Raise Your Expectations - Nicole Ransom

RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS Christian Education I August 2, 2015

Nicole Ransom

dream• A series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.

• A state of mind in which someone is or seems to be unaware of their immediate surroundings.

• A cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.• An unrealistic or self-deluding fantasy.• A person or thing perceived as wonderful or perfect.

• Synonyms: ambition, aspiration, hope

ex·pec·ta·tion• A strong belief that something will happen or be the case

in the future.• A belief that someone will or should achieve something.• One's prospects of inheritance.• Synonyms: supposition, assumption, presumption,

conjecture, surmise, calculation, prediction, hope

Take the limits off GodI'm not a man, I cannot lieI know the plans for your lifeI'm asking you to dream again, believe againAnd take the limits off of me

I'm not a man, I cannot lieI know the plans I have for you, they're my designSo I'm asking you just to hope again and trust againAnd take the limits off of me

And I hear the Lord sayTake the limits off , take the limits offRelease me to accomplish what I promised YouTake the limits off me, take the limits offRelease me, release me

No limits, no boundaries, I see increase all around me Stretch forth, break forth, release me, enlarge my territory

Anything and everything is possible

Mark 9:23 NIV“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

Matthew 19:26 NIVJesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Take the limits off yourself

Exodus 3:10-12 and 4:10-15• Moses questions his qualifications • Moses reveals an insecurity• His comfort zone keeps him from following God’s command

• God makes a work-around

Take the limits off yourself

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

If you don’t have a dream, how can you have a dream come true?

• Most people don’t aim too high and miss, they aim too low and “hit”

• What would you would attempt if you knew you could not fail?

Write down one dream you

would pursue if you knew

you would attain it…

Challenge yourself• Dream a dream so big that only God can fulfill it• If you can accomplish your dream without God’s help, you

aren’t dreaming big enough • How will your dream bring glory to God?

Put it in writing

According to a study conducted by Dave Kohl, a professor from Virginia Tech:• 80 percent of Americans say they don’t have goals• Another 16 percent do have goals, but they don’t write

them down• Less than 4 percent write down their goals• And less than 1 percent review them regularly • This small percentage of Americans earn nine times

more, over the course of their lifetimes, than those who don’t set goals.

The Dream Manager

1. Physical

2. Emotional

3. Intellectual

4. Spiritual

5. Psychological

6. Material

7. Professional

8. Financial

9. Creative

10. Adventure

11. Legacy

12. Character

Don’t Wait for Someday

Jesus started his ministry at age 30, and most believe his earthly ministry lasted approx. 3-4 years

In His short life, Jesus changed the world.

What are you waiting for?• You alone are responsible for the quality of your life• God gives you free will, you make your own choices • Spend alone time with God to identify your dreams• Raise your expectations • Start planning, take action, do something!

Money isn’t the answer• In a 1985 survey, respondents from the Forbes list of the

400 richest Americans and Maasai of East Africa were almost equally satisfied and ranked relatively high in well-being (5.8 on a 7 point scale)

• The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have no electricity or running water and live in huts made of dung

Don’t settle. Expect more!

• Where / who do your expectations come from?• Where / who does your help come from? Psalm 121• Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Genesis 18:14• You can and should expect more!

Lamentations 3:25 AMP: “The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word]”

Take the limits off GodI'm not a man, I cannot lieI know the plans for your lifeI'm asking you to dream again, believe againAnd take the limits off of me

I'm not a man, I cannot lieI know the plans I have for you, they're my designSo I'm asking you just to hope again and trust againAnd take the limits off of me

And I hear the Lord sayTake the limits off , take the limits offRelease me to accomplish what I promised YouTake the limits off me, take the limits offRelease me, release me

No limits, no boundaries, I see increase all around me Stretch forth, break forth, release me, enlarge my territory