God is Bigger Than Our Mistakes

Don’t let the devil lie to you that your sins are too much for God to handle.
Don’t let him tell you that you are beyond saving.
It’s not true.

God is bigger and greater than your biggest sins.

“Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins.
They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death’s door.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.”

Psalms 107:17-20 NLT

We will sin and fall, that’s a definite but there is grace, mercy and forgiveness available to us. God is ready to forgive us and all we need to do is go ask Him.

When his people cried to Him, He saved them from their distresses even though they were the cause of the pain they experienced, even when they made the mistakes.

The other thing the devil will try to lie to you about is your past. He will try to tell you that there is no hope for you and God is not going to forgive your past but that too is a lie. He will use condemnation, guilt and shame to try to stop you.

But the Word of God is very clear in Romans 8:1 when it says,

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

God is greater than the sins you have committed.
Grace, mercy and a second chance are available to you today so receive it.

Bless you friends!

Rolain

Watching from afar…….?

Word of the day.

Does the Lord see our pain and afflictions? Does He stand afar looking at all the things we go

through? Does He stand afar refusing to intervene, letting the enemy have His way in us?

 

He does see our pain and afflictions. The news gets better, He does not watch us from afar.

He is protecting us and watching over us. The enemy would like us to think we are alone but

that’s not true. Let’s take a look at what YAH says about that;

 

“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy and steadfast love, because You have seen my affliction, 

You have taken note of my life’s distresses, and You have not given me into the hand of the enemy; 

You have set my feet in a broad place.” 

Psalm 31:7, 8

 

The Lord sees our pain friends. He sees what we are going through but He doesn’t stop there. He

comes in and protects us. He comes in and helps us.

 

Don’t stay discouraged. The Lord is with you and will stop the enemy from accomplishing his evil plan in

your life. He will set your feet in a broad place. That’s a promise!

 

Bless you friends…..

 

Rolain

Building on “dry land”.

 

“By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was 

warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he 

was told. The result?

His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between 

evil of the unbelieving world and the righteous of the believing 

world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.”

Hebrews 11:7 (MSG)

 

I love this passage of scripture. It’s pretty amazing if you ask me.

This passage highlights something very important about faith.

 

Noah was warned about a flood he had never seen before. So

by faith he starting building a ship on dry land. How crazy that

must of looked! I don’t think anyone had a clue what he was

doing! Noah stepped out in faith even though he had no

idea what a flood was and to add to that, he hadn’t

ever built or seen an ark before!

 

Before Noah saw a flood he had to build the ark.

He didn’t wait for the rains to start to begin building the ark.

It’s on dry land that he began building the ark!

 

I know it seems elementary but how many of us wait for God

to do something before we step out in faith?

We wait for a sign from God before we start moving.

But the very nature of faith requires us to take that first leap of

faith into the unknown!

 

The crazy thing is,

Those who wait on God to do something before they do anything

really don’t trust Him! (that really convicted me!)

It’s because Noah HAD faith in God he started moving!

He had never seen a flood or an ark but he trusted God!

God’s word to him was enough!

 

Where are you at the moment?

Are you building ships on dry land or are you waiting on the

rains to begin so you can start moving??

 

This is the thing, people will look at you funny.

A lot of people will misunderstand you. They will talk about you.

They will think you are crazy. They will laugh at you.

They will scorn you. They try and talk you out of it.

 

Noah could have gone through the same things but he kept

at it. He got up everyday to build the ark.

It didn’t make sense but he pushed forward.

All he had was a word from God but that was enough for him.

 

We need to start moving friends. We need to start building

ships on dry land.

God’s word is enough. It’s all we need.

The world wants us to believe it’s not enough.

The world wants us to feel, touch, reason things out but is that

what God really wants?

 

“But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory

to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily]

believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those 

who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. 

Hebrews 11:6

 

Let go of the fear friends.

Stand on His word when the uncertainty comes.

God’s word to you may not make sense to the people around you

but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong!

 

I don’t think it was easy for Noah as he built the ark.

He had to fight the outside voices as well as the inner voices.

He clung on to God with all that he had and that made the

difference!

Hold on to the word of the Lord to you no matter how crazy it

sounds!

If you have been waiting for long and you are beginning to doubt

the word, don’t!! He is faithful and He will deliver on His

promise to you!

 

On that note it’s time to end this post.

 

Bless you friends!

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He knows your name……

“So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree in 

order to see Him, for He was about to pass that way. 

And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said 

to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay 

at your house today. “

Luke 19:4, 5

 

I read this passage of scripture during the weekend and was left

in awe.

