Stretching Your Wineskin 5 Day Devotional

Day 1: The Call to Leave Behind

Reading: Luke 5:27-28; Philippians 3:13-14

Devotional: Matthew left everything instantly when Jesus called. His lucrative tax-collecting career meant nothing compared to following Christ. What is God asking you to leave behind today? Perhaps it's not a job, but comfortable habits, old mindsets, or familiar routines that no longer serve your spiritual growth. The phrase "that very moment" challenges us to respond immediately to God's prompting rather than negotiating or delaying. Leaving behind doesn't mean our past was wasted; it means we're making room for something greater. True discipleship requires releasing our grip on what was comfortable to embrace what God has prepared. What "tax booth" are you sitting in that God is calling you away from? The new wine of God's purposes cannot fill hands already clutching yesterday's provision.

Day 2: Flexibility Over Tradition

Reading: Luke 5:33-39; Romans 12:2

Devotional: The Pharisees couldn't receive Jesus because their rigid traditions blinded them to God's fresh work. They preferred familiar religious routines over the living presence of God among them. How often do we confuse our preferences with God's principles? Tradition isn't inherently wrong, but when "we've always done it this way" becomes our defense against God's new direction, we've created an old wineskin. God isn't asking you to abandon biblical truth, but to release your death-grip on methods, mindsets, and comfort zones. The transformation Paul describes requires renewed thinking—seeing with Kingdom eyes rather than cultural conditioning. Today, ask God to reveal one area where tradition has replaced relationship, where routine has eclipsed revelation. Flexibility isn't compromise; it's the posture that allows God to stretch you into greater capacity for His purposes.

Day 3: The Danger of Inflexibility

Reading: Isaiah 43:18-19; Hebrews 3:7-8

Devotional: An old wineskin becomes brittle and rigid, unable to expand when new wine ferments within it. The result? Both wine and skin are lost. Spiritual inflexibility doesn't just limit our growth—it can cause us to miss God's movement entirely. Isaiah's call to forget former things isn't about ignoring God's faithfulness; it's about not letting past experiences define future possibilities. God makes roads in wildernesses we've declared impassable. He brings rivers to deserts we've accepted as barren. But we must have soft, pliable hearts to receive these new things. Hardened hearts hear God's voice but refuse to respond. Today, examine areas where you've become rigid—in prayer methods, service expectations, or life plans. Where have you declared, "This is how it must be"? Soften your heart. God's new thing is emerging. Will your spiritual container be flexible enough to hold it?

Day 4: Faith That Stretches

Reading: Hebrews 11:1, 8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:7

Devotional: Faith inherently requires stretching beyond what we can see, touch, or understand. Abraham left his homeland not knowing his destination—the ultimate act of flexibility and trust. Faith isn't passive agreement with doctrine; it's active response to God's leading into unfamiliar territory. When God calls you forward, He rarely provides the complete blueprint. He offers the next step, requiring you to stretch beyond your comfort zone. This stretching feels uncomfortable precisely because it's working—expanding your capacity to receive more of God's purposes. The substance of things hoped for cannot be grasped by rigid hands clinging to certainty. Evidence of things unseen cannot be perceived by eyes locked on the familiar. Today, identify one area where God is inviting you to step forward in faith. What's holding you back? Fear of the unknown? Preference for control? Let faith stretch you beyond self-imposed limitations into God's limitless possibilities.

Day 5: Receiving the New Wine

Reading: Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-21

Devotional: God desires to pour out His Spirit—fresh revelation, renewed vision, and divine empowerment—but He needs willing vessels. The new wine of Pentecost came to those gathered in expectant flexibility, not to those comfortable in religious routine. God's outpouring isn't reserved for the spiritually elite but for all who make themselves available—young and old, servants and leaders. The question isn't whether God wants to pour out His Spirit, but whether we're positioned to receive. New wineskins don't just happen; they're intentionally prepared. Examine your heart today: Are you soft and pliable, or have you become brittle with disappointment, cynical with age, or rigid with self-sufficiency? God has fresh wine for this season—new assignments, deeper intimacy, greater fruitfulness. Will you be a new wineskin? Pray for supernatural flexibility. Release the old. Embrace the stretch. Position yourself to receive all God wants to pour into and through your life.