Today's Passage - Matthew 9:14-17

Matthew 9:14-17   Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?"  Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.  "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.  Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."    The Lord taught us that we need hold new wine in a new wineskin, because wine in a wineskin experiences chemical reaction that changes the shape of the wineskin.  The new wineskin is more elastic and it can be molded into any shape, and then gradually harden into a fixed shape.  If we pour new wine into an old wineskin that is no longer flexible and elastic, the new chemical reaction will eventually tear the wineskin apart.  When we accept the life of Jesus Christ, we allow the Lord's life to mold our life into a new shape.  Christians must beware though, don't let the new shape become a formality that binds us, thus becoming an old wineskin.  When the Holy Spirit comes and do new work inside us, we might not be able to handle it.   Christians must see that the Holy Spirit is always the new wine, and therefore we must have a soft heart to keep ourselves as new wineskin all the time.   Some people are new wineskin when they first accept the Lord, but they are not continuously renewed, and their wineskin slowly becomes old.  The Holy Spirit, however, is always new wine that works in new ways.  We must always be prepared in our lives; when the Holy Spirit works in us, we must be willing to be adjusted, because new wine always needs to be in new wineskin.   Is your life an old wineskin or a new wineskin?  The Lord taught us to fast, because, first of all, fasting prayer draws us closer to God.  It allows us to lay down the bondage and burden of the world, make time to listen to God's word.  On the other hand, fasting prayer represents a sacrifice, where we are willing to lay down our prejudice and desires of our flesh.  It lets us come before God alone to seek His will.  Fasting prayer also represents humility; we no longer depend on our own will, but rather to become willing to follow God's will.  In our daily life, we really need to be renewed by the Holy Spirit, so that we can be a new wineskin each and every day.  May the Lord help us, let us welcome work of the Holy Spirit, and let our life become a life of new wineskin.   Pray to Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because you are always the new wine.  Give us a soft heart and let us be a new wineskin every day, so that we may take on your new work.  May your grace touch all the people around us through our lives.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!        Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!