Are you ready for a change established by God, a new beginning? It is time to shake off the old and enter into the new at Rosh Hashanah!
A Time to Move Forward:
Many of us have been through tumultuous times. The last few seasons have been a time of pruning, change, disunity, and anger. Yet, even within it, God has brought about change for the better by taking what the enemy meant for evil and turning it for good. God is bringing us into a time of wholeness.
It is true that few of us would choose to go through the last few years again, but it is also true that through it, much of the Body of Christ has awakened. Awakened from a sleep that lasted far too long…
It is time to shake off the old and step into the new that God has for us this Rosh Hashanah. It is time to throw away our old playbook and accept that God has a new one for us—one specifically designed for the times we live in and will encounter in days and years to come.
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
—Isaiah 43:19
Isaiah 43:19 is a well-known verse, both for the literal prophetic action of what God has done and is doing in Israel, and the spiritual prophetic action of what He has done and is doing in each of us. Yet, as the world continues to feel the aftershocks of emotional earthquakes around the world, perhaps now is the time that not only the beauty of this particular verse comes to light, but also its truth. That God is doing a new thing.
For those of us who turn to God and away from the media manipulation of today, the trials and magnitude of emotional earthquakes and aftershocks have been lessened. Yet, even so, most of us would agree we are ready for a change. A positive change. The thing we have to realize is that we are not going back to the way things were. The change will be just that, a change. A difference to the way we did things before, but most of all, to who we were and what our relationship with God looked like.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
—2 Corinthians 5:17
Accepting the Change:
After a high-magnitude earthquake, things do not remain the same. Even a moderate one can leave a requirement for a new set of dishes. A new bookshelf for our playbook. The same is true for an emotional earthquake—even if the world around us somehow appears the same.
We have all been through an emotional earthquake. For those of us who have leaned on God the magnitude is lessened, but we have still experienced the highs and lows of it.
When a high-magnitude earthquake ends, a lot of things need to happen. First there are the major things like turning off gas to broken lines, sealing off buildings in danger of collapse, putting out fires, etc., in order to prevent further damage. While emotionally this can be a time of shock, everyone who has the skills, ability, and in certain cases, permission, needs to lay the foundation of the area’s new future…
Spiritually this is where we take care of the major issues. And in this hour, that largely involves putting God’s house in order…
“You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.”
—Haggai 1:9 (NLT)
In seasons past we neglected God’s house. We built up our own and left God’s as a second thought…
Attending services and going into God’s house was not always a regular occurrence. Giving our tithes, offerings, first fruits, and terumah, well, that was something we thought could wait until we were better off financially. Building up God’s house in the midst of closures and fears, well, that would have been too costly and dangerous.
It is time that we accept change. In our lives, and in God’s house.
It is time that we build up the house of our God! His Church, His Bride, His places of worship…
We are proclaimed by God to be His temples, and yet, are those temples holy? We are told to not forsake the assembling of ourselves, but what is it that we have been doing? This is a season of change and it is time that we accept the new playbook that God wants to give us! It is time that we ask God to show us how His new playbook operates and what He wants each of us to do individually and collectively!
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
—1 Corinthians 3:16
“…let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
—Hebrews 10:24-25
Change is happening, no matter if we like it or not. But it is time to awaken, to rise and shine, for the light of God's glory is upon us (Isaiah 60:1)!
The question is, will we run to God and take up the new mantles, playbook, and times with Him? Will we accept that as we are stepping into a new season as God’s biblical calendar shifts from 5780 to 5781? Will we accept that with the changes in the world, we need to go higher and be closer to our God?
Rosh Hashanah—the biblical new year—will arrive soon. We will be passing from one season to the next in terms of time, but also spiritually. It is a place of decision, a catalyst for God’s appointed change. Yet, how we choose to enter is up to us…
We can go kicking and screaming, filled with fear of the unknown… or we can trust our Abba—our Father—and walk in step with Him. If we turn to Him we can enter the next season in boldness, even if we do not see all of what it will look like.
It is time to trust our God. It is time to enter Rosh Hashanah with repentance AND gladness because the best is yet to come!
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
—Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Join us for Rosh Hashanah this year! Click here to find out how.