This story is so familiar but there is a deep truth in it.

We forget that Jesus never met Zacchaeus!

All Zacchaeus wanted to do was see Him. (Luke 19:3)

Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector. I highly doubt he

was a christian. (read Luke 19:7)

 

“What’s the deep truth”, you might be asking?

 

“And when Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to

him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your

house today. ” (emphasis mine)

Luke 19;5

 

Jesus called Zacchaeus by name! He knew exactly who he

was.

No one told Jesus who he was. He

didn’t research “top tax collectors in Jericho”!   🙂

That should give us hope friends.

 

Like Zacchaeus, your name is known. Jesus knows you!

There is no such thing as a statistic in God’s eyes. We are ALL

important and precious in His eyes!

You may have lived by another truth all your life but the real

truth is Jesus knows who you are by name! No matter who you are

He knows you. No matter the things you have done, He knows

you and longs for you to turn to Him!

Come to Him as you are.

 

Jesus came to save the people of the world.

A lot of people think He came to make the righteous

better but that’s not it. He came to save the world. He came

to save the lost.

The righteous are not better than everyone else. We are broken

people who realized we needed a Savior.

 

“And Jesus said to him, Today is [Messianic and spiritual]

salvation come to [all the members of] this household, since

Zacchaeus too is a [real spiritual] son of Abraham; 

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was

lost. “

Luke 19:9, 10

 

Friend, remember this truth, He knows your name!

 

Rolain

He turns dark situations into light!! (part 4)

This is the last post in my series on David. I love the word

because there is so much to learn. I have really enjoyed

this series. David truly was a man after God’s heart!

Let’s get going.

Some time ago I wrote a post on David titled “nine months

later……”

In that post I talked about David and Bathsheba.

 

“When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was

dead, she mourned for her husband.

And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her

to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

2 Samuel 11:26

 

That was the key scripture I used. David sinned and he didn’t

even know it!

David didn’t repent straight away. We know from the above

scripture that Bathsheba was in a time of mourning.

She also gave birth to a son and still David hadn’t repented!

For at least nine months we know David was in sin and he didn’t

even know it. Even when the prophet Nathan came and told

him a story that would expose David’s sin, David still didn’t

get it. Nathan had to tell David, he was the one he was talking

about in the story!

 

But we know the end of the story and I would like to pick up

the story there.

 

“Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her

and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name

Solomon. Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the

hand of Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah,

because of the Lord. “

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

 

This scripture amazes me. David and Bathsheba were not a

good thing. Death, pain, seperation, darkness had come

into David’s life because of that relationship.

But then something amazing happens, Solomon!

I think of Abigail, she was an amazing woman. Why didn’t

Solomon come through her?? I know, it’s a crazy thought but

I hope you understand where I am going with this.

I don’t think it brought a smile to David’s life when he thought

about Bathsheba. He killed someone because of her. He was

seperated from God in that time. There is no record of what

transpired during those nine months. David didn’t do any

exploits during that time. It was just a dark time for him

and Bathsheba.

 

I have a theory…..

 

“Now satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number

Israel. “

1 Chronicles 21:1

 

The enemy’s plan was to take out David. Bathsheba was how he

was going to do it. This was not the first time the enemy had

tried to take him out. he tried a few other times but God always

delivered him! And that’s why I believe Solomon came through

Bathsheba and not Abigail or David’s other wives. The Lord

would use what the enemy meant for harm for David’s good.

The enemy would not win! God would be glorified in the very

situation that was meant to kill David!

Please understand me, I am not saying Bathsheba was the

enemy. The enemy used that situation to try to destroy

David. He was supposed to be out at war but he chose to stay.

(read 2 Samuel 11:1)

The fight was always against satan and he would of won if

God had not stepped in!

 

As God was with David, He is with you and with me. God is our

Deliverer! The enemy will not win no matter what weapon he

fashions! I really believe that.

Even when David was blind to the sin in his life God came in

and saved him! God is so good friends!

What a testimony it was for David and Bathsheba. They would

look at Solomon and remember God’s goodness and mercy.

He turned such a dark situation into something glorious!

Be encouraged friends. God will not leave us alone. God will be

with us as He was with David.

David wasn’t perfect. But his life is a testimony of what a loving

God can do in a life of a man or woman who loves Him! I pray

this is a blessing to you like it was to me! Bless you!

 

Rolain

 

Blown away by God’s grace……!

I would like to share one of my favourite passages of scripture.  It speaks about God’s kindness and grace…. In your own time you can read the whole chapter because it is powerful but I will touch on a few verses that touch me the most:

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons, 

Because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the most High. 

