WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240
Today, we're going to take a posture of peace

2
00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:06.120
by raising our expectations.

3
00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:09.600
Posture is a short, audible fist bump

4
00:00:09.600 --> 00:00:12.480
to remind you God is with you in everything.

5
00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.460
Together, we're going to be emboldened

6
00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.000
to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

7
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.520
In Psalm 57, verse seven, David writes,

8
00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:30.280
my heart is fixed, oh God, my heart is fixed.

9
00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.680
I will sing and give praise.

10
00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:37.560
Before we dive more into each fruit of the spirit,

11
00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:39.840
I just want to talk today about expectation

12
00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.640
because what we give our expectation to

13
00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.800
has our attention, has our focus.

14
00:00:45.800 --> 00:00:48.400
So my question for you today is,

15
00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:52.920
what did you wake up expecting from God today?

16
00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:55.440
Are you expecting him to be angry with you

17
00:00:55.440 --> 00:00:57.360
or disappointed in you?

18
00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:00.280
Are you expecting him to be distant or temperamental

19
00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:05.160
or not quite enough to overcome your situation?

20
00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:08.320
Are you expecting him to be overshadowed

21
00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:11.160
by all the pain that's happening in the world right now?

22
00:01:11.160 --> 00:01:15.840
Who do you anticipate him being to you,

23
00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.640
for you, and through you?

24
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.040
Who do you anticipate him being for other people

25
00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.200
in your life or other people on your screen?

26
00:01:25.960 --> 00:01:30.960
Who do you anticipate him being for that person

27
00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:36.200
who posted that social media post that drove you crazy?

28
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.000
Each fruit of the spirit that we find in Galatians 5

29
00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.240
reveals an aspect of the nature of God

30
00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:48.120
and with each one of those comes a perception,

31
00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.280
a mindset, and a language that transforms us

32
00:01:52.320 --> 00:01:57.120
from an earthbound perspective to a heaven-based one.

33
00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.440
Did you know that it's not that God is just joyful,

34
00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:03.800
it's that he's the most joyful.

35
00:02:03.800 --> 00:02:05.560
He's the most kind.

36
00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:07.760
He's the most peaceful.

37
00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:12.640
You'll never know someone more gentle than your God.

38
00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:16.360
And I'm learning right now in every situation

39
00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:20.200
to carry that expectancy.

40
00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:22.400
Even in the hardest situations,

41
00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:27.160
I expect to see his joy, his peace,

42
00:02:27.160 --> 00:02:32.160
his gentleness manifest somewhere in that situation.

43
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.760
With that expectation, I'm looking for it.

44
00:02:35.760 --> 00:02:38.280
It has set my gaze on him.

45
00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:41.920
This kind of expectation, it gives us God's perspective

46
00:02:41.920 --> 00:02:45.680
and it opens us up to recognize what he is doing

47
00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:50.360
and who he wants to be for us right here, right now,

48
00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.080
in the midst of whatever we're facing.

49
00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.560
And I'm telling you, don't fall for the lie

50
00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:56.280
that this is positive thinking.

51
00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:58.200
It is not positive thinking.

52
00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:00.080
This is kingdom living.

53
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.160
This is what we have been set free to live.

54
00:03:03.160 --> 00:03:06.480
We should be carrying a greater expectation

55
00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:08.520
for who God is for us

56
00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.720
than who the enemy could ever be against us.

57
00:03:11.720 --> 00:03:13.480
Jesus deserves that honor.

58
00:03:13.480 --> 00:03:17.440
He deserves all of our expectation, all of our trust,

59
00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:19.800
all of our attention and focus.

60
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.520
He deserves our belief in his finished work.

61
00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:27.920
He deserves all of our worship, not just parts of it.

62
00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:31.160
So let's not downgrade God

63
00:03:31.160 --> 00:03:35.920
to match our low-level experiences here on earth.

64
00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:39.000
In the midst of all that is happening right now in our world,

65
00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:42.200
I expect my risen King Jesus

66
00:03:42.200 --> 00:03:45.360
to continue to rise in glory.

67
00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.520
And so I am living on his level.

