#144 - EXPECT GOD!

A blessed and beautiful day! I heard it was supposed to get up to 77 here today! If you live in the cold north, my apologies.... hopefully you will experience some warmth trickling in too! As far as for us southerners, I must say... other than an act of God, I believe I will most likely remain a southerner! The warmth sure is a welcomed joy. 


Well, let's get started on today's devotion.... FIRST.... please, join me in a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday to my awesome Father-in-Law, Dwight! He's an amazing man, such a blessing, a heart so big and full of God's love. I must say, I married into an amazing family... so I'm truly blessed on both sides! My family and my in-laws! Dwight, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Join with me in AGREEING in prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask that you would BLESS Dwight today on his special day! I praise you for his life and for him raising up such a godly man in my husband Tyler. Thank you for Dwight being a godly leader of his home and leading Tyler to meet Jesus as a 9 year old. Father I pray that today and EVERY day you would BLESS the works of Dwight's hands. That he and his business, and employees would prosper. I pray an abundant blessing upon his business, that they would experience amazing growth, blessings and abundance of jobs despite the economy. I thank you we can live by YOUR system Father and not the WORLD'S system! So right now, we CALL IN the jobs and the money to their business. We thank you that you are FAITHFUL and JUST and that you bless your children! Protect them as they go about their work today and every day. We pray a Psalms 91 hedge of protection around every man or woman on every job site. We call Dwight blessed in Jesus name!

Happy Birthday Dwight! :)

James 1:2,5,6a,8  - Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort...If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally ..... and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering .... [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

Well, as I re-read James 1... I'm just letting it sink into me. I'm meditating, dwelling on, learning from the words. Letting the Holy Spirit reveal more to me each time I read over it again. The whole chapter is so good.... and so many good things we can take away from it.  


Consider it wholly joyful when we encounter trials? For real? Are we really suppose to do that? - That was my question. My self, my flesh, does not want to "count it joy." Most parts of me wants to get over the trial, get to the victory. Don't most of us want that? Well, in verse 3 says that the trial and the PROVING of our faith in the situation we are experiencing will bring 3 things: Endurance, Steadfastness, & Patience. Verse 4 encourages us to let those three things have their FULL PLAY, to do their THOROUGH WORK. Let those things WORK out in us what they need to work out! Let those things mold and develop us to be what it talks about in the second part of verse 4, PERFECTLY & FULLY DEVELOPED, with NO defects, lacking in nothing! 


Lacking in nothing sounds like a good answer! Don't you think! Are you lacking in anything right now? Time? Money? Friendships? Spouse? Freedom? Are you lacking in anything? Well.... as we learn to walk these verses out, it tells us that the outcome will be us LACKING IN NOTHING. Us being FULLY supplied in every area. 


As I was reading verse 8, I almost immediately realized that I want to be the OPPOSITE of everything that it talked about. I want to be exactly the opposite. As a woman of God, my desire is to be firm and solid in my relationship with my God. To be not doubting, wavering, lacking of joy. Let's look at verse 8 again, and then let's reword things to see what we SHOULD want to become....

For being as he is a man of two minds, hesitating, dubious, irresolute, he is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything he thinks, feels, decides.

The GOAL? - The dictionary coins "dubious" as "doubtful & wavering." Irresolute? - Not firm, not determined, not set in opinion or purpose. So... with our new phrases, let's revisit this verse:

For being as he is a man of ONE mind NOT hesitating, NOT doubtful or wavering, RESOLUTE! Solid in his purpose and opinion. Firm and determined. He is stable and reliable and certain about everything he thinks, feels, decides. 

Man... that sounds like SUCH a better place to be doesn't it?! FIRM! SOLID! Really in a position that you KNOW you are blessed despite the situation or circumstance! You know, as a CHILD of God, that GOD is working on your behalf ALL THE TIME! Sure... we may go through some of the time where we are having to allow the WORD to work itself out in us. To PROVE ourselves responsible. But IF we continue and allow the WORD to have it's FULL WORK in us, we will be LACKING NOTHING! 


Now, that is a good word! Do I hear an Amen out there?! 


I caught the tail end of the Daytona 500 yesterday. What a Victory for Trevor Bayne! He just turned 20 on Saturday! He's barely out of his teenage years! Wow! What a victory! The youngest person ever to have won the Daytona 500. Well, I caught part of an interview after he won and he said something like this: "Well we pray, and we expect God. This just was a great opportunity to show how big God really is."


EXPECT GOD! We pray and we EXPECT GOD! BE FIRM! BE RESOLUTE! Solid in your purpose! STABLE. Determined! EXPECT GOD! God is in the business of bringing our EXPECTATIONS to pass, AND THEN SOME! Congratulations Trevor! What an awesome win! What an awesome victory! What an awesome testimony to how great of a God we serve!


Expect God! Walk in belief, not doubt, not wavering. KNOW that GOD is on YOUR SIDE and desires for YOU to prosper!