GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS!
Dear Brother/Sister in Christ:
I want to encourage you to soar with the eagle in the higher dimensions of your walk with the Lord. The Lord calls you to wait on Him so He can come and call you to mount up on His wings of power and catch the winds of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah says, “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.” (Isaiah 40:31)
Jesus at the Wedding!
In John, Chapter 2, we are told that Jesus went to a wedding at Cana. While at this wedding, His mother turned to Him, and said, “They have no wine.” Jesus must have noticed that there were six stone empty waterpots not being used. He said, “fill the waterpots with water.” Next, he said, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” The headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine. Then, the head waiter said to the bridegroom:
“A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!” (John 2:10)
The scriptures say in the next verse, This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:11)
The New Wine!
There is something very instructive here that needs to be revealed. As we seek the Lord, the Lord wants to put “new wine” into us for the purpose of taking His glory and sharing with others. Sharing His glory will cause others to wonder, come to Him, and believe in Him.
If I hardly ever drink of this “new wine,” I short circuit the Lord’s grace and truth He would have me to carry to those He calls me to minister to. Without the constant pouring of the “new wine” into my spirit and heart, I will basically remain an empty stone pot.
And empty stone pots, once filled with water but not touched by the Master’s hand to turn the water into “new wine” will not propel me on the path of ministering grace and truth or bringing His glory and His grace and mercy to others.
What is this New Wine!
The question remains - What is this “new wine?” How do I drink this “new wine?” I believe that the “new wine” is the grace of God that He gives to me to share with those He sends me to. Before I share truth, I need to share grace. John says, And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth …grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14, 17)
Once I communicate grace I can offer truth. Or, put in another way, the person I am sharing with will recognize truth many times without me sharing truth because the grace I share through the moving of the Holy Spirit can be so powerful that mental and emotional barriers are broken down and truth becomes self-evident. Grace opens the door for revelation of the truth and to do the supernatural and practical deeds of the Holy Spirit.
This is an important concept for me and you to understand. So many times, I believe that we can try to share the truth before we have established grace. Truth always rides on the coattails of grace. Let me put it this way - testimony to others always reflects God’s grace before it reflects the truth of the situation. I will explain this below.
In the wedding incident, Jesus first shared His giving of grace by turning the water into wine. The servants at the wedding knew what had happened to the water and they knew that Jesus had performed this miracle. They had seen the grace given by Jesus and recognized the truth of the incident. The headwaiter at first did not know but when he called the bridegroom (Jesus)
(See Matthew 25:10), grace entered his heart followed by his recognition and admission of the truth: “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:10)
Giving the New Wine Away!
How do I drink this “new wine?” I believe in order to drink it you must thirst for it. Thirst for it like you have never thirsted for anything in your life. It is supernaturally given to those who want it – to those who continuously hunger and thirst for the Master. He says,
For He has satisfied the thirsty soul… he has filled the hungry soul with what is good. (Psalm 107:9) My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God. (Psalm 42:2)
I titled this message “The Old Man and the Lemonade.” I bet you are wondering when he is ever going to talk about this. Well, with the above groundwork laid, here is the rest of the story.
Just a little while ago, in fact, on a Saturday, I had to go to the hardware store (Hartville Hardware) and pick up a couple of things. Before I left the store, I went over and secured a 64oz cup of lemonade from the vending machine and then went to the cashier and paid for the drink and the items I needed. As I was leaving the store, trying to balance my 64oz of lemonade and the sack of items, I noticed an old man sitting at the entrance of the store. As I was passing him by, the Lord said to me, “Give him your lemonade.”
But Lord, I said, “if I do that, I will have to go back and get another lemonade.” The Lord said again, “Give him your lemonade.” I dropped my attitude because I knew this was the Lord and directly obeyed. I went back to where the old man was sitting walked up to him without hesitation and said to him, “I was walking by, and Jesus told me to give you, my lemonade. I would like for you to have this lemonade and enjoy it.”
He looked at me, somewhat puzzled, as I was handing him the drink. I wanted to make sure he took the drink since the Lord told me to give it to him and he graciously accepted. He said, “thank you.” I began talking with him about general things and in the course of my conversation, he indicated that he was 91 years old and had come to the hardware store with his son.
He chose to sit at the entrance while his son shopped. After about 10 minutes of conversation, I asked him if I could pray for him, and he said yes. After a short prayer, I told him I was going back inside and get another lemonade. The Lord did not indicate that I should do anything else in terms of witnessing him.
