June,25, 2026
Breaking Free from Old Wineskins: Embracing God's New Thing
Have you ever felt stuck in your spiritual journey, wondering why breakthrough seems just out of reach? Perhaps you've been praying for healing, believing for change, or seeking a fresh move of God in your life, yet nothing seems to shift. The answer might surprise you: God cannot pour new wine into old wineskins.
The Principle of New Wine and New Wineskins
In Luke 5:37-38, Jesus shares a profound truth: "No one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins will perish. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
This isn't just an agricultural lesson—it's a spiritual principle that governs how God works transformation in our lives.
Wineskins in ancient times were made from animal skins, designed to be flexible and expandable. Fresh wine would ferment and expand, requiring a container that could stretch with it. New wineskins were soft, pliable, and capable of accommodating this growth. Old wineskins, however, had become hardened and brittle through repeated use. Pour new wine into them, and they would crack and tear, spilling everything.
The same is true spiritually. If God is going to do something new in your life, He must first address the old container—your old way of thinking, believing, and responding to Him.
The Challenge of Letting Go
One of the most difficult aspects of receiving God's new thing is releasing the old. We hold onto familiar patterns, traditional beliefs, and comfortable relationships—even when they're hindering what God wants to do next.
Consider Abraham. When God called him, the first instruction was clear: "Leave your father's house." Abraham grew up in a home that worshiped the moon god. Despite loving his family, God needed to remove him from that atmosphere of false worship and limited thinking. The old environment would have contaminated the new thing God wanted to establish through him.
Interestingly, Abraham obeyed partially. He left his father but brought his nephew Lot along—a compromise that later caused strife and division. How often do we do the same? We step toward God's new direction but drag along pieces of the old life, old mindsets, or old relationships that God never intended to come with us.
The Pattern of Transformation
The prophet Ezekiel reveals God's pattern for doing the new thing in Ezekiel 36:24-27:
First, God takes you out from among the wrong influences—the "heathen" way of thinking, the atmosphere of unbelief, the religious traditions that have held you back.
Second, He sprinkles you with clean water. Water represents the Word of God. He begins washing your mind and heart with truth, cleansing you from the old philosophies and beliefs that created your current condition.
Third, He gives you a new heart—a new wineskin capable of receiving what He wants to pour in.
Finally, He puts a new spirit within you—the new wine of the Holy Spirit that produces transformation, healing, and breakthrough.
This process isn't optional. You cannot skip steps and expect lasting results.
When the Gifts Meet Old Wineskins
The gifts of the Holy Spirit—healings, miracles, faith—are God's attempts to bless us despite our limitations. They represent His overwhelming desire to help us, even when we lack faith.
Consider the man at the Pool of Bethesda. For thirty-eight years he lay there, hoping for healing. When Jesus asked if he wanted to be made well, the man didn't even answer with faith. He simply explained why he couldn't get healed—always someone else's fault.
Yet Jesus healed him anyway. "Rise, take up your bed, and go home."
Immediately, strength flooded his body. A genuine miracle occurred. But here's the tragedy: the man couldn't maintain his healing. He held onto his old way of thinking, his old need for acceptance from religious leaders, his old pattern of blame-shifting. Within days, Jesus had to find him and warn him: "Sin no more, lest something worse come upon you."
The man received new wine but had an old wineskin. The miracle couldn't be sustained.
This happens repeatedly in healing services. People receive genuine miracles—blind eyes opened, deaf ears unstopped, diseases healed—only to lose their healing within days because they return to the old atmosphere, the old words, the old unbelief.
The Inside-Out Transformation
At the wedding in Cana, Jesus performed His first miracle, and it beautifully illustrates this principle. He took six stone water pots—representing the old covenant's ceremonial washing that only cleaned the outside—and filled them with water.
But something miraculous happened. As servants drew out the water to serve the guests, it had become wine. The transformation occurred inside the container. The outside looked the same, but the inside had completely changed.
This is the new covenant. God isn't interested in merely cleaning up your external behavior, making you look religious, or conforming you to outward standards. He wants to transform your heart—to do something so radical on the inside that it changes everything.
