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There is an awakening taking place in the body of Christ right now that cannot be denied. I am watching people who have been stagnant, stuck, and seemingly in a spiritual stalemate suddenly come alive again. The Davids are awakening! The new wineskin company is emerging! God is stirring His people to step out of the old and into what He is building in this hour.
But I want to speak to those of you who have stepped out in obedience to God, only to find yourself facing an unusual level of opposition. You were moving forward, hearing God clearly, beginning to build, and suddenly everything seemed to come against you. Relationships changed. Accusations began. Discouragement crept in. Some of you even feel as though the well that was once flowing freely has suddenly dried up.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FLOW? WHY DID EVERYTHING SUDDENLY STOP?
I believe there are three specific spiritual attacks coming against those who are stepping into their next assignment from God right now. I want to expose them because some of you have been facing unusual opposition, rejection, mockery, and even spiritual heaviness, and you haven't understood why.
Jesus said in Mark 2:22, that new wine must be put into new wineskins. I believe we are living in a time when God is raising up a people who will carry His presence, His power, and His heart without trying to fit it into the old structures of yesterday. But the enemy wants to stop the flow before it ever reaches the people it was intended to reach.
I WANT TO DECLARE OVER YOU TODAY: WHAT HAS BEEN SENT TO STOP YOU WILL NOT PREVENT YOU FROM STEPPING INTO YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT!
The attacks may have been real, the warfare may have been intense, and the discouragement may have caused you to question everything, but God has not changed His mind about what He has called you to carry.
There are three attacks I want to address that I believe the Lord is exposing so that you can recognize what has been warring against you, break agreement with the fear and intimidation, and move forward.
1- THE SPIRIT OF SAUL
One of the first things you will encounter when stepping into a new wineskin is the voice that tells you that you are illegitimate. It will tell you that you are rebellious, arrogant, out of order, or that you have no right to do what God has called you to do.
In 1 Samuel 18:10–11, Saul became so threatened by David that he hurled a spear at him while David was playing his instrument. And this is what I want you to see: David wasn't trying to overthrow Saul. David was simply carrying an anointing that Saul could not control.
Saul occupied the throne, but David carried the promise which was a threat to Saul’s house.
I believe many of you have been facing this same pattern. You have been trying to explain yourself to people who refuse to recognize what God is doing in your life. You have spent so much energy defending your motives, justifying your calling, and trying to prove that you have heard God.
But hear me: YOU CANNOT BUILD THE NEW WINE WHILE WAITING FOR THE OLD WINESKIN TO APPROVE IT!
There comes a point when you must stop apologizing for what God has placed inside you. Stop defending yourself against every accusation. Stop waiting for Saul to knight you into your assignment. Not everyone who misunderstands you is an enemy, and not everyone is meant to have authority over your obedience.
I believe God is raising up a Davidic people, a people after His own heart, who are more concerned with His presence than man's permission. The house of Saul is giving way to the emergence of David, and you cannot keep returning to Saul's court when God is calling you into a new season.
2- THE SPIRIT OF MICHAL
A few months ago, I had a dream in which a man appeared to me and revealed the name Michal as something that had been warring against us. Michal was David's wife, but in the account of David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem, Scripture repeatedly identifies her as the daughter of Saul. I believe there is something significant in that.
THE MOCKERY OF MICHAL WAS THE FRUIT OF THE HOUSE OF SAUL.
In 2 Samuel 6:16, we read that as David brought the ark of the Lord into the city, Michal watched him dancing before the Lord and despised him in her heart. David was restoring the ark to its rightful place. He was bringing the presence of God back into the center of the nation's worship. And yet the very thing that moved David to worship caused Michal to despise him.
She saw foolishness where David saw worship. She saw humiliation where David saw obedience. And I believe this is one of the great battles facing those carrying the new wine right now.
You are being called to restore the heart of worship, to rebuild what has been broken, to bring the presence of God back to the center, and to overturn the culture of performance and religious appearance. But there will be voices that mock what they do not understand.
Some of you have been mocked for your obedience. You have been ridiculed for your passion, your worship, your convictions, and the things God has called you to build. And slowly, without realizing it, you have begun to pull back. You no longer pray with the same fire. You no longer worship with the same abandonment. You are second-guessing what God clearly spoke because someone else's opinion has found its way into your heart.
YOU HAVE ALLOWED THE MOCKERY OF MICHAL TO SILENCE THE WORSHIP OF DAVID!
But look at David's response. In 2 Samuel 6:21–22, he declares that his worship was before the Lord and that he would become even more undignified. David refused to allow Michal's contempt to determine the expression of his worship.
The chapter ends with a sobering detail: Michal had no children to the day of her death. I believe there is a prophetic warning here about allowing the fear of mockery to shut down what God desires to birth through us.
YOU CANNOT CARRY THE NEW WINE WHILE BOWING TO THE OPINIONS OF THOSE WHO DESPISE IT!
Some of you have become spiritually barren because you have spent this season trying to appease voices you were never called to obey. But I believe the Lord is breaking that barrenness! He is dealing with the wounds, the insecurities, and the fear of man that have caused you to retreat.
