I thought I would begin with some pandemic humor today…We need to lighten up with this whole issue….folks are getting too hyped up….
Well, A fellow told me that this is the first year he’s not going to Hawaii because of the pandemic, usually hedoesn’t go because he can’t afford it….
I don’t know anyone who is excited about having to wear masks everywhere. But it sure makes it easier if you’re a ventriloquist….
And then there’s the minister, wearing a mask, who threw holy water on some folks, and they received a blessing in disguise…. OK…..
The message I want to share with you today is titled “The Pathway To Revival” (Prayer) Lord, Jesus, I ask that you would watch over your word to perform it, and may we receive it, in Your mighty name. Amen
Jesus, in talking about the signs of the last days, says in
Matthew 24: 10-12, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold”
If you break it down… this sign of the end times, says that Many will depart from faith. Many will betray one another. Many will hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up. Many will be deceived. There will be lawlessness. Many people’s love will grow cold” (feel the chill) We can see all of that happening….
But the good news is that another sign of the end times is…Joel 2:27 And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, (the revival that began in Israel, will fall again on Israel and go out through the world) I am the Lord your God, and none else; and My people shall never be ashamed. 28 “And it shall come to pass in the last days,that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions29 and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit”.
A diamond shines it’s brightest against a black background and in the midst of the darkness, the diamond of revival will shine it’s brightest! And the Father wants His diamond of revival to brighten up the whole earth with it’s brilliance!
We see here in Joel’s prophecy that a great worldwide revival is one of the signs of the return of the Lord.
Whenever an Old Testament King made his appearance, he would send his entourage before him. When folks saw the entourage, which consisted of elaborate banners, His servants and family, lavishly adorned, and a display of his wealth and his splendor, then they knew the king would be appearing soon. Psalm 96:6 “Splendor and majesty go before Him; strength and beauty fill His sanctuary.7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength”.
The final great revival, will be the ingathering, the final harvest of the souls of the earth’s population, the final call before the rapture, so that those who have not believed, might be saved and change their eternal destination. And those who have become distracted and lured away by the things of life can make their return to the great family of believers. it’s closer than we think….
If you believe as I do, that all the signs point to the reality, that we are living in the last days of the church on the earth. Believe it and receive it…
Then just as God’s glory came to rest upon the tabernacle in the wilderness, as they went from Egypt to the promised land, so likewise the glory of God will come to visibly rest upon the church as it prepares to make it’s exit from this world and to the realms of heaven. It’s like giving us heaven to go to heaven in….
After the joint revival services had concluded in one area, the three pastors were discussing the results with one another. The Methodist minister said, "The revival worked out great for us! We gained four new families.” The Baptist preacher said, "We did better than that! We gained six new families." The Presbyterian pastor said, "Well, we did even better than that! We got rid of our 10 biggest trouble makers!". Revival brings many changes to the status quo…..
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, (believers)And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain (revival) faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you as well-- The former rain, And the latter rain (end time revival) in the first month.24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat (seeds of the gospel), And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil (the Spirit’s outpouring).
I believe that the revival which took place on the day of Pentecostal outpouring in Jerusalem and which became the birthing of the New Testament church, will break out again in that holy city, and become a signal flare, of the worldwide end time revival outbreak of the Glory of the Lord, before the appearing of the Lord….
2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
The entire plan of redemption aims to restore the image of God in man. This is a transformation that comes about by focusing on and seeking after Christ.
Revival is about God’s glory, and the revelation of that glory comes in a level of intensity and prevalence, that creates it’s own transformative atmosphere… and miracles, begin to occur as the norm instead of the unusual….
I believe there is a scripture which is a beautiful description of revival….
Ephesians 1:18-22 "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the Hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,"
Every believer, in the power of the Spirit, is a walking revival lightening rod, waiting to catch the lightning strike of God’s glory.
Truly the story of the wedding of Galilee where Jesus turned the water into wine, makes a statement which we should be encouraged and inspired by….The master of ceremonies tasted the miracle wine and declared…
John 2:10 "You have saved the best for last!" – Don’t judge what’s coming by what may have been. He’s saving the best for last! The Trinity desires to use us as instruments in the earth to operate through us and do His good pleasure. We are the containers and He does the pouring….Having said that…. We cannot use the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Spirit to get what we want or need. The Holy Spirit is desiring to flow through you, not just to you. I challenge you to go an entire day without saying “Me” or “I”….. We are told that everything we need is a byproduct of seeking His face and His desire. Seek first the kingdom and all these things shall be added….
Whenever you talk about God’s DNA (His Divine Nature and Attributes)- you are describing His holiness, His love, His compassion, His grace, His justice, His integrity, His wisdom, and His mercy - that's all about God's glory revealed. As the people of God get hungry and thirsty for the Word of God and the glory of God, the Spirit of God transforms them to take on the nature of the Son of God.
God’s Glory, I've learned, is what God is all about, it’s in His very essence.
Revival will not come because of more knowledge, but by more kneeling… Revival will not come because of more giving, but by holy living… Revival will not come because of better preaching about it, but because of every believer showing it through acts of loving kindness….When we are willing to sacrifice our desires, risk our comfort, go where we’ve never gone, and do what we’ve never done….
In Jesus’ words, we have come to, “Not my will but thine be done”!
Revival will come when we repair and restore our Altars…1 Kings 18:30 “And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down”
Has there been a time when you searched the scriptures more than you do now… It’s time to rebuild the altars…. Has there been a time when you shared the message of Christ more than you do now….It’s time to rebuild the altars.
Revival begins with a personal pledge….When a bride and groom stand before the minister, they make some very binding and permanent vows … promises that are meant to last forever. What gives them the confidence that they can fulfill these vows, is that they have a strong love and a deep sense of commitment to one another. In the same way, when we make our vows as a believer, we understand that this means “In sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, in the sunshine and the rain, good and bad times.” …. We need to renew our vows which we made to the Lord.. Keep it fresh…. God’s familyof believers will have many of the same highs and lows of any earthly family, but if we love Jesus and commit to love who He loves (that would be everyone), our journey will be a transformative experience that will survive any trial and any adversity.
G Campbell Morgan said, “Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again”
Charles Spurgeon said, “A genuine revival without the joy of the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers, or sunrise without any light”.
