Is God Really Good?

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 NLT

If there is something we as sons and daughters of God need to always remember is that God is good. At His core of who He is, He is good. And it’s important to have that truth secured in your heart because the devil will try to challenge that truth by using the painful things we have been through, the heartbreak, the rejection, the loss, the unanswered prayers and so many other things. And we need to be careful to not listen to the lies he tries to tell us as he reminds us of the painful things that happened to us. A good example of that is with the people of Israel. God delivered them from 400 years of slavery but destroying Pharoah and his people but even on their journey to the promise land they doubted God. Their trust in him failed numerous times. Let’s look at what happened when they reached their destination.

“Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness! they complained. Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Numbers 14:1-3 NLT

God in His goodness had led them to the promise land to give them what He had promised but the people didn’t understand that. Instead they thought God wanted to kill them and their children!! And this kind of talk happens a few times in the desert.

The enemy wants us to believe God is a cruel God, he wants us to believe God is evil, unforgiving, mean, hateful, uncaring, unloving and so many other negative things but we can’t let him convince us because at the core of who God is He is good. He loves us so much.

So let me ask you this.

What do you believe about God in the difficult times, when your prayers haven’t been answered, when things are not going your way? Or let me ask it in this way. Do you believe God has got you in the midst of all the terrible things you have been through? Do you believe there will be a turnaround in your situation because He is good? Look at some of the people in the bible. Job went through some terrible trials but God showed him His goodness by revealing Himself to him and restoring double what he lost. Then there is Hannah who was barren. God gave her a son eventually. He showed his goodness to Abraham and Sarah by giving them a child in their old age and fulfilling the promise he made to them. And then David. Even though he sinned numerous times God in his goodness extended his grace and mercy to him. He called him a “man after his own heart”

God at His core is so so good. Hold on to that truth no matter what comes at you. As I close I want to share one more scripture;

He who diligently seeks good seeks [God’s] favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come upon him.”

Proverbs 11:27 AMPC

So because God is good we need change our expectations. We need to expect good. The Word says we must SEEK good because when we do that we seek God’s favor! We go through so many tough things that at times we just expect bad things to happen. “No good things happen for me” is what we tell ourselves but that’s contrary to God’s word. We need to expect and seek His goodness to show up in our lives. Expect Him to answer your prayers. Expect the breakthrough to come. Expect the door to open for you. If I could sum it all up I would say,

Expect Him to be good to you! Period.

So with that I have come to the end of the post.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Bless you friends!

Refuse to give up!

It’s easy in difficult times to throw in the towel. The enemy wants you to give up but no matter how hard things get you must not give up because the Lord has amazing things in store for you and by not giving up you receive what God has for you.

Paul want through a lot in his life but through all that he faced he never gave up. For a run down of all the things he went though read,

2 Corinthians 11:23-26 but I want to focus on a specific story.

Paul was in Lystra ministering and had healed a lame man from birth. But some Jews came from Antioch convinced the people to stone him. When they thought he died they dragged the body outside the city but Paul had not died. And this is what I want to focus on.

Paul nearly lost his life but instead of quitting and giving up, he got up and carried on with his mission. He  went to another town and this is what happened;

 

“They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.”

Acts 14: 21, 22

 

There was no stopping Paul. At the end of his life he had this to say about his life,

 

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7

 

What a testimony.

We can’t give up. In fact, we must refuse to give up. So through the hard times keep going. Trust God every step of the way and ask for His help because He helped Paul on his journey. There is a race to run and finish.

Bless you friends

Rolain

What do you have faith for today?

More than ever we need to walk by faith. And as we come to the end of 2020 and enter 2021

I believe God has amazing plans and new things in store for us but we can only receive those

things by faith. We are not going to achieve God’s plans for our lives by our flesh. The only way we are

going to do it is by faith.

 

But our faith is under attack. The enemy doesn’t want us to walk by faith. He wants us to be in fear, anxiety, 

doubt and so many other things. And with that I want to touch on two things that can stop us from 

walking by faith. 

 

1. Make sure you don’t let someone else’s lack of faith determine your faith.  

There is so much negativity around us. So many people are negative because of the things that are happening 

but if you are going to walk by faith you need to be careful who and what you are listening to, and what you are

watching. 