Drinking the New Wine
At the Last Supper, Jesus revealed something profound. He took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20).
Notice carefully: He didn't say the wine was His blood. Wine in Scripture consistently represents the Holy Spirit. What Jesus was revealing is that His blood would purchase and cleanse a new container—your heart—so that it could be filled with the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
The blood cleanses the vessel. The Spirit fills it.
In John 7:37-38, Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." The next verse clarifies: "This He spoke concerning the Spirit."
God wants you to drink deeply of the Holy Spirit. Not just a sip, not just enough to get by, but rivers flowing from within you.
Making Room for the New
So what does this mean practically?
It means you may need to leave some things behind. Old churches that don't preach faith and healing. Old relationships that constantly pull you back into unbelief. Old habits of thinking that keep you trapped in limitation.
It means immersing yourself in the Word. Fill yourself to the brim with Scripture. The more Word you receive, the more your wineskin expands and transforms.
It means staying connected to the right atmosphere. You cannot attend a church that preaches "God sometimes heals" and expect to receive your healing. You cannot subject yourself to constant doubt and unbelief and wonder why breakthrough eludes you.
It means releasing what you receive. Wineskins weren't designed just to hold wine but to dispense it. When God does something new in you, share it. Testify. Give it away. The more it flows, the more alive it remains.
The Time Is Now
God has saved the best wine for last. We're living in the final harvest, the time when God wants to pour out His Spirit in unprecedented ways. But He needs vessels that can contain what He's pouring out.
Will you let Him give you a new wineskin? Will you release the old ways, the old thoughts, the old limitations? Will you position yourself to receive the new wine He's ready to pour?
The transformation begins inside. Let Him fill you with His Word until your heart becomes soft, pliable, and ready. Then watch as He pours out new wine—His Spirit—bringing the healing, deliverance, and breakthrough you've been seeking.
It's time for something new. Are you ready?
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June,18, 2026
Breaking Free: The Divine Exchange of New Wine for New Hearts
There's a powerful progression happening in the spiritual realm—one that many believers miss because they're holding onto yesterday's experiences while God is offering something fresh today. The ancient prophets spoke of it, Jesus demonstrated it, and the Holy Spirit is ready to release it: God wants to do a new thing in your life.
But here's the challenge: you can't receive new wine in an old wineskin.
The Problem with Old Containers
Jesus taught a principle that revolutionizes how we approach spiritual growth: "No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins" (Luke 5:37). This wasn't just agricultural wisdom—it was a profound spiritual truth about how God works in our lives.
Wineskins in biblical times were made from animal hides. They were flexible, mobile, designed to receive wine and give it out. But once they aged, they became brittle and hard, unable to expand when fresh wine began its fermentation process. Pour new wine into an old, hardened skin, and you'll lose both the wine and the container.
The same principle applies to our hearts.
When we cling to tradition over transformation, when we settle into religious routines rather than relationship, when we hold onto yesterday's revelation instead of seeking today's fresh word—we become like those old wineskins. Brittle. Inflexible. Unable to contain what God wants to pour into us.
God's Blueprint for Transformation
The prophet Ezekiel received a remarkable vision of God's plan for renewal. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God outlines a divine progression that remains His method for transformation today:
First, cleansing through the Word: "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you."
Second, a heart transplant: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh."
Third, the indwelling Spirit: "And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes."
Notice the progression: Word, then heart, then Spirit, then action. God doesn't just modify our behavior—He transforms us from the inside out.
The Water Before the Wine
Jesus' first miracle reveals this divine pattern perfectly. At a wedding in Cana, when the wine ran out, He didn't simply create wine from nothing. He instructed servants to fill stone water pots—containers used for ceremonial washing under the old law—with water. Only after they were filled to the brim did the miracle occur: water became wine.
Not just any wine, but the best wine. Wine so exceptional that the master of the feast marveled that the best had been saved for last.
The water represents the Word of God washing over us, cleansing us, preparing our hearts. In John 15:3, Jesus said, "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." The Word creates the new container. The Word forms the new heart. Only then can the new wine—the fresh move of the Holy Spirit—be poured in.
