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

The Beautiful Story of Our Lives

As I look at myself and all the imperfections I have, all the mistakes and sins I continually

make I am humbled by the Lord’s grace and mercy He has extended to me.

That’s not just my story but it’s OUR story.

God in his mercy and grace doesn’t leave us in our mess.

He cleans us up and changes us.

He forgives us and gives us a second chance.

And that is what I call the beautiful story of our lives because His love is beautiful.

I think of the woman in Luke 7:37 who the bible tells us was a sinner. We don’t

know exactly what she did but it is clear she was not popular in her community.

“When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “if this man

were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman

she is – that she is a sinner.”

Luke 7:39

But even though the Pharisee had written her off as a lost cause, Jesus saw her differently.

He loved her and forgave her despite knowing all her sins. He didn’t reject her and cast her away.

So don’t listen to the lies that say you cannot be forgiven.

Don’t allow people to tell you that you are a lost cause. That’s not true.

Jesus loves you and extends grace, mercy and forgiveness to you no matter how badly

you have messed up.

You can go to Him for help anytime.

God bless you friends.

Rolain

Redeem The Day

Today is a gift from God.

And I am not talking about the date of today. But I am talking about “TODAY”

Whenever you read this that will be your today and it has significance.

It’s a second chance to do things right. It’s an opportunity to try again where you have failed.

It’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean.

You may have messed up yesterday but today you have another chance to do things

differently.

Read what 2 Corinthians 6: 2 has to say about the importance of “today”

“For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,

And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day

of salvation.”

In other translations it says, today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day of God’s favor and

Today is the day of salvation

Don’t allow yesterday’s mistakes and sins hold you back today.

Repent and allow God to speak to you anew today.

And He is speaking.

“Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts.”

Hebrews 4:7

If you need forgiveness, today is the day to receive it.

If you need a second chance, today is the day.

Today is a gift from God.

Receive what He has for you today.

Bless you friends

Rolain

What God Thinks About Our Imperfections.

As I begin I want to ask a question.

Do our imperfections stop God’s grace from operating freely in our lives?

For the answer let us look at Matthew 1.

I want to focus on the genealogy of Jesus Christ because it is there that we find the answer.

You would think that list would be comprised of the who’s who at the time.

The rich and powerful, the superstars and such like people. But that was not the case.

The people on that list were the complete opposite. They were anything but perfect.

What I want to do is focus in on five women that were mentioned on that list.

The ONLY five women mentioned and I don’t think that was a mistake.

The women were Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.

I am not going to talk about Mary because we know she was the mother of Jesus.

So let’s talk about the other women.

Rahab – We know she was a proustite but the direction of her life changed when she

welcomed and hide the spies by faith. Despite her past the Lord turned her life around.

Her imperfections, her past, her past sins did not stop the Lord from doing something

amazing in her life.

Bathsheba – At a time when kings were supposed to go for war, David stayed behind and

got into trouble. He slept with Bathsheba and had a child with her. To hide the fact, he got

Uriah her husband killed.

In a dark time, the Lord gave them Solomon and they found favor and grace. When

there didn’t seem to be a way out the Lord made a way for them.

Ruth – Ruth was a Moabite and was in a unique position.

“No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD,

not even in the tenth generation.”

Deuteronomy 23:3

The Moabites had a curse on them because they tried to stop Israel when they came from Egypt.

There was nothing Ruth could do about her nationality. She was born into it but that didn’t stop God from blessing

her in amazing ways. The Lord was with her despite her nationality.

Tamar – To read Tamar’s story you will have to go back to the book of Genesis 38:6-30

Judah had three sons and he got Tamar to marry his firstborn son. But he displeased the

Lord and was killed. She was then given to his second son and once again he displeased

the Lord and was killed. So Judah decided to not give Tamar his third born son because

he was afraid he would lose him too. But Tamar had a plan. She disguised herself as a

prostitute and slept with Judah and they had kids.

(this is a very condensed version of the story)

That was crazy right but that is the Tamar that is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. She was a descendant

of Jesus Christ!

As you read all these women’s stories its clear to see how God did amazing things considering the

diverse things that happened.

The lesson is a simple one,

Don’t let your failures, your sins, where you were born and so much more make you believe that God

can’t use you.

He is not hindered by your imperfections. They don’t limit Him one single bit.

Trust Him to use you in amazing ways.

He loves and cares for you.

And to answer the question I asked in the beginning. The answer is no.

Our imperfections don’t stop God’s grace from moving in our lives.

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

Unworthy!

As I got ready to serve at church today I had a thought;

 

I am not worthy to stand before the Lord.

I am not worthy to serve before His people.

 

Today is Resurection Sunday and it is a strong day!

Jesus conquered the grave and set us free and here I was

having these thoughts.

My mind immediately went to the movie “Thor”

Yes people, I was thinking about “Thor” during church!    😦

 

I thought about his hammer and how the only person able

to wield it had to be “worthy”!

There was a time in “Thor” when he wasn’t worthy. His dad

banished him from Asgard and took his hammer.

As he banished him to another world he sent the hammer

after him and spoke to it saying, “anyone worthy enough would

wield it”. Those are not the exact words but they were something

to that effect.

 

But this is the thing, can we be worthy?

Thor became worthy after he realised the errors of his ways.

By his own strength he became worthy but I think they got it

wrong there.

We cannot become worthy on our own. It’s impossible!

