Hi, this is a different pen this week.  I am asking you to look deep into your spiritual life and ask the questions.

1.  What do I want and/or expect from my relationship with God?  And

2. How can my church family help me accomplish my wants and expectations?

We know from Scripture that when Jesus was walking the earth people had many different wants and expectations of Him.  Some just wanted physical food, some wanted healing, some wanted Him to take over the government, some wanted power through Him, and some even wanted a relationship.  He seldom was what they wanted or expected.

That is just like us today.  We have a hard time putting a face to our spiritual and physical wants and expectations when it comes to interfacing with our Creator.  However, if we never try to define and express our true wants and expectations we will always be disappointed.  So what do we do?

First, we clear the clutter from our spiritual existence ….we repent and allow God to forgive us, we forgive ourselves, and God renews us.

Two, we study and meditate on Scripture.  Psalms and Proverbs are good places to start.  We can even enlist the help of a programed journal.

Three, we then go to  God in prayer.  Jesus spent more time in prayer than almost any other action.  Why? He needed to be close to His Father in heaven so He could know and follow God’s plan for Him.  Even Jesus follows God’s plan.

Four, Relax and let God speak to us.  Yes! God does speak to us in many ways.  What we have to do is learn a new language so we can understand God.  It is a spiritual language unique to each of us.  We learn by following the above steps.

Five, Now we are in a place to answer the questions of our wants and expectations.  Let begin a journey together to discover our God language and our purpose in God’s plan.  While we are on this journey we will also discover that our wants diminish and we see our true needs.  We will also see clearly God’s expectations and in a miracle that only God can do, God’s expectations will become our driving expectations.

Let us go forward.

In Love with God,

John