What God Expects

This is book 2 of a 3 book series. It is a spiritual road map to the Christian who wants to please God but feels confused about doctrine. Chapter 1 is “Evolution and Man’s Rebellious Nature.” It explains why it’s hard for people to live above sin. For as Christ shines into our hearts He illuminates the darkness. So we see ourselves as we really are. Right away our defenses go up. Our pride and love of self feels attacked. Chapter 2 is “Do You Second Guess God?” We all have a tendency to think we know best. We minimize our faults and magnify our good traits for it makes us feel important. Chapter 3 is “Rebellious Attitudes.” It is human nature to want to be served, not to serve. Even Christians want to know what God can do for them. Chapter 4 is “Doing It God’s Way.” People want to choose what they will do for God instead of seeking His will.

Chapter 5 is “Man’s Ingratitude And Spiritual Warfare.” It discusses how people want what God has, but they don’t want Him. Chapter 6 is “Trying To Please God.” An example is given to show how important it is to let God fight spiritual battles through us. We cannot fight spiritual warfare with carnal weapons. Chapter 7 is “God’s Demolition Process in Us.” It explains why we so often lose all the carnal crutches we depend upon when we choose to live for Christ. We lose jobs, friends, family etc. For God has to knock us down in order to build a new foundation in Christ. Chapter 8 is “God Makes Our Decisions.” Living by faith is the hardest part of pleasing God. We want to control our lives and make our own decisions. But in Christ we must let go of the steering wheel and let God be our navigator and driver!

Chapter 9 is “Rejection, Separation, And New Life.” While the rest of the world seeks after wealth and pleasure, those who want to live for Christ serve a different master (Matthew 4:1-10). The closer we get to Christ the further we are from the world (John 17:14, James 4:4). Chapter 10 is “The Disciples Learn To Trust Christ.” It describes the fear the disciples had when Jesus was arrested and crucified. They had always depended on Him. Now He was taken from them. Chapter 11 is “A Stronger Faith.” Out of the Lord’s death and resurrection came new life and new faith for His disciples. Chapter 12 is “Putting Christ First.” It says that nothing in the world is of greater value than salvation in Christ. And how we cannot take our worldly treasures with us into eternity.

Chapter 13 is “Unloading Worldliness.” It explains the Lord’s metaphor about the camel and the needle. Chapter 14 is “Living Above Sin.” It encourages the reader not to give up hope. No matter how big the temptation, Christ can give us the ability to live above sin. Chapter 15 is “Setting The Right Example.” It gives personal examples from the author’s own experience, of how important it is to be a good role model. Chapter 16 is “Rejecting Worldliness.” The author discusses her own relationship with her mother-in-law who was very worldly when they first met. But whom she led to Christ on her mother-in-law’s deathbed. Chapter 17 is “Falling In Love With Christ.” It describes the joy and peace of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 18 is “The Selfish Human Nature.” It uses the analogy of birds and squirrels to describe the natural tendency toward self-love and putting oneself on the throne of our heart instead of Christ. We think we are basically good, but “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...” (Isaiah 64:6 NIV). So how do we achieve the right relationship with God?