Gather Your Stones

We need to do everything we can to remember what God has done for us and not in a once-off kind of way but as a lifestyle.

God has done so much for us and He is doing so much more that we can’t afford to forget. Forgetting is so easy and

the enemy would love us to forget. he would love us to be so focused on the trials and the giants that we don’t even

stop to think WHO is on our side and the power He has.

I was talking to a friend this week and He reminded me of this truth. I was talking to him about a few things I was trusting

God for when he reminded me of what God had done for me in the past. As he reminded me my faith got energized

and I left that conversation repenting to God. I realized that God had come through for me in pretty amazing ways in

the past so these current things I was trusting for were not a big deal to Him.

We MUST do everything we can to remember. Throughout out scripture God continually reminded His people to remember

what He had done for them.

Take Joshua for example. he was about to enter the promise land but before entering it he came across the Jordan river. God

then gave him an interesting command;

“He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone

and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 

Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went

across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.””

Joshua 4:5-7 NLT

God told him to gather stones from the Jordan to help His people for generations to come remember what He had done.

Over and over in the Word we read how God’s people continually forgot what He had done for them.

“They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his instructions.

They forgot what he had done—the great wonders he had shown them,”

Psalm 78:10, 11 NLT

“Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power and how he

rescued them from their enemies.

They did not remember his miraculous signs in Egypt, his wonders on the plain of Zoan.”

Psalm 78:41-43 NLT

As you can see, they continually forgot what God had done and instead of trusting God they complained, were fearful, murmured

and didn’t trust God.

If you are going to enter a new level and receive the new things God has for you, then you need to remember! Do everything you

can to remember. That’s what David did when he faced Goliath,

But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a

lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw

and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the

armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”

1 Samuel 17:34-37 NLT

Because David remembered what God had done to the lion and bear, he had faith that God would deliver him from the giant!

Don’t forget what God has done to the lion and the bear in your life.

There are more victories in store for you.

As I come to the end of this post I want to share one more scripture to help you remember the amazing things God has done

consistently,

“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind

as long as you live!”

Deuteronomy 4:9 NLT

And with that I have come to the end of this post. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. What do you do to remember

the amazing things God has done for you?

And on one last note, I have a video version of the posts I write on my YouTube channel. If you prefer watching to reading then

click here to follow me on YouTube and even if you prefer reading, still follow me 🙂

Thank you friends and see you soon.  

Rolain

How Can We Win Against These Strong Enemies?

What should we do when life gets overwhelming and the troubles we face seem too much for us? 

I was in a situation this past week and I was overwhelmed by the things I was facing. I felt discouraged

and felt like God wasn’t listening but I came across a scripture in my quiet time that recalibrated my thoughts

back to Him. 

Life has a way at times of getting our minds off God, and driving us into some pretty dark and ugly tunnels and

that is why we need God’s word in our lives. 

It recalibrates, and realigns our thoughts back to Him. 

Let’s get into the word I read; 

“Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful

than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the

land of Egypt.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Moses was addressing the people of Israel as they were about to enter the promise land. They would come up

against some very powerful enemies and Moses knew they would encounter times of fear, doubt and anxiety. 

But he reminded them to REMEMBER, what God did to the Egyptians. 

As powerful as the Egyptians were, God delivered and saved Israel from them. He defeated the Egyptians. 

He also reminded them that God was with them.

““No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭7:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So if you are feeling overwhelmed by the troubles you face and the giants that are before you, remember what the

Lord has done for you. Remember the great deliverances He has delivered you with. Remember how He has answered

your prayers through the years and still continues to do so. 

He is with you. You are not alone at any time, especially when trouble is at your door. God will deliver you like He has

done many times before. Keep holding onto your faith in Him. 

Bless you friends

Rolain

Look ahead with confidence

“The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.””

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:37‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 

As David faced Goliath his confidence was in the God who had delivered him from the lion and the bear.

David knew Goliath had no chance against him because of what God had done before.