There are a lot of things in the world if accepted that can hurt your faith. 

 

A perfect example of this is found in the story of the Israelites when they were at the door of the promise

land.  They sent out twelve spies who went to spy out the land. When they came back only two people, 

Joshua and Caleb were fully convinced God had given the enemy over to them. They were ready to go 

claim what God promised them but the other ten spies saw things very differently. They were fearful, 

and they doubted God and because of their lack of faith they influenced an entire nation to reject what 

God promised them! That is a sobering thought. 

How different it would have been if they listened to Joshua and Caleb. 

 

What narrative are you following? 

The world has a narrative it wants you to follow that is contrary to the narrative God has. 

The only narrative you should be following is what God has told you and shown you in His Word 

and times you have spent with Him in prayer. 

 

       2. For faith to work make sure you are looking at what God has and what He can do instead of

looking at what man has. If you base your faith on what man has, you will limit yourself and your faith. 

 

God is the One you should be looking to always. He has everything you need. 

He sees the whole picture and knows what is best for you. Resolve in your hearts to look to Him 

more as you enter 2021. 

 

God has amazing things in store for you. 

It’s time to crank up your faith dial to a hundred and you do that by getting into His word and by spending 

more time with Him. He wants to give you everything He has prepared for you so get rid of the things 

that are stopping you from trusting Him fully. It’s not going to be easy but the journey is worth it. 

Keep trusting Him always! 

 

Rolain

 

 

Move ahead in faith…

“And the people grumbled and deplored their hardships, which was evil in the ears

of the Lord, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the 

Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.” 

Numbers 11:1, 2

 

The Lord was with the Israelites and expected them to respond in faith but that’s not what happened.

Instead of trusting Him when things got really difficult they responded in unbelief and fear and that was evil

in the eyes of the Lord.

 

Possessing the land of Canaan was an impossible task. Giants resided there.

But no matter how impossible the task was the Lord wanted His people to trust Him. He wanted them

to be confident in His power, strength, and faithfulness.

Sadly, that never happened. The Israelites shrunk back in fear. Because unbelief and fear filled their hearts

they couldn’t possess what God promised them.

 

The Israelites couldn’t move ahead because they didn’t have faith. Instead, they were pushed back because

of their unbelief. And that’s what unbelief and fear will do if you entertain them. They will push you back when

you are supposed to move forward.

 

“Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country and smote the Israelites

and beat them back, even as far as Hormah.” 

Numbers 14:45

 

The Lord doesn’t want us to be pushed back. The enemy wants that. God wants us

to move ahead in faith. It’s faith in God that will allow us to defeat the giants standing in our way.

It’s faith in God that will enable us to tell mountains to get out of the way as we make our way to the place

God has promised.

Because God is with you,

you can move forward confidently no matter how hard the journey is, and no matter

how intimidating the enemy is. Don’t let fear and unbelief dictate your response to God.

Always respond in faith!

 

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

The “bus stop”.

I don’t believe YAH wants us to ever settle in one place. We are on a journey and the destination

is heaven. But something does happen in this life that makes us lose our focus. It may be disappointment,

pain, really good times and the list goes on….

There are a variety of reasons we lose our focus and stop moving.

YAh showed me something the other day. A bus stop came to mind and he showed me how I had gotten

comfortable there because as you know,

you can never really set up camp at a bus stop. A bus stop is not really a destination in itself.

A bus stop accommodates people who are going somewhere and people who are coming from

somewhere but not an actual destination and that’s the place I got comfortable at. I can’t explain it

but I just thought that was the destination but I was so wrong. The settling was so subtle……if it wasn’t

for the Lord I would never have snapped out of it.

 

I got comfortable. I confused the place I am at as the destination when all it is, is a

bus stop. You cannot have a life at a but stop. It was never intended for that.

A bus stop helps you get to where you are really going and on this journey we are on there will be many

“bus stops”. But don’t mistake them for destinations because they are not.

So the goal is to always keep moving in YAH.

There is so much more journeying to be done. Don’t lose focus of where you are going.

Don’t get so comfortable at the bus stop that you think it’s the destination.

Something like that happened in the word. Let’s take a look at it,

 

“That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole

city was gathered together at the door.” 