The Pattern of Grain, Wine, and Oil
The prophet Joel saw this same progression in his prophetic vision. Three times in Joel 2, he repeats the pattern: grain (the Word), wine (the Spirit), and oil (the anointing).
"I will send you grain and wine and oil, and you will be satisfied" (Joel 2:19).
"The floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil" (Joel 2:24).
"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:28).
First comes the grain—the bread of life, the Word that feeds us. Then the wine—the new Spirit poured into prepared hearts. Then the oil—the anointing that removes burdens and destroys yokes. And finally, the outpouring upon all flesh.
You don't need more programs. You don't need more religious activity. You need an anointing. But to receive that anointing, you need new wine. To receive new wine, you need a new heart. And to receive a new heart, you need the Word.
From Faith to Faith
Romans 1:17 declares that "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." Faith is always present tense. It's always now. You cannot live on yesterday's faith any more than you can eat yesterday's bread and expect it to nourish you today.
God is calling us to progress from faith to faith, from glory to glory, from one level to the next. He's not asking us to abandon what we've learned, but to build upon it, to move forward, to embrace the new thing He's doing.
Too many believers are trying to face today's challenges with yesterday's revelation. They're stuck in what God did rather than positioned for what God is doing. They've turned their stone water pots into monuments instead of allowing them to become vessels for a fresh miracle.
The Invitation to Drink
On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out with a loud voice: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).
This is the invitation extended to every thirsty soul today.
Come and drink. Not from the wells of this world—entertainment, substances, achievements, relationships—but from the living water that only Jesus provides. Drink deeply from the Holy Spirit. Open your mouth and receive the new wine He's offering.
The world has no wine. They're desperate for what only the Spirit can provide, searching in all the wrong places for satisfaction that can only be found in God's presence.
But here's the beautiful truth: when you drink, you don't just receive for yourself. Out of your heart—your new wineskin filled with new wine—will flow rivers of living water to others. You become mobile, just like those ancient wineskins, designed to receive and give out.
Saved for This Moment
God has saved the best wine for last. You weren't born at the wrong time. You're not a mistake or an accident. You were created for this exact moment in history, positioned to receive the fresh outpouring God has reserved for this generation.
He's pouring out His Word. He's forming new hearts. He's filling vessels with new wine. And He's about to release an anointing that will remove every burden and destroy every yoke that's held you back.
The question is: Will you let go of the old wineskin? Will you release the traditions, the religious mindsets, the hardened thinking that prevents you from receiving what God wants to pour into your life?
It's time to come to Jesus and drink. It's time to open your mouth and receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. It's time to let rivers of living water flow from within you to a thirsty world.
The best is yet to come. The new wine is ready. Your new wineskin is being formed.
Drink deeply, and overflow.
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June,12, 2026
It's Time to Drink: Discovering the Joy of Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
There's a powerful invitation echoing through the corridors of our faith—an invitation that's been extended since the day of Pentecost, yet remains largely unanswered in many Christian circles today. It's an invitation to drink deeply from the Spirit of God, to experience the joy, freedom, and power that comes from being truly filled with His presence.
The Day Everything Changed
Acts 2 records one of the most extraordinary events in Christian history. When the day of Pentecost arrived, something remarkable happened. A sound like a mighty rushing wind filled the house where believers were gathered. Tongues of fire appeared and rested on each person present. And they were all filled—not partially, not hesitantly, but completely filled—with the Holy Spirit.
What happened next was so dramatic that onlookers thought the disciples were drunk. They were speaking in languages they didn't know, making joyful noise, and acting in ways that defied their previous cautious behavior. Peter, who had denied Jesus just weeks earlier, suddenly stood boldly before thousands and preached with unprecedented power.
The critics mocked, saying, "These men are full of new wine." Peter's response was telling: "These are not drunk as you suppose... but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:15-16). He didn't deny they appeared drunk—he simply clarified the source of their intoxication.
What Are You Thirsty For?
