BIBLE READING

Acts 3: 1-5

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer – at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Ephesians 3: 20-21

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

REFLECTION

Look at verse 5 again:

"So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them."

What did the man expect to get from Peter and John? Money.

But they gave him so much more than he expected. God did more than he anticipated.

What do you expect God to do in you and through you? What could God do through your life?

Most of us, if we are honest, have pretty low expectations of what God will do through us. We believe God CAN and COULD do anything – we believe that in our heads. But we don’t expect he actually WILL do amazing things through us.

We live lives which keep the bar low in terms of expectations. Perhaps it’s because we don’t want to sound big headed or arrogant, so we say things like: "I could never do that, I’m not good enough, God would never use me that way."

You know what, you’re probably right? If you keep believing that and saying that, your life will match the expectations you have of God.

If you expect God to do very little through you – He probably will do very little through you.

If you expect great things from God – you’re more likely to see God do great things.

William Carey who lived about 150 years ago wasknown as the "Father and Founder of Modern Missions," was the first missionary to India sent out by the Baptist Missionary Society. His motto was this:

Expect great things from God.
Attempt great things for God.

When we lower the bar in our lives and expect not to do much it says more about how we think of God than how we think about ourselves.

God delights to take ordinary, everyday nobodies like you and like me – and do amazing things through us. To show the world that it’s Him not us. It’s His power, not ours. He gets the glory, not us.

We need to stop telling ourselves why we can’t do great things for God. We need to stop pointing out the reasons why we can’t do this, or we could never do that, or serve here, or go there.

Expect more from God. More power in your life. More grace, more blessing, more opportunities, more stretching, more anointing, more experiences, more knowledge, more presence.

Expect more, raise the bar, increase your vision, believe God for the impossible.

Remember Ephesians 3:20:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us....”

One of my great heroes is CH Spurgeon. He made these statements.

“I make bold to assert that, in the service of God, nothing is impossible, and nothing is improbable. Go in for great things, brethren, in the Name of God; risk everything on His promise, and according to your faith shall it be done unto you.”

“It is proven by all observation that success in the Lord's service is very generally in proportion to faith. It certainly is not in proportion to ability, nor does it always run parallel with a display of zeal; but it is invariably according to the measure of faith, for this is a law of the Kingdom without exception, "According to your faith be it unto you." It is essential, then, that we should have faith if we are to be useful, and that we should have great faith if we are to be greatly useful.”

That’s good stuff right there. Go for greatness.