Get Ready to Change

Holy Spirit is taking us from glory to glory, strength to strength, and faith to faith. In Scripture, believers are compared to wineskins – soft and pliable or hardened and unmalleable, making them unusable. Wine had to be placed in soft, flexible wineskins so the expansion caused by the fermentation process would not split the skin. Between uses, however, the wineskin would harden, necessitating a renewing process before being used again. The process involved soaking them in water and rubbing oil into them. As spiritual wineskins, holding the wine of Holy Spirit, God needs to refresh us, as well, so we can be used in each new move of His Spirit. When the new wine of revival comes, it will stretch us; we will need fresh faith, giftings, and insights. The Lord will even ask us to do things in new ways.

Many prophets are saying there is a fresh move of Holy Spirit coming. As I have mentioned before, it is going to begin with the young. We all will be needed, even we older ones, so don’t think about sitting back and getting out of the way. The young ones will need our wisdom. Therefore, start pouring in the oil and make sure you are indeed a “new” wineskin.

When Jesus taught on the new wineskin in Mark 2:22, he used the word “new” twice. He said, “But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Some translations, however, say that new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. The reason for the difference is that the two Greek words for “new” in this passage are different –  new (neos) wine must be put into a new (kainos) skins. 

Neos means “new, but not different in kind and quality.” Think of cars rolling off an assembly line that are all the same make, model, and color. They are all new, but not different. Holy Spirit is the new wine. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He may be manifesting in new and fresh ways, but He is unchanging, always the same God being poured out. Holy Spirit’s wine must be poured into a new (kainos) wineskin, however, which means “new in kind and quality; different.” He is saying to us, “I am not going to change. You are!”

During the Jesus People Movement, the Lord brought new forms of worship and worship leaders. It was not uncommon to see someone on a stage barefoot, wearing a t-shirt and torn jeans while playing a guitar or set of drums. This is common today but not so 50 years ago. When this change began, many chose to judge the “new” because they were looking through the eyes of hardened wineskins. Young believers were expressing their new faith by jumping up and down, looking almost like they were at a rock concert! They worshipped loudly and passionately, danced, clapped and raised their hands in the air! But kids were getting saved! Holy Spirit wasn’t asking them to conform to the old wineskins; He was asking the older wineskins to re-form, in order to hold the new wine being poured out. 

Some congregations changed and embraced the new converts, some would not. 

There is a sad truth that it is often the groups formed in the last revival or outpouring that most persecute and criticize the new move of God. We must guard against this, determining we are going to embrace the next move of God – no matter what it looks like. 

With the next new move of God, we will need a strong mix of wisdom and revelation (His fresh Word). He never asks us to completely abandon what He did yesterday, and certainly not to forget what He taught us. He does, however, add a freshness to it. Jesus had great depth of wisdom and knowledge, yet, He was always listening in the moment for what Father was saying. Every good leader in the Bible walked in this mixture of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is understanding gained from past learning and experience. Revelation is what we receive from Holy Spirit now. We might receive it as we read the Word, listen to others, through prophecy, perhaps even through dreams. But God will speak to us, if we listen.

In 1 Kings 3:9, Solomon asked the Lord for the ability to “discern.” The Hebrew word is biyn, meaning wisdom, understanding, discernment, and revelation. He also said, “Give me a hearing heart.” We, also, need both wisdom from past moves of Holy Spirit, as well as to hear God clearly today as we navigate in the new.

The Lord is doing a new thing. We are going to be challenged to get out of our comfort zones, the ways we have learned and been taught to do things. New ways will be required to reach a new generation of believers. I want to be a part of that and I’m sure you do, as well.

“[These are new things I’m teaching, and they can’t be reconciled with old habits.] Nobody would ever use a piece of new cloth to patch an old garment because when the patch shrinks, it pulls away and makes the tear even worse. And nobody puts new, unfermented wine into old wineskins because if he does, the wine will burst the skins; they would lose both the wineskins and the wine. No, the only appropriate thing is to put new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:21-22; VOICE)

Pray with me:

Lord, teach us to walk in wisdom and give us hearts that can hear. Open our ears to hear Your current revelation (Isaiah 50:4-5). We want to hear what You are saying to Your church today.

We desire to always be fresh wineskins. When this movement fully hits, we don’t want to be left out. We determine to not be so hardened into yesterday’s mold, we can’t handle the new outpouring. We refuse to be those that cried out for revival, then missed being able to participate because it was sloppy and messy. Soak us in the water of revelation from Your word, and massage us with the oil of Holy Spirit. Help us put aside our expectations and what we are comfortable with, fully embracing the new.

Give us revelation to hear Your voice and wisdom to know how to disciple and build. Give us revelation to stir things up and wisdom to provide stability. Give us revelation so we can walk in Your gifts, wisdom to know Your ways. We must have the Spirit and the Word. New wine is coming and we WILL receive it! Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Today’s decree:

The Lord is forming new wineskins in His Ekklesia, so we can hold the fullness of Holy Spirit’s fresh outpouring.