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

 

 

 

The failed rescue mission………

 

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

 

“Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed [over what he had done] and set his mind on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the sun went down to rescue him.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭6:14‬ ‭AMP‬‬

 

Daniel was about to be thrown into the lions den and the King

who at the time was one of the most powerful men tried to deliver

him. But for all his power and prominence he couldn’t help Daniel.

He labored until the sun went down but all his influence

couldn’t save Daniel!!

 

Man at his best is just a vapor.

 

In the fire, in the lions den we need to look to God. Daniel didn’t

rely on the King to save him. The word is very clear about where

Daniel looked to for help:

 

“Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel should be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no hurt of any kind was found on him because he believed in (relied on, adhered to, and trusted in) his God.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭6:23‬ ‭AMP‬‬

 

It was because of his trust in God that he was delivered from the lions,

not because of his trust in man.

God is the only one who can deliver you from the lions den!

 

As I look at my life I see how God put me in situations I had to

trust in Him completely. There were times people had to leave

so I could stop looking to them for help. It was a hard lesson

because at times there was no one. I had to trust in God and if

He didn’t come through I was finished! That’s how bad it was.

But I see now what He was doing. He wanted me to learn to depend

on Him alone! In all those times there wasn’t one time He let me

down. He always came through for me.

So I encourage you to look to God. Learn to trust in Him

completely. He can be trusted!

 

photo credit: Google images

 

Rolain

 

 

 

The man in chains……

Paul was one of the greatest apostles that ever lived. He was

a man who obeyed God 110%, no make that 150%, actually make

that 200%……I think you get the picture!  🙂  When I read the

life of Paul I am challenged by his obedience. Let’s look at the

things he accomplished because he was obedient.

 

He got to share the gospel with Felix who was Governor at

the time. He was a man who had lots of influence. 

Read Acts 24:10-26

 

Paul shared the gospel with King Agrippa and his wife

Bernice. God brought Paul before powerful men

and women to share the gospel.

Acts 25 and chapter 26

 

By the way he carried himself and his faith in God,

Paul was able to minister to the Roman soldiers

Read Acts 27:42, 43

 

Because of his obedience Paul ministered to a whole

tribe on the island of Malta.

Read Acts 28.

 

During imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote a lot of

the books in the new testament. It is said he wrote,

Ephesians Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

After imprisonment it is said he wrote Hebrews,

Titus, 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy.

 

Now for the crux of the matter. I will share a scripture that I

believe is the key that opened the door to all the ministry he did:

 

After several days of visiting, a prophet from Judea by the name

of Agabus came down to see us. He went right up to Paul, took

his belt, and, in dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet.

He said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem

are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and

hand him over to godless unbelievers.”

When everyone heard that, we and everyone there that day

begged Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to

Jerusalem. But Paul wouldn’t budge:

Why all this hysteria? Why do you insist on making a scene

and making it even harder for me?

You’re looking at this backward. The issue is Jerusalem is not

what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the

Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can’t you see that?

Acts 21:10-13

 

Wow right…..Paul had an understanding of obedience. He knew

being obedient allowed Jesus to work through him. And because

Paul was obedient, Jesus did a mighty work in him and through

him!

 

Let’s bring this principle home. God has a plan for each and

everyone of us but we can only walk in that plan when we are

obedient! That revelation hit me hard! I am in a situation where

I have a decision to make. I can either be obedient even though

it’s difficult and uncomfortable or disobey! But the word is very

clear, Jesus works through our obedience!

He has this amazing, uncomprehendible (if there is such a word)

plan for us. It’s just to big to fathom. I don’t think Paul knew all

that God had in store for Him but he simply obeyed, and

trusted! We need to do the same……

I want to live a life of obedience to God and I ask Him to

help me. I rebel a lot and I fight and push back but He wants

me to obey. He wants us to obey!

Will you learn a lesson from the man who lived a life of obedience?

Rolain

 

 

The Essence of God’s Dreams.

One of the main reasons for having this blog was to inspire people to pursue their God given dreams. We all have a dream given to us by God and we are all designed with a purpose. There is no one on earth born without a purpose, no one! We all have a mission to carry out from God but this is the thing, we have an enemy who doesn’t want us to fulfil all that God has for us. A pastor once said it like this, “the enemy is afraid of our assignment” because he knows how much of an impact we will have if we find out what our “assignment” is and carry it out! We all have an assignment from God, do you know what your assignment is?  Assignment, calling, dream, destiny call it what you want, do you know what it is?

I was reading a book on destiny the other day and there were a few very important points on the importance of God’s dreams that I would like to share with you. I hope these help you in identifying God’s plan for your life. The first thing that he said was,

– So here’s the not-so-small print that maybe you never read at the start of your journey: God’s dreams for you are ultimately not really about you. 
Oh don’t misunderstand. They’ll bring you some of the best days of your life; you will be fulfilled beyond any imaginable expectations. But God’s dreams take form only when they are about others, for the benefit of others. Loving them. Guiding them. Serving them. Influencing them. Filling their heads with dreams and hopes. There are no other type of God dreams.

Wow right!! God’s dreams are not about us but they are about people! His dreams for us are to be an impact in someone else’s life. There is no room for selfishness and pride in God’s dreams . And that is one way you can tell if the dream you have is from God, is it all about you getting what you want and you being comfortable or is it about people??!!

– God’s destiny for you will never be so trivial as building a kingdom for you to enhance your acclaim. Such is a kingdom of dust and lint.

I have already spoken about this in the last point. A person who has dreams of grandeur for himself and him alone is on the wrong path. But please don’t get me wrong here. It is OK to want a car a house, money and so on. Those desires are fine. The problem comes when those desires are the things that consume us. The problem is, when that is the only desire we have or they are more important than seeking God and touching people!!

– The dream He has prepared custom for you is explosively beautiful and alive. It’s about His glorious kingdom-a plan involving you from before there was time!

Do you believe that? The enemy has lied to us by telling us that God’s dreams for us are dull and boring! They are not. They are fun and exhilarating and fulfilling!!!

– This stunning dream always involves others. Others being freed, healed, convinced of who they really are, convinced that they can fly, convinced His dreams in them can come true.

– Think about it – God’s dreams for us reflect His heart. If we are not maturing in sync with His heart, how would we distinguish other-centered dreams from self-centered dreams?

– God wants to reveal Himself to us in authenticity. Because one of God’s dreams is that we influence others far more out of who we are than out of what we do. So above all else, your destiny requires that you be a maturing person.

I like it when the author says God’s dreams for us reflect God’s heart. And for me, that is why I think it’s important not to go through life aimlessly without a goal or direction because we are supposed to express God’s heart in the way He created us to do it. People get to see who God is when we walk in what He has called us to do! But to do that we also need to mature. We mature by taking responsibility for things in our lives. We mature by acting on the Word of God. Are you someone who is growing? Is your spiritual man growing stronger by the day or you are at the same place you were 5 years ago? Remember what he said, “God’s dreams for us require us to influence others far more out of who we are than out of what we do“.
I know you have the title Pastor, Bishop, Priest, and any other important title out there but God wants you to influence people out of who you are rather than your title!
What good is it calling yourself pastor but you have no self control and you are lazy? or what good is it being a fitness instructor but you eat like a pig and don’t exercise outside of the times you train people!! It does not work.

And that is the essence of God’s dreams. Let us pursue them with all that we have. If you don’t know the reason you were born ask God! He is eager to show you your purpose. He is a good God!!!!  🙂

Rolain