September 25, 2026
The All-Important Life-Long Journey
The concept of glory is fascinating. The Hebrew word (kabowd)(1) means heavy or weighty, with derived meanings of majestic, esteemed, influential (one who carries the weight of authority and power), and more. The Greek word (doxa)(2) is enlightening as well. It involves the concept of recognition. More precisely, it is that which causes something or someone to be recognized for what it really is.(3) When we read in Scripture that humankind carries, or was “crowned with,” the glory of God (see 1 Corinthians 11:7; Psalms 8:5), it is telling us God wanted to be recognized in humans. Why? So that humans could accurately represent Him and His authority. When creation looked at Adam, they were supposed to see God. And they did! That is, until Adam sinned and fell short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). God is no longer recognized in fallen humankind. We must be changed back into God’s image “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) for this recognition to be realized again.
When we are born again, we instantly receive God’s nature in our spirits (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our souls - our minds, emotions, and wills - are then transformed progressively, enabling us to manifest outwardly who we already are inwardly in Christ (Romans 12:1-2). We “become” who we “are.” This is why 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, even though we’re already a new creation, that we must be “transformed” into His image - from glory to glory. Based on the above definition of glory, we progress from one stage of manifesting Christ to another, looking more like him in each stage. This is to be a never-ending process of change, occurring as long as we live on this earth.
“Transformation” in this verse is the Greek word metamorphoo. It’s easy to see our English word metamorphosis in it, which is a process of change from one form or state to another. For us, like the butterfly, this process happens from the inside out. The metamorphosis of a caterpillar is simply the process of it becoming what it has already been created, wired, and programmed to be. It is destined to be a butterfly.
Our inherent destiny is to be like Christ. His nature is programmed into our spirit, our spiritual DNA (John 1:16); we are one with Him in the spiritual realm (1 Corinthians 6:17). Unlike the butterfly, however, our outward transformation is not a one-time process, but a lifelong journey. We go from image to image, glory to glory, looking more like Him to looking more like Him.
That’s a lot of theology in four paragraphs. My purpose, however, is not to weigh you down with a lot of theology, but to point out that we should be ever-changing; the process must never stop. If it does, we become what Jesus called an “old wineskin” (Matthew 9.17). What does this mean?
When wineskins are filled with new wine, the fermentation process causes them to expand, and even take on slightly different shapes and forms. When empty, they dry out, become rigid, and can even maintain those shapes - a bulge here, a lump there. They must then be “renewed,” accomplished by a soaking process that transforms them back into their needed flexibility. They can then flex with another period of fermentation from “new wine” and its associated expansion.
By using this analogy, Jesus was warning the disciples of John that they, as the Pharisees had done, were in danger of hardening and remaining in a previous season of glory. They had become rigid in their “shapes, forms, methods and traditions,” which was keeping them from receiving the new wine, the next season of glory.
The warning for us is clear. We must be flexible in order to receive the next outpouring of Holy Spirit (the wine). Regardless of how glorious the last season was, there is more. Regardless of how mature we think we are, there is a deeper level. Regardless of how much truth we think we know, there is more. And the doses of this “new wine” will stretch us, expanding our understanding, changing our thinking and ways. If we are not flexible enough to embrace these changes, we are officially an old wine skin–still part of God’s family, but unable to move to the next level of representing Christ on earth.
I’m sharing this because the entire earth is entering another season of change and transformation. This will include the church. Not only will individual believers have to change, but movements, organizations, and congregations will need renewal. The way we think, analyze, and conduct Kingdom business will be stretched. Past forms and shapes must flex as the new wine is poured out. For those unwilling to be transformed yet again, the old wine and glory will have to be enough. The time to prepare our wineskin is NOW.
This need for change includes government leaders. I feel that we must pray especially for President Trump. He has changed dramatically in the last several years. But I believe God wants to take him into yet another phase of transformation, enabling him to reach the ultimate level of his destiny–helping transform the world. I believe God wants to do this in the President quickly, and I feel our prayers can help facilitate it.
Pray with me:
Father, we humble our hearts before You now and acknowledge that we need another phase of glory. We must experience another level of transformation, enabling us to reveal Christ on earth more effectively. As this greatest of all Holy Spirit outpourings takes place, we want wineskins that can receive the new wine.
We invite You to change our thinking, our methods, our programs, our forms, and our traditions. We all become set in our ways. Give us the revelation needed to bring about the changes we need. We refuse to become like the church in Sardis, having a name or reputation that we are alive, when in reality we’re dead (Revelation 3:1).
And we pray for President Trump. He is a man of action and an out-of-the-box thinker. As strong as these gifts are, however, they are not enough on their own. May he have encounters with You in this season, meetings that shape his nature even more into what You want and need. Meet with him more powerfully than he has ever experienced You. Cause him to know You in ways he has never known You. Transform him yet again.
We pray all of these things in Jesus’ name.
Our decree:
We declare that we are a flexible, moldable, shapeable people, becoming renewed wineskins, for the glory of Christ.
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James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 3519.
Ibid. ref. no. 1391.
Zodhiates, Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, p. 1826.
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