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Topic: A Fresh Beginning
[DCLM Daily Manna 1 January 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Isaiah 43:18-21 (KJV)
Key Verse: “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).
MESSAGE:
William Kerfoot was respected, successful businessman when the great Chicago fire of 1871 hit, leaving his office and portfolio in ashes. But he wasted no time rebuilding. He put up a wood shack that read: “All gone but wife, children, and energy”. He then placed an advert on the Tribune on October 11 and 12 telling customers his business was still open. By october 13, his advertisement proclaimed he was back “at his old place, 89 East Washington Street”. The editorial of that day encouraged Chicagoans through this man’s courage to “Cheer up, Chicago will rise again”.
Israel’s seventy years of captivity in Babylon had left almost an indelible mark on their lives. The humiliation, the shame of losing the war, the stress of being uprooted from the cities they had known and lived in for hundreds of years, and the deportation to a strange land, was like a wound that refuses to heal. Prophet Isaiah, in our text, prophesied about the new thing that God has promised to do for His people. It was just the right words to heal their present wounds and prepare them for the future golden rule of Christ where the earth shall be renewed in a way it was never before.
Many times, the memories of the past year come back to haunt us and halt the prospects and progress in the new. As we begin the New Year, we must forget the failures and missed opportunities of the past. We must remember that we cannot enjoy the benefits and the opportunities in the New Year if we continue to ruminate on the distress, disappointments and disgrace of the past one.
God has promised to do a new thing in our lives. All disappointments, sicknesses, pains and problems of the past year must be allowed to go with it as we welcome a New Year of opportunities. Happy New Year!
Thought For The Day: A new beginning comes to those who forget the past.
Bible Reading In One Year: Genesis 1-3
Inspiration