"Expecting a New Thing
It never ceases to amaze me how precious and timely the Lord is. I am particularly noticing the way in which God's Word suggests that we always be willing to prepare for a new thing. With the Christmas season past, the Lord pressed us to anticipate a year of warring, waiting, and winning.
I'm sure that the correlation between His Word and our calendar must be noted because of the significance that He intended. So, with a new year before us and a summons by the Holy Spirit to 'expect a new thing,' and to 'prepare for a new thing,' let us heed the scriptural foundation for such an order of expectation.
'Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the ends of the earth...' Isaiah 42:9 & 10
The weight of this prophecy has as its emphasis what has already been completed... what has already 'come to pass.' So the Lord beckons us forward on the ground of His word already fulfilled in us. Learn this: what He fulfills is foundational. He establishes certain matters, then summons us on. The Father hasn't secured you for the sake of your retirement; but He grounds us for the sake of our growth. The old business which God has established among us is not to be filed away like a sheet of history that may periodically be dug up to study over the past. The old will be the basis upon which the Father's new business among us will be erected. Our past, personally and collectively, will continue to become more significant in God's leading us on to new things. Rejoice in what He has done - 'He has done great things.'
When the Lord speaks of a new song, He's not saying the old one is outdated, but that the old and precious praise principle will be added to by a 'new song,'... the timeless truth given fresh force through Holy Spirit-inspired worship. Worship is the pathway into everything God will to do in us.
So, the Lord says they will 'spring forth.' They are products of His workings, not ours. Our springing forth is not based on our labored productions, but His miracle life. Isaiah 43:19 says there is no place, no person or circumstance which is too barren or difficult for Him to do 'a new thing.'
As the Lord would say, 'We've completed the old; now let's talk about the new business.' I'm for that, aren't you? Amen.
Ron Mehl."