Therefore He bowed down their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled and fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. 

He brought them out of the darkness and the shadow of death and broke apart the bonds that held them. Psalm 107:10-14

I understand as humans we sin. We get ourselves into trouble by making really bad decisions. We all make mistakes.

The people in the passage I just shared got themselves into trouble. They made all the wrong decisions. They rebelled against God. They were bound and in chains because they rejected God……

Because of their actions they were abandoned with NO ONE to help! They had no one to turn to but……..

They cried to the Lord!!!!! They cried to the Lord in their trouble and He saved them from their distresses! God had every right to leave them but He didn’t. It doesn’t make sense to the human mind. They were on the wrong, they abandoned God…..but in His grace and love and kindness He heard and answered their prayers!!!! That blows my mind and reminds me how little I know God’s grace!!

And that is the trend we see in the rest of the chapter. We see people getting themselves into trouble and God coming to save them as they cry out to Him! For effect I am going to share another story!

Some are fools [made ill] because of the way of their transgressions and are afflicted because of their iniquities. 

Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distresses. 

He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction. Psalm 107:17-20

God loves you and cares for you not because you are perfect. He knows your every mistake but still loves you. He knows every mistake you are still to make, bad decisions you are still to make but He still extends grace to you. He has given you a chance to cry out to Him. That is how good He is……!!!!! He doesn’t give up on you. He is waiting on you to turn to Him! It’s scripture like this that humbles me. I don’t understand the beauty of God’s grace and love but I am thankful for it because without it I would be abandoned and dead! I would be in hell with no hope of rescue!!

The last part of the chapter is so powerful. It talks about men who do their business at sea! I would guess these men are sailors and have great experience and understanding of the sea. They are totally qualified to be out at sea. But something happens out at sea! They encounter a storm!!

[Those aboard] mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the deeps; their courage melts away because of their plight. 

They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end [all their wisdom has come to nothing]. 

Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. Psalm 107: 26-28

For a while they tried to rely on what they know to get them out of the storm but that didn’t work! How many of us have tried to get ourselves out of trouble? It says “all their wisdom has come to nothing”.

God is so good because even when they tried to solve a situation in their own strength and failed, God by His grace saved them!!!! As I end I would like you to think about His grace! It is so amazing! He wants you to rely on Him, on His grace. He knows you are human and He wants to deliver you. He wants to save you from sin. No matter what you have done, no matter how bad it is, know that He wants to heal you and set you free. He wants to break the chains that have bound you! It is not to late for you……Turn to Him and He will answer you!!!

Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.   Psalm 107:43

Rolain

 

 

I lost the battle against sin…..?!

I don’t know about you but I have weeks where I feel like I am literally in a boxing ring with sin. Monday I won, Tuesday I lost, Wednesday sin won, Thursday I won and so on and so on. Other weeks I know nothing can touch me. Christ died for my sins and I have been delivered and that’s it!

This week has been a week of fighting guilt and shame and condemnation. Sin seems to be getting stronger in my life, getting the upper hand. I have been delivered for crying out loud but sin seems so strong!! But it also feels like I am in an unfair battle. There is a part of me that wants to sin. It deceives me and betrays me to the enemy. I understand more and more what Paul was speaking about now. My desire is to be free, to get closer to God more and more but he betrays me. I betray me!!!

With all those things going on within me The Lord showed me something!

“For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering]. Hebrews 2:18

Jesus came in a form of a man, was tested and tried but didn’t succumb to sin. He humbled Himself so as a High Priest He could identify with our struggles!

He understands everything we go through and I mean everything!

He doesn’t sit by and watch us in our suffering, No!! Instead He comes to our rescue.

The word says, He IMMEDIATELY runs to our cries!! He IMMEDIATELY runs to assist and relieve us.

If you need help cry out to Him! He wants to help you. He understands what you are going through. The fact is this, we are all exposed to suffering but in your suffering don’t remain silent. In my suffering I was silent and that is when guilt and shame and all those other lies penetrated me but they can’t win if you open your mouth. The enemy cannot win if you call on the One who saves!!! His love for us is so deep and cannot be fathomed. He is our Savior……Amen

Rolain

Nine months later…….

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time

of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. 

But God was not at all pleased with what David had done, 

1 Samuel 12:26, 27

We all know what happened here. David slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife but to cover it up he got Uriah

who was a faithful solider to him killed! Bathsheba may not have known what David did but the point is she became the king’s wife. She may not have had a say in any of this either. A king was free to do whatever he wanted in those days.

