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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.
This morning I have good news because God has a new promise for you. He wants to do something
new in your life today.
Historical Background:
Isaiahs 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 though would be theirs forever.
They were home sick and dreaming of going back but life was going nowhere.
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. Forget your past glory. Example - Moses in Midian
b. Forget past failures. 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.
God gave them a land They wanted a king. Kings misled the people.
God gave them a temple They did idol worship.
God gave them wealth They misused the money.
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 Gods
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 was holding 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.
Yes, I see it. Yes, you may see a wasteland in your life but I see new beginnings in the Lord.
Amen!
But how really are you to get the new beginning? How is it possible in your present condition?
Forget the past, understand the present, & look up to the future.
3. Look up to the future.
Look up from where you are to the future.
Isaiah 43:19 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.
If you want new beginnings you have to lift your head and look to the future. Discover what God
wants for you. Now you can only see desert and wasteland but if you look up, lift your head you
can see a way in the desert. Look like an eagle not like a chicken.
See what God said Jeremiah 1:11-12 11 The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see,
Jeremiah?" "I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied. 12 The LORD said to me, "You have
seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."
What do you see? You have to look ahead to see the new beginnings.
Abraham was in such a situation. Lot and Abraham had a misunderstanding. Lot selected the
plains of Jordan for his cattle. Abraham was left with the desert. There was no way to feed his
cattle. The vegetables and plants for his people would not grow in the desert. He felt dry and lost.
See what God said.
Genesis 13:14-15 14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes
from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will
give to you and your offspring forever.
Abraham, the desert you are left with is not your future. Look up, lift up your eyes. Look at the
future. There is where I am leading you.
You may be in a dry land, no hope, surrounding disappointments and failure but God is telling you
to look up to the future, lift your head I am preparing a new beginning for your life.
CONCLUSION:
God is promising every one of you here a new beginning. God is telling you to stop looking at the
past, understand your present, and look up to the future. I can see that new beginning in your life by
the eyes of faith, just look over in faith you will find it. Will you stand up with me to pray this morning
so that the promises of God will be fulfilled in your life today?