 

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, 

and there He prayed. 

And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him and they found Him and said to Him, “everyone

is looking for you.” 

And He said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 

Mark 1:32-39

 

The disciples got it wrong. They thought they had arrived at their destination. Yeshua could have set up camp

there but He didn’t. He knew what He was called to do and because He knew, He also knew He hadn’t arrived

at His destination.

We can learn something from that story. We need to keep moving in what YAH has called us to do. You don’t

have to see the whole picture to move, you only need to move when He says move.

I don’t want to set up camp at the bus stop. The next bus is rolling in to take me to my destination but

there are many “bus stops” along the way. I need to constantly be aware of where I am and understand

the Lord is directing and guiding me.

 

What about you? Have you gotten comfortable at the “bus stop”?

Do you have an idea of Yeshua’s plan for your life?

 

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

 

 

A story like no other….!

 

Did you know your story is unique? The story God has written

for you is like no other. No one else has your story. That is how

great God is. He has given every man and woman a story and

that story is not the same.  Our stories are all unique. That

blows my mind.

I posted these thoughts on my Facebook page but I want to go

deeper. It’s important to know your story is unique.

Without that understanding you will live your life comparing

yourself to others. God never meant us to live someone

else’s life. I will say that again,

 

God never meant us to live someone else’s life!

 

No one else has your story. Your story is unique.

God is not lazy. He never copies and pastes stories.

And that’s why you have to very careful when judging others.

Everyone is on a journey.

 

Let’s look at the story of Hannah and Peninnah.

 

^” When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he would give to

Peninnah his wife and all her sons and daughters portions [of the

sacrificial meat].

But to Hannah he gave a double portion, for he loved Hannah,

but the Lord had given her no children.

[This embarrassed and grieved Hannah] and her rival provoked

her greatly to vex her, because the Lord had left her childless.”

1 Samuel 1:4-6

Hannah was on a journey. At this point her story had

only just begun but Peninnah didn’t understand that. She didn’t

understand God had a different story for everyone. As hard

as it was to understand and accept God had written a unique

story for Hannah.

Peninnah came in at a critical part of Hannah’s story thinking it

was the WHOLE story. How wrong she was.

God had something amazing in store for Hannah.

Don’t despise where you are at this moment in time. God is

the One who has written your story and He is so faithful!!

Please remember that your story is original. No one else

has a story like yours. There is no need to compare your story.

Run YOUR race and not the next person’s.

Let’s encourage each other in this friends.

God bless you

Rolain

Becoming that man…..

 

Being a male is a matter of birth but being a man

is a matter of choice

 

I love this quote because it is so true…..but I am

not here to discuss the quote. I am here to discuss

something more, something that has been stirred

in my heart this past weekend.

Our church had its annual conference which was

so powerful. It started on Wednesday evening and

ended on Sunday. The messages were all so relevant

and powerful but the men’s meeting we had on Saturday

stood out the most. I love our men’s meetings because

there is something powerful that happens when men

get together to worship the Lord!

 

My pastor was speaking about becoming THAT man in today’s

crazy world. He said as men we are on the road to becoming

THAT man. That got me thinking……..

 

I am committed to becoming THAT man!

But what does that really mean?

 

Becoming that man means making God first in my life.

I am not the man! God is the THE Man. He died for me

And He is the One who is directing my life.

 

Becoming that man means making a stand for purity!

We live in a sex-saturated world and as men the battle

is everywhere. There is no sitting on the fence for this

battle. A line has to be drawn, a decision must be made.

Will you get swept away in this sex-saturated world or

will you make a stand for purity?

 

I dictated a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes;

how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?

Job 31:1

 

Becoming that man means living by the word of God.

The word must be our guide. We can’t rely on our own

strength. As men we feel the need to show our strength but

we need to realize God wants us to trust Him. Our strength

doesn’t count for much in God’s eyes. Look to God and not

yourself.

 

How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking

heed and keeping watch [on himself] according

to your word [conforming his life to it].

Psalm 119:9

 

This is the thing men, the world doesn’t want men

to take their place. It doesn’t want us to walk in

what God has called us to. The world is distorting

the image of man. We have a lot of males but not

a lot of men! Don’t believe the lie…….

