Hello New Life Family,
I hope you all have had a great New Year and looking ahead to great things in 2023.
Isaiah 43.18 “Do not call to mind the former things or ponder things of the past. 19 “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”
The Lord is always wanting us to look ahead. He has a future planned for each of us that we can walk in. He has great plans and magnificent promises. Do not look at what you see or the seemingly impossibilities of situations. He can make a roadway in the wilderness and turn rivers into deserts. He will so it as we exercise faith, that comes from hearing, and becomes alive as we meditate on the promises He has spoken to us and in us.
Psa 131.1-3 “O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever.”
Our hope is set on the Lord from this present time and forever! This comes from first of all, knowing Him, His character, His integrity. Second from knowing his promises that He has declared knowing He cannot lie. Third by meditating on His Word of Truth and making His promises, His Word, our own. As we start to believe like Him, think like Him, act like Him, we will start to rest in Him, and our soul will be quieted. As we come to this place in Him, we will become more aware of what He is doing even before it springs forth.
Philippians 3.13-14 “….. one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Last year has passed. Don’t live or try to re-live 2022 or anything else in the past. It is time to press on to the goals of the prizes the Word of God offers to us. His Word is always calling us upward from the things we see and feel, to the things He has promised us and provided for us.
Turn on your earnest expectation to receive this year what is in your heart, what you have been meditating on, what you have been declaring, what the Lord has promised you through His Word. He is doing a new thing. As we follow Him He may want to change our direction to reach the goal. I.e., Have you ever been on the road and ran into a detour? You had to change your route to get around the detour. Possibly a bridge was out. Maybe a road was under construction. Crews could have been working on street lights. The detour could’ve caused a minor delay, or it could have caused a major delay. One thing is certain, if you didn’t detour when the bridge was out then you would be sitting there a long time saying continually, “I know this is the way I was supposed to go.” But with the bridge being out, you needed to detour in order to reach your destination. Taking the detour would have been quicker than waiting for the bridge to be repaired. The detour became the new direction, the new thing you needed to do.
God does not change His mind, but circumstances change. The devil puts up roadblocks. Hindrances appear. Obstacles get in our way. Detours may be required but the goal never changes. If we keep going in the way before the bridge was out, it may be a long time or a long delay time before we reach our destination.
Allow the Holy Spirit to move you in the direction you need to go. Turn from the past. He makes all things new. When we get on path, get back to following His directions, then suddenly can come into our life.
John 6.19-21 “ When therefore they had rowed about three or four miles, they *beheld Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” They were willing therefore to receive Him into the boat; and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
Receive Him into your boat, your vessel, your life. Turn from the way it used to be. The disciples had a habit of rowing to get to where they needed to be, but when Jesus came into the boat, rowing stopped and the destination was immediately reached.
This can be your year of suddenly! Your year of new things! Your year to reach the promised destinations. Receive into your plans, ideas, goals the God of suddenly, the God of purpose for our life.
May you continue to have a tremendous 2023. This is the best place we have ever been upon the earth. The Kingdom is getting ready to manifest for all to see!!
Pastor Bob
