He was with her!!!!!

(This is a special post in honor of Women’s Day.)

 

In the last week of January we had a men’s conference. We

had a great time of worship and fellowship. As great as that was

that is not what stood out for me. The word our pastor preached

really drove home the importance of the mission and assignment

God has given us men. It was a message that challenged me to

the core. As men we have a huge responsibility that must not be

taken lightly. (don’t worry ladies, it will all make sense in a bit) !!

 

I would like to share a very familiar passage of scripture:

 

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food

and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom,

she took some and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Genesis 3:6

 

Did you see that? I certainly didn’t the first time I was shown.

Eve took a bite of the fruit (not an apple as some people think)

then gave it to Adam who was with her…..

Adam was with her when Eve was being tempted!!!

Why didn’t he stop the enemy?? Who knows! Maybe he froze,

maybe he didn’t know what to do but the fact remains, he was

supposed to protect Eve and he didn’t. Things would of been

much different if he did so!

 

And look at how crafty the enemy was. he knew God’s order

and protocol. He knew man was the head, the cover but

instead of attacking him, he went to Eve!

 

Let me pause here for a bit and say this, men and women are

equal in value. Man is not better than woman.

But what the enemy has done is, he has got us to focus on the

wrong thing. The issue is not if women can do what men can

do and who is better at everything. For centuries men and

women have been trying to prove who is better. From the

time we start walking we are pitted against each other.

What an embarrasement for a guy if a girl beats him!

I would love to tell you how I was beaten by a girl in a chilli

eating competition but I will have to put that on hold!

I never lived that down for quite a while especially when I

considered myself the chilli master!   🙂    Anyway………..

 

If we have been thinking like that then we have been deceived. The

real issue is about what God had in mind when He created man and

women because He had a clear idea.

God made man and women in His image and we all know that

there is no part of God that is weak or useless, but as men we

have this idea that women are weak, and that they are meant

to be slaves and do our every bidding. They are not encouraged to

pursue the call of God on their lives and so on…

God has a purpose for men and He has a purpose for women!

God made man to be the head. To lead their family, to guide

them and protect.

This is what God says about His purpose for women,

 

“Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficent, satisfactory)

that the man should be alone;

I will make him a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary)

for him.

Genesis 2:18

 

This verse has been misundertood so much but we really need

to take the time to study it and even ask God to show us what

He intended in the very beginning. God didn’t create her to be

your own personal slave! (are you kidding me??)

There is so much more, and remember, women are a very

specific expression of God! To understand Him better, He made

women!

Let’s keep moving…..

 

When we read Genesis 3 again it’s interesting to note that

when Eve took a bite of the fruit, nothing happened!

 

“When the women saw that the fruit of the tree was good

for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining

wisdom, she took some and ate it. ”

It’s only when she gave the fruit to Adam and he took a bite that

their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked.

 

“She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and

he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized

they were naked;

Genesis 3:6, 7

 

Could all of this been exactly what the enemy had planned?

Did he use Eve to get to Adam?

Was that his plan, to take the man out?

It’s an interesting thought…….

 

But look at what happens after that,

 

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord

God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day,

and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord called to the man, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:8

 

Firstly, God knew exactly what happened. He was not clueless!

What’s interesting though is that He called Adam! God held him

responsible for what happened.

We see God talking to Adam from verse 9 till verse 12.

Man as the head was responsible but Adam still blamed Eve

who in turn blamed the snake. It’s important to note that God

confronted Adam first!

 

So what is the take home here?

 

Women, God gave you a purpose. Don’t let anyone dimish your

worth because of their lack of understanding. Pursue all that

God has called you to do whatever that may be.

 

Men, we are to lead, guide and protect. In marriage we must

make sure we are doing that. We are responsible for how we lead

our families.

Single men, we are to learn what it means to lead, guide and

protect the way God planned.

The last point is this, our value is the same. No gender is

better but when it comes to function we are very different.

We need to understand that does not make us less of a person.

We must embrace our God given differences and honor each other!

God bless you friends and Happy belated Women’s day!

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is God’s kindness genuine?

Why is God good to us? Seriously…..! He is God and He can

do whatever He wants. No one would be able to put Him on

trial for His actions. So my question stands, why is He good to

us??

