Zoom Out And See God’s Big Picture.

God has an amazing plan for our lives. But at times we can get so engrossed in the now, the present

and forget that God is moving in our lives.

We need to learn to regularly take a step back or zoom out.

I was given a picture of this as I played a game. The game is called, Guess The Picture.

And the point of the game is to decipher a magnified picture as quick as you can.

The game is best played with a group of people.

In the beginning, you can’t make out the picture because it is magnified to the max but when

the game starts the picture begins to zoom out and the picture gets clearer and clearer.

And that’s what happens when we are so zoomed in. The picture makes no sense because

it’s a blur.

But as we take a step back and look at the answered prayers, the breakthroughs, the things

God has done for us, we begin to realize that God really is in control. He knows exactly what

we are going through. Taking a step back strengthens our faith as we see God’s faithfulness.

But also remember that God is working through the tests and trials we face. They are not

meaningless or pointless.

Think about a an image for a moment.

What makes an image? Pixels right.

An image is comprised of millions of pixels.

But this is the thing, without pixels, there is no image. A picture cannot exist without pixels.

Pixels play a very important role in the formation of a picture and that is the same in our lives.

The difficult times, the trials, the tests, all have a purpose. We are learning to trust God more.

We are experiencing His faithfulness and greatness in the hard times.

We are growing in the midst of intense opposition.

So don’t disregard what you are going through today. It’s not meaningless or pointless.

God is working in the midst of the tests, trials and hardships. Trust Him.

As I close I want to remind you that God is at work in your life, even in the times when it doesn’t

seem like it. Take a step back and see His hand in every aspect of your life.

And if you like what I write and want to support me financially you can now do so by buying

me a coffee or two. I have signed up with “Buy Me A Coffee” and it’s an easy way to support me.

Click here to support.

God bless you friends

Rolain

When The Battle Seems Lost, You Have Help.

“Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shem,

and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord

helped us.”

1 Samuel 7:12

The Philistines came against Israel to wipe them out. They were strong

and powerful. It seemed like Israel had no chance but Samuel prayed

to the Lord for help and his prayer was heard.

He fought for Israel and won against the Philistines.

The Lord is your Stone of help. When it seems like the enemy is winning,

remember that you have help, God’s help. Call on Him in your time of

trouble. Don’t fear or lose hope. You have victory because God is your Helper!

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10

Bless you friends

Rolain

Unstoppable – Your purpose cannot be stopped.

“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage!

As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Acts 23:11

 

We all have a purpose given by God and His desire is to see us accomplish it but the enemy doesn’t want us to accomplish it, he wants us to fail.

Paul had a clear mission from God. He would testify in Rome but a few hours after the angel spoke with him the enemy launched his attack,

“The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot.”

Acts 23:12

 

The enemy didn’t care that the Lord had spoken to him. He wanted to stop Paul but the good news is that he COULDN’T stop Paul, because God was with him. Paul did testify in Rome despite all the attempts from the enemy.

God has a calling on your life which the enemy will try to stop. But he will not succeed because God is with you. Trust Him fully.

We have a similar pattern in the story of Moses and the Israelites. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron to encourage His people that deliverance was coming. (Exodus 4:29-31)

But after receiving the promise instead of things getting better, things got worse for them. They were persecuted even more. (Exodus 5:6-15)

But as you know, the Lord delivered His people. The enemy tried to stop the call of God on their lives but once again he was powerless to stop it.

What the Lord has promised you will come to pass even when it seems like the enemy is winning. He will not stop the purpose God has for you.

So keep moving ahead in faith and even when things get tough, know that the devil will not be victorious over you. God is watching over you and will fulfill the purposes He planned for you.

Bless you

Rolain

Always on God’s mind.

“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.”

Genesis 40:23

 

People will forget us at times but I want to remind you that God will never forget you.

Even though the butler forgot Joseph, God hadn’t forgotten him.

 

“And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed:”

Genesis 41:1-7

 

Two years was a long time to wait but it was important for Joseph.

Imagine if he got out when the butler was released two years earlier.

Pharaoh wouldn’t have had his dreams yet so who knows what Joseph would have done with his life back then. He definitely wouldn’t have been able to get an audience with Pharaoh.

But waiting two years was what was needed because that was when the next chapter of God’s plan for his life began. So God had not forgotten him and God will not forget you too. Let me rephrase that, He will never forget you.

You are always on His mind.

Be confident in Him knowing He is working in your life.

Bless you

Rolain

The plan.

“Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.”

‭‭John‬ ‭6:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

 

And that is another reason we can put our hope in Jesus.

He wasn’t expecting Philip to figure out the problem on his own. He wanted Philip to look to him and trust He had a plan.

What are you stressing about today?

What problems are you facing that you need to hand over to Jesus?

He has the answer because He is the Answer.

Bless you friends

Rolain

All I see is God’s faithfulness.

 

“Great are the works of the Lord;

they are pondered by all who delight in them.”

Psalm 111:2

 

In a year when it seemed like nothing could happen God did the impossible and brought 

to reality a dream and desire I had been holding on to for seven years. 

He is faithful. 

Watch the video to hear my testimony. 

 

 

If you would like to buy a copy of my devotional click here and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube 

channel to not miss any episodes.

To follow my channel, click here. 

 

 

Bless you friends and I hope you are having a great holiday. 

 

Rolain

2020: Unfazed – Part 1

I think you can agree with me that this has been a crazy year. It’s been intense, difficult, challenging,

hectic and so much more. But in the midst of the craziness, something beautiful has been emphasized

and that beautiful thing is JESUS.

