I heard a troubling statistic from a new Barna survey recently, that one in three Christians (32%) have not attended either an online or on location church gathering since the pandemic. It does beg the question about the true nature of their relationship with Jesus and His body. But I want to focus on the other two-thirds and declare that God is making new wine out of us!
What I want to share was inspired by two things: first, a prophecy for 2021 by Lana Vawser titled, “I heard the Lord say, ‘I’m Bringing Health and Healing to You.'” You can read the entire prophecy by clicking the link. I don’t listen to a lot of prophetic voices in cyberspace, but on many occasions I’ve found her words to be spot-on. I will share a few excerpts from this word here. The second inspiration comes from a song by Hillsong titled, “New Wine.” I will also include that worship video below.
I will start with this excerpt from Lana Vawser’s word:
“The Lord showed me that as we moved into 2021 that He is bringing health and healing. He is bringing restoration and renewal. He is bringing revival and resurrection within hearts.
Many have felt they have been walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Many have felt they have been knocked around and hit in every direction and many have been left feeling deeply weary. Friend, the Lord has not forgotten you. The Lord has not left you, the Lord promises to always be with you (Matthew 28:20).”
“…the Lord is bringing health and healing to you. You are being restored not later in 2021, NOW.”
So, before we go on, if you have felt beat up and hit in every direction in 2020, receive this encouraging word of restoration and healing. It’s for you—RIGHT NOW!
Vawser continues with some important insights about what’s been going on in the spiritual realm in 2020:
“Many of you have been questioning “Have I lost my first love fire?”, the weariness has caused you to question your first love fire, the weariness has caused you to question your direction, the weariness has caused you to question your anointing, your gifting, your assignment….”
“Many of you have “taken on” the attack as “you” in 2020. “What did I do wrong?”, “I must have missed it”, and the confusion has caused you to lose your confidence in hearing the Lord’s voice in your life, but I say to you today, you have been assaulted by a spirit of witchcraft coming with the specific assignment to cause you to lose your footing in your confidence in hearing from the Lord because the enemy is scared.”*
Remember, our battle is NOT against flesh and blood, or even pandemics, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph.6:12). The enemy does his most effective work in our thought-life, what we believe about God and ourselves, which is why we actively need to take his lies captive to Christ (see 2 Cor.10:3-5). This enemy has been working, mostly unbeknownst to us, with the intent to steal our passion and our confidence in hearing and following God.
Why does he do this? Actually, because he’s scared!
“Why? Because in 2021 as you lean into the Lord and stay in that place like Mary at the feet of Jesus listening to what He is saying, that beautiful place of intimacy, the Lord is going to raise you up with greater confidence, greater clarity, and understanding of His prophetic voice than ANY OTHER YEAR in your life.”
Notice what scares the enemy. It’s your intimacy with God, remaining in His love (John 15:9), which is living from a place of rest (Heb.4:1-16). And it’s no coincidence that this is the decade of rest!
“Friend, 2021 for many of you is your JUMPSTART. An accelerated JUMPSTART by the Holy Spirit to move into the assignments of the Lord that you have not yet even seen or imagined. You will NOT go into these new assignments, limping, you will go in EMPOWERED by the Holy Spirit, and infused with strength from on high, a POWER ENCOUNTER that will strengthen your feet to run, your arms to fight and the eyes and ears of your hearts to hear and see in new ways.”*
Amen! It’s time to move forward in this “new.” And this is your jumpstart! Which brings me to the song, “New Wine” and this encouraging word to us:
“In the crushing
In the pressing
You are making new wine
In the soil I now surrender
You are breaking new ground” **
Then, the bridge from the song:
“Where there is new wine
There is new power
There is new freedom
The Kingdom is here
I lay down my old flames
To carry Your new fire today” **
Beloved, God is making NEW wine out of us! But this means we may have to lay down some of our “old flames”—old passions that worked in a previous season but won’t help us today—for new wine must be contained in “new wineskins” (new perceptions, new way of living). Here’s what Lawser said about this new wine:
“In 2020 there has been a crushing, there has been a pressing, and, in the crushing, and the pressing there has been a deeper level of surrender that has flourished. As you move into 2021 you will see that the Lord has been making new wine out of you.
There is new power, there is new freedom and there is fresh fire coming upon you. There have been deep pressings of the Lord by His hand, and there have been pressings by the enemy, and the truth is, the Lord is bringing healing and health to you where the enemy has killed, stolen, and destroyed and where the pressing of the Lord has been, new wine is about to flow.”*
One last point from the prophecy:
“I had a vision and I saw the Lord handing you a compass and a hammer. A compass representing remaining in the place of true north (Jesus) and following Him, a new clarity of direction, and a hammer, representing His voice and His Word in your life to build with Him and to shatter the strongholds of the enemy.”*
God is giving us a compass, which is walking in our “True North” (intimacy with Jesus, remaining in His love); and His voice and His Word will be like a hammer that both builds us up AND crushes the enemy strongholds! Because “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!” (2 Cor.3:17).
