Now!

Now!

Isaiah 43:1 KJV

[1] But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

No matter what has happened before NOW, God wants to do a new thing. Life may have been hard and bitter due to the choices I had made in the past, but when God is involved, the past is just part of the course toward the glory that God wants to reveal. As you read the chapter and verses that preceded the verse above, you get the clear impression that God hates and will punish sin, no matter in whom it is found. These were His chosen people, whom He had called from among the many nations of the world, but they had been rebellious and disobedient, and, as a God who does not line, and in line with His Word, He had punished them for their sin, sending some to exile, whilst some died in the same land that they were supposed to enjoy God's abundant grace. 

Avoid sin; it destroys. It does not always ring a bell to notify you of its advancement, but be sure that the punishment for sin is huge and may cost lives. However, by God's divine arrangement and intervention, sin does not hold the final say over our lives. Grace does. No matter how dirty and filthy the past is, there is adequate provision and protection against the power and influence of sin. 

Whatever may have led you to sin is subject to the power and authority of the One who died to defeat sin. There is NOW no other power so strong like the name and word of Jesus. God sends a new word to us today, and it is that He is NOW doing a new thing. He may have punished in the past, but His mercy is NOW at work to refresh, restore, redeem and renew. 

He sends His Word by the prophet Isaiah here, and He sends it to all of us today: I know you; I formed you. I know the good and great plans I have for you, and I am able to bring them to pass. Do not fear the past; it is redeemed, as long as you put your total trust in me. No matter the depth of sin in the past, my call upon your life has not been canceled or revoked. No matter how powerful the hold of sin is, God is more powerful, because He is eternal. There is no one or anything that existed before Him, and there is nothing that can outlast Him. NOW is the day of salvation; the day that God seeks to turn our lives around and bring us into the place of His purpose. He knows and calls us by name, and there is no confusion about my ownership. I note that He does not force Himself on anyone, and He will not go against the exercise of my freewill. It has to be of my own freewill. Would you come to Him, as you are, so He can make you like Him? God's time of favour is NOW.