A New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-19
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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.


This is the great declaration of God over each of our lives – "See, I am doing a new thing! … do you not perceive it?" We have a tendency to keep going to God, hashing out the same old difficulties and past problems. We have such a difficult time understanding that through God’s forgiveness, we have received a completely clean-slate! He no longer sees us in the light of our past sins. What a glorious thing!

God wants us to see how He is taking our wretched ugliness, all the rubbish of the past, and turning it from desert and wasteland, into beautiful, luscious, fertile land. He is changing us, molding us, creating in us something that we could have never imagined. Yet, we are stuck discussing all the scorpions, and sun-scorched days of our past.

It is not that God will not discuss these things with us, and help us to deal with them, healing us completely. It is simply that He wants us to see the changes taking place in the mean-time. We have a capability to focus on something so hard, with such single-mindedness, that all else is blocked out, and our focus begins to completely dictate how we live and behave.

I will never forget one evening when I was discussing my past with Chris, my husband, and I told him, regarding one particular stain that has haunted me, that if I could have one do-over I would use it there, "I just want one do-over – just one!" I told him. Chris, without a hesitation, replied, "Jesus is your do-over." Wow! I had never really thought of it that way. That was just what I needed to hear to stop dwelling on the past, and start living in the present, the glorious present!

So hear me now. Whatever haunts you, and keeps you awake at night; whatever Satan uses against you that just makes your stomach turn until you are sick; whatever it is, no matter how big or small, know this: Jesus is your do-over. And you get more than one, He’ll give you as many as you need. He desires for us to begin seeing and living in the lush life He has already given us, rather than allowing our souls to waste-away in the desert we can’t seem to leave behind.

God's Blessings

Proverbs 11:24-25
One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.


We all want God’s blessing, whether financially, spiritually, physically, mentally, whatever. It seems we continually ask God to bless us, or our work, or whatever we seem to have or want or do. I believe that God desires to bless us each abundantly, but then comes the real test.

God’s blessings come with simple directions – share them. Whatever your blessings may be, do not be stingy, or tight-fisted, or God will turn the table and act the same toward you. We must share each blessing; we must bless others with the blessings God has showered on us. In doing so, we will be blessed even more, both by God and the process of sharing!

We each need to make a list of all the blessings God has given us – all the ways He’s shown us His great love and favor. Then, we can go through and pray about ways we can bless others through that which God has given us. Because it is in the giving that we will find great joy and blessing.

Brute Beasts

Psalm 73:21-24
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.


My daughter, Regann, informed me recently, as I was rinsing her hair in the bath while she tried to play, that I was "driving her nuts!" I couldn’t help but laugh at her complete and total honesty. Then I began to think about God as our heavenly Father, and the many ways we talk to Him.

We should be so thankful that we are allowed to go to God and be completely honest with Him. I (unfortunately) can’t count the number of times I have yelled at God, thrown a fit before Him, or even cursed at Him – "I was senseless and ignorant: I was a brute beast before" Him. While I’m not proud of how I acted, I can rejoice and praise God that I am allowed to go to Him however I’m feeling that day, and know that I won’t be struck by lightening, even if that’s exactly what I deserve.

I have to think that God likes it when we are honest with Him. I know I am always glad when Regann is honest with me about how she is feeling, because then I know what I’m dealing with. Granted, God can see our hearts, so He can see straight through any lies we try to throw His way. At least when we’re honest with Him, He can take us from there, "holding us by our right hands, and guiding us with His counsel."

I am just so thankful that we have a great and forgiving God! I praise Jesus that He is up in heaven at the Father’s right hand, in constant intercession for us. I sometimes wonder if it is His intervention on my behalf that keeps God from striking me dead, because of my wicked behavior toward Him. Regardless, God is good, He loves us, and He wants to "take us into glory" after all is said and done, even when we are "brute beasts" before Him. Amen, and praise God!

The Lord Will Fight For You

Exodus 14:14
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.


Imagine that you’re playing basketball, and you have the ball. You make a shot, and completely miss. You get the ball again, and same thing happens. You just can’t make a shot no matter what. Meanwhile, God is standing there yelling at you, "I’m open, pass me the ball!!" So, you finally pass Him the ball, but instead of just letting Him do what He needs to do, you start to coach Him, "Not a lay-up, you needed to dunk the ball! Why are you shooting from there, I wanted you to make a 3-pointer," and so on.

We laugh at the idea that we would tell God what to do in that situation, and yet, that is so often what we do in life. We get into trouble, and in crying out for help we tell Him exactly how we want the problem solved. We say that we give Him control of our lives, but we’re still trying to coach Him from the side-lines.

Imagine how the Israelites must have felt when they were stuck between the Red Sea, and the oncoming Egyptian army. They actually told Moses that they would have preferred to stay in Egypt as slaves, than to die in the desert! To which Moses replied, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Then God let’s them know His plan - how He will fight for them, and basically says, "Move on!!" Much to their surprise, I’m sure, they just crossed through the Red Sea, no problem. The on-coming Egyptian army? They were consumed in the waters, never to be seen again. The Israelites completely underestimated God and His ability to care for them and deliver them, regardless of the situation, and so often we do too.

So, let me ask, why is it that we think we know how things should be done? As though we can see the big picture, we continue to tell God what would have been "better." When really, we just need to learn how to give it to God and step back, truly letting Him take the "ball," and do what needs to be done, whether it’s in our plans or not. Not only can we expect something to be done, but we can expect something huge, and huge really is what we need to expect. I know it’s been said, but it bears being said again – our God is so much bigger than we can even imagine! Our God, mine and yours – He is personal, and He is big. So let’s start expecting Him to be huge in our lives, and see what happens!

My Soul Pants For God

Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Psalm 143:6
I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.


It is unfortunate that we so often go through times of famine in our relationships with God. There isn’t a piece of me that doesn’t wish I could just remain in the times of feast with Him, but invariably, I slip and find myself thirsting, parched, and starving for God. So, what do I do? I gorge myself. I run to His Word and "eat" as much as I can in one sitting.

Anybody who has fasted, especially for longer amounts of time, will know that when you break a fast, you need to take it slow. If you’re dehydrated, you can’t just guzzle down a gallon of water. You need to start with sips, and then gulps, and so on. Our bodies need to adjust to having the water in our stomachs, so that it doesn’t all just come flooding back up. It’s the same with food. If you break a fast with greasy foods, and eat an entire feast, you’ll be sorry. You have to take it slow and let your body get used to taking in food again, and digesting it.

I believe it is the same with the Word of God. When we have gone through seasons of extreme drought, hardly reading a single word from the Bible, we can’t just dive in and start reading chapters at a time. It will all just come right back up. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been so hungry for God that I just gorge myself on the Word. Not only do I get very little out of it, but I also get very disappointed that I can’t keep up the pace for long.

When breaking a fast of the Word, we need to take it slow – even a couple of verses to begin with - taking them and meditating on them, really taking the truth of them in. We have to get our minds and our souls back into gear, learning to process what we take in. We have to let our bodies get used to understanding the Word and hearing from God, and taking steps of obedience. Then, we can build from there.

Is it possible to just dive and keep it up? Absolutely – anything is possible when God is involved! However, for the most part, it’s wise to take it easy, a step at a time. Get a few choice morsels, and really take them in, digest them, and let them become a part of us. Before we know it, we will be swimming in the promises of God, and all that He has hidden for us in His mighty Word. We’ll be in so deep that there will be no turning back!

Life

Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.


Life is not about God, for God, with God, in God, or any such matter.

Life is God.