In His Hands International Bible College

You can have a new beginning despite the fact that... -You may have been told that you have an incurable illness. Doctors have said that there is no hope and no medical recourse. -Your marriage may be in shambles.  -Your heart may be broken by a wayward son or daughter or an unsaved mate or parent.   -You are suffering financial difficulties or the effects of emotional or physical abuse.   -You may even be reading this book in prison,  serving life without parole or awaiting your sentence on death row.  You may think it is too late to begin again and that you have no hope for a new future. Jesus declared: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) The enemy–Satan–comes to steal, kill, and destroy all that is good in your life.  He attacks your relationships, your finances, your health, and your ministry.  Jesus declares, “I come that you might have life more abundantly!” The life of which Jesus spoke is not only eternal life, of which you can be assured by repenting of your sin and accepting Christ as Savior.  Jesus wants you to have abundant life right now–right where you are, right in this sinful world in which you live, in the midst of your difficult circumstances.  He wants you to have a new beginning. Repeatedly in His Word,  God confirms through examples, promises, and declarations that you can have a new beginning.   But the Word also states there are two parts to every promise of God: The promise itself and its fulfillment through obedience.  As the steps to a new 2 beginning are presented in this book, you must act upon these in order to make them a reality in your life. You will never have a future as long as you are living in the past.  You got to where you are today by doing what you did.  If you want things to change, you must do something different.  The Apostle Paul declared: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14) Don’t keep looking back to the past with regret, guilt, or shame.  You cannot change the past.  Ask God to forgive your past and heal the negative memories, then look to the future and ask Him, “What’s next?” God said, “Behold, I will do a new thing ; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).  The question is, are you ready to receive the new thing?   Don’t settle for your present spiritual level.  Don’t remain in your comfort zone.   Enlarge your vision to encompass a great new beginning: Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;  For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles (nations) , and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.  Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou 3 confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth... (Isaiah 54:2-4),   God wants you to enlarge your spiritual vision and prepare to receive a new beginning.   Your present thinking isn’t big enough.  Take the limits off of God and yourself and you will break forth into new life on the right hand and on the left.  You will be blessed with a new beginning so that you can be a blessing to others. As you begin this book, stop for a moment and pray, committing your past–with all of your suffering, abuses, sin, and shame--to Him. Draw a concluding line on your past right now and by an act of your will prepare to step into a new future. As you begin this journey to your new life, you can be assured: No matter what your circumstance–you may be addicted, abused, divorced, abandoned, incarcerated, backslidden, or poverty-stricken–you can begin again.  Judges 3:31 briefly mentioned a man named Shamgar who killed six hundred enemy Philistines with an ox goad.  He didn’t have a lot going for him in the battle, just a simple ox goad.  You may feel you don’t have much going for you to begin again, but take what is in your hand, begin to use it, and watch God do a miracle. The Bible is filled with stories of those who experienced new beginnings.  This book shares their experiences, the principles that enabled them to embrace their new start, and details how you can follow in their footsteps: Now these things befell them by way of a figure [as an example and warning to us]; they were written to admonish and fit us for right action by good instruction, we in whose days the ages have reached their climax (their consummation and concluding period).   (1 Corinthians 10:11, AMP) 4