And last, Brian Edwards said, “In revival, the minds of people are concentrated upon things of eternity, and there is an awareness that nothing else really matters”.
Just as a forest fire is hard to contain, as we have seen in California, so it is with revival. Holy Spirit will find the ways and the means and the people…. In Acts chapter 8, Philip who was a deacon in the New Testament church, had been ministering with great results in Samaria. Souls were being saved, bodies healed, and many were delivered. Philip heard two promptings from heaven. First he listened to an angel’s direction to leave the Samaritan revival and go to a specific place in the desert. Once there, Philip heard the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit tell him to go and minister, to an Ethiopian official who was traveling through the desert. Philip obeyed, led the man to Jesus Christ, and revival came to the nation of Ethiopia…The next person you introduce to Christ could be that person….
Isaiah 40:3 “For (we are) the voice of him that cries outin the wilderness, Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.
Revival is like landing an airplane, it can’t land just anywhere. It needs a prepared, surface to land on.
Often, a plane will circle for a long period before landing. I believe revival is circling, and waiting and wanting to bring us something wonderful, but the runway, isn’t ready yet for it to land, so it keeps circling. God is constantly circling in our lives and our situations, but we must commit ourselves to be the runway that the Spirit needs to land on. Our lives need to be prepared for revival to land….
This was the cry of David’s heart in Psalms 85:6 “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?”
Isaiah actually gives instruction for preparing the runway for the Spirit of Revival to land on… Isaiah 40:3-5 “The voice of one calling: "In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
First, Isaiah says, EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED… A Valley Is A Low Place. it may be some area of failure. It may be some hardship you are experiencing. It may be financial, It may be marital or relational. It may be something in your past. It might be your physical health. But God is waiting and ready to fill our valley places…and raise it to a higher level…
Next, it says EVERY MOUNTAIN SHALL BE MADE LOW…Scripture tells us to cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…..That could be a habit? Self will? Wrong priorities? Bitterness? A wounded spirit? unforgivenessPrayerlessness, the cares of life, or focusing too much on the external instead of the internal. Mountains that need to be brought down level.
Next…THE CROOKED WILL BE MADE STRAIGHT….We all deal with misplaced priorities which get things all twisted and crooked. Revival and the glory of God is more important than many things which take us in the wrong direction and often take us to a dead end. They take us where we never intended to go, they keep us longer than we wanted to stay, cost us more than we ever wanted to spend, and make it hard for us to find our way back again. The hurrider I go the behinder I get! Last, it says THE ROUGH PLACES ARE MADE PLAIN. This is about letting the Lord smoothout your marriage, the home environment, your attitude at work, your messed up finances, and smoothing out your tongue or your confession.
God made it very plain in Joshua 24:15 “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..” We will all serve someone or something… choose who will you serve and we are choosing every day. Speaking of preparing the way of the lord, One pastor was describing to his denominational overseer, why his church needed revival. He said it’s the Tate family…that’s holding back revival. “We have old man Dic-Tate who wants to run everything, while Uncle Ro-Tate tries to change everything. There's sister Agi-Tate who stirs up plenty of trouble, with help from her husband, Irri-Tate. Whenever new projects are suggested, Hesi-Tate and his wife, Vege-Tate, want to wait until next year. Then there is Aunt Imi-Tate, who wants our church to be like all the others. Devas-Tate provides the voice of doom, while Poten-Tate wants to be a big shot. Our homes need revival. Our churches need revival. This nation and the world need revival. But no man can bring revival, because it is the sovereign work of Almighty God in the heart and life.
Revival is the return of the people of God to the Word of God in the house of God, by the power of God, according to the plan of God, under the direction of God, so they may receive the blessings of God.
Hear the cry of Isaiah….Isaiah 64:1 “Oh, that you [Almighty God] would rend the heavens, that you would come down, and that the mountains might shake at Your presence”. Revival is a personal revelation to every believer, which is amplified by the power of agreement and unity, until it is an overwhelming force which cannot be stopped by any power of this earth.
We should all be encouraged in knowing that according to the promises of God’s word, the book of Joel assures us that revival is inevitable and non-negotiable God has set it in stone. It’s coming, the only question is, who will be part of it, and who will watch it pass them by….
The apostle Paul adds, 2 Timothy 1:12 “For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep all that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”
I would like us to close with the pledge to God, which is based on the pledge Ruth made in Ruth 1:15. She made her pledge and she kept it every day….
“May I not depart from you, or turn back from following after you, for where you lead, that is where I desire to be and who you love I will love and how you serve is how I want to serve. Your people shall be my people, and your will shall be my desire. The Lord witness between us, as I consecrate my abilities, my time and my life to You Lord Jesus.”
Closing prayer….
Lord we draw close to you, we return to the passion and the deep desire for more of you. Let your spirit rise up within us as heaven calls us upward and away from all those things which weigh us down and press upon us. Release us from those things that have tried to control our lives. In the Name of Jesus and by Your blood, wecommand the messages of self defeat to be lifted off. Wecommand depression, self pity, fear, poverty, shame, resentment, anger, unforgiveness, dullness of hearing, confusion, bareness, and hopelessness to leave now in Jesus name. Lord, Allow a free spirit of praise and worship to rise within our souls and bring us to a higher place. Renew our hearts and set a fire within us to desireyou above everything else.. Give us singleness of vision,as we commit ourselves to the total victory which You have purchased for us on the cross and by Your resurrection.
The bible says that NOTHING shall be impossible with God. That means God looks at nothing and He sees SOMETHING… Scripture says to call the things that are NOT as though they are.. So we are told to look at NOTHING and see SOMETHING… Hebrews tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things NOT SEEN… The creation of everything that was made began when God took NOTHING, and made SOMETHING… When you ask your teen, what happened when you are called to the principles office, and you ask them what did they do, and they say, NOTHING, you know that NOTHING, means SOMETHING! If you look at air, you see NOTHING, but if you cool NOTHING down, you get SOMETHING, called water… So the principle here is, that when you pray and you see NOTHING, BE COOL, and get ready to see something! There was a guy that looked both ways and saw NOTHING, until he pulled out and SOMETHING hit him!
