Why wait till tomorrow??!!

“Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs

from me and my people; and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the Lord. 

Moses said to Pharaoh, glory over me in this; dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants,

and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river. 

And [Pharaoh] said, Tomorrow. [Moses] said, Let it be as you say, that you may know that there is no one

like the Lord our God.” 

Exodus 8:8-10

 

I am stumped! The land of Egypt was overrun by frogs (this was the second plague in a series of plagues).

When Pharaoh couldn’t get rid of them he called Moses and Aaron to pray to YAH to get rid of them.

When they came, Moses gave him an interesting proposition if you can call it that,

 

“dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be 

destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river.”

 

Instead of saying “immediately” Pharaoh told Moses to pray “tomorrow”!!!

And that’s what got me stumped! Why wait till tomorrow???

The plague could have stopped immediately but instead, the plague would stop the next day!!

 

How many of us are like that though?

How many of us are tolerating today waiting to pray tomorrow??? (I am guilty of this!!)

Yeshua is waiting to move in your life today not tomorrow, next week, next month or next year.

He wants to move in your life today. He wants you to pray today, to put your faith in Him today!

You may think you need to wait for everything in your life to get right before you pray but that’s a lie.

The time is now!

The time to seek Him is now, not when you are perfect.

 

Pharaoh’s problem could have been solved straight away but he decided tomorrow would be the day.

Please get the heart of the message. Now is the time to get your breakthrough.

Yeshua is ready to move today and not tomorrow.

Don’t wait to ask, don’t wait to pray.

Your victory is not scheduled for some day in the future so be expectant today.

Expect YAH to move in your life today because today is the day!

Bless you friends….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

The day of power!

Happy Easter to you all. I hope you are having a great weekend celebrating the

death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To be honest, I have not been seeking the Lord like I should. I should

be reading my bible more and praying more this weekend but I have

been slacking big time. It’s a fight to seek Him. But I make a decision  to seek Him,

to make this weekend count.

Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday!

 

Easter is our day if you didn’t know. It’s a strong day for us. It’s not like every

other day of the year, it’s a day of significance for us and when I say “day” I am

talking about Easter as a whole. A strong day is a day you can declare things, make

decisions and so on. You can do that on normal days but there is a different

kind of power when you do those kind of things on strong days. Your birthday

for instance is a strong day, a great day to reflect and make changes right?

 

 

I was reflecting on a few things today.

I was thinking about the importance of Easter.

Jesus Christ died for us because He wanted

to have a relationship with us, He died so we could be set free from the enemy’s

strong grip. He died so He could bring us home. We were lost but because of what

He did we were found.

As I reflected on all these things I saw the ugly things in my life. I saw how I fail

Him on a daily basis and so on. But today is the day I can come to God and cry out

to Him.

 

I made a decision today. It stops here, with me! I don’t want my sins and the sins of my

parents and so on to carry over to the coming generations. I don’t want my kids to

struggle with what I struggle with. I don’t want them to fear what I fear. Who knows

what sins have been passed down generationally but the Lord knows?

On Easter, the day of power I ask the Lord to help me. It’s only by His grace I have

a chance. I shared this with you to show you what a strong day is and how important it is

and what you can be doing on it.

 

Use this Easter weekend to reflect and make some changes. This is our day, our strong day.

The enemy would like us to think it’s an ordinary day but it’s not. Far from it. It’s our day of power that

the Lord has appointed!! Make declarations, draw a line in the sand, stand, and whatever

else you think you should do because today is the day of power!

 

Jesus Christ died and rose again. He rendered the enemy’s power useless.

He defeated the enemy on this day of power.

All the enemy’s plans blew up in his face.

Make this Easter count. Allow Him to show you how because this is,

our day of power!

Have a very blessed Easter!

Rolain

 

What it means to have a purpose!

Most Christians know God has a plan for their lives.

But when they  are told God has a plan for them, a purpose,

What does that mean? What does that mean for us??

To answer that question I will look at the life of Abraham

the Father of faith!

 

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your

people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

Genesis 12:1

• For Abraham, having a purpose meant having to leave

the familiar behind! He didn’t know where he was going but

He trusted God. He took everything he owned and moved!

Could that still apply today? Could God be calling us out of

our comfort zones to a place we have never heard of before,

to a place we have never been to before?

Is he calling us out of the familiar? Is it possible to experience

the new if you haven’t let go of the familiar, if you are in your

comfort zone??

 

 

“Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham”!

“Here I am, “he replied.

Then God said, Take your son, your only son, whom you love-

Isaac-and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt

offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:1-2

 

Because Abraham had a purpose God tested him!

