New Wine for Sisters Too — Annie Poonen

Begin, I mean, we'll slowly get started while the others are coming. Let's begin with a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come together in your presence. Thank you for this day you have given us, Lord, when we can hear so many wonderful things.

And we want to keep all those things in our heart, Lord, and we want you to give us strength to obey whatever we heard today. We pray that your presence will be with us this evening also and bless our time together.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. That's good that we sisters can sit together without the children disturbing and you can just relax and sit. And I'm not going to speak very heavy things, just everyday things which we women face.

I'm amazed how God has brought us all together from so many far-off places. I have come from India, from Romania, and England, Germany, and who knows, any other place, God has brought us together. And God has made it possible for us to meet together in this place.

And we don't know how much more opportunities we'll get to meet like this. All of you have taken so much trouble to come with your little children also. Just for one and a half days you have come. So we want it to be a really worthwhile conference.

And I'm praying that each one of us, including me, will go as changed people from this conference. Already God has started a work in us, and He'll do a more and more, a greater work in us, so we'll be able to have a lot of energy, spiritual energy for the coming days.

And we don't want to go back to the same condition in which we were. And we don't want to go back to the same condition in which we came. You know, as women we are dealing with situations in the home, everyday situations.

Most of us are not doing great things, like a scientist or big things like that. Most of us are having to take care of our homes, our husbands, our children, and be a sister in the church, and everyday things we are dealing with.

And we can find God's help in this. We can find God's help even in our everyday things. It's not for the big things, but in our daily life God will give us grace. And you know, when we are dealing with everyday things, it's easy for us to become dry and frustrated.

New Wine in Everyday Life

We are dealing with everyday things, so we think, everyday I get up and I look like my day is a routine. But everyday we can have that new wine in our life. And we heard yesterday and today, what is that new wine?

It is the life of Jesus. Until now, in the past life, we lived in our own strength. We have had a lot of good qualities, we are patient and loving. And sometimes we are not so good, but it's our life.

It's our own life. But by God's grace, Jesus wants to make an exchange and give us His life instead of ours. Do you remember what the Lord told that Samaritan woman in John chapter 4? She was a defeated lady and she had a very poor testimony.

Five times married and living an immoral life. None of us are in that level. None of us. But God, Jesus told even her this wonderful thing. If you drink of the water which I give you, you will never thirst again.

And the same way, Jesus is wanting to give us that new wine that is His nature. All that we need to do is to just ask Him. It's as simple as that. So, to illustrate that, I was thinking of a beautiful incident in Jesus' life.

Jesus Turns Water into Wine at a Wedding

That is in the very beginning, as soon as He started His ministry. You can keep your Bible open to John chapter 2. That is the story of that wedding where Jesus went to. And it's a home situation. It is an event which happened in a home.

We can put ourselves in that situation. We are arranging something and we are inviting a lot of friends and guests and we want it to be a success. We want to invite people to take part with us at the event.

And we sought to every detail, every detail must... There should be enough food and enough drink for everybody. Maybe think of your own wedding. Suppose it is your own wedding and everything is all prepared and ready.

And in the end, something major, some great lack is there in that event. That's how it is, you know, in our Christian life sometimes. We have so many plans and we make so many preparations. And we are prepared for everything, we are ready for everything.

But in the end, something goes wrong. And you know, if you don't have enough drinks for people, that's very embarrassing when you don't have enough for people to drink. And in this case, you see that it must have been a very close family because Jesus was invited and his mother was also invited.

So, it's a very intimate situation. And the person who had that wedding must have said, Jesus, you can bring your disciples also. And that also teaches me one thing. Sometimes we think like, oh, I don't want to...

Fellowship with Christ's Disciples

I love Jesus, but not the disciples, not the other people who are connected with Jesus. I don't like this disciple because he's too talkative and this disciple, he's different. I may have to bring my disciples.

I may have some prejudice against some disciples of Jesus. And as we heard today, in the Body of Christ, it's good for us to have that fellowship and all the prejudices are removed from our mind. Jesus could have done this miracle before he chose his disciples.

He could have chosen the disciples after this miracle. But I'm so happy he did it with his disciples around him to teach us that valuable lesson of having fellowship with one another. Whatever differences we may have, we may be from different culture, different races, different backgrounds, different language.

But if we are a disciple of Jesus, we can be together with him. That is one lesson we learn from that. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, found out that there was this problem, the wine was over. And she came and told Jesus, you know, the wine is over.

