Hey friends!
By a raise of hands (go ahead, no one is watching) how many of you enjoy a glass of wine now and again? Me too. I used to be a hearty-red kinda gal but lately I prefer a light, crisp white. I’ve never been much of a drinker, but an occasional glass of wine is nice, especially paired with delicious cheese, crusty Italian bread, close friends, and good conversation.
Recently I’ve been loving on the song “New Wine” by Hillsong. It was released last year, but as of late it has been hitting me right where it counts most, the heart. Have you heard it? It is actually quite powerful. Check it out here:
No seriously, do it. Even if you’re familiar. Listen. Really listen, and then come back because I’d like to ponder something with you.
YOUR WHOLENESS IS AT STAKE
This week at GRM, we begin a new semester of Bible study, and we are “breaking new ground,” girlfriends! “Who Do You Say That I Am?” by Becky Harling is the study, and I promise by the end of the semester you will have an answer to Jesus’s question, or you won’t. You will be committed, or you won’t. You’ll do the work, or you won’t. But I promise you this, whether you’re joining us at GRM, or studying somewhere else, whatever you do will matter.
It matters to your relationships. It matters to your work. It matters to your spiritual life. And it matters most to Jesus. This isn’t meant to guilt trip you, it’s merely a fact. Your wholeness is at stake, and I’m passionate about you and your walk with God.
But why do I bring this up, and what on earth does it have to do with wine?
Let me tell you…
PRESSING AND CRUSHING MAKES NEW WINE OUT OF YOU
Bible study is hard work. Yes, it’s our weekly get-together where we see old friends and make new friends, where we chat endlessly to the point that even an old school bell cannot jolt us to attention, but the process of actually doing the work is time-consuming, mind-bending, and often difficult. But do you know that it is in this “pressing” that God is making new wine out of you? Crushing and pressing is painful and often frustrating. Yet in this process God breaks new ground.
In the book of Mark the author writes, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
Those old, cracked wineskins that you wear on day one shed throughout the eight weeks and you are given new wineskins. Wineskins that can withstand the crushing and pressing of life.
DO YOU NEED ANOTHER VACATION?
How many of you are feeling crushed or pressed? How many of you are in a perpetual state of needing a vacation? That’s the sign you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to take it up a notch. God is ready, willing, and able to make new wine out of you.
But you gotta do it.
You have to put in the time.
You have to make it a commitment.
You have to want it.
So, let me ask…Do you want it?
Come on now, “lay down that old flame” – your busyness, your time, your to-do list, your idols – lay them down so you “may carry God’s new fire today.” Because where there is new wine, there is new power, and the kingdom is here.” Jesus is here. HE’S the kingdom you’re really looking for. Are you ready? We’ve got good work to do.
Let’s roll!
With love,
Dawn