When we were meant to be condemned, He defended us….

When sin killed us, He sent His Son to deliver us….

When we stab Him in the back by our actions or

blatantly disobey He still forgives us and loves

us….

When we make mistake after mistake He is patient

with us….

When we think we are beyond saving , He saves us…

When we think, “this is it, there is no hope for me,

I really messed up,” He gives us another chance again

and again….!

 

Why is He good to us…!!!!!

 

There are a lot of reasons to explain why He is good

to us. He is God and He has His reasons and it is in heaven

where we will see the full picture.

But I want to share a verse with you that sheds a bit of light

on the answer to that question:

 

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness,

forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness

is intended to lead you to repentance?”

Romans 2:4

 

The last part of that scripture stopped me….

God is kind to me because He wants me to repent!!

This scripture was written to Christians so what was

the He really trying to say? As I see it, God could deal with

me any way He saw fit but He wants my heart. True

repentance comes from the heart and God’s desire is

that I draw close to Him. So He extends kindness

to me in the hope I will go back to Him. He wants me to

repent of the crazy things I have attached myself

to. He wants me to leave those things and follow Him!

That really ministered to me….

 

But before I go on I would like to make something clear.

God will extend kindness to us but He is a God of justice and

He hates sin and in His eyes sin must be confronted. He

will make us deal with sin in our lives. He will chastise us

and so on but He will also extend kindness.

He will not only use the rod on us or push us away

but He will also use kindness. Don’t take His kindness for

granted because it is not in vain. He does all those things

so we can make our way back to Him. Which way are

you running today? Are you running away from His

kindness, does it make you feel awkward? Accept His

kindness, it’s one of the things He uses to draw you

back to Him. He could use fear to draw

us to Him but He wants our heart. Don’t reject His

kindness….Repent before the Lord. Turn away from

sin. This is my call as well. There are things I need to

turn away from. My heart belongs to God and He wants

it, with nothing held back. What will you do?

Rolain

 

What Valentine’s Day and fine china have in common……..

Today is Valentines Day and love is in the air. If you are single then

not so much….haha

But I am a bit disturbed. Fifty shades of Grey was released this

weekend. I am disturbed at the amount of publicity this movie

has generated. This is not a post about what’s wrong with the movie,

because there is too much on that topic.

 

I have noticed how the world is trying to define what love is, what

intimacy is, what connection is! Young people are going in their

droves to watch what the world has to say about relationships,

intimacy and love!!

 

I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sit too well with me. I am

not up for the world shaping my view about love, intimacy,

and relationships! I want God to do that. I want godly men and women

to show us the way, to teach us! I will do my part teaching the truth,

and repacing the lies the enemy is selling us! Because when it comes

to love, and intimacy the enemy doesn’t know anything! What the

enemy knows is how to pervert a good thing!

 

Can you believe that was the introduction??!!  😁

Lets move on…..

 

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with

your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner

and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing

will hinder your prayers.  1 Peter 3:7

 

I have been reading a book titled “Hero” by Fred Stoeker.

I shared some very intersting thoughts he had on the 1 Peter 3:7

on Instagram. Being it Valentines Day I thought it would be

appropriate to go over some of those points for those of you

who never got the chance to read them, so here goes!

 

In in the original Greek language, the term for “weaker partner”

can also be translated “fine china” which I think is a better

translation in this context.

How would you handle fine china? With respect as you tenderly

appreciate its finest points. You don’t slam fine china around

or put it through the blast of the dishwasher.

– end of statement –

 

Fine china….

I like that. Let me talk to the men for a little bit…..What would our

relationships look like if as men we treated the women in our lives

as fine china and not some bust up, rusty tin can??

Rusty bust up tin cans are thrown around, and disgarded!

They are not treated with any respect.

Rusty bust up tin cans are treated as COMMON!

Rusty and bust up

This Valentines Day I would like you to think about your relationship.

Are you honoring God in your relationships? Are you treating the

women in your life like fine china or a rusty busted up tin can?

