The Press Becomes the Nest

February 2021

I have been what many call “nesting” as the Lord has been speaking to me a lot about building nests. He has had me spring cleaning, organizing things, and preparing in the natural as well as in the spiritual. He spoke to me and said,

“In the press comes the nest.”

I even looked out the window facing my backyard to find two big falcons building a nest in a tree. What a prophetic sign of what He has been speaking and preparing me and many others for—the season that is upon us now.

The Lord showed me that many are beginning to prepare and feel the draw to build new nests. He explained that the blueprint plans for the “new” nests shall be found in the press.

“Press: (verb) to act upon through steady pushing or thrusting force exerted in contact, to squeeze out the juice or contents of, to squeeze with apparatus or instruments to a desired density, smoothness, or shape” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14 ESV

In the pressing, pressure builds to separate the good from the bad and create a substance that can be made into something new. It’s in the pressing that we make it through to the other side. Allowing the pressure to press all that is not of the Lord out of us creates vessels He can use. Like the song New Wine by Hillsong Worship says, “In the pressing and crushing comes new wine. In the soil and through surrender, we can break new ground.” As pressure builds, ready to burst, so should we anticipate His presence and become containers for His glory.

“Inside I am like bottled-up wine, like new wineskins ready to burst.”

Job 32:19 NIV

The Lord recently took me on a journey with Him and explained to me what a new wine skin looks like. In a vision, I watched as He gathered materials and worked diligently in front of me to make a wine skin from scratch. He said,

“I am like an eagle building a nest as I gather, build, and store My oil to place in this new wineskin.”

He gathered dead things, removed the skin, and began making something new out of it. What looked gross and unusable began to take form into a material for good use. He gathered pieces of bark, sticks, and sap from nearby trees in the forest where we stood. With His hands, He broke sticks, ground up the bark and sap, and created shredded powders and glue type substances. He then rubbed them into and over the material that was made out of the dried skin. He took thin vines and branches that looked like twine and finished what He described to me as a wineskin. It looked more like a bird nest than a wineskin–just like He said when He first started.

I later looked up the actual process of making a wineskin to see if what He showed me was parallel in any way. To my shock and awe of the Lord, the traditional method used to make a new wineskin was very similar to what He showed me. I found that when making a wineskin, they use animal hides, extracts, shredded bark from trees, and a type of glue or resin. When The Lord said it was like building a nest, He wasn’t joking.

According to the step-by-step traditional method of wineskin making by botasdevinojb.com, “They use animal skin in the making of wineskins. Once the skin is dried, they are tanned with vegetable extracts or tannins, which is shredded bark collected from trees (mimosa, pine and oak). The skin is then cut to the shape of Bota and reversed and sealed. Once cut it is necessary to sew the Bota leaving it air tight. Then, they seal the wineskin with resin which is extracted from pine or juniper trees and prepared at high temperatures by the craftsman to seal the interior of the Bota. Lastly, they place the rim or mouthpiece, by which it can be filled. Finally, it is ready for the wineskin to be used.”

Like how the Lord spoke and said He was building a nest to store His oil in a new wineskin, we too must begin to build, break ground, and become new wineskins so we can hold His oil. Since new wine cannot be placed into old wine skins, the new skins must be made and built in order to hold His presence and glory that He is pouring out.

He is seeking nest builders–people who will create a safe haven for Him to dwell. Those He is calling to build with Him and for Him have endured the pressing, are continuing to surrender to the process, and have begun to gather supplies to make a nesting place for Him–a container for His oil.

“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high? On the rock he dwells and makes his home, on the rocky crag and stronghold.” Job 39:26-28 ESV

As His glory falls, multitudes will come to truly know Jesus. Many nests are needed to be built on the Rock in order to securely hold all that is coming. Some already built nests are in need of a hen for the chicks. Either way, many nests are needed since only one nest will not be able to hold them all. Baby chicks shall flock to the nests during harvest season. Only the harvesters who remain focused, gazing upon the face of Jesus, will be able to handle the harvest in this next season. The Lord is seeking a people who are after the intense pleasure of His presence and not just focused on the harvest and growing a herd.

“The intense pleasure You give me surpasses the gladness of harvest time, even more than when the harvesters gaze upon their ripened grain and when their new wine overflows.” Psalm 4:7 TPT

He is needing a people surrendered to Him, in tune with His new sound, and flowing with the breath of His spirit. He is looking for willing vessels to step out of the norm and build the new nests; to build safe havens for the chicks to encounter and enjoy the Lord's presence as they are fed the Word.

These nest builders arising are only concerned with one thing–building the blueprint from Heaven so His presence will not just show up, but stay. In these containers of the new wine, Heaven’s dew will dwell. He will not just visit, but remain.

“May God give you Heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.” Genesis 27:28 NIV

“The Cost of Following Jesus:

When Jesus saw the crowd around Him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’” Matthew 8:18-20 NIV

The Son of Man is looking for a place to lay His head and remain, dwell, and stay. The old way has gone and the new builders of the containers for His presence have arrived. Those who look only to Jesus in this season will flow in the river into the new wine. Others will allow comparison to drown out the creativity of God, miss the new, and build out of the old. Don’t fall into the trap of comparison and remain focused on what you and you alone hear and see the Father doing. Gather only the supplies He tells you to as you build. Nothing more, nothing less. I encourage you to stick to the blueprints He is giving you because that is where you will see the new wine flow.

In Matthew 9:14-17, Jesus begins speaking about the new wineskins versus the old. But first, He explains that the Bridegroom will be taken away and our need to fast. After this, He says,

“And who would mend worn-out clothing with new fabric? When the new cloth shrinks it will rip, making the hole worse than before. And who would pour fresh, new wine into an old wineskin? Eventually the wine will ferment and make the wineskin burst, losing everything—the wine is spilled and the wineskin ruined. Instead, new wine is always poured into a new wineskin so that both are preserved.” Matthew 9:14-17 (TPT)

The Lord is preparing a bride for His Son. He is making us into ready vessels–a place for Him to dwell. We must be skins in which He can work through and pour into. We must make ourselves ready and clothe ourselves in Him–dying to self to be filled with His presence. We must become a pocket on the garment of the bridal gown to be filled with Him.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 ESV

The traditional wineskins referenced in Matthew 9:17 are made out of dead hide. The animal had to die and the skin dried and shrunk to be used to make the new wine skin. The new and old won’t mix until there is death to all selfish needs, wants, desires, comparisons, and ideas so it can be made into a usable substance to hold the new. The selfish clothing that wraps our outer shell has to die and go through the pressing to be used for His glory.

Just like the old wineskins will burst if we place new wine in it, so will the old systems we have built for God’s presence. The old systems will crumble as the new, fresh wave of the spirit pours out from Heaven. Builders, I encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you the blueprints being sent out right now on what needs to be removed and what supplies are needed to build. Let the fresh wave of His Spirit wash over you and guide you into the new way of building with Him and for Him. In this hour, He is guiding and commissioning the builders. He is seeking a people who will go through the press and build nests for Him to come abide and dwell in–safe havens for His presence.

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone guided him...”

Deuteronomy 32:11-12 ESV