WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?

April. Warm sun, soft fluffy clouds, grass turning green, puppies playing in the yard, flowers popping out, barefoot children dreaming of summer just around the corner, put away the snow shovel, get out the BBQ…. NOT SO MUCH! At least not in Gunnison, Colorado.

One of the things that I have had to get used to here in Central Colorado, is the fact that April is almost always an absolutely hideous month weather-wise. March is actually pretty pleasant for the most part. It warms up, it is pretty sunny, the snow melts out of the valley, and things look good. But come April, it snows a lot, the wind howls, and the skies are gray. You get enough of a taste of Spring in March to really start to crave the warm weather, then wham–April comes in like a lion, and often goes out like, well, a lion!

For the first few years that we lived here this whole thing bothered me a lot. But I discovered a simple solution to April, one that has made it quite tolerable for me. This same solution seems to work when applied to many areas of life that could otherwise bring disappointment or discouragement. I have found that God will give me this same instruction most of the time when I am griping about, I mean praying over, an ongoing problem with either a person or a situation. Want to know what the magic key is? Here it is; when I gripe, most of the time my loving Heavenly Father tells me to “change my expectations.”

But wait, I didn’t go into prayer to have the Lord talk to me about my expectations. I wanted Him to either fix the problem by changing the situation, making it go away, turning a person’s heart a different direction, or showing me what steps to take to fix the problem. But no, almost without fail, He addresses my attitude, and specifically my expectations of the person or thing that I am seeing as a problem. You know what else I have discovered? It works. Most of the time, if I continue to seek Him, He will show me where my expectations have gotten off track.

Often, especially when dealing with people, I find that I have begun to expect something of them that they are simply not able to do at this point in their lives. Most of the time, I didn’t ever consciously decide to expect a person to act a certain way, or take a certain responsibility, expectations just sneak up on me. This is not to say that there are not appropriate standards by which all of us should treat one another, or that we shouldn’t have expectations of each other. But we have to remember that we are all works in progress. Galatians 6:5 in the Amplified Bible says that, “each of us have to bear our own little load of oppressive faults.” That just means that I know that I disappoint plenty of people with my shortcomings, and if I am going to live with and love people, then I will be disappointed from time to time too. Many times, the only reason that I feel disappointment is because my expectations were out of line in the first place.

So the Lord will show me how to change my expectations and in doing so to find peace again with both God and man. Once this is done, life is good, and I can once again enjoy people and things for what they are, and enjoy the process of growth in all things. And as for April, once in a while it surprises me. But on days like last Monday, when the snow is flying sideways outside my window, I know that April snow does make for beautiful July flowers in the mountains. I know that this extended winter is what makes our summers so sweet. April is what April is, and I have learned to appreciate it for its own special little set of blessings.

THE SAME NEW LIFE!

Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him….]

Ephesians 2:5 Amplified Bible

As we come together this month to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the defeat of sin and death, and the birth of the church, we must try to grasp the personal and inclusive nature of the work that Jesus completed on the cross. I think that sometimes, when we think about the cross, the grave, even the resurrection, we think of ancient events with which we have no personal contact. But see, we were actually there! The Son of God knew us, and planned for us, before the time of creation. When He died on that cross, he had us in mind, and held us in His heart. The Scripture says that it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured the cross. That joy was the knowledge that His suffering was temporary, but His relationship with us would be eternal.

The Bible tells us that when He died on that cross, “Our old un-renewed self was nailed to the cross with Him… so that we might no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6).” Do you ever think of yourself in those terms? I do. Especially when I am wrestling with some particular temptation toward sin, I will remind myself that the “old man” my old self, was nailed to the cross with Him. Since that old man is dead and gone, how can he still define who I am and what I do? At those times I remember that I have been born again into a new life. I am a new person, and I no longer have a nature that is permeated with sin. I just need to let that new person that Christ has created begin to live out through the members of my body. Sin no longer has the right or power to dominate our lives, because we now have the same, new, resurrection life that Jesus has!

The Scripture goes on to say that we were “buried with Him” through water baptism, so that just as He was raised to life by the glorious power of the Father, we too can live and behave in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Think of it–we CAN live in newness of life. The person that we used to be, the person that was dominated by worldly thinking and desires, died on the cross in Jesus Christ, and a brand new person rose to new life in Jesus Christ. Living a Godly life is easy when you know who you really are in Him. You don’t have to try to force new behavior out, you just live from the real you.

The best that any religion can possibly do is to give us a moral framework to try to emulate. Christianity however, is not a religion. It is a new life lived in a vital and continuous relationship with Jesus. It is us living in Him, and Him living in us. We do not have to “try” to live like Him, we can actually live in, from, and through Him. This is great news for me, because apart from Him I’m a mess–just ask my wife, she’ll tell you. Sure, I still blow it pretty frequently even now that I live in Him. But a lot of the time, when I am able to grasp the fact that I can rest in His ability, draw my strength from Him, follow His leading, I find that I can actually live beyond my own natural abilities and be the person He created me to be. You can too.

The Bible says that this new life includes something for our physical bodies too. Jesus, the Scripture says, took a terrible beating on his back. The Romans whipped him before He went to the cross. He endured that particular aspect of His suffering so that He could provide physical healing for our bodies (Isaiah 53:4, 5; 1 Peter 2:24; Matthew 8:17). God has always been a healer. In fact, in the Old Testament He referred to himself by names that meant, “God Your Healer,” and “The Rapid Stitcher.” Jesus healed people throughout His ministry, and He still does. No need to try to convince Him that we deserve to be healed for some reason; no need to try to strike a good works bargain in exchange for healing, He has already made it available for us just because He loves us. We just need to receive it by faith–awesome!

So we have a lot to celebrate in this season. Jesus has provided for us spirit, soul, body, financially, and relationally. Easter is one day each year when we pause to truly consider the magnificent implications of the resurrection. But for the Christian, every day is Resurrection Day. Enjoy your salvation today, and share it with a friend.

WHAT CAN POSSIBLY KEEP YOU DOWN?

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

(Philippians 4:13, NKJV).

All of us have days, and even seasons, where it seems like we just can’t move forward. Usually we know that God has spoken some thing to us, that there are specific things that He has called us to do, or that He has begun to do in us, but we just don’t feel like we are making any progress.

Life can throw seemingly impossible hurdles into our paths. “Friends” can be the first to remind us of the impossibility of what we are believing for. Relatives seem to have an unending supply of failure stories that apply to our situation. But deep in our hearts, we know that God has spoken, and that if God has indeed spoken, then if we don’t quit, His Word will come to pass.

Those are the days when I like to remember Philippians 3:13. We can do all things through Him, because we are not trying to do all things in our own strength, but in His. If God has said it (and by the way, there is no room for presumption and assumption here – we need to know that we are hearing God’s instructions clearly) then He will bring it to pass.

Today I just want to give you a very simple encouragement – do not give up on the dream that God has placed in your heart. Don’t quit in your struggle against carnality and sin. Don’t give up even if you fall over and over. Our failures do not reduce Jesus’ victory, or the power of His Spirit. God and His Word are powerful, and lasting freedom is on its way. Don’t settle for less than the best that the Lord has shown you. Find new encouragement today in the only true source of encouragement – the Lord Himself. Don’t get too focused on the issue, the dream, the failure, or the success. Keep your heart fixed on the Lord and He will renew your strength day by day. Life is not defined by accomplishing a certain set of tasks, it is about living in and for the Lord consistently.

So I will leave you with this final encouragement from the Apostle Paul, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17, NKJV).