Imagine a wedding where everyone is getting drunk on cheap wine. What would you expect someone religious to do? Wouldn’t you expect them to condemn everyone? Well, Jesus actually made new high grade wine for them to enjoy (John 2)! Clearly He is NOT religious! He revealed something of Himself that was totally contrary to what everyone expected. Anyone there who had a sensitive heart “tasted” in a sip of wine that God’s ways are actually quite cool!
God wants to show YOU He is NOT Who you think He is!
Jesus wants to walk into the events of your life and make new wine for you. Even if you are consumed with the ways of this world or don’t really believe in Him. Who can honestly say that they don’t have problems? We all have feelings of being terribly alone because no one really cares. These thoughts drive multitudes into worse problems. You can reverse this regret by how you respond right now! Humility is the first step.
What will it hurt for you to give God a real chance? It will be tragic if you go through your whole life without even ONCE giving God an all out effort. Now is the time! If God is real, and the Bible claims He cares, how is it that the majorities say they have never seen His love? God is not a computer waiting for the right program.
God is a Father waiting for the heart of an orphan yearning to become a son or daughter (Rom.8:15).
You are not a robot but an individual. You can express things like free will, relationship and heart.
We live in a fast-paced age where everything, including God, has become formulaic. Unseen forces pressure you every day to conform to a depressing way of life and you lose your identity as an individual. Even religion has become industrialized and corporate. Yet God waits and searches for anyone who will be intimately personal! You cannot allow any experiences you have had with a “church” to determine the way you now think about God. Jesus is God. God is God. God is found by going to God! Not a man or a place (Jer. 29:13 y 31:31-34).
God promises you free access to His wisdom. Yet people would rather wallow in their misery than find the courage to seek Him (Prov.1:20). Why? It’s easy to complain and feel sorry for yourself. People reject the new wine because they say the old is good enough. It’s cheap, familiar and everyone drinks it. If you are set on your own thinking about what God wants from you, you will not be open to the mystery of a living wine from a living God (Jn.6:51, Phil.3:14ff).
The new wine is the victorious power which Jesus “purchased” through His suffering He now offers this to you as a gift in His Holy Spirit.
(Rev.5:9, Mk.10:45, Acts 1:8, 2:1-47).
It’s common for Catholics, Evangelicals and other religions to fight among each other. But God does not fight against any religion. He fights for an individual in any religion. Remember, Jesus is not religious. He came to provide His death and resurrection to save and build an INDIVIDUAL rather than an impersonal system.
The deception concerning the hundreds of thousands of “churches” today stems from a wrong preeminent priority placed on “gathering together” rather than on individual salvation. Jesus is not known through “a sinner’s prayer” or going to a building on Sunday (Jn.4:24/Acts.17:24).
Salvation is found through the Person of Jesus (Jn.14:6). You’ve got to think apart from status quo. Get alone. Cherish silence. Ask the Father to come to you with revelation of the living Jesus (Jn.6:44). Jesus says “Come to ME…all who are weary…all who are thirsty…he who believes in Me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (Mt.11:28, Jn.7:37). He is speaking to YOU! It is in this stillness and solitude where you can learn to hear His voice (Jn.10:4). How do you “come to” an invisible Person? You come in childlike faith (Matt.18:3). Not with the prayer written by a stranger but with your own words. He will meet you right where you’re at! This is how to find forgiveness and hope for a second chance!
People say you can’t change your past. You just have to suffer from it.
God says HE can change your past by changing you!
By changing you, God changes the meaning of your past, present and future! The most horrible things of your life can render redemptive significance for a beautiful destiny! The truth is God thinks more of your life than you do (Matt.6:30ff). But His answer does not come from money, a marriage, a change of lifestyle or anything in this world. Jesus says “My kingdom is not of this world…” (Jn.18:36). Here and now He offers you access to another world where joy reigns supreme.
Your problem does not stem from a situation outside of you but inside of you. There is a haunting loneliness and lust in each of us. It does not stem from a personality disorder or personal tragedy. It is the maddening echo in all of human nature of Adam’s cry ten thousand years ago when he was separated from the Creator by his sin. We inherit this cry in our nature at birth. We can’t escape it. Sin is not something you do or don’t do. It in your nature (Rom.3:10, 5:18). It’s not really your fault. You were born with it and have no power over it. It is within your very bloodstream. Jesus bore all sin past, present and future (John 19:30, 1 Peter 2:24). That’s why you need His work of salvation (Acts4:12). Sin will never disappear but faith in the finished work of Christ is the sure remedy of resolution!
No one feels comfortable talking about God because everyone feels guilty for not doing what they think they’re supposed to do. Yet in the New Testament (the second half of the Bible) God does not set down a bunch of Laws that demand a strict moral lifestyle. That was the Old Testament (the first half of the Bible). God actually came to earth in the PERSON of Jesus of Nazareth (Jn1:1).
He replaced the old wine of the Law in the Old Testament with the new wine of relationship with Jesus in the New Testament.
He says, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood…” (1 Cor.11: 25).
The people in Jesus’ day had been raised in a religious system called Judaism. They equated their relationship with God to their adherence to that system. Yet Judaism is just a system ABOUT God. It is not God Himself. Just like Christianity. Today there are thousands of religions but not one of them is God.
Jesus spoke about RELATIONSHIP with His Father rather than the 10 Commandments. Religious people said He was dangerous. They did not understand.
Jesus explained “You cannot pour new wine into old wineskins… But new wine must be put into new wineskins…” (Mark.2:22/Lk.5:37).
Jesus says that He did not come for the righteous but for sinners with no such religious presumption (Lk.5:31-32). He does not say “You are a wicked sinner and you must strive to be a good Christian”. That would be crazy. That would be like telling someone to swim across the English Channel who cannot even swim. God says “Believe the blood of my Son is the answer to your deepest problem” (Hebrews.9:14). You will fail again and again but every time you rise you can change how you think about your failure. Forgiveness is unconditional. Slowly, by God’s grace you can become a “new wineskin”. You can be changed while you are changing
What does Jesus really mean when He says “You must be born AGAIN” (Jn.3:3-7)? This begins by simply asking HIM (Matthew7:7). As impossible or far off as this may seem right now, it is as close as moving your lips and opening your heart. You can leave ways of a caterpillar into a butterfly (2Cor.5:17)
Commit a time to study the gospel of John and discover the bible, not as an ancient document but as a love letter from your Father
Once you are willing to identify the root of your problems as your own sin you can then begin to go beyond yourself to the resolution of faith in Christ. Jesus promises “He who loves his life shall lose it and he who hates his life for My sake in this world shall keep it to life eternal” (Jn.12:25).
The focus is not about whether YOU have real problems but whether GOD is real? There is only one obstacle in your life. It is called selfishness. There is only one answer; Jesus! These are the last days where a comfortable life of self gratification is everyone’s priority. But Jesus says this will never fulfil you. His command is to love others, care about the poor and to give rather than receive ((Matt. 25:31-46, Jn 13:34, Acts 20:35)). Repentance will lead you to Him. He will lead you to lay down your life to bring the Gospel to others. There is no greater joy or reward!
Many times you find yourself struggling with who you are and what you want in life. Jesus calls you to a greater identity. He offers new wine, a different “ flavor”that you have never tried.
God the Father wants to transform you from an orphan into a son or daughter (Gal.4:6).
This is everything! It involves the most intimate and personal touch of God to heal your inner scars. God offers a relationship to replace your fear and bitterness with security and love. You can discover the Father as “Abba, Padre, Daddy”! (Read Romans 8:15 and Luke 15).
Written by Michael Woroniecki