What’s the big idea?

During this Covid-19 period the amount of books I read has increased drastically. I love reading so in this season I have had a  chance to read, read and read. Anyway, this year I was introduced to Myles Munroe. Before 2020 I had never read any of his books but am I glad I found him. In the book I am currently reading there is a chapter he talked about ideas. The way he explained what ideas are, made me realize some very important and critical things that I would like to share with you. Here are a few points he made about them:

• Ideas are more powerful than death and ideas produce everything.
• Everything began as an idea and is the result of the conception of an idea.
• The most difficult thing to fight against is an idea.
• Ideas can be transferred and live on for generations.

There are two more points that are the reason for me writing this post,

• The only way to defeat a bad idea is with a better idea.
• Ideas are destroyed by ideas.    

(This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Inception! 🙂)

We all have an idea of who we are, about life, about what we are going to do, where we going to live and so on but I realized I was still living with some outdated ideas about myself and what I can do. The source of those ideas predated my days as a Christian.

But I was so encouraged to read that those ideas can be replaced by better ones. The only way to destroy a bad idea that I have been living with for years is by replacing it with a better idea and when I say better I mean with God’s word.

That was so liberating. There is hope. We all have a chance to change. We don’t have to accept the negative ideas we were given about ourselves.

We need to be habitually giving ourselves better ideas. It can’t be a once off thing but a lifestyle. And as sons and daughters of the King we have a true source of ideas in abundance.

I want to live out the ideas the Lord has for me because they are amazing, graceful, and they are truth. He created me so He knows better than I know myself.

What ideas are you living with today that are limiting you, that are keeping you from living to the full potential God designed you to live?

Prayer

Lord, reveal areas where bad ideas are reigning supreme and help us to replace them with better ideas, with Your ideas.

Break the power of fearful and limiting ideas in our lives.

Give us Your amazing ideas from this day on.

Amen!

Blessings to you friends

Rolain

Who are you really??

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

Judges 6:12

 

Before the angel appeared to Gideon, he was convinced his tribe was the weakest and he was the least. That was probably all he was ever told but that was not the truth.

When the angel appeared, He told Gideon the truth and it is then that his life started. God had amazing plans for him but He needed to replace the lies he had been told with the truth.

We need the truth because that is when we really come alive. When we get true information about who we really are that is when we can step into all the amazing things God has for us.

But we can only get true information about ourselves from our Creator. He made us and is the source of truth.

Do what you need to do to be connected to Him. Read His word, spend more and more time with Him because you really do need true information about who you are. Stop looking to other sources for identity and purpose. The information from those other sources are incomplete and false and are designed to keep you from walking in your purpose.

There is so much to discover about yourself as you connect to the true source!

 

Bless you friends

 

Rolain

What we can hold on to when things get hard…

David was in serious trouble. Saul was tracking him down and to make matters worse, Achish recognized him (1 Samuel 10:21-23). He had no army at the time to fight so his back was against the wall. But in the midst of all those hopeless odds the Lord delivered him.

Achish let David go because he thought he was mad and Saul never managed to capture him. How David managed to survive all that is found in Psalm 34. I want to zone in on a few key scriptures;

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”

Psalm 34:6

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles.”

Psalm 34:17

David called to God and He heard his cry and saved him out of all his troubles. That’s a truth we can hold on to through the most difficult of times.

We see this pattern and truth throughout the word.

“With my voice I cry to the Lord, and He hears and answers me out of His holy hill. Selah [pause and calmly think of that]”

Psalm 3:4

When you call the Lord will hear and answer you. Let your voice be heard when trouble comes. Lift up your voice to the Lord.

He wants to fight for you and He wants to help you through every trouble you face. The Lord will carry you through the storm like He did for David.

Bless you friends

Rolain

“Welcome back to reality”?!

“Welcome back to reality” was what a friend said to me a day after returning back from Kenya.

I had gone to Kenya for about two weeks and it was hard going to a place that is improving and growing

while things at home are stagnant.

Kenya is growing rapidly and stuff works which is the total opposite in my country.

 

Anyway, the day after my return one of my friends said “welcome back to reality”

I was really bothered by that statement. When he saw my resistance he said it again. I rejected his

statement completely.

I didn’t want to make the circumstances in my country my reality.

Before I went to Kenya had I made them a reality? Maybe I did but I wanted that to change.

 

What’s your reality? Is it in line with what God promised you or is it something entirely different?

We are constantly being pushed to take on a reality that is not what God has for us. We have settled

for a reality that is way below the level God would have us live at.

 

Think about the man who was crippled for 38 years (John 5:1-17). What was his reality? Did he ever see himself

healed in his reality?

Was hopelessness his reality?