 

Men are not better than women, God just made us

different. It’s not about who is better, faster, cleverer….

God made man and woman in HIS image!

That means we are an expression of God, man and

woman!

I think we can all agree that God is strong and powerful.

There is nothing weak about God, so if we are an expression

of God why do we see women as weak and treat them like

they are insignificant????

God is all powerful. He doesn’t have one strong side (man)

then one weak side (woman)…but there are men who think

that by the way they treat women!

It makes me mad when men think they are better than women

just because they are men!!!

But God made women to express a part of Himself so please help me

understand why you think He would make them weak and useless

when He isn’t any of these things????

That kind of thinking has to stop.

(I don’t know where that came from because I didn’t plan

on talking about that)…..

 

Without a man leading a home, a family is lost!

The enemy is destroying our kid’s right under our noses.

We leave our kids in front of the TV and think that’s

parenting but that is wrong! We need to take responsibility

men. We must protect our family…..

We need to protect the women in our lives.

Would Eve have eaten the fruit if Adam had protected her

from the enemy??? She had to face the enemy alone and

deal with him alone! But things would have been different

if Adam stood up for her and protected her…..

Young man, you are called to protect. Don’t play with women’s

emotions. You should be protecting them!

The women you are playing with are precious in the eyes of the

Lord. He loves them and has a unique call on their lives….

Why do you think the enemy is working overtime to destroy

her?

 

As I end I hope I have challenged you to become THAT man!

A lot of people are waiting for us to walk into our calling

as men! The enemy will not win. I refuse……!

 

As a man I make a decision to be THAT man…..!

Will you be THAT man too?

 

Rolain

Who doesn’t need counsel…??!!!

We are all on a journey, a journey God has mapped out for us. But for that plan to take shape in our lives there is something we need. For us to be successful and accomplish what God has called us to do it’s important we realize the importance of advisors, counselors, and mentors in our lives. I will not say it is a must have but it is very important.
King David as mighty as he was had counselors.

Jonathan, David’s uncle, a wise and literate counselor, and Jehiel son of Hacmoni were responsible for rearing the king’s sons. 
Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, Hushai the Arkite was the king’s friend. Ahithophel was later replaced by Jehoiada son of Benaiah and by Abiathar. 
Joab was commander of the king’s army.  1 Chronicles 27:33-34

King David surrounded himself and his family with wise people. Even though he was king and even though He had a relationship with God he still had people who he could go to for counsel. This is a lesson for us too. We need to surround ourselves with wise people. We don’t need to be afraid to ask for counsel from people we deem as wise! We were not created to be an island. God created community for a reason.
Surrounding yourself with wise people is a very intentional thing. You have to go out and ask people. You have to humble yourself and go to someone who has been through more and ask for help.

I haven’t got to where I am by myself. There were times I just had no idea what I supposed to do but God brought people in my life who brought clarity to me. Your destiny is about other people and INVOLVES other people. You were not created to be a one man army! Reading the scripture I shared with you was a good reminder for me. If King David needed counselors and he was a man after God’s heart how much more do I need counselors?

Do you have someone who you can go to for advise and counsel from time to time. I don’t think it’s supposed to be all day everyday. God is the first point of call. King David always turned to God first and it seemed as he walked the road God marked out for him, God brought wise men into his life. Like I said in the beginning, having counselors is important. Counselors and advisors come in many forms these days. There is nothing that states your counselor or advisor must be someone who lives in the same area as you or must be someone who you can talk to face to face or must be the same colour or age or gender! Ask God to show you why certain people are in your life! Don’t limit yourself. One of my mentors is dead. I learn from him through the material he has left behind. Another counselor of mine lives on another continent who I have never met face to face! God wants you to accomplish your destiny. To make sure you accomplish it God sends you people to help. We just need to be humble enough to admit we need help and ask for help. God will not leave you alone.

Rolain

4 Lessons to learn from Joseph about destiny…..

Some time ago I wrote a post entitled, “3 lessons  from David about destiny“. Well this time I am going to touch on someone who is another inspiration to me – Joseph. His story was pretty amazing as you know and there are things we can learn from him about destiny.