He told him he was to sacrifice the one thing he loved more than

anything else – his son! God tested with him with something

he held dear to his heart, his son!

Could it be possible that is our story too? Does God want to make

sure He is first in our lives by testing us?? We say we love God and

He is the most important thing in our lives, but is that the truth???

Only He knows!

 

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your Shield,

your very great reward.

But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I

remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of

Damascus? And Abram said, You have given me no children;

So a servant in my household will be heir.

Then the word of the Lord came to him: This man will not be

Your heir, but a son who is your flesh and blood will be your heir.

He took him outside and said, Look up at the sky and count the

stars – if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, so shall

your offspring be.

Abram believed the Lord, and He credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:1-6

 

Because Abram had a purpose he had to trust God! He had to think

bigger and grander! God’s purpose for our lives is huge but faith

in God is the key. God’s plan for your life will not make sense to

a carnal mind a natural mind! You need faith to see it and accept it!

We know without faith it is impossible to please God. He wants us

trust Him.

Something you need to look out for as you walk in God’s purpose

for your life:

 

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had

an Egyptian slave named Hagar, so she said to Abram, “The Lord

has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave;

perhaps I can build a family through her.” 

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

Genesis 16:1-5

 

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what really happened.

Sarai knew what God had promised her along with Abraham but

what really happened? In Genesis 15 it tells us Abraham believed

God and it was counted to him as righteousness but in chapter 16

we read something different. Sarai suggests to Abram that he

sleep with Hagar and he agrees!  Why would Abram agree to that?

He clearly heard from God!

Did he think God had abandoned him?

Had he lost so much hope that he resorted to trying to make things

happen in his own strength?

Was he tired of waiting on God?

Did he focus on his old aged body and Sarah’s deadened womb and

let his carnal mind take over?

We really don’t know but what we do know is he agreed to go

along with Sarah’s plan! They had lost hope in God and set out

to accomplish God’s plan in their own strength!

They were discouraged and dejected!

 

There are things God

will allow and take you through to strengthen you. Like I said before,

it is by faith and faith alone you will accomplish God’s purpose for

your life. Yes, you will need to step out and do things but you will

need faith! If Abraham the Father of Faith could lose hope in God

and rely on his own strength what does that mean for us? It means

we have to be humble and admit we can’t do this alone!

God wants you to walk in the purpose He has for you. Don’t be

afraid.

Trust Him to lead you because He knows the way! He made the way!

Everything He does for you is because He loves you! Your purpose is

amazing and glorious! Be bold and confident as you step into it!

Rolain

 

He didn’t understand surrender…….!

 

 

What does it mean to really surrender? I am interested to know how God sees surrender. Let us look at a story of the young rich man who came to Jesus. His story will help us see surrender the way God sees it. As you know the rich young man came and asked Jesus what he should so to get eternal life (Matthew 19:16) We read in a later verse that the young man had kept all the things Jesus had suggested. We will pick up the story from there:

 

“The young man said, I’ve done all that. What’s left?

If you want to give it all you’ve got, Jesus replied, go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”

That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. Matthew 19: 20

 

The young man had followed the commandments unwaveringly and to some extent he may have thought it was enough. But it wasn’t. He may of thought he could hold on to those other things because he was following the commandments. He thought tithing, going to church, praying, fasting, listening to Christian music, and reading the bible was enough, He thought that was sacrifice and it is but it was not enough. The word says,

That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. Matthew 19:22

What are you holding on to tightly? The young man couldn’t BEAR to let things go! He held on really tight but real surrender is being able to let those things go. I read this scripture a few days ago and instantly things came up, things that I had been holding onto tightly. I brought those things to God and asked Him to help me let go, I want to really surrender. God wants everything! Partial surrender is not surrender at all. He wants our all……! Will you surrender….??

Rolain

Contemplation of a disciple…..

I was thinking about the disciples yesterday. They seen some crazy things and heard a lot of strange things right? What went through their minds as all these things were happening?

A coin found in the mouth of a fish…. Matt 17:24-27

We all know the story. Peter was asked if his Master paid taxes and his answer was yes. The word continues and says:

“But so we don’t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the  first fish that bites. Open it’s mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.” – Matthew 17:26, 27

 

What went through Peter’s mind? Did he get the revelation that Jesus was His source? Was he confident that ALL his needs would be taken care of if he only trusted God because he found a coin in the mouth of a fish!!?? Exactly as Jesus had said! Was he amazed, perplexed? Did he get it, I mean really get it???

