Promise for Today Favorite - No Matter

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 

Proverbs 13:12 NLT

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. 

Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:

Job 13:15

A wish is an unfulfilled longing; it is not hope. Hope is an expectation, but it is not faith. Faith is believing, but it's empty without the ability to trust. Trust is when you know that you know that you know - no matter what the circumstances - God is there.

Unfulfilled longing: I wish things could be better.

Expectation: I hope things get better.

Believing: I have faith that things will get better.

Trusting - according to His Word - no matter what!

Psalm 46:1-3, "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled..."

Psalm 61:1-4, "Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings."

Psalm 62:6-7, "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God."

I have believed a lot of things in my life that turned out not to be trustworthy. But I have come to know that I know that I KNOW God IS trustworthy, no matter what I see. No matter what I hear. No matter what I feel. No matter what anyone else feels or says or does. His Word is true. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him..." no matter what.

Prayer:

Father,
          Life isn't always easy, but You tell us in Your Word that Your yoke is. We choose to yoke up with You, Lord. We choose to trust You no matter what. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

A Reason to Praise

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1a NKJV

Christmas Eve eve - when my children were young, that's what they called today. The day before - when everything felt like it was in limbo just waiting for the day! The high expectation. Fever pitch anticipation! Barely able to wait another day... Isn't that how we should be looking forward to the SECOND coming of Christ?!?

Praise God in His sanctuary;Praise Him in His mighty firmament!Praise Him for His mighty acts;Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;Praise Him with the lute and harp!Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!Praise Him with loud cymbals;Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!

Prayer:

Father,
          Forgive us for being caught up in the day-to-day of living to the point of not watching and waiting for Your return. Wake us from our daily slumber with an expectation of You and that this could be The Day. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

What Are You Expecting? +

John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.

Matthew 11:1-5 The Message

John and Jesus were cousins. They grew up together. Sometimes, when people read this passage, they speculate that perhaps John didn't know Jesus was the true Messiah. However, if you remember in chapter 3, Jesus went to John to be baptized and their interchange proves John knew Jesus was the Messiah. So, why was John questioning it now?

Put yourself in John's place. He'd spent his life faithfully preparing the way of the Lord. And there he was, stuck in prison for speaking truth. Sure doesn't seem fair, does it? I mean, if you're living a righteous life - you're the forerunner for the Messiah - you wouldn't think you'd wind up in prison, right?   

But then, so many people who lived in that time missed Him as the Messiah because He didn't arrive as they thought He would. He wasn't what they were expecting.

Jesus knew that John knew the writings of the prophets, so when He quoted Isaiah's prophecy about the blind and the deaf, John would know the prophecy was being fulfilled. It was a blessed assurance for a man wrongly imprisoned. 

We have to admit, we've all questioned God when faced with what we perceive are injustices or unfair situations in our lives. Are we missing Him or doubting Him because our life situations aren't going as we planned? Or do we know the Word well enough to remember that He told us in John 16:33, I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. So, what are we expecting? 

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and made The Way back to You. Open our eyes and our hearts to know You in Your glory and in Your Truth. Help us to keep our focus on You and Your Truth and not on life's situations. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* What Do You Expect?

But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind.
Psalm 147:11 LB

'Expect' is a verb; an action word. It is generally defined one of three ways: 

• To believe with confidence, or to think it most likely that an event will take place in the future, as in, 'That was expected to happen.'
• To wait for an anticipated thing, such as 'I expect a visit soon.'
• To anticipate something as right or duty, for instance, 'Parents expect their children to obey the rules.'

If a child thinks you expect him to fail, he will. If he thinks you expect him to behave badly, he will. By the same token, if you expect him to succeed, he will give it everything he's got. He'll do more than he would typically accomplish simply because you expect it of him. Husbands and wives do the same thing. And statistics prove that if an employee expects to be fired, he will invariably do something that will expedite that very action. People will rise and fall to what is expected of them. Yes, expect is very much an action word.

We are made in the image and likeness of God, according to His Word. We are His children. His love never changes, but His joy or anger with us can be kindled by our actions toward Him and what He expects of us, whether implicitly or explicitly defined. 1st John 3:2-3 tells us, Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.  [emphasis mine]

Having certain expectations is not wrong as long as they line up with God's Word. God's joy is in those of us who reverence Him, those who expect Him to be loving and kind. He expects us to accept Christ's sacrifice for our sin as the gift of mercy and grace that it is. God expects us to be pure as He is pure. These are reasonable expectations. What do you expect?

Prayer:

Father,
         Set our sight on things above and not things on earth. Help us to walk according to Your expectations of us. We want to walk with clean hands and pure hearts. Let us see You for who You are. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen