New Wine

John 2:7-8, ‘Jesus said unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they took it.’

The waterpots had to be filled to the brim with water so that the new wine could be poured out. Ministries in the church are like waterpots that must be filled with the water that Jesus gives so the new wine can poured out.

The reason for a lack of new wine can be due to ministries being filled with everything else: inner healing; counseling, deliverance ministries; Christian psychology; etc. These things may be beneficial and can help build up successful ministries, but they can also stop the new wine of the Holy Spirit being poured out. The new wine will only come from the water that Jesus gives. Jesus said ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come unto Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:37-38). If we want to drink the new wine then we need to empty the waterpots from everything that hinders the new wine of the Spirit being poured out. Ministries must be filled with the water that Jesus gives.

We must receive new life in Christ before we can fill our waterpots with water. When we have received Christ then here are some of the ways to fill our waterpots with water:

1) desire to know Jesus more;

2) get to know His word;

3) obey His word;

4) love as Jesus loves,

5) care for one another;

6) rejoice in the Lord.

It is only when our waterpots are filled with the life of Jesus living in us that the new wine will flow out as ‘rivers of living water’.

Steve Dulwich