So, on the topic of nothing, I’ll be talking about fasting today. Let me give you a little formula “God plus nothing, equals something”…. Fasting is a declaration in our lives that God is enough, It’s not God plus anything, but God alone…
We make a statement when we fast, that God is more important than anything else in our lives….
Dan B. Allender, PhD, wrote ….“Fasting from any nourishment, activity, involvement or pursuit—for any season—sets the stage for God to appear. Fasting is the act of attuning our senses to the mysteries of God that swirl in and around us. *…..Wendy Speak…. Fasting allows us to experience more of Him. And our reward is greater intimacy with the One who formed us and knows us and sits enthroned within us and over us.” My problem with fasting is that I like food, and I like to eat at least a couple of times a day. SoI do struggle when I interrupt that cycle… But my message today is about what fasting really is, instead of the act of fasting itself…. Fasting is really all about our level of surrender and obedience….That’s the bottom line. We must allow God to retrain our brain through putting things aside, things that we won’t actually die without…(believe it or not) If I don’t have a better job, I’ll just die… If I don’t have that new car, I don’t know what I’ll do….I can’t live another day, without a vacation…..The fasted life is a life that allows God to retrain your appetites(not just with food) but our desires, and our life patterns as well.
1 Samuel 15:22 “But Samuel replied, What is more pleasing to the LORD, your sacrificial offerings, or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission to Him is better than all of your offerings”. (your good intentions)
It has been said we have not truly submitted to the Lord, until we can obey, even when we don’t agree….(and when I fast, my stomach definitely doesn’t agree) It’s really about where your values are and where your treasure is.
When King Saul, was told by God to go and defeat and destroy the army of Amalek and their king, he went as he was told, but he did not destroy them, because he didn’t agree with God. So, he only won a battle when God wanted to win the war. He allowed their ruling power to remain alive.
God knew that if the ruler of the kingdom, or stronghold was allowed to remain in power, the kingdom would soon be rebuilt and they would be back where they started.
So in the end, you can win a battle and lose the war…
To stay in victory, we must conquer the king who rules in whatever area thatwants to defeat us and rule over our lives, so we must throw down his kingdom. If we don’t rule over the spirit of infirmity and disease, it will keep returning. If we don’t rule over the spirit of deception and judgmentalism, we will keep being deceived. If we don’t keep casting down the power of our flesh over us, we will continue to be ruled by the flesh and it’s desires….
In winning the battle, but failing to submit to God’s directive and destroy the ruler, Saul is actually in disobedience and was told by the prophet Samuel… in 1 Sam. 15:23 that his arrogance was the sin of idolatry because he placed his own desires and wishes above the desires of God. It was the Idol OfMyself….
In making God in his own image and likeness, Saul was committing idolatry. “I want, I feel, I like, I prefer, I would rather, I love, I know better… has led many down the path of destruction, when those things push aside the voice and will and plan of God!
This past Wednesday, my doctor scheduled me for blood work. Yuup, that’s me and my love/hate relationship with needles. He told me to not eat or drink anything from midnight until after my appointment at 8:30 in the morning. This was required in order to get an accurate evaluation of my current health by the status of my blood. I obeyed my Doctor because I wanted to have the right outcome.
Now if God says that I need to fast in order to have the right outcome. Yuuup, that’s me again, when I know I need to fast…..But I’ve come to the awareness that if I am to accomplish the will of God, I must crucify the flesh and it’s desires…I obey my doctor’s orders, why would I not obey my creator’s orders….
Mark 9:29 – “And he said unto them, this kind is not overcome by nothing, but prayer and fasting”. (He’s talking about overcoming Satan’s power)
Matthew 6:17 “When you fast, (The word when, is assuming that believers fast) When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you openly”.
Almost obeying is still disobedience. I did but I didn’t…..
If you look at King Saul’s rational for disobedience. It’s the deception of needing to be accepted, and not be rejected by the good old boys club….
1 Samuel 15:24, Saul is exposed by God, and we hear his confession…. He said, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to please them”. Saul admitted that his disobedience was against God’s command. And it was the result of seeking the approval of people above the approval of God. Obeying people instead of obeying God.
The sharks of disobedience are always out there circling, waiting for an opportunity when you are distracted or off balance, to swoop in and attack….
So we have learned in this account in the life of King Saul, that disobedience is an act of rebellion, disobedience is a form of idolatry, disobedience disrespects and diminishes the power of God’s Word in our lives, disobedience is about doing what is convenient not what is best, and disobedience is based on seeking the approval of people rather than the approval of God.
King Saul’s life ended as a tormented soul, because he had become double minded. We know that the only peace he had was when David played and sang for him. But his life was tormented by double mindedness caused by his disobedience.
James 1:6 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. v7 Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. v8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all of his ways”.
The fasted life will confront all of these issues, because it’s primary objective is about living a life of God’s choosing and not my own (to obey when I don’t agree, is the sacrifice which God always honors and rewards).
Obedience, is about a relationship with God that is based on trust.
I obey until understanding comes, I don’t always have the option of understanding before I am asked to obey.
We trust him more than the fear, more than the uncertainty, more than our own imagination, and more than the danger and the risk we’re called to take….
Jesus criticized the teachers of His time for three religious activities—fasting, public prayer, and giving to those in need— not because they werenot good and honorable activities, but because they did it for the approval of men, more than they did it for the approval of God. They had developed a system of spiritual activities that were all aimed at being seen of men, applauded and elevated by the people.
We must be careful about spiritual performances which are done to impress people instead of just obeying and honoring God. Those who lead in worship, those who preach, those who minister, can easily cross over into performing for the people, instead of honoring an audience of only one…..
Sometimes we have to choose to obey God or man…..This is why when the disciples were brought before the religious counsel and asked why they continued to fill Jerusalem with their doctrine, Peter gave them this answer…. Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
When I was younger, at one time, I worked at a full service meat market, and the boss required that we put our thumb on the scale when we weighed the meat, or have a small weight that we slipped on the scale with the meat. I refused and he took me off the scales and put me in the processing area and taught me to be a meat cutter. He said he couldn’t trust me to do the wrong thing. It was my training in meat cutting, that met our needs for 15 years until we went full time into the ministry. I had to be willing to lose my job, rather than do the wrong thing….
Obedience is better than sacrifice!
