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

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

 

 

 

 

 

One way to ensure your faith is alive and active……..

“So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up),

by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

But someone will say [to you then], you [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works.

Now show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can],

and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith.”

James 2:17, 18

 

The book of James was part of my daily reading this week.

I am always so challenged when I read the scripture I just shared.

But something happened this week that brought it to life for me.

I was at training this week and after we were done we prayed.

The guy praying thanked God for divine healing.

He thanked God for keeping us healthy and he also prayed that

God would keep us in good health!

 

We always pray but this week the prayer struck something in me.

I realized I was looking at faith and action working hand in hand.

We have a desire to be healthy and fit so we train but our faith is

in God to grant us a healthy life!

 

That got me thinking about faith and action.

James 2:18 is not suggesting faith works if there is action. It’s telling

us that faith only works when there is action!

Faith without works is dead!

 

One person acting out of his or her faith can do more than 100 people

professing their faith without action!

 

It’s so true friends. I want to be that person who shows they have faith by

their works.

I really needed to be reminded of this truth!

 

Now, it’s not my place to tell you what action you need to take.

That’s between you and God. You are the one who knows what steps

God wants you to take.

As I read this verse I knew almost instantly the things I needed to be doing

right now that I was not doing.

Now remember, you can’t just act for the sake of  doing

something. God will ask you to do something specific for the thing you having

faith for. Allow Him to show what that thing is.

He may want you to be patient and wait,

He may want you to give into something,

He may want you to befriend someone,

He may want you to start writing that first chapter of that book,

He may want you to serve in a specific area at your church,

and the list goes on and on……

You need to be sensitive to His leading.

Remember, don’t act for the sake of acting.

That could do more harm than good.

God is surgical in the way He works.

What action is it that God wants you to be doing right now?

 

One thing is crystal clear though,

 

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

James 2:26

 

We have work to do friends……

Bless you.

 

Rolain

Remember God today!

And when, in time to come, your son asks you, what does this

mean?

You shall say to him, by strength of hand the Lord brought us out

from Egypt, from the house of bondage and bondmen.

Exodus 13:14

 

And it shall be as a reminder upon your hand or as frontlets

between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought

us out of Egypt.

Exodus 13:16

 

Out of all the miracles God performed this is the most talked about.

God has constantly reminded His people to remember what He did

at the Red Sea.

God delivered His people in a mighty way!

His people were called to remember what He did and He told them

to tell their kids. It is clear God didn’t want His people to forget.

The Red Sea moment was a reference point for the Israelite’s!

When they lost hope they would remember what God did for their

ancestors at the Red Sea, and in Egypt! We too are His people and

He is calling us to not forget!

How important is it to remember?

To answer that I would like to share something a friend shared

with me a few days ago,

 

“God is the God of the impossible.

Reasoning your way out of an impossible situation

is not as effective as reminding your way out of it! – Unknown

 

That stopped me cold in my tracks. How many times I have

tried to reason myself out of a situation. The more effective

way is to remember our way out of it!

That brings me so much peace right now because as I began

to think on it some more I realized God wants us to remember

the great things He has done for us. I believe

we all have our “Red Sea moments” that we can look back to for

strength! Don’t forget those times the Lord came through for

you! Those are the things He wants you to remember. He

performed those miracles so you could remember them when

your faith was been attacked!

As I think back on my life I see the small and the big things

God did for me and I know those are the “Red Sea moments”

God wants me to always remember!

When I am in doubt, when my faith is weak that is when I

need to remember!

 

Fight to remember! Write down what God did for you. Tell

people what God did for you!

When the storms come remember what you wrote. God’s

miracles in your life are not just for you but for your kids.

They are to be a testimony for generations to come!

How great it would be if your great great great kids could

talk about how God came through for you! How amazing it

would be if they used God’s miracles in your life as a reference

point for their own lives!

 

Last year is long gone but we are still here because God is with us!

He kept us with care! His hand is on us and we must make sure

we don’t forget!

Fight to remember the miracles, fight to remember the goodness

of God in your life. He is so good!

Rolain

To say goodbye….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I have a confession to make, I hate goodbyes! I really really hate them. I had to say goodbye to a friend today and it was not fun! That got me thinking………

Why does it hurt to say goodbye?

Is it a reminder we are missing something? SOMETHING we as humans cannot function without, SOMETHING we cannot do without, that if we tried to do without we would die??!!

Just because goodbyes are a normal part of our lives doesn’t make it natural or something that was meant to be. It seems cruel. We go through the whole process of meeting someone only to have them leave!!

Are goodbyes meant to remind us that God is the ONLY one who can complete us and NO person can ever fill that gap no matter how great they are…..

(please bear with me as I rant!!!!)

Are goodbyes a reminder we are not home yet???

I long for home because when I am home there will be no more goodbyes!!! What a thought! In heaven we will never have to say goodbye ever again!!! Our friends and family will always be there but more importantly, Jesus will be with us! No one will ever have to say goodbye! I long for that day. But for now I know God has a reason He allows goodbyes to happen. I don’t know why exactly, I just know He has a plan!

I do admit there are things and PEOPLE we need to say goodbye to. We need people and at the same time we don’t. Some people really need to go because they are drowning us! But that is a post for another day!

All I am saying is, I hate goodbyes! They are never easy and I long for the day I will never have to say goodbye!!!!

Rolain

 

A testimony within the scars……

Scars, everybody has some sort of scar be it physical or emotional. When you get hurt a scar is made and usually a scar is for life. It will be with you for the rest of your life. A lot of people see scars as a bad thing because it reminds them of a very difficult season in their lives or it may remind them of a very specific event in their life.

I have physical scars and emotional scars. As I look in the mirror I see the scars and they remind me of a time I was physically abused as a child. Then there are the emotional scars. Certain situations trigger them, for example Father’s day. It reminded me of an absentee father who was abusive and I wanted to have nothing to do with. But thank God that has changed!

I have been taught to see my scars differently. I have been taught to see them as a testimony. What do I mean by that?
I mean, my scar can be a testimony to myself and someone else. They can be encouraged and know they are not alone because of what I went through. It’s a testimony because the enemy didn’t win. I am still here. A testimony because it can be a tool to impact a whole lot of people. I can look at the scars and realise that God saved me from the pain. In the darkest time of my life he came through. But it needs me to get the focus off myself and start focusing on others.

Yes I had a difficult time growing up. Yes it was devastating.

But I see how God had a plan in all of this. God wanted to use the pain I had gone through to minister to people but my perspective had to change.
God is good and He has a plan. He always has a plan……

A lot of people have gone through a lot of bad stuff and in no way am I suggesting you just forget and act like nothing happened. You were abused, taken advantage of, raped, robbed, ignored and a whole host of other unspeakable, horrible, evil things. It takes time for pain to heal. A lot of prayer, a lot of help, a lot of people standing by your side helping you. It takes God’s mercy and grace and power for healing to happen.

This post is to let you know that God has a plan for you. Your scars are a reminder of the pain you went through and you can stop there but realise your scars can be a testament of God’s saving power and it can save a lot of people because there is a testimony within your scars!

 Rolain