New Wine: From Running Out to Running Over

New wine.
In the Bible, it is a symbol of God’s promise! New wine anticipates joy, harvest, celebration, and miracles.
It speaks of renewed love and intimacy with God.
New wine also represents the Holy Spirit. [1]

I believe the Lord is saying, “There is a new wine—a move of My Spirit—that has reserved for this hour.”

“It is a taste of Heaven; a new wine, never tasted on earth before.
And though it has felt as if you have been running out, you will soon be running over.”

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How to Receive the “New Wine” God has for You

Our hearts are stirred at the promise of God! Yet “new wine” brings certain challenges.
How do we receive the new thing that God is doing? As I’ve been meditating on this, these 6 keys from the Bible come to mind:

1. See God’s Favor, Working on Your Behalf

The Bible tells us it was “the season of the first ripe grapes” when Moses sent twelve leaders to spy out the land of Canaan.
He told them, “Bring back some of the fruit of the land.”

The twelve returned with a cluster of grapes that was so heavy, it took two strong men to carry it on a pole!
These were leaders who tasted the fruit God had promised them.
They surveyed the goodness of the land.

• And yet all they could talk about, was how the giants that lived there would be impossible to overcome
• All they could see was defeat

Only Joshua and Caleb saw what was possible through the lens of God’s favor!
“If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, “a land which flows with milk and honey.” (Num 14:8, NKJV)

This is such a time!

We are in the “season of the first ripe grapes”; heralding the new wine outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

And yet, we are presented with more difficulties than ever before.
There are enemies; giants in the land, that pull on our focus.

But the Lord is saying, “My son, My daughter, keep your eyes fixed on Me! I am with you, and I delight in you.
This is your day. The promise, the inheritance, and the new wine belong to you!”

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2. Release Expectations from the Past!

Many of us who are prophetic by nature and calling, remember the taste, the wonder, the weightiness of how the Holy Spirit came in the past.

Our Father says, “Taste and see!”
But we taste and compare.
“Father, I miss what we had”, we say.
And yet, at this moment, in our generation, God is working a miracle.
He says, “Beloved, trust Me! I am unchanging. I am always good.”

At times, we are like the Israelites, when they first tasted the manna!
They said, “What is this?”
It was not pleasing to their senses.
The manna was not like anything they had known before.

Manna was supernatural food, never tasted in the earth realm before. But many when they ate it, craved the old foods of Egypt.
Yet, manna was the bread of Heaven. [2]

And likewise, the new wine of the Holy Spirit being released in this day is not like any move of God we have tasted before.
It has its own unique flavor.
It is unexpected and full of power.

We want what we once had, but Jesus says, “See now, I am present in the crushing! I am bringing forth the new wine!”

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3. Realize the Externals will be Different

It is a paradox, that the glory and greatness of God often arrive in a package we don’t anticipate.
Into an environment we least expect.

This is the dilemma that tripped up a group of John the Baptist’s disciples.
They approached Jesus one day, with a question that bothered them. “Why don’t you and your disciples practice fasting, the same way our group does, and the Pharisees do?”
It seemed that Jesus and his disciples could often be seen at the center of a feast in town!

Jesus replied, “the time is coming for fasting, but right now, while the bridegroom is present with the guests, how can they mourn?”
He went on to say,
“No-one…puts 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.” (Matt 9:17, NKJV)

Today the Lord says,

“In the midst of the contradictions, and in unexpected ways, I am coming to you with new wine.”

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4. Look to Jesus at Your Point of Need

When Jesus shared the illustration of the new wine and wineskins, He likened Himself to “the bridegroom”.

It is no coincidence, that Jesus’ first miraculous sign was given at a wedding in Cana.
He was there as a guest, celebrating with family and friends when there was a shortage of wine.

The celebration was about to take a negative turn. Supplies of wine were running low!
But this is where Jesus stepped in, at Mary’s request.
He ordered huge jars to be filled with water—and then, for that liquid to be served to the master of ceremonies.
It was new wine; a quality wine, never tasted before on earth.
And it was abundant.

Are you at a point of need right now? You are in a place of Divine appointment.

This is the very place God is releasing new wine from Heaven to you.
You may feel as though you are running out, but you are about to “run over”!

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5. See Jesus as the Bridegroom

That day, Jesus sat back and let the bridegroom take the credit, as the master of ceremonies called the groom aside and declared with wonder, “You have saved the best wine until now.”

We can imagine how much Jesus was enjoying that moment.

• His disciples and the servants saw a miracle from the Father
• Jesus’ glory and Divinity were being revealed—the first sign!
• His friends’ wedding was being celebrated

And instead of a disastrous under-supply, the bridegroom was being applauded for generosity.

“He brought me to the banqueting house [lit. house of wine] and his banner over me was love”
(Song of Songs 2:4, NKJV) [3]
The bridegroom and the new wine.

Why did Jesus choose this as his first miracle?
A miracle wine—a wine of great quality, never tasted before on earth?

It was a taste and foretaste of Heaven.

Jesus was a Bridegroom, looking ahead to a future day.

The cup of suffering, and the cup of glory.
In his last celebration, at the last supper of Passover, He would hold up a cup of wine and declare, “This is the blood of the covenant, poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.”
“… I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29 NKJV)

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6. Get Ready to be Known for the New Wine!

We read later, “So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.” (John 4:46a)
The township of Cana became characterized by the miracle of wine, a wedding, and a Savior—and so Cana is known, to this very day!

So today, if you are feeling in short supply, listen for the heartbeat of the Bridegroom, Jesus.

• You will be known for the miracle of new wine
• You will be known for transformation and glory

God has something new for you, and to be poured out through you, and it will not wait.

He has saved the best wine until now.

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Notes / Related Posts:
[1] See “What is the Prophetic Meaning of New Wine” for an explanation of the Biblical symbol of new wine.
[2] See “Manna: 5 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice—Abundantly”
[3] The literal meaning of the Hebrew words translated “Banqueting house” is “House of Wine” (Strong’s H3196, H1004)

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© 2020 Helen Calder, Enliven Blog

Enliven Ministries: Prophetic Ministry for a revival generation