As you look ahead it’s important to remember what the Lord has done for you. As He brought you through last year with all its challenges and trials He will bring you through this year.

You can look ahead with confidence because the Lord who rescued and delivered you from the trials and challenges last year will do it again and again. He never let David down. He didn’t let the giant be victorious over him.

And it’s the same with you. He won’t let you down. He will deliver you and rescue you from the enemy who is standing against you. You can trust the Lord always!

Bless you friends

Rolain

Bad news doesn’t mean the end of you…

We live in a world that is saturated with evil. But how do you respond

when bad things happen? Just the other day I got some news that was bad but I had to stop myself. How was

I going to respond to it. was I going to freak out and lose it? Was I going to let fear get the best of

me?

We always have a choice of how we respond to bad news.

 

Jairus was in trouble. His daughter was very sick and he needed help. That is when he decided to go to

Jesus for help. All was going well. He met with Jesus and told Him his problem and Jesus agreed

to go with him to his daughter. But on his way to his daughter something happened;

 

“While He was still speaking, there came some from the ruler’s house, who said [to Jairus], 

Your daughter has died. Why bother and distress the Teacher any further?”

Mark 5:35

 

In that split second Jairus’s world collapsed. His daughter died. Despair was already walking through the

door of his soul.

Like I said before, we live in a world that is saturated with evil. Bad things happen. But how we respond

is so important. Let’s move on.

 

Despair was almost through the door but before it could make itself comfortable Jesus stepped in.

 

“Overhearing but ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, 

Do not be seized with alarm and struck with fear; only keep on believing.” 

Mark 5:36

 

In the face of bad news, Jesus told Jairus to believe and not give in to fear. He told him to believe

that He could turn things around.

We don’t have to give in to the bad news that comes our way. I don’t know what kind of news you

have received today but you don’t have to accept it. There is another option. You have another

choice. You can keep on believing…

You can decide to keep trusting God instead of giving in to fear, instead of accepting the bad news

you have been given. It takes faith to do that. Choosing to trust God over believing the bad news

takes faith and only faith.

 

King David was another man who had to deal with some really bad news. When he got back to

Ziklag he found his home had been plundered. The enemy had taken everything of his and his soldiers.

Their families were taken, their possessions were gone. There was nothing left.  There was even talk

among the soldiers of killing David. He was in a really bad place but he did something really amazing.

Let’s take a look at what he did;

 

“David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them

all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. 

But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” 

1 Samuel 30:6

 

His hope in the face of the bad news was in the Lord. He didn’t let fear overcome him. Instead,

he encouraged himself in the Lord. He reminded himself of how good the Lord was to him.

He brought to remembrance how the Lord delivered him from his enemies!

(That’s what I think he was doing!)

 

How do we respond to bad news? I hope you can see it’s really important how you respond.

You can either accept what has happened or make a decision to put your hope in the Lord.

Let’s make the right decision today, the decision to trust God.

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

Focus on Him, not the waves…

Life can be really tough right and what makes it worse is when we focus all our energy and attention on

the problems we are facing. We worry, stress out, fear, panic and fret as we dwell upon all the problems

we face but there is a better way.

I was stressing out this week. Things were not going well and I was panicking and anxious but I remembered

Peter.

In faith, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water but as he was approaching the

Lord the word says he began to be aware of his surroundings (the enormous waves and the wind)

and became frightened and began to sink. (read Matthew 14:27-30) 

 

“Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, 

O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

Matthew 14: 27-31

 

As long as Peter set his gaze upon the Lord he walked on water but when he took his eyes off the

Lord and focused on what was happening around him he began to sink and I know that’s what

was happening to me. But the Lord wants me to keep my eyes on Him in the midst of the trouble that

comes my way.

What are you focused on today?

Are you focused on your problems more than the Lord?

 

Consider  Psalm 91:14, 15:

“Because he has focused his love on Me, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows

my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him. I will be with him in his distress. I will 

deliver him, and I will honor him.” 

