News and Updates
April 1, 2014
David Copeland · April 1, 2014
Newsletter · Volume: 14 Issue: 4
Mark 2:22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
This week as I read this passage several things began to come to me. This is one of the most fascinating instructions I think Jesus gave while on the earth.
In Bible days they did not have glass bottles to store liquids. They used the skins of animals that would be sewn together to make these containers. Three things jumped in my spirit as I pondered Jesus’ words:
1. Because of the fermentation process the wineskin constantly expanded and contracted. Because the new wineskin is soft and pliable it would hold up well during this process. This tells us the wine is working inside the wineskin.
The wine is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and His working in the life of believers. The child of God who allows the Holy Spirit to continue working in their lives will know both expansion and contraction. Growth and loss. Increase…and decrease. It’s a normal part of life.
I teach and preach on how to understand the times and seasons of God almost everywhere I go. In fact the longer I live for Jesus, the more I am finding I need the new wine of the Holy Spirit to work in my life even more than I did in my younger days. Helping me to move forward; and also helping me to let go of people, places, things and ideas that are no longer needed in my life.
2. Over time because of use, constant expansion and contraction, and possibly a lack of care, the wineskin would become brittle. The wineskin is symbolic/prophetic of mindsets we have about God, the Holy Spirit, life and the church. Your mindset is influenced or created by several things:
Your childhood; the way you were raised; the blessings and trauma of your childhood;
Your education;
Cultural ideas you are exposed to and taught;
The church and/or denomination you were raise in (if any);
Mindsets are also created by information we feed ourselves. It doesn’t have to be truth; but our mindset can be created with information presented to us in a way that greatly influences our understanding.
Over time we can become brittle by the worries and cares of this world, the constant warfare we endure and a lack of willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to grow our understanding of God’s Word and His plans for our lives.
3.While the bottles that are used to store wine today can last many years, in Jesus day wineskins were not meant to last forever. They were used for a season. The skin or container and the liquid within was only for a season. Then they had to prepare a new vessel.
Matthew 13:52 Jesus states that a wise householder will bring out of his treasure things new AND old. Please understand, God will never do anything new at the expense of destroying the old. The old is our foundation. The Blood. The Word. Holy Spirit. Faith. Prayer. Holiness. Integrity. Righteousness. These are things that may sound old, but they are foundational to understanding our walk with God is a walk of progression; constantly moving closer to our Heavenly Father.
Not in our own power or strength. But with the power of the new wine of the Holy Spirit.
We are in need of a fresh anointing from the Holy Spirit. God DOES have a fresh Word, a fresh touch, and fresh oil for His people. The key is allowing the Holy Spirit to give us a new mindset to receive it with.
The greatest hindrance in my spiritual maturity has not been satan; it’s been an un-renewed mind or a mindset whose season was over. I cannot live in my 50’s with the same mindset I had in my 20’s. What excited me then no longer excites me. Now my thinking has changed. Not because I am compromised by the world or I have lost my passion for the Holy Ghost; I’ve gained an understanding of His Word I didn’t have in my twenties.
Let God renew your mind with His Word and in doing so, He will prepare you for a fresh infilling of the New Wine of the Holy Spirit that will take you through every season of your life!
Ministry Update
On April 9th I will lead a team back to Kenya for our first of four different trips to Kenya in 2014, leading our April Session of the Kilgoris Pastors Training. June 8-17 we will minister in Myanmar SE Asia for a week of Pastors Conference, revival meetings and special evangelistic outreaches.
Mark your calendars for July 11,12,13 2014 for our Annual Revival Now Summer Conference. This years meeting will be held at Heart of Worship Assembly in Lagrange Georgia. A special thank you to Pastor Steve Evans for desiring to host our annual summer meeting. We will have visitors from Kenya with us as well as some special guest speakers this year. On Saturday morning July 12 we will also have our annual Revival Now International Network of Ministries meeting. You don’t want to miss this exciting weekend of camp meeting.
Pam and I are very grateful for your prayers and financial support. The nations are calling us to come alongside them and help them. Because Revival Now is an interdenominational ministry we do not have one group that funds the work we do. We depend on the love and support of people and churches from across denominational lines. Thank you for being obedient to what God speaks to you to do.
David & Pam