In John 7:37, Jesus stood and cried out with a loud voice: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." This wasn't a quiet, reserved invitation. It was a passionate proclamation that cut through the noise of religious ritual and pointed to something deeper—a genuine relationship with the Spirit of God.
The problem is that many of us are thirsty but don't recognize what we're truly thirsting for. We seek fulfillment in entertainment, substances, relationships, achievements, or even religious performance. We consume endless amounts of content, pursue the next experience, or work harder to feel something, anything. But these are all substitutes for the real thing.
God designed us to feel—to feel His love, His joy, His presence. When we close ourselves off from experiencing God, we inevitably seek those feelings elsewhere. The enemy offers cheap counterfeits to what God freely provides. We chase temporary highs when we could be drinking from an eternal well.
The Miracle in the Hearing
Here's something fascinating about the Pentecost account: the disciples didn't speak in languages they understood. They spoke in unknown tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. The miracle wasn't primarily in their speaking—it was in the hearing. Each person in the crowd heard the gospel in their own language.
This reveals something profound about spiritual communication. When we yield to the Holy Spirit and speak under His inspiration, supernatural things happen in the listener. Demons hear what God is saying through us and flee. Creation responds. Hearts are touched in ways our natural words never could accomplish.
This is why the enemy works so hard to keep us silent, to make us feel foolish about expressing our faith openly, to convince us that speaking in tongues is outdated or unnecessary. He knows that when we open our mouths and speak Spirit-inspired words, power is released.
Learning to Drink
So how do we drink from the Holy Spirit? The answer is simpler than we might think, yet it requires us to let go of our self-consciousness and control.
In John 4, Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at a well. He asked her for a drink, and her immediate response was defensive—full of judgments, assumptions, and feelings of unworthiness. But Jesus persisted: "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (John 4:10).
He went on to explain that whoever drinks natural water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water He gives will never thirst. That water becomes "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).
Notice the progression: Jesus wants to place a well inside each of us—our own personal supply of living water. This well is our renewed heart, our new wineskin, filled with the Holy Spirit. We can dip into this well anytime we need refreshing, anytime we need strength, anytime we need to feel God's love.
Speaking Your Way to Fullness
Ephesians 5:18 provides the key: "Do not be drunk with wine, in which is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." The Greek construction here indicates a continuous action—keep on being filled. This isn't a one-time experience but a daily, moment-by-moment lifestyle.
But notice what comes immediately after: "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things" (Ephesians 5:19-20).
Speaking. Singing. Giving thanks. These are the ways we drink from the Spirit.
Many Christians have it backwards. They think they need to be filled first, then they'll speak. But the biblical pattern is clear: as we speak, we're filled. On the day of Pentecost, they were filled as they spoke in tongues. The speaking was the drinking.
This is why the enemy wants to keep your mouth shut. He knows that when you start speaking words of praise, thanksgiving, and Spirit-inspired utterances, you begin drawing from the well of God's presence. You start getting drunk on the Holy Spirit.
The Evidence of Being Filled
What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit? Based on the Pentecost account, people who are truly filled act like they're intoxicated—but with joy instead of alcohol. They become carefree, expressive, and bold. They laugh, they cry, they speak with passion. The religious rigidity melts away, replaced by fluid responsiveness to God's leading.
This isn't about being weird for weirdness' sake. It's about being so filled with God's presence that you can't contain it anymore. It bubbles out of you. It overflows onto others. Rivers of living water flow from your innermost being, bringing life wherever you go.
When you're truly filled, something else happens: you become submissive to God's will. Not in a forced, legalistic way, but naturally, joyfully. You find yourself wanting what He wants, going where He leads, speaking what He inspires.
An Invitation to Drink
The invitation still stands today: "Come and drink." Not from the broken cisterns of this world, but from the fountain of living water. Not from temporary pleasures that leave you thirsty again, but from the eternal Spirit who satisfies completely.
You don't need another substitute. You need the real thing. You don't need to work harder or be more religious. You need to open your mouth and start drinking from the well God has placed inside you.
Start speaking words of praise. Thank God for His blessings. Speak in tongues if you've received that gift, or simply declare His Word over your life. As you speak, you'll find yourself being filled, refreshed, renewed.