 

We need to take a deeper look at the reality we live by. Who gave us the reality we are currently living by?

It’s so easy to adopt a way of thinking, a way of speaking, a way of living.

 

The good news is this, the reality we are living by can change.

That’s what happened to the man who was crippled. For 38 years he was living in a reality that

was not God’s reality. God wanted him healed and living a full life.

The enemy on the other hand wanted him bound. he wanted him living in hopelessness.

But Jesus came and changed his reality. 

 

We have hope friends.

You don’t have to accept the reality you are living by today.

The limitations people have put on you don’t have to be your reality.

The circumstances you live in don’t have to be your reality.

God can and wants you to live by His truth. His truth is liberating. His truth is full of life,

joy, peace and so much more goodness.

 

What is your reality? Let God determine what your reality is.

There is so much He has in store for you.

Bless you,friends.

 

Rolain

Is it game over for us?

“Let it be known and understood by all of you, and by the whole house of Israel, 

that in the name and through the power and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 

Whom you crucified, [but] Whom God raised from the dead, in Him and by means

of Him this man is standing here before you well and sound in body.” 

Acts 4:10

 

“Whom you crucified, [but] Whom God raised from the dead” 

 

Peter and John’s statement to the high priest and Sadducees spoke to me. The enemy’s

plan was to destroy Jesus and it seemed like he was able to carry out his plan when

Jesus was crucified but that’s not what happened. Just when the enemy thought he was victorious

God intervened and changed the narrative. Jesus was raised to life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The enemy who seemed to have won, lost and lost in a spectacular fashion.

 

Like I said earlier, this spoke to me because when it seems like the enemy has the upper hand

he really doesn’t. God has a plan for us and that plan is of victory.

It may seem like the game is over and the enemy has won but it’s not over and he hasn’t won,

not by a long shot.

It may appear hopeless but keep trusting God. He will turn your bleak situation around.

Joseph experienced this truth in such an amazing way. This is what the word says about him,

 

“And the patriarchs [Jacob’s sons], boiling with envy and hatred and anger, sold Joseph into 

slavery in Egypt; but God was with him, 

and delivered him from all his distressing afflictions and won him goodwill and favor and wisdom

and understanding in the sight of Pharoah, King of Eygpt, who made him governor over Egypt

and all his house.” 

Acts 7:9, 10

 

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. His situation was hopeless indeed. There were no relatives

in Eygpt, everyone spoke in a foreign language, and he was a slave so that meant he was treated like an

animal. The game seemed like it was over. It seemed like the enemy had won.

But the Bible tells us that “God was with him.”

And because He was with him Joesph was delivered from all his distressing afflictions. What the enemy had

planned for him came to nothing. The Lord saved him and turned his situation around.

And that’s the God we serve. He is helping us in the most difficult of situations.

He will always reverse what the enemy is trying to do. What the enemy has planned will not come to pass

in our lives. This is not the time to give up. We need to keep trusting. God will save us even when it

seems like victory is nowhere in sight. He will save us when things are at their worst. We are not defeated.

So if you are in a place where you feel like there is no hope and no chance of things turning around know

that God will turn things around in your life.

He can be trusted.

Bless you, friends!

 

Rolain

 

Rethink your value

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground

without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice.

But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Matthew 10:29-31

There is a need to rethink and reshape the way we see ourselves. We are extremely

valuable in God’s eyes. Not everyone sees the value but that’s okay as long as we know

where to go to for affirmation. I made the mistake of looking for people to tell me what

my value was. It didn’t go well. But that has changed thankfully. I have been learning to turn

to God to tell me my value and the learning will continue.

Let’s look at the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet. This is what the bible tells us

about her;

“And behold, a woman of the town who was an especially wicked sinner, when she learned

that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of

ointment (perfume).”

“Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, if this Man were 

a prophet, He would surely know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching

Him-for she is a notorious sinner (a social outcast, devoted to sin). 

Luke 7:36-50

To the people around her because of her profession she had no value. She was looked down

upon by the people in her community. It’s clear the Pharisee only saw the ugly in her but

Jesus looked deeper. He saw her true value and welcomed her.

No matter what you have done, you are still valuable to God. He doesn’t reject and throw you

away. He doesn’t disown you. He loves you so much.

Man’s opinion of you will always change. They will love you in one moment and in the very next

moment stone you and that is why it’s important to know what God thinks of you. His opinion of

you is not up for debate. It doesn’t change.  He loves you full stop!

Like I said at the beginning of this post, it’s time to rethink our value. It’s time to challenge the opinions

of people who don’t have our best interests at heart. Whose goal is to tear you down and belittle you.

It’s time to let go of people’s negative thoughts about us and embrace how God sees you fully.

