Open your eyes to the new God is doing
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43: 16 - 21 (NIV)
16This is what the Lord says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
17who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18“Forget the former things; do not well on the past.
19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
20The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
Message: Open your eyes to the new God is doing
God is doing many things around us
Our God is a God who is at work in this world - do you believe that?
Take a moment to think about this - God is involved in what is going in world around us
God is not distant and removed, God is here… actively involved in this world
Our God is not just involved - our God is purposely working in this world - do you believe that?
Again, take a moment to think about that - God is busy doing something in the world we live in…
God is busy doing something - God is up to something!
Our God is purposefully at work in my life - do you believe that?
God has an agenda with your life - God is going somewhere with you!
Isaiah 43 is one of the chapters in the Bible that tells the story of a God that is personally involved in the lives of people… God says: “I summon you by your name - you belong to Me!” (v.1)
And if you believe that God actively at work in your life today, the question should be: What is God doing in my life?
God is there with you in whatever is happening in your life right now… “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.”
God is making a way
And when God is at work in your life, God is also going out before you and God is making a way for what is to come
God will do what needs to be done to help you through the new
God makes it possible for you to go through change…
I read this week about a Presbyterian minister who remarked that love the idea of God as the God that always stays the same - the unchanging God…
We love the idea so much that we use it an excuse in our minds to resist change
And we just hate change, don’t we?
Insted of being challenged by change we feel threatened by change
The idea of change in any way has the tendency to paralize us and bring out the dark side of us…
Today, as we take the time to consider the fact that God is always the same, let us remember also that God is always at work in our lives
And that God is always busy paving out new ways in our lives… God hates contempt
God is not done creating in our lives…
Have you ever thought how sad it would be if God were to turn away from us, saying “I am done with Will now…?”
We need to fall down on our knees and plead with God not to leave us alone, despite our unwillingness to be changed…
Forget the former, do not dwell on the past
This God who is personally at work in my life says: “forget the former, do not dwell on the past!”
The past is the past… it is behind us!
We will never have the past again!
Things will never be the way they were again!
Clinging to the things that were is only hurting us
It is a chain around our ankles holding us back
We need to hear today that dwelling in the past damaging to us
We need to be honest with ourselves about those things that keeps holding us back, preventing us from moving forward
If you have things in your life that you cannot let go of, you need to find help!
Speak to someone!
Commit to doing something about it!
God will provide for what lies ahead
And when you commit to become involved in what God is doing in your life right now, God will provide
God will inspire you to build on your willingness to be changed
God will send the people in your life to take your hand
God will bring understanding into your thoughts so that you may know what is going on
God will convince you to trust - trust that God will give you what you need to go forward
God will make you aware of the fact that you are not alone in all of this - God is with you all the way!
God will give you a vision of where you are going with wht God is doing in your life
God will help you to remain focused on the new path God is taking you on…
Choose to be part of what God is doing - honouring God
Lent is a time of change
We remember the journey of Jesus on his path to the cross
Lent is a time of reflection
And today, when the Lord our God is reminding us that He is busy working in our lives, we have the opportunity to reflect on what He is doing in my life right now
Perhaps, I am called to open myself up to what God is doing?
Perhaps I need to work on my attitude towards change?
Or my willingness to open up my thinking?
Or start paying attention to what is going on around me?
Or gathering the courage to face what I have been avoiding for so many years?
I don’t know what God is doing in your life right now, but I do know that God is up to something with you!
This year with Lent and Easter, God is taking you somewhere
And when you choose to go along with where God is taking you, you will grow, and God will be honoured!
So may you open your eyes to the new God is doing in your life today!
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