 

The enemy would like us to get our minds off Christ. he doesn’t want us being victorious. he loves

it when we are in bondage, in fear, anxious and stressed.

But the Lord wants us to be free. He wants us to receive the answers and solutions we need to

the problems we are facing.

Let’s stop focusing on the waves. Let us focus on the Lord no matter how terrifying the storm is.

He is bigger than any storm we will ever face and that is why He wants us to focus on Him!

Bless you, friends…

 

Rolain

 

When in doubt and fear, remember the good things the Lord has done!

Walking in faith is not an easy thing to do. There will be days you will get discouraged and doubt if

the Lord will come through for you. I have been learning to be patient as I wait on Him for my answer

to prayer but there have been days when believing is really hard. I had one of those days a few days ago.

As I brought my requests to Him thoughts of doubt flooded my mind. Will He really answer my prayers,

I thought. But as my mind was racing I began to think about the things He had done so far. I began to pull

out all the things He had already done for me. As I did that my faith began to increase. At the end of the

exercise my faith was restored. I was full of faith and AM still full of faith He will come though for me,

that He will answer my prayers.

 

And that got me thinking about how powerful remembrance is. We don’t give it the credit it deserves

but it is powerful.

 

“Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done, His marvels and the judgments from His mouth.”

1 Chronicles 16:12

 

There are so many scriptures on remembrance if you want to get deeper understanding. What I experienced

was the effect it had on me as I did it. It increased my faith. My hope was renewed. Because the fact of the

matter is that the Lord HAS done amazing things for me. In different seasons of my life when I needed a

breakthrough, when I was in chains, when I was in darkness, when I was desperate, He came and saved me,

He came and picked me up, He came and fought for me, He came and delivered me.

 

I know the Lord has done amazing things for you too. What you need to do though is remember those

things constantly. They will help you in really tough times. The only time remembrance doesn’t

work is if nothing has happened and as we all know, that is not possible. Yeshua is constantly doing

great things throughout our lives.

 

“If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them? you 

shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to

all Egypt.” 

1 Chronicles 16:12

 

As long as we live we will always be faced with giants and they come in different forms and sizes. But

we need to remember the giants that have come in the past which the Lord defeated! There are many

defeated foes. That will help you as you face the giants standing in your way now. That’s what David

did, remember?

 

“I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! Goliath, the Philistine who is not circumcised, will be 

like the lion or bear I killed. He will die because he has stood against the armies of the living God. 

The Lord saved me from a lion and a bear. He will also save me from this Philistine.”

1 Samuel 17:36, 37

 

David remembered how the Lord delivered him from the lion and bear and and that is why  I think he was

so confident when he went to face Goliath. He remembered how powerful the Lord was. We need to remember

the good things the Lord has done for us more frequently. Forgetfulness is a thief and we must not allow it to

continue stealing.

Let’s ask the Lord to help us in this area.

 

Will you do something for me as I close? Write down the top ten things you think are amazing that the

Lord has done for you. Ten is the minimum. If you want to write more feel free to write more. The Lord

has done so much for us and there is so much He is about to do. Let’s not forget. Let’s always

remember the things He is doing because He is always doing.

Also feel free to share a few of the things He has done for you in the comments below. Your testimony

will bless someone!

Blessings to 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

….he doesn’t want us to remember!

Hey friends!

Last week I talked about how YAH remembers us. Man will

forget but not YAH, we are always on His mind.

 

Today though, I would like to talk about the importance of

remembering all the good things YAH has done for us.

It’s easy to forget the amazing things He has done. We

underestimate just how easy it is to forget. I believe it’s one of

the strategies the enemy uses to keep us in a state of panic,

anxiety, fear, and unbelief. He wants us to stay in a state of

forgetfulness….

 

“Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the 

judgements pronounced, you His servants, the descendants of 

Abraham, His chosen ones, the children of Jacob.” 

Psalm 105:5

 

We need to do everything we can to remember all the good things

He has done for us. Just the other day a friend and I talked about

this.

