“What did you expect would happen?”

“What were you thinking?”  

These are questions posed by our parents after we disobey and go off the reservation of our upbringing.  I must confess, I was asked these questions and others related to them, many times until I developed greater understanding of life, seeking God’s wisdom skills for living, while learning to think and pray before doing anything.  I surely haven’t “arrived” but I still strive to be and do all God created me to be and do as Paul relates on his journey to knowing Jesus with great expectations of eternal life.  (See Philippians 3) 

I am also learning that to be more is to expect more of God’s character to form within me as I lean on His wisdom and not my feelings.  I am learning to trust in what He says. Is He the One?  Yes, He is!

Luke 7, The Message

Is This What You Were Expecting?

^18-19 John’s disciples reported back to him the news of all these events taking place. He sent two of them to the Master to ask the question, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

²⁰ The men showed up before Jesus and said, “John the Baptizer sent us to ask you, ‘Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?’”

^21-23 In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight. Then he gave his answer: “Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
    have God’s salvation hospitality extended to them.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!”

^24-27 After John’s messengers left to make their report, Jesus said more about John to the crowd of people. “What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A messenger from God? That’s right, a messenger! Probably the greatest messenger you’ll ever hear. He is the messenger Malachi announced when he wrote,

I’m sending my messenger on ahead
To make the road smooth for you.

^28-30 “Let me lay it out for you as plainly as I can: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer, but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. The ordinary and disreputable people who heard John, by being baptized by him into the kingdom, are the clearest evidence; the Pharisees and religious officials would have nothing to do with such a baptism, wouldn’t think of giving up their place in line to their inferiors.

^31-35 “How can I account for the people of this generation? They’re like spoiled children complaining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.’ John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a boozer. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The most important question for us today is this,

“Do I really believe that what God says and did through Jesus His Son really real?”

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating,” says Jesus.  In other words, the answer to this question will flow from our hearts and be reflected in our behaviors.  What do we expect in our daily walk with God?  Who do we expect is with us always?  What do we expect when the end of our days here are over?  How do we expect God to help?  Do we expect God to help?  Do we live expectantly?

Paul, who lives expectantly writes with clarity about what and who to expect along with how to respond—

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Philippians 3:8-11

Here’s who and what to expect—

“For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.”  –Paul, Philippians 3:18-21

Believe and be saved.  Repent and be free forever. 

Love extravagantly. 

Live generously.

Live expectantly!

Lord,

Thank you for your message of love, mercy, and grace.  Thank you for saving us with the expectation of eternal life.  Thank you for consistently molding and shaping us as we live life here in preparation for our forever home with you.  Cleans our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls, and restore the joy of expectant living—your salvation work in us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  You are more than life!  You are Life!

In Jesus Name, Amen