Embracing God’s New Thing by Releasing the Past

Sep 21, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Rivers in the Desert of Your Routine

God’s new work often arrives disguised as disruption. Just as He promised rivers in dry wastelands, His fresh provision may unsettle familiar patterns before revealing its purpose. What seems inconvenient or confusing at first—like wild animals bewildered by sudden water—will later become a testimony. Spiritual growth requires surrendering control, trusting that God’s unexpected methods are designed to refresh what feels barren. Look for His movement in places you’ve stopped expecting miracles. [06:35]

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
(Isaiah 43:19, NLT)

Reflection: Where has God’s activity recently surprised or confused you? How might this disruption be preparing you to thank Him later?

Day 2: Unclenching Your Grip on Yesterday

Holding tightly to past victories or failures blocks the flow of new grace. Like the Israelites clinging to memories of Egypt, we often romanticize what God has moved beyond. Every season has a purpose, but no season is permanent. Releasing the weight of “what was” creates space to receive “what could be.” Trust that God’s next chapter will honor—not erase—the story He’s already written. [29:48]

“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.”
(Isaiah 43:18, NLT)

Reflection: What specific memory, habit, or mindset have you refused to release? How might holding it hinder the new thing God wants to do?

Day 3: Milk Stains on a Meat-Lover’s Plate

Spiritual maturity requires upgrading your diet. Clinging to elementary truths or past revelations stunts growth. Just as children outgrow milk, believers must digest deeper truths to face new challenges. God invites you to trade complacency for fresh hunger, exchanging yesterday’s manna for today’s bread. Are you still chewing what sustained you years ago? [10:21]

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”
(Philippians 3:12, NLT)

Reflection: Where have you settled for spiritual milk? What “meaty” truth is God inviting you to wrestle with this week?

Day 4: Anchors Dragging in New Waters

Memories become anchors when we idolize them. The disciples struggled to follow the resurrected Jesus because they fixated on the crucified Messiah. God’s new work often feels risky, pulling you beyond the harbor of familiar blessings. Cut the ropes tethering you to safe shores. His best miracles happen in deep waters. [35:48]

“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
(Hebrews 12:1, NLT)

Reflection: What familiar “harbor” do you keep circling back to? What first step could you take toward deeper waters today?

Day 5: Rearview Mirrors and Windshields

Faith requires a windshield perspective—wide, forward, and focused. Glancing at the past has purpose, but staring at it causes collisions. Paul’s secret to perseverance wasn’t denying his history but refusing to let it dictate his trajectory. Your rearview mirror is small for a reason. The road ahead matters more. [45:37]

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
(Philippians 3:13, NLT)

Reflection: What distraction in your “rearview” keeps stealing your focus? How can you fix your eyes on Jesus’ next assignment today?

Sermon Summary

Isaiah 43 calls God’s people to hear a promise in the middle of exile: “Forget all that. It’s nothing compared to what I’m going to do.” God does not minimize the reality of pain, bondage, or struggle, but He refuses to let yesterday have the final word. God says He is already doing something new, then asks the hard question: “Do you see it?” Spiritual eyes can miss God’s work even when it is happening all around them.

The past becomes a problem when it holds people hostage. Past failures can bring guilt, condemnation, and depression. Past victories can become just as dangerous when people keep living in the good old days and fail to believe God has greater things ahead. Human nature binds people to what they know, but God wants information to become revelation and milk to become meat. God wants His people teachable, humble, growing, and ready for new giants to fall.

Isaiah’s wilderness and rivers show that God does what people cannot do for themselves. God can make a pathway where there is no pathway and put water in a dry wasteland. The wild animals will thank Him because they do not understand it at first, but they will see His provision on the other side. Faith does not require every detail to make sense before obedience begins. Faith lets go of control and trusts God with all of life, not just the parts that feel safe.

The call to forget does not mean memory loss. Forgetting means refusing to let the past define, limit, or dictate present faith. God calls people to stop rearranging the past, stop feeding it, and stop letting memories become anchors. The past may bless and protect, but it cannot steer. God must take the steering wheel, and God must set the direction.

Hebrews 12 joins Isaiah’s call by commanding believers to strip off every weight and the sin that easily trips them up. The new thing God desires is spiritual before it is anything else. Philippians 3 then gives the posture required: Paul has not arrived, but he presses on, forgetting what lies behind and looking forward to what lies ahead. Christ calls His people out of old captivity so they can run His race, build His kingdom, and carry fresh testimony of His faithfulness.

Key Takeaways

1. Release what keeps defining today The past gains power when it is continually fed, replayed, and given authority over present obedience. God does not ask His people to pretend pain never happened; He calls them to quit allowing it to name them. Faith places past failure, past hurt, and past success beneath God’s present call. [39:53]
2. Past victories can become prisons Past glories become dangerous when they convince people that God’s best work is behind them. God honors what He did in earlier seasons, but He does not call His people to camp there. A grateful memory should become a testimony of God’s faithfulness, not an anchor that prevents forward movement. [31:20]
3. God’s new thing requires surrender God’s rivers in the wilderness often lead through places that do not make sense at first. Control wants the whole map before taking a step, but faith trusts the God who makes a way. God’s provision becomes clear on the other side of obedience. [26:51]
4. Strip off every spiritual weight Hebrews 12 names both weights and sin because not everything slowing spiritual growth appears obviously wicked. Pride, old patterns, unforgiveness, fear, and divided loyalty can all trip a believer up. Christ calls His people to lay down whatever keeps them from running the race He set before them. [42:30]
5. Press forward toward Christ’s purpose Paul refuses to claim perfection, yet he refuses to settle for spiritual stagnation. Christ has possessed His people for a purpose, and that purpose requires pressing on. Present faith becomes clear when Christ, rather than past regret or present comfort, possesses a person’s energy and attention.

