Here is a post from Jaron Scott. He is a former children’s minister at the Church I lead and is now an outstanding preacher in the city of Joplin. These are his thoughts for today.

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I read an article recently titled, “Disney ruined a generation’s ability to be realistic about love.” The article was directed towards my generation, the millennials. The author argued that the movies we watched growing up convinced us that real love looks like a supermodel who can cook and catch butterflies on her forearm instantaneously falling in love with a model of a man who’s come to save her from all of her issues. The article says that those movies gave us unrealistic expectations that ruin relationships. Some of you know the disappointment that comes with being in your first few months of marriage and your spouse doesn’t do all the things you expect them to do which are things they never agreed to do and honestly things they could never do. Unrealistic expectations ruin relationships. Relationships with God aren’t spoiled by unrealistic expectations; they’re spoiled by unbiblical expectations. Our relationship with God isn’t spoiled by unrealistic expectations, because He can do anything you think He can do. Our relationship with God is spoiled by unbiblical expectations because He never promised to do everything you want Him to do. Whether it be a chapter from a book, a sermon from a preacher, or idea from the American dream, we’ve gotten the idea that God blessing me means He’ll give me good health with no sickness, a lot of wealth with no hard work, a happy family with no drama, a church that does all the things you’d like with no contribution on your part, and a peaceful death in the rolling hills of Kentucky. Countless people are disappointed and distant from God because He didn’t make our unbiblical dreams a reality. If we hold onto fairytale expectations of what we think it means for God to bless us, that don’t match the ways God said He’ll bless us, we’ll miss God’s blessing and miss the opportunity to live in God’s blessing. In 2020, make it your practice to expect biblical blessings. Search the scriptures for blessings that God promised to give Christians and expect Him to make good on those promises. Because I like you so much, I want to provide you with a few blessings to expect in 2020, and these are found in Numbers 6:24-27

1. Expect God to keep you: This means God will see you through any situation that you find yourself in, and make sure you come out more Christlike.
2. Expect God to be gracious to you: This means God will be good to you, not because you do good, but because He is good.
3. Expect God to give you peace: This means God will provide you with wholeness, starting with wholeness in your relationship with Him and others.

Regardless of what’s behind you, you can go forward, living the blessed life by expecting God to make good on the promises that He’s made, not the ones that you’ve made up for Him. Live a blessed life in 2020.