Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil. The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the Lord your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced. Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced. “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. Joel 2:23-29
Everything that is going on right now in our nation, it does feel like a time of disgrace as even other nations are mocking the foolishness we are in the midst of. We are being humbled by God. We are losing our freedoms day by day and we are grieving, lamenting as we bow humbly before our God. We were One Nation Under God, and we had the autumn rains after the ground of our heart was tilled and seeds planted. Then we slowly drifted away, a slow fade away from the basics of our relationship with God first. We were distracted by our worldly viewpoints, and cultural idols. God has proceeded to smash every single one of our cultural idols, it is incredible what has happened in the last year. Now we are in a season where fraud has illegitimately placed an administration of godlessness in authority in our nation. Our nation is going down the deplorable lane faster than we could imagine; our heads are spinning from the changes. We have a Cancel God Culture in play and it has truly been a nightmare. Is God done with our nation? No, He is not. Our nation has a God destiny and He will finish what He started with us.
“And the cultivated land, we know, needs these two rains, that is, after sowing, and when the fruit is ripening, — after sowing, that the ground by receiving moisture may make the seed to grow; for it then wants moisture to nourish the roots. Hence, the rain of September or October, which is after sowing, is rightly called seasonable rain; and James, following them, so calls it in James 5:7, ‘He will give you rain,’ he says, ‘both of the first time and the late rain,’ that is, of the month of March. The fruit then ripens with them in March, when they need the late rain. The latter rain – Needful to bring forward and ripen the fruits.”
We can make this time about the breach of our comfort zone and how bad we feel, how sad we are and how horrible it is that things have so radically changed, we can dwell on all those things or I just wonder if it is not about us and what we are feeling as we think of this as such a nightmare of the soul. I wonder if God wants us to flip it to be about what is on His heart, which is the finality of the days ahead where people are so lost and they need to find their way to Him to His Kingdom, before it is too late for them. I can hear His Heart, I can see that He knew we could patiently endure because we have a future and a hope, but people needed to see and experience what it was like to be a nation NOT under God, how bad the human condition is and how far humanity can fall when we are NOT under the Rulership of God’s love, when illegitimate authority is in control, just how bad it is. We pray that people turn back to Him because they see the reality of truth, that without Him, we are not good and with Him, it is so good, so very good. We pray for the cleansing of the conscious of this country, with the blood of Jesus, so that they can see, with all blind spots removed, actually see the state of our affairs, the sin, the consequences and we pray for a revived state of conscious before our GOD.
“With farmers, after planting, a seasonal rain provided moisture for germination and initial growth. This was called the “early rain.” Later, near the time for harvest, another copious watering was referred to as the latter rain. So while the first rain was important for germination, the second rain provided a nourishment that was important for the harvest.” BibleAsk.org
‘Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.’ 1 Timothy 4:1-2
I just wonder if it is not about us and what we are feeling as we think of this as such a nightmare of the soul. I wonder if God wants us to flip it to be about what is on His heart, which is the finality of the days ahead where people are so lost and they need to find their way to HIM to His Kingdom before it is too late for them. I can hear HIS Heart, I can see that He knew we could patiently endure because we have a future and a hope, but people needed to see and experience what it was like to be a nation NOT under God, how bad the human condition is and how far humanity can fall when we are NOT under the Rulership of God’s love, when illegitimate authority is in control, just how bad it is. We pray that people turn back to HIM because they see the reality of TRUTH, that without HIM, we are not good and with HIM, it is so good, so very good. We pray for the cleansing of the conscious of this country, with the blood of Jesus, so that they can see, with all blind spots removed, actually see the state of our affairs, the sin, the consequences and we pray for a revived state of conscious before our GOD.
Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 9:13-14
The “latter rain” is a biblical symbol for the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit, by which the corporate spiritual experience of God’s church will be brought to ripeness for the harvest (Joel 2:23-29). Rain is the stimulus and medium by which the nutrients in the soil are drawn up through the root system. In the realm of spiritual growth, the Holy Spirit is the rain agency. Quote By ~Ty Gibson
‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all. “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.’ Malachi 4:1-3
“If you did not feel a need for more grace, it would be a reason for alarm; but to be conscious that all that God did by you in the past has not qualified you to do anything without him now, to feel that you lean entirely upon his strength now as much as ever, is to be in a condition in which it shall be right and proper for God to bless you abundantly. Wait upon him, then, for the latter rain; ask that if he has given you a little of blessing in past years, he would return and give you ten times as much now, even now; so that, at the last, if you have sown in tears, you may come again rejoicing, bringing your sheaves with you. Alas! the danger of every Christian worker is that of falling into routine and self-sufficiency. We are most apt to do what we have been accustomed to do, and to do it half asleep. One of the hardest tasks in all the world is to keep the Christian awake on the enchanted ground. The tendencies of this present time, and of all times, are soporific. The life, the power of our public services and private devotion speedily evaporates; we pray as in a dream, and praise and preach like somnambulists. May God be pleased to stir us up, to awaken and quicken us, by sending us the latter rain to refresh his weary heritage.” Spurgeon
Keep your focus on Jesus, do not be detoured by disappointment and disillusionment in these days where God is allowing us to be disgraced and we are being humbled. God is not finished with us. The destiny that God has for us, it still stands, Bride of Christ. God will finish what He started in our nation. This “Cancel God Culture” will not prevail. We can be joyful because the latter rain will come in and wash us, cleansing the conscience of our nation from person to person, restoring it to a “God Consciousness”, stripping away the chaos, taking the blinders off of our eyes so we can clearly see God, we can walk in the reality of His truth with a pure conscious. These may be hard times, but they will be worth it as God purposefully changes things up, bringing us into a wholly-holy relationship with Him. God’s arms are wide open to us, open your soul wide to Him now and be filled by God. The former rain fructified the seed God planted in us, the latter rain will ripen us, pouring revival into us, and we will bloom, we will thrive, Christ in us the hope of glory. There is so much Good God Adventure ahead for us, look to the Way-Maker God, our future and hope.
‘I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord , that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.” Hosea 10:12
The latter rain ripened the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including all temporal blessings; these again being types of spiritual ones. Though God has begun to bless us, we are not to relax our prayers. The former rain of conversion may have been given, but we must also ask for the latter rain of ripened sanctification. Commentary Bible Study Tools
There will be a latter rain, wait patiently for it. There will be revival in our hearts. There is so much God purpose in play right now, we pray for all to come to know Him, to love Him with pure hearts, cleansed conscious and renewed vitality. Let the blinders come off the eyes of the deceived as they see the reality of truth about their choices made out of impartial sight, sight with blind spots created by idolatry. The consequences of all choices of all people are felt by all, just as the salvation of all people of the human race, is rejoiced by all. We pray for the day we are once again wholly-holy HIS, one human race, undivided under our GOD, under His Supremacy and under His Rulership of Love, together, forever.
Thanks for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Café where Chef Jesus is always at work creating wonderful new spiritual meals for all of us to be soul nourished by. We hope you enjoy the spiritual meal today on the Smorgasbord Table. Please make sure you share it with someone, it will be a blessing for them and they will be nourished spiritually because you took the time to share with them. There are a few 1 Minute Encouragement Videos on this blog post and I highly encourage you to subscribe to the Heart TO Heart Rumble account, so you don’t miss one of these daily encouragements, where it only takes a minute for you to be deeply encouraged by God. You will always here The Bridegroom’s Voice here at the Café, we hope you were blessed by it today. God bless you MUCH, KimberlyMac