## [45:00]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:25] - God Has Something New
[01:22] - Isaiah 43 and the Call to See
[04:29] - Do You See the New Thing?
[06:14] - Rivers in the Wilderness
[09:09] - The Problem of Holding the Past
[12:02] - From Spiritual Milk to Meat
[14:47] - Past Failures and Past Victories
[18:29] - God Invites, People Decide
[21:15] - Open Spiritual Eyes
[28:51] - Release the Weight of the Past
[30:06] - Stop Rearranging Yesterday
[34:33] - When Memories Become Anchors
[36:42] - Obey God’s Call to Forget
[41:25] - Strip Off Every Weight
[44:31] - Pressing On Toward What Lies Ahead

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Isaiah 43:18-20
“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed.” [01:22]

Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” [41:25]

Philippians 3:12-14
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that

Sermon Clips

52s

#NewBeginnings

“Memories can bless us and protect us, but when they turn to anchors, they keep us from moving where God's calling us to. Listen, church, Freedom Church, God's calling us to new territory. He's got a new assignment. And that means if he's calling the church there, and he is, that means he's calling you there. Every one of you and every one of you watching online, god's calling you. But if you placed an anchor in the past, you'll never get to that new place God wants to take you. Let's keep going.”

57s

#LetGoOfThePast

“The past can be very weighty. The victories of the past can be very weighty because we keep looking back there and wonder why aren't we seeing any new ones. You can only tell a story so many times it's gonna lose its power. God wants to give you a new story. He wants to give you a new story, a new praise, a new testimony. Forget the past. Release the weight of the past. That past can be very, very heavy. Some of you are just dealing with past sins, past struggles, past hurts, past wounds. Release it.”

58s

#StopDwelling

“Stop rearranging the past. That's what we do. instead of forgetting the past, we just kinda rearrange it. It's in the it's right in front of us. So instead of forgetting it, we just just put it on the shelf. We just put it back here. Or maybe we put the past in the back seat. Or we just scooted over. Let me let me see. Before I let go of this old thing, let let me really analyze this new thing, God. God didn't work that way. He didn't work that way. You you gotta stop rearranging the past. Don't dwell on it. It brings guilt, condemnation, and depression. Don't go there.”

36s

#TrustGodFully

“They'll thank God because he will do for them what they can't do for themselves. A lot of you missed a new thing because you're not willing to walk into the very thing because you're holding on. Whatever you're holding tightly onto, you need to let it go. Trusting God means trusting him with all of your life, not part of your life. Trusting God means trusting him in the new season, in the new thing, not just holding on to the old things.”

39s

#KeepGrowing

“God wants to increase your diet. God wants to give you other nutrients. God wants you to grow in other areas of your life. And the things that you slayed, the giants you slayed in the past, he wants to slay new giants. He wants to defeat new giants. He wants you to grow in other areas. And if you think you've got it all figured out, if you think you can't learn, if you think there's not something new right now this morning that God wants to teach you, you'll never see it.”

41s

#BuildTheKingdom

“We're in this together. We're building the kingdom. Do you see it? That's why we have life to build the kingdom. We're building lots of kingdoms, but we need to be building the kingdom of God and reaching people for Jesus. Not by programs, but by the transformation that's happening in our life. Not by all the things that you say, but but where you put your life. It's a new thing God wants to do in you. And maybe you've grown in the past, and maybe you've done listen, God has more.”

52s

#ForgetAndMoveForward

“Forget in Hebrew means to cause to forget. I think I shared this last week. That means you have to cause it to forget. That means intentionally forget it. It's just not gonna happen on its own way. You just can't, well, I'm just gonna forget it. Forgive and forgive and forget. That never happens. Does it? Never for happens. Forgive and forget. Sounds good. I'll forget about it. No. You have to cause it to forget. have to neglect it. So whatever you're still remembering that's standing in the way of the new thing, quit feeding it.”

42s

#LetGodLead

“God specializes in the unexpected, not the expected. Expected. If it's the expected, it's probably not God. If you can plan it out and figure it out, that's you. So a lot of you that control, try to control problems, try to control your family, try to control their your family's family. Let God do that. You teach them to follow God. That's the greatest thing you can give your family, your children, your grandchildren.”

29s

“A lot of you missed a new thing because you're not willing to walk into the very thing because you're holding on. Whatever you're holding tightly onto, you need to let it go. Trusting God means trusting him with all of your life, not part of your life. Trusting God means trusting him in the new season, in the new thing, not just holding on to the old things.”

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