The fasted life seeks above all to honor God….The fasted life will seek to honor the Lord in speech, in actions, in relationships… and in priorities!Before we do the things we do, we can’t just do it and then pray “Lord I ask you to bless this”, before asking, “Lord what do you want to bless and I will do it”
I heard about a minister who was speaking to a guy who claimed to be a Christian but smoked recreational marijuana. The guy told him that God wouldn’t produce something that wasn’t for our good. So it was OK to use what God had produced. The minister took a handkerchief and picked up some dog droppings and said, based on what you have said, you need to light this up and give it a try..
King Saul heard the word of the Lord, but he thought he had a better idea….
The government usually thinks it has a better idea than God and we end up with the oppression of socialism … Environmentalist usually think they have a better idea than God and we end up under the control of climate change… Scientist think they have a better idea than God and we end up with the erroneous deception of evolution… Doctors think they have a better idea than God and we end up controlled by pharmaceuticals and health for sale to the highest bidder…. The church thought it had a better idea than God and we ended up with religion instead of an intimate, personal relationship with the all knowing, all powerful, Father, Creator….
Samuel said it best when he said….”Obedience is better than sacrifice, and surrender to Him is better than all of your offerings”.
Then I look at Micah 6:7 “Will the Lord be pleased with your thousands ofsacrifices and offerings? v8 He has shown you, O man, what [is] good; and what He requires of you. It is to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly (obedient) with your God”?
Jesus said “Anyone who loves me will obey me and My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
Let me tell you, when God makes His home with you, great things will begin to happen in your life! Things you could never have planned, could never afford, or even thought of !! But when He moves in, He may rearrange your stuff, He may change your schedule, and He may change your priorities…
Isaiah 48:17–19 “This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace, endlesslyflowing like a river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. Your descendants will be like the sands along the seashore—too many to count! Destruction, will be far from you and your legacy will remain."
Trust in God is the source of our obedience! When God led the Hebrews out of Egypt, it was a journey of trust in Him, a journey of obedience. When they obeyed and moved with the pillar of fire by night and the cloud of His presence by day, it went well, when they didn’t, they had nothing but defeat, failure and destruction …
Family psychologist, Dr. James Dobson said once, “If you have a willful child, I’ll teach you how to raise him. If you have a teenager, I’ll be sure to pray for you.” Lack of obedience in the workplace is insubordination.
Lack of obedience in the military can be grounds for court marshal.
Lack of obedience in children produces self destructive patterns for life.
Lack of obedience to God is another signal of our need for grace to get back on the bike and trust Him for the strength we need….
What if A professional fire fighter comes to a classroom and He teaches everyone that if they find themselves on fire, to stop, drop and roll. Then he has everyone practice doing it. So sure enough someone finds themselves on fire, but they start running around screaming and end up severely burned, when all they had to do is stop, drop and roll. With the solution available to them, they chose to let their emotions overwhelm them and they failed to do the thing that would save them. Some lessons are learned and wisdom comes when we don’t get it right or do it right….
But disobedience has a domino effect which not only touches ourselves, but it becomes generational and it reaches further and further if we refuse to learn….
Jacob’s disobedience in stealing the birthright, was perpetuated in his sons who sold their own brother Joseph into slavery…. Adam and Eve’s disobedience was perpetuated by Cain who murdered his brother…. David’s disobedience was perpetuated in Absalom… Solomon’s disobedience was perpetuated in his son Rehoboam, the evil king of Israel…
The apostle Paul mentions this cycle in Romans 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
Paul addresses the generational cycle of disobedience, but then he says that through Jesus’ obedience a reset button was pushed, and His obedience set up a new generational cycle. He redeemed our legacy, He restored the God possibilities in the family lineage!!!
My father ran a moonshine still in the hills of North Carolina, my mother was a promiscuous alcoholic, who abandoned her husband and her children. When I married this foxy, black haired beauty, who is my wife. We made a covenant with God that a new stream of blessing was being opened and a new, Godly legacy, was being started! And I declared it based on…
Deuteronomy 28:1 “And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe [and] obey His word, that the Lord your God will set you on high… v2 And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you in the way you go, if you will hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God.
v3 Blessed [shall] you [be] in the city, and blessed [shalt] you [be] in the field. v4 Blessed [shall be] the fruit of your body, and the fruit of yourground, and the fruit of all your animals. v5 Blessed [shall be] your basket and your storehouse.
v6 Blessed [shall] you [be] when you come in, and blessed [shall] you [be] when you go out. v7 The Lord shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to disappear from before your face: they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways.
v8 The Lord shall command His blessing upon you in all that you set yourhand unto and he shall bless you in the land which the Lord your God givesunto you. v9 The Lord shall establish you as a holy people unto Himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you will keep the word of the Lord your God, and walk in His ways.
v11 And the Lord shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of yourbody, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord has swornunto your fathers to give you. v12 The Lord shall open unto you His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in His season,
and to bless all the work of your hand and you shall lend unto many, and you shall not borrow. v13 And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shalt not be beneath, if you obey the word of the Lord your God”. I testify, that for me and my house…. It works!
Obedience is a gift we give to God ….the rewards are that Obedience transforms fear to faith, it replaces uncertainty with purpose and direction, it turns your pain into deliverance, and your obstacles become Your opportunities!
When I was younger, I was in a hurry and decided instead of waiting for the red light to change like all the other cars, I would take a short cut through a gas station. I felt pretty good about my choice to get a jump on the traffic, until the police lights behind me told me other wise. I was given a ticket for avoiding a traffic light. As I paid the ticket, the gift of wisdom came into me…. DON’T DO THAT AGAIN! I learned to fast my desires to avoid a traffic light…..
Someone has said that the brain is amazing, it works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and never stops, from birth UNTIL WE FALL IN LOVE….thenit’s game on!!!
Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the disobediencewhich does so easily entangles and captures us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the forerunner and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, rising above its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such opposition, so that you might not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus, the rewarder is there for us at the right hand of God’s grace…
Jesus, the intercessor is there for us at the right hand of God’s favor…
Jesus the healer, provider and deliverer is at the right hand of God’s power…
Jesus the way maker and world shaker is at the right hand of God’s fullness…
Jesus the peace that passes all understanding is at the right hand of God’s love….