The days are evil, but God's answer isn't escape—it's to be filled with His Spirit. To walk in joy when others walk in despair. To overflow with hope when others are drowning in cynicism. To be so drunk on God's presence that the world takes notice and wonders what you have that they're missing.
It's time to drink. It's time to be filled. It's time to let the rivers flow.
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June,4,2026
Living in the Household of Faith: Uncovering Your True Identity
Have you ever felt buried under the weight of life's circumstances? Perhaps you've struggled with addiction, depression, financial hardship, or the lingering effects of a broken family. Maybe you look at your life and wonder if there's something more—something beyond just surviving day to day.The truth is, there's a treasure hidden beneath all that dirt. That treasure is you.
You're Part of a Family
God never intended for us to navigate this life alone. From the very beginning, He designed us for family—not just a biological family, but a spiritual family where faith is the foundation and the operating system. This is what Scripture calls "the household of faith."
In Galatians 6:10, we're reminded to "do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." This isn't just a nice suggestion; it's an invitation into a way of living that transforms everything.
When dysfunction enters any family—whether it's abuse, neglect, poverty, or broken relationships—it's often because someone isn't operating in faith. Faith isn't just a concept to discuss on Sundays; it's the very system God designed for His family to function properly. When faith is present, peace follows. When faith operates, deliverance comes. When faith is active, you discover that even in your darkest hour, the Father is standing right beside you.
The Just Shall Live by Faith
Romans 1:17 declares a powerful truth: "The just shall live by faith." Not by church doctrine. Not by family tradition. Not by cultural expectations. By faith.
This verse reveals something profound: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." Notice that word—revealed. Your true identity as a righteous child of God can be hidden under layers of lies, trauma, and worldly influences. But faith uncovers it. Faith reveals who you really are.
Think of it this way: you might be buried six feet deep in the dirt of life's disappointments, but God sees the treasure you are. He gave everything to purchase the field where you're buried, and now He's in the process of uncovering you—clearing away the dirt one layer at a time.
How does He do it? Through faith. One word. One truth. One step at a time.
From Faith to Faith
Faith is progressive. You don't go from zero to hero overnight. Instead, God gives you one word to believe. When you hear that word, think on it, believe it, and act on it, a little bit of dirt gets cleared away. The light of who you are in Christ breaks through just a little more.
Then you're ready for the next step of faith. And the next. And the next.
This is what "from faith to faith" means. Each step of faith reveals more of your righteousness in Christ. Each act of obedience clears away more of the debris that's been covering your true identity.
Walking on Water: The Power of One Word
Remember Peter's remarkable moment on the Sea of Galilee? The disciples were in a boat, battling a fierce storm, when they saw someone walking toward them on the water. Their first thought wasn't, "It's Jesus coming to save us!" Instead, fear gripped them: "It's a ghost!"
How often do we do the same thing? God sends us an answer, a messenger, a word—but because we're so buried under life's garbage, we can't recognize it's Him.
But Peter did something brilliant. He didn't ask for a sign. He knew better. Instead, he said, "Lord, if it's you, bid me to come unto you."
Peter understood that Jesus operates through His word. So Jesus spoke one simple word: "Come."
That's it. Just one word.
Now, no one had ever walked on water before. It was completely impossible by natural standards. But Peter heard the word, believed it, and acted on it. And he did the impossible—he walked on water in the middle of that storm.
Here's the key: Peter was just one step away from Jesus. One step away from complete breakthrough. But he got distracted by the wind and waves, by the circumstances surrounding him, and he began to sink.
Many of us are just one step of faith away from our breakthrough. One step away from seeing God's righteousness fully revealed in our situation. Don't let the storm distract you now.
Building a House That Withstands the Storm
In Luke 6:46-48, Jesus asks a piercing question: "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?"
He then explains that whoever comes to Him, hears His words, and does them is like a person building a house on a solid rock foundation. When the floods come and the storms beat against that house, it cannot be shaken because it's founded on the rock.
Notice the progression: come to Jesus, hear His words, and do them.
