The world had an immensely powerful beginning. At God’s Word, power burst forth from His mouth, and heaven and earth came into existent. We exist today because, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 – NKJV).
Jesus Christ is the True and Living God. To follow Him we must embrace new beginnings found only in Him: “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).
We must be prepared to step outside our comfort zone and be led in new things: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 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 43:18-19).
Over the last couple of years, I’ve had to embrace new beginnings: In obedience to God, my family and I laid down our established life and ministry in New Zealand, to relocate to Melbourne, Australia. This required an incredible amount of trust in God, and faith we heard Him correctly. Our
whole life was on the line; we had no plan B.
This included selling our family home and leaving twenty year-long employment to live completely on faith and trust God for the right location, school for our children, church, and provision; all things we are prepared to do in obedience to Jesus Christ.
The challenge of new beginnings: Hearing from God can be exciting, but then comes the process of working through it. God has provided many challenges for me over the years. One significant challenge was to write a book: “Turning Wine into Living Water – the Baptism of Fire”
We can look at multiple books on bookshelves (written by famous people) and think we’re not worthy or intelligent enough to do such a thing, but just because we haven’t tried something new before doesn’t mean we can’t do it.
It took absolute commitment and reliance on God, but once I applied myself, He led me through the process and now my book is published. If I hadn’t trusted God and applied myself to another new beginning, I would never have accomplished such a task. In the beginning, what I thought was
impossible, was made possible through Jesus Christ.
To serve God you need to embrace new beginnings:
- Don’t look at your past and think you’re destined to live in failure for the rest of your life: You were brought at a price! Regardless of how you feel today, Jesus Christ is willing to give you new mercy and new beginning.
- Don’t look at the masses thinking you’re inferior and have nothing to offer: God created you for a reason, and only you have lived the path the Holy Spirit has led you on. You are important to Him. Your message needs to be heard today.
- Don’t be afraid of starting small: I received visions of revival the day I bowed my knee to Jesus Christ and carried burning hunger for the nation’s long before I’d preached in my local church. So, where did I begin? At the beginning; in my prayer room.
I would preach the power of God to the lonely walls long into the night and began praying
for people to be healed in my home church environment, friends, and community. From
there God opened doors to host public healing/revival meetings and in due course He
stretched out my tent pegs to minister through parts of New Zealand, then internationally.
What is God asking you to begin today?
God Bless,
Shaun Hickey
