When I am teaching about faith, I am mindful to communicate my contention that faith is a combination of two things: belief and expectation. Belief goes to your confidence that God has the ability to do what needs to be done. Expectation deals with your confidence that God will do it for you. Many people believe that God is able, but not everyone believes that He will come through for them. What this tells me, is that people often miss out on the move of God in their lives, not because they have doubts about what God can do; they just think it will not happen for them.
Hebrews 11:6 says the following, “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.” If, for whatever reason, I don’t believe that my pursuit will be rewarded, I will not have an expectation. If I don’t have an expectation, I will not receive the result I am pursuing. If how I feel about myself makes me inclined to think that extraordinary things don’t happen to people like me, that perspective will drain me of my expectation. Without expectation, my faith is ineffective. The obvious remedy then is to change how I feel about myself. Positively changing your self-perspective is the objective of our 2019 ministry theme.
What became clear to me when God gave me the theme, Called with a Purpose, is that God views us very differently than most of us view ourselves. His view of us based upon who He made us to be when He saved us, and the purpose that He has designed for us. The theme is based upon 1 Peter 2:9 which declares, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, God’s own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (Amplified Classic Version)
This verse tells us that we that are born-again believers are chosen people that have a special place in the heart of God. That alone would be a wonderful thing to know. But Peter goes on to say that God has chosen us with the goal of displaying His power and excellence in our lives so that the world can see how great He is. How do we know that?
The word, praises, in this instance, comes from the Greek word, arete. Arete (pronounced ar-et-ay) refers to the excellence, virtues and manliness of God. Manliness? Yes, manliness in the sense that when God performs mighty works in your life, it demonstrates how mighty and powerful God is. So, God has chosen us to show how mighty He is. How awesome is that! God has chosen us so that He can get the glory out of our lives. That’s a great thing.
It’s a great thing because if God is to get the glory out of my life, and I am to display God’s excellence, God cannot accomplish that without doing extraordinary things in my life. If I know who I am to God, and what God plans to accomplish in my life, then my expectation will change, because I know God has great things in store for me.
This is what God wants us to understand and embrace throughout this year. You
are not forgotten. You are not a spiritual orphan. You are not insignificant. You are special in the eyes of God, and He has great plans for you. He has chosen you with purpose: to show off His greatness. Embrace this knowledge and raise your expectations.
Bishop, I have been reciting the daily affirmation and enjoy the reading in the blog. The words, You are not forgotten, seem like they jumped off the page.