I encourage you to listen to this song and pray about these things. Let God heal and revive you, and let His new wine pour out from you as you stand strong in Him in 2021. And, by the way, we pronounce 2021, twenty-twent-we-won!
In My Father's House 
Mel- I agree-The pandemic and civil unrest has been a crucible for me- I feel I am closer than I have ever been- He’s been there the whole time, We’re all contemplatives now. My fellowship is here- interacting with fellow bloggers
Yes, becoming contemplatives is an important part of our life in Christ. It’s what helps us grow and stay strong in difficult times. Perhaps the body of Christ was too shallow before. For those, like yourself, who choose to go deeper with God, He is going to pour out “new wine!” I’m excited to see what God is going to do through His Church in the coming months and years. This virtual fellowship has been a great blessing to all of us!
Of course, we’re also meant for much more. Another thing that I realized when our local church started meeting together again on location, after being online for months, was how much we needed personal and interactive relationship, beyond just the virtual. Even though we’re relatively small right now because so many can’t meet yet, it’s been such a blessings to us. So much of what we learn and do is in the context of doing life together as the “household of God (1 Tim.3:15). While I’m so glad we can do this online, my hope is that when its possible, that believers will gather together again and reach their communities for the Kingdom as God builds them up together (Eph.4:11-16).
God works it all together!
Good post, friend!
2020 was a major agent of weaning… weaning many from their crutches. For some, this was very disorienting. We had considered the crutches as integral to our identity. What on earth would we ever do without our crutches?! But we didn’t know that with just a little desperation, determination, activation and the grace of God, we could walk on our own. It’s kind of like the old saying: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” When we realized we were on our own, we activated some new muscles.
For me, last year has been a most wonderful year in almost every way. I’ve grown more, expanded more, and feel alive in God than ever before. I feel like my unique DNA is more activated and suited to this time in history than ever in my life.
I’d like to hold that out to some; God always has a strategy to maximize His graces in us… Nothing takes Him by surprise. Enter into His perspective… activate a ‘muscle’ you’ve never used before… it’s quite possible that you’re more equipped, ready and empowered than you ever imagined.
Major agent of weaning is a great way to put it! God is teaching us how to walk from a place of rest instead of work. We don’t like the word “rest” because we think it has to do with being passive, but it’s quite the opposite. God is working through us instead of us relying on our human effort and limited understanding. This is we go beyond our understanding into His—to “hear and see in new ways.”
Mark, you’re a forerunner in what Bob Jones talked about this being the decade of rest in God. And when we learn how to live from this heavenly place, we always find fullness of joy! And we’re beginning to find out just how good the good news that brings great joy really is!
Wonderful Mel, jus what I needed. I really do feel beat up from all directions and sometimes it’s overwhelming . Just last week a neighbor who is like a mother to me stopped speaking to me because I voted for Trump and shared my doubts that he was responsible for the Capitol Building storming,
I was just speaking with my husband about how God created us with the talent and abilities to combat the evil that’s all around us today and we just need His direction on what to do and how.
I do feel my relationship with God has gone to a new level this past year and I’m ready for the new wine!
Yes, it is sad how fragile people make their relationships, especially when it comes to political disagreements. You would think that would be unimportant in the scheme of things! But a lot of this comes from the constant high-pitched Orwellian indoctrination by the MSM and big tech, forcing any talk about election fraud or who’s actually responsible for “storming the Capitol” down the “memory hole.” They’ve made Trump “Goldstein” in their “daily “two minutes of hate,” and now talking about reprogramming his supporters, so it’s not surprising when someone who’s been brainwashed by their narrative cancels your relationship. It just sad when we see people we love get so easily manipulated.
But God is using this whole thing as a set up for His new wine, so get ready! 🙂
Great message Pastor Mel.
It reminds me of the book I am almost done reading. It is called, ‘Crushed’ by T D Jakes.
Thanks, Virginia. That sounds like a great book!
Amen, Mel. So good and very much in alignment with what I have been hearing. God really highlighted the first line or two of that song to me during the early months of the pandemic. He IS making new wine! Also had the thought recently that so much of the confusion (sometimes bordering on chaos) going on in the Church is the result of trying to pour that new wine in our old wine skin… and it is NOT working! When God says He is doing a new thing–He really means it. I am very much in agreement with Lana’s word — it keep hearing that it is “go time.” In my emotions there has been a lot of heaviness and a temptation to fear, but Jesus just won’t let me stay there and strangely I feel a lot of joy and excitement! Blessings to you~
Thanks Cindy. And I agree about the new thing God is doing. As the song goes, we have to lay down of old flames to carry His new fire today. What fired our passion in the past may not serve us well today. We can’t go forward if we’re looking backward.
I shared this with my congregation before, but I had to ask myself, how have the circumstances of 2020 clouded my perception of what God was actually doing? The process wasn’t pretty but doing that cleared my vision quite a bit! So, I totally agree, this is a great time to experience His joy which, by the way, is available to us 24/7, regardless of our circumstances. We just tend to forget. 🙂
Blessing to you as well. Have a wonderful twenty-twent-we-won!
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