RAIN

IT'S BEGINNING TO RAIN :

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain the first month. – Joel 2:23

There's a spiritual flood coming. God has promised it. He's promised us an outpouring of Holy Spirit power that will bring in the greatest harvest of souls any of us have ever seen.

As believers, we've been reading about it in the Word and hearing about it from the pulpit for years. We've been staring toward heaven so long, waiting for it to come, that we've gotten cricks in our spiritual necks. We've had this mental image of God pouring down His Spirit from some sort of big heavenly pitcher above us.

But you know what? We've been looking in the wrong direction!

The pitchers God is going to use to pour out His power are right here on earth. Jesus explained it this way. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" John 7:38.

The end-time flood we've all been expecting is going to be composed of living waters that will pour forth from believers. The Holy Spirit within us will be the source of all the signs and wonders and miracles the prophets foretold. And when we begin to fervently pray the prayer of intercession, the flood of that power will begin to flow.

Zechariah 10:1 says, "Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers for rain, to every one grass in the field."

Our prayers, our intercession, is what will release the great outpouring of God's Spirit. As we begin to join together and become a flood of Spiritual power in the earth.

So, ask, pray for a Holy Ghost gullywasher. Intercede for the outpouring. Make this mighty flood of spiritual power a priority in your prayer life.

Glory to God, it's already beginning to rain!

OUR DAILY BREAD - FEARFUL FISH

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. —John 1:14

Managing a saltwater aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor nitrate levels and ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enzymes. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal.

You would think my fish would be grateful. Not so. When my shadow loomed above the tank to feed them, they dove for cover into the nearest shell. I was too large for them; my actions incomprehensible. They did not know that my acts were merciful. To change their perceptions would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and “speak” to them in a language they could understand, which was impossible for me to do.

According to the Scriptures, God, the Creator of the universe, did something that seems impossible. He came to earth in human form as a baby. “The world was made through Him,” says John, “and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). So God, who created matter, took shape within it, as a playwright might become a character within his own play. God wrote a story, using real characters, on the pages of real history. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v.14).

All praise to Thee, eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for a throne,
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone.

God entered human history to offer us the gift of eternal life.

GET RID OF FEAR :

Luke 8:50, "But when Jesus heard it, he answered him saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole."

Jesus told Jairus to "believe only," implying that faith and fear can operate in us at the same time. This is also the reason James tells us not to be double-minded, or to waiver (Jas. 1:5-8). Fear will negate faith. We can have both thoughts of faith and thoughts of unbelief at the same time.

Fear and faith are opposing forces. Fear is actually faith in reverse. Fear is believing something or someone other than God. Therefore, fear makes us subject to Satan and his death just as faith makes us recipients of all that God has to offer. This is the reason Jesus told Jairus, "Fear not." Jairus' fear would have sealed his daughter's death.

Instead of trying to build huge amounts of faith to overcome our fears and unbelief, a simpler method is to remove our fears by cutting off their source. Then, our simple "child-like" faith that remains will do the job. It doesn't take big faith - just pure faith.

Where does fear come from? Second Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." It doesn't come from God. The way that fear is able to come upon us is that we take our attention off of Jesus and put it on our situation.

Fear or doubt cannot "just overcome" us. We have to let it in. In the same way that faith comes by hearing the Word of God, fear comes by hearing or seeing something contrary to God's Word. We would not be tempted with fear or doubt if we didn't consider things that Satan uses to minister that fear and doubt.

Satan tries to distract us with thinking about our problems. No problem is too big for God. We should cast our concern about the problem over on God and just keep our eyes on Jesus, the Word.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY :

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12;2)

Dear Lord God, I praise You. I honor You. May the morning rain bring me heavenly blessings and the streams of Life fall upon me lavishly! Wash away all my worries and nourish my desert life today. Let the Spirit of God come upon me and make me more like Christ for I am Your chosen servant and wonderfully made child.

Gratefully, in Jesus’ holy name. Amen !!!