His grace, power, goodness, and faithfulness have shone through the darkness and if He wasn’t with

me in this season I can confidently say I wouldn’t be here today. It’s only by His grace that I have got so

far.

 

So in this new series simply titled “2020” I take some time to stop and look back at all the amazing things

God has done in the hope to encourage you because as 2021 fast approaches we need to go into it full

of hope, and full of faith.

And we do that by remembering His blessings and how good He has been to us.

 

We also need to settle something in our hearts,

There is nothing that can faze the Lord

There is nothing that can catch Him by surprise and

There is nothing that can limit Him

 

No matter what the enemy throws His way, it is nothing to Him.

So as Covid-19 has wrecked havoc in the world we need to know and be reminded that

God is stronger and greater than Covid-19. He is not limited by it and it hasn’t cast a spanner

in His plans. God is working more in this time and His plans for us are very much alive in this

crazy season and even though we may have no idea what’s in store next year we know that God

is with us and is protecting us and watching over us.

 

No weapon formed against us will prosper. 

 

As I conclude I want to encourage you to not limit the Lord today. Keep dreaming, keep praying

and keep taking steps of faith in all that He has shown you. Don’t let the circumstances we are in

stop you from moving. Don’t let what’s happening in the world fill you with fear.

Be expectant for what God has in store for you. Look forward in hope because God is faithful.

Bring your fears, worries and anxieties for 2021 to Him.

He is your strong tower of refuge!

 

Blessings to you friends!

 

Rolain

Can God really come through for us?

Who is your trust in when things get hard? 

In this episode I talk about order. A lot of the time it is mixed up.

We trust man instead of trusting God. 

We expect man to do only what God can do. But if we are going to see God breakthrough

in our lives we need to put Him back in His rightful place and that is on top. 

Our default setting should be JESUS not man. 

To not miss any episodes please like and subscribe to my Youtube channel – The Barnabas Project. 

I aim to post every Thursday and the purpose of the channel is to inject encouragement into 

the world. 

 

Blessings to you friends. 

Rolain

The truth about failure

 

How do we respond to failure?

What kind of mindset do we adopt after we fail?

How we respond and the kind of mindset we should have when failure comes is so important

if we are going to grow and learn.

There is a train of thought out there that goes along the lines of, failing makes you a failure.

But is that true? Do our failures make us failures?

No it is not true. As long as we live on this earth we will have to deal with failure,

we will make mistakes, but those things do not need to dictate who we are as people or

what we are going to accomplish.

 

One of the most important questions we need to ask is, how does Jesus see us even though we

fail and make mistakes?

For the answer to that question we are going to look at Peter.

As you know he was a disciple of the Lord and loved him much. But one day before Jesus was

to be crucified, Peter was told he would deny the Lord.

Peter obviously denied it and declared his devotion and that he was ready to die with the Lord.

But as we all know Peter denied the Lord. He messed up big time. He failed Jesus and it seemed

like all was lost. How can anyone bounce back from that?

Imagine the headline in the newspapers the next day,

PETER DENIES JESUS!!

 

But let’s focus our attention on an interesting passage of scripture,

 

“Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you,

Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Luke 22:31

 

Jesus knew Peter would deny Him!

But instead of abandoning him or washing His hands of him, Jesus prayed for him and encouraged him.

Peter’s failure did not change the way Jesus saw him. It did not change the Lord’s plans for his life.

And this is important for us to understand. Even when you fail and make mistakes the Lord is with you.

He hasn’t abandoned or disowned you. Failure doesn’t mean the end of you.

It wasn’t the end of Peter.

 

It seemed like Peter’s story was over when he failed but we all know how powerfully he was used

in the creation of the early church. He was instrumental in the building of it.

And that’s how good the Lord is. Don’t allow your failures and mistakes to stop you in your tracks.

We are to grow and learn from our failures but never to stop and die.

Jesus has amazing things in store for you in the midst of failures. So because you are a son and daughter

of God you are not a failure but a victor and that’s the best news! 

 

On one last note, if you would like to get a copy of my devotional, click here. 

Blessings to you friends!

 

Rolain

 

The courageous step.

In this season the Lord wants us to take a step of faith. He wants to show Himself strong on our behalf and He wants us to know He is with us.

I have been learning this lesson this year and one thing was made very clear to me,

The Lord is not sitting on a couch somewhere, waiting for things to get better, no! He is looking for people who will trust Him to do the impossible.

Joshua was a man who had a huge calling on his life. He was Moses’ predecessor and you can only imagine the emotions and feelings he was dealing with.

But in spite of all he was feeling the Lord spoke to him,

 

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.””

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 

As he was about to take a step of faith into the unknown the Lord told him to not be afraid but to be strong and very courageous.

Taking a step of faith takes strength and courage. Ask the Lord for His strength because you can’t do it in your own strength. That’s something I know He was calling me to do as I wrote my book. Even though it was difficult and even though there were times I wanted to quit, He was by my side helping me.

As I come to the end of this post I have a question for you.

What are some of the things God wants you to take a step of faith in?

Do not be afraid but be very strong and courageous.

 

On another note,

I want to let you know my book is being released on the 19th of September so if you would like to pre-order your copy follow the link which I will put at the end of the post.

Lastly, I have started a series on IGTV called “Behind the scenes” where I talk about fear and the challenges I faced writing my book.

The first episode is out already. Here is the link. Click here.

That’s all I wanted to let you know about.

To pre-order your copy click here.

Bless you friends.

Rolain