The Illusion Of Strength


“The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.”

Psalm 33:16, 17

There is a tendency at times to try to go through life on our own. We try to show God we

got everything under control. We think He is impressed with our show of power, intelligence

and wit so we “power through” life when we should be looking to Him for strength.

You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and think it’s cool but it’s not.

In the world, showing how strong, independent, powerful you are is celebrated. We see this

in terms like “self made man or woman” But it’s not so in God’s kingdom.

He wants you to trust Him. He wants you to give up control and let Him take the steering wheel.

Surrender to Him in faith. Let Him do the heavy lifting.

I was working on a project recently and was getting frustrated and overwhelmed. As I stopped

to see what was going on I realized I was going at it in my strength. I never asked God for help.

I repented and asked Him to help me. I stopped trying to figure things out on my own and started

praying more and seeking His guidance.

He wants us to rely on His strength, not our strength.

Turn to Him for help always.

“He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the Lord’s delight is in those

who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

Psalm 147:10, 11

Bless you friends

Rolain

With So Many Reasons To Live In Fear, Trust God Instead.


There are so many reasons to live in fear today.

You don’t have to go far to find fear. It’s all around us.

It’s on television, radio, the newspaper, Facebook feeds, WhatsApp Group Threads and so much more.

So what must we do when we come face to face with fear?

For the answer let’s get into the Word Of God.

In the second book of Chronicles chapter twenty, King Jehoshaphat was given some bad news.

A huge army was about to attack him. Let’s read what happened next,

“Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat saying, There cometh a great multitude

against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar,

which is Engedi.

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout

all Judah.”

2 Chronicles 20:2, 3

When the king heard the news he feared. He didn’t try to hide it or ignore it.

But instead of allowing fear to overwhelm and paralyze him he set himself to

seek the Lord for help against the mighty army that came against him.

And when he sought the Lord for help, the Lord fought for him and destroyed

the army that came against him.

So like Jehoshaphat, seek the Lord for help when you are face to face with fear.

He will help you always.

He will hear your prayer as you cry out to Him.

Put your trust in Him in times of fear.

Bless you friends

Rolain

The children were doomed…….


When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a 

riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed 

his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing

my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From 

now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”

The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and 

our children after us.   Matthew 27:24, 25 

 

I don’t know about you but I was in shock when I read this

scripture. How could they say things like that?

That was so unfair, so selfish…..

I don’t think the kids would approve. The

crowd cursed their kids just like that. There was no

thought behind what they were really doing. Blinded by

hate they doomed their children!

 

I was angry at the crowd’s ignorance. Shame on anyone

who thinks only of themselves, and forgets there is a much

bigger plan at play. I was hurt by the words they spoke.

What did their kids do????

They were innocent in all of this. They had dreams and

aspirations. But their futures were in danger because of the

carelessness of their parents!!!! That made me so mad.

But as I was thinking about that the attention shifted from the

crowd to myself.

What am I doing now that will prepare the way for my kids?

Am I speaking life, prosperity, victory, peace and other

strong words into their lives or am I cursing their future with

my words???

But it goes much deeper than just words. As a single man

I have a part to play in the future of my kids lives.

Understand what I am saying here. I have a part to play.

I thank God my kids futures are not dependent on my

success or else they would be in deep trouble. God is

the One who is holding them in His hand. He is the One

who created them and called them. He is the One

who knows them by name and is holding their lives in

His powerful hand.

I have a part to play in this amazing story.

Let’s look at a scripture,

 

And David the king went in and sat before the

Lord and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what

is my house and family, that you have brought

me up to this?

And yet this was a small thing in Your eyes, O

God; for You have spoken of Your servant’s

house for a great while to come, and have regarded

me accordingly to the estate of a man of high

degree, O Lord God!

1 Chronicles 17:16, 17

 

God as you know has a plan for you but He also has

a plan for your kids. That is the exciting news if you ask

me.

Not only has He got a plan for your kids but He has a plan for

their kids and so on and so on!

In other words He has a plan for your posterity!

Let us take a look at another scripture:

 

David told the crowd:

God chose my son Solomon to build the temple,

but Solomon is young and has no experience.

This is not just any building – this is the temple

for the Lord God!

That’s why I have done my best to get everything

Solomon will need to build it – gold, silver, bronze,

iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, colored gems, all kinds of

precious stones, and marble.  1 Chronicles 29:1, 2

 

I love this…..David didn’t sit and expect his son to

walk in his calling. He prepared the way for him. He knew

God had called Solomon and he did all he could do to help

Solomon. We have the awesome responsibility of preparing

the way for our kids even in our singleness. We will not

curse our kids with our words like the crowd did.

How we live our lives has an impact on our kids too. We are

not perfect but we can do something to prepare the way…..

When God sees me and my life He sees a generation.

When He blesses me, He doesn’t stop there, He blesses

my posterity! Today I will make sure I am running after

God’s plan for me. I will pursue purity. I will pursue a

deeper relationship with Him, because all those things have

an effect on my posterity.

