TODAY IS…

a superb day to exceed all expectations.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”  Ephesians 3:20 NLT

One of the greatest mistakes we can make as followers of Christ is to have low expectations.

Thinking strictly in human terms, it is relatively easy to understand why we might limit ourselves and our expectations, but God does not function with those restrictions. We all know this, of course – or we should – but sometimes we need to be reminded of what our expectations should be.

First of all, we should always expect the unexpected.

In His short time on earth, Christ never ceased to amaze people by exceeding their expectations. When the disciples all wanted to send the crowd home because they did not have enough to feed them, what did Christ do? He took the five loaves of bread and two fish that a young boy gave Him and fed over 5,000 people with more left over than He started with.

He exceeded everyone’s expectations and, “After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world,’” (John 6:14 NIV).

When the widow had accepted her only son’s death, Jesus’ heart filled with compassion.

He told her to stop crying and, “Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you get up!” (Luke 7:14 NIV).

We all know from reading God’s Word that there were many things that could be expected from Christ: His humility, gentleness, kindness, compassion, and His love for all of mankind. But there are numerous examples which serve to point out that Christ could always be counted on to exceed what was expected as well.

Ordinary people can exceed what is expected of them as well, and, if we allow Him to, God works in us to help us do just that.

Boaz allowed Ruth to collect the grain that his workers missed while harvesting his fields. This was called “gleaning” and it was expected that the poor could pick over the fields for those heads of grain that were missed.

But God worked in Boaz’ heart and Boaz went beyond what was expected for, “When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying, ‘Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. Also, you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.’” (Ruth 2:15-16 NASB).

The Bible teaches us that we must not underestimate God. In fact, we should learn to expect great things from Him. After all, He has promised great things. But we also need to learn to allow God to work within us so that we too, can look to ourselves, and each other, to always exceed the expectations we have.

Today is a superb day to open up your heart to God so you, too, can exceed all expectations.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson

Author’s Note:

In my roll as manager of Mission Muffins, a workforce development program of Central Union Mission, I always try to impress this message upon the men I am privileged to work with. There is a sign in our little bakery that reads:

‘The question is not, ‘Is it good?’

The challenge is, ‘Can it be better?’

This applies not only to the delicious muffins, scones, and cookies the men of Mission Muffins produce, but to our lives, our behavior, and our relationships as well.

Giving our best to God is one of the things we strive for in our work, and if we are, indeed, doing that, then we will always be looking to God for His guidance in helping us to always exceed expectations in every aspect of our work lives, our home lives, and our spiritual lives.