What was his confidence based on?

“When they had come, he looked on Eliab [the eldest son] and said, Surely the Lord’s 

anointed is before Him.” 

1 Samuel 16:6

 

Samuel thought his job was a success when he saw Eliab.

We must remember Samuel was sent to anoint a king, so the person he would anoint

was not ordinary. He would have something that separated him from everyone else.

So when Samuel looked at Eliab’s physical appearance he was convinced he was the one.

He had the muscles, the height, the intelligence, and was well spoken.

What Samuel saw convinced him Eliab was the one but the Lord said something that made

him change his mind;

 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, 

for I have rejected him. 

For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord 

looks on the heart.” 

1 Samuel 16:7

 

“Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature; for I have rejected him.” (emphasis mine)

 

I like to imagine that Eliab was the “Dwayne Johnson” of his time. He had everything a man would

want. He was a first born, an ultimate warrior, had the voice, and so on. Who wouldn’t want to be like him?

But the Lord rejected him!

The Lord only rejects those who reject Him (Matthew 10:33) so that’s what must have happened here.

Eliab trusted in himself. He didn’t need YAH.

His confidence was in himself. He didn’t look to YAH for help.

We can conclude that Eliab didn’t have a relationship with YAH.

 

There is a lesson we can take from this.

Where is your confidence? Are you depending on yourself, your resources, your education,

your upbringing?

Are those things stopping you from trusting the Lord.

The word is very clear about what YAH is looking at? He is not impressed with our show of strength.

He wants us to look to Him. He wants a relationship with us.

While Eliab was wrapped up in himself, David his brother was in the field getting closer to YAH.

His relationship with YAH was getting stronger and stronger.

He trusted the Lord completely. The Lord was his consuming passion night and day. He

communed with the Lord daily. He sang songs to Him.

 

The Lord called him a man after His own heart.

The Lord wants our hearts friends not our “strength”.

He is not impressed when we try to go at life on our own steam.

He wants to be first in our lives, not second.

He wants our hearts set on Him and nothing else.

 

ACT ON IT – Is the Lord first in your life?

What is stopping Him from being first?

 

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

 

 

Nine months later…….

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time

of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. 

But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, 

1 Samuel 12:26, 27

We all know what happened here. David slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife but to cover it up he got Uriah

who was a faithful solider to him killed! Bathsheba may not have known what David did but the point is she became the king’s wife. She may not have had a say in any of this either. A king was free to do whatever he wanted in those days.

When I read this story a thought came to me. Between Uriah being killed to Bathsheba giving birth to a son was

at least nine months. I don’t know how long the time of mourning was but all we know is it was at least nine months

when all this took place. David was in sin for nine months! He knew taking someone’s wife was sin. He knew murder

was a sin. David loved God. He had an intimate relationship with Him but David was blinded in this season. This post is

not about how bad David was. We are all sinners. David sinned but so do we.

What I want to show you though is how as sinners sin can destroy us. During this ‘nine months’ we hear nothing.

There is no Psalm that we read during that period! We don’t hear of David’s exploits during that time. Nothing was recorded during that time. David was in sin and he didn’t even know it!

If that could happen to David, a man after God’s heart then surely it could happen to us. And please note, David

didn’t snap out of it by himself. He didn’t realize what he was doing by himself. God intervened!!!! If God did not intervene who knows how long it would of gone on for?

And this is what this post is about……God intervened!

God did not leave David in his sin. He saved him. By God’s grace David was disciplined and forgiven! That is good news for us indeed.

We will do crazy things and left to our own we will not win, BUT……But God does not leave us to ourselves. He is watching over us.

He has extended His grace and mercy to us! We serve a really great God! He sent His son to die for us!

I was so encouraged when I got that revelation. God is for me and no matter how crazy it gets God will help me. I hope it’s an encouragement to you as well.

Generous in love – God, give grace! 

Huge in mercy – wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt, 

soak out my sins in Your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been; 

my sins staring me down. 

Psalm 51:1-3

 

But that is not the end of the story. God turned this dark and terrible situation for good.