You know, sometimes we may have some lack in our life. That we have come to the end of our patience. There's no more patience in my life. Or maybe we got sick and there's no more health in my life. Or maybe some problem, other problem, sickness in the home.

Maybe your husband is not converted or some relative is sick. Maybe your relative is not converted. Maybe some teenage daughter or son is starting to give trouble. We all have different things which affect us as mothers and sisters.

Maybe a husband has just lost his job. Or you have to shift your house, find another house. And it's like that. You have come to the end of your... the wine is over. There's no more freshness in your life or my life.

Sometime or other we have faced it or we may yet face such situations. And in this situation, you know what Mary did? She didn't go and tell everybody, oh, you know, the wine is over, the wine is over.

You know, that's very sad, the wine is over. She didn't go and tell everybody and anybody. When we face some problem, what do we think of first? I'll pick up the phone and I'll call my best friend. You know what happened?

My husband started drinking. Or whatever the problem is. You think of writing your letter to your daughter, maybe. But your daughter has her own problems, but you want to trouble her with that problem also.

That's a temptation for all of us to think of some human being who can come and help us. But we learn a lesson here from Mary. She came to Jesus and said, the wine is over. Whatever a problem is, health or anything else, anything what I mentioned above, or even spiritual failure, tell it to Jesus first.

You know, sometimes some of us women in our forties, you know, our hormones begin to play up. Our hormones become a little different. And we start crying for small things. And we think, oh, I must go and see the doctor.

But you can see the doctor, but first of all, tell it to Jesus. And you know, in this case, when Mary came and told Jesus, His response must have given her a lot of strength. It must have given her a big shock.

He said, woman, what have I to do with you? Imagine talking like that, your son talking to you like that. I used to wonder why Jesus spoke like that to His own mother, who He must have loved her so much.

Following Jesus Above Family Pressure

But as I grew in my Christian life, I understood why Jesus must have said that, a little bit, one reason at least. You know, later on, in Luke 14, we read, Jesus said like this. We can turn to that. Luke 14.

Verse 26. If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not carry his own cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.

So the disciples could see. Jesus said something, told His disciples, unless you do this, you cannot be My disciple. And He did the same thing in His own life. He…. He never tells us to do something which He has not done Himself.

We want to follow Him and we want to be His disciples. And if we look at His life, He never asks us to do something which He has not done before. So many of us, we are so attached to our loved ones because we see how much they have loved us.

Many married girls cannot break away from their parents. And many married men are so attached to their own parents. So it is to help each one of us that Jesus must have said and behaved like this to His own mother.

Not that He hated His mother. While hanging on the cross, He saw His mother there. And He thought, My brothers still don't believe in Me. Who will take care of My mother? So He told John, that is His cousin, He told John, take care of My mother.

And He told His mom, John will take care of you. Even in His suffering, He thought of His mother. But throughout His ministry, He has given us the example how to be a disciple. Don't let any loved one's words or tears stop us from being His disciples.

So when there is no wine in our life or no freshness in our life, and whatever problem, or no love in my life, as we heard today, all the love which I have for others, I'm not able to love people. You say, Lord, please teach me to love others.

If I have time, I'll tell you how the Lord taught me that wonderful lesson. How to love others. And after that I could see people, after that incident I could see people of any race or whatever, and the Lord has given me that help to love people.

Learning Christ's Love Through Service

Maybe I'll tell you very briefly. I decided to work in a leprosy hospital because that was a needy work in India. And if you have seen leprosy, it's such a horrible disease which people are disfigured with that disease.

And when I first went there, I saw this. It was so disgusting and smelly. I didn't want to go and work there. And I was so disgusted that I didn't want to work there. But when I had made the promise to the Lord, Lord, I will go and serve in this leprosy hospital.

So half of me, I was thinking of that promise I made to the Lord. And half, part of my mind, I wanted to go back home. Then I saw all these leprosy patients who were getting treated sitting there for a chapel prayer.

And they were singing a song in one of our Indian languages. And the Lord just opened my eyes to see a wonderful truth. He showed me that sin is much worse than leprosy. Leprosy is only a disease. We cannot go to hell because of leprosy.

They are poor people. That's not their fault they got that sickness. But sin is so much, much worse that it sent Jesus to come to this earth for us. And not only that, He allowed His face to be beaten and His body so bruised that people didn't want to look at His face after He was beaten like that.

