Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Oh Friends, isn’t that a magnificent promise from the Most High? Just like He gives us a new day every 24 hours, He will heal and renew our lives, even bring us out better than before this catastrophe so suddenly overwhelmed, deflated and discouraged us. This is exactly what happened when Israel was punished for its sin. The Lord, our one and only true Redeemer, lifted them up again. And He shall do the same for us if we acknowledge His Lordship, put away our evil deeds and obey Him. As He advises: ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.’ (Isa.43:18) Yes my Friends, those things of old will pass away, all the confusion, controversy and contention will be left behind and a new day will dawn with a better and brighter future. Why? Because the Lord promises it. ‘Behold, I will do a new thing;’ He boldly proclaims. And have you ever known our God to renege on a promise? No! Never! As He declares earlier on: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ (Isa.42:8-9) Yes my people, that’s our God; omnipotent, omniscient, straightforward and true! This is one of those instances where He’s telling us of good tidings before they happen. Even our fellow man expects our current situation to improve, for one prognosticator was saying today, that though it will not be an easy climb out of the mire in which we’re now suspended, eventually we will get out, with new opportunities, new, greener, energy saving tools, technology, jobs and household equipment. If a man of the world can believe that, then as followers of Christ we ought to have that faith, that solid belief system, that if we’re obedient and faithful, the Lord will eventually make things right. Just like John was told in his visions in exile on Patmos: ‘And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev.21:5) And we expect nothing less from our Lord. So when He proudly proclaims; ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?’ we’ve got to sit up and take notice, pay close attention, for our God doesn’t make idle promises; whatever He says, He does. ‘I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. ‘ Wow! And for any doubting Thomas’s there’s plenty proof of Him doing just that when He led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Oh Friends, the Lord fed them with quail and manna when they had no food in the desert. (Ex.16:12-30) He also had Moses strike his rod against a rock and bring forth water for them, and led them safely through the ‘great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions….’ (Deut.8:15) So it’s nothing difficult or impossible for Him to do. The basic problem lies with us. The Israelites, though warned by Moses, forgot who brought them out of slavery into a land of milk and honey. ‘And thou say in thine heart, MY power and the might of MINE hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ (Deut.8:17) It’s the same thing we did Friends: forgot who caused us to be prosperous and successful. After awhile we began believing our own press. It was our doing alone. But to our great dismay, we soon discovered otherwise. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other Gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.’ (Deut.8:18-19) Oh my people, we forgot and/or ignored that most important warning, much to our detriment. Luckily for us though, we didn’t perish, but were merely brought to our knees, to be humbled, until we accept our subservient role to the Most High God Jehovah. Oh Friends, if we hope to survive this present catastrophe, we need to become like the people of Nineveh, who, when Jonah finally got around to warning them of the Lord’s displeasure, repented. As their king decreed: ‘But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said he would do unto them; and he did it not.’ (Jon.3:8-10) Yes my people, our God will certainly do the same for us. We don’t need the sackcloth, but we definitely do need to change our evil, violent ways, and humble ourselves before Almighty God, if we want Him to do that new thing in our lives. Much LOVE!…humility…not pride…is the way to God’s heart…
Oh Friends, isn’t that a magnificent promise from the Most High? Just like He gives us a new day every 24 hours, He will heal and renew our lives, even bring us out better than before this catastrophe so suddenly overwhelmed, deflated and discouraged us. This is exactly what happened when Israel was punished for its sin. The Lord, our one and only true Redeemer, lifted them up again. And He shall do the same for us if we acknowledge His Lordship, put away our evil deeds and obey Him. As He advises: ‘Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.’ (Isa.43:18) Yes my Friends, those things of old will pass away, all the confusion, controversy and contention will be left behind and a new day will dawn with a better and brighter future. Why? Because the Lord promises it. ‘Behold, I will do a new thing;’ He boldly proclaims. And have you ever known our God to renege on a promise? No! Never! As He declares earlier on: ‘I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.’ (Isa.42:8-9) Yes my people, that’s our God; omnipotent, omniscient, straightforward and true! This is one of those instances where He’s telling us of good tidings before they happen. Even our fellow man expects our current situation to improve, for one prognosticator was saying today, that though it will not be an easy climb out of the mire in which we’re now suspended, eventually we will get out, with new opportunities, new, greener, energy saving tools, technology, jobs and household equipment. If a man of the world can believe that, then as followers of Christ we ought to have that faith, that solid belief system, that if we’re obedient and faithful, the Lord will eventually make things right. Just like John was told in his visions in exile on Patmos: ‘And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.’ (Rev.21:5) And we expect nothing less from our Lord. So when He proudly proclaims; ‘Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?’ we’ve got to sit up and take notice, pay close attention, for our God doesn’t make idle promises; whatever He says, He does. ‘I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. ‘ Wow! And for any doubting Thomas’s there’s plenty proof of Him doing just that when He led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. Oh Friends, the Lord fed them with quail and manna when they had no food in the desert. (Ex.16:12-30) He also had Moses strike his rod against a rock and bring forth water for them, and led them safely through the ‘great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions….’ (Deut.8:15) So it’s nothing difficult or impossible for Him to do. The basic problem lies with us. The Israelites, though warned by Moses, forgot who brought them out of slavery into a land of milk and honey. ‘And thou say in thine heart, MY power and the might of MINE hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ (Deut.8:17) It’s the same thing we did Friends: forgot who caused us to be prosperous and successful. After awhile we began believing our own press. It was our doing alone. But to our great dismay, we soon discovered otherwise. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other Gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.’ (Deut.8:18-19) Oh my people, we forgot and/or ignored that most important warning, much to our detriment. Luckily for us though, we didn’t perish, but were merely brought to our knees, to be humbled, until we accept our subservient role to the Most High God Jehovah. Oh Friends, if we hope to survive this present catastrophe, we need to become like the people of Nineveh, who, when Jonah finally got around to warning them of the Lord’s displeasure, repented. As their king decreed: ‘But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not. And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said he would do unto them; and he did it not.’ (Jon.3:8-10) Yes my people, our God will certainly do the same for us. We don’t need the sackcloth, but we definitely do need to change our evil, violent ways, and humble ourselves before Almighty God, if we want Him to do that new thing in our lives. Much LOVE!…humility…not pride…is the way to God’s heart…
SCRIP-BITS 