God Doesn’t Stay In a Box!

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built.”

1 Kings 8:27 ASV

God is so big and cannot be contained. Even Solomon the wisest man on earth acknowledged this truth.

He knew that the temple he built could not contain the God of the Universe.

We know God is big but do we REALLY know it?

The way we see God is determined by the way we have been conditioned in the past. That can be by people close to us, TV, news, books we have read and so much more.

But that needs to change. We need the limitations broken because God is crazy big.

This week I cried out to Him to break the box I have put Him in. There are so many big things I am trusting Him for and I feel like there are limitations I have put on Him. Sometimes we put Him in a box without even knowing it.

But, God doesn’t not stay in a box.

The only way we can break the negative conditioning about God’s bigness and greatness is by immersing ourselves in the Word of God which is the Truth. We need an increase of God’s presence in our daily lives because this is the thing, God is big but our view of God is small at times. So when we consume more of His Word and get into His presence our perception of God begins to get bigger, it begins to grow.

We need to reprogram our minds with the Word of God.

God wants to perform miracles in our lives but if we only see a weak, powerless and feeble God then how is that going to happen? Remember the Israelites and what they said when they arrived to the land God promised them?

“Let’s go at once to take the land, he said. We can certainly conquer it!

But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are! So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought too.”

Numbers 13:30-33 NLT

God doesn’t stay in a box. He is crazy big, He is the God of the universe and nothing is too big for Him. There is nothing He can’t do.

God break the box we have put you in and the limitations we have put on You!

Show us your greatness and awesomeness anew again!

Amen

Bless you friends

Rolain

A Place for The Young and a Place For The Old – Part Two

This is the last post in this two part series I have been doing.

Last week I spoke to the seasoned people and if you want to know what “seasoned” means I encourage you to go back and read last weeks post.

Last week I talked about how we really don’t have an expiry date. In fact the only expiry date we have is when we die. Everything before that is open season.

I also talked about how God can you use anyone no matter how young or old you are. Don’t let your age limit you.

Today I want to talk to the young people.

God wants to use you and He doesn’t care how old you are. This is the time to ignite that fire for him. It’s time to pursue Him with all that you have. Look at what happened to the boy with the few fish and loaves. Jesus used that little boy and look at David, Jonathan, Mary and so many other young people.

Even though there is a lot to do at school and life make sure you are putting God first.

Get rid of the distractions that can so easily hinder you from achieving what God has called you to do.

Parents, make sure you are speaking to your little ones about the great plans God has for them. Make sure they grow up knowing that they are not a cog in a huge machine but that God created them on a purpose to do amazing things. Teach them that God can use them at the age they are now.

Proverbs 22 verse 6 says,

Direct your children onto the right path and when they are older, they will not leave it.” NLT

As I close I want to say one more thing to the seasoned readers.

Last week I spoke about how Caleb went to Joshua and asked for his mountain at the age of 85 years of age. Age was just a number to him. But there is something else in that story I want to show you.

“Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, amd Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him.”

Joshua 14: 6 NIV

I will stop there. When Caleb went before Joshua to ask for his mountain, he didn’t go alone. He went the rest of the tribe of Judah. He managed to pass on his faith to the people he was leading. They too had faith and that is why they went with Caleb.

We all have something to pass on to the next generation. The experiences you have gone through and the lessons you have learned are for a reason. God has put so much in you. Not just to use to accomplish what He has called you to do but to pass on to, to the next generation. There is a whole generation that needs mentors, that need men and women of God to love on them and show them the way. Will you be that person to step up to the plate?

As I end remember that God can use anyone no matter how young or seasoned they are.

Don’t let your age limit you.

Bless you friends

Rolain

Don’t Be Impatient

“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Exodus 32:1

If only the Israelites were patient.

But they were not and because they were impatient they sinned. God had not forgotten about them. He knew where they were and He had a plan for them but the people let impatience get the best of them. And also note that Moses did not tell them when he would be back but they had an expectation of when he was supposed to be back and that expectation got them into trouble.

I am not going to sit here and say waiting on God is easy because it’s not. Courage is needed, to wait on God’s timing. But you can be assured of this one thing, He knows where you are at and what you need. He loves you and He doesn’t make you wait just for the fun of it. There is always a reason for the wait and one of those reasons is love. He loves you so much and wants the best for you.

So I want to encourage you to continue waiting on the Lord. He will come through for you. Look to Him and His strength as you wait.

