The Wine of His Presence

This phrase reminds me of a time when I was walking to small group one night, and I felt God say, "I am turning your water into wine"

There are some scriptures which come to mind. You could say I am an acquaintance of God's wine. It's one of those things hidden that God is expecting us to search out and find. Does that sound like God to you?

God chose the Israelites to be a garden of delight to Him,

But there is a startling group of verses in the book of Isaiah related to God, the Beloved, and Israel.
It is worth a read if you have not read it before. The verses I am referring to are in Chapter 5, at the beginning of the Chapter (read the whole chapter if you get a chance)

The word it uses for Beloved in these verses is also used in the Song of Songs, for instance
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love [is] better than wine.  (Song 1:4)
My beloved [is] unto me [as] a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. (Song 1:14) (rough translation, He's totally startling, exciting!)
Behold, thou [art] fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed [is] green. (Song 1:16)
It is the name she gives to the Bridegroom, (whoops! I used KJV!)

The intriguing thing is, God's endeavouring to establish a vineyard,
God's evaluation of the situation
and God's accurate response to a vineyard which does not produce good grapes.

In other words, this whole affair, it is a hidden affair with God. I think that fits a description of my Beloved very nicely.

I had to ask the question today, "Where am I getting my food from?"

I'm so pleased that I get to ask that question of God, where no one else can.

The question I want to pose today is one that I feel needs asking. "Are there benefits to fasting?"

What connection does fasting have with wine? I am intrigued to find a verse in the Gospels.

And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
"No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.
"Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Next time you fast, remember, Jesus really does want you to get something out of it. He wants you to get love out of it. And also, It's a new thing, He was giving them an example that no one had ever done before.

Putting these two scriptures together we conclude:
God is the one who will get rich delight out of His inheritance. He will be like a business man who expects a good reward for His investment. From the example of History, we conclude that God is dreadfully accurate in His prediction of what will happen to those who with His investment have not used it wisely (they squandered their wealth and longed for what pigs eat - a picture of willing to give up their privileged position as the heirs of God's promises and covenants)

By the way, there's a few more things mingled in there than what I started with. Can you spot them?
 He's chosen me to bear the good fruit of the best wine, the ancient wine, the old wine. The wine that has been preserved for ever and ever.

Why would I want to know this? It's because God is a jealous Bridegroom. REST in the glory of this!

O, what a reward, drink deeply of my Love, my Beloved! I will let Him gaze upon me, and give Him my love. He wants all of me! Don't take this reward away from me! God is a businessman!