The Spirit of Expectancy
Part 1 of a Series
TEXT: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Most of us are familiar with this scripture. It is a really great verse that can be applied to many different situations in life. We could look at the thoughts and plans God has concerning you; plans that will bring good and not bad to your life. And it is true, God does want your life to be filled with countless wonderful things.
But, today, I want to concentrate on the phrase that says; to give you an expected end. You see many people have a lot of different ideas when it comes to what is expected. Turn to someone and ask them: What were you expecting?
So, the first thing we need to talk about is acquiring a baseline. By that I mean, before we can expect anything, we must know what to look for in the first place. I mean, some people do not even know what the standard ought to be.
Luke 11:9-13 KJV, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
God wants you to do three things here:
1. Ask
2. Seek
3. Knock
In return, God promises three things:
1. You will receive what you ask for
2. You will seek what you are looking for
3. You knock and it will be opened
Now to keep everything in balance lets refer to James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
I mean, some folks just miss the whole point because they look at God as a mail order catalog or something. Yes, its okay to pray for you needs and even your wants, as long as you keep everything in balance….. Lets keep reading in Luke 9……
Luke 9:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
I just don’t understand it and am afraid I never will; some folks just don’t get it. God actually wants to bless you. Yes you! He really does want to address your situation and turn it around.
Let me ask you, What is Poverty? Now before you even try to answer that let me tell you what it isn’t.
Poverty is not a lack of money
Poverty is not a lack of food, clothing, or quality house in a good neighborhood.
Poverty is a mindset, deeply rooted in a person’s heart that says, “Nothing good is ever coming my way and I should not expect anything good to ever happen to me.” Poverty is an acceptance of failure until failure becomes an established standard of normal living.”
Sometimes, good people go through difficult things but those people should never lower their baseline for their standard of living. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:"
What is the difference between a successful person and a failure? It is identified in the “Hang in there until you get it!” or in the “I quit!” The person who hangs in there often has to work much harder than the other guy. He may not be smarter than the quitter, tougher than the quitter, more qualified, more skilled, or anything.
What makes him a winner is the fact that he refuses to give up on the dreams until those dreams come true.
He may have to make some major changes to make it happen
He may even fail in the first few attempts
He may have to back up and take a run at it from a different angle.
He may have to go back to school and become educated or reeducated, but….. a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:
The poverty minded man tried and failed
He says, “The mess I know is better than the unknown.”
“I don’t want to embarrass myself”
“The risk is to great”
And lazy…… I DON’T EVEN WANT TO GO THERE.
Remember, we are talking about expectancies.
Let’s talk about FEAR
We all know that faith and fear are exact opposites. And, fear comes in lots of different packages, I mean in variety packs. Nor is fear always obvious, it can kinda sneak up on you when you aren’t looking. You will never experience your expectancy without having to overcome some form of fear.
Fear will cripple or immobilize you. Fear will freeze you in place and keep you from advancing into your destiny. Fears, we all have them. What is yours?
Fear of failure?
Fear of ridicule?
Fear of rejection?
Fear of snakes and spiders?
Fear of success? Yes there are some people…….
What is your fear?
Did you know that fear opens the door by which you can become the devil’s playground?
Let’s take a minute and look at Job; remember him? (Describe his situation……..)
Job 3:25 KJV “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.” I am firmly convinced that one of the reasons Job found himself in his predicament was because his fear overcame his faith.
The other day I was talking with a pastor friend of mine and he was using the terminology of The Theology of Unbelieving Believers. Think about it. What does it mean to be an unbelieving believer?
Some of you are probably even mildly offended by that terminology; Unbelieving Believers.” How can that be?
They believe in God
They are born-again
They pray and read their Bibles faithfully
They live moral lives
They pay their tithes
They are faithful to church
They may even give food to the food bank
Those things are good but…… they are still Unbelieving Believers.
Theology of unbelieving believers - Heb 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Last Sunday at the end of the sermon, I told you about a friend of mine who pastors a church in Washington who is a good friend…He sent the following prophetic word to my on April 18th, 2011 and I read it on April 19th which is the anniversary of my sister’s death:
Here is an exact copy of that word:
"The Lord spoke to me when I was praying for you last night. He said that He is going to give you the desire of your heart soon. Do not give up hope, keep the prayer fires hot, He has heard you. I had the strongest feeling that you were discouraged about your dream and the Lord wanted to tell you that your dream is of the Lord and your prayers will make it happen."
Okay, now what do I do with this word? I am asking this question because I want you to think about it for a minute…… Okay, lets actually use this as a case study in light of the Spirit of Expectancy!
Enter into my spiritual laboratory for a minute. It’s okay there is room for all of us, let’s go, lol…..
The first thing to do is pray over it. Is it from God? Does the deliverer of the word have any possible agenda or selfish motive attached to it? Obviously not, in this case
Next, What is God generally trying to say to me?... In this case He is clearly wanting me to revisit and review previous promises and dreams or visions concerning my future.
As part of this step, I need to zero in and identify specific promises dreams and visions and discover which particular ones are under the microscope.
Thirdly, there is a requirement given to me; amp up my prayer life! Through prayer and the encouragement of my friend, I must also confront discouragement, which is a form of fear! Discouragement is not a sin, but it can lead to sinful things if I allow it to begin developing a poverty mindset.
Well this is a pretty good place to stop for the day. There is a lot more to say about the Spirit of Expectancy so we will pick it up next week and hit it again. But as we close, let me give you a few scriptures to hold onto and build your faith as you go about your life this next week.
Matt 19:26 KJV “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises:
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
NEXT WEEK: Roadblocks to Expectancies