And I saw the love of Christ for me. A wretched sinner, a wretched sinner, that Jesus became so disfigured for my sake. And God poured a love in my heart for these people. I felt like going and hugging them because they taught me this wonderful truth.

The truth of the love of Jesus. And after that I could stay there and work for them without showing any disgust for that disease. Until then I was afraid to go near them because I thought I might get that disease.

But I didn't see after that I didn't see the disease anymore. I saw them as people whom Jesus loves. I thank God for that wonderful lesson He taught me of the love of Christ. We need to ask God every day, Lord, show me your love more and more.

I want to have more and more of that love of Christ poured in my heart. Now coming back to this story, when this lack was there of that wine running, wine was over, now in a human way what will happen if the drink is over?

Christ's Nature Cannot Be Imitated

We'll try to do it in some human way. We'll try to correct it. Ok, ok, bring some water and put some red color and some acid and some sugar and mix it up. It'll taste like wine. Already they had plenty of wine.

Already they had a lot of wine. So this is ok if you can give them this little bit of sugar water, colored sugar water. Yesterday we heard like that word which my husband was saying, don't rectify by improving your own Adamic nature.

Don't try to correct with that. All that correction and improvement will be just like a imitation of wine. It will be the imitation of the nature of Christ. It will be like Buddhism or something but the real nature of Christ is what God wants to give us.

And let's ask God, Lord, give me that real nature which you had. Your long suffering nature suffering patience and forgiving others and not getting angry they are all like big heights which we think humanly we can never reach but don't look at the top of the mountain.

If you look at the top that's where Jesus is. You look at it and you get encouragement from him but he's right here with us too. He comes down to our level and he's helping us to take each step at a time one step at a time.

For example when we may think that you know we may be the type of person who will just explode and get angry and shout at any little thing and we don't like that nature at all and we can say oh that's my nature I'll always be like that but we come to the we come to read God's word and come to have faith no there's a better life which God wants to give us and we ask the Lord Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me the Holy Spirit's power and cry and thirst for that life and with Christ's help next time we are tempted to get angry we may not we may not explode but inside us it's still a little angry and we say Lord I don't want to be content with that thank you for helping me that I didn't shout but please deal with the inside also and we are really desiring that life of victory and thirsting and asking God for the power of the Holy Spirit.

Slowly we find that the inside also we don't feel so upset as we used to and the Lord helps us to ignore somebody's says something we just ignore it. Isn't that such a wonderful life for a person who used to throw things and get angry.

The Lord can make us reach that point but that's not the end. After sometime he will teach us to love those people to forgive and love those people who used to annoy us. We don't have to feel sorry. Oh my husband is always drinking and feel sorry for ourselves.

We will be able to love that husband who was giving us so much trouble. If somebody among us has a husband who drinks God will bring him to that point to be kind to his husband not just to treat him to be calm but even to love him and pray for him and help him also to come to know the Lord.

That's the wonderful life with the Lord has called us to. And I can think of the Christian life like the ABC of the Christian life which I like to remember. That's like the fundamental ABC of Christian life A I mean in English if you know how A stands for admit Lord this is my condition.

Admitting Failure and Asking for God's Help

Admit Lord this is my true condition. I am a failure. Don't try to cover it up. Don't try to cover it up and say no. No. There's wine is there is still little wine. You see in the bottom there is little wine.

Don't try to cover it up. Lord this is the end. I am a failure. Admit that. And the other part of the A is ask the Lord. Lord help me in this situation. I cannot take one more step but with your grace with your help I can take that step.

Believing God Can Transform Us

B stands for believe that the Lord will do it for us. Have faith Lord my life is so dry. There is no wine left in my life. But I believe you can solve that problem for me. Maybe you are asking about maybe your child or your relative or somebody.

The sister was telling about her sister who was having this problem in her testimony she was saying said Lord I believe you can help me in this problem which I am facing. And if we are Jesus said there are so many verses about faith in the gospels.

You know after I came to know about the new covenant everywhere I opened in the New Testament I can see such rich encouragement for me. If I have a problem immediately the word comes Jesus says ask your heavenly father will give it to you.

If I am tempted to be a little worried about something I can hear almost the words of Jesus saying don't be anxious about that. And I think of small small things which the Lord helps me. I feel like crying when I think of that.

Just one small example this time when I was packing to come on this trip I was looking for this Bible because it's in my handbag in India I use a bigger with bigger print but you know going from different villages in India and traveling and all.