In fact, I don’t think it’s about that at all.

On this earth we will always be flawed. We will sin and struggle

with sin but it’s because Jesus Christ is worthy that we can

stand before Him!

 

“Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “

Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was

able to open the scroll, or look at it.

Revelation 5:2, 3

 

No one was worthy to open the scroll!

No one IS worthy still…..!!

No one but Him!

 

“So I wept much, because on one was found worthy to open and

read the scroll, or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion

of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open

the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the

four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb

as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,

which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him

who sat on the throne.

Revelation 5: 4-7

 

It’s a long passage of scripture and I encourage you to read

the whole chapter but the point is this. He was and is the only

One who is worthy! Our mission is not to become worthy but

we are to trust in the saving power of the cross every single

day of our lives. We are to trust in the One who is worthy!

That’s what this day is about.

Death, the enemy, thought he

had won but he was wrong. Jesus Christ was the winner.

He saved us and made us righteous. Because of Him we can

stand confidently!

 

I don’t serve because I am worthy because I am the man,

because I am perfect, far from it! I serve because God makes

me able to serve.

On this strong day I realised I am unworthy, yes! But because

of what He has done He has makes me able to stand.

I rely on His grace and mercy consistently because without it

I would be a dead man walking, I would have no future, no hope,

nothing!

He is the One who is worthy! Amen and amen!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday to you all!

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

The problem with being a virgin….!!!

It’s being a while since I have written about my

journey, my journey of singleness! It’s an important

season and we should give it the credit it deserves.

I am writing on singleness because there has been

something I have been wrestling with. I have been

wrestling with the significance of my virginity in the scope

of singleness.

 

For ages we have been told to wait, “don’t have sex

before marriage.” That is all good advise and that is not

the issue. The issue I have is when we are told we will get

God’s best if we keep ourselves!!! “You will get God’s best

if you don’t have sex and don’t date until you find the One.”

Before I carry on I want to make something very clear.

I have kept myself, I am a virgin, I haven’t dated yet and

years ago that was my pride and glory! I held that up

to everyone and even to God. I was going to get the best

because I was pure, I kept myself! But I was wrong.

The advise we have been getting is incomplete.

As the years go by I realize more and more

that the woman God has for me will not be given to me

because of what I have done, but because of His grace.

She will be a gift!

I don’t want to get anything based on my

performance because the truth of the matter is I would

not get anything! God looks at the

heart and my heart is sinful. I may not have slept around

but I have sinned incredibly in my heart!!

 

To be honest with you, I don’t deserve God’s best. I have let

Him down so much. How can I stand before Him holding

up MY version of purity (filthy rags) and with pride say,

“God give me your best”….!!!! It doesn’t work like that!

Don’t get caught up in law (I kept myself so I want this

kind of woman or this kind of man)

God is looking at your heart. He wants to give you the

best because He loves you not because you did this or

did that.

 

But if you have kept yourself please understand that I am

not attacking you. I want you to see that God will give you

the best because that is the kind of God He is.  Look at what the word says,

 

For God has not called us to impurity but to consecration

[to dedicate ourselves to the most thorough purity].

1 Thessalonians 4:7

 

The word says we should DEDICATE ourselves! That is

such a strong word. We dedicate ourselves to purity

because we want to honor God in our hearts of hearts!

We dedicate ourselves to purity because we love Him

with every fiber of our being.

When David committed sexual sin with Bathsheba he

ran to God. His heart was torn at what he had done.

But it was never about “I am a man after God’s heart”!

He saw himself as a man under God’s grace. He fought

to stay humble in his own eyes.

Don’t get caught up in the law side of things. We don’t

deserve anything from God to be honest. All the “good”

we have done is like filthy rags.

 

If God has someone out there for me it will be because He

loves me. And on my wedding day the focus won’t be on how

many years I kept myself, or how I never dated and so on but

the focus will be on God’s amazing grace and love.

It will be about how much God loved me a sinful man that He still

went ahead and gave me His best even though I didn’t deserve it!

It will be a day of praise

to Him. A day where people give Him the glory…….

I will have nothing else to stand on but His goodness

and grace and that is the way it should always be!

 

For those of you who think you have sinned so much that

you don’t deserve God’s best know this:

God loves you. He is a good God and He wants you to run

to Him. He knows what you have done but He wants to you

to trust Him. He has someone special for you.

Don’t believe the lie that there is no one for you. The lie

that says you have sinned too much.

The lie that says God can’t forgive you.

Just know, there is hope for you!

He has a plan for you.

 

God is so good. I think about all He does for me and

I thank Him. I have nothing to say. I am speechless.

I simply wait for His gifts and blessing that I didn’t

deserve or orchestrate. I do have a part to play but it

will not take away from ALL that God does for me.

Be encouraged in your season of singleness. God is

with you in it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Rolain

 

 

Life as a pencil…….

THOUGHT OF THE DAY.

A friend sent me something I thought I would share with you. Hope you enjoy it.

A pencil marker taught the pencil 5 important lessons:

1. Everything you touch will always leave a mark. 

2. The mistakes you make can always be corrected. 

3. Your most important asset is what is inside of you. 

4. In life you will undergo some painful sharpening that will make you a better pencil. 

5. To be the best you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you. 

Like a pencil you must allow God to be the HAND that guides you throughout your life.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading that like I did my fellow “pencils”.    Hahaha

God bless.

Rolain