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Godly Expectation
by
Mark Baker
Expectation is something we all need to have if we want to see God’s
promises fulfilled.
It is really another way of saying hope. When many think of hope they
think along the lines of I hope I inherit a million dollars, or I hope
I get that job that I applied for, or I hope it doesn’t rain tonight.
This is worldly hope and not at all the kind of hope that the Bible
talks about. Bible hope is confident expectation. You can never receive
the promises of God without it. You can never have faith for God’s
promises if you don’t first have a confident expectation knowing God is
faithful and will fulfill His promise.
Hope is always future tense. In other words it looks at things to come,
things that haven’t happened yet in the natural, but at the same time
is fully persuaded that they will come to pass. Faith is always present
tense and sees things now in the present. It counts those things that
are not as though they are. Faith and hope always work together. If you
can not look ahead and see God’s promises coming to pass then how can
you bring those future things into the present by faith? You have to
see the future before you can receive it by faith.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he
that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Many Christians get hope and faith confused. I often hear Christians
make comments like I sure hope God heard my prayer. That is not true
Bible hope, it is not confidence at all in God or His Word. God’s Word has
much to say about this and we should not be ignorant but understand
what God’s will is.
There have been times in my Christian walk where I thought I was
walking in faith when I really wasn’t. The lord showed me where I missed it,
and it became very clear to me at that point where I had missed it and
how to receive the victory by faith. It always starts with
understanding. God’s Word tells us …
Ps:119:130: The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth
understanding unto the simple.
If we don’t know we’ve missed it we will not seek understanding. This
is the case for many Christians. Instead of admitting that they are the
ones who missed it or didn’t have understanding of God’s Word, they
just changed their theology to line up with their bad experience. We will
never grow up in the things of God with this type of attitude, and if
we will not seek to know the truth. God is no respecter of persons, and
He never misses it. So let us seek understanding and repent if we need
to, and then see the victory that was freely given to us.
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And
in all your getting, get understanding.
Lets look at a Biblical example of this kind of confident expectation
in God’s Word.
In the 17th chapter of Genesis God appeared to Abram and changed his
name to Abraham.
Genesis 17:5 "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name
shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6. "I
will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and
kings shall come from you. 7. "And I will establish My covenant
between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for
an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after
you.
Abraham was 99 years old when God appeared to him. (vs. 1). The name
Abraham literally means the father of many nations. He had to tell people
His name was now the father of many nations.
The Apostle Paul talks about this in the book of Romans.
Romans 4:17 (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many
nations'') in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life
to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they
did; 18. who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the
father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your
descendants be.'' 19. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider
his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old),
and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
20. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21. and being fully
convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22. And
therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness.''
This is such an awesome example of Godly expectation.
Abraham contrary to hope, in hope believed so that he became the father
of many nations. or we could say it like this, because he believed in
hope he became the father of many nations. If he could not believe it
would come to pass he never would have received the promise by faith, and
if he had not received the promise by faith he never would have been
fully convinced, or as some translations say fully persuaded.
We see several things happening for Abraham to be fully persuaded. One
thing the Word says is that Abraham did not consider his own body,
already dead. Some translations put the comma after already dead not after
body. We have to understand man put the commas and periods into the
word of God it wasn’t originally written this way. Lets take the comma
out and read it … Abraham did not consider his own body already dead.
The verse goes on to say… and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
In other words Abraham was not considering or thinking on the things
that were contrary to the promises of God. If you are considering things
that are contrary to the Word of God then you are not considering the
right things. People waver because they are thinking about things that
they should not be thinking about, they are considering things they
should not be considering. In this particular case Abraham was not thinking
about how his own body and Sarah’s body were already dead. This is
saying in the natural that their bodies were dead in the sense that they
were beyond any hope of having children. This would certainly be easy to
think about as it was staring them in the face, wouldn’t it?
This is a decision we all have to make. Abraham refused to consider the
things that were certainly contrary in the natural to what God had
spoken to him. He only considered the promises of God. When God gives us a
promise, there will always be other options for us to consider. Satan
will make sure of that. Those other options will always be contrary to
God’s promises.
Have you ever stopped to consider that if there are no other options
you can not waiver?
Lets not consider the other options. Let us chose the will of God and
there will be no other options for us to consider. When the other
options come to us, we have and obligation to ignore them, not only ignore
them but to cast them out of our thoughts.
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
according to the flesh.
4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds, 5. casting down arguments and every high
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6. and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is
fulfilled.
Because Abraham was fully convinced or persuaded that what God had
promised He was also able to perform. Because of this it was accounted to
him for righteousness.
Abraham literally counted the promises of God as done even though they
were not done in the natural, or we could say he had not seen a
manifestation. He saw himself as the father of many nations.
Some Christians believe it would be lying to believe something is done
if it were not manifest in the natural. According to God’s Word you
have to count those things which be not as thought they are, just like
Abraham did. You see the future promise and receive it by faith. This is
counting those things that are not in this natural realm as though they
are.
Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.
The Word is calling wavering unbelief. As I said before it is a choice
we all have to make, but God has given us the means and the tools to
stand on His promises. When the promises of God are given the grace and
ability to believe come along with them. We all know
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.
We know Abraham believed the promises of God, but something that
doesn’t always get mentioned is that God put Abraham in a position where he
had to speak faith filled words. God renamed Abram to Abraham. Abraham
had the decision to make whether he would begin to say I am the father
of many nations and tell all his friends to start calling Him the father
of many nations. Abraham made this choice and spoke the faith he had
already received and because of this he did become the father of many
nations.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and
with the mouth confession is made to salvation.
It is important to act out our faith in God and His Word even as
Abraham did and call those things which be not, as though they are.
About the Author:
I was raised Catholic, and was born again at the age of
17. I received God's call into ministry at the age of 19 and began to
prepare for ministry. I graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center in
1979. The Lord has called me to teach. My desire is to help others come
to a knowledge of the truth and I have started a web site for the
purpose of teaching and discipleship called The Olive Branch;
Mark Baker
http://www.olivebranchministries.us
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