Something New In My Life Series

INTRODUCTION

Do you feel your life is just getting nowhere? You feel you are doing the same routine again and again, day after day. You feel you are in a sort of stuck-up position where you feel you cannot do anything to change your present condition with absolutely no hope. It is a desert experience, and you feel very dry. Somehow with a lot of baggage on your back, you are pulling on.

Good news this morning: God has a new promise for you. He wants to do something new in your life today.

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, 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.

Last Sunday we looked at Hindrances to Restoration

Today we are going to look at God doing something new in your life.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Isaiah’s prophesies to the children of Israel came at a bleak period in their history. They are in captivity, in exile in Babylon. People lost everything back home that they thought would be theirs forever. They were homesick and dreaming of going back but life was going nowhere.

See what God says to them:

Isaiah 43:8

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.

God is telling He is going to do a new thing, a new beginning. He is going to make a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. This is the same promise for you today. He is going to change your desert into great highways.

How Is The New Beginning Possible?

V18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

V18 (Message) Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.

1. STOP LOOKING BACK – SOMETHING NEW IN MY LIFE

Stop looking behind and start looking forward. If you want a new beginning, you must stop looking at your back. If you keep looking back, you will never see where you are going. In order to change focus, you will have to forget the former things.

What are the things you need to forget to change your focus?

A. FORGET THE PAST GLORY

Forget your past victories.

The children of Israel had many victories and glorious times in the past. They defeated the Egyptians and left Egypt, and had many victories on the way to Canaan. They conquered Canaan, fought and won many battles against its enemies, they had a lot of victories and glorious times to talk about, they were dwelling in the past glory. But now they are in captivity. Their previous victories were doing nothing to set them free. They needed a new victory, new beginning, and a new miracle.

You cannot depend on your past victories and glory to come out of your present condition. Some of us are relying on our past good times and past glory. This year God is doing something new. So do not rely on your past. Your future is not based on what God has done in your life; your future is based on what God is going to do in your life today.

Haggai 2:9

The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the LORD Almighty.

B. FORGET THE PAST FAILURES – SOMETHING NEW IN MY LIFE

Do not allow your past failures to defeat you.

The children of Israel had many failures. They did terrible things in the presence of God.

i. God gave them a land – They wanted a king. Kings misled the people.

ii. God gave them a temple – They did idol worship.

iii. God gave them wealth – They misused the money.

iv. Finally, when God gave them Jesus – They rejected Him.

The children of Israel did not deserve any good from God. They always sinned and failed. God was gracious. He still loved them and wanted them to change, have better future. See God’s message to them: v18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. God was not condemning them for the past. They could do nothing to change them. God wanted them to repent and hold out the hand of hope.

Child of God, do not worry about your past failures, sins. God is able to forgive you and is lending you a hand of hope. God is telling – Forget your past I am giving you a new opportunity to start over again. If you have failed in the past, do not worry, if you have committed terrible sins in the past, do not worry, if your prayers are unanswered, do not worry.