Do I need a Wineskin Change?

Do I need a Wineskin Change?

Ps Mary Ann Wray

It's a funny and curious thing that after 63 years of life, a Bachelor’s Degree, 3 years of Bible College, and years of life experience in and out of ministry I still don't know what I don't know. Being teachable is a lifelong journey. I once heard someone say that being teachable means we are willing to learn what we think we already know. Truth be told, only GOD is ALL KNOWING. Therefore, a humble person remains in a continual seeking mode of fresh revelation and insight. Jesus taught His disciples through what we call “The Lord’s Prayer" to ask the Father for “Daily Bread.” This Daily Bread is likened spiritually to the supernatural daily manna the Children of Israel lived off of while sojourning in the Wilderness. The word manna translates, “What is it?” We need childlike faith to approach and ask the Father every day what He wants to teach and show us. Otherwise, we’ll miss opportunities for the more He wants to bring our way and the lessons He needs to teach us! What I’ve come to realize is that by becoming teachable, God is able to stretch and lubricate my spiritual wineskin (ways of doing things). In so doing I receive more of Him and more from Him! It’s not about a change of programs or physical things although that may be a result of seeking Him. It’s a change in heart attitude and how I approach God and others that He wants me to frequently adjust. Being flexible and open minded puts a person in a posture of being able to get fresh ‘downloads’ from Heaven.

It’s a fact that there are some things we can only get directly from the Father but there are other things we can only receive from others. He’s designed us that way. Adam was created for God. Eve was created for Adam. There’s a vertical fellowship we must have with God and then there’s a horizontal one we get from interacting with other believers.  It's important to discern the difference! God may use the most unexpected ways and people to speak to us. Are we humble enough to recognize it? We can’t be ‘choosey’ who we receive from; but we must be discerning in the spirit.  I think of Samuel as a child. God gave him a hard word to deliver to his spiritual father Eli. Eli was wise enough to recognize Samuel was hearing from God. He didn’t reject the hard word Samuel gave him. Even though Samuel was Eli’s junior in age and ministry experience Eli had enough discernment to recognize that God was speaking. On the other hand, Balaam had a crooked way in him God had to deal with. After Balaam literally got backed into a wall, God rebuked him through an ass he was riding on. That dumb animal gained a supernatural ability to talk only after Balaam became frustrated and took it out on him! God caused an uncomfortable circumstance to get Balaam’s attention. His excuses couldn’t get him out of the rut he was in! When we run out of excuses we’re more apt to listen to the voice of the Father!

I believe the principle of being teachable and receiving truth is found in Proverbs along with Jesus' parable of the wine and the wineskins. We know that in scripture wine speaks of Holy Spirit (how He moves, manifests and His revelation). The wineskin is us (how we approach and receive from God, in life, ministry and with others)!

"The first to state his case seems right, till the other one comes and cross-examines." Proverbs 18: 17

The context in Proverbs deals with lawsuits or legal issues, but I believe the underlying principle is this: we all have points of view, blind spots, or opinions that can be identified as incomplete or even incorrect by someone else! We all run the risk of getting 'stuck' in a particular paradigm that God may want to alter. Unless we are willing to 'hear' objectively what facts and truth we may be missing nothing will change. We may not even be willing to hear it until and unless what was working for us before quit working or doesn't work as well. We may find ourselves in a frustrating, dry, or barren place! The enemy has a way of interrupting the processes of God in these times of spiritual chastening, by offering us a spiritual carrot or stroke of the ego. His purpose is to keep us in a state of denial while God wants to remove the scales from our eyes and see through His lens of truth.

"And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins." Mark 2: 22

I learned a hard lesson in regards to the gifts and callings of God. I thought just because I could prophesy, preach or teach meant that everything in my life was in order. I believed God rewarded my faithfulness and ‘goodness’ by using me in these gifts. Sadly, my heart was blinded by pride and self-sufficiency. There were fractures in my soul that never healed correctly. John the Baptist referred to these places a ‘crooked’. Thank God Jesus came to make the crooked places straight!

The way I related to and disciplined my children along with the relationship with my spouse was full of dysfunction.  It took way too long for me to understand the difference between operating in a gift verses operating out of the anointing and inward character. These soul fractures and pride in my heart prevented me from hearing the truth and receiving the true remedy! I can look back now and see where He used individuals to try and speak into my life but I couldn’t or wouldn’t hear it. I was comfortable operating out of my gift so I didn’t see the need to really press into God for the reason of the ‘disconnect’ in my personal life. The enemy blinded me and the weaknesses of my temperament reinforced the strongholds.  Every time someone praised me for my teaching, preaching or prophesying I felt validated. This only strengthened my faulty belief system that everything was ‘okay’.  I believe this is one of the tricks of the enemy to keep us in denial.

