In a recent blog, “A New Day Dawns in our Hearts”, I shared how the Father had been speaking to me many times about this new era we are now in. The Lord is writing a new chapter in each and every one of our lives. God has taken this global shutdown and began a divine RESET to realign surrendered hearts to His in this next season. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (instead of the past) we will see new ways being established. I have heard God sometimes refer to these ‘new ways’ as NEW WINESKINS.
Jesus loved to teach his disciples using things they understood. In their day, wine was stored in a wineskin. This is a sewn together animal skin and was used because of its flexible properties. As the wine fermented, it would expand and contract in order to become wine. Over time, the wineskin would harden. If new wine was poured into a hardened wineskin, it would crack and break the container. This is what Jesus spoke of in Luke 5:35-39 to the religious leaders:
“And who pours new wine into an old wineskin? If someone did, the old wineskin would burst and the new wine would be lost. New wine must always be poured into new wineskins. Yet you say, ‘The old ways are better,’ and you refuse to even taste the new that I bring.””
Luke 5:35-39 TPT
Friends, let’s not be like the religious people of Jesus day and refuse to taste the new that the Father wants to bring to us! They totally missed the Messiah and Savior of the world because they did not have eyes to see and ears to hear what God was saying in THEIR TIME. Sometimes it’s easy for us to get stuck in tradition and routine and become “hardened” to change… just like that wineskin. When the Lord says He is doing a new thing, let us be a people who open our hearts and hands to be flexible to His plans. He is good. He is faithful. He is trustworthy!
Let me give you an illustration.
What if someone special to you wanted to give you a gift? You were excited when they told you, because you knew this special someone loved you genuinely and they knew all of your favorites. You trusted them enough to know you would love their gift. But when it came time to give the gift, there was too much in your hands to receive it. You knew you were going to have to lay some of the familiar things you were carrying around down or you wouldn’t be able to receive the new gift.
Sometimes we have to lay down the OLD in order to receive the NEW. Would you be willing to lay down some things you’re holding onto, so you can receive something new and exciting from your Father in heaven? Let’s stop clenching the familiar past… that maybe isn’t working well anymore in this new season- to embrace new things God has for us. He’s the best Daddy and knows what we need in order to thrive. (John 10:10)
A few weeks ago, I heard the Father begin to explain His heart about us embracing the NEW He is bringing to our generation:
“I am asking my people to lay down old wineskins. They are cracked and brittle and will not hold the new wine I want them to experience. The wine will spill to the ground and not be utilized. They must be willing to give me the old wineskin. (These are things like mindsets, patterns of thinking, routines, man-made ways.) THEN, in the surrender, they will not be empty handed. It will be an EXCHANGE. The old for the new. The new is different but way better. I need my sons and daughters to trust me, that I have something beautiful to lavish upon them. This is a divine reset. I am handing the people of God divine ways in place of human traditions. Those who receive this will experience revelation in a deeper place with me that has not yet been experienced. I just need your whole heart… fully trusting and fully surrendering to the One who gave His life for you to live.“
Join me in having an open mind and open hands held out to Jesus, so that He can give us NEW THINGS! Let’s trust the One who created you and your heart. He knows the perfect wineskin for your life. Let go… and let Him lead you into a NEW DAY!
Prayer:
Father, I love you. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and creating me for a special destiny that you dreamed for me even before I was born. I want to know you more. Speak to me as I listen to your voice of truth. I trust you. I open my hands to you and give you old patterns, mindsets, and ways that need to be updated to the new thing you’re doing. I give you my whole heart. I want to receive this new wine you have for my life in this new era. Show me your ways, your love, and your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.