expectation

Have you ever thought about the word “expectation”? I am beginning to see the greater importance of this in communicating with God. I heard a message at church tonight about the amazing miracles that are being seen and experienced overseas and I compare that with what is going on in America and it is pretty sad. We don’t see the demonstrations of God’s power like they do overseas and it gets me in a mode of thinking about my own life and the healing that I want to see in my eye. If you have grown up in church like me, you have those church services where you can just sense something different and I believe that comes from expectation. Do I really expect God to heal me or am I content with my Rheumatologist thinking that my life is in his hands? Do I expect to be debt free and take the steps to see that happen and believe that God is blessing those actions? I think that expectation is dulled by all the comforts of America and really being spoiled into a sense of false security. It is the truest sense of the statement that good will always be the mortal enemy of the great. I am going to start asking God to show me how to have a heart of expectation with everything I pray for. Not even just my healing but in everything. Even that statement is hard for me to type right now with where I am financially and physically. I guess I just have to expect that I will see something different than I have seen for the past three years in my health, emotions and finances.

christianity needs fruit

Watchman Nee Quote:

Show the world the fruits of Christianity and it will applaud; but show the world Christianity, and it will oppose it vigorously.

This was revelation to me today. I have always thought that people that didn’t know Christ would only need to by introduced to the concept of Christianity for it to be real to them and for them to make a decision to follow Christ. I think this comes from growing up in the church all my life and not really thinking about the introduction of Christ to others. I was always taught to be a good boy and that if I didn’t want to go to hell that I would follow Jesus and not question the directives of the church. Now that I am older I realize that if I don’t have fruit that is evident in my life that others can see then I need to re-evaluate my relationship with Jesus. Christianity without fruit is just another rule or regulation that the world is told it needs to “be right”. Christians are notorious for being ready to tell others “like it is” but not being able to listen to what a nonbeliever is going through in their life. If there is fruit that comes from following Christ it becomes attractive to people and gives them a desire to have the great things that a Christian has. If there is no fruit in a Christian’s life then a walk with Christ can become a great burden and really a waste of time. Why call yourself a follower of Christ and have nothing to show for it? Today, look for the fruit that comes from a living relationship with Christ. If you don’t, you will not only be leading others away from the best thing the will ever need, but you will frustrate yourself and dishonor God in the process by not doing what he asks.

your attitude in loss will determine your relationship with God

Your attitude in loss will determine your relationship with God. Your relationship with God cannot be judged when everything is going well for you. Those times are not the true test of any relationship. When God allows something to be taken you have an instant test to judge your heart and to see how much you trust him. I know that there are people in my life that if they take something from me and I trust them I will not even question what they are doing. If I don’t feel like I know a person very well and they take something from me I get frustrated and angry. The same is with God. When we are spending time with him and get to know him we are learning to trust him and find out his heart for us. When that time of loss comes we have an opportunity to show our love for him by trusting that he has our best interests in mind and that he is not going to take anything from us to purposely hurt us or modify our lives in a way that is not for our good. What state is your relationship with God right now? Are you in a place of loss and need to submit to his will and trust that he is working everything out for your good? It may be your time to see a miracle but you have to trust him. That part of the relationship is up to you.