 

For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your 

gates, and He has blessed your children within you. 

Psalms 147:13

 

This is one of my favorite scriptures. The Lord has blessed

my children within me and because of that I am grateful.

It wasn’t because of me that He blessed them but it was

because of His grace! And even now by faith I declare that

my kids will do great things for God not because I am

perfect but because I trust in a great big God. Their

future is secure I declare.

God has blessed the work of their hands.

Favor is with them everywhere they go.

They will bring many people to the Lord!

They will have wisdom far beyond their years.

They will walk in purity

and most importantly of all, they have a deep

relationship with God.

God will be the first and the most important thing in

their lives. They will be sold out for God……

 

That is my declaration….what is yours???

We will not curse our kids but bless them in word

and in deed.

Amen!

(Our children’s ministry is having a camp so I will be away for a

few days starting today. Please pray for me and the team that is

going. Pray for the kids as well.)      🙂

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The arrogance of man….


And Saul built an altar to the Lord;

It was the first altar he built to the

Lord.  1 Samuel 14:35

 

Saul built an altar to God. It was probably the only

altar he built to God.

Why he built the altar is not really clear but the point

is this, he built an altar.

Saul building that altar almost seems out of context.

In fact, it’s so out of Saul’s norm that the word says,

 

It was the first altar he built to God.”

 

Building an altar meant on a very rare

occasion Saul remembered God, he honored God!

It was one of those very rare occasions where

Saul put God first, where Saul stopped to thank

God.

The altar that Saul built tells us a lot about where

his relationship with God was. He didn’t build altars

which meant something.

 

On the other hand let’s look at David.

Building an altar wasn’t out of context for him.

He built countless altars to God. That also said

something about his relationship with God.

David was a man after God’s heart. God was the

most important thing to him….

 

David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-5)

David kills Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14-23)

In both these situations David repented to God.

He confessed his sins and asked God to forgive him.

His heart broke because of what he did.

 

David counts his people (2 Samuel 24:1-9)

After counting the people the word says:

David felt ashamed after he counted the people

and said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in

what I did! Lord, I beg you, forgive me for my

sin. I have been very foolish.”

2 Samuel 24:10

 

Once again David humbled himself before God.

He confessed his sin to God quickly!

 

David wants to build a house for God.

(2 Samuel 7:1-18)

Even in peace David still sought the Lord.

He never forgot Him!

 

This is what I am trying to show you,

We need to be like David who built countless

altars to God. He loved God so much. Yes,

he sinned many times but he always turned 

to God. No matter how bad things got he

always turned to God and even in good times

he still turned to thank God!

 

Saul didn’t put God first a lot of the time.

Some would say he was proud. He believed

he could make it on his own. He was a skilled

warrior who was a “head taller” than everyone

else. (1 Samuel 9:2)

Whatever the case we must aim to be like

David who humbled himself before God.

He never relied on his own strength. Instead,

he relied on God and ALWAYS turned to

God, always……

The goal is not to be David but it’s to take

those things that made his relationship

with God stronger and apply them to

our lives.

The goal is not to discredit or attack

Saul but it’s to look at his life and

learn from his mistakes. We all sin

so attacking Saul would be foolish…

 

God wants us to put Him first….

Pride will always resist God.

We need to be humble and allow

God to lead us.

Rolain

 

 

The Dungeon and Praise!


There is power when we praise God and there are benefits when we praise God. As I was reading my bible this morning I read the story of Paul and Silas. Because they cast a demon out of a girl they got beaten and where thrown in a dungeon without being given a trial!!! If you want to talk about injustice that is a perfect picture of injustice. It was not fair but it happened. (Acts 16)
We have things happen to us as well but how do you respond to them? Paul and Silas praised God in the midst of their pain. Were they discouraged, maybe?! But they made a decision to praise God. They were in a dungeon but they praised and thanked God. (Acts 16:25)
You may feel like you are in a dungeon but praise God. I don’t think Paul and Silas were praising and thanking God for the dungeon. We don’t thank God for the trouble we face but we praise Him in the midst of the trouble. There is a difference!

As they praised the Lord we read how the prison doors opened but that is not the amazing thing about the story. The amazing part was seeing the jailer give his life to Christ, him and his whole family!!
(Acts 16:28-34)
And that is the power of praise. Getting out was not the miracle. A family being saved was and who knows who else was touched. When we praise God it is not for ourselves. When we live a lifestyle of praising God, He will use us to bring people to His kingdom. I don’t know how that works but it does. It is a mystery….!
When we praise God it gets our attention off ourselves and gets us to focus outwardly. God has a bigger purpose for praise than just delivering us!!
God will teach us to praise Him in the dungeon so He can show Himself strong on our behalf but to also save others.

It is a mystery indeed. So let us praise God in the dungeon in faith that He will deliver us because He will. But also know as you praise Him a bigger purpose is being accomplished.

Psalm 69:30-32 says, 
I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving, 
And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs. 
The humble shall see it and be glad; you who seek God, inquiring for and requiring Him [as your first need], let your hearts revive and live!

Rolain.