New Beginnings

"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" (Isaiah 43:18, 19, NIV).

New beginnings are a basic part of life.  And while we
see it all around us, from the changing seasons of nature
to the new fiscal year of a corporation, as human beings
we seem to have a harder time embracing the new and
letting go of the past.  That is precisely why over and over
throughout the Scripture, God advises us to forget the
past--with its failures, disappointments, mistakes, and loose
ends--and to move ahead.  God is always on the move;
He's always ready to make the wrong things right and to take
you forward in life.  God is always doing a NEW THING and
that's where He's calling us to place our attention and focus.

When Christ enters a life, He comes to initiate new beginnings! 
He begins with your very nature and transforms you into a new
creature (with new features) that has never existed before
(2 Corinthians 5:17).  At that very moment, the bible says,
old things are passed away, and ALL things become new. 
New!  God is no longer looking at you through your past, but
forever sees you through the blood of Jesus and its perfection. 
Now you must begin to embrace the new that God has
fulfilled in you.

Following the new beginning in you, God initiates new
beginning after new beginning in our lives.  But the key issue
is this:  do you perceive it?  The only way to truly receive
something is to first perceive, or recognize, that it is there. 
And the way to perceive the new thing God IS DOING in your
life is to forget the past and focus on the Lord and His plan for
you.  By letting go of the past, you are free to press toward the
mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 3:13, 14).  And if you don't yet perceive the new
thing God is doing in your life, make a decision to embrace it
anyway by faith. 

The new thing God is doing in your life is a better, more
anointed thing.  Your life is going to be better and have more
of God's anointing as a result of the new beginnings He initiates. 
You can expect a way to be made for you in your desert (or the dry,
hard places in your life), and streams to flow in your wasteland
causing fruitfulness to abound in and around you.

Embrace the wonderful new beginnings that are a part of life--in Christ!