Mountains

What mountains are you facing at the moment?

No matter what mountain you are facing there is something I want to remind you of – that God is bigger and greater

than any and every mountain you are facing and will ever face.

The devil’s hope is that the mountains in our lives will stop us in our tracks. He hopes that fear will get us to doubt

God’s greatness and power.

And to be honest, I was feeling overwhelmed a few days ago by the mountains in my life. I could even say fear began to

grow the more I analyzed the mountains. I looked at my strength and resources and saw how painfully lacking I was to

deal with the mountains and that’s how the fear, the hopelessness, and anxiety came. But I was reminded that God is

bigger and greater than the mountains I face as I brought my fears to Him. God wants you to talk to Him about what you

are struggling with always. He cares about what you are going through.

There is no mountain that God can’t take deal with.

“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerrubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by

power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain:

Zechariah 4:6

I also think about the Israelites who were by the “gate” of their promise land but instead of trusting God and possessing

what He promised them, they looked at how powerful their “mountain” was compared to themselves.

That’s where they made the mistake. Instead of comparing the “mountain” to God, they compared the “mountain” to

themselves and that’s where we hear words like grasshoppers appear.

We can’t overcome mountains in our own strength. We need God period.

Bring your mountains to Him and remember that He is bigger and greater than every mountain that you are facing!

Bless you friends.

Rolain

What Are You Asking God For?

“I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out;

I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.

Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me

that day.”

Joshua 14:11, 12

Because Caleb had faith in God, he asked for the mountain God had

promised him.

He didn’t ask for the mountain because he was strong enough.

Giants still lived there and they were much stronger than Caleb and his tribe.

Where is your faith at today?

There is a direct correlation between the faith we have and the type of

requests we make. We see this pattern all throughout scripture.

Caleb’s faith in God determined his request. Even at eighty-five years

of age, he believed he could defeat giants!

Faith in God gets us to be bolder and more radical in our requests.

It’s also interesting to note, that God promised Caleb, Hebron but giants lived

there. In his own strength, Caleb would not be able to possess what God

promised him. It’s only by faith he would be able to receive what God promised him.

And that’s true for us too. God wants us to trust in Him

completely. It’s only by faith in God that we can receive what God has for us.

So as I come to the end of the post, I want to challenge you to look at your faith.

If you are struggling with your faith ask God for help.

It’s time to ask Him for your “mountain”.

And no matter what giants stand in the way trust God to fight on your behalf

as you claim your mountain.

Bless you friends

Rolain

In hard times we have a chance…trust God!

The Israelites didn’t stand a chance if God wasn’t on their side. They would have died

in Egypt in slavery had the Lord not saved them. They would have been swept away

by the powerful enemies that fought against them in the desert had God not stepped in

and fought for them. They would have been swallowed up by the giants that resided in the

promise land if God had left their side.

 

We don’t stand a chance if we go at life on our own, in our own strength and power.

We need the Lord so desperately friends. This life is hard, painful, disappointing but in spite

of all that God is with us. He is on our side and He will get us through the hard times we are

facing. It doesn’t matter what mountain is standing in our way, we will get over it because the

Lord is our strong tower of Refuge. He is our Protector and Deliverer.

 

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.”

Psalm 34:17

 

“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;

He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

Psalm 34:19

 

We will face hard and difficult times but we need to always remember that the Lord will be with

us through those difficult times. We don’t need to rely on our own ability and strength which is

useless in the day of battle.

We don’t stand a chance if we depend on our strength, intelligence, and ability but we have every

chance in the world when we put our hope and trust in God.

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

 

We have a chance to win…

The fight we are in is not an easy one. The enemies we face are strong, intimidating

and formidable. Their goal is to take us down, to make us fail.

On our own, we are seriously outnumbered and outgunned. Do we have a chance?

Can we win when the odds are stacked heavily against us?

As I look at my own life and the challenges I face it can be intimidating and overwhelming

at times. There are times I can’t see a way out or an answer. There are times I feel

completely powerless and not sure how things will work out but this week

I have been thinking about victory. I believe the Lord has been showing me

I have a chance. Even though the enemy seems like a mountain blocking

my way I believe I have a chance, we have a chance!

No matter how gigantic the enemy is or how impossible our situation is we have

a chance because God is with us. Let’s look at a story that beautifully portrays this,

 

“Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the city’s gate; 

and they said to one another, Why do we sit here until we die? 

If we say, We will enter the city-then the famine is in the city, and we shall die

there; and if we sit still here, we die also. So come now, let us go over to the army

of the Syrians. If they spare us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, 

we shall but die.” 

2 Kings 7:3-16

 

The lepers were in a dire situation. They had no weapons,

they were heavily outnumbered and had very limited options but God made a way for

them. Because God was with them the lepers had a chance. With everything against them,

God turned their hopeless situation around for good.

 

We have a chance against the hordes that stand in our way. God will not abandon us.

Have hope because you will win. The Lord will carry you through the valley of death.

He is faithful and can be trusted.

Be encouraged today!

 

Bless you, friends.

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t take your “foot off the pedal”….keep hoping and trusting!

“One day some men from the tribe of Judah went to Joshua at Gilgal. One of those men was Caleb

son of Jephunneh. He said to Joshua, “You remember what the Lord said at Kadesh Barnea. He was

speaking to the prophet Moses about you and me. 

Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me to look at the land where we were going. I was 40 years old then.”

Joshua 14:6, 7

 

Caleb is officially one of my favorite bible characters now. I get pumped up every time I read

his story. He was one of the spies that was sent out to spy out the promise land and he was one

of two spies who believed YAH would deliver the Canaanites into their hands.

His faith in YAH was crazy!

His story challenged me so much. In Joshua 14, he goes to Joshua to ask for the mountain YAH promised

him all that time ago.  Let me rephrase that, he tells Joshua to give him the mountain YAH promised

him. There was no asking…..

 

The crazy thing about this story is that Caleb was promised the mountain when he was 40 years old.

And at the age of 85 he was ready to take what YAH promised him. (Joshua 14:10) He waited 45 years for

the Lord’s promise. His faith didn’t waver in all that time. He held on firmly to what the Lord promised him.

 

I don’t know about you but my faith is stirred every time I read that. The Lord is faithful and will

not fail to fulfill what He promised us. We need to make sure we don’t give up and falter in our faith.

If you do falter then get back up. Put your hope in the Lord again. Don’t stay down, don’t

stay discouraged.

No matter how long it has been, hold on to your faith. Hold on to the Lord’s promise.

Caleb didn’t let his age stop him from possessing the Lord’s promise.

At 40 his faith was in YAH and at 85 his faith was still in YAH and stronger than ever!

Don’t let anything stop you from trusting YAH.

 

He never gave up or lost hope. He was patient and confident in the Lord’s faithfulness! His trust

was not in himself, no. His faith was in the Lord.

 

“So give me the mountain country the Lord promised me that day long ago. Back then you heard that

the Anakite people lived there. And the cities were large and well protected. 

But now with the Lord helping me, I will force them out, just as the Lord said.” (italics mine)

Joshua 14:12

 

Wow! That faith!

 

It’s not too late. The Lord has not forgotten about you so don’t throw in the towel! Hold on to the promise

even though it seems like it’s not going to happen.

To be honest with you, there were things I stopped praying about but after reading about Caleb I am back.

That’s what the Lord wants, for us to keep holding on to the promises He has made. No matter what people say,

hold on to the promise.

Don’t let go it. The Lord is faithful and will fulfill what He promised!

 

ACT ON IT – Firstly, write down the things YAH promised you.

Secondly, Go boldly to YAH and ask Him for those things you have stopped praying about

Thirdly, Talk to someone about it.

And lastly, Is there something you need to start doing? Caleb’s faith was in the Lord but he

had to go fight. What do you need to do today as a demonstration of your faith in YAH?

 

And that is it friends. Hold on to the promise of the Lord until he brings it to pass. There will be plenty

opportunity to give up but don’t. The Lord is is faithful to us always!

Bless you.

Rolain

Change your focus.

I have been in Durban for a week and I have been itching to write. But i was not able to in Durban because I was crazy busy and the place we were staying at had no internet. It was great though because as a team we really got time to seek the Lord and allow Him to refresh us.

I was reading the book of Joshua when I came across one of my favorite scriptures. I am sure I have written a post on it in the past but as I read it again God spoke to me. And this is the passage I read; 

And then this, while Joshua was there near Jericho: 

He looked up and saw right in front of him a man standing, 

holding his drawn sword. Joshua stepped up to him and said, 

Whose side are you on – ours or our enemies? He said, Neither.

I’m commander of God’s army. I’ve just arrived. 

Joshua 5: 13, 14

Joshua was about to attack Jericho. What’s interesting though is instead of looking at and focusing on Jericho, he looked up. He didn’t focus on the obstacle, instead he looked up. He looked to God and saw God!! As you all know, God destroyed Jericho. Joshua knew where his help came from.

Are you facing an enormous obstacle? An impossible situation??? Please don’t focus on the obstacle. It’s fine to acknowledge there is a problem but don’t stay there. Look up. Look to God who is well able to save and help you. He is our Deliverer…..!!!!! God bless

Rolain

When the doubts come……

 

“If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!”

Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” Mark 9: 22

That is a very bold word from our Lord don’t you think? As bold as it may seem this is what I believe God is saying. The man had asked the disciples to heal his boy but they could not so when Jesus came down the mountain the man must of thought it impossible.

I have to admit and say there are things that I ask God without even thinking twice. I just know He will come through and then there are things that are harder to ask for. But from this whole passage we see this should not be so. We are to trust in God. Mark 11:22 says,

And Jesus replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. (Amplified)

When we come to God we must not come doubting. It must be in total trust. But the story continues and we see something very important.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, Then I believe. Help me with my doubts! Mark 9: 24

We want to believe and we do believe but doubts get in the way. What are we supposed to do? The man cried out to the Lord for help. We need help when it comes to our doubts. If you don’t struggle with doubts then bless you……But for those who struggle with it then look to God. There are no “ifs” in God’s vocabulary and there shouldn’t be in ours.

You may be in a place where you think “it’s too much, I can’t ask God for that” or “can He really give me what I have asked for” but know that there are no “ifs” when it comes to God. It’s either, ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Nothing is too big for God. Bring your requests to Him in total faith and if you struggle with doubts then cry out to him for help. He will help. He wants to help us in our areas of weakness…..God bless

Rolain.