He gave him back his strength…

“He answered them, The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength, He Himself

said to me, Pick up your bed and walk! 

John 5:11

 

For thirty-eight years the enemy had stolen the man’s health. For thirty-eight years he was under the

power of the enemy. The enemy thought he had won. But he was wrong. The story was not over.

 

The enemy is all about taking stuff away from us. From the moment he was cast out of heaven he

has been stealing, destroying and killing. he doesn’t want us to have the good things God has for us.

But there is some really good news for us.

 

“He answered them, The Man who healed me and gave me back my strength, He Himself

said to me, Pick up your bed and walk!

John 5:11 (emphasis mine)

 

Jesus gave the man back his strength which enabled him to walk again. The enemy’s hold on

the man was broken.

As I read this there are things the enemy has stolen from me that I want back.

The Lord came to restore what was stolen from me. He wants me to have all the goodness

and blessings He planned for me and so it is with you.

 

What has the enemy stolen from you? The Lord wants to give you back what the enemy has stolen.

It may take a day, a month or years but the Lord wants to restore to you what has been taken. The enemy

might think he is in the driving seat but he never was and will never be.

The Lord is gracious and merciful and fights for us!

 

Rolain

Be deliberate about what you think on daily.

What are you thinking about every day? Have you thought about what you think about lately?

I had to train myself with my thoughts. It’s crazy how easy it is to let your mind wander

to thoughts of defeat and hopelessness.

Just last week I was wrestling with thoughts of inadequacy. Someone said something to me and I

had to catch myself in the moment. I was not about to accept the words that were spoken to me.

I was not about to let that word take root in me.

 

You need to know the enemy is not taking a back seat when it comes to

your thoughts. He is trying to get you to think a certain way, in a way that is destructive. He is not waiting

for you to think negatively. He is being proactive in affecting the way you think.

So must we take a back seat then when it comes to our thoughts? No!

We need to be vigilant and proactive.

 

There are so many opportunities to think negatively these days. We need to be vigilant when it comes

to guarding our minds. Let’s look at what the word says,

 

“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and 

gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh

and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. 

Philippians 4:8

 

Let’s take this word to heart. This is our offensive attack against what the enemy is trying to do.

If we are going to protect ourselves against the world’s infiltration we need to be proactive about what we

think about. Like I said before, there is so much opportunity to think negatively about our lives and

everything going on around us. Let’s be deliberate about our thoughts. Have a plan!

 

ACT ON IT: Right down ten things (using the Philippians 4 model) that you can think about on a daily basis.

What do you think about when you think about your life? 

Write down three things you feel YAH has spoken to you about concerning your life. 

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

A word to the rejected, outcasts, and nobodies…..

At that time Jesus began to say, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [and I acknowledge openly and joyfully to your honour], that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and learned, and revealed them to babies [to the childish, untaught, and unskilled].
Yes, Father, [I praise You that] such was Your gracious will and good pleasure.  Matt 11:25,26

We serve an amazing God. He really does great things. This is the will of God, to call the childish and the untaught and unskilled. Can you imagine if God chose us according to the world’s criteria?? A lot of us would be in some serious trouble!

For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.
[No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

You may be unpopular and made fun off but know God has a plan for you. You may think you are a nobody because of where you stay but know that God has a plan for you. People may think you are a complete loser because you can’t talk properly but God has a plan. Your teachers may have written you off but God hasn’t. This is the way He works. He takes the foolish things of the world and uses them to do great things. He uses them to confound the wisdom of the world. Listen to what Jesus says at the end of Matthew 11;26, Yes, Father, [I praise You that] such was Your gracious will and good pleasure. 

Looking at my life I see this truth so clearly. I was nothing and I was a nobody. I was made fun of at school because I stuttered. I wasn’t good at sports, I wasn’t good at academics and to top it of I was being abused at home. My dad was an alcoholic and abusive, please note, WAS. My parents had a divorce. So from the world’s perspective there was no hope of me doing anything of worth. I was written off but praise God, He didn’t. He had a plan for me all along. He took this nothing (me) and lifted me up and continues to lift me up higher. The amazing thing is He is doing that for you too because that is the way He works. You are not a nobody. You are special in the eyes of God.

Rolain

This Is The God We Serve!!!

God is so great and amazing and we ought not to forget that. We need to have things that constantly remind us of this truth. I was reading the Word of God this morning and I came across another amazing passage. It talks about God’s great faithfulness and mercy. Be encouraged as you read it.
I wrote about the Israelites in one of my previous posts and I will continue in this one because this passage of scripture writes about them. We can learn a lot about God from their story. We can also take encouragement from them. So let us continue.

They refused to obey, nor were they mindful of your wonders and miracles which You did among them; but they stiffened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain, that they might return to their bondage [in Egypt]. But You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,slow to anger, and of great steadfast love; and You did not forsake them.
Nehemiah 9:17
– We know this story too well. It is when the spies are sent out to spy out Jericho. When they get back to camp the ten spies tell the other Israelites they don’t stand a chance against the giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb are the only two spies who tell the people that they can conquer the land. Anyway the people believe the ten spies and decide to go back to Egypt. Please understand that they were at the door of the promise land. All they had to do now was step in. But they didn’t. They failed in their faith to God. But even in the midst of all this God did not forsake them. This is the God we serve!
He is ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great steadfast love toward us. He will not forsake us.
God will not forsake you. He cares for you. You may think God has had it with you but He is with you. You may think He has had enough of you because of your sins but He will not forsake you.

Let us look at another verse.
Even when they had made for themselves a molten calf and said, This is your god, who brought you out of Egypt, and had committed great and contemptible blasphemies,
You in Your great mercy forsook them not in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night to light the way they should go.
Nehemiah 9:18,19

Are there things in your life that are gods? There is only one God and He created the universe. He is Jehovah, the God Almighty. I was shown how I made a certain thing in my life a god. It was a hard reality for me. I realised it had to stop. I had to stop exalting this other thing above God. It has been hard but I keep looking to God for help. But as I was on this journey I thought God had abandoned me. I was so wrong. God is with me and He will never forsake me. God never forsook the Israelites when they made the golden calf. Instead, He kept directing them. He protected them as they travelled. When they realised the error of what they were doing and came to Him, He forgave them. And it is the same for you. God will not forsake you. Confess your sin. It doesn’t help to hide your sin. He is gracious and merciful towards you.

I will stop here but there are many more stories about His mercy and graciousness. Remember, He will not forsake you.
This is the Great God we serve!!!

Rolain.P