Jesus, talking to a Samaritan woman!  John 4:1-42

Jesus does the unthinkable, He talks to a Samaritan woman. His disciples were shocked. What was on their minds?

“Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. The couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of woman. No one said what they were thinking, but their faces showed it.”  John 4: 27

 

Did they see the bigger picture? Did they realize that Jesus was seeing a much larger picture? The gospel was not just for a select few but for the whole world!!! Did they realize that? Did they know God loved the WORLD and was about to lay down His life for it?? Did they have a clue?? Did they know how much He loved people? He loved people no matter who they were, no matter their bringing up, what they had done in the past. He had a heart for the lost!!!

The “strange” teachings of Jesus.  John 6:51-56

The disciples had a real battle to decipher what Jesus meant. Some of his disciples abandoned him because of His hard sayings. We read one such saying in John 6:53:

“And Jesus said to them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you cannot have any life in you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood [unless you appropriate His life and the saving merit of His blood]. 

He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has (possesses now) eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day. 

For My flesh is true and genuine food, and My blood is true and genuine drink. 

 

When the disciples heard this, many of them said, This is a hard and difficult and strange saying (an offensive and unbearable message). Who can stand to hear it? [Who can be expected to listen to such teaching?] John 6:60

 

What were they thinking when Jesus spoke these words? How would you have responded if you were in their shoes? “Eat my flesh, drink my blood”!!! They never realized Jesus was speaking about spiritual things. They never realized Jesus knew the future! He was speaking life and they didn’t even know it! How the disciples were tested constantly! We are not called to understand everything about the God we serve but called to trust Him no matter what even when our understanding is limited.

The abundant healing’s Jesus performed. Matthew 8

Part of Jesus mission was to heal us. The disciples saw Him heal people on a daily basis. What were they thinking?

“And behold, a leper came up to Him and, prostrating himself, worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me. 

And He reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.”Matthew 8:2,3

Did they ever come to a realization that He was The Healer! Did they ever make the connection that Jesus wanted to heal them soul, body and spirit? He was “willing” to heal and He is still “willing” to heal us today! He is our Healer. He has not changed His plan for us. 

 

The death of Jesus (hope lost) Luke 24:13- 20

“That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jesrusalem. 

They were deep in conversation, going over all these things  that had happened.” 

 

Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that He was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. 

 

The disciples had lost all hope of victory. Their savior had been crucified. What were they thinking? Did they know the story would turn out differently? Did they know His death would save the entire world? Did they give up on Jesus by ignoring what He told them while He was still alive? Did they dare to believe something as crazy as resurrection?

In their darkest hour, when their chances seemed dim, the greatest victory man would ever experience in ALL of history was about to take place. Jesus death signified His love for them and for us, they just didn’t realize it yet. What were they thinking? Did they regret following Jesus? Were they confused? Were they in despair?

When all hope was lost or so it seemed Jesus had a plan. In the midst of death, life was to emerge. You might have lost hope like the disciples but God has a plan. The darkness you see is not really darkness! Trust Him!

 

I honestly could go on and on but I will stop here. The disciples went though a lot. They had a lot to digest, a lot to learn but God was faithful to them! As He was faithful to them He is faithful to us. Let us take comfort in that fact. We may not understand all He is doing, but we must trust Him. It took the disciples a while to get with the program but eventually they did. Each and every one of them was martyred for their faith in a God. Let us trust in The Lord…..Amen

Rolain.

I stood at the Cross…..

As I start I would like to share a statement that has been on my mind for the whole week. It has been something I have been meditating on and in a way it was God prepring me for Easter. I really believe Easter is a strong day for us and should not be taken lightly. A strong day where we can declare things, and refuse things, and affirm things and make decisions. This is the statement I have been meditating on, 

“The resurrection is our beacon of victory and hope”.

It really is. Anyway I was at church today. It was pretty quiet. Our Easter service is on Sunday and that is why there was no one at church. But at church we have a huge cross. I mean really huge. So I went and just sat there looking and meditating on it. Our cross has the nails and everything. It is a very powerful symbol. As I sat there a few things came to mind that I would like to share.

– The victory Christ experienced is the same victory He wants us to walk in.

– The Cross also signifies hope. When all was lost, when we were on deathrow,

He came and saved us. We have hope. No matter how bleak our situation may seem, there is hope for us.

There is no need to worry, or to be miserable because our lives are in His hands,

He has healed us

He has a plan and a destiny for us

His grace and mercy is always with us

He has forgiven us

He is guilding our every step

We are His children!

