The Lord Is Doing A New Thing

God has no problem doing new things. It is time for Him to do a new thing; the only thing He’s commanding us to do is to be obedient, doing what He tells us to do. The Lord is doing a new thing in His people, those who will obey Him without reservation. What God is doing is not limited by the fact that we are coming to the end of the year, as God does not operate by man’s dates. What He’s doing will continue till next year.

Isaiah 43:15-18

“I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” ¹⁶ Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, and a path through the mighty waters, ¹⁷ Who brings forth the chariots and horse, the army and the power (they shall lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):

¹⁸ “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the tings of old. ¹⁹ Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

There are times as human beings we go so far from God that we forget that God is the Holy One, who requires us to live in holiness. God introduces Himself in our text today as the Holy One. He is still the Holy One in our lives, who does not forget nor erase us from His memory. He has engraved us on the palms of His hands, and will never erase us. He is a God of love, the God I’m preaching about today.

God remembers us and is good to us not because we are good or perfect, but because He loves us. Even when we err, He still loves us because He is love and He is Holy. After introducing Himself as the Holy One, He tells the children of Israel to forget the past. The Holy and Loving God is asking us to forget the things of the past, repent and allow Him to do a new thing.

Do not condemn yourself over things you did in the past; when God is saying He is doing a new thing, it is for His loved ones, but He wants us to quit living on what is in the past. If we focus on the past, we will miss out on what is coming. Even Paul says that he forgets what is behind, which is what we should also do, and move on.

When you forget the things in the past and accept God to do a new thing, dryness of praying, studying the word of God, going to church etc. will be turned by God into springs of life, such that rivers of living water will flow from our bellies. Forget the former things. Forget what you did not do yesterday; that is in the past. Forget who wronged you, where you went wrong etc., and move on.

God wants to give us waters of life, just as He did through Jesus, to the Samaritan woman. In looking for a new man, the Samaritan woman went through 6 men, but could not find that new thing. She only found the new thing when she met with Jesus, the greatest Man. Have you been looking for peace, happiness, life etc. in your own ways? Let go, and tell Jesus that you have come to the end of yourself. The new thing that Jesus did in the Samaritan’s woman’s life gave her the confidence to go and look for men to bring to Jesus, overlooking the shame of being seen as a loose woman. She chose to forget the past things, and chose to believe in this one Man, who changed her life.

Ruth 1:1

Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.

Ruth 1:3

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.

Ruth 1:13

...would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD ahas gone out against me!”

Ruth 1:29

But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Ruth 4:14-16

Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed  be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! 15 “And may He be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.

Having led themselves as the Bible implies from Ruth 1:1, Elimelech and his family went into the land which suffered famine a while later, where he lost his boys. Naomi, after she came to this realization, decided to go back to her home. When you a realize that you led yourself and are where you did not wish to be, return back to God, and allow Him to restore you to where you are supposed to be. God restored Naomi completely, to give her another son, from whom Christ came.

Leave where you took yourself, from friends who you have led yourself in acquiring, places you were no supposed to be etc. These are things that will keep you from being restored by God, and will do when we make a decision to go on ways that are pleasing to Him. Leave these things, and run to God.

Luke 15:12

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 

Luke 15:20

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 

Luke 15:22-24

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 

May you hear the Father’s voice calling you back, waiting to celebrate with you, for Him to give you a new start. Just like the prodigal son, many people have settled for something less that what was entitled to them. The Father’s waiting to give rest to those who are carrying heavy loads, only if they decide to give everything to Jesus. Let us go back to our first love, go back to how we used to enjoy good things in our Father's house, our home.

In order for the Father to do a new thing, He wants obedience. Obedience will amuse you to enjoy good things, and acquire a new thing from the Lord. God does not do things with double standards; He wants holiness.

An obedient person is one who willingly yields and submitting themselves to the Lord. God wants us to willingly give ourselves to obedience.

Ever since creation, there is nothing that God has done without Him requiring obedience from men.

Genesis 2:16-17

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “of the tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

When Adam sinned, God still did not give up on mankind, but sent His Son Jesus Christ so that through Him He can get to do a new thing in us, again. Whatever Adam did is now in the past, all that matters is that we have been given the same opportunity to allow God to keep doing a new thing in our lives, through obedience and faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus as the Son of God is what results in God doing a new thing in us.

Throughout the Bible right from the Old Testament, we see what happened to people who obeyed God, and those who did not. We have an opportunity to to obey God. 

Some people obey God out of fear of punishment; others do because they know of blessings attached to obedience. Others obey God out of loving Him, and wanting to please Him. The best person is the third one, who obeys God out of love, with or without punishment or blessings. The people who obey God out of fear or reward eventually let go, when their motives go unfulfilled or unmatched. Let us obey God out of love.

Prepare room for God to do a new thing in your life, by giving yourself completely to obey whatever He tells you to do.

Amen.

-- Pastor Mary Mugo.

24/11/13 Sunday service sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.


Pastor Mary Mugo is the Senior Pastor at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.