Be deliberate about what you think on daily.

What are you thinking about every day? Have you thought about what you think about lately?

I had to train myself with my thoughts. It’s crazy how easy it is to let your mind wander

to thoughts of defeat and hopelessness.

Just last week I was wrestling with thoughts of inadequacy. Someone said something to me and I

had to catch myself in the moment. I was not about to accept the words that were spoken to me.

I was not about to let that word take root in me.

 

You need to know the enemy is not taking a back seat when it comes to

your thoughts. He is trying to get you to think a certain way, in a way that is destructive. He is not waiting

for you to think negatively. He is being proactive in affecting the way you think.

So must we take a back seat then when it comes to our thoughts? No!

We need to be vigilant and proactive.

 

There are so many opportunities to think negatively these days. We need to be vigilant when it comes

to guarding our minds. Let’s look at what the word says,

 

“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, 

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and 

gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh

and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. 

Philippians 4:8

 

Let’s take this word to heart. This is our offensive attack against what the enemy is trying to do.

If we are going to protect ourselves against the world’s infiltration we need to be proactive about what we

think about. Like I said before, there is so much opportunity to think negatively about our lives and

everything going on around us. Let’s be deliberate about our thoughts. Have a plan!

 

ACT ON IT: Right down ten things (using the Philippians 4 model) that you can think about on a daily basis.

What do you think about when you think about your life? 

Write down three things you feel YAH has spoken to you about concerning your life. 

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

One way to ensure your faith is alive and active……..

“So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up),

by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

But someone will say [to you then], you [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works.

Now show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can],

and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith.”

James 2:17, 18

 

The book of James was part of my daily reading this week.

I am always so challenged when I read the scripture I just shared.

But something happened this week that brought it to life for me.

I was at training this week and after we were done we prayed.

The guy praying thanked God for divine healing.

He thanked God for keeping us healthy and he also prayed that

God would keep us in good health!

 

We always pray but this week the prayer struck something in me.

I realized I was looking at faith and action working hand in hand.

We have a desire to be healthy and fit so we train but our faith is

in God to grant us a healthy life!

 

That got me thinking about faith and action.

James 2:18 is not suggesting faith works if there is action. It’s telling

us that faith only works when there is action!

Faith without works is dead!

 

One person acting out of his or her faith can do more than 100 people

professing their faith without action!

 

It’s so true friends. I want to be that person who shows they have faith by

their works.

I really needed to be reminded of this truth!

 

Now, it’s not my place to tell you what action you need to take.

That’s between you and God. You are the one who knows what steps

God wants you to take.

As I read this verse I knew almost instantly the things I needed to be doing

right now that I was not doing.

Now remember, you can’t just act for the sake of  doing

something. God will ask you to do something specific for the thing you having

faith for. Allow Him to show what that thing is.

He may want you to be patient and wait,

He may want you to give into something,

He may want you to befriend someone,

He may want you to start writing that first chapter of that book,

He may want you to serve in a specific area at your church,

and the list goes on and on……

You need to be sensitive to His leading.

Remember, don’t act for the sake of acting.

That could do more harm than good.

God is surgical in the way He works.

What action is it that God wants you to be doing right now?

 

One thing is crystal clear though,

 

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

James 2:26

 

We have work to do friends……

Bless you.

 

Rolain

The girl who beat me……!

 

This is not going to be an easy post to write but write it I must.

I love all things healthy. I love exercise,  eating healthy and so on

but in the last couple of months I had lost the vision. I stopped

going to gym and I stopped eating healthy. I just stopped. I can give

all the excuses in the world but that is all they will ever be,

excuses!

 

But that all changed last week when I started exercising again.

It was good to be back. On the day I started I saw a lady who

I exercise with.

Let me rephrase that, the lady I used to see every time I went

out to train. I would get up every morning

to exercise and I would see this lady go for a run. I have never

spoken to her in all of our exercising and we never crossed

paths. Anyway, on my first day of getting back, I saw her,

again. Like clock work she was about to go on her run……

At that moment a thought came to me;

 

And that is what makes her better than you.

That is why she will be fitter than you.

That is why she will win and achieve her goals.

 

Because she has stayed consistent!!

 

And I was like, “ouch”!!

She has been disciplined to keep up her routine on a daily

basis. When I do exercise I hit it hard, very hard but that

doesn’t matter because I am not consistent!