David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son. When the son was born they

named him Solomon. God had a special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God’s beloved).

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

Solomon would not have been born if David and Bathsheba never met. I am not saying what David did was right. He sinned! What I am trying to say though is God turned a bad thing into something wonderful. And He will do the same thing for us. We may think our sin is too much and God cannot use us but that is not true. God has forgiven you and will turn what the enemy meant for death into life…..

He has amazing things for you despite what you have done. Sin does not define who you are anymore, God’s grace does. He is a truly amazing God!!!

Rolain

 

 

The truth about sin…..

What does God see when He looks at us? Does He see our sin, faults and failures? The answer to that question is found in the post you

are reading. It’s just one of the ways God sees us.  Let’s look at the scripture below,

That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but might keep His commandments
And might not be as their fathers – a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their hearts aright

nor prepared their hearts to know God, and whose spirits were not steadfast and faithful to God.
Psalm 78:7, 8

They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk according to His law
And forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.
Psalm 78:10, 11

Yet they still went on to sin against Him by provoking and rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness (in the land of drought).
And they tempted God in their hearts by asking for food according to their [selfish] desire and appetite.
Psalm 78:17, 18

But scarce had they stilled their craving, and while their meat was yet in their mouths,
The wrath of God came upon them and slew the strongest and sturdiest of them and smote down Israel’s chosen youth.
In spite of all this, they sinned still more, for they believed not in (relied not on and adhered not to Him for) His wondrous works.
Psalm 78:30-32

I will stop there but I think you get the picture. As you keep on reading the post I want you to think of yourselves in the Israelites shoes.

In actual fact we are very much like them. They consistently sinned against God and as you know, a whole generation except for

Joshua and Caleb never made it into the promise land! Psalm 78 gives us a very long description of how the Israelites disobeyed God.

It was sin after sin. It didn’t stop.

So in the midst of all the craziness how did He see His people? Did it change because of all their sin? Let us take a look at another

portion of scripture that will help us answer this question.

Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:
Balak led me here from Aram, the king of Moab all the way from the eastern mountains.
“Go, curse Jacob for me; go, damn Israel.”
How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I damn whom God has not damned? Numbers 23:14

Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle:

On your feet, Balak. Listen, listen carefully son of Zippor; God is not man, one given to lies, 

and not a son of man changing His mind. 

Does He speak and not do what He says? Does He promise and not come through?

I was brought here to bless; and now he’s blessed – how can I change that? 

He has no bone to pick with Jacob, He sees nothing wrong with Israel. Numbers 23:17-24

Wait a minute! This all happened in the desert. This was during the time Israel were sinning blatantly.

They didn’t listen to God, they rejected Him, they asked for meat, they complained, grumbled, murmured

and a whole lot of other things and yet God speaking through Balaam said, “He has no bone to pick with Jacob,

He sees nothing wrong with Israel.”

This is the thing I want you to see about this story. No matter how much Israel sinned God never changed His view of them.

It didn’t change what He promised them. Yes, they were punished and yes they had to suffer the consequences of their sins

but God still loved them. He still had a plan for them. He still extended grace to them. He protected them from the plans of the enemy.

Balaam was called to curse them but couldn’t!

What does that mean for us? Could it be that God sees us the same way as He saw the Israelites?

Could it be, we have placed too much emphasis on our sin?

Could it be that God sees nothing wrong with us?

Could it be that sin is the least most important thing about us?

I will let you draw your own assumptions from the scriptures I have just shared. I believe there is hope. God will never abandon us.

He loves us and cares for us. He sees us as spotless and blameless. We are His children who He has extended His amazing grace to.

God bless.

Rolain

 

The way to greatness……

How did THEY do it? The great men and women who went before us? How did they achieve greatness? One thing is for sure. None of those men and women became great in a day. It took time. Look at Israel, what a great example. Jacob was one man with a promise. He would become a mighty nation! Psalm 105: 11, 12 says,

Saying, unto you will I give the land of Canaan as your measured portion, possession, and inheritance. 

