Great Expectations

As children of God, we are equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to live by God's standards, not the world's. Proverbs 25:26 says, "If the godly compromise with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring." Not only can our compromise harm our fellowship with God, but it can damage our witness and cost us an opportunity to lead others to the Lord! It's been said that, "People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do." Instead of just telling them about Jesus, we need to show them Jesus!

Don't be like the people that Peter talks about in Titus 1:16: "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him." The Bible says that "friendship with the world is hatred toward God" (James 4:4). It even goes as far as saying "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an ENEMY of God." God's not going to settle for a superficial commitment from us. We have a higher calling on our lives, and it's the Lord's desire to use us for His glory. In 1 Timothy 1:12, Paul talks about the honor it is to be appointed to God's service: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service." Paul knows that even though God has great expectations for him, He will help him and give him strength!

The Bible assures us that our God is a just God, and He will never give us unattainable goals to strive for. When we supply the will, He supplies the power. Exodus 23:2 tells us that we are to break away from the crowd and to remain faithful to God.

Satan does a great job at telling us that God doesn't care about the little details of our lives. Don't be deceived! He cares very much, and He expects us to be faithful! Jesus said in Luke 16:10, "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones".

God has promised to reward our faithfulness by giving us opportunities to serve Him. When we make it our life's goal to please the Lord, the result is joy, peace, and fulfillment. On the other hand, whenever we try to please other people, we experience frustration, disappointment, and emptiness.

The truth is that living to please God is the only way to live. My prayer for you is that you will have the same spirit that Peter and the other disciples did when they declared, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).