I haven’t stuck to it, haven’t done the things that need to be done

on a daily basis!

 

Isn’t that how life is though? The disciplined people, the people

who don’t give up, who push through no matter how painful

it is, those are the people who win.

A disciplined person will win over the undisciplined person

any day. The focused and diligent person can have anything

they want.

 

I was so challenged by her dedication and persistence!

I want to be disciplined. I can have all the

passion in the world but it will come to nothing if I am not

motivated, disciplined. I won’t get it right all the time but

I need to keep on pushing!

It was hard writing this. It’s never easy writing about

your own weaknesses but I know I have a chance. I can make a

decision to learn from her or choose to ignore what I saw.

I can change and AM changing! The person I am today can be

and will be different tomorrow. As long as the Holy Spirit is in me

I have a chance and so it is with you. There may be things you

don’t like about yourself but there is hope. Ask for God’s help.

The process is not easy but it’s worth it……

 

And that is how I was beaten by a girl!  🙂

 

image credit: google images

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Does Your “Strong Room” Look Like?

I have been doing some reflecting this new year and I have seen a lot of
areas in my life that need help. Today I wad reading a book that really
challenged me which I think will challenge you.  The author in this chapter                                     was speaking about “strong rooms“.

– The first point he made was, “You will end up being who you choose to train
and do life with! If an athlete works out in a “strong room” with championship
winning coaches and competitors who are doing everything they can to be the
very best, that athlete is in the best position to reach his or her potential. But if
an athlete, no matter how great, trains in a weak room, with coaches who aren’t
creating champions and people who don’t have the commitment skills, work ethic,
or the desire to win, that athlete will most likely fail to reach his or her potential.”

In light of what the author has just said I have realized who I hang around is very important if I am to grow and succeed. I need to ask myself, are my friends pushing themselves to be the best in what they do? Do I hang around people who are better than me academically, spiritually, financially and so on? The main question would be, what am I doing to grow myself on a daily basis? Who am I speaking to? These are the questions that we need to ask ourselves. Where are you on this scale?

– He goes on to say, “If you are looking at your skills on a one-to-ten scale, you cannot hang around the “two’s” and expect to become a “nine”. Any way you look at it, you are the sum total of the people you spend time with.

The most important thing I got from this statement was, what am I? Do I inspire people? Do people leave me feeling better or feeling worse than when they came to me? I want to be that person who inspires and challenges. Are you that person? Do people leave better off after they have spent time with you?

– You can apply this to all areas of your life. What does your “faith room” look like? Are you following people who trust in God no matter what? Do you have friends who love the Lord and who have made Him the center of your life?What does your “personal growth room” look like? Do you have a strong set of coaches-people with strong intellects that are directing you towards the best books to read, the best classes to take, and the programs to watch and listen to?What does your “relationship room” look like? Do you have a coach who’s been happily married for twenty-five years or more? Are you surrounded by couples who don’t have the word divorce in their vocabulary and are continually working on their marriage and interpersonal communication skills? What does your “financial room” look like? Do you have a coach who has the kind of resources and lifestyle you aspire to and who wants to help you achieve them? Do you “train” with people that have similar financial goals, are reducing their debt, want to see you become wealthy, and have a phenomenal work ethic? What does your “parenting room” look like? Do you know someone with children who are nice to other kids, love Jesus, get good grades and respect their parents? Make them your coach.

That was a lot of stuff to share but I thought it was important. I need to evaluate what my “faith room, personal growth room, relationship room, financial room and last but not least my “parenting room” looks like.  How do you think you are doing in all these rooms?

I also realized this is not just going to happen. It is me, making a decision to speak to those specific people. It is not going to happen all by itself. It all depends on the need to succeed. Do I want to succeed or not?

This has been about me but it is also about you. As we have started the new year let us make some decisions. We want to succeed and accomplish our destiny but we need to start making some changes in the way we do things. What are you doing everyday that makes you grow? What are you reading or what are you listening to? What are you exposing yourself to that is totally new from what you know? Do you spend time with people that challenge you in the areas of your life where you are struggling? In other words if you struggling financially are you following people who are not, if you struggle eating healthy you are friends with someone who is a health freak?!

If I could say it another way, if you playing any sport you would be thrashed senselessly!!! These are the type of people we need to spend time with. This is a new year and I am really excited and I hope you are.

God bless!

Rolain