December 31, 2012

• My New Year's Perspective

  I am expecting GOOD things in 2013. I have heard plenty of people assuring us that things are going to get really, really bad. Well, my expectation has nothing to do with the economy, or the political climate or any of those kinds of things.

  My hopes and expectations are in almighty GOD! He has always been, and always will be faithful to His own. He has never made a promise He has not kept. I choose to trust Him. I choose to believe Him.

  (Psalm 39:7 AMP)  And now, Lord, what do I wait for and expect? My hope and expectation are in You.

  Some have been disappointed because instead of putting their expectation in God alone, they have focused on what they want God to DO FOR THEM. They seek His hand, when they should be seeking His heart.

  When we really begin to seek the heart of God, our desires will change. WE will change! We will want what He wants us to want! The Bible will become precious to us and we will live by its principles instead of using it to beat people over the head. When we put our expectation in God, we will stop criticizing those who don't believe like we believe and get busy loving them. We will pray for our leaders, and genuinely care about them instead of taking every chance to run them down and pick at their flaws. I remember Jesus saying something about the perfect person being the only one who had the right to throw stones. That sure isn't me! It isn't any of us.

  When we begin to seek God's heart, we will become more like Him, and THAT is what will change the world. Not legislation. Not more money or lower taxes or clean energy or health care or no health care --- but people who are so in love with Jesus that the love spills over onto others. That amazing, accepting, irresistible, supernatural, life-changing love! God expects His people to demonstrate that.

  God is our only hope. I believe that. I know all other ground is sinking sand. I expect people to disappoint me. I know a lot of people may say I am too idealistic. That's OK. My hope is not found in people. I am not threatened by people who don't agree with me. I am expecting good things from God, because He is a good God. He is loving and faithful. Nothing is too hard for Him.

  (1Jn 2:3-6 MSG)  Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
  If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.

  I want that. I want to live the same kind of life Jesus lived. I am not very good at it, but I am not going to stop trying. I know nothing else is worth living for. He holds my life. He holds my future. My expectation is in Him, and because of that, 2013 is going to be just fine.

  • 9:20 am
  • 14 Comments