Skip to main content

A Container for His Presence

A Container for His Presence
Matthew 9:17 – “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.””

For the past several weeks the Lord has dealt with me about having the right container.  Jesus reveals an important principle in this passage of Scripture, “You cannot put new wine into an old wineskin.” 

So often we focus so much on an outpouring of God’s Spirit, which the new wine represents in this passage of Scripture, that we neglect the container.

Without a proper container we cannot keep what is being poured out.  Containers are very important.  If a canned good is not perfectly sealed the food it contains will spoil. 

God has been visiting us as His people to prepare a container.  Before He pours out the new wine of His Spirit He first has to prepare the container.  If we short circuit this process we will not be able to contain what He desires to pour out into our lives.

Listen to the words of Jesus, “You cannot put new wine into old wineskins.”  The purpose of visitation is to prepare us to carry His presence in a greater way.  Why do we need a visitation of God’s Spirit?  Judges 2:10 reveals the reason; “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.”

In Ezekiel 37, the Prophet Ezekiel has an experience in a valley filled with dry bones.  Verse 1, “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.”  In this passage there is a pattern that reveals how God prepares a container for His presence. 

In Ezekiel 37:3 the Lord asks the prophet a question.  “Can these bones live?”  What was the answer from Ezekiel?  “O Lord God, You know.”  In His instructions to the prophet he gives instructions to how He brings revival to His people.

He first prepares the container.  In verse 7 the prophet prophesied to the scattered bones.  What happened?  “There was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.”

Verse 8 continues, “Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.”  Here stands an exceedingly great army, but there is no breath.

God brought together the container and then commands the Prophet to prophesy to the wind.  In verse 10 the prophet prophesied and the breath came into this exceedingly great army and they lived.

We must allow God to prepare us to retain His life giving Spirit.  Why have so many revivals ended in confusion?  Perhaps, because the container wasn't properly prepared for His presence.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Declaration of Ownership

Psalm 24:1-2 – “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters.”               Psalm 24 is the third part of a trilogy with Psalm 22 and 23. David opens Psalm 22 prophetically with the words Jesus would say on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?” Psalm 23 reveals our Lord as the Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep. Psalm 24 reveals the Lord as the King of Glory.  Psalm 24 begins with a declaration of ownership. The Psalmist identifies the Lord as the Creator. Psalm 24:2 says, “He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Psalm 89:11 says, “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.”  The beginning of cr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rebuilding the Broken Altar of Prayer

In Matthew 21: 12-13 , “ Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” Jesus made this declaration, “My house shall be called a house of prayer!”  I believe that God is calling us back to the altar of prayer.  For several weeks the Lord has dealt with me about rebuilding the broken altar of prayer in our personal and corporate lives.  If we are going to see spiritual breakthrough in our churches and communities then we must rebuild and return to the altar of prayer. Wayman Rogers writes, “The ministry of prayer is the most important of all ministries in the church.  Prayer creates the atmosphere and binds the powers of darkness so the gospel of Jesus can go forward and the church can prosper....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tent Peg of Jael

Judges 4:21-22 – “Then Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went down into the ground; for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” And when he went into her  tent,  there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple.”             The book of Judges covered a chaotic time in Israel’s history.   A key Scripture for Judges in found in Judges 21:25, “Every man did was right in his own eyes.” There were seven cycles of apostasy, where the covenant children of God would turn away from the principles of the Word of God.             When they had godly leadership they would serve the Lord.   When that leader would die they would turn f...
1 comment
Read more