Jesus the one who never slumbers or sleeps is there, and He’s awake so you can sleep, He’s knows when you don’t know, He’s has it figured it out when we don’t have a clue…
Our part, our mission, is to live the fasted life of obedience with joy and expectation….
He is the rewarder of those who diligently and fervently seek Him, in spirit and truth!
Revelation 22:12 “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his obedience shall be.”
Let’s close with a Faith Confession…..
I declare over myself today, that I will see the light of a new day at the end of my obedience. I know without any doubt that there is a silver lining waiting for me. I declare that God didn’t bring me this far to leave me or let me come short of the promise. He will never leave me or forget about the purpose or destiny He has given me. I know that all things will work together for my good as I continue to love God and seek His calling and His plan for my life, because He is the constant and faithful One. I believe that He has called me and equipped me for all that He wants to do through me and all things are now working together to complete His calling and purpose concerning me, and all things, means ALL things. My God is not a God who wastes, nor does He do anything without a purpose. He is the ultimate redeemer and He is about to transform my life in wonderful, new ways.
I receive the new and improved version of myself, handcrafted by God. I will be patient and hold steady as He does His work. I will wait with a sense of expectancy, and know that He will do it in His own way and in His own time for He knows what is best for me. I will trust and have faith, for I believe that He is not a man that He can lie. He knows the plans He has for me, to give me a future and a hope. My hope is never in vain in the Lord….
Someone said that life is like flying a helicopter, and I don’t know how to operate a helicopter either….
Perhaps you heard about the two psychiatrists who passed each other on the sidewalk, and one said to the other, “You’re fine, how am I”…. Well, I want to tell you that you’re fine, and you are programmed by God for success, if you can accept His plan…
Today, I want to begin with two stories….
George Bernard Shaw, famous author and play write, was asked by a reporter, "if you could live your life over and be anybody you've know, or any person from history, who would you be?"
Shaw responded immediately, "I would choose, to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was."
I read an interesting story of Robert Schuller who built the famous Crystal Cathedral, who tells about a seed he received one day in the mail from Ansley Mueller, a farmer from Ohio. For years, Schuller, had been teaching the principle, that any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count the apples in a seed.” Well, Mueller had been listening to this principle…. He explained that in 1977, he lost half his soybean crop. It was a bad, bad year. So, at the end of the year, in October, he was walking through his devastated fields, when he saw a group of the most extraordinary, unusual looking soybean plants standing straight and tall, all by themselves. He was shocked by the size and good looks, so he carefully picked off the pods. There were 202 pods which yielded 503 soybeans. He took them home and the next season, he planted those 503 soybeans in a little plot behind his house and that October they yielded Thirty-two pounds! He planted them in the next season on one acre and harvested 2,409 pounds! He planted those, the next season on sixty-eight acres, which was all the land he had. That year, he harvested twenty-one hundred bushels and cashed it out for fifty thousand dollars!
God programmed increase into each of those soybeans. He programmed them to multiply 30, 60 and 100 fold!
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live”
Just like the soy bean, has built in programing, so likewise every believer has been programed for abundant life….
JOHN 10:10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Not once did our Lord call you “Failure, lost cause, good for nothing, hopeless, bad seed, or a waste of space”.
He just said “Follow me and I will make you” When Jesus said that to the disciples, the word “make”, in the Greek, is to bring forth, to appoint, to ordain, to fulfill your purpose… and He speaks the same thing to every believer.
Most folks, including the disciples would not have chosen Paul as an apostle, I mean after all, he was killing Christians…. They would have assumed that Jesus never would have called fishermen, a tax collector, and the revolutionist, to spread the kingdom message throughout the earth…..and the apostles would never have assumed that they could ever be used by God in the way they were used….
But when they met Jesus, He changed the program for their life. And amazingly, He chose you and me!!! He changed your life’s programming…. (I will make you)He says to each of us!
As a believer, God calls you a Masterpiece, a Treasure, His friend, a new Creation, The dwelling place of God, a work of art, forgiven, His likeness and image, Eternally alive, a citizen of Heaven, A partaker of the glory, righteous, a diamond in His crown, A vessel of honor, Accepted in the beloved, the Apple of His eye, Blessed of the LORD, Called, and chosen, the Elect of God, He that dwells in the secret place, Conqueror, anointed, Overcomer, the Heir of God, Kings and priests, The Redeemed, the Healed, The Children of God….
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and shew you great and mighty things, which you could not even imagine”!
Richard Evans wrote that “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to really begin it”.
And once we do, The average person at 70 years old, Has spent 23 years Sleeping..... 16 years Working at 8 hours a day, 5 days a week... 8 years watching TV…. 6 years Eating.... 6 years driving... 4 ½ years R&R…. 4 years being sick….. 2 years getting showered and dressed.... ½ year or 2 minutes a day praying… (and that’s on the run)
Surely we can do better with our inner programing…..
The well known American artist James Whistler, was once advised that a shipment of blank canvases he had ordered were lost in the mail. When he was asked if the canvases were of any great value, Whistler remarked, "not yet sir, not yet." Last week we said that the word “Yet” is a word of expectation! (most of Whistler’s paintings sold for millions of dollars!)
Whistler’s mother, sold for 30 million!
Oh…. When Satan comes around and tells you that you’re worthless, of no value, a failure, and a lost cause…. You need to tell him, “In Christ, you are programed for success, you are programed to do great things, and to be a transforming agent of redemption in the earth!!!
Isaiah 53:1 asks the question…“Whose report will you believe? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
In a small village in Sweden lived a young girl named Jenny Lind a poor and unskilled, child born into poverty, so she could only make it by doing the most menial of jobs. She loved to sing, and She began to sing on street corners, hoping passersby would toss her a coin or two.
Each day she sang--in the wind and rain, the heat and the cold, yet barely making enough at the end of the day to buy food. One day a great musician happened to pass by and heard her. He was captivated by her beautiful voice. He took the girl home with him and began to teach her how to use her voice to its full capability. In time she became the toast of two continents and everyone knew and loved "The Swedish Nightingale."
It was always programed within her, but God gave her that wonderful thing called opportunity…. The bible calls it favor. It’s when the grace of God which gives us what we don’t deserve, meets the favor of God and we are given wings to fly!
