A New Thing

God is creative by nature and so always wants to do new things in our lives. We, on the other hand are people of habit and tradition and usually don’t adapt well to change, especially if it is out of the norm. In Exodus chapter 3 God was preparing to do something radical that had never been done in the history of the world. He was preparing to deliver a people group who had been in slavery for over 400 years. They had known nothing else but slavery for generations.

I want to look at three essential things that had to happen to prepare Moses and the children of Israel for what God was about to do.

God had to get their attention. Moses is herding sheep just as he has done for years when an angel of the Lord appears to him as a flaming fire in a bush that is not being consumed. Exodus 3:3 says “Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight.” For God to do something new and extraordinary in our lives, He usually has to get our attention. We are so busy running along doing our thing in life that sometimes God has to disrupt our life in order that we will turn aside and be willing to listen to Him.

God had to identify himself according to their past experience. Now that He has Moses undivided attention, God says to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses and the children of Israel knew all the stories of the call of God on Abraham, Isaac’s supernatural birth, and all the wonderful things God had done in their forefathers’ lives. This was the foundation of their belief system and the hope of their lives. Through Israel’s history, every time God got ready to do a new thing, He would have them review what He had already done. It is from the foundation of our past that God builds our future.

God had to reveal a new dimension of Himself to prepare them for the new thing He was going to do. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob now reveals himself to Moses and Israel as “I AM WHO I AM.” I AM the God of your forefathers, IAM the God of your present in Egypt, and I AM the God of your tomorrow.” This is crucial! In order to move into the new thing that God has for us, we must have a new revelation of God. Our past revelations cannot take us into the future. We live in crucial times when God wants to do extraordinary things, but we must turn aside from our daily routine and come to know this extraordinary God in a new way. We cannot continue to do things the way we have been doing them and expect different results.

“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.” Isaiah 43:19

May God grant you a renewed vision of Himself and what He desires to do in and through you.

Andy Clark

An Everlasting Kingdom

Isaiah 9:6-7

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

This is a wonderful promise! In the midst of the political turmoil and uncertainty of our day here is a kingdom in the hearts of millions of believers whose government is firmly established on the strong, unchanging, stable shoulders of the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

God is calling His people to transfer their entire focus and trust from the kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. He is the source of everything that we need. Our economy is based firmly on His kingdom and economic principles set out in His Word. In such rapidly changing times, He is our Wonderful Counselor to whom we go and depend upon for all our advice. He is our Everlasting Father who loves us passionately and to whom we can turn in every situation and know that He is always there for us. As the Prince of Peace, peace is His nature, and as we take on His nature we can walk in constant peace no matter what our circumstances.

“The zeal of the Lord Almighty WILL accomplishes this.” We are not the ones to do it. He will finish the good work He has begun in you. He will build His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He will establish His kingdom, and no political force or military might can stop it. He simply calls us to trust Him and to become a part of what He is doing in these last days.

Let us rejoice today that we serve the King of kings, and “of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.” May you find refuge, counsel, grace and strength in His everlasting arms.

Andy Clark

To God be The Glory

Psalms 100:4-5

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

The way into God’s presence is through praise and thanksgiving. No matter what you are going through, whether you are struggling or on top of your game, praise and thanksgiving cause us to refocus from ourselves and our circumstances back onto God In doing so, we preserve ourselves from discouragement or pride and allow God to move in our lives and influence those around us.

Praise and thanksgiving are the way we give honor, reverence and respect to Him who sits on the throne. It is a way of declaring our dependence and faith in God. It opens the way for God to act on our behalf and for His name to be glorified. We are so often in such a hurry that we simply rush into God’s presence with our petitions and requests and fail to honor Him in our prayers and in our lives. We are so consumed with needs and agendas that we fail to promote His Name, Word and will. Lord, not my kingdom, but your kingdom; not my will, but your will be done.

We see this so aptly illustrated in the life of Daniel. Daniel 6:10 says that after the king had signed the law stating that no one could petition any other god but him, Daniel “went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.” Three times a day Daniel reminded himself who had made him great. Three times a day he thanked God and declared his dependence on God. Praise and thanksgiving to God was a lifestyle for Daniel in times of success and when his very life was being threatened.

Daniel’s lifestyle of continually praising and giving thanks to God was so apparent that it became the center of the enemys attack and also the source of Daniel’s greatest deliverance. Daniel’s lifestyle had so impacted the king that before throwing Daniel into the lions, he declared, "Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you." (Daniel 6:16) After Daniel’s deliverance the king passed a new decree in Daniel 6:26-28.

“I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

We truly serve an awesome God! May He be glorified in and through you as you serve Him continually with praise and thanksgiving to His glorious Name.

Andy Clark