68
00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.640
He is not living on mine.

69
00:03:49.640 --> 00:03:51.400
I am partnering with him.

70
00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.040
I am not partnering with worst-case scenarios.

71
00:03:54.040 --> 00:03:55.760
I'm not partnering with media reports.

72
00:03:55.760 --> 00:03:58.560
I'm not partnering with the comments section

73
00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.600
of a hideous post on social media.

74
00:04:00.600 --> 00:04:03.880
I am aligning myself with who he is,

75
00:04:03.880 --> 00:04:07.240
not with the world's way of seeing or thinking.

76
00:04:07.240 --> 00:04:10.320
I will not align myself with fear

77
00:04:10.320 --> 00:04:12.200
or hopelessness or despair.

78
00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:16.240
And I am not taking Satan's bait of offense

79
00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.279
or hate or rage.

80
00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:20.600
Alignment with the nature of God

81
00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:22.600
will create a sensitivity in you.

82
00:04:22.600 --> 00:04:25.440
It will create a greater awareness in you

83
00:04:25.440 --> 00:04:28.080
to his wisdom and his ways.

84
00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:32.000
And what that does is it opens our eyes and our minds

85
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.440
to bring kingdom solutions

86
00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:37.360
to a world filled with problems.

87
00:04:37.400 --> 00:04:40.360
David understood this when he wrote Psalm 57, 7,

88
00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:42.800
when he said, my heart is fixed, O God.

89
00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:44.400
My heart is fixed.

90
00:04:44.400 --> 00:04:48.320
A literal translation of that verse says,

91
00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:50.520
prepared is my heart, O God.

92
00:04:50.520 --> 00:04:53.800
Prepared is my heart.

93
00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:58.800
Expectation, it fixes our hearts and our minds on the Lord.

94
00:04:58.920 --> 00:04:59.760
It prepares.

95
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.560
hearts for whatever we may face in this troubled world. It doesn't make us blind

96
00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:12.720
to the issues, it makes us a solution to them. If it wasn't possible then Jesus

97
00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:19.080
was not telling us the truth in John 14 27 when he said, I give you my peace and

98
00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:25.280
it's a peace that overcomes this world. So today let's not allow negativity to

99
00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:31.840
form a resistance in us to truth or to wisdom or to being a display of the

100
00:05:31.840 --> 00:05:38.640
genuine nature of God. Let's raise our expectations above what is only possible

101
00:05:38.640 --> 00:05:45.680
to the world and let's engage on a kingdom level. Let his love, his peace, his

102
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:52.920
joy, his kindness saturate you. Receive it first, receive it from him so that you

103
00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:57.800
can then give it, so then you can be a display of his glory here on earth. And

104
00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:02.200
let me tell you from experience it takes practice. I am actively practicing this

105
00:06:02.200 --> 00:06:06.920
every day. I don't always get it right but he's not failing me, he's not giving

106
00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:11.480
me an F, he's not giving you an F. So I'm not going to fail myself, I'm not going

107
00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:17.200
to step out of this joyful process of being transformed into his image and

108
00:06:17.200 --> 00:06:23.400
likeness. Instead I want to continue in this with a great expectation of who he

109
00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:30.320
is and who he has empowered me to be. Remember there's never anything you face

110
00:06:30.320 --> 00:06:38.200
that is too much or has been going on for too long that he can't overcome. He

111
00:06:38.200 --> 00:06:43.760
delights in being your deliverer and he is enjoying every part of this

112
00:06:43.760 --> 00:06:49.920
transformative journey with you so plan on enjoying it with him today. Raise your

113
00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:57.240
expectations of who he is for you, in you, and through you. And know this, he plans

114
00:06:57.240 --> 00:07:04.640
on making you not just a conqueror but more than a conqueror in this world.

115
00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:11.760
The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3. In Hebrew it is Shalom Shalom

116
00:07:11.760 --> 00:07:19.000
meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you

117
00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:26.080
are in Jesus because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win.

118
00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:31.280
With every step you take today you're putting Jesus's victory on display and

119
00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:35.480
Satan's defeat on replay.