It really starts with me…!

 

It feels like I haven’t written for ever but it’s been just over a

week. I attended a children’s ministry training and a few days

later I went for a Children’s ministry camp. It’s been kids,

kids, and more kids and I love it. Camp was amazing. I know the

kids had fun but I enjoyed it just as much as they did.

A scripture has been on my heart ever since I got back.

 

“Yet you ask, Why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness

[to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the

wife

of your youth, against whom you were faithless. Yet she is your

companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage

vows].

And did not God make [you and your wife] one [flesh]? Did not

One make you and preserve your spirit alive? And why [did God

make you two] one? Because He sought a godly  offspring [from

your union]. Therefore take heed to yourselves, and let no one

deal treacherously and be faithless to his wife of his youth.

Malachi 2:14, 15

 

I love this passage of scripture. In this passage we see how God

loves marriage. He created it. But there is something else. From

this passage we learn one of the reasons God created marriage.

 

“And why [did God make you two] one?

Because He sought a godly offspring [from your union]. “

Malachi 2:15

 

One of the reasons God brings two people together in marriage

is because He is seeking a godly offspring from their union!

Let me take it a step further, He already knows your

child and the plan He has for him or her! When God joins

two people together He is not just thinking about the two

people but He is thinking far ahead. He is thinking about thier

children and their children after them and so on! God has a plan

for your children. He loves them and He is thinking about them.

 

So, young man, don’t rush when it comes to choosing the woman

God has for you. There is so much more than meets the eye. He

wants to bless you and He wants to bless your children and thier

children after them. Young women, wait on God’s timing!

He is faithful.

 

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord].

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and]

heart and with your entire being and with all your might.

And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be

[first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then]

 

You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate,

and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and]

hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your

 house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and

when you rise up.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

 

This verse ministered to me deeply. It starts with me, it starts with

you. God wants to work on you first so you will be able to teach your

kids. He wants His words to be lodged deep inside you first.

His words must first do thier work in you before they can impact

the next generation.

 

Young man, young woman, is the word first in your life?

Do you have a relationship with the Lord?

If yes, is it deep, is it growing?

Do you love the Lord?

Is He the most important thing in your life?

 

 

Like I said in the beginning, there is so much more to

marriage than meets the eye. Young man, God expects you

to lead your family but how will you lead if you have not

allowed the Lord to lead you?

 

The responsibility of teaching children the word of God lies

on the man. It’s your responsibility young man. It’s an

awesome responsibility and one not to be taken lightly.

Are you living your life in a way that will benefit your future

generation?

God sees generations when He looks at us. Let’s remember our

actions have a direct impact on the future generation!

 

Rolain

 

image credit: google images

A beauty to unveil……

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the human heart;

yet no one can fathom what God has done from

beginning to end.    

Ecclesiastes 3:11

 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time”

 

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you had

an amazing holiday so far!   🙂

Let’s get started…..

This scripture has really ministered

to me in this season. There are a lot of things I am

waiting on God for and at times I get frustrated, I

get discouraged, I lose sight of things but this verse

brought a lot of things into context. In 2016 I have

resolved to wait on God. There is a reason He wants

me to wait….let me not get ahead of myself. Let me

explain what I am taking about.

 

The world has conditioned us to think “instant”but God

teaches us to wait. I want you to see

there is a “time” that has to pass as you wait on God. When

you wait on God you put yourself in a position to see His

beauty unravel in your life.

We are too impatient at times.

Let’s look at a passage of scripture for a moment,

 

“He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as

a slave.

His feet they hurt with shackles;

He was put in chains of iron,

Until the time that his word [of

prophecy regarding his brothers]

came true,

The word of the Lord tested and refined

him.

Psalm 105:19

 

This passage of scripture in my opinion perfectly

illustrates what I am trying to say.

God gave Joseph a glimpse into his future but

there was a “time” that had to pass. Was it easy,

heck no. He was sold as a slave to a foreign land to a

foreign people. He was in chains and shackles and it

was painful. In the time of waiting he was being refined.

The word tested him. Waiting is never easy friends.

But we see something amazing in the midst of his trials.

God was making something beautiful. At first it seemed

like there was only ugliness but God had a plan. He was

creating something beautiful of his life. Joseph had to wait on God.

Was he confused, most probably, but he continued to trust

in God.

 

Because God loved Joseph he made him wait!

 

Just because something hasn’t come to pass in our lives

doesn’t mean God has abandoned us even though at

times it feels like it. Like Joseph, God makes us wait

because He loves us. He makes us wait because He

wants to give us His very best!