I didn't know where this and different handbags. Also I didn't know where this Bible was and we had come from another trip and in two days we were leaving for Europe and in the middle of cleaning my house and cleaning the fridge and everything I said Lord I don't have time but this is your word please help me to find the Bible.

And in a short time I had lifted some clothes which I had just kept for folding underneath. That was my Bible. It was such a small thing but for me it was like my Heavenly Father had given me what I had asked and I was I said Lord you know I don't have time but you are so good to me you take care of even the small thing which I asked you for small thing which I asked you.

God was good to do it. He has done many small things and much much bigger things. And he has done many other small things and much in Poland we were coming. You know last week we were leaving Poland to come to the airport and it was a new highway that brother was taking us in and he he didn't see the exit sign but he said somewhere here we have to exit to go to the airport.

And you know going to the airport how it is. So the queue and you should be in two hours before and all you should not have water in your handbag. All the things are in our mind. And then when that brother said I don't know if I missed the exit I thought so many things were in my mind.

And you know on that highway there was a man walking on the nobody walks on the highway and at six o 'clock in the morning this man was walking with a coat on his shoulder. Only one man was walking on that road.

I think God must have sent him as an angel for us. So this brother slowed down and asked him is the exit. So he told him where the exit was and we didn't lose any time. If we look for God's ways in dealing we can think of millions and millions of ways God is taking care of us.

But if God wants us to go through suffering he will give us the grace to go through sickness or suffering. All that is most important is to become like Jesus and England. My husband was using an illustration of a Christian life.

Growing in Christ Through the Holy Spirit

He said before we accept the Lord our whole heart is like a black circle. And then God works in us and this small white dot comes in there. That's when we accept Jesus. And most people are thinking that are happy.

Oh I have that white dot. That's enough for me and we are happy. Oh I have that white dot that's enough. Some people take baptism and they think oh they have taken the best biggest step ever. That's all some people maybe they have another experience of speaking in tongues and they think ok that's all.

But the more we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our heart and we die to our own flesh that white circle white dot becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. And when we die that black part will all drop off.

And what is remaining is just that white circle. Think how it is. Some of us may just fly like with the one white dot to be with the Lord. We will go to heaven just as a white dot. Our life will be just the one dot and some like Apostle Paul will be like bright shining like the sun shining.

All of us will go to heaven as a white dot. All of us God has given us a whole life. God has given us a whole life ahead of us. The whole life is in front of us. We can keep it like a small dot. Or we can ask the Lord to enlarge us and have more and more of Christ in us.

Christ's Transformation Becomes a Blessing

So in this case Jesus told the servants you fill up the water pots with water and he did that miracle and changed it into wine. Now all that wine was just not kept there for a he made it into wine. He made it.

It was not for that God does miracles in our lives also like that he changes us to become more and more like him. That's not for other people to come and admire us. Oh, what a wonderful sister, what a charitable sister, what a helpful sister, it's not for that it's for the glory of God that Jesus did a miracle.

But he said take out the wine and bless others give it out to others. Jesus can do a wonderful work in us and make us so fresh and full of the life of Christ. All the glory will go to him and will be a blessing.

A life will be a blessing to many many people and it will be a miracle for Jesus. It will be the name of Jesus will be glorified. Not those servants cannot boast or the disciples cannot boast that they did something.

It was Jesus who did that. That's what I learned from this little incident in the life of Jesus and I'm thankful that Jesus can come into our home in every situation that we face and make us a blessing to others.

Confessing Sin: The Final Part of the ABC

So let's take the rest of this conference to as seriously as we have done and listen to every word and make the best benefit of our time together and ask God to give us grace to be obedient to what we have heard.

God bless you all. Shall we close in prayer. Beg your pardon. ABC. C yeah sorry the C. C is yeah. C is confess to the Lord. I confess to the Lord Lord. I have failed all the failures and the sins which the Lord show us.

So A stands for ask ask the and admit our need to the Lord. B stands for believe that God can meet us and have faith in God. C stands for confess our sins and ask God's forgiveness. And you can add the rest.

You can make your own alphabet. I am sure you can find a lot of more. God bless you. Shall we close in prayer. Our Heavenly Father. Thank you for this time you gave. Thank you for the wonderful words in your word in the Bible.

Thank you for coming to this earth Lord Jesus for us. Help us Lord to live as you want us to live. We pray that you will help us to treasure your word in our heart and change us from glory to glory. Lord help us to be better wives better mothers and better sisters in the church and better towards our loved ones too we ask these things in Jesus name.

Amen. God bless you.