Do You Need to Change Your Expectations?

Acts 3 (New American Standard)

1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. 2 And aman who had been lame from his mother's womb was being carried along, whom they used to setdown every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of thosewho were entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. 4 But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, "Look at us!" 5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene -walk !" 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 With a leap he stood upright and began to walk ; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all thepeople saw him walking and praising God

16 "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know ; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

   As a pastor, I witness people accepting their circumstances with a "crippling" mindset rather than believing God for something better in life. 

They are like the lame man in Acts 3 who sat by the gate, Beautiful, begging for money.  His only expectation was that a passerby will take pity on him and toss a coin his way.  He never expected anything better. He was crippled in his body and his mind.  

That's the mindset of those who don't expect things can change in their lives.  We all face bad days, but we don't have to let them turn into a bad life. 

Do you know anyone like that?  Is that you?  Jesus' disciples offered the lame man miraculous healing in both his body and his mind.  You too can move forward no matter what you face in life.~ Dr. Tony Evans

   We have all become skeptics. We look at the mountains in our life, and they continually get bigger. What if we could all have faith of a mustard seed? The bible tells us that "if we have faith of a mustard seed, we could tell the mountain to move from here to there, and it would". The word of God was talking about the mountain metaphorically...That house note that you don't know how it will be paid, that car note that you are always short on, the obstacles that we think we can not overcome. These are our mountains, and the only way to move them, is to have faith that God can and will move them out of your way. Is the "mountain" in your life so big that you can't see God anymore? This is scary territory! Take the time to ask for God's forgiveness for  letting the things of this world take you to the point of unbelief. Then ask God to move your mountain, and expect that He will. The crippled man in this passage didn't tell Peter that he couldn't walk. He leaped up immediately, and accepted his healing. After all that time being crippled by his circumstance, he realized he needed a mountain mover in his life. He believed the mountain would move, and it did. Take your "leap" of faith, and enlist the mountain mover to help you today.

Matthew 17:20

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

FAITH ROPE

 

Mark 11:24

²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Hebrews 11:1

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Hebrews 10:35-36

³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

  So many times we ask God for things we need in our lives. We will pray, and pray, and pray for God to move in our lives, but we leave it there. Your relationship with God is based on Faith, and so should your prayers. Alright, we've established that you have Faith, but does your Faith have action? That's right, just as the bible says "Faith without works is dead". What we need is Faith rope. Yep, we all need a long line of Faith rope to help us pull down our blessings from Heaven. When we pray in faith to God, we cast our Faith rope into Heaven. We have started the Faith filled process of God doing something supernatural in our lives. The problem lies, when we cast our Faith rope into Heaven, and don't even have the confidence that it will get there. Those of us that have the hope(confidence) that our Faith rope will reach Heaven, often quit believing we will receive our blessing shortly after praying for it. 

  To prevent these things from happening we need to send our Faith rope to Heaven through prayer. We then need to believe that the rope will get there, and that our blessing will be coming soon. I used the illustration of a rope, because I want you to see yourself pulling down the blessing's from Heaven. How do you pull them down? How do you speed up your blessing? It's actually pretty easy, all you need is to start putting your Faith to work. As you do this, it will be as if you were pulling down your blessing from Heaven with your rope. 

   In closing, let me talk about some ways to work your faith out. What if, as soon as you prayed to God for something you needed, you then started talking about your blessing as if you already had it? This is working out your Faith. Abraham and Sarah were told by God that they would be having a baby. This wouldn't be abnormal, except he was 100 and she was 90. They quickly started thanking God for the baby they would have, before they knew how, or when. People thought they were crazy, but the stood strong in there Faith that if God said it- it would happen. Next time you cast your Faith rope into Heaven, start believing it is done as soon as you pray. Tell people that you are expecting your blessing, start thanking God for it - even though you don't have it yet. That is putting your Faith to work. Do you believe that our God is big enough, wise enough, strong enough, to do what we need Him to do? Then ask with confidence and faith, and believe it will happen.

Acknowledging Our Weakness, and Being Weird

For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. —2 Corinthians 13:4

Our Father, we all struggle with weakness. We're reminded almost every day that we don't have it all together. We need You. We have heartaches and disappointments that haven't gone away . . . the grief of broken relationships, illnesses, and recent deaths. We invite You to enter in, Lord. Enter into all of that on our behalf. Through Your presence may we find relief and release from that which has bound us, tied us up within. We're able to take only so much, and sometimes we come to a virtual breaking point. In our times of physical and emotional weakness, we need Your comfort and Your strength.