God bless you friends

Rolain

One Great Thing About The New Year

Happy new year to you friends!

I hope you had a great festive season with family and friends. I also hope you got a time to rest, recharge and reflect. I don’t know about you but I am so excited for 2022. I know God has amazing things in store.

One great thing about the New Year is the prospect of something new. New beginnings, new opportunities, new doors and so on. Everything is new, new, new

But I won’t be talking about that today. I want to focus on something else.

Another great thing about a new year is the second chance we get to either make things right, to do things the right way, finish a project, repair broken bridges in a relationship, to correct some mistakes made in the previous year, and the list goes on. Whatever that thing is a new year brings with it a second chance to try again.

And this is important to know because a lot of people carry shame, guilt, anxiety, fear and so many other negative things from the past year which has a definite impact on the current year. Those people end up believing that the New Year has nothing different to offer them.

If you are one of those people I want to encourage you that the God we serve is the God of second chances. No matter how bad you have messed up He wants to give you a second chance. Take Jonah for example.

God called him to go preach to the people of Nineveh but he ran away from doing what God told him to do. But instead of disowning him or punishing him, God gave him a second chance to do the right thing,

“Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.”

Jonah 3:1-3

The Lord spoke to Jonah a second time and instead of running away like before Jonah grabbed the opportunity to do it right. And because he did Nineveh was saved from God’s punishment.

I also think of Peter who denied the Lord three times. One would think he blew it for good but Jesus gave him a second chance.

We serve a God of second chances. So as we are now in 2022 don’t let the mistakes and failures of 2021 stop you from having a great year. Take the guilt, shame, fear and anxiety you are carrying to the Lord’s feet. He has a second chance waiting for you.

Bless you friends

The Only Reason To Worry And Panic

There is only one reason you have to worry and panic and that’s if God is not with you.

If He has abandoned and disowned you then I would say you have plenty much

to fear.

There is a scripture where this sentiment is echoed.

“If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,

Let Israel now say-

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,

When men rose up against us,

Then they would have swallowed us alive,

When their wrath was kindled against us,

Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,

The stream would have gone over our soul:”

Psalm 124:1-8

The author is thinking about what would happen if God was not on their side.

He sees how the enemy would totally annihilate them. They would have no chance without God.

And that’s what I am talking about here.

Without God on your side then you can worry, panic and fear.

But that is not the case with you and me because He is with us. He is fighting for us.

When enemies stronger than you come against you, the Word says, He is your support.

So bring Him your fears, and worries. He will not leave you helpless friends.

Bless you

Rolain

Thinking about the next generation…….

It’s been an amazing weekend indeed.

If you didn’t know, I work at my church’s children’s ministry. It’s such an honor

working there.

This weekend was amazing because we had a grade seven graduation. Grade seven’s

are twelve year old’s and every year we release them from children’s ministry with a

dinner and graduation. The dinner happens on a Friday night and the actual graduation

happens on Sunday in the main service. It was really emotional because as leaders we

have been with the children from the time they were six. So seeing them become

men and women of God before our very eyes is something so amazing that cannot be put into words.

My desire for them is that they grow deeper into YAH and not stray from the

path they are on.

 

But that got me thinking about the next generation. We need to do all that we can to teach them

the way of the Lord!

You may not be serving in a children’s ministry like I do but I want to challenge you,

 

Is there something you can do?

 

I encourage you to read Deuteronomy 6:6.

I know it addresses the parents but we can get involved!

David writes in the book of Psalms,

 

“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might

to another generation, your power to all those to come. “

Psalm 71:18

 

There is a generation that is coming that needs to know there is a God who

loves them and has a plan for their lives.

There is a generation that needs to know there is a God who will never forsake them.

There is so much they need to know about YAH and His ways……

 

The enemy doesn’t want the next generation to grow up knowing YAH.

He wants to take them out. But we can’t let him!

When YAH sees you, He doesn’t just see you, He sees the generations in you.

Look at Abraham.

YAH had a plan for his life and that plan included the generations in him!

So I will ask the question again,

 

Is there a way you can touch the next generation?

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Build right!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

^” And after this one rose up Judas the Galilean, [who led an uprising] during the time of

the census, and drew away a popular following after him; he also perished and all his

adherents were scattered.

Now in the present case let me say to you, stand off (withdraw) from these men and let

them alone. For if this doctrine or purpose or undertaking or movement is of human origin,

it will fail (be overthrown and come to nothing);

But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop or overthrow or destroy them;

you might even be found fighting against God!”