It's not enough to have a "come to Jesus moment." It's wonderful to encounter Him, but that's just the beginning. We must also hear what He's saying—not what the world is saying, not what our fears are telling us, but what He is saying. And then we must act on it.
This is how the household of faith withstands the storms of life. Not by hoping things get better. Not by positive thinking alone. But by being hearers and doers of the Word.
Your True Identity: The Righteousness of God
Here's a truth that will change your life if you let it sink in: In Christ, you are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
You're not trying to become righteous. You already are righteous because of what Jesus did. This isn't arrogance; it's confidence in what Christ accomplished.
A righteous person isn't defined by addiction, depression, or poverty. A righteous person is an overcomer. A righteous person is healed, whole, and healthy. A righteous person is well provided for.
Jesus walked in complete victory. When He encountered leprosy, it fled. When He faced lack, He multiplied provision. Why? Because He was the righteousness of God. And now, through the new birth, you have that same righteousness.
Nothing should define you except what God has done in Christ Jesus.
The Nation Inside You
There's something else you need to know: there are nations of people inside you. Your life today will affect generations that come after you. What you choose to believe, how you choose to walk in faith, the household you build—all of it will impact a whole nation of people who will come from you.
We stand on the shoulders of those who walked in faith before us. Now it's our turn to walk in faith so that others can stand on our shoulders.
Stay in the House
When storms rage outside, when the world seems chaotic, when challenges mount—just stay in the house. Stay in the household of faith.
There's food at the Master's table. There's provision, deliverance, and protection inside the house. Just because there's a storm outside doesn't mean you have to get wet. Just because there's a lion in the streets doesn't mean it will affect you.
Stay in the house. Keep walking by faith, not by sight.
Your righteousness is being revealed, one step of faith at a time. The treasure that you are is being uncovered. And the world is waiting to see the manifestation of who you truly are as a child of God.
Take that next step. Hear the word. Believe it. Do it.
You're not just surviving—you're called to thrive in the household of faith.
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May, 21,2026
New Wine Requires New Wineskins: Understanding God's Process of Renewal
God wants to do something new in your life, but it requires a process. Just as new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins without causing damage, God's new work in our lives requires preparation and renewal of our hearts.
What Does It Mean That God's Spirit Quickens Our Bodies?
Romans 8:11 reveals a powerful truth: "But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now lives within every believer. When Jesus died, His body was completely lifeless - no heartbeat, diseased, bruised, and broken. Yet the Spirit of God brought complete restoration, healing every wound and driving out every disease.
This same Spirit dwells in you today. Your body may be experiencing symptoms of sickness or disease, but remember - sickness is simply death in progress. When the Spirit of God encounters disease in your mortal body, He quickens it and makes life.
The Glory of God and the Spirit of God Work Together
Romans 6:4 tells us that Christ was "raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father." This doesn't contradict Romans 8:11 - it emphasizes that when we speak of God's glory, we're talking about His personal presence with all His power, authority, and ability.
The glory of God represents everything He is - His omnipotence, His authority, His healing power. When God's glory is present, He is personally there doing the work.
How Does God Give Us New Hearts?
The prophet Joel revealed God's process in Joel 2:19: "Indeed, I am sending you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them." This prophecy shows a clear progression of how God works in the New Covenant.
The Three-Step Process
First comes the grain - representing God's Word. The Word is spiritual food that cleanses and prepares our hearts. As Ephesians 5 tells us, God washes us with the Word.
Then comes the new wine - representing God's Spirit. The new wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, bringing renewal and power.
Finally comes the oil - representing the anointing. This is the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of God that eliminates every trace of the enemy's work in our lives.
Why the Word Must Come First
Ezekiel 36:25-26 explains this process: "Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you."
God cannot give you a new spirit without first giving you a new heart. The heart is the container for God's Spirit, and it must be prepared through His Word. Jesus said in Luke 4:18 that He was anointed "to heal the brokenhearted" - and this healing comes through the preaching of God's Word.
Why Can't New Wine Go Into Old Wineskins?
