New Wine Part 3
New Wine Part 3
Tuesday January 21, 2025
When God makes us a promise, we must first receive it by faith. Next we must seek a better understanding of promise, (the what, when, how, where and why) and then we must begin to pray in expectation and strengthen our prayers with worship.
Quick Refresher on The Benefits of New Wine.
Mnemonic: Jehovah Rapha, the Lord Who heals… (J-RAPHA)
Joy
Restoration
Abundance
Preservation
Healing
Anointing
The Holy Spirit never forces people. Instead, He seeks our cooperation.
1 Samuel 10:6 NKJV Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
Saul would become a new man… new spirit, new expectations, new attitude, etc.
Collaboration between God and man does not start with action but with position. What is your posture? Where is your focus?
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19
FURTHER PREPARATIONS FOR NEW WINE.
(2nd Type is Positive Preparation… things to accept and embrace)
Consecration, Sanctification, Prayer and Fasting, and Worship
Consecration… Set Yourself Apart for God’s Purpose
To consecrate is to turn aside from everything else and be devoted to God and to God’s purpose.
Exodus 3:1-5 NKJV Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. [2] And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. [3] Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” [4] So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the burning bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” [5] Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Moses turned aside from his regular business, and turned into his destiny. When God shows up, we must turn aside. It can no longer be business as usual. God told Moses the ground he stood on was holy ground. It was holy because God’s Presence, God’s anointing was on it. 2025 is a special year, because it has God's anointing upon it. When God marks a year, a time, a place, we must turn aside and pay attention. It can no longer be business as usual.
A consecrated life will hear clearly from God; will get further instructions from God.
Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of my Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
Acts 1:4 ESV And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me;
Do not leave Jerusalem:
Jesus prepared His Disciples to get ready in their hearts, (posture) to get ready in their location, (focus).
Where you are determines what you see.
Matthew 23:37-38 NLT "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me. [38] And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.
Jerusalem was the appointed place. Jerusalem was the anointed place. Jerusalem was the holy ground. For each person, there is an appointed Jerusalem, a particular thing the Lord wants you to focus on.
Psalm 87:1-3 NLT On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the LORD. [2] He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel. [3] O city of God, what glorious things are said of you! Interlude
There will be many reasons to leave Jerusalem, but do not leave.
There are many dangers in Jerusalem, but do not leave.
There is safety and opportunity elsewhere out of Jerusalem, but do not leave.
What you are waiting for, the Promise of the Father, is worth all the risks Jerusalem presents.
All the opportunities elsewhere are not worth comparing to the Promise of the Father.
Jerusalem was a specific place for them, and it represented a focal point. He was saying to them and to us, “Be focused. Don’t be distracted by any other business. Give this Promise of New Wine all your attention now!”
Wait for the Promise of the Father:
Wait with great hope and expectations. No passive waiting around here but an active waiting, not knowing the day or the hour. Looking eagerly for the day the Promise will be fulfilled.
John 16:12-15 LSB “I still have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [13] But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. [14] He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. [15] All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
1 Peter 1:10-11 (ESV) 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Sanctification
New Wine represents being filled with the Holy Spirit
We must never forget that the Spirit of God is HOLY.
We must be very serious with holiness. No toying with sin.
2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
2 Timothy 2:19-21 Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (20) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. (21) Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God,; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (3) And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure.
Praying and fasting
Waiting in the right way will necessarily include praying. We wait like Anna the prophetess, from the tribe of Asher. Her entire life was summed up in three glorious verses.
Luke 2:36-38 NKJV Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; (37) and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple but served God with fastings and prayers, day and night. (38) And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all who looked for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 10:1
Ask the Lord for rain
In the time of the latter rain.
The Lord will make flashing clouds;
He will give them showers of rain
Grass in the field for everyone.
The best time to pray for a thing is when God is ready to grant it, when he says to receive it.
The children of Israel were in the land of bondage for 430 years instead of the allotted time of 400 years. Did someone fail to pray?
In order for God's promises to be fulfilled , and for God's will to be done on earth, intercessors are needed.
Daniel began to pray when he discovered that the appointed time of 70 years was complete.
Daniel 9:1-3 In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahaseurus, of the lineage of the Medes who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans (2) in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem. (3) Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Elijah began to pray for rain, even after he had prophetically heard the sound of an abundance of rain.
1 Kings 18:41-46
God is promising an outpouring of the fullness of His Spirit. Now is the time to really pray for that specifically. Every other request must take a back seat.
God is looking for intercessors.
There is an ongoing recruitment drive by the Holy Spirit. God needs volunteers to be the midwives for His move in 2025. What sayest thou?
Mary was an intercessor.
The servants at the wedding were intercessors.
The servants at the wedding in Cana did not serve themselves. Their act of worship, (obedience) was for the benefit of the bride and groom. They obeyed Jesus irrespective of recognition by the bride and groom.
Prophetess Anna was a midwife.
All who are called to intercede are midwives, praying until God's will is brought into existence in the lives of the people, nations we are called to pray for. We are not doing it primarily for the beneficiaries but for God who has given us our assignment.
Luke 2:36-38 ESV And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, [37] and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. [38] And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Anna was a good waitress. She knew how to wait the right way. She never left the temple. She was not busy, here and there, all over the place. She waited in the temple waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem . She waited with much prayer and fasting.
She prayed for a long time… decades. Yet, she did not pray about many things… just for the redemption of Jerusalem.
She came into the temple , at just the right time, when Jesus the Redeemer, for whom she had been waiting was being dedicated.
Acts 4:31 ESV And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Ministering to the Lord… Worship.
Acts 13:1-4 ESV mNow there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. [2] While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." [3] Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. [4] So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
Waiting can be tiresome. Especially when we do not know for how long we would have to wait.
Anna did not know that she would have to wait for decades.
Jesus did not set a specific duration for waiting. In fact when He was asked concerning the time, He refused to answer.
Acts 1:5-8 ESV for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." [6] So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" [7] He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
They had walked with Jesus for long enough to know that He often spoke in parables. When He said, “not many days from now,” they pressed and asked Him more directly. Still He did not answer them, but rather rebuked them. “He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
Effectively He was saying, “Never mind that. Don’t focus on that. It could be a distraction. Instead after the Holy Spirit comes upon you, something will happen to you.”
Waiting can be difficult if we do not accompany it with worship.
Like Anna who worshipped the Lord night and day, while waiting, these 5 men also worshiped until there was a release.
We are not told how long the 5 men here waited for before they were released. All we know is that while they waited, they worshiped God.
Worship focuses our gaze on God, instead of whatever we may be waiting for. Worship is looking at the face of God, while waiting is looking at His hands. Those who look to His hands can often get impatient and lose heart. Those who look to His face are always enlightened.
Psalm 34:5 ESV Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
Prayer As Worship
God the giver of all good things, is greater than the gift. God who made the Promise is greater than the promise. We must never allow anything to shift our focus from the Creator.
We must learn to redirect our attention from what we want to receive from God to God Himself. This when prayer becomes worship. God is no longer the means to the end we want. He has become the end we are seeking. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. At this point, even when we ask God for stuff, they will be the stuff he has promised of His own free will… Like the redemption of Jerusalem for which Anna prayed for about 6 decades. Prayer becomes worship when in humble adoration, we cry, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
