“No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put wine in old, cracked bottles; you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine.” Luke 5:36-39 Message
Prayer for O Taste and See:
Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching us. Today, hopefully, we all choose to trust You with our lives of our past, today and our tomorrows. Give us wisdom to rightly discern the seasons of our lives and teach us to clasp gently into our hearts the new things You have in store for us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen
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thedailylily.com 
Interesting footnotes for these verses in Luke, read with me: “Wineskins’ were goatskins sewn together at the edges to form watertight bags. Because new wine expands as it ages. It had to be put in new, pliable wineskins. A used skin, having become more rigid, would burst and spill the wine. Like old wineskins, the Pharisees were too rigid to accept Jesus, who could not be contained in their traditions or rules. Christianity required new approaches, new traditions, new structures. Our church programs and ministries should not be so structured that they have no room for a fresh touch of the Spirit, a new method, or a new idea. We, too, must be careful that our heart does not become so rigid that it prevents us from accepting new ways of thinking that Christ brings. We need to keep our heart pliable so we can accept Jesus’ life-changing message.”
Lord, help us not to be like the Pharisees.
Amen! Please help me!
Thank you for this important prayer to pray. Amen.
It is so vital, as Needles footnotes indicate, to be able to have a flexible, not rigid heart. I have been thinking about Sara’s words of prayer that say, ‘clasp gently into our hearts’. I guess if our hearts are soft and tender we would have to clasp gently.
I love that prayer, Sara. You write, “Give us wisdom to discern the seasons of our lives…..” That is tough and does take holy wisdom. That is a prayer I want to take to my heart….and if it needs cracking to make it pliable then, crack it, Lord. Oh, that I may not miss what the Lord is doing right now, in this age, because I have some preconceived idea of how it SHOULD BE…how it WAS, or how I think it WILL BE. Those are the yesterdays, todays and tomorrows that you write about, that we must trust to the Lord.
Today, I showed a Disney cartoon of Noah’s Ark. And in the opening, the “heavenly voice” told Noah to build an ark. And when he told his three sons about it they said, “what’s an ark?” “what’s if for?” But the Heavenly voice said to Noah….”Get going!!” Sometimes it’s good to ask questions but when God is doing a new thing you must go with the flow. That is scary, uncomfortable and sometimes expensive.
In another place in the Scriptures, He told Abraham to ‘get out of town’ and go somewhere and Abraham had no idea where he was going. But he trusted God with his present and his future and look what happened!!
Needles, interesting footnotes! Have you seen in your life time any of the things mentioned ie fresh touch of the Spirit, new method, new ideas, etc
Does anyone have any new fresh ideas that you can share that can help the lily grow, our churches grow? Or forget lily and work smarter in another way? I would love some fresh ideas!
Do you think new wine is spiritual growth in a persons life and it is time for that person to move on to a new place that can hold the new wine? Maybe for that person the ones now around them are old wineskins for them?
Another thought came to me about new wine and old wineskins…old ways ie old landmarks may be great but heart attitude is old and just not good for the old landmarks.
The ways of self is old fabric and does not go in the way of the Spirit of God.
Sara your question/comment above about the new wine is spiritual growth and the ones around are old wineskins, time to move on must be right. Because as I re-read Luke 5:36-39 it seems the old and new are incompatible. They will never make a unifed whole and the new wine would be wasted if it splits the dry rot skins and spills out.
Right on Debi!
Sara,
You asked me: “have you seen in your lifetime any of the things mentioned ie fresh touch of the Spirit, new method, new ideas, etc”. As I began to think back on how things were, in the church I grew up in, and even some of the churches that maybe my parents attended, when they were young, I have to say “yes” to your question. One example, even in my family’s church would be….singing with words and beautiful pictures on a power point screen, in the front of the church. Even you have used your wonderful computer/powerpoint pictures at our retreats. I love seeing all the glorious pictures that are up on the screen, as we sing praises to God. I remember as a little girl, just singing from a hymnal.
Is this the kind of new method/ideas you were asking me about?
Great-0 Needles. Thanks. I like live action films and you are in theatre! You are right about the change. Thanks for the reminder to prompt my appreciate and thanks to God for brilliant minds and willingness and obedience on the part of the ones that have made the change possible.
Great thoughts you have. I love the computer. Just love the computer and really love Steve Jobs’ ingenious mind in giving us the Apple and its many aspects of tech.
I am so excited that we can write on the computer and record either video and/or audio and be part of the church worldwide with a click of a finger. O Praise God what a wonder He is. And, what a dream for us to have people that use their gifts He has given them to bring this tool to us.
I pray God’s word will go forth by the Spirit of The Living God thru the use of computer and all its technology throughout the World. And HOPE will ensue in lives and hearts of the hurting, sick, wounded and fearful.
When thinking about old Landmarks and heart attitude, I remember ages ago walking into a ministry and thinking “whoa’ this is not for me. I completely shut the words off an walked out. As time has past, I have grown a new appreciation for the words spoken and want to hear more and more, a hungry pliable heart, about Jesus and how He is working in our world today from the same ministry I walked out on long ago. With God all things are possible, even changing the heart to a pliable wineskin to receive his living WORD with understanding.
And, Rena, I walked with with. I am so happy that the Holy Spirit and the teacher(s) knew and understood that we were newbies, ie seekers and didn’t understand the deeper teachings of the Word. They didn’t give up their ministry over our faulty behavior. Thank God for teachers and leaders that stay faithful and continue so we can continue to learn.
This reminds me of a verse in Colossians where Paul writes…”You have so learned from our beloved fellow servant Epaphras (but a godly servant’s name can be inserted here)…for he is a faithful minister of Christ Jesus in our stead…so that you may be filled with the full,deep, clear knowledge of His will with all spiritual insight, walking and conducting yourselves in a manner pleasing to the Lord, growing and increasing by and in the knowledge of God.”
Seems to me I did the same thing at another time and place and now I praise the Lord that He has made me (us) fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints..with GOD’S Holy people from whom we have gleaned and acquired knowledge and revelation of the Lord, God’s old guard, the saintly teachers of the Body of Christ.