Expect To Be Blessed
Faith Expectations Part 1
04/20/08 PM
Reading: Romans 15:4-13
Text: Jeremiah 29:11-14
[This lesson and this series are drawn from the writings of Tom Allen in his book “What to expect now that you believe.”]
Introduction
We are told in Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Which is why, as I mentioned this morning, over the past couple of meetings in our Wednesday night bible study we reviewed the account found in the book of Numbers (chapters 13, 14) of a lost generation, an entire generation that failed to enter the Promised Land. Of how the people of Israel rebelled against God and failed to achieve the Promised Land. In discussing this account we explored the reasons why this generation was lost and ultimately concluded that one of their chief failures was not trusting in God. And in those discussions we admitted that this same failure occurs in our lives as believers today. When faced with trials or difficult circumstances we can and often do react just like the children of Israel, failing to put our trust in God, forgetting all that He has done and promised to do in our lives. In this lesson I’d like to start the first of what will be a series of messages to encourage us to persevere in our walk and avoid the failures of that lost generation so we might avoid losing our own rewards promised by God. I’ve label this series: Faith Expectations.
Faith Expectations
If gather together a number of Christians and ask them to recount the testimony of God’s work in their lives, you will get an equal number of unique accounts of God’s grace. But you are likely to develop at least one common thread from all the accounts, each of us had great expectations of what our new found faith would do in us, for us, and through us. And we are justified in these expectations:
John 10:10b “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
We are right to have high hopes for our future in our new found faith. After thirty-six years as a Christian I can testify that life is “abundant” in Jesus with joys and blessings to numerous to count. But I must honestly balance that statement with the truth that there have also been setbacks, burdens, and trials along the way but through them all God was faithful and present in my life. As believers we should never lose the “great expectations” of our faith especially since the greatest expectation will one day be fulfilled in the return of our Lord and Savior. Until that day it remains for us to balance our expectations with the reality of living as sojourners in this world. And so let us consider a great expectation of faith: Expect To Be Blessed.
I.Expecting to be blessed
A.If nothing else, the scriptures teach us to expect blessings.
1.Examining the scriptures, Old and New, will show that God never wastes a hurt, never crushes a dream, and never leaves His work unfinished!
2.God is in the business of changing things:
a.Changing pain into triumph, dreams into realities, and ordinary lives into blessings.
b.But if we do not expect the blessing, we just might miss it. It is God’s plan and delight to bless His children, but we must remain on the course He has set for us long enough to get to the blessing, to have our lives and circumstances changed into a work of God. (Something the lost generation failed to do.)
c.We must also expect to be surprised by the results because things probably won’t end up looking the way we had assumed or even hoped they would. But they will be better whether we recognize it or not.
B.Looking forward to Blessing: Entitlement versus Expectation.
1.It is in God’s nature and desires to bless His children don’t confuse that with the expectation that we somehow deserved to be blessed.
a.God blesses us because it is His pleasure to do so, not because we in any warrant it or are worth of it.
b.That is called grace: God’s unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor.
2.There is a “doctrine of entitlement” popular these days. Essentially claiming that if we following certain steps, or perform certain actions, then God will bless me in a certain way.
a.That makes for a good self-help plan but it is not the path to blessing. God does not bless us because He is obligated to reward our efforts.
b.We cannot earn or manipulate His blessing. God does not respond to “I’ll do this if You do that” sort of bargaining. He does not barter or trade His blessing.
c.Romans 9:1-18 tells us that God’s mercy is based on His choice, not our work, and that He chooses according to His own plan.
3.Being blessed by our sovereign creator is an awesome experience, expecting to be blessed by the sovereign Creator is a humbling expectation.
4.We must train ourselves to see His blessings as and when He intends, not according to our desires or perspectives. If we do not train ourselves to look forward to the wonders God is going to do, then we will most likely miss seeing them.
a.Instead of being consumed with our schedules, our agendas, our constantly moving and demanding lives we need to develop a daily outlook of expectation! Expect Him to be working in our lives (blessing), and them pay attention to find out what He’s doing and where He’s doing it.
C.Looking For Blessing: Living The Life God Blesses.
1.How do we know where to look for evidence of God’s work?
a.God works where His will is being done. God works where His name is being called on.
b.God works were His people are actively serving and working in His name.
2.To ask, to work, and to serve in the name of Jesus means to do so in the very same nature, attitude, motivation, and example that was Christ’s.
a.When Christ said “Follow me” He wasn’t talking about just physically following Him wherever He was going that day.
b.He was instructing all of us to faithfully follow the example He set, the lessons He taught, and the commands He gave.
3.To find God’s blessing we must live in accordance with what God blesses. Our lives must be under the umbrella of His blessings.
4.God does not bless sin. God doesn’t bless evil. He doesn’t bless hatred or pride.
5.He does bless humility, service, those who hunger and thirst for His presence.
6.When we open, read, study, learn, meditate on, and strive to follow the guide God has provided us, we will find His blessings.
D.Receiving Blessing: Awe and Wonder
1.There is of course one more step in being blessed: receiving the blessing.
a.Receiving blessings can be very difficult.
b.Losing a job can be a blessing; a serious illness can be a blessing; many things we deem as trouble or hard times may actually be blessings. But receiving them as such seems masochistic or even foolish.
2.We define blessing in temporary and, most often, physical terms: wealth, health, prosperity, comfort, power, pleasure. But God’s greatest blessings are rarely defined that way. God wants to give us better things, things which transform our lives into objects of lasting and eternal significance.
3.Story of Mary, the unwed mother whose son was wrongfully accused, tortured, and publicly executed in a brutal manner. Blessing?
a.What looked like tragic circumstances were in fact the incredible implementation of God’s plan of salvation!
Conclusion:
To expect God’s blessing we must be available for Him to bless:
living so as to be blessed, looking for and forward to His presence, ready and willing to receive His blessing, whether is feels good, even whether or not it makes sense at the moment.
This requires our trust and faith that if it is from God then it is Good and if it is Good then God will fulfill His promises and purposes through it and in it.
Expecting To Be Blessed sometimes means giving up every one of our own plans and hanging on for dear life. But in the end we can say as Mary said: (Luke 1:46-49)
“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
Invitation
