“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 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. The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness . . . . This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.” Isa. 43:18-21. This new thing is springing forth in Palestine so that the entire world is amazed by it. The words of the prophets are being fulfilled right before our eyes. Large tracts of the wilderness have already become fruitful fields, and the work is continuing relentlessly. The Lord Himself will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. It is in vain for the Arab leaders and others to oppose God’s plan. The more people oppose God’s plan, the greater will God’s glory be. The land is being prepared full speed for the millennium. All around in the Arab countries the wilderness remains as it has for centuries; they still use the same old agricultural implements. God says to Israel, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.” They have been persecuted in many different countries, and they have never been successful in obtaining this new thing they desired in the countries to which they came. They were always on foreign soil where God had not promised them any glory, but rather the opposite. Now they are in the Promised Land where God will again have mercy on them. Now they shall believe in this new thing and rejoice in that which is new and not lose courage by thinking about the past and all the failures they have experienced. Many believers in these days are very interested in everything that transpires in Palestine, but they do not display the same interest in the spiritual Israel. Therefore they will not have a share in either the earthly or the spiritual glory. Now is the time to wake up so that we are not left outside of this new thing that God is preparing for His people. We need to have a living faith in that which is new and be wholeheartedly devoted to it. Do not let the past hinder you or torment you. If you have put things right with God and men, then forget that which is behind you and pursue the things that lie ahead. Old things must be put off and that which is new must be put on. The old things are anger, lying, unrighteousness, pride, and self-love, whereas the new things are gentleness, truth, righteousness, humility, and love for one another. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” Gal. 6:15. Only a new creation is worth anything in God’s eyes, so of what help is it to be ever so great in man’s eyes? All flesh is like grass that withers and fades away. The new man is born by the incorruptible Word of truth; he is nourished by it and grows by it. Jas. 1:18. We become personalities in Jesus Christ with new names, and we are enabled to partake of and enjoy that which is new and incorruptible for all eternity. The bride—out of love for her heavenly Bridegroom—is now preparing herself for Him. There will also be a revival later on when the foolish virgins will wake up—when they will realize that Christ’s return is imminent. They will not awaken out of love for their Bridegroom, but rather out of a fear for all the things that will come over the earth when Christ comes to fetch His bride. Now it is vital that we are along in the “bride-revival” with all our hearts. Do not neglect to attend a meeting as long as it is possible for you to go. We must come together all the more and exhort one another to love and good works as we see the Day approaching. Heb. 10:23-25. The spiritual Israel is being prepared first to meet Christ. They have already had their spiritual ears and eyes opened to what is important. The earthly Israel is being led down to Palestine as a blind and deaf people, and the veil will only be removed from their eyes when Christ descends on the Mount of Olives with His bride. “But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear . . . .” Matt. 13:16. Let us devote ourselves to seeing and hearing right if we are one of these blessed ones, so that our lives can be enriched with eternal values. Let us believe the word, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth.” God’s Word is always new and living and makes us new and alive if we receive it in faith. John writes in 1 John 2:7-8 that he is not writing a new commandment to them, but the old commandment; nevertheless, it is new. If the good old gospel of God is to do a work, it must always be new for the speaker as well as for the listeners. Otherwise, the result will be as illustrated by an old woman who was hard of hearing, but who always sat at the very back of the meeting hall. When someone asked her to sit closer to the front she said, “That’s alright; I am sure it is the same good old gospel that is being preached.” There are sure to be many people like that. If she had moved to the first row and listened carefully to the Word that she believed, it would not have been long before she would have become so renewed that all the others would have noticed it. However, now it shall spring forth, and the people whom He has formed for Himself shall proclaim His glory for all eternity. They know how to esteem His very being and His glory. “Shall you not know it?”Aksel J. Smith

One noteworthy consequence of sin is that people evaluate everything incorrectly, so that they consider side issues significant or in any case equal to the main issue. And as far as the majority are concerned, they show very little interest or even no interest at all in the main issue. There is only one main issue that pertains to Christianity or salvation, only one single thing that pertains to every Christian, every believer, every converted person, which is: to love God and keep His commandments, the laws and commandments of the new covenant, the laws of the Spirit of life, so that we are transformed in our inner man, at the same time living for others, serving and laying down our life and all our possessions as much as possible and as perfectly as possible. Almost everything that is written in the New Testament concerns the main issue; side issues, which are also part of it, are barely mentioned here and there. Everything outside the life in God is at best a side issue, and to a very large degree those things do not even belong to side issues; they are simply utter emptiness and vanity! Blessed is everyone who has died to all this human madness, for it is not worth spending a single word on it. Many a converted person can speak passionately and at length about all this emptiness and stupidity, but when it comes to praising God, he has little or nothing to say! Then he is not passionate!Elias Aslaksen