11.16.07
“A NEW BEGINNING!”
Psalm 111:9-10
“He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”
We frequently hear the phrase, “a new beginning.” What does it mean? Basically it means that we have run contrary to God’s Word and have found ourselves in deep water. We know that we cannot keep going along the same old way without experiencing dire consequences. It may be poor decisions we have made, or possibly circumstances beyond our control which have bowled us over.
On the negative side, we can regret the condition we are in and spend so much time fretting over what has happened that we lose hope. We become despondent, depressed and derailed. In this condition we sink deeper and deeper into our slough of despond without making an attempt to begin again.
If that is where you find yourself today, I urge you to take heart and look at your condition from the positive point of view. What is the lesson God wishes to teach us from our flops and failures? That we cannot succeed without the Lord having control of our life.
The positive view of our dismal condition is to recognize that a new beginning is required. One of the most common failures that we face is self-sufficiency. Modern self-help gurus will spout that we need to love ourselves and everything will be okay. WRONG!
What does God’s Word have to say about it. In Jeremiah 17:9 we read these words: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” I don’t think having a good image of yourself fits in well with that passage, do you? God wants us to realize that self-sufficiency is wrong! We need a new beginning to allow the Lord to take control of our life.
The Psalmist David sees in today’s Scripture that the “fear of the Lord” is the beginning of wisdom. This is a profound and meaningful discovery. This word fear does not necessarily mean the cowering tremble in anticipation of being slapped.
The fear of the Lord is the eager emotion of anticipation that the God who is control of all things is our source of supply. He will give us His direction and protection as we step boldly forward to obey all He has revealed to us.
One of the reasons for our failure is that we want to see the end from the beginning. This is simply not possible since God will use intermediate goals to accomplish His will in our lives. The beginning in our life is the first step in the process of being Christ’s disciples.
May your new beginning be the start of the greatest adventure imaginable. Right where you are, stop and make your new beginning with God. Keep near Him through the study of His Word and prayer.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
- - - Pastor Cecil