GOD WILL DO NEW THINGS

How does the Lord—our good and compassionate God—want to bless you in this year? IN YOU, I WILL DO NEW THINGS; NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH. This word of promise is found in the Book of Isaiah: “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” (Isa 43:19).

What does this scripture promise? Primarily two areas of blessings:

1. A way (road) in the wilderness.
2. Rivers in the desert.

When the Israelites left Egypt, the land where they were living in bondage for 400 years, though they were led by the Prophet Moses they did not know where to go. There were no street signs or names of roads or freeways in the desert. The entire plain before them all look the same. How would they know which way to turn?

The Lord knowing their predicament guided them Himself: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night” (Ex 13:21). He was their guide and compass. How good a God we have! Many a times we think we know our way around in life. We end up like the blind getting knocked here and there. We should learn to be like the Prophet Moses. The Bible says of him: “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). Though he was wise he was not conceited in his own ways. Neither did he lean on his own understanding in leading the Israelites in the wilderness. He often prayed like this: “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people” (Ex 33:13).

So, He who called them out from the kingdom of darkness alone led them in the wilderness to the promise land (Deu 32:12).

The second is a promise of provision. When the Israelites walked in the wilderness there were no water sources to be found. The Bible records two incidents where the Israelites murmured against the Prophet Moses because they were thirsty: Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:2-13. During these two occasions the Lord God, through His prophet, miraculously provided water for several million people.

The scriptures say, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Ps 37:25). The righteous are never forsaken! During the 20 years of serving the Lord in Tibet and Nepal I have experienced these two blessings in my life. I have experienced the Lord miraculously guiding me in the wilderness in Tibet and in the jungles in Nepal. He has also supplied provisions such as food and water too in strange and difficult places. Our God is a good God who never forsakes those who put their hope and trust in Him.

You may think that you know all this very well. Just wait a minute. I had merely presented just the basic promise of this scripture. There’s more. As I was praying about this promise to speak at a New Year service which was televised live on our network, the Lord asked me to pay attention to the words “IN YOU” and focus on them.
In times past God had blessed us with materialistic blessing, as this scripture has promised. However, in this new season, as a new decade opens before us, God not only wants to provide blessings for you but to do new things IN YOU. What are they?

THE WAY

Remember the prayer of the Prophet Moses? “Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people” (Ex 33:13). God desires to teach us His ways. This is the secret that was chiefly taught to Enoch. Angels were sent to teach Enoch the ways of God before the commandments (the ways of God) were given through the Prophet Moses. These ancient secrets of God’s ways were also taught to the generation of Seth: “And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. That’s when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of God” (Gen 4:26, THE MESSAGE).

The “ways of God” means the manner of life to live. When God provided the Israelites commandments they were instructions to live by in this world. We are not going to live on this world forever. This world like our mortal body is going to be changed and renewed—exchanged, rather (Isa 24:4; 33:9; Rom 8:21-22). Before that takes place there are two important events that are going to take place: the Rapture and the 1000 year reign of Christ Jesus in this world.

Another thing to consider is that our temporary abode will be in heaven till the Lord makes the new heaven and new earth (Rev 21:1). The spirits of all the dead in Christ make their temporary abode in heaven till the Lord comes back to this earth (Jn 14:2). Created Man was not made to live in heaven but on earth. God originally made man out of the dust of this earth (Gen 2:7). Angels were never made of the dust of the earth. It is on account of sin that man has been given temporary abode in heaven. Why is that so?

During the process of dying a mysterious work of purification takes place. What I reveal now pertains only to believers. For some lying on the bed of affliction and some others undergoing prolonged illness, a work of sanctification (body and soul purification) is actually being done to perfect them. They are being prepared for the moment of release from the bondage and corruption that came as a result of sin (Isa 48:10). At the point of death the silver cord that binds their soul and spirit to the flesh is cut (Ecc 12:6-7). The soul and spirit are thereby set free to be received by the angels to go to heaven.

Entering heaven, the soul is made to go through the sea of glass, which really is a river of living waters, for one final act of purification, sanctification, and perfection to remove any remaining chaffs of earthliness. Only after this heavenly immersion is a soul made completely perfect so as to abide in heaven in a state of sinlessness, just like the angels. Thenafter it is no longer possible for such souls to visit sinful earth in their perfected state, for doing so will contaminate them. You may now ask, “Then what about all the angels who come to earth? Why are they not contaminated?” You are so wise to ask and think of such questions.

