Dee Leichner
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THE PREPARATION OF A WINESKIN
All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Copyright  2008 by Dee Leichner All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted in any form without prior written permission from the author. International Standard Book Number: 978-0-9820914-0-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008908412
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Dedicated to My husband, Mike Whose love is my treasure I am forever grateful To the Lord For our life together You are My encourager, my covering, My most cherished
My children The ones I birthed The ones they married The ‘grands’ they’ve given us You bring me joy Next to the Lord You are all my greatest gifts We are wineskins Who are going through Preparation together Your pursuit of God Is my eminent blessing
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Contents vii
Introduction 1.
A Process
2.
Situation, Revelation, Preparation 9
3.
Cured and Washed
23
4.
Fused and Treated
33
5.
Tanned, Tempered, Stuffed
41
6.
Oiled
51
7.
The Vessel
61
8.
The Old Wine Bottle and The New Wine
69
1
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About the Author
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INTRODUCTION Jesus spoke a parable in Luke 5:37 concerning wineskins and their contents. The parable is repeated in Matthew and Mark but Luke has a very slight variation. The Lord is saying that men do not put new wine into old bottles but rather men put new wine into new bottles. The Greek word translated as ‘new’ is kainos. This means renewed, not recent but different. The wineskin is prepared by daily renewal, renewal of spiritual power, renewing of the inward man and making new with experience and knowledge. A parable is a short story that is intended to help understanding, or to illustrate a moral and spiritual lesson. Jesus left an open door to understanding with this parable. His changing strategy, the New Wine of the Holy Ghost and God’s sovereignty in our lives is only a part of it. Being changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of God is paramount for wineskins. The continual adjustment of moral and spiritual vision and capabilities are all processes. This is the preparation of askos, a leather bottle or wineskin, which is the man or woman of God continually being made ready. Future positions of authority are held in the preparation process. Future blessings, ministries, callings and assignments are held in the preparation process. Humanity as chosen vessels must be readied, trained, equipped and qualified. We are a vessel unto Glory, a temple of the Holy Ghost. Each step of the process is important and powerful. This process will qualify the captains of tens and thousands. There will be distinctive attributes and qualities in the lives of the
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prepared wineskins. It isn’t related to how many difficulties you’ve survived although they will definitely exist. It isn’t a certifying because anyone has come out of painful situations. It is rather the developing of the vessel as God sees fit. Every joy and every hardship, every praise and each sorrow, has a place in our own personal preparation. I have found myself a part of wineskin preparation for a long time. Because our lives are intertwined with so many others, we become tools and instruments and a very real part of the continuing process. We all have our own story to tell and it is never singular. In order to give the process validity, I will use real life situations, not fabrication. In some cases the story involves an obvious praise. In others, I use the example because it is true and it really does help us when we see that others face what we face as we press towards our mark and high calling. The names of those involved will not be mentioned in the interest of dignified, polite and decent behavior. Also with the capacity to tolerate, accommodate and by God’s grace to forgive, I will protect the guilty! Christians throughout the ages have faced incredible life experiences. In the Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, is a listing of individuals that had a revelation of God. They responded to every situation with amazing faith. Some are named and others are just referred to. There are those today who fall into the same category. There are valiant, courageous and wonderful people of God who have been through astounding situations and glorified God. There are those who have been victims of atrocious crimes or heart-rending pain and sadness. They are marked by
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these experiences. In everyday life we too are marked by how we handle circumstances. We tell a hallmark story over and over throughout life because of its impact on us. Hallmark means distinguishing. It is an occurrence that may have been fairly simple but through experiencing it we were marked by it. We experienced a process that prepared us for another realm with God. A hallmark is also a mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals. It is a mark of guarantee that the metal has been through a purifying, it speaks of purity. We are wineskins marked by experiences, simple or complex. As we respond with Godly attributes, we are marked as pure. A hallmark time can be a provision from the Lord in a time of need. It can be a time of divine protection or a miraculous healing. It can be deliverance from something violent, loathsome or cruel. It can be large or small but the Master marks our life and prepares the wineskin. In drawing a parallel between the natural and supernatural making of a wineskin, I claim no expertise in the tanning process. I have seen parts of the working of the leather and I have individuals in my family who have put their hands to the task. The methods vary both in dispensations of time and in craftsman’s choices. Depending on natural use, proper conditioning is a principal rule. The whole of the matter falls to the fact that a process is involved. In that process a counterpart is obvious. We go through things, they affect us and they bring about an effect, a change. The seriously thirsty and hungry individual with a pure spiritual desire will continually yield to the master Craftsman’s hands. He will also face what must be faced and in turn will hold, pour out and receive again the New Wine from Heaven!
