A NEW THING FROM GOD
Isiah 43:18-19
Isaiah 43:18-20
18 "Forget the former
things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new
thing!
Now it springs up; do you
not perceive it?
I am making a way in the
desert
and streams in the
wasteland.
Before we get into the text.
Let's get prepared for the text.
This text is written to God’s
chosen people. To receive the
blessing God intends for us,
we must present ourselves
agreeable to Him.
WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU
Genesis 27:28-29
May God give you of heaven's dew
and of earth's richness —
an abundance of grain and new
wine.
THE PRAISE GOD REQUIRES OF
YOU
Psalms 33:3-5
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for
joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is
right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
THE ATTITUDE GOD REQUIRES
Ephesians 4:23-24
23 to be made new in the
attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness.
REQUIREMENTS TO REALIZE THE
BLESSINGS OF GOD
1. OBEDIENCE
2 FAITH
3 PATIENCE
4. ENDURANCE
5. SERVICE
In this chapter, God expresses
His love for His Chosen people which includes us.
He reviewed what He did for
Israel. He rescued them from Egypt. He redeemed
them from Babylon. He made a
way through the Red Sea. He made a way through
the desert.
God was with Israel through
all their troubles. Even when they were
disobedient, He still blessed
and protected them.
Israel was their own worst
enemy. It was their disobedience to God's commands
that caused their troubles.
Yet God gave them as He gives to us a word of
Encouragement.
When we look over our past, we
ought to recognize that it was God that brought us
through. He brought us through
two years of the pandemic. He brought through two
years of constantly rising
prices. He protected us from the rising and increasing
violence.
Look at yourself and see if
you have been completely obedient to the Lord.
The wages of one sin is death.
Yet, you are still here. I know I have been
bad, I know I have been
rotten, yet I am still here.
God encourages us to move
forward.
He gives us two commands.
THE TEXT
Isaiah 43:18-20
"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new
thing!
Now it springs up; do you
not perceive it?
I am making a way in the
desert
and streams in the
wasteland.
1. Forget the former
things.
Don’t bring your problems into
2023.
Don’t bring your fears.
Don’t bring your doubts
Don’t bring your unbelief's in
God’s Word
Don’t bring your hurts.
Don’t bring your anger
Don’t bring your failures
Don’t bring your unforgiveness
Don’t bring your hates
Don’t bring your sadness
Don’t bring your envies
Don’t bring you jealousies
Don’t bring the guilt of your
sins into 2023
Don’t bring your baggage into
2023.
It is a new year. Leave that
stuff at the back door of December 31, 2022.
It is the past. You can't
change what happens in the past.
You can change what you do
today and tomorrow. We have a testimony of
God’s goodness. All we have to
do is look at what God has already done for
us.
God encourages us to let go of
the past and consider a glorious future.
He commands you to forget the
former things.
It is a choice you have to
make. You can choose not to make your life
miserable by reliving past
failures.
God wants you to start with a
fresh plate of possibilities. God wants
you
to start with new optimism
based on your faith in Him.
1st
Command: Forget the former things
2nd
Command: Do not dwell on the past
Don’t consider the things of
the past.
Don’t think about the things
of the past.
Don’t meditate on the things
of the past.
If you were angry about
something that happen in the past, the
the moment you think about it
you will get angry again.
If someone or something hurt
you in the past, the moment your
think about it, you will renew
the hurt.
God is commanding us to let go
of the past.
If your heart is open to the
past, it will be closed to the future.
For example. If you hold on to
hurts from a relationship in the
past you will be skeptical of
relationships in the future.
If you know what a bad
relationship is, you will be able to choose good relationships.
If you have been hurt by
something in the past, you know how to avoid
that in the future.
You cannot erase what happened
in the past. Just don't dwell on it.
Don’t keep revisiting it.
Find a way to let the past be
growth information for the future
The Apostle James said it this
way;
James 1:2-5
2 Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the
testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its
work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
You can’t let the past damage
your future. Let the past be a stepping stone to
your future.
You never know how God has
built you up in the past for the blessing of
the future. 2022 might have
been the maturity you needed for the blessing
of 2023.
THE PROMISE
In verse 19, God said,
"See I am doing a new thing."
God is prepared to do a new
thing for you in 2023.
You got to let go of the junk
of 2022 to accept the blessing of
2023.
Don’t let 2022 put a damper on
2023.
Don’t expect the blessing of
2023 to look like 2022.
God said I Am doing “A NEW THING”.
The new thing is already
taking place, you just don’t realize it.
Before my first wife passed
away, I never wanted an SUV. God blessed me
with a second wife, and all we
have is an SUV. God did a NEW THING.
I get more use out of the SUV
than I ever got out of a car.
At the start of 2023, we don't
know what God is going to do for us.
What we do know it is going to
be a NEW THING.
Don’t limit what God is going
to do for you by what He has done in the
past.
you got to let go of the past,
so you can accept God’s
future blessing. It may be
staring you in the face and you don't
recognize it. He did say it is
a NEW THING.
God has a history of doing new
things. He created everything out of
nothing. That was new.
He caused dry land through the Red Sea, which was new.
He caused bread to fall from
the sky for the Israelites, which was new.
He formed you in the womb of
your mother unique to everyone else, that was new.
God’s mode of operation is
doing something new. Today is new, tomorrow will be
new too. He is doing something
new for you at this moment.
It may be a new relationship
It may be a new job
It may be a new career.
It may be new financing
It may be new satisfaction
with where you are
It may be just a new way of
looking at life.
We don’t know what, we just
know it is going to be NEW.
Verse 19 says “NOW IT
SPRINGS UP”.
The blessing may show up when
you least expect it.
The blessing may show up from
a place you wouldn't expect.
The blessing may show up from
a person you wouldn't expect it from.
The blessing may show up from
a place or person you don’t
know.
Have you ever seen a plant
spring up in a crack in the concrete?
God allows dust to accumulate
in the crack. A seed from the
air drops in a small amount of
dirt and a new plant is born.
It takes root in the crack and
springs up. It all happens without
your knowledge.
God may be using something
small that is already in you to
grow up something new.
God asks the question,
"Do You Perceive it"?
In other words, the blessing
may be beyond your perception.
God can do exceedingly
abundantly more than you can ask or
conceive.
The question is, can you
believe God is doing something new?
God said, "I AM MAKING
A WAY IN THE DESERT".
God can make a way for you
through something barren.
God can make a way for you in
places you wouldn’t
normally go.
God can make a way for you in
places where people have discarded.
God can turn trash into gold.
God can give you an idea that
will be very profitable that nobody
ever thought of.
The Apostle Paul saw God
making a way through all His troubles.
2 Corinthians 4:8-11
8 We are hard pressed on every
side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our
body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our
body.
He did say “HE IS DOING A
NEW THING”.
The “NEW THING” will come with
challenges. There will be some
difficulties, but God will
make a way.
THREE QUESTIONS
1. WHAT WILL YOU DO NEW FOR
YOURSELF IN
2023
2. WHAT WILL YOU DO NEW FOR
SOMEONE ELSE
IN 2023
3. W
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