Acts 5:37-39

 

As I read this scripture a few thoughts ran through my mind.

Are the things I am doing of God or of human origin? Am I 100% certain that God

is in it?

Gamaliel the Pharisee understood this principle.

He knew that if something was birthed of God it could not be stopped!

No matter how hard that thing was fought and resisted it would not be

stopped. Seek God’s guidance in all that you do. There is a blessing in that.

God cares about what you are doing today.

 

In all that you do make sure God is in it. Make sure it’s born of God and not man.

If it’s born of man it will not last. It was be stopped and burned up.

Make sure you are not using your time on the wrong things.

If you are not sure if what you doing is of God then pray.

If you not at peace about anything you doing then that’s a good indicator

it’s not from God.

God wants you to be focused on the right things.

He doesn’t want you to waste time on the wrong things.

Ask Him to come and make things clear.

He cares about you and is passionate about you accomplishing

the things He has for you.

As I close I want to encourage you with one more scripture,

 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the guards stand watch in vain.”

Psalm 126:1

 

Rolain

Take responsibility for your life……

 

Hi everyone!

I have a question I would like to ask you?

Are you responsible?

I would guess the majority of you if not all of you would say yes.

I too would like to think I am responsible. I pay my bills, I make

sure everything that is supposed to be working is working.

So to sum it up I think I am quite responsible.

But something happened a few days ago to make me question

that. Let me tell you about it…..

 

A few days ago…..

 

A friend asked me to go with him to get his car looked at by a

mechanic. My friend had a mechanic but he wanted a second opinion

hence his trip to a second mechanic.

The news wasn’t good. The mechanic told my friend about other

problems that needed immediate attention. The mechanic asked

my friend a few questions about some of the problems. From the

mechanic’s point of view some of the problems could of been

avoided if my friend took a little more interest in his car.

My friend defended himself. He told the mechanic he wasn’t good

with cars and didn’t understand them. That is why he had a

mechanic in the first place.

The mechanic asked him about another problem but my friend

had no clue how to answer.

Ever time he was asked something he would blame the mechanic.

 

After we left my friend and I started talking.

We drew a few crucial conclusions from what just happened.

 

Responsibility and accountability.

My friend didn’t know anything about cars but that didn’t mean

he had to give up responsibility to his mechanic. By doing that

he was giving up accountability. He was no longer accountable

for his car because he had given the responsibility to his mechanic

and that is why he had no answers for the second mechanic.

Crazy right!

 

Let me me take it a bit further. We do this in life.

It goes something like this,

 

I can’t be all that God wants me to be in my country because

of what’s going on. The government is not giving me opportunities

to succeed.

 

It’s my parents fault that I am where I am. They never let me do

anything.

 

My pastor never singles me out. If he did I would do better!

 

And so so on and so on……

 

We need to take responsibility for our lives.

God is our Lord and He wants us to take responsibility of our

lives. That’s why we have the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t want us giving

away responsibility to anyone else.

Remember, when you give someone else responsibility say for example

to succeed, you automatically give up accountability to that person.

 

It’s good to have mentors, coaches, pastors and teachers but they

are not responsible for who you will become. They have a say in it but

not the final say. You are the one who decides!

It has to start with you. You are the one who must take responsibility.

You are accountable for your life and no other man.

There is only one person qualified to be responsible for you

and that’s Jesus!

 

As I close I would like you to think about your life.

Have you given up responsibility for it to a system, government, or

people?

The only person you should be surrendering to is Jesus. He has an

amazing plan for your life. He created it!!!  Apart from Him there

is no one else you should be surrendering to. I am not talking about

revolting against leadership or refusing to learn from people.

That’s not what I am saying.

I am challenging you to take responsibility for your life.

You decide to learn, you decide to work hard, to go deeper into God, to

be all that God has for you. You do that. Don’t wait for someone

to come and do those things for you.

Bless you friends….

 

Rolain

 

What God expects today……

“For it is like a man who was about to take a long journey,

and he called his servants together and entrusted them with

his property.

To one he gave five talents [probably about $5000], to another

two, to another one-to each in proportion to his own personal

ability. Then he departed and left the country. ”

Matthew 25:14

 

I shared this scripture because it illustrates perfectly where I am

at the moment. God has been speaking to me about the talents He

has given me. I haven’t been faithful with them I am sad to say.

