God is a God of cycles, times and seasons.
You know, time is divided into past, present and future.
Every time a new year comes, it’s God giving you and me an opportunity to start all over again.
Every time a new season is coming upon you and upon me, when God wants to start a new season in a person, or a ministry He always releases 3 things:
Expectation, Opportunity, Instructions
What is the definition of expectation?
It’s waiting for something supernatural, something that could happen to you.
When you expect something from God you have an expectation, you are waiting for something good to happen to you.
Faith works through the law of expectation.
In other words, if you walk in faith you always walk in expectation
If you walk in expectation you always walk in faith, why is that ?
Because every season and every year God is saying to you and me: I have for you, plans to prosper you and to give you a future.
I know many of you have been facing so many trials, tribulations, problems, sickness, diseases, losses, and I’m here today to put in front of you something that you can hold on to.
Myself, as your pastor I need to show what God says, what the bible says, this is my job as your pastor.
You need to put your expectation in action.
Some people went into the new year expecting nothing but you need to expect something! You need to have expectation.
2- Opportunities
Every season and every year starts with an opportunity.
In the Bible every time God creates an opportunity, He is opening a door, a gate. In other words, God is giving you an opportunity for you to enter it.
Did you know that in Chinese and Japanese, the word “opportunity” is in the word “crisis”?
If you have been in crises before, that is an opportunity for you to enter that door.
Change your crises into an open door for the future.
We are in January, all the pages of this new year are blank and you can write a new story, but if you don’t expect anything you will repeat the old mistakes, your old pattern, your old way of thinking.
You need to have expectations and my job is to raise up your expectation!
How many of you have great expectations for this new year?
I have a calling from God to help and create in you through the Holy Spirit great expectations for 2020.
What to expect from God in 2020? What plans does God have for your life?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
What plans does God have for your life?
Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and great future.
You need to start this new year with great expectations!
Acts 3:1-7
“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to beg from those who entered the temple;
3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked them for money.
4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”
5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” Acts 3:1-7
Verse 5 : He was Expecting to receive something from them!
I’m expecting to receive something supernatural in 2020.
You know what expectation is? Expectation is waiting for and desiring to see something supernatural from God.
That lame man that we met on the verses we just read, had been outside the temple for 30 years, in other words, he was in the temple when Jesus was alive and there were many times when Jesus went through there.
But when Jesus had been there, he had no expectation or else he would have been healed.
✅He had been sick for 30 years,
✅he saw Jesus many times coming in and out of the temple,
✅why didn’t he get up when Jesus was entering in the temple before
✅and why did he get up when Peter and John were going into the temple ?
Because this time he had an expectation!
This man had been waiting for this for 30 years, but he didn’t receive the miracle until was truly expecting it.
When he had finally created an expectation then he was able to receive it.
We need to understand what expectations are and what they aren’t!
Disappointment is unfulfilled expectations. The reason why some people have unfulfilled expectations is because they were not expecting something, they were just optimistic about it!
Having Expectations is not being optimist , what is the base for biblical expectation?
1- Biblical expectation is based on obedience!
In every area where are you expecting something supernatural from God be sure that you are obeying.
Because if you’re not, the willingness and enthusiasm are there, but you have no solid foundation to hold yourself to.
When you obey His word, expectations come from doing the right thing.
If you have done the right thing you can expect the supernatural from God.
Many people are expecting many different things but not obeying.
How can you expect your marriage to have peace if you do not submit to your spouse? How can you expect to have a good marriage if you don’t love your wife as Jesus loved the Church ?
When you obey in any area whatsoever, you can have good expectations of things to come. But don’t expect something if you are not obeying God in this area.
2- The second foundation for expectation comes from what we sow, those who sow abundantly will ripe abundantly
Every year I have many vegetables in my house because I plant them every year
3- expectation requires an action – even after Peter spoke, he was still crippled, he was expecting but he had to take action.
The man had expectations but he had to do something about it!
You cannot expect things without doing something about them, when you do, you connect to God’s power and the miracle takes place.
If you have done what is right, if you have obeyed God and if you have sowed you are not go to be disappointed.
What are you expecting from 2020?
4- Faith walks together with expectation, if you don’t expect anything you are not going to receive anything.
If you have no expectations you have no faith.
Expectation is the confidence, it is the assurance that something good and supernatural will come to my life!
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
What is NOT expectation?
1- It’s not optimism
2- it’s not a good attitude. Some people say: you have to have a good attitude, be optimistic, but that is not what expectation is, that is something natural.
Optimism is based on education; expectation is based on God’s word which is supernatural.
So what is expectation? Expectation is the life force of faith; expectation is faith in motion!
Faith in motion! Faith works through the law of expectation. Where there is faith there is expectation.
Optimism is the opposite of expectation. Optimism is wishful thinking. I wish this would happen, I wish that would happen.
Expectation is not natural, it is supernatural, because expectation is the law of faith. If you have been expecting something for the future, it’s because you’re walking in faith .
When you live in faith you always expecting something.
What is expectation? it’s the confidence that something good is coming upon you.
What are the plans that God has for you? Jeremiah 29:11
Thoughts of peace, not evil ones, to take you to an expected place!
Expectation is the life force of faith; it is the sign of something supernatural that is about to happen in our lives
Having expectations is the sign that something supernatural is about to happen to you!
We put our expectations on people and we get disappointed but If you expect something from God you will never be disappointed. Do you know why? Because your expectation will never be greater than what God is!
That man had expectations.
“So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them”
Acts 3:5
He was expecting to receive something supernatural from God
Having expectations is not natural, it’s based on Faith for the future
What is the future? The future is the time to come.
So the year starts with instructions, expectation and opportunity.
God is giving everyone here an opportunity.
I ask you again: What are you expecting from this new year?
If you are expecting nothing, you are going to receive nothing!
Expect things from God and you will never be disappointed!
“My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.”
Psalms 62:5
My soul waits for God alone, for my expectations are on Him.
I as a man will disappoint you, you will disappoint me, we will disappoint each other, but God will never disappoint us!
Are you taking any action? You need to cultivate your expectations
I’m going to give you a key: open your mouth at home and say: I expect that all my family will be saved, I expect to be healed this year.
Why do you have to say it? Because Expectation is cultivated by words.
Expectation should be specific. What are you expecting? Many things! No, no, expectation is specific, and you must declare it!
You can feel the mood of a place by the words people say. The air can be heavy with good or bad expectations. You can change the atmosphere of a place with your words.
What do you expect from God? Say it!
I expect something supernatural! What is your expectation on? My expectation is on God not in people!
I would like you to open your mouth and declare your expectations because expectations must come with an action.
Only those who are dead in their faith don’t expect anything from God.
For you to expect something new fix the first thing is repentance !
We need to look back , to see where we went wrong, where we failed, in order to not commit the same mistakes !
You need to change your old mind, your old mentality!
If you don’t do that, you are gonna repeat the same old mistakes.
The bible says: without repentance there is no forgiveness of sins!
We need to repent from our sins – we need to cry for our sins, we need to abandon our sins
We also need to fix all sin in our lives – jealousy, all unforgiveness, all hatred, all misunderstandings, disagreements, all confusion, all blaming other people for our mistakes, we need to leave these sins behind.
We need to look back, to see where we went wrong, where we failed, in order to not commit the same mistakes!
You need to change your old mind , your old mentality!
If you don’t do that , you are gonna repeat the same mistakes.
Remember that every time a new year comes, it’s God giving you and me an opportunity to start all over again.
God bless you