"WednesdayReflection"
13th December 2023
Shalina
Bizarrely Blessed
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My journey along a new path
The God who exceeds expectations
We all have things that we're believing for: dreams to come to pass, problems to turn around.
We'd be happy if they worked out our way, but sometimes what we have in mind is not God's best; we think ordinary, God thinks extraordinary.
We think, "let me have enough to get by"; God thinks abundance.
We think, "let me manage this addiction"; God thinks freedom.
We're asking for the possible, when God wants to do the impossible.
He specializes in exceeding our expectations. What He has in store for you is bigger, more rewarding, fulfilling than you can imagine.
Paul said in Ephesians:3:20 (NKJV)
Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
I believe this is going to be a year where God exceeds your expectations.
He's not going to do what you're asking for, He's going to exceed it,
open doors you never dreamed would open, take you further you can imagine.
You're going to look back and think,
"I never dreamed I'd be this blessed, have this position, marry somebody this great."
Get ready; God is about to exceed your expectations, make things happen that you didn't see coming.
You didn't deserve it, didn't work for it, it's just the goodness of God showing favour on your life.
This is what happened to a man in Acts 3:
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.
Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
Instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.
The man was expecting a few coins, the ordinary, the same thing that had happened for years, but God showed up and exceeded his expectations.
He didn't see it coming, he thought he would have to lay by that gate and beg the rest of his life, but one moment of favour, one exceeded expectation, thrust him to a new level, changed his whole life.
God has some of these "I never dreamed" blessings in store for you.
You may not see how it can happen, the medical report doesn't look good, you've gone as far as your education allows, perhaps you're in a limited environment.
The good news is, none of that stops our God.
He controls the universe; one touch of His favour will catapult you where you could not go on your own.
It's your time to be free, break bondages, go to new levels.
Every force that's holding you back is being broken right now; God is releasing healing, favour, opportunities, restoration, freedom.
This is a new day; God's doing a new thing. He's about to exceed your expectations.
I love the fact that this crippled man, even though he had low expectations, all he was expecting was a few coins.
God didn't say, "too bad, I had something much better, but you don't have enough faith. I was going to let you walk, but you're not expecting enough."
God is so merciful, even when we don't have the faith, we think we've reached our limit, God says, "that's ok, I'm going to show you favour in spite of that."
The scripture says: (Matthew 17:20 NIV)
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed... Nothing will be impossible for you."
A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds. God could have said, "if you have great faith, never doubt, never get discouraged, then I'll do something big," but God knew there would be times that we didn't have the faith we needed to reach our destiny.
So He said, "if you have just a little bit of faith, that's all you need, then I'll show up and exceed your expectations."
You have the faith you need for God to show out in your life, catapult you to new levels.
You may feel like you're stuck doing the same thing, you have some kind of disadvantage, you're expecting the ordinary; that's where the crippled man was, yet God showed up and did the extraordinary.
You may have a good reason to settle where you are, but God loves you too much to let you miss your destiny.
It may seem like another ordinary year, same thing, everything looks routine; no, get ready, God is about to show up and do something unusual, that you haven't seen.
What God is about to do in your life is going to cause people to look at you in astonishment, think, "how could you be so blessed?
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
My name is Shalina.
Majority of you may recognize me as "Shalinatheartist"
I've always called myself a "Heathen" jokingly to describe my sexual past.
The decision to change my mindset, honour God, refrain from sex. WAIT for the most high to send me the right one, while simultaneously working on having a better relationship with HIM - was a no brainer.
The path to change, to rid myself of my past, and change my life around, was extremely important to me.
The choice to refrain from something as powerful as sex , isn't an easy one.
It does get easier, as time goes on.
To all of my "Former Heathens", I salute you for giving your life back to GOD, and remembering who you are in Christ.
Remember, your BODY IS A TEMPLE - TREAT IT AS SUCH.
