by ourselves.

So the Israelites get to the promise land and we see that they have to fight the residing nations. This is the land God promised them. But that didn’t mean they didn’t need to fight. They had to fight those surrounding nations for what God promised them. They still had to maintain their trust in God even though they got to the promise land. We are called to live by faith and without faith we cannot please God. Even when we get what God promised us we need to trust Him.

I hope you are getting a revelation of what it means to walk in God’s promises. My desire is for you to play your part in what God has promised you because there is a part you have to play as well. I also want you to see what it means when God promises you something. It’s important that you go through the trials and challenges because like i said, it makes you stronger. God is truly good. Really good.

And on that note that is what it means when God promises you something! !

Rolain.P