Honor God by honoring the women in your life by treating

them like fine china. I am not saying it’s easy, I am not saying

it’s a walk in the park. What I am saying is we need to honor God

by honoring the women in our lives! On that note I will

sign off….Happy Valentines Day and remember, somewhere out

there a duck is looking your way……😁😁

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

I despised being a man…..!

 

I have been in Kenya for almost a week. I went on a music tour with my church which was amazing. I got back last night. So I will share some of my experiences and things God showed me while in Kenya. But this post is not about how my trip went but it’s about the things I learned concerning being a man. Here is what I learned……

– Every time we go on tour the men HAVE to carry the ladies suitcases. We have to offload their bags and carry them to their rooms. I thought our leaders were being unreasonable at first. They had no idea how heavy those suitcases were. The women never packed light and in my mind I thought they should have to suffer for the way they packed their suitcases. “Let me carry their own suitcases so they learn to pack lighter” was my other thought!  mean right?!!!    hahaha

– As men there is always an expectation to lead. In prayer men should lead, in devotionals we need to be the first ones to take the responsibility to share. This was a hard lesson because there were times I didn’t feel like leading. I didn’t want to be the one who carried such a weight…..

– As men we were told to protect the women. Our job was to protect the women on tour. Protect them by not singling them out. Treat them all the same. There should be no favoritism. Treat them like sisters is what we were told. Don’t play with their feelings by leading them on.

I despised all these things and more but this time around as I was loading all the ladies luggage onto our shuttle with a few other men I realized something. I am glad for all those lessons I was taught by my leaders. They taught us how to lead the women in our lives in love, they taught us how to be real men. They showed us the value of being a man. I am glad I was made the way I was, a man! We have a a mandate from God. We were made the head for a reason. I don’t mind carrying the ladies luggage now!! I welcome it…haha. But this is not only about carrying luggage…..it’s about embracing the things that make me a man. God created us men to be strong, to lead, to be the head.

God has a special calling on the men! If there was a time when men were desperately needed to take their place it is now! The world needs men of God. Men who trust in God. Men who know who they are in Christ. Men who take care of their families, love their wives, guide their children in the way of The Lord. May we be the men God has called us to be!

Rolain

Overtaking to stop…???!!!!

A commuter omnibus….

There is a phenomenon that has baffled me for the longest time. The phenomenon is when a commuter (taxi) overtakes a car so it can immediately stop!!! I have always wondered at the rationale behind the action. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would you overtake to stop? Why doesn’t the driver just be patient and drive slowly until he gets to the place he wants to stop? I don’t know if he realizes it, but he is going to get to the place eventually….. By not being patient, he endangers himself and the passengers on board.

Then a thought occurred to me. A lot of people behave the exact same way in relationships!!!!! They get into a relationship and instead of taking it slow they speed and overtake only to stop abruptly! It’s crazy. Why people get into a relationship when they know they are not ready to commit is beyond me. That is called overtaking to stop when you talk about relationships. Take your time to get to know the person. It is worth your while to be patient in a relationship. Overtaking to stop causes a lot of damage to both parties.

Men, it is your responsibility to dictate the pace of the relationship. A woman’s heart is not to be meddled with or played with. If you are not ready to get into a serious relationship why are you driving? In fact why are you speeding? Slow down and even stop if you have to. Don’t start driving until you know it is time (I hope you know what I mean)!!!   🙂

Trust God in your relationships. God is in control.

Rolain

Relationships From A Friend’s Point of View……

 

Relationships!! When I say that I mean between a man and a woman. How do we carry ourselves around each other? As a man I see how we need help and grace! We are to honour God in the relationships we have, we are to put Him first as well. This post is directed more towards the men because as men we are called to lead. We are the ones who called to be the head. As men we can be so clueless at times hence this post. So if you are in a relationship and you don’t have a clue about what you supposed to be doing then this is the post for you. If you are not yet in one then this will help as well.

These are the thoughts of one of my best friends. She was kind enough to let me share it because I think it will give you an idea into how to treat a woman but more than that it will teach you how to honour the women God has placed in your lives.  It will teach you to treat her the way God wants you to treat her. We live in a world where relationships are painted as some small thing but it’s not. God created relationships.  We need strong relationships in our lives to grow and as men it’s our responsibility to lead the way. Women need us to be strong to lead. They need us to lead them deeper into God but to do that you as a man have to know! How can you be that man if you are clueless??? So let us move on.

