EXPECT -- 2014 Word of the Year

Most years my Word makes sense to me.. but there are times I am baffled by it. This year's word is one of those times. I started before Christmas praying and seeking for my word. It was hit and miss as I was caught up in the busyness of life which this year included a holiday wedding.  But still.. I was determined to know my word by Jan. 1.  I thought of several .. and they are perfectly good words, but I just never felt they were it.  And then one day Ps. 5:3 popped into my mind.. "In the morning you hear my voice, O Lord. I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation".. and in that moment I thought "Am I expecting God?"

I was rather baffled by that question too.  Expecting Him to what?  Well.. to be present in my life and the world around me.. Expecting Him to do what He says He will do.. to BE who He says He is... Expecting His Word.. His promises to be true...Expecting Him!

And so that is my desire this year.. to live in a state of Expectancy.  When I pray, I Expect God to hear and to respond.  When I claim a promise, I Expect it to hold true.  As I go about life, I Expect to see God.

There are not a lot of verses in the Bible with the word Expect in them but there are 2 that really suit this journey for me. Ps. 5:3 which I mentioned earlier and Micah 7:7 from the New American Standard Bible.. "But as for me, I watch EXPECTANTLY for the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me." What a powerful verse!  What a promise to claim!

I have to add that God is already popping my Word up before my eyes to remind me to Expect Him. I am leading a study at church using Lysa Terkeurst's What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.  Chapter 1 has a line that says "Women who say yes to God expect to see God."  Yep.. we do!

EXPECT!

Abide Today....

Recently Amazon offered a devotional by Cynthia Heald called Becoming a Woman Who Walks with God as a freebie for Kindle!  It is a 30 day devotional on Abiding and so I decided to get it to use at some point.  Well today is that some point.. I decided to use it in April.

The focus today was on John 15:4... I love the ESV because it uses the Word Abide.. just love that word!  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

I decided to do a bit of word study, so pulled up Strong's App and looked at Abide.. I know what the word means but saw two things today I really don't think I ever saw before..

"To stay in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy"... expectancy!  God keeps putting that word before my eyes.  It also means to "Be Present."

So I am to abide with expectancy... or in expectancy.. expectancy of what.. of God and His promises... expecting Him to bring to completion that which He has begun in me (Phil 1:6)... to work things out for good (Rom 8:28)... expecting Him to never leave me or forsake me (Heb 13:5) and soo much more!  Isn't that the coolest thing!  I mean we know that.. know that His promises are true and will be fulfilled, but I love that He included it in that abiding.

And then Be Present.. that one really hit me.  NIV says Remain in Me and I will remain in you. So be present in Christ and Christ will be present in you.  Not yesterday.. not tomorrow.. today.. present.. now!  This, for me, is all about that daily surrender. Today I choose to be present in Christ.. to die to self .. take up the cross He has for me.. and expect Him to be Who He says He is and do what He says He will do!