Great Expectations

Great Expectations

A very long time ago, I remember reading   Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  Part of the moral of that story was “Great expectations yield great disappointments.”  If one does not expect much, one will not be disappointed, no?  People will inevitably let us down at some point through promises and commitments that are broken.  We may begin to wonder if there is any rationale for believing anything we are told until we actually SEE the evidence, because we’ve been let down so many times.

This is not so with God.  He has proven over and over that He is not shy about making and diligently keeping promises.  That is why His first commandment to His people is to REMEMBER what He has already done.  As humans, our memories are “leaky”.  We do not need to learn new things in this life as much as we need to remember what we already know.  Yahweh constantly had to be patient with the Children of Israel because they panicked so easily when God’s deliverance was not immediately understandable to them.  This is the way of human nature; we are no different than the Israelites.

However, Jesus is calling us to repentance so that He can give us more overwhelming gifts from Himself.  He is telling us that we are not taking enough from Him, trying to do too many things from our perceived mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual fortitude, perhaps even subconsciously thinking that God is only there as an adjunct to our own efforts.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  We cannot, in effect, worship our own strength.  God is calling us to get back to basics.  Revelation 2:5 tells us:

“Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to remove your lampstand out of its place ~ unless you repent.”

I have heard lately from different people who receive regular words from God that 2015 is to be a year of healing and expansion for His people and the church.   This is exciting news!  It reminds me of the promise in Ezekiel 34:26-27: “I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing, And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.  Also, the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land.  Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.”

God is not slow about keeping His promises!  I am convinced that we all are going to perceive, if we have not already seen, the fruits of His labor in our lives.  I’m excited to see what He has in store for us!!!  God used a book I recently read to give me a word-picture for this.

“The promise had been made.  Like a promise it sealed a commitment, but in a golden orb of hope and expectation.”  The Magician’s Apprentice, Kate Banks

In eager “great expectations”,

~ Denise