New Opportunity!
How many of you are looking for a New Beginning? So many were waiting for their new beginning on January 1. For many, their New Beginning didn’t happen. What went wrong? Did you ever think that January 1st. is not the beginning of the year, according to God? The Romans made January 1st. the start of the year. I am not saying that you shouldn’t observe January 1 as the beginning of the year for business and tax purposes. What I am saying is that in your dealings with God you have to get on His timetable. He will not adjust to ours. He has particular seasons of how He wants to move and deal with us. We need to recognize them. The New Year according to the Bible starts on Nissan 1 on the Jewish calendar (Exodus 12 v. 1). Nissan 1 falls in a few days on sundown April 4, on our calendar this year. April 4 is the beginning of the year, according to God. January to March is a time where God is “preparing” some of His people for their New Beginning.
This beginning of the year also points to a time of restoration. God has rescued us from the plans of the enemy during the previous year. He also wants to restore in our lives “the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm ….”(Joel 2 v. 25). He wants to “build the old waste places….raise up the foundations of many generations…” He also wants to repair the breach and restore the paths to dwell in. (Isaiah 58 v. 12). This is such a great time for God to start to complete the details of our lives and clean up those things from the past that are still hanging around. He can go back for us into the defeats of the past and turn them around into victories. Please let Him accomplish this for you not only at this time of the year, but also at any time He moves to do so. He wants to restore monies lost, relationships that went sour and missed opportunities. This truly is the time of the restitution of all things (Acts 3 v. 21). This season is truly an opportunity for that new beginning that you need so desperately.
The beginning of the year is also a time to reflect on how far God has brought us. We need to look back and remember when we were deep in sin and being controlled by some sinful habit. We need to understand that it is only by the grace of God that we are free from the past and can stay free. We need to understand that we may not be as far as we think we are from that sinful habit and that we need His presence even more now. We are not as strong as we think. God maybe still be healing the wounds in our lives and some could still be open. Be careful not to venture into situations where we fell before, just because we are saved. Remember, our flesh and soul (mind, will and emotions) are not born again. They still need to be yielded to the control of the Holy Spirit. At this time of year, God is preparing us for promotion by reminding us that we can only maintain the new level of promotion by being in His presence. Only His presence can keep us from our old life and help us to maintain our new position.
Draw close to Him and don’t be overconfident. So, you will find during this season that God will remind us of our past and warn us of possible similar attacks. These attacks can only be defeated by being in His presence. The old nature has to be kept under control so we can maintain our new spiritual levels. In Romans 7 v. 14-25, Paul mentions that He is not able to do the things that he wants to do and cannot help doing the things that he doesn’t want to do. But he says in verse 25, that through Jesus he can have the power to control the flesh. Paul also said in Chapter 8 v. 13, that through the Spirit we can mortify the deeds of the flesh. Praise Him!
God has established His beginning of the year for us. He establishes this fact in Exodus 12 v. 2, where he mentions that this month shall be the beginning of the months for them. They were just coming out of Egypt when He said this to them. In Deuteronomy 16 v. 1, God mentions that it was in the month of Abib that he brought them out of Egypt. Abib is another name for Nissan. So, in Exodus 12 v. 2 this is the month that He said should be the beginning of the year for them. It is so easy to understand that God would choose springtime as His beginning of the year in dealing with us. Grass and other vegetation starts to bloom and grow, at this time. The previous months during the year are all preparation for the beginning of the subsequent year.
There are certain things that God wants to do during His beginning of the year. There is an anointing on this season for restoration, for starting new assignments, new beginnings in general and for positioning for promotions. He is positioning some of his people to take somebody’s place! In Luke 13 v. 30, Jesus said that there are some that are”last which shall be first and some first which shall be last.” There are some people that God set up originally but have been lifted up in pride and neglecting their assignments.
They are forgetting the One who gave them their position. They were first but now are last. Don’t let this happen to you. This is a time where some of us whom others have written off as last shall be first. We are being prepared by God during this time before April 5, to possibly take someone else’s position. Allow Him to work on you! Allow Him to point out those areas of your life that need to change to His liking. It is a wonderful season for a Second Chance. You might have felt that you were on the backburner, but you were just simmering. God was just waiting for the heat of the stove to bring more flavor out of you! A prime example of someone falling out of favor with God and losing his position to someone else is the story of Saul and David. Saul was so humble that when he was chosen to be king, he hid himself. But he started to change! In 1 Samuel 13 v. 11 Saul explained to Samuel why he offered a sacrifice to God without waiting for Samuel, who was appointed by God to offer sacrifices. He said that he couldn’t wait for Samuel, as the people were getting anxious. God was angry and spoke through Samuel that Saul would not continue in his position as king. Samuel also said the God had found somebody after His own heart, to take his place. In 1 Samuel 15, Samuel had told Saul not spare anything or anybody when he destroyed the Amalekites. Saul spared the king of the Amalekites and took some of his spoil, sheep and oxen (to sacrifice to God). God was very angry and said through the Prophet Samuel that obedience is better than sacrifice (v. 22). In v. 28, God spoke through the Prophet to King Saul that the kingdom was taken away from him that very day and given it to someone else!
At that time David was given the kingdom, even though he didn’t realize it! Do you see that God could have spoken a promotion for you and that He is preparing you for it, at this very hour? We see David watching the few sheep that he had, when God sends Samuel the Prophet to his house, to anoint him as king. As a Prophet of God, He is also sending me to you today, by way of the Internet to deliver this message to you. He is ready to promote some of you into somebody else’s position, because you have His heart for His people. Get ready! Let Him prepare you! The pressure that some of you are feeling is the hand of the Master polishing you for your new beginning, your new position (Isaiah 49 v. 2). Don’t get lifted up in pride, but know that if God took the position from somebody else and gave it to you, He can also remove you.
