{"id":2199,"date":"2023-03-11T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T07:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/?p=2199"},"modified":"2023-09-18T12:48:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T11:48:06","slug":"they-have-no-wine-%f0%9f%92%92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/?p=2199","title":{"rendered":"They have no wine 💒"},"content":{"rendered":"

23rd December 2022, 09:00, Lagos<\/strong><\/p>\n

I love a good wedding. It\u2019s beautiful watching two people who are deeply in love make a commitment to build a life together for the rest of their lives. Scary, but beautiful nonetheless. However, I\u2019ve planned a wedding before and I have to say it\u2019s one of the most stressful events I\u2019ve ever planned. As a member of the planning committee we all had mini-nightmares that food or drinks would run out so when I read the story of the Wedding at Cana I couldn\u2019t help but empathise with the couple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know the famous story, the wine they had prepared for guests ran out and the servants approached Jesus\u2019 mother – Mary, for her help. Mary being a homemaker herself understood the gravity of lack of wine. It will be embarrassing for the couple. This is their big day! They\u2019re celebrating a special moment and wine was necessary for the guests to feel at home and enjoy the party. She decided to seek her son\u2019s help and see if He could do anything to save the day. Her son (Jesus) steps aside to seek His Father\u2019s will. This is because before He does anything He first consults with Him to understand if He\u2019d like Him to do it. Abba (God the Father) gives His son the go ahead for Him to help the people.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I read the story I found it interesting that the Father chose a wedding as the place for Jesus to perform His first miracle. It was wine, why was this important? I\u2019m almost confident that a theologian will have a very deep meaning for the significance of wine, but I have a different and slightly \u2018lighter\u2019 angle. In life we all have numerous dreams and sometimes the truth is we may not be able to afford these dreams. In fact to comfort ourselves we may reduce these dreams and say these dreams are a \u2018frivolous\u2019 way to spend money. One could argue that more wine was a want not a need. I\u2019m sure they could manage the embarrassment and just accept that the wine was finished. But hey! The Father saw it fit to do a miracle and still give them what they desired. This is my gentle way of saying sometimes what you call \u2018unimportant\u2019 might actually be important to God. Just because it\u2019s not a dying need doesn\u2019t mean He can\u2019t give it to you. If you take that longing to Him even though it\u2019s not do or die, He may be willing to give it to you. God cares about the big and small things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, let’s get back to the story. For ease, I\u2019m going to break down the story into sections and draw out key lessons.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. God usually starts with what we have<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The servants had run out of wine but they had water. With that in mind Jesus proceeds to test their faith by asking them to fill <\/span>water<\/b> jars and bring it to Him. I can\u2019t imagine the faces of the servants at the first instruction. Water? I would have replied \u201ccome again?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2. Faith is mandatory for the miracle<\/span><\/p>\n

    We know the famous scripture that reads \u201cwithout faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)\u201d. I\u2019m yet to find someone who relates with God and He hasn\u2019t tested their faith. God\u2019s love language is faith and obedience. For the miracle to occur they needed to move in faith and trust that God could in fact turn the water into wine. No faith, no miracle, no wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03. Be bold<\/span><\/p>\n

    When Jesus asked them to fill the jars, they filled it <\/span>to the brim <\/b>(John 2:7). This was bold and their way of ensuring they got as much as they could. They didn\u2019t leave any room in the jar. They used <\/span>all they had<\/b>. It reminds me of the story of Rahab who negotiated with the spies. Rahab was audacious, she sought her safety and then negotiated for her entire family. She wasn\u2019t conservative with her ask, she was bold and so were these servants. The bible says we should come boldly to His throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16) so when you ask God for something, be bold!<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 4. You share in the work, you share in the blessing\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    We all have a part to play in our miracle, breakthrough and promotion. There\u2019s a running theme between the transformation of wine and the multiplication of the bread and fishes (John 6). The wine was transformed <\/span>while they walked<\/b> towards the master with this \u2018water\u2019 in hand (John 2:8). Similarly, the bread and fish were transformed <\/span>as they distributed<\/b> it (John 6:11). This shows <\/span>a combination of faith and movement <\/b>is necessary for the miracle. I personally don\u2019t believe that someone doesn\u2019t have to do anything at all to take hold of the promotion or breakthrough that God has promised them. I\u2019m not advocating for toiling, certainly not, however, I do believe we have our part to play because getting a breakthrough usually takes several \u2018little steps\u2019 to arrive at the miracle we so badly desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05. God does NOT give us leftovers or scraps<\/span><\/p>\n

    When I read John 2:10 which reads\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    And he said to him, \u201cEvery man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the <\/span><\/i>good wine<\/i><\/b> until now!\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    I laugh! It makes me think about how real goodness occurs when God blesses a person. The master thought he had tasted wine. He probably had a \u201cbeen there, done that\u201d attitude. However, Jesus\u2019 wine was different. God gave them the best wine they had ever tasted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    We all grow up with our own unique life experiences. Sometimes as kids we may let certain harmful seeds grow in our minds that can affect what we believe is possible or achievable for us. For example, let’s say you admired something expensive when growing up, but you never thought you\u2019d be able to get it so you stopped dreaming and reduced your expectations. You thought it\u2019s better to aim for something cheaper because your dream will never happen anyway.\u00a0 Maybe you want a bespoke dress for your wedding but because you don\u2019t have the money yet or you believe \u201cpeople like you\u201d don\u2019t get bespoke things, you reduce your expectations. Such thinking patterns can also happen in our walk of faith. In this scene we see that when God blesses, He gives them the best and beats their expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 6. God is a God of abundance\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I have a secret I want to share with you today: God is not broke. Repeat it please. God-is-not-broke. Whenever God blesses a man, He does so abundantly. He is a God of exceedingly, abundantly (Ephesians 3:20). In this story, He\u2019s no different. Theologians argue that He ensured that the wine was more than enough so the newlyweds could sell the excess wine, pay off any debts incurred during the planning of the wedding, and still have enough money to start their lives. I remember reading this and getting emotional. What a sweet and loving Father. In a similar manner trust that He will bless you abundantly. We serve a God of abundance.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So I\u2019ve touched on a lot in this story. We\u2019ve covered miracles, moving in faith, leaning on God for provision, daring to believe the impossible and so much more. I wrote this to encourage and remind someone that we serve a good God who is faithful. Dare to dream and ask for His blessings even with the things that seem \u2018unimportant\u2019. As we go through life we ought to be bold and ask for all we desire. I can\u2019t remember the exact figures but I remember Joyce Myer saying she\u2019d rather ask God for 1,000 and get 500 than ask for 100 and get 100. I absolutely agree! Lastly, please don\u2019t forget that God starts with what you have. As you move in faith with what you have, trust that God will come through for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

    I hope this encourages you to keep trusting Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

    All my love,<\/span>
    \n<\/span>T<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    23rd December 2022, 09:00, Lagos I love a good wedding. It\u2019s beautiful watching two people who are deeply in love make a commitment to build a life together for the rest of their lives. Scary, but beautiful nonetheless. However, I\u2019ve planned a wedding before and I have to say it\u2019s one of the most stressful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perspectsees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions\/2251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepowercloset.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}