Expectation
“I deliver you from the expectation of men.” Hear God saying this to your soul today.
Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town, October 2023.

Peter’s Great Escape
King Herod seized Peter and threw him into the innermost prison with 4 squads of soldiers guarding him. He was bound with wo chains between two soldiers as well! There were guards in front of the prison door too. It was an impossible mission to escape from this situation! But God sent an angel, and angel of the Lord who stood by Peter, released a light to shine in the prison and struck Peter on the side saying:
“Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.
Act 12:8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”
Act 12:9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
Act 12:10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
Act_12:11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

Here are some questions that will deliver you from the
• Describe some of your expectations.
• What unfair expectations have others placed on you?
• Have you noticed any new spiritual activity in your life?
• What new light has come on in your thinking?
• What has struck you lately?
• From whom have you been delivered?
• What is God saying to you next?

Peter’s enemies were physical and spiritual.
Some of his people expected God to save the Jews from the Romans and set up a new kingdom like David’s.
Expectations place a burden on you, and you have to discern whether or not those expectations are fair. Has God called you to carry those burdens, if so, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. I have found that when God has empowered me to do something, there is an abundance of energy and resolve to do it. However, if God is not in it, then you will feel the full weight of the burden and it will sap your energy.
Align your expectations with God’s for your life.
How do we do that?
Write down some of the expectations that you have for your life at this time. Pray about it and lay it before the Lord.
Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
Pro 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Personal Deliverance from Expectations
Highlight some of the expectations others are placing on you that make you feel heavily burdened.
Separate them into two categories – burdens that you are able to carry and fulfil as a service, and burdens that are unnecessary. Necessary Burdens vs Unnecessary Burdens

Three important lessons from Peter’s Experience:
1. “Arise quickly” when the Lord sends you supernatural help. Arise quickly and obey. Silence the arguments in your head and take the way of escape! Jesus is that door, that way to freedom and liberty.
2. “Gird Yourself and tie your sandals” this means we need to put on the belt of truth concerning our lives and prepare ourselves with the Gospel of peace. What is true about your measure of faith to do things? Become honest with yourself and others telling them clearly what to expect from you.
3. “Put on your garments and follow me.” What mantle has been passed to you to wear? Elisha received a mantle from Elijah, but only after he had followed him carefully and seen him taken up. Jospeh received several garments in his life, his coat from his father, a servant’s garment, a prisoners garment; and, finally, a garment Minister’s garment from Pharaoh. When you are being discipled, the key is found in apostle Paul’s advice to his disciples:

1Co 4:15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1Co 4:16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
1Co 4:17 For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

1 Corinthians 11:1 “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”
Imitate reminds us of the word – mime! G3402 mimētēs mim-ay-tace’
From G3401; an imitator: – follower.
In order to perform as a ‘mime’ artist, you have to study the subject matter and find the motive, movement and breath of the object of imitation. Apostle Leigh used to breathe as he opened up revelations without a word through his prophetic and apostolic mime performances. One of his most powerful moments in mime artistry, was the unmasking of the sons, where he shows a mime struggling to imitate Christ, and then finally, the mime artist removes his white face, and he becomes a son of God.
We are commissioned to make disciples according to Jesus’ words:
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Earnest Expectation of Creation
Rom_8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Rom 8:21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

God replaces the burden of unfair expectation, with His expectation of hope that delivers from the bondage of corruption and replaces it with the glorious liberty of the sons of God. That is an expectation I can eagerly wait for with perseverance!