The best and sure way to know you are growing in your walk with God….

How much emphasis do you place on growth?

As a Christian there needs to be consistent growth in our lives.

When I talk about growth I am talking about it in the context of

our walk with God.

We need to be able to see growth clearly and not have to guess if it’s

happening. There are many ways to grow but let’s look at a

way that makes growth quantifiable.

 

“And this is how we may discern [daily by experience] that we 

are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand and 

become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, 

observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments).”

1 John 2:3-6

 

I urge you to continue reading up to verse six.

The easiest way to know you are growing in the Lord is

to look at how much Word you apply in your life. That is a

sure way of assessing your growth in the Lord.

I believe reading the Word of God is significant (Romans 10:17)

but we must not stop there. We must apply the word into our

lives. Let me ask you a question,

 

How much of the word are your applying into your life?

 

I was challenged by the message I am sharing with you now.

As I read 1 John 2:3 I realized I needed to step up.

As I see it, there is always room for improvement.

My desire is to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ

and that will happen when I take His amazing word and

apply it into my life. As I end I will share one more scripture

that challenges me every time I read it,

 

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your

life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living.

They are foundational words, words to build a life on. 

If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart 

carpenter who builds his house on solid rock. Rain poured

down, the river flooded, a tornado hit – but nothing moved that

house. It was fixed to the rock. 

But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them 

into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house

on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came 

up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” 

Matthew 7:24-27

 

God bless you friends!

 

Rolain

A love that cannot be explained……!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

During my devotional time I read something truly amazing about God’s love. I just had to share it!  🙂

God views Christians the same way He views Christ: sinless and perfect.

Don’t fear He will discover your past. He already has.

Don’t fear disappointing Him in the future. He can show you the chapter in which you will.

With perfect knowledge of the past and perfect vision of the future, He loves you perfectly in spite of both.  Max Lucado

 

Is that amazing or what??!! God sees us the same way He sees Christ!!! That is too much for me to comprehend. All I will say is, walk in that love. My past mistakes and my future mistakes don’t hinder me from receiving His love. He loves me! HE LOVES ME! God’s love is truly amazing…… It cannot be explained. Praise the Lord indeed!!!

Rolain.

he is in the dark……!!!!!!

I had a talk with my mentor some time ago about my life and life in general. There was something he said that was triggered today as I went through my journal.
He said, the devil speaks from the dark. He cannot see because he is in the dark.
And after some meditation I see how significant that is. If he is in the dark how can he see clearly? He would like us to believe that he can see clearly but the truth is, he can’t! We don’t have to listen to his lies because that is what they are lies!! The thing is this, the enemy knows he is in the dark but he still speaks and we believe him. I was one of his victims and by God’s grace, I am starting to see the real truth. I believed I was nothing and useless for such a long time. I didn’t think my life would amount to anything. I thought I was done for. I thought I was a loser. But they were all lies!!! Lies, lies, lies……It’s like letting a blind man give you directions. The devil would like us to believe his lies. But understand, he is in the dark. He lives in the dark.

The word says, he walks around LIKE a lion seeking whom to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Please note, he is like a lion, not a lion! We are children of the light and we need to start listening to the right person, God.
It sounds very easy as you read this but it’s not. The enemy has had time perfecting his lies. He has had time to tweak his show and make it seem as real as can be. I have just come to an understanding of what I am talking to you about. When my mentor shared this with me, it was like my eyes were being opened for the first time. How could I have been so blind? Because he is in the dark I don’t have to believe the lies. The negative things I was brought up believing about myself are false because they came from someone who couldn’t see and still can’t see, and that applies to you as well. He is doomed. His end has been decided and there is nothing he can do to change it. He is defeated.
In your life what are the lies you have believed? Ask for help from the Holy Spirit because without Him you fight in vain. You will not win in your own strength. You need God on your side. The truth is, you will not die. You will not stay down. You have a hope and a future. Your children will be saved. You will be healed from that sickness. You will not be poor. Your life will be significant. You are important.

Please remember, the devil is in the dark. He cannot see anything. He is shooting in the dark hoping you will believe him. Don’t believe the lies. They make look, and feel, and smell like the truth but if it’s from the devil it’s lies. He cannot see how your life will end. He cannot see all the good things God has in store for you. He can only guess. He is in the dark and that makes all the difference.

And that brings me to another truth. Only God knows what is going to happen. He knows the end of your story. Don’t allow people who don’t know you to determine what you are going to be. Don’t let them set the limits in your life. Only God can do that. If God tells you something can’t be done then so be it but don’t let people tell what you can and cannot do. They are not qualified to do that. They did not create you, God did. As far as I am concerned, YOU are not even qualified to come to a conclusion about yourself. You may know yourself better than everybody else but you are still not qualified to say what you can and what you can’t do. You never created yourself, God did. I hope you are starting to see how important it is who you listen to……

Rolain

They truly missed it……….

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium (judgement hall, governor’s palace). And it was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled (become ceremonially unclean), but might be fit to eat the Passover [supper].
John 18: 28

I was reading this verse when it occurred to me how far off the mark the pharisees were. They did not enter the Praetorium because they didn’t want to defile themselves!! If they defiled themselves they would not be able to partake of the Passover meal. Are you serious???!!!!  Didn’t they know the Passover was a shadow of Christ? They had the Messiah with them, the sacrificial Passover lamb but they didn’t realize it!!!!

That got me thinking about the Pharisees. How did they get so blind? We can learn a lot from them for sure. The one thing that came to mind was law and tradition. To the pharisees everything was about law and tradition. You had to do this and do that. Wash your hands in this way, pray this way, you have to, you have to……
And because of that attitude their hearts became hardened. Grace was not part of their vocabulary.
We need to be careful. Are we living by law or by grace?

Now a great crowd of the Jews heard that He was in Bethany, and they came there, not only because of Jesus but that they also might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also,  John 12:9, 10

The Pharisees were out of control and they were supposed to be spiritual leaders!!!
Another attitude that contributed to their crazy behavior was the fact that they thought works was enough! They relied on their own strength to get them to heaven. They thought by doing, they could obtain salvation. They prayed, tithed, went to church, memorized scripture, fasted, all because they thought it would impress God…..How wrong they were. Our works in the sight of God, are like filthy rags! Works are not enough.

Something else to notice about is this, to the pharisees everything was about what you could see. They focused all their attention on the external instead of what was on the inside. They measured themselves and other people on outward appearances!!! They ignored the heart. They never searched their own hearts. They never realized their hearts and become hardened. What a shame.

All these things blinded them. They blinded them and hardened their hearts. Let us be careful how we walk. Ask God for wisdom. Let us not be like the Pharisees who missed God. We can easily be misguided just like the them. Let us be aware of the enemies devices…….

Rolain