{"id":254,"date":"2011-10-16T13:53:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-16T19:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atcallahan.wordpress.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2013-01-16T15:52:49","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T22:52:49","slug":"expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

A continued theme for me for the past several months has been\u00a0<\/span>Expansion<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I find this rather amusing, that God would be speaking of expansion and increase to me. All I can see around me is that everything seems to be getting smaller, fewer, tighter. So\u2026whatever you call it, it does\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>feel comfortable, expansive or increasing! My clothes don\u2019t fit as I head into the 30th<\/sup>\u00a0week of pregnancy (Okay, so maybe my waistline and weight are about the only things I’ve seen increasing!). Our budget is smaller and limited as I have left work to grow a baby! And as I look around \u2013 I know I am not the only one feeling the pressure. I see friends with businesses, families, relationships \u2013 all at some point or another feeling constrained, feeling as if the walls were closing in around them.\"\"<\/p>\n

And yet God says \u2013 Bigger! More! Expand! Look at what I\u2019m about to do! I LOVE that God speaks this into our seemingly small circumstances!<\/p>\n

My favorite verse for the past year, from the Message translation reads:<\/p>\n

Thank you! Everything in me says \u201cThank you!\u201d Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: \u201cThank you!\u201d Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word. The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.\u00a0<\/em>Psalm 138: 1-3<\/p>\n

God is waiting for us to realize how good, loving and faithful he is and cry out \u201cThank you!\u201d And the moment we cry out \u2013 he is there \u2013 ready to step in and make our lives\u00a0large with strength<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also notice the psalmist says\u00a0Most holy is your name, most holy is your Word<\/em>. God is good for his word! He says he is a provider, an increaser, faithful, caring, loving God willing to take care of our every need.<\/p>\n

I am so glad that all my outward circumstances seem so small right now. It is causing me to actually allow God to step in and bring strength, bring expansion. I would otherwise just try to figure out how to get things done myself. But God wants to partner with us in life! Don\u2019t leave him out!<\/p>\n

\"\"While everything externally seems smaller \u2013 God is speaking expansion \u2013 and my heart and life have never felt larger! Wherever you are in life today \u2013 you have the opportunity to live an insignificant, self-seeking life, or an expansive, God-breathed, purposeful life!<\/p>\n

Again from the Message translation,\u00a02 Corinthians 6:4 reads:\u00a0\u2026people are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly\u2026 in hard times, tough times, bad times\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul continues to describe the\u00a0bad times<\/em>\u00a0and they aren\u2019t pretty! Yet he finishes with this in 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13:<\/p>\n

Dear, dear Corinthians, I can\u2019t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn\u2019t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren\u2019t small, but you\u2019re living them in a small way. I\u2019m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!<\/em><\/p>\n

No matter what you see around you \u2013 you have the choice today to live\u00a0openly and expansively<\/em>!\u00a0Nothing<\/em>\u00a0can fence in a child of God except our own fear, small thinking or doubt!\u00a0Start with a thankful heart.<\/strong>\u00a0Remind yourself that God is good, faithful, loving, willing and able! You are not on your own in this \u2013 he is right there ready to step in with strength. He already has the provision that you need for every area of life!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A continued theme for me for the past several months has been\u00a0Expansion. I find this rather amusing, that God would be speaking of expansion and increase to me. All I can see around me is that everything seems to be getting smaller, fewer, tighter. So\u2026whatever you call it, it does\u00a0not\u00a0feel comfortable, expansive or increasing! My<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[23,21,22,24],"yoast_head":"\nExpansion Annie Callahan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/anniecallahan.com\/expansion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Expansion Annie Callahan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A continued theme for me for the past several months has been\u00a0Expansion. I find this rather amusing, that God would be speaking of expansion and increase to me. All I can see around me is that everything seems to be getting smaller, fewer, tighter. 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