We are all created by God, for God, to become what He
thinks we should be… God designed us, created us, desires to bless us, heal us, defend us, restores us, renew us, forgive us, and love us… But our programming got messed up somewhere along the way.
We got disappointed, or let down by someone… We experienced promises broken and vows unkept… Life bruised us, knocked us around and tromped on our dreams…. We began to believe that the good guy doesn’t always win… and it gets into our head and lodges in our heart…
We get our hopes up like Doug’s family… who was called to his bedside, when he knew his time was short…He hadlived all his life in the Florida Keys and now his family,who had all moved great distances away, his wife, his daughter and two sons, are with him along with his doctor. He asks for two witnesses to be present and a lawyer to be there to record his last wishes, and when all is ready he begins to speak.
“My son, Andy, I give you the Ocean Reef houses.”
“My daughter, Sybil, I give you the apartments between mile markers 100 and Tavernier.”
“My son, Jamie, I give you the offices over in the Marathon Government Center.”
“Sarah, my dear wife, I give you all the residential buildings on the bayside at Islamorada .”
The lawyer and children are blown away as they didn’t realize his extensive holdings. Doug passes, and the lawyer says, “Sarah, your husband must have been such a hard-working man to have accumulated all this property.” The wife replies…are you
kidding, That clown was only talking about giving us his newspaper route.
Some of you are wondering how you’re going to make it…. God says “The check is in the mail”…. Some of you are wondering what tomorrow holds, God says “I’ve been waiting here for your arrival”…..Somebody may be saying, that you can’t handle anymore hurt…. God says, “because I hurt more than you ever will, I am able finish all that I began in you”…
We are programmed for blessing….
When Paul was writing to his young friend, Timothy, he said…. “I have fought a good fight.”
Then, he said, “I have finished the race.”
That was followed by, “I have kept the faith,” And finally, he says “I have won the prize of the high calling in Christ.”
We are programed in Christ to fight the good fight…. To finish the race….
To keep the faith…. And to win the prize of the high calling…..
Paul was killing Christians, but he got reprogramed…..
The apostles were fishermen, a tax collector, a physician, and a terrorist, but they got reprogramed by the God man Jesus. It brought them into the opportunities that favor provided, so that grace could flourish in their lives….
In Christ our marriages are programed for success…..our bodies are programed to be strong, full of vitality, whole and entire….. Our life is programed for joy, peace and fulness in the Holy Spirit… “Body, body, get in line, nothing missing, nothing broken, everything working fine”….
Jesus said John 7:38…”Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, ‘Out of his center (Inner most being) will flow rivers of living water. This He said, speaking of the Holy Spirit..”
In order to flow in your supernatural programing, which is operating in your inner most being, (your spirit)… You must drop down from your mind, your intellect, and get down into your spirit. It is there that you will tap into your giftedness, the fruit of the Spirit, and your inner guidance….
I have always told you to lay your hands on your belly, (your center) and release your supernatural programing which is flowing up out of you…..
It is there that you will find the training to reign in life….
Hear it please…..Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly, beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that is now working within us, (in our inner being) to Him be all the glory in the church, in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
When we drop down and tap into what is flowing in our center, our spirit, through Christ, we begin to effect generations…..
That is where your peace is waiting to flow out into your life…. That’s where the longsuffering and patience is waiting to flow from….. That’s where your joy is waiting to flow out in your valley places, and barren mountainregions….
Drop down, and begin to flow out of your inner most being…..
Anything can be reversed, when you find out how to drop down and begin to flow out from your redeemed center……
John 14:5 “Lord, said Thomas, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.
That’s the spirit of truth, in you…. That’s the spirit of life in you…
That’s the way, when you don’t know the way or how to get there… Drop down into that, and get out of your head….
When I was in Ramrod, every Christmas I would decorate the yard, and there were some decorations that weren’t lit. So I set up flood lights to illuminate those, so they could be seen. That’s what the spirit in you does, as you drop down to your inner guidance, the Spirit throws the light on what you were missing, and illuminates it. Out of your inner most being, You begin to see what Jesus is doing so you can do it. You see what He’s saying so you can obey. You see His plan, and desires for you, so you can begin to flow and operate in that…
Roald Amundsen, was the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and went on to do the same at the South Pole. On his trips, Amundsen would take a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally reachedhis destination in the dangerous and rugged terrain, he would open the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the joy of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. With excitement and relief she exclaimed, "He's alive! My husband is still alive!"
The heavenly dove reveals to us what we could not see or know without Him. Oh, wondrous Holy Spirit, sweet heavenly dove!!!
From your redeemed center, you can reprogram things around you…. You can call things back, release things, set free, restore, redeem the times, create new beginnings and see possibilities where there were only impossibilities…..as we drop down and flow out of our inner most being….
I want to close with a simple story…. My Grandma Dalton, was very limited in her later years, but she had Grandpa set her up a garden. It was about an acre in size. Grandma used to love to walk up and down the rows of squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, peas, string beans, and watermelon, pulling weeds and worshiping the Lord in song and in the spirit.. Her garden produce was twice the size of everyone else’s, and healthier. Everyone knew why….She transformed that garden by flowing out of her inner most being as she walked up and down those rows. (she sang way off key, but with her spirit, she brought transformation) If it worked in grandma’s garden, It will work in your home, on your job, in your neighborhood, and in every area of your life….. I want to encourage you today, to come back to your secret place and you can begin to watch as the heavenly dove, leads you into your own areas of transformation and restoration….
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. v2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the spirit of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God”
Albert Einstein..“Your expectations are the preview of your life’s coming attractions.”
Jim Rohn…“If you don’t have great expectations for your own life, chances are you’ll end up living with someone else’s, and guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
E.E. cummings… “It takes courage to expect to becomeall that you should be.” Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all that diligently seek Him”..
You can have Faith without expectation but you can’t have Expectation without Faith. Your expectation is your God given ability to put a demand on your future. Your expectation connects you to a supernatural interventionwherever you are in your present life. Those interventions are what we call “miracles”.
Proverbs 23:18 “For surely there is an end; and yourexpectation shall not be cut off (or disappointed).”