Making us wait is His way of showing His love for us.

 

Waiting is one of the processes God uses to bless us.

 

As I have waited on God I feel like my love and trust in

Him have been tested to the core. There is nothing like

waiting on God to reveal where your faith and heart are at.

 

When I got that revelation, I saw impatience for what

it really is.

Impatience stifles God’s beauty in our lives.

If we are impatient we are saying we don’t trust Him.

We must stop being impatient. We must learn to wait

on God.

The way God sees waiting and the way we see waiting

are very different. We must see waiting as an expression

of love, a very real love that God has for us.

 

I want to see His beauty in my life and even though it’s

hard I will wait on God. I don’t want to disqulaify myself

from His goodness because of impatience. He loves me

and that is why He makes me wait.

My life is in His hands. I have waited for a long time

already but if He is calling me to wait even more

then I will do it because I trust Him!

 

My encouragement to you friend is, keep on waiting.

God loves you so much and has only the best for you.

Don’t give up or let up. Wait on the Lord. He will come

through on His promise. He will not let you down. He is

making something beautiful in your life.

Will you wait?

 

photo credit: google images

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

God has a plan for you but when does it start…..???

 

I was thinking about destiny today. When did Israel start walking in what God called them to do?

Was it in Egypt or maybe in the desert? It must have definitely started when they got to the land of milk and honey! That is what I thought for a long time. Everyone has a land of milk and honey to get to. That is our destiny right?

When did Moses start walking in what God called him to do? Was it when he was growing up in Pharaoh’s palace or was it when he was living in the desert with Jethro? It must of being when he went back to Egypt and God used him to deliver the Israelites!! It must of being when the Israelites got to the promise land and crossed it….that must be it!

From these two scenarios we see the dilemma of destiny. When did God’s plan for these and more people start?

To answer that question I will have to tell you about my week. My week was sort of ok (whatever that means) but I was thinking to myself how I would love it when things start happening concerning my destiny. I was looking forward to that day. That day when I am doing all God has called me to do. It would be glorious I thought but I was wrong because another thought came to mind. Maybe it was God maybe it was just me but what came to mind as I was thinking all this was, YOU ARE ALREADY LIVING YOUR DESTINY!!

Moses destiny started before he was even born. Everything that happened to Israel prior to Moses being born happened in a way that God could use him specifically. God had a plan for Moses a long time before he was born and that plan started back then! It did not start when he was born.

 

 

“Then Joseph died and all his brothers-that whole generation. But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm. There are too many of these Israelites for us to handle.  Exodus 1: 6-8 

When we get to the book of Exodus and read these scriptures we get excited because we know Moses was about  to be introduced. The Israelites did not see it like that though. Life was hard, extremely hard and they had no idea God was about to perform a miracle. The way we know what Moses was going to do before his story starts is the same way our lives are. You may think life is hard and difficult and challenging and impossible with no hope of rescue but know that God has a plan. You are living in the path He has set out for you. You are walking in your destiny now! Be patient, trust and you will see what He will do.

Another scripture to read is Genesis 15: 12-15:

Then the LORD said:

Abram, you will live to an old age and die in peace. 

But I solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn’t belong to them. They will be forced into slavery for 400 years. 

But I will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them, and they will leave with many possessions. 

In that scripture we see a part of God’s plan for Moses! God was talking about him to Abraham!! God didn’t mention his name but that’s who He was thinking about. He knew about the slavery and knew about the deliverance. He knew He would call Moses and Aaron to carry out His plan! Isn’t that amazing?? And that was far back as Abram!!!!

 

So what does all this mean? As I was discouraged about the season I was in now I realized I was already living my destiny. Yes it’s hard and yes it’s difficult and yes it’s confusing but I am living in my destiny now. The pain, and difficulty, and confusion is part of my destiny. My destiny does not start when I get to the land of milk and honey but it started in Egypt! When I was in the wilderness I was walking in what God had planned for me. Before I was born His plan for my life was activated. And that goes for you to. You may be going through hard times but know you are walking in God’s plan for you.

Joseph may have hated being sold into slavery by his brothers and he may have thought he had no destiny but he was wrong. When his brothers sold him into slavery he was in God’s plan. Through all the hard and testing times he went through he was living out what God called him to. His destiny had been activated a long time ago! It didn’t seem like it but that was the reality!

I was filled with hope when I got this realization. I may be going through hard times now but I am living in my destiny now. The hard times complete the picture. I hope that all makes sense. God has a plan for you and it started a long long time ago. What you are going through now is not in vain. God sees and He has a plan for you. Trust Him…..

 

Rolain