Jesus explained this principle in Luke 5:37-38: "And no man puts new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved."
God loves you too much to pour His new Spirit into an unprepared heart. If He poured His healing, delivering, providing Spirit into an old heart, it would break you. The expansion and power of God's Spirit requires a heart that has been renewed and prepared by His Word.
What Happens When We Hold Onto Old Wine
Wineskins were designed to be filled and then emptied, used repeatedly. They were portable containers meant for frequent use - receiving wine and then dispensing it.
Many believers receive a fresh touch from God but then hold onto it instead of allowing it to flow out in ministry to others. When we hold onto the "wine" instead of letting it flow, our hearts become hard and stiff like old wineskins.
This is why some people can sit in powerful services and remain unmoved while newcomers are greatly blessed. They're holding onto old wine and thinking "the old is better," missing what God wants to do now.
What Was the Significance of Jesus Turning Water Into Wine?
The first miracle Jesus performed in John 2 pointed directly to the New Covenant. When the wedding ran out of wine, Jesus' mother asked Him to help. His response was prophetic: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come."
Jesus was referring to the time when the New Covenant would begin - when He would present His blood on the mercy seat in heaven. The new wine represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that would come after His death and resurrection.
Stone Pots vs. Wineskins
Notice that Jesus used stone water pots, not flexible wineskins. These stone containers held about 180 gallons total. Stone pots were rigid and couldn't expand, unlike wineskins which were flexible and portable.
Jesus was demonstrating that the New Covenant would be about what happens inside our hearts - the internal transformation that makes us capable of containing and dispensing God's Spirit.
How Do We Receive Fresh Fillings of the Holy Spirit?
Don't live on past experiences with God. The righteousness of God is revealed "from faith to faith" - there's always something new available. You need fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit to handle what you're facing today.
A new healing requires a new spirit moving in your life. New provision requires fresh anointing. New breakthrough requires a new heart prepared by God's Word.
Breaking Free from Religious Limitations
Some believers become uncomfortable with the supernatural manifestations of God's Spirit because they've become "sanctified" in their thinking. But the same people who once felt free to be affected by alcohol should feel even more free to be "drunk" with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." This filling is meant to be ongoing - "be being filled" is the literal translation.
Life Application
This week, examine your heart honestly. Are you holding onto old wine - past experiences with God that you're trying to make last instead of seeking fresh encounters? Are you resistant to new ways God wants to move in your life because you prefer "the old wine"?
Challenge yourself to release what you've been holding onto and ask God for a fresh work in your heart. Spend time in His Word daily, allowing it to cleanse and prepare your heart for new wine. Don't just read - meditate on Scripture and let it do its cleansing work.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I more excited about what God did in the past than what He wants to do now?
- Have I been holding onto spiritual experiences instead of letting God's Spirit flow through me to bless others?
- Am I regularly receiving fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit, or am I living on past encounters?
- What areas of my life need God's new wine - His fresh Spirit and anointing?
Remember, God wants to do something new in your life, but it requires a new heart prepared by His Word, filled with His new wine, and anointed with His oil. Don't settle for old wineskins when God has fresh wine ready to pour out.
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MAY,14, 2026
New Wine, New Wineskins: Understanding God's Transformative Power
The Christian life isn't about patching up old ways of thinking or adding religious practices to an unchanged heart. It's about complete transformation from the inside out. When Jesus spoke about new wine and new wineskins, He wasn't giving agricultural advice—He was revealing the radical nature of the New Covenant and how God works in our lives today.
What Does the Spirit of God Do in Our Lives?
The foundation of understanding God's transformative power begins with recognizing what the Spirit accomplishes. Romans 8:11 tells us: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."
The word "quicken" means to make life. It's the Spirit of God that creates life in your body, not the flesh itself. Your body was designed to receive life, but the giver of life is the Spirit of God. This same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is available to dwell within you, bringing life to every area of your existence.
Why Did Jesus Use the Wine and Wineskin Analogy?
