January 3

Expect to Receive

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

ISAIAH 30:18

I want you to get this firmly into your heart: You can think about what you think about! So many people’s problems are rooted in thinking patterns that end up producing the problems they experience. Remember that your actions are the direct result of your thoughts. And although the enemy offers wrong thinking to everyone, you don’t need to accept his offer.

Isaiah 30:18 has become one of my favorite scriptures. If you will meditate on it, it will begin to bring you great hope… and great power. In it, God is saying that He is looking for someone to be gracious (good) to, but it cannot be someone with a sour attitude and a negative mind. It must be someone who is expecting for God to be good to him or her.

The more you change your mind for the better, the more your life will also change for the better. When you begin to see God’s plan for you in your thinking, you will begin to walk in it.

The mind is the leader or forerunner of all attitudes and actions. You can always expect good things from God!