New Every Morning...

The hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" rings a glorious chorus that proclaims "Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided— Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!"
Every single day, God provides everything that we need, new, fresh and relevant. His provisions both spiritual and physical are new as the fresh manna that the Israelites received from the heavens each day. "When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat'."(Exodus 16:15) The Hebrew translation of "manna" is "What is it?". That strikes an interesting chord with me. As a believer, it is a pillar of my faith that I expect God to provide "fresh manna" every day, that is to say, fresh revelation and provision without fail, every single day of my life. I, like the wandering Hebrews oftentimes ask "What is it?" in expectation and observation of that manna. That question comes from both a desire to receive or from an occasional lack of understanding pertaining to His Word or supply. Most days, I find the tone of "What is it?" to be one of exuberance and expectation. It never ceases to amaze me how God can speak so specifically with perfection into a situation or need. But even the Israelites needed to take the manna specifically made for that day. "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days'."(Exodus 16:4)

The Word, the anointing, the spiritual need for the day needs to be sought after daily. If the Hebrews tried to hold onto the manna for more than the current day (or days when it was sabbath), it decomposed and became fetid and rotten. God did not wish for them to feel in any way self-reliant when it came to provision. When we attempt to "hold onto" that which was pertinent in another day in an effort to sustain the current day, it rots, or it is at the very least, ineffective. One cannot rely on old words to sustain the new day. One cannot rely on old anointings to supply the breakthrough for the current day. For the spirit IS a current, ever-moving, ever flowing. That is why, on a broader scale, tradition can stifle a move of God, or kill a new culture of the spirit with formulaic religion. We must place the same level of weight upon allowing the Holy Spirit bring new anointings and fresh words that Jesus did in His ministry here on Earth. "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined."-Luke 5:37

Even as the Lord used this parable to describe the old laws not applying in the midst of the new covenant, it is an excellent and valid image to relate to the importance of a new vessel for a new Word. Even a new anointing demands a new vessel. That may mean a new being entirely or a new creation, or a transformed version of one's self, matured into the current season. But the new anointing will never flow into the old wineskin. The fresh Word will never hold in old wineskins. Again, using the broader perspective of the church itself, there will always be leadership that seeks to claim a new move of God, while never changing the actual being of the vessel that must hold the anointing of the new. That is perhaps, why older anointings clash and even battle with younger ones.

However, on a more direct, personally effective level, we must individually seek to become vessels that are seasoned and ordered in line with the will, Word and plans of God. All the while, seeking to be in His timing when receiving the fresh revelation or provision for the day. That is why a genuine, healthy prayer life is essential for the development of His servants. I wish to seek Him constantly. Not merely daily, and not simply to receive from Him. There lies the quandary of many believers: To seek first His hands and not His Face... His Face is what must be sought after when we "diligently seek Him". I like what our friend, Prophet Manasseh Jordan says: "When we are 'SEEKING' Him, we 'SEE the KING'". I also desire to be fully prepared to receive new Words, new anointings, "fresh manna" in their due course and not fail to perfect His will in my life by having inconsistent "patches" holding my wineskin together when I should become a new vessel entirely. Jesus will was for each of us to become "new creations", and the Word tells us to be "transformed by the RENEWING of our minds". Yes, His mercies, provision, direction and ordering are NEW EVERY MORNING. But, we must seek Him daily in order to be fed and provided unto daily. Great is His faithfulness.