When religious leaders questioned why Jesus' disciples didn't follow traditional fasting practices, Jesus responded with the parable of new wine and old wineskins. In Matthew 9:16-17, He explained: "No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
This wasn't merely about wine storage—it was about the incompatibility of the Old and New Covenants. The old religious system could only cleanse externally and temporarily. It couldn't transform the heart or create lasting change from within.
What's Wrong with Mixing Old and New?
Jesus didn't come to repair the law of Moses or add to existing religious practices. He came to replace them entirely. The Old Covenant was good but limited—it could only wash the outside while leaving the inside unchanged. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, they were "like whitewashed tombs full of dead men's bones"—clean on the outside but dead within.
When we try to mix New Covenant realities with old religious thinking, we create the same problem as putting new wine in old wineskins. The old, brittle container can't handle the expansion and fermentation of the new wine, causing both to be lost.
How Does God Create Lasting Change?
God's process for transformation follows a specific pattern revealed in Ezekiel 36:25-27: "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them."
Notice the progression:
Cleansing through God's Word
A new heart is given
A new spirit is placed within
God's Spirit enables obedience
The Word Cleanses First
Jesus said in John 15:3: "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you." The Word of God washes and cleanses us. Ephesians 5:26 confirms this, describing how Christ cleanses the church "with the washing of water by the word."
When God speaks His Word to you, He's releasing His Spirit through those words. The Word and Spirit work together, just as they did in creation when "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" and "God said, 'Let there be light.'"
A New Heart Follows
Through the cleansing power of His Word, God gives us a new heart. Luke 4:18 reveals that Jesus was anointed "to heal the brokenhearted." The word "broken" means crushed or shattered, referring to our core thoughts and emotions. The gospel doesn't just inform us—it transforms our hearts.
Why Don't We Always See God Moving?
Many believers wonder why they don't consistently experience God's power and presence. The issue isn't whether God is moving—He's always moving. The Spirit of God is always available to quicken and make life. The question is whether we have the right "wineskin" to contain what He wants to pour out.
It's not a Spirit issue; it's a wineskin issue. If you're looking for healing, provision, restoration, or breakthrough, the Spirit has the answer. But without a new heart in that area, even when God moves, the old wineskin can't contain the new wine.
What Happens When New Wine Meets Old Wineskins?
Sometimes God moves through the gifts of the Spirit, bringing instantaneous healing or breakthrough even when someone doesn't have faith or a new heart in that area. However, without the proper container (new heart), the blessing often doesn't last.
People receive healing and lose it. They experience breakthrough and fall back into old patterns. This isn't because God's power failed, but because the old, broken heart couldn't contain the new spirit that produced the miracle.
How Do We Develop New Wineskins?
The development of new wineskins—new hearts that can contain God's Spirit—comes through:
Receiving God's Word: Allow His Word to wash and cleanse your thinking
Embracing the Gospel: Let the good news heal your broken heart
Yielding to the Spirit: Be filled with the Holy Spirit, not just touched by Him
Maintaining Fresh Perspective: Stay open to new moves of God rather than clinging to old religious traditions
What Does New Wine Look Like?
The word "new" in Scripture means fresh, recent, or newly manifested. God wants us to have:
Fresh hearts with fresh moves of His Spirit
Recent encounters rather than just past experiences
Young, vibrant faith rather than stale religion
When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, observers said they were "full of new wine" because they acted like people who were joyfully intoxicated. They were happy, bold, and couldn't stop talking about what God had done.
Life Application
This week, examine your heart for areas where you might be trying to patch old wineskins instead of receiving something completely new from God. Are there places in your life where you're holding onto old ways of thinking, old hurts, or old religious practices that prevent you from receiving what God wants to pour out?
Ask yourself these questions:
Where am I trying to add God's blessing to unchanged thinking patterns?
What areas of my life need a completely new heart rather than just improvement?
Am I open to God doing something fresh and new, or am I limiting Him to past experiences?
How can I position myself to receive both the cleansing Word and the new Spirit God wants to give?
Remember, your healing starts in the spirit. Your breakthrough begins with a new heart. God isn't interested in patching up your old life—He wants to give you something entirely new that can contain all He desires to pour out in your life.
