Choose Your New

“Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. 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” (Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV).


Why is it so hard to get rid of negative feelings? Why do we sometimes have trouble trusting God? If we are “new creatures in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17), why at times don’t we feel new? Why do things from the past still have power to control our feelings? What are some of the things we hear in our minds? You will never be free. You have tried a hundred times. You never get anywhere. You are weak. You are a failure. You will never change. Ever have thoughts like these? 


Negative thoughts are not just put in your mind by the enemy. He exploits those thoughts that rise from how you were raised–what you have seen and heard–the sins that once held you captive, and the experiences that have shaped your life. If you are safe in Christ why do negative experiences still affect you? If you have accepted Him as Savior, the old is over. The negative thoughts of who you have been are no longer true. You believe in Him so why are you not “ made new in the attitude of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23)? 


You cannot just believe in Him. You must believe Him, and what He says in His Word–that His power can transform all of your life. You choose to forget what has happened. You choose to not dwell on your past. You choose to be made “new in the attitude of your mind “by putting on your new self” (Ephesians 4:23-24). You “put on your new self”, and He brings His power to redeem all the past which still plagues your life. You choose to dwell on Him instead of past experiences or failures or fear of “what might be”. In that surrender to His will, He captures the thoughts which have always defined who you have believed yourself to be (2 Corinthians 10:5). He redefines you.


A great newness of fresh life in Him will spring up. You will perceive it. Where once you were controlled by the old in your life, you will now be controlled by His new. He will make a way in your desert to give His living water so that you might never be controlled by what you have been or what has been. When you choose Him, you choose new. That is a daily choice that must continue throughout the rest of your life. You forget the former things, and don't dwell on the past. You dwell on Him, over and over, until the past no longer has any power over your life. You are transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). 


Choose new today. Put on your new self, and believe Him. You are a new creature.