We are also stalked by sin. We need Your grace. Sin has taken a terrible toll on the human condition. And though we are well-versed in every possible way of ignoring it or explaining it away, today we come to terms with it. Surely we have failed or fallen in some area just this week, and the ache of that nags us and troubles us—some needless words, some outburst of anger, some lingering resentment, or some caustic response. Lord, thank You for the blood of Christ that keeps on cleansing us from all sins, including these. Forgive us, our Father. Remove from us the enemy's desire to make us ashamed and to drag us under the load of that failure. May we remember that in Your grace You not only forgive, You wipe the slate clean. Thank You that You know our weakness and love us nevertheless.

In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

  Romans 8:26 ;  15:1 ;  1 Corinthians 1:25 ;  Hebrews 4:15 .

We all struggle with these things on a daily basis. Why do we long, so very much, to be like this world we live in?  This world that is sliding sideways into the abyss of Hell. We all want to be accepted, loved, popular even. We want these things so badly, that we are willing to sacrifice are relationship with God to get these things. I want to challenge each of you to be different, weird even.

Jeremiah 1:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. ”

1 Peter 2:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 

It's very hard to be different, but think of the impact you could make if people quit looking at you, and started looking at the God inside you. Jesus went before us, and gave us the perfect example of being different. Can you take the example He gave us, and act it out in your own life? What if it meant you wouldn't be as popular, people wouldn't like you as much? Will you be willing to make that sacrifice to be a Godly example? I have had trouble with these things in the past, and this prayer helped. Consider using it, and be "weird" for God. All who know me, may think I am a little weird, but when I am dead and gone, I hope I am remembered for a Godly weirdness; instead of a worldly acceptance.

ARE YOU READY TO BE WEIRD????? 

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

 

   Most of us are anticipating another season of high flying, hard hitting, non-stop action, that only football provides.  People plan there weekends around their weekend warriors. We watch, on the edge of our seat, as our heroes make spectacular plays. Little League football, High School football, College football, Nfl football, are the means of our weekly fix of entertainment. We will all jump and yell, as our favorite player crosses the end zone for another score. With passion, we will drop our drink, high five the closest person, and make funny noises that only come out for football season. We love you football, we wish you lasted all year long.  This is the most amazing thing we have ever seen. Don't end football season! please don't end........ 

  

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-3) 

Isaiah 44:6-8

6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God.

7 And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.

8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, [there is] no God; I know not [any].

  Wait just a minute! You mean to tell me , that none of these so-called heroes, gave their life for me? Not one of these guys lived a perfect life, only to be crucified on a tree for it? Have we gone to far, in our love for this awesome sport?  Listen, I am one of those guys, i have missed prayer time at Church; in order to gaze at this sport. I'm not condemning those who watch football, I'm not going to stop watching football, but I will caution you to consider spending more time with God than football. Nothing should ever be a substitute for the love we have for Christ. Some of you will read this, and still miss church, prayer, or your "God time", for this game. In February there will be no more football to watch, at that time, will you have a passionate relationship with God? Or, will you be getting God off the shelf, dusting Him off, and telling Him.......Now it's your turn...I missed you, God?  Listen, no one knows when Christ will come back for us- but will we be about His business, or to busy worried about ours?

 And He said unto them, did you not know that I must be about My Fathers business?" Luke 2:49.

No Shifting Shadows

1 Timothy 4:4

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 

What looks like a closed door to you is God’s pathway to blessing. What appears to be a nightmare can become His dream for your life. And what may seem like the worst news you could possibly receive can actually be the point of a new beginning. This is because no matter what God allows to touch your life, He has a plan for your future through it.
It is easy to think of God’s goodness in a lighthearted way when it seems that we have everything going for us: a good job, health, a growing family, a new cars in the garage, and a house with several bedrooms. Life seems rich and full. But if we never learn to say “thank you” to the Lord, then we have not learned the truth of James 1:17. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
There are two things that can prevent us from living with grateful hearts. One is a sense of pride. We become prideful and believe that we have earned all that we have. When we have this attitude, we can expect to run headlong into trouble (Proverbs 16:18).
The second extreme comes as a result of feeling sorry for ourselves. While the temptation to be sorrowful, and even depressed, may pull at our hearts at times, we need to refuse it by turning our eyes heavenward. With a grateful heart we should say, “Thank You, Lord. I’m hurting, and I know You understand. I don’t know how You will use this heartache that I am feeling, but I trust You to do just that, use it for Your glory and for my blessing.”
God loves to hear our words of worship and praise. When we thank Him, even in times of difficulty, for His constant care over our lives, we are expressing our faith and trust in an omnipotent God who watches over every aspect of our lives.

Hebrews 13:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
 

Therefore, be grateful that the light of His love covers you.