When I read this story a thought came to me. Between Uriah being killed to Bathsheba giving birth to a son was

at least nine months. I don’t know how long the time of mourning was but all we know is it was at least nine months

when all this took place. David was in sin for nine months! He knew taking someone’s wife was sin. He knew murder

was a sin. David loved God. He had an intimate relationship with Him but David was blinded in this season. This post is

not about how bad David was. We are all sinners. David sinned but so do we.

What I want to show you though is how as sinners sin can destroy us. During this ‘nine months’ we hear nothing.

There is no Psalm that we read during that period! We don’t hear of David’s exploits during that time. Nothing was recorded during that time. David was in sin and he didn’t even know it!

If that could happen to David, a man after God’s heart then surely it could happen to us. And please note, David

didn’t snap out of it by himself. He didn’t realize what he was doing by himself. God intervened!!!! If God did not intervene who knows how long it would of gone on for?

And this is what this post is about……God intervened!

God did not leave David in his sin. He saved him. By God’s grace David was disciplined and forgiven! That is good news for us indeed.

We will do crazy things and left to our own we will not win, BUT……But God does not leave us to ourselves. He is watching over us.

He has extended His grace and mercy to us! We serve a really great God! He sent His son to die for us!

I was so encouraged when I got that revelation. God is for me and no matter how crazy it gets God will help me. I hope it’s an encouragement to you as well.

Generous in love – God, give grace! 

Huge in mercy – wipe out my bad record.

Scrub away my guilt, 

soak out my sins in Your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been; 

my sins staring me down. 

Psalm 51:1-3

 

But that is not the end of the story. God turned this dark and terrible situation for good.

David went and comforted his wife Bathsheba. And when he slept with her, they conceived a son. When the son was born they

named him Solomon. God had a special love for him and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God’s beloved).

2 Samuel 12:24, 25

Solomon would not have been born if David and Bathsheba never met. I am not saying what David did was right. He sinned! What I am trying to say though is God turned a bad thing into something wonderful. And He will do the same thing for us. We may think our sin is too much and God cannot use us but that is not true. God has forgiven you and will turn what the enemy meant for death into life…..

He has amazing things for you despite what you have done. Sin does not define who you are anymore, God’s grace does. He is a truly amazing God!!!

Rolain

 

 

Walk with the wise….

WORD OF THE DAY.

Become wise by walking with the wise;

 

hang out with fools and…

 

watch your life fall to pieces.

 

 

Become wise by walking with the wise;

hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

Proverbs 13:20

 

Rolain

Why hard times and suffering are important…

I have been going through a testing time this couple of weeks. The year started off well and it seemed like it was going to carry on like that but it didn’t. Things happened and everything is different now. I have some major life changing decisions I have to make. In fact as I look back in my life I see all the hard times I have been through. There were times when there seemed like there was no answer. I had nothing. No plan B, nothing but God! He was all I had and He came through. A few years ago our economy crashed. Food became scarce, inflation sky rocketed, people didn’t know what to do. Imagine going to the supermarket and finding nothing on the shelves! Imagine going to a coffee shop but finding out they didn’t have flour to bake anything? Everything came to a standstill. The average person’s job was to find any place that was selling any kind of food. People had money but couldn’t buy anything! Those were really testing times!!

Just one of the many pictures you would of seen in 2007-2008. No food in the country! But God came through for us!

 

But even in those very testing times God came through!!! He was there for me. He provided for me and cared for me.
Then there was the time when I had no job. I had no income what so ever and until today I don’t know how I survived. God helped me!

With all that said, why does God allow us to go through hard times and suffering?  You may be going through some hard times and wondering the same thing. Well, let us look at the word for the answer.

We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally – not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead. And He did it, rescued us from certain doom. And He’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing.
2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Did you see that? Paul was going through some really trying times even to a point where he thought he was not going to make it. It felt like he was on death row! But as he was going through all that something happened. He saw something! He realized he was supposed to trust God and not in himself. He came to a realization that he was not the answer to his problem, God was!

Is this why God allows us to go through hard times and suffering, so we can trust Him? Does He want us to realize, He is the only One who can save us?
God does not want us relying on our own strength because it’s not enough and because there is only one God and one Savior.  Our strength is not strength at all. We are not strong and wise and perfect. We need God.

What is the “take home”then?

God allows us to go through pain and suffering because He wants to show Himself strong. He wants us to come to the realization that our strength is not enough. He does not want us trusting in our own ability! Instead, He wants us to look to Him and trust Him…..   God bless

Rolain