You are valuable in His eyes!

Rolain

The Lord gave him a picture…..

“Then God led Abram outside. God said, “Look at the sky. There are so many stars

you cannot count them. And your descendants will be too many to count.”

Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram’s faith and that faith made

him right with God.

  

Genesis 15:5, 6

The Lord led Abram outside and gave him a picture of his life and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

But as I look back at my life I see how I allowed people to give me a picture. The enemy was in the mix

as well and did everything in his power to enforce the picture he had given me

because I didn’t know better. It took years to break the negative picture I had been

given and thanks to God the healing is still ongoing.

The Lord has a picture for you too. The picture is amazing and glorious but there is so much opposition

from the enemy. he doesn’t want you to walk in the plan God has for your life because that’s what the picture

is about. It’s about where God wants to take you. It’s about what He has in store for you.

But the enemy uses fear, abuse, manipulation and a whole lot of other things to blind you to God’s picture.

Don’t accept the enemy’s pictures. They are all lies.

his pictures get you depressed, fearful, anxious, greedy, and weak.

his pictures are all void of goodness, peace, love, fulfillment, faith, joy and every other good thing

God is.

Reject them at every turn. But you need help. You need the Lord’s help.

The good news is this, the picture you have now can be changed. That’s what happened to me.

My picture was really bad but the Lord came and changed it. He replaced the dark, hopeless,

fearful picture and replaced it with His life-giving, fresh, new, energizing picture!

And that’s what He does for us as His children.

As I end I will leave you with a scripture that sums up what I have been talking about,

“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, 

which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).”

Jeremiah 33:3

Blessings to you, friends

Rolain

What the past teaches.

The past has not been easy. It’s been difficult and at the time it was hard to make sense of all that was

happening. But the past as difficult as it was revealed an important truth, a truth that helped me face

the storms and trials of today.

 

As crazy as the past has been I am still here. When I was going through it all with no idea of how things were

going to turn out God carried me through it. No matter how dark things got God always carried

me through and continues to.

 

The lesson is this; If God could deliver me back then, He will do it again today. 

 

Learn a lesson from the past. The Lord will be there for you as He was back then. Whatever storm you in

now, know that God will deliver you like He did before. Look at all the things He has brought you through

and be at peace knowing He will do it again and again.

 

Sometimes we go through some really intense times and think this is the time when our luck runs out but

listen to me, it won’t happen. God will never let you down no matter how many times the enemy tries to

destroy you.  he won’t win. And that’s the lesson the past teaches.

God will always be victorious. He will always bring you through the darkness.

 

Bless you, friends.

 

Rolain

Take a step, attempt, try……

I went to a camp recently with the kids that I teach. It was our first time going to this particular

camp site and the kids really enjoyed it. Compared to other camp sites this one had a lot more activities.

One of the activities we did was the climbing wall. It was really high and after the kids got their turn, I gave it

a shot and got half way up. My arms felt like lead and I had no power to pull myself up to the top.

I have to admit it was a bit intimidating before I did the climb.

The kids responses were varied. Some were afraid, some were hesitant, and some were happy.

 

Anyway, after the exercise the instructors got the kids together for a feedback session. After all the feedback,

the instructor said something that really stuck with me. He didn’t have a sheet that rated everyone

on how high they went and there was no prize giving ceremony for the people that made it to the top.

Instead, he congratulated everyone for attempting. In his eyes, attempting the course was winning.

The mere fact of putting on the harness and taking the first step up the course was the victory. It didn’t

matter to him who won.

 

That really struck me. There is so much emphasis today on being number one, and winning but could that

be a partial picture?

Is there a place for a first step, an attempt, pursuing, trying?

 

The journey we are on is long and hard. Yeshua is not looking for number one. His desire is for us to

finish the race. No matter how difficult things are take the step, attempt, try. If you fall, get back up and

try again. Just don’t stay in one place, don’t freeze, don’t give up. Rely on Him for strength.

 

Bless you

 

Rolain

 

He hears me always…..!

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

“When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord. 

And He answered me.”

Psalm 120:1

 

There is a place to run to when we are in trouble.

There is a Person to turn to when things go bad.

His name is Yeshua. He hears our prayers. He ALWAYS hears us.

 

Pray to Him with confidence. When you are in trouble call out to Him.

He wants to help you. He wants to carry you out of the pit you are in. Put aside the lie that says He is

not listening. It’s not true.

 

“I love the Lord, because He has heard [and now hears] my voice and my supplications. 

Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.” 

Psalm 116:1, 2

 

He hears and He answers. That’s the way He does it. Don’t remain silent. Open your mouth and

pray to Him as long as you live……

 

Bless you

 

Rolain