Today is a new day with new experiences and new opportunities. How do I know this? Well, today is today. Today is not yesterday. That is gone and in the past. Today, therefore, is new. But here is a thought that keeps going over and over in my mind…GOD WANTS TO DO A NEW THING IN YOUR LIFE

In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is writing to the children of Israel at a bleak period of their history. They are in captivity, they have lost everything they thought they would keep forever, and they were home sick for the land and the blessing God had promised them. And then God had this word for them…

Isaiah 43:18,19

¹⁸ “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.¹⁹ For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

What a word! But how do we embrace the new thing what God wants to do in your life?
I. CHANGE YOUR FOCUS – Look for the new thing God is doing.

That’s a nice thought and all but how does one do this…

QUIT LOOKING BEHIND START LOOKING HEAD v.18Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

Why is this so necessary: If you are continually looking behind you cannot see where you are going.

If you are ever going to move on to new things in Christ, you must learn that …
You Cannot Depend Upon Past Victories To Sustain You
Forget the former things;

The children of Israel had many victories in their past: Leaving Egypt, Conquering the Land of Canaan, Fighting of prospective conquerors, Survived a split in their country.

But now they are in captivity. All their previous victories were doing nothing to set them free. They needed a new work, a new miracle, a new victory.

The question isn’t what has God done –the question must be: What is God doing in your life right now?  What is it that you want Him to do in your life right now?

Secondly, You Cannot Allow Your Past Failures to Possess You … do not dwell on the past.

The children of Israel had failed God miserably. Every time He blessed them with good things, they returned to Him evil things: God gave them the Temple - they gave Him idol worship, God gave them truth - they lived and proclaimed a lie, God gave them His commands - they lived like they were suggestions.

The children of Israel did not deserve to receive anything from God. Yet He still loved them and He earnestly wanted to help them change.

He is in effect saying: Forget about your past — I am giving you an opportunity to start over.

But for this to be a reality we must first understand that the new thing is not a bad thing. In fact, we need to celebrate that God is working in your life.

You can’t depend upon Yesterday’s victories, don’t dwell on past failures but also…

You Cannot Live on Yesterday’s Faith

The children of Israel had experienced great spiritual blessings throughout their history. From the first Passover, to the crossing of the Red Sea, to the conquering of the Land of Canaan, to the building of the temple, the children of Israel had seen the hand of God at work in and through their lives. Yet their faith in what God had done was doing nothing to deliver them from their present situation.

Their old faith was not sufficient enough to deliver them from their present problems. They needed new faith, a new vision for what God could do. They needed a new portion of the faith that had brought to pass all the victories from before.

Romans 10:17 “For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb 11:1 (NKJV)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb 11:6 (NKJV)

As we seek him, we will DISCOVER WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US

Do you see possibilities or problems? The children of Israel had a choice. They could view their past and the problems of their present, or they could focus upon what God wanted to do in their lives.

Here is the question…as God does the new thing… will you follow Him?