Your expectation affects your reality. EXPECT THE BEST!
Maybe it will be best if we start by asking ourselves: Are our expectations future-based or based upon past experiences? Believe me if I tell you that your answer is crucial to this serious question. Your expectations drive your beliefs, your beliefs become your behaviors and your behaviors become your habits. Expectations are how we anticipate our life will be. They play a major role in how our life will enfold.
The pictures that we visualize in our heads, are our expectations. These images can cause problems when they are not met, especially when they are based on past experiences in your life. They can cause anger, conflict, trust issues and irreparable damage to relationships. Always keep in mind that there is a difference between expectations from the world and expectations from the Word.
There is power in what you expect. Expectation can also be seen as hope. Hope is defined as a positive expectation of something good happening to you. I was surprised when I realized that my beliefs and my lazy faith may be standing between “striving-me” and “thriving-me”.
Rom 8: 25 “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait eagerly for it with patience and composure.”
Expectation has always been the womb for manifestation. When you expect nothing to happen, nothing will happen. Last night I acted like Elijah – He did not see the clouds, but he expected it to rain, as he believed what God said. We were preparing for a braai, but dark clouds surrounded us. I asked: ‘Lord, if you can bring rain for Elijah from nothing, then certainly You can keep the rain in the clouds a little while longer?’ Guess what? It only started raining once we took our meat and ‘braaibroodjies’ from the fire. Sometimes we have pre-determined expectations: if I do ask, the answer may be ‘no’. But the answer may just as well be ‘yes’. The answer will always be no if you don’t ask.
Read Psalm 33: 20 – 22 “We wait [expectantly] for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For in Him our heart rejoices, because we trust [lean on, rely on, and are confident] in His holy name. Let Your [steadfast] lovingkindness, o Lord, be upon us, in proportion as we have hoped in You.” Now read the last sentence again…”in proportion as we have hoped in You”
We need to believe that He has our very best in mind. Do not limit a limitless God. He is a God of the supernatural. We should expect signs and wonders, not wonder about them. Expect the goodness of God to flow over in your life. Your cup should run over, not just be filled to the brim. The widow (2 Kings 4: 1-7) did not expect God to provide more than enough oil, yet God would have given her more if she was prepared for more.
In times of uncertainty, we tend to lean towards a scarcity-mindset. Then you hold on to whatever you have for dear life, protecting what you have. It is fear-motivated, not faith-motivated. With this scarcity-mentality we act out of fear. But Jesus says: Put the resources in my hand and see what I can do with it.
Ephesians 3: 20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,”
No, this is not prosperity teaching. If our desires align with God’s will, He will act upon our requests with favor and will allow it to come to pass. (Matt 6: 33). He is a GENEROUS God. I mean - starting off by giving His Son, so that we can have eternal life, even if we have that lazy faith, or faith the size of a mustard seed.
Mark 11: 24 “For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for I prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.”
Living in abundance does not necessarily mean material things. It means using your wealth to give. Have an abundance-mindset. Start by changing the way you view God. Do you really believe that God is good? That He wants what is best for you? Do you trust Him? Do you realize how much He loves you – His child? God owns everything. His economy has nothing to do with acquiring worldly possessions that will one day vanish. It is all about what is eternal.
The danger comes in when we crave and covet for more…a need for more of which the world can give. We should desire more of God, and not misuse John 10: 10 “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” to suit our worldly pursuits.
I always say: When you get greedy, you become needy. Greed goes much further than money. A person can be greedy for money, but also for fame, possessions, attention, compliments, gifts, and more. In the Bible, greedy are always used to describe the selfish motivation of a person. Greed comes naturally to us. If you watch children play, you realize that they need to be taught to share. And right here lies the answer – sharing and generosity are the cures to greediness.
James 4: 3 “You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with and unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.”
God isn’t opposed to ‘being rich’ (just read about King Solomon). He is opposed to our greediness. It is not ungodly to strive to thrive, despite religious tradition saying it is. The Bible uses the words ‘overflow’, ‘plentiful’, and ‘abundance’ more than once, and if you read Jeremiah 29: 11, it talks about a prosperous life.
Never stop dreaming, expecting and believing.
Think twice about ABUNDANCE!
EXPECT TO BE PROSPEROUS!
AND
SO
THE
ADVENTURE
BEGINS!
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