Expecting #40 - Believing

Hello - my name is Michelle.  I am a blogger.  I love God, my family and God has given me this URGE to write.

Writing has been my therapy and it has allowed me to speak life -- when I could not speak face to face. Writing has also cost me a few friendships and I bet more people read this than I am aware of.   And through this - God has taught me much...that being transparent is important -- but being private is important too.

If you have been reading this blog over the past month - you know I am praying for several women and families and I pray for myself and my family too.  But I am more aware of the local church and a body of believers worldwide and my heart is changing..... and I pray for them too.   

 There are fellow sisters in  Christ that have a  desperate need to have  prayers answered, some  need some miracles, and I believe their  families   need their spiritual eyes to open up. 

 God  speaks all the time, but are we listening?  

God  moves, but will we allow Him full access into our lives to move what He needs to move?  

At the beginning of this 40 days of blog prayers, I challenged  one  sister in Christ and myself...to allow God to come in  -- would I trust HIM more?  Could she?

It is the 'end' of these 40 days.....  has what I asked of God come about?

Is 'stuff' better within her life?  In mine?  

I know she is a different person now...she is  TRUSTING  God like never before.

The beauty of this -- is that God DOES NOT waste anything, and I believe that  YOU... YES, YOU...who  has been reading this all this time too -- has a deeper understanding of God the Father and I believe YOU are trusting like never before?  Am I right?

I expect God does wonderful things and HE gives awesome revelations and answers prayer!  

A.W. Tozer says:  "True faith is never found alone: it is always accompanied by expectation. The man who believes the promises of God expects to see them fulfilled.  Where there is no expectation, there is not faith.  We need a fresh spirit of anticipation that springs out of the promises of God.  We must declare war on the mood of nonexpectation, and come together with childlike faith.  Only then can we know again the beauty and wonder of the Lord's presence among us." 

That is a powerful quote.  In therapy, the Life Coach and other counselors told me often...'lower you expectations...cause then you won't be disappointed'.  That made sense too.

If I don't 'expect' flowers on my anniversary -- then I won't be heartbroken when none come......

If I don't 'expect' the toilet seat to be down when I head into my son's bathroom -- then I won't get upset when I fall into the toilet cause I expected the seat to be down.  Make sense?

I think the 'low expections' advice  is  good for that time in therapy .....and I am sure, that I will share that again with a student or a woman in crisis....but TONIGHT....these past 40 days.....

I am going to EXPECT like A.W Tozer shared...and besides these expectations are TIED to GOD...HE never disappoints...HE never fails....and HE is God!

Lord, I am going to EXPECT that YOUR promises  will come true for the reader reading..... and her family.  You Lord, promised in Isaiah - that you have come to BIND the brokenhearted.....you  came Lord to proclaim FREEDOM for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners.   Lord, there is a husband that NEEDS to hear from you - smack him over the head...may he see that he needs you.  Lord,  there are children that  MUST call upon You.  Lord,  these children have been raised  - truth has been spoken into their lives - but it is NOT our  job to save them...that is YOURS.  

Lord, there are women that believed they  could 'pull' their children  into you -- God release that -- show my sister in Christ  that YOU have EACH of them...and that YOU can be trusted.

 Lord, there are women that are struggling with their jobs,   their business, their finances, their health and other situations.  We need a miracle.   We expect a miracle.  

 Lord, in Isaiah 36 the King of Assyria is taunting the captives....those under King Hezekiah.  Those  people were beyond....they were at the END of their rope.  Lord, it says  that those people that loved you --  they were eating their own excrement and drinking their urine...they had HAD enough ....and yet... they still believed in YOU.  King Hezekiah went to Isaiah and asked....as they were like in the day of 'birth' with no strength to deliver.  

God.... this is the  head and heart  of many women today !  But tonight - I have EXPECTATIONS that as we pray together and AS  we believe together....   it will be like vs. 6 -- "do no be afraid".  ....that as we - each day, seek you and walk this out...that YOU will bring clarity to life decisions.  

You Lord, will open spiritual eyes...and there will be a trust in You - that has NEVER been experienced.  In Jesus name...amen.  

I received a phone call several years ago and everything within my world came to a crashing halt.  And at THAT  moment, I felt that God could fix  my life  by the end of the week.
At THAT moment, my expectations were high.
They were also rather far fetched -- but I still believed.

However, within a few days -- I could clearly see that the expectations I had were a LONG way from being fulfilled.  And yet -- I knew that I knew -- that I wanted more and I wanted to do WHAT God asked me to do. ....Wait on Him.... 

 As I said earlier in this post,  the therapist reminded me very quickly to 'lower' my expectations  -- but I was dealing with another person and his  free will.

"man" will disappoint, hurt,  and fail us. 

 Humans are not perfect.  No matter if it is a best friend, a stranger, a pastor, or even our spouse -- he or she will fail us. 

 It is not their fault ...they are human too. ( Well, most times it is  their choices. )  

  As I know that I know - I will fail another.  ( In the 40 days of this blog -- I failed a few....seriously!)  

But to have a GODLY expectation....  to know that through HIM - all things are possible.  

To know that NO matter what, HE placed the stars in the heaven and HE can make ALL things new. 

To know that You know - HE is fighting for me...for you....  Expecting GOD.....Expecting the good for us...  that is something we can rely on, pray for,

and enjoy.

The KEY is knowing HIM that well....that we believe the promises instead of the lies or doubt.

These 40 days ended on a Sunday.  I was in Key West.  This is how I started my morning ...on a beautiful hammock, praying with my husband.

 Anytime someone tells me that God does not do  miracles anymore, I have a testimony.
When someone says that God is not alive, I can refute it.  When someone says that people don't change, I can also rebuttal.

I have seen God bring a spiritually dead person back to life.
I have witnessed a changed heart.
I have a changed heart.
I am different.

I am in LOVE with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and know that I know - I can EXPECT a lot from them.  And I won't allow the enemy to defeat me.  

It is a matter of belief.
For so many, it is easier to believe that the sun will come up tomorrow .....than it is to believe in a God that LOVES me more than the sunrise.

As I was reading on Sunday - I came across this:

 ^{Luke 8}     While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

⁹ His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘though seeing, they may not see;
    though hearing, they may not understand.’^[a]

¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. ¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

I pray the soil that I 'have' is good.
I pray that I hear the word, retain it and persevere by producing a  crop.

But this is 'not' just for me to proclaim  and understand -- it is for anyone.
Every believer has the authority in Christ Jesus  -- every believer can expect GREAT answers and a life filled with joy abundantly with Christ Jesus.  ......  But will they?

Lord, I thank you for these past 40 days.
I have seen much, listened to much, witnessed much, and have been challenged and  I believe God has asked me to 'step it up'.

HE is expecting great things from me as well -- and I don't wish to disappoint HIM.  

- humbled -
In HIM, grateful and blessed -- michelle