*please note that this is not how all women think. This is how my friend thinks but she is a woman but not just any woman but a wise woman so I think there is a lot we can learn as men from what she has shared!!!
I am going to highlight a few things from what I have read and if I see a need to expound more on a point I will.

THOUGHTS OF A WOMAN ON RELATIONSHIPS

– In any interaction with a lady you BOTH need to decide, are we bringing each other closer to God or further away, and this also is true if she is just a friend, God needs to be at the centre.

This is so true. She is so right about that. If God is not at the centre of your relationship you are in trouble. God needs to be the focus of your relationship. He is not second or third or fourth! He is first!!
Men, it is our job to initiate where the relationship is going. It is our responsibility to lead the relationship towards God. Do not wait for the woman to start the conversation. You lead her! I read a quote the other day that said, “The greatest thing a man can do to a woman is to lead her closer to God than to himself.

– Games are for the court, field or the computer not a relationship and that goes for a friend too! You playing games and trying to get a reaction out of her leaves room for miscommunication, misinterpretation and it proves you are secure.

– A lady’s heart is a precious jewel and should be treated as such.

– Women are emotional, get over it and get used to it, it does not make them weak. Emotions are human. It’s HOW she deals with her emotions that is important.

– Study her, but she is not a test to be passed or failed. Never stop learning about her.

– (I really like this one 🙂 ) Be aware that a lady is always thinking 5 steps ahead of you in regards to this relationship whether purely friendship or something deeper, she is ALWAYS thinking and quite possibly taking what you say out of context, women look at details and will analyse them so you need to know that what you say IS IMPORTANT even if you are “joking”.

– The pace and direction of any relationship is dependent on the man. You are the leader, take responsibility for that. If she ends up going in the direction of a serious relationship do not blame her, you lead her that way!!!
(that is a hard one men)

– Your word means something…keep it and if you have not, man up and tell her!

– The best thing that you can do is be honest with her.

– You have no business  telling a lady how you feel about her if you are not prepared to act on those feelings.

I think I will stop there. I have given you a lot to think about. Relationships are so important. We need to guard the relationships we have. I hope your eyes have been opened but just beside been opened I hope you have been enlightened!!!
This is just a little of what I have been given but the bit I have shared should help you. Let us learn to honour God in the relatonships we have with each other!

Rolain.P

3 Things To Know About Discipline.

As Christians we need to be disciplined. I believe there are areas where we are disciplined and other areas where we need help in. For example, you may be disciplined when it comes to keeping time but you are not disciplined when it comes to spending money. The goal of this post is to make you see the need to strive to be disciplined in every area of your life. There is a reward for being disciplined. Without wasting anymore time let us get into the 3 points.

 – Character is the by-product of discipline.
Your character as a person speaks loads about how disciplined you are. Are you a person of character? Your character is developed when you are disciplined. You cannot be a man or woman of character if you are not disciplined. Can you call someone who sleeps around a person of character? Can you call someone who is generally undisciplined a person of character?  We need discipline if we want to be men and women of character.

   –  The undisciplined person is always at the mercy of the disciplined person.
That is the truth! If you are not disciplined you will always be at the mercy of the person who is. I don’t want to be at the        mercy of someone else. I want to be in control of what is happening in my life and not succumb to someone else idea because I am not disciplined! Which category are you in? Are you at the mercy of disciplined people or are people following you because you are disciplined?

 – To successfully lead others you need to be able to lead yourself.
Are you self disciplined? If you are undisciplined in your own life then it is impossible to lead others. Master yourself first before you master others. If you are disciplined when it comes to money then you can lead others when it comes to money. If you are disciplined when it comes to purity then you can lead others in purity and so on and so on.

This is the point, men and women of character are not born but are made by choices and decisions they make everyday.
Let us make the right decisions. Let us make a decision to be disciplined. Look at your life and see the areas you need to be disciplined and ask for help. Let us desire to be disciplined in every area of our lives. And remember, it is a process. It doesn’t just happen. You will need to work hard at it.

Rolain.