Today's Passage - Luke 5:33-39

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 5:33-39   "...He told them this parable: 'No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 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."'"   The Lord said that "new wine must be poured into new wineskins," because wine will produce chemical reaction when placed in a wineskin. A new wineskin would be more elastic and easily shaped by the wine, and it will become hardened to a certain shape. If more new wine is poured in, the wineskin would no longer to able to reshape itself, and then chemical reaction will cause the wineskin to crack open and the wine will spill out. Same process happens when a person accepts the Lord. The new believer's life is easily shaped by the Lord just like when wine is poured into the wineskin. We, however, need to be cautious so that our new shape will not rule over us and become a formality, thus wineskin becomes an old one. When Holy Spirit comes to do new things, we won't be able to accept them. Our hearts must be soft and we always need to be a new wineskin.   In our faith, we often let ourselves be ruled by tradition. The format of faith under which we accept the Lord becomes what we think our faith is. The Holy Spirit, however, is always new wine, and He wants to lead us into new formats. For example, some are accustomed to singing the hymns quietly and stay seated while listening to pianist play during worship. If they see a new format of worship, which may involve a worship team and lifting of hands, they cannot tolerate it and will even criticize it. There are many formats of worshipping, so we don't need to criticize because the differences lie within culture and tradition, but not the core truth. Many believers are bound by formality, but don't understand the true intention of Jesus. They become legalistic and they are always criticizing those who do not follow their format.   Holy Spirit is always new wine; we were new wineskin before, but we could become old wineskin any time. May God have mercy on us and give us a soft heart, so that we can constantly accept new work by the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit of God move in our hearts so that we are always new vessels, and new grace will flow from us.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because your Holy Spirit is always new wine. May you soften our hearts so that we can work with you. Let our life be constantly renewed, and reveal your grace and mercy to us. Let us be closer to you, to know your will and to be filled by the Holy Spirit all the time. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!