I have been slacking for lack of a better word.

I haven’t been living to my full potential and I know it!

 

I was the man who was given the one talent who hid it in the

ground. But this is the thing, the only way to get to the five

is being faithful with the one talent!

 

I want you to think about something along the same line,

 

Is getting the five talents the main goal or is it being

faithful with however many talents you have?

 

They are both important but I think being faithful with the talents

you currently have is more important.

 

At the level you are at are you being faithful? (are you faithful

today?)

If you have one talent, are you being faithful?

Are you faithful with the two talents God has given you or

are you looking at the guy or girl with the five talents and

wishing you were them??

 

God wants us to be faithful with the talents He has given us.

 

For me, it means being faithful with this blog, being faithful with

my job, and being faithful in the areas of ministry I serve in (those

are my two talents metaphorically speaking).

God is looking at my faithfulness in those areas.

Getting the five talents is not the main goal.

Being faithful with the two is.

 

I am walking in His amazing purpose when I give 200%

into what He has given me to do now, no matter how small

it seems.

 

When increase, promotion and growth come (which always

do)  I will still be required to be faithful. God will still expect me

to bear fruit.

But it starts now. I should be bearing fruit with the two talents

I have right now. There will be no progress if I sit on my talent.

There will be no blessing in my life if I am not moving!

 

As I end here I would like you to think about a few things.

Are you faithful with the talents God has given you?

If not what can you do to change that?

Are you envious of other people who seem to have

more than you?

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

Why we need to endure in a broken world…..

This is crazy. There is so much bad happening in the world

at the moment. It’s enough to make you go crazy.

And it’s not just in one place, no. It’s everywhere. War, famine,

natural disasters, economic meltdown, and so on. You don’t

have to go far to know all the bad that’s happening in the world.

At times, the bad gets really overwhelming. It all feels so hopeless.

What is the answer in such perilous times and make no mistake

about it, we are in very perilous times. If you are not careful

your faith can get snuffed out by the bad that is happening around

you. I deliberately moderate the amount of news I ingest.

It’s guaranteed that if I spend a significant time watching the

news or reading it I will be left in a state of fear.

In times like these the prospect of heaven seems really

appealing.

 

“God will wipe away every tear from thier eyes; and death

shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and

mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions

and the former order of things have passed away. “

Revelation 21:4

 

I don’t know about you but I want that.

 

Things on earth can

be so diffcult so what is the answer?

Does God enjoy seeing us suffer?

Does He want us to have a hard life?

Does He have a plan in the midst of such tragedy?

 

I have to say, being born in Zimbabwe makes it a bit

easier to deal with what’s going on in the world. Our country

has gone through some incredible challenges which I have

talked about countless times. We have had to trust God

with everything we have got. The pressure we have

experienced has forged iron in us. The people who have

stayed and endured have come out stronger in faith.

 

God has a plan for keeping us in this broken world. In fact

I want you to see how imperative it is you endure all the

pain and hardships on this earth. Yes, we are just passing

through and yes we are not citizens of earth but we need

earth more than we think. Look at what James 1:2-4 says,

 

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are

enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into

various temptations.

But let endurance and steadastness and patience have full play

and do a thourough work, so that you may be [people]

perfectly  and fully developed [ with no defects], lacking in

nothing. “

 

 

Let me be clear, without the trials, and pain we encounter

on a daily basis we would not be fully developed. That’s what the

word is telling us. There would be no endurance, patience and

steadfastness built into us. We would be incomplete without hard

times and storms.

 

(let that sink it for a bit)

 

We need heaven but at this moment we need to endure on

earth for a bit longer! You may be fed up with the craziness

that is happening all around you but hold on, don’t give up!

God has a plan and He is in control.

 

So when something crazy happens to you or you hear of

bad things happening in the world don’t fret or panic. Like

James said, we need to count it all joy when those things come.

Instead of destroying us those things make us grow into the

people God created us to be.

Don’t run away from trials and storms.

Look to the Lord.

In a world so broken God wants us to step up, not back down.

 

Let me say it again, without pain, without trials, without storms,

without hard times we will not be complete. We need not pray

for those times but when they come our way our trust should

be found in the Lord…..

He is a good God who is directing our every step through the

most intense darkness the world has ever seen.

Will you shrink in fear when you hear or read of all the craziness

happening in the world or will you allow God to build patience,

endurance and steadfastness in you??

That is the question….

 

Bless you!

 

Rolain