When they were but a few men in number, in fact, very few and were temporary residents and strangers in it. 

Don’t despise the day of small beginnings. We see from this short passage that God started with a few people. He started off small. It is doing the small things that great things are born. Without the small things you cannot be great. So you may have started writing but no one knows your name, please know there will  come a day when people will know your name, a day where your books will impact millions. Keep on writing. You may have started a company but it hasn’t picked up like you would want it too but know the day is coming when you will be so busy you will not know what to do with the clients that come to your place.

All great things start as small things. It is just the way it is. Don’t despise the “small” that you are doing now. It is to an end. God has a much bigger plan in store for you. It takes time for “small” to turn into great. You need to keep at it. keep pushing, keep trusting, keep declaring, keep on working. God knows what He is doing.                                                        I need to constantly remind myself of this truth. God is doing something and I must not despise the day of small beginnings. He is making me stronger, preparing me for the great and so it is with you. King David looked after his fathers sheep. But God was preparing him out there. He fought the lion and the bear out there. God was preparing him for the giant and more. He was preparing him to be a king as he was doing the “small”. Did he know what God was up to, I don’t know! People saw but didn’t understand. His own family didn’t see it. People don’t usually tend to see what God is doing but keep on with what He has shown you.

What you need to do, is see beyond the “small” as you do the “small”. Do you understand?? When you do the “small” see the end result. See the “small” in it’s completed state. If you are at school aspiring to be a doctor keep the picture of the doctor up. When things get hard at school, having the main picture in front of you will help you. It takes faith to see ahead. You can only see the big picture by faith! The “small”  you are doing now is the key. Don’t despise it.  The “small” is setting your foundation down and making it stronger. That is where greatness starts…..

Rolain

3 Lessons From King David About Destiny.

Is there a set formula to accomplishing your destiny? There was a time when I thought there was but the truth is, there is not. I know that is a bold and definite conclusion but I will show you why. I don’t believe there is a set way because we are all different. God made us unique and our callings are unique. I do believe there are universal things that we need to heed if we are to accomplish our calling and I also believe there are things we can learn from people that have gone before us but to say there is one specific formula to reach our destiny is where we err.
In this post we are going to look at King David. He had the call of God on his life and I believe we can learn a lot from him concerning destiny.

1 – The first thing we learn from King David is, he was a worshipper. He loved worshipping God. He knew he was called and he never forgot who was in charge. Worship does that. When we worship God we are delaring God is in charge. King David was not afraid to worship. He was passionate about worship.

Are you a worshipper? Do you love worshiping God? Is it a part of you? On the road to our destiny we need to remember that worship plays a big part in our lives. Worship is a very important key to accomplishing your destiny because it keeps your focus on the One who is really in control of your destiny! Worship was more than a “thing” King David did. It was a lifestyle! Worship for us needs to be a lifestyle. No one had to tell him to worship because it was a part of him. Is that the case with us?

2 – King David always knew who to turn to when he sinned. He wasn’t proud like Saul who denied his sin. Instead, he would confess his sin. He didn’t get it right all the time but when he realised where he erred he would ask God to forgive him.
We need to be open and transparent with the sin in our lives to God. Are you like King David who would confess his sin or like Saul who would try and hide his sin?

3 – King David was someone who trusted in God. He only read a few incidents where he tried to do things on his own but in the overall picture of his life, King David was someone who trusted in God wholeheartedly. We can see it in how he carried himself with Saul. He never took matters into his own hands. He waited on God to vindicate him. It was the same with Absolom and it was the same with Goliath. David had complete trust in God.
We need to trust God as well. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Trust is a key ingredient in context to destiny and life in general. God’s calling on your life is beyond what you can fathom in your natural understanding and that is where faith comes in. Faith in God will help you achieve what seems “unachievable” because by faith you will be able to see God who is the One  directing you and guiding your every step.

And those are the three things that will help you on the road to your destiny. I am so very confident that God’s plan for your life is real and is in motion.  I pray these steps will help on your journey. God bless.

Rolain.

 

 

Rolain.P