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There is a Preparation Process of the Wineskin We are the Chosen of God To Hold and to Carry To Pour Out and to Be Filled Again Our Wineskin Is Supernaturally Prepared By God And it Must Be Maintained as A Holy Vessel Unto Him
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A Process
Chapter one
A Process
Every soldier faces a battle and every living person has an enemy whether they know it or not. As God’s children we are aware of the unseen foe and that our battle is not flesh and blood but rather the hidden and obscure powers of darkness. We can quote, with the Apostle Paul (II Corinthians 4:8-9) the words troubled, distressed or cast down. We then encourage ourselves, or each other by speaking faith and confessing Biblical truths. I don’t have to stand-alone I am not abandoned to fate I trust in the Lord Knocked down but not out I’m blessed I’m the favored of the Lord I’m praising my way out It’s a worthy fight Faith is the victory What we must be aware of, is the preparation of the wineskin. Our lives are not chance or happenstance. There is an unseen work of the Spirit! We understand from the parables given by Jesus and from the types and shadows of the Old Testament that there are parallels in life circumstances that are extremely meaningful for us. We can look at how Jesus revealed so
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The Preparation of a Wineskin
much of Himself and the Kingdom through simple stories and basic truths in the scriptures. What looks like a veiled truth to some becomes a revealed and valid tie to the promises and workings of the Lord. These become true meanings in the lives of those whose spirits long to know more and have more of God! One such truth is that New Wine needs a new wineskin. There is more to being a new wineskin than being born again although that is the primary requirement. When we receive a particular pouring out of the New Wine into our lives, that wineskin must have been prepared. There are multiple levels to the preparation. It is not a preparation that ever finds completion because God will use the hungry, the thirsty and the yielded individual without respect to age, creed, color, social status or any other human division. He will keep pouring as long as we are yielded and allow Him to keep us prepared. There is a natural process to the preparation of a wineskin that gives us an open understanding to our current situations. The tanner in the natural puts the vessel through multiple stages of readiness. In the same manner, the qualifying of the supernatural vessel has a parallel that speaks to us just like a parable does. Jesus wanted us to see that the potential of the New Wine could only be realized when it was placed in a New Wineskin. With that knowledge we can begin to see our own lives in a fresh way. The tanner as a master craftsman has many methods to achieve the desired result. Our Master Craftsman, God Himself, also has many methods. We are very cognizant of the fact that while one is experiencing the most joyous time of his life, another is going through the most difficult trial
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A Process
she has ever faced. Some face so many things that others don’t even understand. Others never even seem to have much in the way of responsibilities much less go through hardships. We only need discernment to realize the difference of an onslaught of the enemy, from a new realm of our preparation. This does not mean that every discouragement or a tragedy is God’s preparation. The Lord never puts these things on us or in our lives. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8). That lets us know that the devil too is working! We can read this scripture and think with our natural mind that if Jesus is destroying the works of the devil, why am I experiencing this? It is because the word ‘destroy’ is Greek (luo). The definition is to do away with, as pass from one condition to another. It never means total annihilation. That is one reason that we are ‘more than conquerors’ as the Word says in Romans 8:37. We are constantly conquering through Jesus Christ in us. He is constantly working in us. The enemy is not passive though. He is working as a thief, a destroyer and to kill every good thing that is operating in our lives. When the devil determines an evil outcome, God is always able to turn it around. We might wonder ‘is all of this really necessary for God’s will and plan for my life?’ The Word points to a definite ‘yes’! In the middle of sickness or tragedy we must sanction our faith by giving thanks for the triumphant deliverance. This is when God begins to get glory! Exodus 22:4 declares that the thief must restore double. If we let God work through His sovereignty we will receive a double portion back! In the midst of all of this we are being prepared unto glory, (Romans 9:23) vessels of mercy gaining knowledge of the riches of His Glory, thank the Lord!