It's time to worship again. It's time to build again. It's time to step out again. Be even more undignified if you must, but don't let the opinions of man become the ceiling over your obedience to God!
3- THE SPIRIT OF DEFILEMENT (UNCLEAN SPIRIT)
This third assignment is one I believe we need to become much more discerning about. It is the assignment of defilement that seeks to contaminate the very thing God is pouring out.
I want you to look at something powerful in Scripture. In Mark 1:23-27, Jesus entered the synagogue in Capernaum and began teaching with authority, and right there in the middle of the synagogue, was a man with an unclean spirit who cried out… DISTRACTION... Do you see it?
Think about that for a moment. THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT WAS IN THE SYNAGOGUE! It was present in a religious gathering, in a place where people assembled and when Jesus began to move in authority, the unclean spirit reacted.
In verse 24, it even acknowledged Jesus as the Holy One of God. He did not allow it to dictate the atmosphere. He rebuked it and commanded it to come out, and the man was delivered.
And this is what I have been wrestling with lately. NOT EVERYTHING THAT SPEAKS CHRISTIAN LANGUAGE CARRIES THE HEART OF JESUS!
We must have discernment. There are times when unhealthy control, manipulation, unresolved wounds, and wrong motives can enter relationships and people around us under the appearance of help. It may sound like counsel. It may appear to be support. But over time, you realize that what is being introduced is pulling you away from what God originally instructed you to do. IT DEFILES…
This is why we must guard what God is building. Not by becoming suspicious of everyone around us, but by refusing to compromise the purity of what God has entrusted to us.
Amos 9:11 speaks about the Lord raising up the fallen tabernacle of David and repairing its breaches. I believe this is a prophetic picture of what God is doing in His church. He is restoring the heart of worship. He is calling His people back to purity, intimacy, and surrender. And this is why the enemy would love nothing more than to introduce mixture into what God is building.
But I believe the Lord is calling His people to become discerning guardians of the new wine and is saying, “DON'T LET THE OLD CONTAMINATE WHAT I AM MAKING NEW!”
I BELIEVE GOD IS BREAKING THE BARRENNESS RIGHT NOW!
As I have been praying about these three assignments, I keep coming back to the same thing. There are so many people who stepped out in faith, only to feel as though something shut down over their lives. You were flowing in revelation, hearing God, walking in courage, and then suddenly you found yourself weighed down by opposition, rejection, and discouragement.
The well dried up. The fire seemed to disappear. The courage you once carried became buried beneath the weight of everything you had been through.
But I SEE THE LORD BREAKING THE CAPS OFF THE WELLS OF HIS PEOPLE!
I believe there is a fresh release coming to those who have felt spiritually stagnant. The Lord is breaking the fear of man. He is healing the wounds of rejection. He is restoring confidence where mockery has left you silent.
And He is calling you back into the secret place. Because this is something I want you to understand: THE NEW WINESKIN IS BUILT IN SECRET BEFORE IT IS EVER SEEN IN PUBLIC.
Some of you are frustrated because what God is building looks insignificant right now. You expected visibility. You expected momentum. You expected things to happen faster. But God is building something much deeper than a ministry, a movement, or a platform. He is building you.
Psalm 127:1 reminds us that unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
The old wineskin wants public applause but the new wineskin is formed through surrender. The old wants to look impressive but the new wants to carry His presence.
And I believe God is raising up a people who would rather remain hidden than be tainted by the old again. So don't despise this underground season. Don't mistake this hiddenness, small beginnings season as failure.
WHAT GOD IS BUILDING IN SECRET WILL CARRY THE WEIGHT OF WHAT HE WANTS TO POUR OUT IN PUBLIC.
Let me pray for you–
Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I pray for every person who has been facing unusual opposition in this season. I break agreement with every accusation that has caused them to question what You have spoken over their lives. I pray that the fear of man would be broken and that they would no longer live under the weight of Saul's approval.
I pray for every person wounded by mockery, rejection, and the words of others. Let the barrenness be broken! Restore their joy, their worship, their confidence, and their ability to hear Your voice clearly again.
Father, where there has been unhealthy control, manipulation, compromise, or defilement, I ask You to expose it, remove it, and bring healing and freedom. In the name of Jesus, I pray against every unclean influence seeking to hinder what You are building.
Let the heaviness lift. Let the confusion clear. Let the wells begin to flow again!
Jesus said in John 7:38 that rivers of living water would flow from those who believe in Him. SO I DECLARE, LET THE RIVERS FLOW AGAIN!
Let the fire return. Let the dreams return. Let the courage return. Let fresh revelation and fresh obedience rise again. I believe the Lord is breaking the caps off the wells of His people in this hour.
SAUL WILL NOT DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE. MICHAL WILL NOT SILENCE YOUR WORSHIP. DEFILEMENT WILL NOT HAVE THE FINAL WORD OVER WHAT GOD IS BUILDING, IN JESUS’ NAME!