This is why it is so important to know God’s seasons of dealing with us. In this season, He is trying to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus, with a greater urgency. He has already spoken someone’s removal from their position and He wants you to continue what you are doing. Even though you think your work is minimal for the Kingdom, God doesn’t think so! You have His heart and this is your season for replacing and promotion. Just like the angels were ascending and descending on the ladder that Jacob saw (Genesis 28 v. 12), angels are descending from heaven to you with new instructions for a new position. This is also why you seem to be thinking bigger now. God has expanded your vision. He has been getting you ready all along.
As you can see, the beginning of the year is a season for God to promote and position us into new levels with new authority. We need to also remember especially during this season, that without Him and His presence we would fall back into the old paths.
In this season of God positioning and repositioning His people, He is drawing us into His presence in a greater way for at least three purposes:
1) To know who we really are in Him.
2) To know who He really is, in all His majesty.
3) To know our real purpose.
So many of us have based what we are doing for the Body of Christ on what somebody else said. We may have gotten a prophetic word from a Prophet or some other minister or saint. Some have based their whole lives on a “Word from the Lord,” which wasn’t from the Lord. They never went into God’s presence and/or His word to confirm somebody’s “Thus saith the Lord.” This is why God is drawing us closer i.e. for us to make sure of our calling, our purpose. Sometimes God has to reposition us to make the places that got crooked to be straight! Also, God is starting to position us where He wants us to be, where He chose us to be before the foundation of the world. If you are seeking God to be what He wants you to be, you will feel His hand gently turning you spiritually. This turning will be reflected in the natural too. You are finding or will find that God is closing doors that you thought that He opened and felt very comfortable in. He is maneuvering you to place you where you will be the most effective. It may not be the place that you thought that He would move you.
Let’s look at some of the examples in the word concerning God’s positioning and repositioning. In Luke 1 v. 26, the word records that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced to her that the Son of God would be conceived in her womb. She went to her cousin Elizabeth’s house where it is recorded in v. 46-49 that the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, just as the angel said. The Holy Spirit could not cause this conception to take place where she lived. He didn’t want Joseph near her, when this happened. She had to be repositioned. Her life was never the same after that day. Nor will yours be if you allow God to have His way, even if you don’t understand what He is doing. Mary couldn’t understand how it could happen but said in v. 38- “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.” Just flow with the Holy Spirit and let Him have His way! In Genesis 26, Isaac started to dig up the wells of water that his father Abraham had previously dug and each time that he did, the Philistines would fight him and stop up with dirt what he dug. This may be the way you feel right now. Every step that you take is met with an adversary. In v. 22, the Bible records that he moved someplace else and the Philistines could not fight him over the wells. He dug up a new one and called it Rehoboth, which means room. God made room for him and He is doing the same for you. Even his enemies came to him and wanted to surrender and make a covenant with him (v. 26-30). He was repositioned and so are you. The pressure of the enemy caused the repositioning of Isaac by God. God is allowing the pressure in your life to position or maneuver you to your purpose or destiny. Allow Him to have His way. He is causing you and me to look beyond our comfort zone and our familiar territory. He may position you to where you never imagined you would be.
In the book of Acts 14 v. 19, the word said that at Lystra, people from Antioch and Iconium stoned Paul and left him for dead. After this beating Paul did an amazing thing i.e. he returned to Lystra, where he was beaten (v. 21). He preached that they “must continue in the faith and that through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God” (v.21). He was qualified to preach this because he just returned to the people that wanted to kill him. O what courage! God repositioned Paul right back where his enemy didn’t want him to be. As a result of this repositioning, he was able to ordain elders in every church. God caught the enemy by surprise, by sending Paul back to a place where the enemy thought he won a victory. God could send you back to an area where you seemed to have been defeated and win back the territory, by catching the enemy by surprise. Be open to his moving! Just as the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, so must we follow God’s leading, even when it doesn’t make sense.
In 1 Kings 19 after Elijah had run away from Jezebel he was hiding in a cave. He positioned himself. God repositioned him right back to where Jezebel was, right where his flesh didn’t want to go (v. 15). God could do the same with you and I. God may reposition you to confront some of your fears and deliver you once and all!
In Acts 9, Paul just got saved but got ahead of God and got himself in a situation where the enemies wanted to kill him at Damascus. God rescued him. He then went to Jerusalem and there the Jews wanted to kill him also. He had such a zeal for God but needed more wisdom, not knowing the timing of God. Finally they repositioned Paul back to where he came from, Tarsus. The bible says in v. 31 that after this repositioning, the churches throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria finally had rest. You see God will reposition us where we need to be because we could be affecting some people in a negative way. We could be out of the will of God and causing confusion. When you are in the center of God’s will people around you will be edified, recognize and appreciate your anointing.
This positioning and repositioning by God is so very important, especially at this season, because God is making sure we are at the correct battle stations in this final war of all wars! You will see that all that you have been through has trained you for your assigned battle station. No body else can do your assignment! Everything that has happened to you in your life was permitted by God and will work for your good and His glory! Praise Him!
Read the Epistles from the book of Romans to the book of Revelation and apply the scriptures contained in these books (that God shows you) to your life to help you to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Please let Him deal with you in this season of preparation so you can finally receive what He has for you, on His time table! This is the only way to receive your New Beginning from God.
You see, God deals with us on a yearly basis (See my book "Noon" and the first page of my website and click on the cover to order or contact me at 772-801-3677 for large orders at a discounted price). Beginning with the first month of the year God has a timetable to do a work in our lives by the end of the year. Don't cut short His work by joining the majority of the world and closing out the year on Dec. 31. In these last couple of days before the New Year get prepared for you “New Beginning.”