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The Preparation of a Wineskin
So if there is a shadow of things to come or things occurring in our lives, if there is a parallel to this wineskin preparation, what is the nature of it? How does it apply to me? Where am I in the process? Natural wineskins are cured, they are washed in water, fused and treated with substances or alloy. They go through a fleshing process, and a time of bating, or maybe clinching. Then comes the tanning followed by tempering, being stuffed and finally a special oil treatment. The result is a strong, vital and beautiful vessel. Not only is the wineskin prepared, it is continually prepared! A vessel of the New Wine must undergo a constant process so that it does not become as the ‘old’ mentioned by Jesus in the Gospels. He has come with life imparted by faith. There is joy in this message that cannot be contained in old legalistic ways or brittle laws. Yesterday’s ways, structures and understandings are incapable of handling or containing the dynamics of present spiritual renewals! Jesus came to humanity bursting the seams of the old wineskins. New Wine had come and He called for new vessels. These containers of the Holy things of God were to be for pouring, not for storing. A powerful wine of the Spirit to quench the thirst of the world had come on the scene and it was pure, and plenipotentiary (invested with full authority to act on behalf of the sovereign)! The magnitude of this for you and me is incredible! To be the vessel but to have the authority to convey and transfer this most precious cargo, gives revelation that the preparation of the wineskin is paramount to the product. Our preparation as we go through the events of life is great in importance and significance to the Kingdom of God being manifested in this world. The personal applications for
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A Process
every individual are awesome. Your process is extremely important, especially in its effect on the future course of events! This plan is the absolute and exclusive domain of our Creator. Jesus gave us more revelation on the vessel’s preparation, in a similar story about the potter’s house. The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. We can read it in Jeremiah chapter 18. God sent him to the potter’s house to see the forming of the vessel. As it was in the hands of the Master, the clay became marred. It seemed good to the potter to take the clay and form it anew. Jeremiah is hugely important to us because he spoke about the new covenant that God would make, and with much reference to Jesus. In the middle of intensely sincere, unrelieved suffering and fearless proclamation of God’s message, the Lord tells him to seek out understanding for the people where the pottery is formed out of clay, where vessels are shaped and prepared for use. It is an amazing fact to consider that something happened to the clay as it was held directly in the hand of the Master, the potter. The potter was not discouraged. He just kept working with the vessel, forming it again, and making something good. The vessel would have to be prepared no matter how many times it was remade. With a clay substance it is pressured into usability as it is heated to a degree that is durable. The clay must be placed in the fire so that it can harden. It is exposed to fire at temperatures of 2000 plus degrees Fahrenheit. It must be fired to be hardened to be usable. Here is a correlation of natural and supernatural. Many times we think we are going through a hard time and it is the devil’s doing, but it
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The Preparation of a Wineskin
is really a firing time from the Lord to make us more usable. I watched this process at a potter’s house. I saw the clay pulled out of the pit. I saw it worked in the craftsman’s hands. He kneaded it like bread dough, forming it and working out the air. He would throw it hard and roughly onto a stone slab over and over to work it pliable. He added water to temper as he continually worked it on the wheel and with his hands. He formed and shaped and worked ‘wedging’ as it is called, to bring about consistency. In the working of the material it has to be dried, ground and sifted to remove the impurities before it ever reaches the wheel for formation. Clay that is not tempered will shrink and crack during drying and firing. Its preparation will result in failure. To avoid this, various forms of temper are added to provide strength. Is it any wonder that people crack under the pressure of life if the Word of God does not temper them? Is it any wonder that lives fall apart when they are not exposed to the firing process of the Holy Ghost? We surely can relate to some of this process. Whether it is the wineskin or the clay, our lives are a counterpart. We have felt at times that if it got any better or sweeter with God’s hand upon us we just could not bear the Presence of His Glory. Then at other times we have felt that God is being too hard on us. He is allowing too many things to happen in our lives, too many discouragements, or set backs or trials or difficulties. Or He is slamming us down on His wheel over and over and it will seemingly never end. Or He is pushing and prodding and poking the air right out of us. We feel the heat of the fire and the drying process is so painful. If we could only see or know His purpose it would be easier. Just when you think things
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A Process
are getting better, here comes the Craftsman with a scraping process. There is a scraping of the vessel inside and outside with a strong wire brush and a form of a file. Then the vessel goes through the fire again! As the old is scraped off, the new is added in the fire. When God does a new thing, when He pours in New Wine, you will have to go through the fire again for that new thing to be bonded to the old. Maybe it will be a fire of multiplied testing, a fire of trial, a fire of proving, a fire of criticism or a fire of rejection. Churches will have to go through this preparation. Individuals will have to go through this preparation. Ministries will have to go through this preparation. Couples and marriages and family relationships, every good thing will be tried by fire. There must be a fire for the bonding to take place! This testing will be the proof required to see if you not can, but will go through the fire so that God has a fit vessel, one with strength for powerful contents. When God does a new thing in you, personally, expect to go through the fire. When you go from realm to realm and from glory to glory, expect to experience the fire because it always bonds the old with the new to keep it a fit vessel, balanced and right! This knowledge helps us encourage ourselves that the fire is a good thing!
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To read more of The Preparation of a Wineskin, order from: Ark Church http://www.arkchurchwichita.com/ (Go to the Media Center, Shop Online, on the site)
Contact: Desiree Liggett 316.721.6688 5501 N Maize Rd. Maize, KS 67101