Great Expectations

I love God so much. How can I not? This morning, laying in bed, my mind was drawn to so many avenues of healing my Savior has brought to me. So many ways that I didn't even know He was working. But of course He was, and is, and forever will be.
Please pray for the babies in Honduras. I follow Mission Lazarus on Tumblr and Jarrod Brown, the
"head guy" down there, has been posting a few messages about the struggle some kids are having. I can't imagine. These little souls, more times than not, cannot control their circumstances. But our God is mighty to save and the most powerful thing in the whole earth holds these tiny beings in His arms.

There is something that I always struggle with with God. Sometimes I get a case of amnesia and forget that God loves me so much and that NOTHING I do would ever be enough to reach him. Sitting at breakfast the other day, I realized that these rebellious thoughts I sometimes subconsciously have stem from how I grew up: with many, many high expectations. Not just from people around me, but from myself. I'm very competitive and push myself to be the best in what I do. Well, that's all fine and good, but it doesn't work when it comes to my relationship with God. I get discouraged when I find myself slipping or feeling like I'm not "doing enough". Such as studying the bible enough, praying about certain things enough, the list goes on. Well, as always, I wanted to figure this out. It's an awful feeling. Most of the time, I just want to talk to God. I love finding new treasures in the bible, but hate feeling like I have to read "a chapter a day" or something. I LOVE talking to God, but hate feeling like there's a check list I have to bring before Him.

"while we were still sinners" Romans 5:8
He chose me while I was still a sinner. Christ died for me.
-this alone alleviates the stress of trying to be SuperChristian. He already wants me. He chose me when I wasn't even trying to live for Him.
read that until you believe it.
Romans 5:20-as people sin more, God's grace increases. (see 6:1-2, though)
Romans 8:1-2: the Spirit frees us from sin
Romans 3:20- no one can ever be made right by doing what the "law" commands-it simply shows how sinful we are.
EVERYTHING to us is a choice:
--we choose to follow God
--we choose to follow Him daily
--we choose to die to sin daily, living for Him
--we choose to obey
--we choose to listen
He has made his choice, and He lets us make ours.
His expectations are out of love. He knows that if people don't murder, it will be better for everyone. Think about when people steal from you. Is that a good thing? I hate lying more than maybe anything. I'm glad God knew that it would not be good for His children to lie to one another. But even those things are not forced upon you. You can choose to murder, steal, and lie, but would your life be any better? I think I used to find God's expectations as constricting. Just more rules I had to follow. But now, and thanks to a friend who helped me come to this realization, I know that God does these things out of love. He is Sovereign, knowing what a fulfilled life looks like.

The expectations he has for his followers is a choice, too. (Go into all the world...love your neighbor...) We don't have to choose to be a follower of His so we don't have to choose to do those things.
He wants us, so He wants us to, but He will never make us love him the way he loves us...already.