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 wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
“People don’t resist change; they resist being changed.”– Peter M. Senge.
The Lord God is a Change-Agent who makes all things new. The nature of God to make old things new on earth as it is in heaven. There will be no old, worn-out junk in heaven. Heaven invades earth when we invite our God to come and rule over our lives. Once He takes charge, everything will be made new. There will be no reeking landfills or dunghills of the past in our life. He will make the stinky muck of our marred past into miracle messages. God will use the miserable mistakes as manure to transform us into a fruitful garden. However, those who resist change will never be able to enjoy the newness and novelty that comes from the Author of awesome changes.
Peter was a traditional Jew who kept the Jewish food and festival regulations. Even though Jesus insisted that only what comes out of our mouth can corrupt us, Peter was still steeped in tradition. The Lord God spoke to him in a vision to change his mindset regarding the adoption of gentiles into God’s family. “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Acts 10:17b). The Lord refreshed his thinking in the vision by asking him to eat what was prohibited by Kosher, the Jewish Law. The vision was not given to eat the prohibited food but to understand that God has accepted the gentiles who were once far away from God’s presence and sanctuary. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ (Ephsians 2:13). In order to preach the gospel to the non-Jews at the house of Cornelius, the Italian General, Peter’s old traditional ways of thinking had to be changed.
God our Change-Agent makes all things new:
1. Refresh: God will prepare us before He promotes us. If Peter had resisted the change from the legalistic ways of thinking, he would not have been promoted as the ‘Evangelist to the Gentiles’. Traditional ways of thinking are very judgmental and self-righteous. Be open to correction and allow the Holy Spirit to refresh your mind into newness.
2. Reset: God will reset our mindset before He gives us additional responsibilities. Additional responsibilities would require a higher level of integrity and selflessness. To keep receiving more and more new divine assignments, we must stop expecting to be appreciated by people. Reward will automatically come when we allow our Change Agent to reset our mindset to ‘selfless service’.
3. Renew: God will renew us every morning. Our whole inner being becomes new and fresh as we marinate in His presence. The Change-Agent will wipe away pain, harsh words, and unforgiveness hoarded in the heart and make us new and clean every day. Jesus will renew our mind and replenish us with His vision.
God is the change-Agent of newness for those who are willing to change themselves.
Isaiah 43:18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Prayer: Pappa God, be my Change-Agent and make everything new in my life. I surrender willingly to change myself to fit into your plan. Amen
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