1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing
these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation
for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole
world.” (NASB)
Hello,
Expectation is a funny thing. One’s thoughts on expectation differ
based on whether you are talking about expectations of yourself or expectations
you have of others. We look at others and set expectations based on the past
and our perspective of circumstance. When we set expectations for ourselves we
may start with hope, but then we start to hear the expectations of others and
that hope may begin to fall. We start to see the failures of the past and push
them into the present. We let the outside influences overcome the inside
influence.
We need to have an expectation of overcoming the battle with
sin. We have an incredible inside force in the Holy Spirit and our relationship
with Jesus. Our forgiveness from Jesus is satisfactory (meaning of propitiation
in verse) is not just about future forgiveness, but also a strengthening
reminder of not needing guilt. The Holy Spirit living in us is the power to
overcome sin and temptation.
That should be enough…..but we let the expectations of the
outside creep in. We see a circumstance where we have struggled before – and our
expectation of victory starts to fall. We hear people talk negatively about our
past, or our decision making, and we let that sink in.
I am not trying to preach any kind of “name it, claim it” –
but when we do not put ourselves in the mental position of victory we are
lessening our chances. To a large degree, we are saying that we are OK with
sin. But that is not what we are to do. We are to have an expectation of
victory because of who lives inside of us and our position of forgiven thanks
to Jesus.
As you face your day, what are your expectations?
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