EXPECTING GOD’S BLESSINGS

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year! As a little girl, I would help to decorate the Christmas tree and wrap as many packages as my mom would let me. For some reason, she would never let me wrap my own. Lol! I loved shaking the packages and trying to guess what the present was. I was also guilty of slicing open the packages, opening them up to peep inside, and then taping them up so no one would know that I had seen the present.

It never even crossed my mind that I wouldn’t have a package or two under the tree. I knew that no matter what, Santa Claus was going to be bringing me something wonderful and exciting. I fully EXPECTED it!

I believed in Santa Claus. I believed that he lived at the North Pole, had reindeers and elves, and that he somehow managed to give every child a present that one night of the year. Christmas Eve night I couldn’t sleep. I tried to go to bed early because I thought the earlier that I went to bed, the faster that morning would get there. My eyes would pop open before daylight and I would run to the living room to see if Santa had left my presents yet. I had an expectation and I knew that it would be fulfilled. I didn’t know exactly what time in the night, or exactly what I was going to be given, but I fully expected that it would happen. I had faith.

When is the last time that you felt like that? How long has it been since you woke up in the morning with an expectation of things to come. I think of things like the birth of my children and grandchildren and I think about the morning of my wedding.

The sad thing is that as we get older we start to doubt the things that we want in life. We let worry replace faith and we replace hope with just a wish. When I was young, if my dad told me something, it was like it was written in stone. When he said that the entire family would be getting motorcycles for Christmas one year, I knew that would happen. When we were told that we were going to build a new house, I knew that would happen. I never doubted that what he said would happen. I didn’t always have a time frame associated with when it would happen but I knew it would eventually happen. That is the level of faith that we have to have in our life.

The devil is a liar. He will tell you that there is no way that you can get that job that you are wanting. He will tell you that you will never find the man of your dreams. The devil wants to make sure that we are even afraid to have any hope of a better life because he likes us to be miserable. That gives him great pleasure.

On the other hand, the Lord loves to bless you! He delights in giving you your heart’s desires. He wants you to come to Him and boldly ask for what it is that you need. And then, He requires something from you, your faith. He requires you to have the faith of a mustard seed. He wants no doubt in your mind. He wants you to not only hope for His blessings and favor, He wants you to expect that He will deliver.

2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

James 1;17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Phillippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Here has been my struggle with having and keeping this mindset. I feel guilty. I already feel so blessed, especially when I see others who are lacking, that I feel guilty for daring to ask for anything more. I have been wrong in my thinking that the Lord is like a Genie who grants me only so many wishes. If that is the case, and I have a limited number of wishes, then I want to make sure that I spend them wisely. I pray for the healing of my friends. I pray for the wisdom of our world leaders and for peace throughout the land. I pray for the Church and it’s members. I pray for my family. I would feel guilty about asking for something that I might feel was frivolous in comparison to those things. So, I might wish that it would happen, but I would never boldly ask the Lord to help make it happen. The same Lord who can move mountains, quiet the storm, and raise the dead does not have a limit on what you can ask for. He already knows our wishes but He wants to hear us ask for them. He wants to see our faith and expectations put into practice. He dearly wants to shower us with His Grace, His Mercy, and His blessings.

Matthew 7: 7-8

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Now, I can’t wait to wake up every morning and see what the Lord has planned for me that day. I am going BOLDLY to the Lord with my petition and I am having the faith that HE will bless me in ways that I can not even imagine.

Have A Blessed Day!