1. Joseph had a dream but as we see, it was not all roses for him. Yes he had a dream but he had no idea what he was about to go through for that dream to come to pass. I don’t think he had the slightest idea he would be sold into slavery or be wrongfully accused. As far as he was concerned, he had a dream……
Please note, I am not trying to instill fear in you concerning dreams. All I want you to see and know is, there is so much more to your life than what you see.  There is a process that must take place. That process will involve testing. With testing comes reward, if you pass! Don’t be afraid of the testing, because God will be with you through it all. He was with Joseph when he was sold into slavery, He was with him when he was wrongfully accused. He was with him in prison. God was with him through it all…….He never abandoned him for a single moment! That is great news for all of us.

2. But the Lord was with Joseph, and he [though a slave] was a  successful and prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Genesis 39:2

This verse shows us, even though Joseph was in a hard place God was with him. Wherever you are just know that God is with you. If you are on the right path you will have favour.

3. But think of me when it shall be well with you and show kindness, I beg of you, to me, and mention me to Pharoah and get me out of this house. 
For truly I was carried away from the land of the Hebrews by unlawful force, and here too I have done nothing for which they should put me into the dungeon.   Genesis 40:14, 15

Joseph tried to take things in his own hands. He tried to direct his own life. He got tired of waiting on God. I can identify with Joseph. When the chips are down and nothing is working for you there is a temptation to take the steering wheel and drive but we always need to remember, God is control. He knows exactly what He is doing. I constantly try to keep this on mind always. He is in control and He knows exactly what He is doing.

This is the point. At times we try to do things on our own because we are not patient. We give up waiting on God because we think He has forgotten us or abandoned us. But that is not the truth. God knows exactly where we are.

4. After two full years, Pharoah dreamed that he stood by the river [Nile]. Genesis 41:1

Can you imagine how he must of felt. The butler was a free man but he never said anything to Pharoah for two whole years……..I wonder what he must of being thinking. Did he give up on God? Did he complain? The one thing he had to learn was patience. Yes he tried to take matters in his own hands but he had to be patient. He had to wait and trust in God. We will need to do the same. God’s call on our lives is not a day journey or even a year long journey. It takes a much longer time. Will you be patient and wait on Him?

And that is all I would like to share with you on the life of Joseph………God did amazing things through him. Please note that the way God worked in the life of David is completely different compared to the life of Joseph and it will be different for us. There are a few things we can learn that are universal but in the whole scope of things, God will work differently in each of our lives. The plan He has for us is exciting, fulfilling and amazing……Praise be to God, the maker of our dreams!!

Rolain

The problem with this moment…..

Happy 2014 to everyone!!! I hope I find you well. This year has so much potential. I really believe it is going to be a great year. As 2014 has come I realize there are things that need to be accomplished in my life. There have been things I have been trusting God for, for years and they have not come to pass. But my faith is in Him. A lot happened last year and I know there is so much more. Here is where it gets tricky though, I can see all these amazing things God has for me but my current reality betrays me. The challenge is to not get sucked into the present reality, what I see, taste and touch. This present reality with it’s trials and challenges and failures makes it hard to see ahead. There is such a temptation to think, this is it, God has done all He can, this is all He has destined for me!!
But that’s not the truth right? My present reality is not the ALL of God’s plan. It’s just a part of it. In fact, this is part of the journey and not the destination! It’s only by faith that I can go beyond what I see to reach what God has for me. It may seem like nothing is happening but it really is happening!!! God is behind the scenes making things happen. I will not allow my present circumstance to dictate who I am. God is the One who dictates who I am. I will not allow my present circumstance make me believe there is no hope because God says, He knows the plans He has for me, to prosper me and bring me to an expected end!! (Jeremiah 29:11) I will not allow my present circumstance to dictate what I can and can’t do.

Abraham was told he would be the father of many nations when he had no child! It must of being difficult but He made a decision to trust God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
His wife was barren, they were well advanced in years. His circumstances were saying the total opposite of what God had promised but he decided to trust in God.
His story gives me hope. There is hope. God has great things in store despite what people say, and despite what my circumstances are. God is in control……!!!!

That is what has been on my heart. My hope and prayer for you in 2014 is that you will always keep God first. Trust in Him with all of your heart. He can be trusted!! Looking forward to a great year…..   🙂

Rolain.