Expectation is the fertile breeding ground for miracles. In order to receive from the Lord, we must expect Him to show up and demonstrate what He has promised in our lives. Without a fervent sense of expectancy, all we are doing is taking part in religious exercise that has no power behind it. An atheist was complaining to a Christian, “You Christians have special holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. Jews celebrate their national holidays, such as Passover and Yom Kippur. But we atheists have no recognized national holidays, It’s unfair discrimination.His friend told him, “Why sure you have your own holiday, I can’t believe you don’t celebrate it, it’s April Fool’s day!”
Your outcomes in life will not just be according to your prayers, your faith, and your confessions but also according to your expectation. If your prayers, faith and confessions are right but your expectation is wrong, your outcome will end up wrong, since the Bible says that your expectation shall not be disappointed.
2 Timothy 3:5, For many have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, avoid this in your own life”…That’s about our level of expectation…
When I was a kid growing up in the farm country of Virginia, I loved to go over to the train tracks that ran through our area, and put pennies on the track. I knew that when that great, powerful, train hit that penny on the track, it would forever change it’s very nature and shape. I had a collection of coins that had been transformed by that train. My expectations moved me to action, and the results brought transformation to every coin I placed on the tracks. Listen there’s something coming.that is greater and more powerful than that train. It’s the train of God’s glory, and if you’ll get your stuffon the track, transformation is about to happen…
How about…Philippians 4:19 “My God shall supply all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus”.
And then there’s Ephesians 3:16 “I declare that out of his glorious riches he shall strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being”.
And let’s believe Philippians 2:10 “At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, all things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. - .Daniel would have been fast food if he faced the lions with only a form of godliness but he put his expectations on God’s faithfulness…
The three Hebrews would have been Krispy Kritters if they faced the furnace with a faith which had no expectation….but they put their trust in the king above all kings.
Noah would have been fish food, without the expectation that God could make the impossible possible, but he put action to his faith and saved his entire household.
Moses would have been unable to locate the exit door from Egypt, without expectant faith in a liberating God who breaks every chain…. But he led them out with expectation and they went out, loaded with the wealth of Egypt,
There was a little woman in Jesus time, that got excited about Malachi 4:2 “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…” You see, the little woman with the issue of blood, pushed through the crowd to Jesus, because she believed Jesus was the fulfillment of Malachi. She understood that the Tzitzi (Seet-seets) or tassels that hung from the Tallit, which was the Jewish name for Jesus’ prayer shawl, and the two sides of the shawl were referred to as “the wings”. Her faith caused her to expect that something would happen when she touched “the wings”. So she decided I don’t care what the people say or do, I’m expecting a life changing event to take place when I touch the fringe of His prayer shawl. She said, If I can touch Him, I shall be made whole….
Your miracle is at the mercy of your mouth. Don’t use your mouth to describe your situation. Use your mouth, like the little woman, to declare your expectation – Romans 10:11 “For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed.”
A new pastor in a small Midwestern town had done all he knew how to fill up the church and get it to thrive, but the church remained mostly empty. The church had been a presence in the community for decades, so when the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that because the church was just taking up space, it was everyone’s duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice stated. Well, a large crowd turned out for the “funeral.” In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin. After the pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to the dead church. Filled with curiosity as to what was in the coffin, all the people lined up to look into the coffin. Each “mourner” peeped into the coffin then quickly turned with a guilty, look. There, in the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror which reflected each observers face! Everyone had expectations, they expected someone else to do everything. It’s the Twilight Zone of Excuses!
Usually we have low expectations because we have great excuses…
Someone has said that excuses are like belly buttons, everyone has one.
Can you say… “Hung by the tongue”…..We start getting results when we stop giving excuses. Jesus shared a parable about excuses that keep us from expecting His best….
Luke 14:16 Jesus said: "A certain king was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ’Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ’I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 "Another said, ’I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 "Still another said, ’I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the Master of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ’Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22 "’Sir,’ the servant said, ’what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 "Then the master told his servant, ’Go out to the highways and country lanes and compel them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who made excuses will get a taste of my banquet.’"
They were personally invited to the king’s palace to eat at the king’s table. Instead they made excuses… that’s insane!! We insult God when we have a low level of expectation. When He tells us what He has prepared for us, but we come up with these lame excuses….WHY….
Well, the three excuses people used with the king, that kept them from fulfilling God’s expectations are prevalent today in our society 2000 years later...
1st. is Work, I have bought oxen and need to work them….Your work is what you do, don’t let it become who you are….
2nd. Is Money “I Bought a field and must check on my investment” You better control your money or it will control you!
3rd. is Family and relationships“ I Got married” (well, bring that gal to the king’s table) Notice in all three areas, the king’s expectations were blocked by their expectations.
The truth is, King Jesus has greater expectations about us than we do about Him!
Seek first the kingdom and all these other things shall be added unto you…..
We are told in the scripture record, that Jesus went to one city and came away saying he was not able to do much there because of their unbelief—because of their low expectation. I don’t know about others, but I’m on my way to the Banquet!!!
God is faithful to finish what he has begun in you, and fulfill the great work He has established when He redeemed you, called you, and anointed you. He’s expecting great things from His redeemed people in the earth because He paid such a high price and made such a tremendous investment to redeem, supply and equip us….
Expectation will open some doors and closeothers…..Expectation will motivate and mobilize you….Expectation will stabilize you and keep you focused…..Expectation will energize you to press on into victory….You will push past fear, push past doubt, push past people and mind sets which rise up in resistance….WePraise and worship in expectation. We sow our tithe and offering seeds in expectation. We pray in expectation. We declare and confess the promises in God’s word and we Expect miracles!
Colossians 2:14 says “He blotted out the ordinance against us, He took it out of the way, and nailed it to the cross”. You can have great expectation because there is nothing between you and your miracle. He has removed the obstacles, and the “False Evidence Appearing Real” out of the way and nailed it to the cross, so that we can be on our tip toes with expectation, believing that God is ready to do something in our world today.
1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are now children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we will be for it has not yet been revealed”. We are not designed by a cookie cutter God. But, it’s easier to go along with the contented masses, and flow with the prevailing currents of society, than to rise above them and find your identity at a higher plane.
It is easier to imitate rather than to motivate and initiate. It is easier to be like the carbon copy, rather than be singled out as being original, different and unique. It’s easier to go along with the thoughts of the many rather than develop your own thinking and set of life values according to the Word of God.