Angels do not come to earth like you would visit a playground. They come on special assignments. When they do they still war with the evil angels and are specially protected (Dan 10:12-13). Even spirits of just men made perfect who visit the earth on angel-like assignments are protected too by angels to prevent them from being contaminated. These are mysteries that cannot be explained properly in a few words. Nevertheless, for your edification, I have tried my best here to provide a short description of a very complex spiritual mystery using layman terms.

But let’s now come back to the main point. During the interim period from now till when the Lord comes back to the earth, how will we live in heaven? What will we do in heaven? What are the rules of life to live in heaven? Are there protocols and rules to abide by? Certainly! But not much is revealed in the scriptures as we know them. Or do we think we know them? This subject is another deep mystery.

What do we know of life in heaven and life on earth during the millennium? Absolutely nothing! The Bible hardly says much about them. God desires to teach us His ways so that we can get ready for that blessed life. He desires to show us His ways to live in His kingdom. He desires to do that by coming to make His abode in us: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’”(Jn 14:23). When He comes within us, then He will live in us and walk among us. He will be our God, and we will be His people (2 Cor 6:16). God desires to restore in us the creation of the Garden of Eden.

This is the true kingdom living that was not taught before. Once again as the angels came and taught Enoch so will they come to teach us of God’s ways. And as Seth’s generation worshiped and prayed unto God in His own name, so will we be taught a pure language to call on the name of the Lord, and to serve Him with one accord (Zeph 3:9).

THE RIVERS

The second blessing God desires to restore in us is the creation of rivers to flow from within us. We read in Genesis: “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates” (Gen 2:10-14).

These rivers flowed literally in the Garden of Eden. They do exist in our day. As these rivers flowed in the garden, now God wants to cause these four rivers to flow from within us. How, you may wonder? Let’s read the Book of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2). The seven manifestations of the one and selfsame Holy Spirit are also mentioned in Revelation 4:5.

The seven Spirits of God are paired in four groups:

1. The Spirit of the Lord
2. The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding/Revelation (Eph 1:17)
3. The Spirit of Counsel and Might
4. The Spirit of Knowledge and the Fear of God

When God created a literal place on this earth called Eden He also made four rivers to flow forth from it. Likewise now when a garden is recreated within us God will cause the four rivers of the Spirit of the Lord to flow from within us. The four rivers of the seven Spirits of the Lord are a higher manifestation of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit.

THE RESULT

Once you begin to know the ways of God and begin to feel the anointing of the Spirit of the Lord flowing in you as the four rivers, what are the NEW THINGS God will do in you?

1. He will show His power in you as how Pharaoh was raised for the then known world to see God’s power: “But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth” (Ex 9:16).
2. The King will take delight in you: “And Saul commanded his servants, ‘Communicate with David secretly, and say, “Look, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become the king’s son-in-law.”’” (1 Sam 18:22). He will also set you on a throne: “Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness” (1 Kg 10:9).
3. You shall not be forsaken: “You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, And your land shall be married” (Isa 62:4).

HOW TO INHERIT THESE BLESSINGS?

Not all promises of God are automatically granted. Many are conditional. It means that we will have to abide by conditions attached to the blessing. Likewise in order to inherit all these blessings the Lord God desires you to do the following things:

1. Pray asking God to show you His ways: “Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths” (Ps 25:4). Seek the ways of God with all your heart.
2. Ask God to teach you His ways: “Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies” (Ps 27:11; 86:11).
3. God must be sanctified in you: “‘And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes’” (Ezek 36:23). In order for God to come and make His abode in you, our spirit, soul, and body must be clean and pure (2 Cor 7:1).
4. Evil must not be found in you: “Then Achish called David and said to him, ‘Surely, as the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the lords do not favor you’” (1 Sam 29:6).
5. Good things must be found in you. Remove all idols from your heart: “Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God” (2 Chr 19:3).
6. Forget the old ways of seeking God and seeing God do His works: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isa 43:18).

The Lord God told Joshua: “Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before” (Josh 3:4). There are no precedents to the new things that God is going to do. We have not walked this way before! Do not be dogmatic about looking for precedents. The Glory of God is going to be poured upon the church in a new way. She is going to be clothed with light and glory as how Adam and Eve were clothed before their fall. The light hereto that has remained dim and hidden within all believers will begin to grow in intensity and will break forth from within them as how the Lord Jesus was transfigured (Matt 17:2). Every believer is going to walk clothed with this light like the Lion of Judah, triumphing over all the works of the enemy. This is the company of the manifested sons of God that the earth has been waiting for (Rom 8:19). The Lord is calling us to be pure and holy. Keep your eyes heavenwards. Watch for the return and soon coming of the Lord.

Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj

February 9, 2012 | Categories: Sharings | Leave a comment