I’ve never started a church so there are some things I want to share here out of observation. My husband and I have been part of several church plants and started works within local churches. Our first experience with church planting dates back to 1979. Two of the plants we were involved in completely failed. The first pastor was gifted with miracles and prophecy. We noticed after a while he became controlling and critical of every other ministry in town. He would quote, “Touch not God’s anointed,” very frequently. After having to relocate the ministry four times he became very cocky then separated from the church that launched him in the new plant. He broke all ties with them and changed the ministry’s name saying all he needed as a pastor he got directly from God. The Lord began speaking to us after a time of prayer and fasting. He gave me Proverbs 18: 1 and he gave my husband a word of knowledge that the pastor was stealing from the church treasury. When he confronted the pastor about it he began to curse my husband and tell him he was a loser and wouldn’t amount to anything. We learned years later that this pastor wound up in jail after getting back on drugs and died of a heart attack.

We've been part of the Full Gospel Experience for over 40 years. We've also been part of several thriving Full Gospel churches over the years. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. We’ve seen pastors become frustrated and quit the ministry. We’ve seen others become derailed doctrinally. We’ve seen pastors who remained humble and operated out of love versus fear and control. They all had great giftings so where was the disconnect between the grace of their gift versus the struggle or failure in ministry? Only the Holy Spirit can help us detect the difference between the grace of a gift verses operating out of a fleshly but seemingly successful M.O. We MUST remain humble and teachable before the Father and others or else! The answer is in adopting a new wineskin paradigm.

I believe in these last days God is changing the paradigm from 'churchdom' to 'kingdom' thinking and advancement. I believe we are going to see more apostolic works being started to advance the kingdom and network ministries together to equip, train and send. The old wineskin of the four walls of church cannot and will not advance the Kingdom in the earth. Isaiah 9: 7 jumped out at me earlier this year as I found myself getting frustrated with my experience of church as usual. 

"Of the greatness of his government ad peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

God is a multiplier: not a divider or subtractor. If a local ekklesia is not expanding, there has to be some reason why. If cults are growing exponentially and we complain how our church isn't are we going to blame culture or take inventory on how we 'do' church? I believe some honest reflection and examination is necessary. Religion (man's way of doing things) with our old wineskins will hold us back in our thinking and what we experience in terms of seeing church growth, expansion and people being saved, healed and delivered. The new wine skin is not new to God-just new to us. The early church was always on the move and connected by the spirit apostolically. Persecution didn't cause them to shrink. They didn't make excuses either. They grew because they moved in power and glory. They preached the Kingdom and released it everywhere God sent them. The devil hated it and saw that it was reducing his kingdom of darkness while God used ordinary but apostolic men to expand His. Hence we entered into the 'dark ages'. But NOW it's time to come out of darkness of minimal church growth and myopic vision by entering back into an Apostolic paradigm. This will take humility and government-God's not man's!

Through it all I've come to the conclusion that GOD IS GOD and we're not! By trusting in His mercy, recognizing and listening to the messengers He sends our way and by being teachable and pliable HE makes a way where there seems to be NO way! We all have the tendency to become satisfied and think we know pretty much all there is to know about how to do a thing. God may give us dreams, visions, frustrations and even decrease in order to get our attention. If we’re not in a position of authority to change anything, there isn’t much we can do except pray for the grace to serve there as unto the Lord until He releases us to move on peaceably. If he leads us to voice our concerns to those in authority but it seems like we’re not being heard we need to vent that to God ALONE while keeping our mouth shut! He uses these times to purge and refine our character. It’s not just about our jobs or the ministry we are a part of. It’s about what the Holy Spirit wants to work in and out of our wineskin!

He is like the wind...always moving in a particular direction. We sometimes don't like change or we may 'settle' in the saddle and become a bit spiritually dull or blindsided. However, I've seen God use the frustrations in my life enough times to correct my course. There are times we need to toss our Church Growth Books, leadership manuals, marketing strategies and other crutches aside in order to get fresh insight from Him and walk with a skip in our spiritual step again! One time He told me to throw out an entire collection of ministry tapes and books. He said, “That’s stale bread. I’ve got fresh manna for you. Get in my Word, fast and pray and let me show you a way you know not of.” I did what He said and it forever changed my life. My mindset concerning ministry, my approach to God and others was altered forever based on the revelation He gave me in that season. It hasn’t really stopped!

Jesus said to seek FIRST His Kingdom and HIS righteousness and all these ‘other’ things will be added unto us. There’s a way that seems right to a man but is it the right thing for us to do? There are times we need to put all familiar things aside and SEEK HIM for fresh revelation and insight. It might not come right away, but it will come if we watch and wait for it. Be open to the ways in which He reveals things. Many times it comes in unexpected ways and through unexpected people. May the spirit of grace help us to remain humble, pliable and teachable in the Master's Hand and on the Potter's Wheel!