The Devil is not concerned with what you used to be, the Devil is not concerned with what you are. He is horrified when you start expecting what God says you can be!
1 John tells us…THERE’S SOMETHING THAT HASN’T APPEARED YET!! I'm on my tip toes in expectation, something is coming. This isn’t all there is…Hallelujah.
Your greatest miracles are not behind you. Don't look back, look ahead. Your biggest miracles are not behind you, and that's why you need to start expecting, and understand that something is going to happen that you've not seen yet. God's done great things for you, but that's not all He's got….He’s got so much more!
Hebrews 6:10 "For God, Is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love". For God to forget your seed, He would have to be unrighteous, and that is impossible. It is impossible for God to forget what He's promised you. And so, the only question is, are you expecting it? Look at your neighbor and say, "Are you expecting?
Yes, Expect to be healed, Expect to be filled, Expect to be lifted and helped, Expect to be blessed, delivered, and freed. EXPECT A MIRACLE!!.
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceedingabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Hallelujah The level of our expectation should be measured by God’s ability. If God has the ability to do something, we should be expecting Him to do it…. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that is now working in us…
When John’s disciple’s wanted to give validation to John about Jesus ministry…. Jesus sent them to Him inMatthew 11: 4 “Jesus told them, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good news is preached to the poor”. If I am going to raise my expectation according to God’s ability, I need to investigate that ability and see just what kind of ability it is. It is resurrection ability. That means He raises the dead, I mean, come on, what could be difficult for Him after that. I can’t think of anything harder than raising a man from the dead. If He can raise a man thing you could think of and goes from there….He says “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live”!
Paul is telling the Ephesian believers, in Ephesians 3,“oh, you are aiming way too low! God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or can even imagine, even think”.
When our expectations are established on God’s ability, we can replace every fear, worry, and doubt about the future with faith, love, and expectation that never fails.
We can see God bringing every enemy under our feet as we rest in Jesus’ finished work. Make sure you don’t hook your faith to temporary things….or it will affect your expectations…
We can reign with confidence over defeat, lack, sickness and all demonic opposition.
It’s an expectation that declares “All things are working together for my good, because I am called according to His purposes and I am seeking first His glory”.
Expectation is a reflection of what we believe about God, about ourselves and about others.
When things aren’t happening, our expectations cause us to examine if something is out of harmony or perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. Perhaps there is a lesson somewhere in the situation that God wants us to learn. Perhaps this is an area that we need to put under our feet and begin to rule over. The bottom line is that a person who lives in the God kind of faith, is able to applythat expectation so God’s goodness can enshroud themand envelope them wherever they go and whatever they do. Here’s a powerful scripture…
Job 29:14 “I clothed myself in righteousness, (right-minded, in right standing, honorable, upright,) and it enveloped me, my just decisions were like a robe and a turban (It covered me)” Think of it this way, when your expectations are in line with the God kind of faith, you are enveloped…. Now when you mail a letter, youenvelope it… you put it in an envelope and completely cover it, hide it, shield it, protect it…
Then you put a seal (we now put a stamp on it), which means it is qualified to reach it’s appointed destination. Then you declare on the envelope where it is to go, and you take it to the delivery system or post office.
Think of yourself as that letter……(we are written epistles) Job says. We are enveloped, (placed in a protective shield, hidden from the enemy, and covered by the blood of Jesus. Our faith expectations, place a destination on the envelope, and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, which is the down payment of guarantee, or the stamp… the cost of delivery has been paid.
Then God gives it to His delivery system, (His angels) the heavenly messenger delivery system, to bring it to it’s appointed destination and fulfillment….. Hallelujah!
It gives a fresh meaning to the term “He’s got you covered”…
Here’s a few things to bring it all into the realm of faith expectations in our lives… Solomon calls it “directing your path” in Prov. 3:6
Get your purpose and goal clear as you pray, study God’s word and fill your mind with right thinking….
Determine to be a purpose driven child of God, instead of a pleasure driven stranger and maverick in God’s kingdom…
Identify what kind of person you believe that God wantsyou to be… then begin to form the kind of daily habits that align with your faith identity….
Find people who can believe with you and share your views and walk it out together with them
Look for things that affirm your beliefs and speak and focus on those things
Accept what comes your way as stepping stones, boundary lines, wisdom lessons, and building blocks for your future…
Don’t judge by what you see now, but judge by what you expect in your future.
And oh, by the way…Someday is not an actual day of the week!!! START NOW!
Expectations are something, we all have. But in the midst of all our looking for what we expect, how many of us really truly take the time to ask what God expects from us. There are incredible hopes, dreams and plans that He has in mind for each one of us. In Christ we have…A love that can never be fathomed…..A life that can never die:…. A righteousness that is not of this world…A peace that can never be understood…. A rest that can never be disturbed….A joy that can never be diminished….A hope that can never be disappointed….A glory that can never be extinguished…A happiness that can never be interrupted….and Resources that can never be exhausted…..AND ALL OF THAT, has no expiration date!
A little boy constantly fell out of bed and ended up sleeping on the floor. He just couldn’t seem to stay on his bed. His parents asked him why he thought he kept falling out of bed. The little fellow thought for a moment and then said, “I think its because I stay too close to the place where I get in.” God expects us to grow past the place where we got in. believe that you will thrive, not just survive….Move on in, don’t stay on the edge, begin to raise the level of your expectation!
I close with a scripture….
Ephesians 3:18 is your new marching orders…..”That we may be able to comprehend (expect) with all saints, the breadth, and length, and depth, and height v9 And to know the love of Christ, which surpasses all knowledge, that you might (expect to be) filled with all the fullness of God. v20 Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, (and expect) according to the power that is now working in us, v21 Unto Him (we are expecting) glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Lord, lift our expectations that they may be according to your ability….It is not by might, nor by power, but by the spirit of the Lord, that we shall see over and above what we could think or imagine!
It’s not going to be like all the other times, this time water will flow out of the rock, the lion’s mouth will be shut, the fire will be quenched, the loaves and fish will be multiplied, the healing will be established, the family will come under his lordship, things will turn around for the better, provision is coming, light is conquering darkness, the enemy must flee in Jesus name.
