I heard and released these words from the Lord recently:
"New wine has been released! But My people need to have a new wineskin, lest the old wineskin bursts! The new wineskin is the new mindset! Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may allow what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God!"
In Matthew 9:17, Jesus says, "Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
People use wineskins to contain wine, and to drink from them. Wineskins are made of leather (animal skin), e.g. goatskin, sheepskin, or cowskin. As the wineskins get older, they would eventually get 'stretched to the limit' and become brittle (i.e. hard, easily breakable). Using old wineskins therefore risk bursting them! New wineskins, on the other hand, won't burst, because they are soft and tender!
If 'new wineskin' speaks of 'new mindset', then 'new wine' speaks of 'the new thing that God has for you'! This may be 'a new idea' or 'a new way of doing things' in a new time and season. In cross-reference, Isaiah 43:18-19 says, 'Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert'.
In order to walk into the new thing that God has for you, there needs a renewal of the mind. It is like a new vision being given to a nation moving forward, but if the nation does not seek to revamp an outdated education system to facilitate the new vision, it just won't work! The 'old wineskin' bursts! And the new wine spills! And it will only lead to frustration all round!
Romans 12:2 says, 'And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God'. The word 'prove' here is 'dokimazo' in Greek, and it also means 'allow'. In other words, it is only when your mind is renewed (to see what God wants you to see) that you will allow what is that 'good and acceptable and perfect will of God' to happen in your life!
As a matter of fact, people generally resist change. The reason is simple. Because change is never comfortable. People tend to fall back on the things (even systems or structures) they are familiar with, even though God has moved on to the new. After the people in Moses' generation were set free from Egypt (which is a 'picture' of 'bondage' and 'slavery'), they still had 'slave' mentality in them. They were still bound in their old mindsets (i.e. 'old wineskins'). The Lord had already started to do a new thing (i.e. 'new wine'), but they didn't have the new mindsets (i.e. 'new wineskins') to 'contain' it!
When Moses sent men to spy out the land promised to them, instead of a good report, they brought back a bad report! They didn't believe they could take the land, even though they did see the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey! Here's what they said, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw giants; and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." (Numbers 13:32-33) The words 'in our own sight' here means 'in our own way of seeing things' or 'in our own mindsets'. But that's not how the Lord had wanted them to see it!
The people then complained against Moses, and they said, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in the wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:2-3)
No! They were wrong! The Lord did not take them out from Egypt to destroy them! Why would He do that? These people were destroyed due to their own old mindsets! When the Lord was doing a new thing, they just couldn't see it! They'd rather fall back on the 'slave' mindset (mentality) that they knew. They failed to see that they were now 'sons', not 'slaves'! They failed to see that as 'sons', they were now 'heirs', and the land had been given to them as their inheritance! They failed to see that the Lord would be with them, even if they were to face the giants! In the end, they had what they said and wished: "...if only we had died in the wilderness!" How tragic!
But God! In the midst of it all, there was a man named Caleb, and he had a different spirit. He was one of those spies sent by Moses to survey the land. In Numbers 14:24, the Lord said, "But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it." The word 'different spirit' here comes from the Hebrew word 'aw-khar', and it speaks of 'having a different way of seeing things from others'.
Indeed, Caleb saw something that others could not see. Instead of agreeing with the bad report, he brought back a good report. Now, here's what he said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." (Numbers 13:30) Caleb saw what the Lord had wanted the people to see! In other words, he had a 'new wineskin' to contain the 'new wine'! In the end, he successfully walked into all that the Lord had promised him!
People of God, in a time of change and transition into the new, be careful what you allow in your mind (see Philippians 4:8). Take authority over the spirit of discouragement and the spirit of self-destruction (i.e. speaking damning words to yourself). Instead of allowing the bad report to infiltrate your mind, fill your mind with thoughts of good report! Think what God thinks, and say what God says! Leave no vacancy for negative thoughts to have any place in your mind! And just as Caleb was, you too will be well on your way to the good things that await you in this new time and season. Amen!
