BLESSINGS CORNER
Every time it rains I think about the promises of God; about His blessings that come with the lessons we can learn from the rain, even the thunderstorms!
In Joel 2:21-32 are promises from the Lord, as relevant to us today as they been through all generations. His Word is alive! Picture the Lord Himself setting in your living room chatting with you. His promises are always fulfilled and we must learn to wait on Him to do as He has promised.
In Joel 2: 21, the first thing HE says to us is: Fear Not…! Be glad and rejoice for the LORD has done marvelous things! Even to the animals HE says: the fields will produce plenty of food for them from all that is growing. Verse 22.
Then HE tells us that we should be very happy because of the “rain”, in Joel 2:23 “Be glad then, you children of Zion (that is us) and rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down to you-The former rain, And the later rain….”
The former rain is the autumn rains that come for the planting time; the latter is the spring rain that occurs before harvest time. This rain comes when the ground is parched and dry, and speaks to us of the outpouring of His Spirit which will bring spiritual renewal. This is one of the promises of Joel 2:28-29. “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions . And also on My menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
Why, so that our homes and churches will be full of the harvest of the Lord. In verse 24 is says the places will be full of wheat, which speaks of the substance that makes bread, symbolic of the Word of God. We all can be full of God’s Word. The vessels will also be full of new wine and oil. Wine speaks of the joy of the Lord, and oil speaks to us of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Do you desire to have a fresh touch from God? Do you feel dried up spiritually and long to feel and to walk in the fresh outpouring of His Spirit?
Even though we complain about all of the rain, it does water the earth and causes things to grow and all creatures and plant life are well taken care of.
There are many places on this earth that suffer greatly from a lack of water and many countries are suffering drought that can last for years. So it is spiritually, many folks are suffering from a lack of life-giving water that only Jesus can give. In John 4:10-15 is the story of the Samaritan woman and her encounter with Jesus and He told her about the life-giving water than only come from Him.
When we see the rains pouring from the sky, we can ask our God to pour out upon us the Holy Spirit and fill up the dry earth with life-giving water. All creation must have water to survive. We also have to have spiritual water to survive the times we live in.
If you have ever lived in a desert place, you know what a blessing it is when it rains and the ground comes alive with the most beautiful flowers and plants that only live when it rains.
But what if the rains come with great noise and thunders? In scripture thunder typically represents the “voice of God”, bringing power and judgment upon the people of the earth. When God spoke, it was like the sound of thunder.
In the boo of Revelation, v4:5 it says out of the throne comes lightnings, thunders, and voices. In Revelation 8:5, it says an angel took the golden censer full of prayers of the saints and fire from the altar and threw it back to earth and it caused noises, thunders, lightnings and earthquakes. Then in Revelation 11:19, it tells about the temple of God being opened in Heaven and His ARK of the covenant was seen and it caused great noises, thunders, and lighting, earthquake and great hail.
The last thought about rain, thunder and lightening is one of great promises and hope for all!
~Gerry Cooley