I’m Expecting!

I’m expecting…………….

but probably not as you supposed.

I’m expecting that the 9 year old girl who received the Holy Ghost last night will be baptized in Jesus’ name on Sunday!

I’m expecting her parents to come and feel the touch of God in the service!

I’m expecting to have a good crowd in church on Sunday, some of them also being filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues!

I’m expecting that we will see even more baptized in Jesus’ name very soon!

I’m expecting God to work things out concerning our housing situation and my husband’s employment. I don’t know how He will do it, but I know that He will!

Doesn’t a woman in the natural have expectations for the child she is carrying before it is delivered? Nobody faults her for decorating the nursery, buying those cute little outfits and making arrangements for that new arrival.

So in the spiritual realm, I will prepare……………………

through praying

through fasting

through witnessing

through faithfulness

and through speaking my faith.

Yes, I’m expecting,

and I’m looking forward to seeing the birth of His promises!

 

Simeon’s Secret

Psalm 25:14

The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Simeon had a secret. It was something that God had revealed to him. We don’t know exactly how God told him. Maybe it was a dream. Perhaps he heard and audible voice. The Bible does not say, but the Bible does tell us what God revealed to him.

 

Luk 2:25,26

 

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

 

 

And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Simeon had a wonderful promise that before he died, he was going to see the Messiah. How thrilled he must have been on that day, when that which he was promised came to pass! Sometimes, oftentimes, we are called to wait on God to see our prayer requests and petitions brought to fruition. God has a time and purpose for everything, and He definitely had a time in mind when He planned to manifest Himself in the flesh.

 

Galatians 4:4

 

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

I love the lyrics to the following Christmas song. It almost sounds like it could be a prayer of Simeon put to song and then his marveling at having that prayer answered.

 

The Hand of Sweet Release

 

Come thou long expected Jesus,
Come illuminate the mysteries of life.
Come redeem us from the refuse,
Bring an end to endless suffering and strife.
Be the star that shines so brightly
That it draws our weary eyes to the sky,
to Heaven’s sky.
Dearest child of new beginnings,
Be the start of something beautiful, I cry.

 

There’s an end to all the waiting,
There’s an answer to the “who?” and “where?” and “why?” . . . tonight.
All the years anticipating,
Are surrendered to a tiny baby’s cry.
There’s a dawn to follow darkness,
There’s a face to fill the title, “Prince of Peace.”
What he promised, he delivered
I am saved by the hand of sweet release.

 

In this war I’ve been a captive,
Just a sinner seeking life and liberty.
But these hands that hold me tightly
Are the hands that set my shackled spirit free.
Blessed Jesus, meek and lowly,
You have come into my life and made it new,
Now I’m new.
Out of bondage into everlasting light,
I owe everything to you.

 

Words by Suzanne Jennings

 

Although it’s been many years since the time that God first came to earth in the form of a baby, we do have the promise that He is coming back again. 

 

Hebrews 9:28

 

 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

 

Titus 2:13

 

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

 

1Jn 3:2,3

 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

 

 

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

 

I believe many missed the first coming of Jesus, because, unlike Simeon, they weren’t looking for it. I’m sure many in his day studied the law and knew a lot about the Messianic prophecies, but I wonder how many were really looking for the Messiah and living their lives in a way(through prayer, devotion, dedication, obeying God’s Word)that said that they were longing and waiting for His coming?We many not know the day and the hour when Jesus is coming back, but just as He assured Simeon that He was coming the first times, so we have that confirmation through His Word that He is coming back.  May we have that spirit of Simeon where we live our lives in such a way that God knows that we are His and that we are waiting for His coming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer’s Unpopular Sidekick

Fasting!

 

The Bible has a lot to say about it. It certainly isn’t emphasized or taught on as it should be. Do I look forward to doing it? To be honest, no I don’t. It is denying this flesh, which is always uncomfortable, but there certainly are benefits and blessings attached to it. Our church recently went on a 3 day fast(all those that were physically able), and I can see how God is blessing the sacrifice. There is a greater liberty in our services, and it seems people are responding more to the preaching and coming to the altar and being touched by God. It is wonderful to see! I’m no expert on the subject of fasting, but I just want to share a few quotes I came across that have some good information about it.

 

Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.

Dallas Willard

Is fasting ever a bribe to get God to pay more attention to the petitions ? No, a thousand times no. It is simply a way to make clear that we sufficiently reverence the amazing opportunity to ask help from the everlasting God, the Creator of the universe, to choose to put everything else aside and concentrate on worshiping, asking forgiveness, and making our requests known-considering His help more important than anything we could do ourselves in our own strength and with our own ideas.

Edith Schaeffer

 

Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.

Andrew Murray

 

Fasting is important, more important perhaps, than many of us have supposed,… when exercised with a pure heart and a right motive, fasting may provide us with a key to unlock doors where other keys have failed; a window opening up new horizons in the unseen world; a spiritual weapon of God’s provision, mighty, to the pulling down of strongholds. (God’s Chosen Fast)

Arthur Wallis

 

In Shansi I found Chinese Christians who were accustomed to spend time in fasting and prayer. They recognized that this fasting, which so many dislike, which requires faith in God, since it makes one feel weak and poorly, is really a Divinely appointed means of grace. Perhaps the greatest hindrance to our work is our own imagined strength; and in fasting we learn what poor, weak creatures we are – dependent on a meal of meat for the little strength which we are so apt to lean upon.

James Hudson Taylor

 

Our greatest victories are won on our knees and with empty stomachs.

Julio C. Ruibal

 

When the devil, the foe and the tyrant, sees a man bearing this weapon [fasting], he is straight-away frightened and he recollects and considers that defeat which he suffered in the wilderness at the hands of the Saviour; at once his strength is shattered and the very sight of this weapon, given us by our Commander-in-chief, burns him.

Isaac of Syria

 

Do you have a hunger for God? If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. If we are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or even increase, our soul’s appetite for God. Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is the path of pleasant pain called fasting.

John Piper