New Wine in Old Wineskins?

Matthew 9:16,17 - "But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

Jesus addresses our tendency to believe that the key to fresh encounters with God is the religious activity that at one time was accompanied by the presence of God. In this context the practice of fasting seemed to accompany the Spirit-filled preaching of John the Baptist. So, the fasting by John's disciples must have been the key to the powerful moves of the Holy Spirit in John's preaching.

Such a mindset can cause such spiritual or religious activities to become a new orthodoxy or even devolve into superstition, both of which are devoid of God's Spirit. God wants us to hunger for His presence and pursue His will today. We need to keep seeking Him (Col 3:1,2), deep calling deep (Psalm 42:7). God is enthroned upon the praises (Hebrew = tehillah = singing a new song of praise) of His people (Psalm 22:3). The newness of the praise is tied to the continuing (fresh) experience of God's presence in the believer's life. God's fresh wine response of His presence truly does bless us.

He Stills the Storms

In today's reading of the One Year Bible: Psalm 107:28-30 - "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven."

Being in the middle of a storm at sea is a very scary experience! Perhaps, we can understand the fear of the disciples on the boat with Jesus in the middle of the storm (Matthew 8:23-27). They cried out to the Lord to save them. And, He did! He commanded the storm to be still and the sea became calm. He demonstrated His authority and power in a way that identified Him with God as Psalm 107 describes. We should place definitely place our trust in Him and give Him glory!

Living Water

In today's reading of the One Year Bible I love Jesus' description of the life we have in Him as He talks to the Samaritan woman: "Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water..." (John 4:13-15). I pray that many will respond to Jesus' invitation the way this Samaritan woman did..."Sir, give me this water."