That is all I wanted to share with you. Happy Easter everyone and remember,

The Resurrection is our beacon of victory and hope!

Rolain

Faith Under A Microscope.

In this post I would like to take a deeper look at faith. As Christians we know without faith it is impossible to please God. What does it mean to have faith and to walk by faith? I am going to look at Abraham who was the father of faith. We can learn a lot from the way he lived.

The first act of faith he did that I would like to look at is recorded in Gen 12:1 – God told Abram: Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
I’ll make you a great nation and bless you. I’ll make you famous; you’ll be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I’ll curse. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

What an act of faith but how does that apply to us now? Abraham was obedient and he trusted God to such an extent that he left what he knew to venture into the unknown. He left the familiar. He left friends, family, familiar surroundings and who knows what else all for a land God promised him!
This year, if you want God’s best you need to leave the familiar behind, WE need to leave the familiar behind. Only you know what is familiar to you. It could be how you pray, the friends you hang out with, the amount of money you give and so on. I am sure Abraham’s decision was a huge sacrifice. I don’t think it was an easy decision to get up and leave everything he ever knew! Sacrifice always precedes destiny! In the natural, you cannot be great if you don’t sacrifice and so it is in the spiritual. To accomplish what God has for you will require sacrifice and that is what faith is about. We sacrifice in faith knowing that God can be trusted, knowing God is true to His word!

Gen 13:8,9 is the next thing we will look at.
Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I ‘ll go right; if you go right I’ll go left.

Abraham trusted God and that showed in his decisions. Abraham as the oldest could of chosen first but he knew God was his Provider. He knew God was his source. He knew which ever way we went God would be there for him. When Lot chose and went his way God spoke to Abraham and said,

After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. Gen 13:14,15

God gave Abraham everything including the land Lot had chosen! Lot did not rely on God, instead he depended on what he saw! He depended on himself and we read later how he lost his wife and had to flee for his life!

Do you see God as your source or do you rely on yourself? God wants us to trust in Him completely. Abraham had faith in God and it showed in the way he did things and in the decisions he made. Another example of this is in Gen 14:21, 22 which you can read in your own time for further study.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Let us walk in faith this year. God bless.

Rolain

Carry Your Cross???

Happy new year to you all!!!! This is going to be a great year. With that in mind I would like to speak about what the cross means to us especially in 2013. What comes to mind when you think of the cross?

It is interesting to note that if you asked anyone in Jesus’ time what it meant they would tell you death! The cross meant death. There was nothing good about the cross.

Jesus tells us to carry our cross, but what does that mean?

Do understand that the cross means death today!!!

A lot of people don’t truly understand what the cross really means. The cross means death to the flesh but life to the spirit. We cannot give in to what the flesh wants. We cannot keep on feeding it if we want God’s best. I have been so challenged by this word as well. As we look forward in the New Year let us carry our cross. The cross signifies death but at the same time life in the spirit! let us aim to have a spirit filled 2013!!!!

Rolain.

What is more important, what you enjoy or significance?

I have just started a job at a restaurant this week. It has been a crazy week if I must say. The craziness has come about because I have my own company which I am running at the same time. So trying to balance the two things has been interesting! To top that off I have been preparing for an outreach. The outreach was on Friday and a lot of school students gave their lives to Christ. In the midst of this crazy week I have been reflecting on something. Which is more important, doing what you enjoy or doing what is significant even if

you don’t like it? I don’t like the hospitality industry and I had actually left it to start my own company. But my church has a coffee shop and I was asked to help. I had been avoiding it for quite some time but I finally decided to work at the coffee shop but the dilemma remains, I believe God wants me here but would He direct me somewhere I don’t like? What is more important, doing what you enjoy or what is significant? I know that some people get to do both and praise the Lord for you.

As I was meditating on this I remembered Jesus in the garden. He is on THE most important mission this world has and will ever know. The thing is this, Jesus knew it had to be done. If He didn’t do it then we would have to die for our own sins!

Listen to what He prays in Matthew 26:39: O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

He prays for the second time and says, O my Father, if this cup  may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.  Matthew 26:42

Please understand what I am saying. It is important that we do the things we are passionate about. We need to fill our lives with things that we love but sometimes to get to that destination we will need to endure things that we are not comfortable with for the greater good. Jesus understood this. He loved us so much but at the same time the reality of what was about to happen dawned on Him. Yes, he asked if the cup pass from him but I don’t think He was really considering not going through with it.

As I close make sure what you enjoy doing is significant.

So my question remains, would you rather do what you are passionate about or would you do something that is going to change lives even if it costs you your life?

Rolain.P