This weekend we completed out series about our Core Values at The Community Fellowship. It has taken a couple months and has been refreshing for me.
Those seven values have been important to us since God led us to start to the church in 2006. And today we dealt with the value of expectations.
Most of the messages I have shared about this talked about what to expect of the people who call this church theirs. This message went in a different direction. We talked through the commitment David made in Psalm 101 of “I Will” statements of how he would serve the Lord and stay pure. We also were reminded that we can expect much of God.
So many things are true of our God. His character is incredible. There are many, many things that we can expect of God, but here are three that stand out to me.
What we can expect of our God?
His unfailing love for us…
Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
His love for us is unending and keeps his always connected to him. Take that to the bank and believe the truth. We must expect His love to flow to us, through us and to keep us where we need and how we need. There is nothing greater than our God’s love.
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That’s right. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Nothing can make it not real. That is why we ought to expect that God loves us and others.
New mercy each day…
Lamentations 3:22-24 NLT
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
I love those verses. Powerful. Great reminder for each of us. He renews me each day. This reminds me of a glorious morning out in nature when you see the beauty, hear the birds and and feel the newness of the day. His mercy toward us tone every day and renewed every day. Further He is patient with me. We must expect His mercy because it changes me.
Continuous grace…
He showers with grace. Grace can be defined at “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”. This is where we met Him for salvation, and the fact is we don’t deserve His grace. We deserve punishment for sin and so much shame, but that is not God’s way. We can expect His grace and more
Ephesians 1:3 NLT
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
Those things. Those three things teach us how to truth God. Those three things: His love for us, His mercy on us, and His grace toward us. We can expect these to be constant. Don’t question these again. Expect God to love and give to His children (that is you and me).
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