The Lady Clerk!
I went back into the store to get another lemonade. As I was going through the checkout, the lady said, “I thought you just got a lemonade.” “Well,” I smiled, and said, “I did, but on the way out I noticed an old man sitting at the entrance, and as I was passing by him, Jesus told me to give him my lemonade.”
She commented that she had seen the old man sitting at the entrance. Then she said something to me that caught me off-guard, “Isn’t this what we Christians are supposed to be doing for people – helping them and giving to them what the Lord gives us?” I said, “Well, all I know is that when Jesus spoke to me, I did what He asked. You are right in that as Christians we are called to be servants to others preferring their needs over our needs.
Grace and Truth!
This is how I responded to the lady clerk. The grace of the action was followed by her acknowledgment of the truth of being called to serve others when Jesus speaks. When we read the gospels and notice the miracles and signs of Jesus in terms of healing and deliverance from sicknesses, diseases, and/or demonic forces, we can get caught up in and fascinated with these “power encounters” and miss some things.
We must never forget that the greatest sign to those people He touched during His life on earth was His person and His glory. And, so it is today - His person and His resurrected life of grace and truth touching people through the “new wine” He pours into us daily. Without this “new wine,” I remain a stone pot full of water and cannot be a blessing to those He wants to touch through me.
Pouring Out the New Wine!
Thus, my action spoke to her about our serving others and pouring out the “new wine” that Jesus gives us if we ask. It was not so much the act of giving the lemonade (physical action) as it was the act of sharing the glory of God (spiritual action) with the old man and the lady at the checkout counter.
If I ask Him to pour “new wine” into me, He will do it and He will expect me to pour His “new wine” of grace and truth into others. When I receive the “new wine,” I am expected to pour it out so He can pour more into me to give more away. When we pour into others, God pours more into us. Read that again dear reader!
The “new wine” in this instance was not only poured into the old man but was also poured into the clerk where she saw grace extended and the truth of the word of God being lived out in a simple and practical fashion that went to the core of what walking with Jesus is all about.
And to think, I almost missed this divine encounter to serve Him when I questioned Jesus a second time about giving the 99-cent 64oz cup of lemonade away.
So simple but so profound that intellect cannot understand but the spirit and heart can if being controlled by the Holy Spirit and hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying. “New wine” comes to the spirit and the heart. It is out of these that His Life goes forth. And to repeat, the “new wine” will come to me if I pursue Him diligently and then act when He speaks.
What he pours in I do not keep but give away so others can experience the grace and truth of God. So, He pours in, I pour out. He pours in, and I pour out. What the Master gives me I give to others as the Holy Spirit directs. Again, the “new wine” I receive, I will be called to give away. And unless I give it away, I will not receive more, nor will I be in a position to minister with the Lord to those He wants to put in my path. Remember, ministering to others is really the Lord ministering through me His grace and truth. I am just the mailman delivering God’s letter of grace and truth to those who need it. t
Giving the New Wine Away is Giving Away the Love of Jesus!
Not giving it away will short-circuit the grace and truth I need to extend to those in the world and in the church. Thus, not pouring out the “new wine” of grace and truth my ministry begins to nose-dive, and I become just a tinkling bell of falling out of harmony with the Holy Spirit.
The world waits for the grace and truth, and should I say the agape (love) of Christ to be brought to them via the “new wine person” that Jesus calls and says,
“Now, give them your drink.”
In my instance with the old man, I was the “new lemonade person” called to serve the drink to the old man. The Master poured (told me to give away). Thank God I responded to the Holy Spirit to pour out. In this instance, it was giving away the simple thing of a cup of Lemonade. How simple the Gospel can be when we obey the small urgings and testings of the Lord. This is truly God’s grace and truth in action.
Father, I just marvel at your simple but profound ways you call me to serve others. There will be times that you will have to hit me with a 2x4 to get me to understand your leading, but that is OK. I need a hard hit at times. Open my eyes and ears to see your moving by the Holy Spirit. I do not want to miss your call to serve and share your glory with others. I thank you for this revelation to my heart and pray that the reader will also be encouraged to seek continuously your “new wine” and pour it into the lives of people who need a new life, a new restoration, a refreshing, or perhaps a “new lemonade” in a 64oz cup. In Jesus Name, Amen.
To learn more about the author Rich Arnold, CLICK HERE