We then decided to write those things down and what a time we

had. Things kept coming to mind. The time flew as we penned

down the great and mighty miracles He had done for us individually.

I was encouraged after remembering the great things He had done.

 

“So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from 

the Israelites, one from each tribe and said to them. Go over before

the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each 

of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number

of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the

future, when your children ask you, ‘what do these stones mean?

tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of

the covenant of the Lord.” 

Joshua 4:4-9

 

The stones were to be a reminder of a great work YAH had done

for His people. Like I said before, we need to do everything to

remember the miracles and works YAH has done in our lives.

 

We need to remember what YAH has done, when we are going

through challenges, tough times, and adversity.

When we are feeling overwhelmed.

When we are feeling discouraged.

Those are some of the times forgetfulness can creep in.

We need to be intentional about remembering. It doesn’t

happen automatically. The enemy is working overtime to

ensure we forget the amazing things YAH has done in our lives.

But we can’t forget.

We must remember!

Maybe it means you write down the things He has done in your

life or you create some sort of memorial in your house that helps

you remember. We must be creative friends.

Remembering what YAH has done is a weapon we can use

against the enemy’s lies. Remembering will break the fear,

the anxiety we have.

Let’s remember all the great things the Lord has done for us!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

He remembers us…..!!

“Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in

Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

Genesis 40:21, 22

 

The butler was restored to his position just as Joseph said but he forgot to tell Pharaoh about him

for two whole years! I can only imagine what was going on in Joseph’s mind. Was he expecting to be

released the next day or the very hour the butler was released??

But hours, turned to days, and days into weeks, and weeks into months and months into years.

It must have been hard for him.

Did the thought cross his mind that YAH had forgotten him?

I don’t know.

 

But one thing is clear, even though the butler forgot about him, YAH had not. Joseph was very much

on His mind. It may have looked like he had been forgotten but he was very much on YAH’s mind.

After two full years Joseph was freed from prison and his life turned around in a way he never imagined.

 

Does YAH forget us? Does He get absent minded about His children?

Not a chance! We are always on His mind.

Man will forget but not YAH.

The butler let Joseph down but YAH never does! We can rely on that.

If you feel like YAH has forgotten you know that you are on His mind always. He will never forget you.

You are not forgotten.

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

Who are you surrounding yourself with?

“Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about

six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.

A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds-a great

deal of livestock.”

Exodus 12:37, 38

 

When the Israelites left Egypt they left with a mixed multitude. The bible doesn’t

say much about the mixed multitude.

They could of been running away from the Egyptians.

Maybe as they saw all the miracles God performed they

thought they would see more miracles where they went.

Maybe some left because people were leaving.

 

Whatever the case Israel never left alone. At first you think nothing

of it but things aren’t what they seem.

 

“Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving;

so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?

We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons,

the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up;

there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

Numbers 11:4-6

 

My question to that is, who made the Israelites remember??

 

As I read these scriptures I couldn’t help but think of the people we allow

in our lives. We need to be very careful who we allow in our lives.

 

I know I can’t blame the mixed multitude for all the Israelites problems.

The Israelites were to blame for a lot of the bad that happened along the

way. But at the same time I can’t ignore the fact that the mixed multitude

were part of the problem!

 

Having the wrong people in your life could be disastrous.

You need to be very careful who you call friend.

Who are you walking with?

Do they have your best interests in mind?

Are they positive or negative people?

Do they challenge you to pursue the dreams God has put in

your heart no matter how impossible it seems or do they shoot

them down??

Are they always complaining, always whining, always speaking

about the bad?

 

This is a hard post to write but it must be written. If you are to grow

in the Lord, if you are to pursue the dreams God has put into your heart

you will need to look at the people you have surrounded yourself

with.

 

Make sure you have people who will push you to trust in the Lord.

Surround yourself with people who will encourage you

Surround yourself with people who will challenge you and be real with you.

Surround yourself with people who will remind you of God’s promises.

 

Don’t tolerate negativity in your life.

Be wise in choosing your friends.

 

God bless you friends

 

Rolain