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"(I ask) that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19, ESV

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about expectancy - expecting more of the fullness of Jesus in every part of your life.  After all, He said that He came that we might have and enjoy life; life to the full.

Last night at Collide, our mid-week meeting where everyone gets opportunity to share whatever God is doing in their lives, a chance to share little bits of our stories, or whatever, I was sitting in the next room with my crying baby daughter enjoying the worship, the stories, the revelation and I remembered something that seems small but is actually quite significant in my how my expectation of Christ at the centre of every aspect of life has shifted in recent months.

I've never been someone who gets sick often, but historically when I do, I do so in spectacular style - a simple cold ending up as 3 days straight in bed with raging fevers, for example.  On Tuesday, completely out of the blue at around 2pm, I felt myself getting sick - very sore left ear, sharp pain in the throat, slight fever, a little dizzy.  Not good symptoms.  First reaction was to text my wife and let her know I'd likely need to go to bed when I got home - also not good since I usually take over looking after our daughter to give her a break.

Then it occured to me - I don't have to settle for this.  So I didn't.  I told those symptoms the truth of Jesus' sacrifice, meaning I don't have to settle for the brokenness of this world and just accept that sickness is just the way it is.  Jesus paid that price so suffering illness is not necessarily part of my destiny.

And within 30 minutes, as quickly as it all came on, it was gone.  A change in thinking, in my expectation, in my approach to prayer, and a small victory was won.

It's only a little thing, but from little things - big things grow ;)  Expect God to work in the smallest areas of your own life, and as you see Him doing that, your expectation of seeing Him work big things will seem less daunting.  We limit Him by our thinking, but there's so much more of Him to experience and enjoy.  Let Him give you life, life to the full.

If you've not already done so, you might like to listen to our podcasts, which form the basis of most of the posts on this blog. You can find links on our website, our Facebook page, or our app, which can be found by searching for "Exchange Church Belfast" in iTunes, the iOS App store or Android app market.

"I ask Him to strengthen you by His Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19, MSG