November 06, 2011

GRAIN, NEW WINE & OIL

For the last few days I have been reading Joel 2 and Luke 5 again and again. 

The seriousness of this hour we live in, and the depth of the cry in my heart that God would be with us, leading us, teaching us, enabling us, grows daily.

All of Joel needs to be read to keep this in it's true context, but chapter 2 :12-19 are speaking loudly to me.

"Even now", declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.  Who knows:  He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing - grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar.  Let them say, "Spare your people, O Lord.  Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations.  Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"

THEN the Lord will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.  The Lord will reply to them:  "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations."

Luke 5:37-39

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.  If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.  And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.' "

Many of us have tasted and loved what has become old wine, and we are as dried up old wine skins.  Let us ask that God would bless us to be made new and flexible, letting go of the old (even though it tasted good) so that we may be filled with new wine once more.

My Prayer : Lord I can feel the flow and power of Your Word as I read it.  We have become incoherent for the lack of Your Word, with it's power and truth.  I see us in Your Body as various groups who have become so excited over a portion of the truth you've revealed to us that we have made camp there and made it our all.

Please shake us loose and lead us on, help us to realise that You are infinite and there is so much more You want to teach and reveal to us.  Help us to be awake, alert, with our lamps filled and oil to spare in this hour.  Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what You are saying and doing.

We bring our hearts and our cry before You Lord, and ask that You would send us grain, new wine and oil in this season to strengthen us to call that You would 'spare Your people O Lord' and the cry would arise again and again out of the nations.

2 comments:

  1. Amen Judith, Amen Lord, Thank You for this encouragement, God bless you sister, May His Grace be upon you in abundance, Love in the Lord, Andrew... :-)

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  2. Interesting reading. What caught my attention was the mention of camping out at a place of partial truth. I have been contemplating this recently and my latest blog is along lines also.

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