Heavy Rain

"And Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
1 Kings 18:41



Though it may not appear this way on the surface, this scripture is one of the greatest statements of faith recorded in God's word. There was a severe famine in the land and it had not rained for a long time. The rivers had dried up, animals had died from thirst, and people were starving. This had happened by the hand of God. The Israelites had turned to idols, specifically Baal. Elijah challenged them on Mount Carmel. There was a showdown designed to prove who the real God was. Of course, God was victorious and the altars of Baal were burned up by the fire of God. After this, Elijah prophesied that rain was coming. It had been so long that it seemed impossible. There were no signs of rain, but in faith, Elijah said that he heard the sound of "heavy rain." He prayed and it did rain...hard.
    I choose to share this with you because I believe there is a heavy rain coming. In fact, it is beginning to fall already. I am not speaking of natural rain, I'm talking about spiritual rain. This is a downpour of the Holy Spirit that will water our lives and all those we come in contact with. I have heard the Lord speak to my heart: "The Holy Spirit will come like rain." This came to me several weeks ago. I understood what he meant. When the Holy Spirit first came to dwell in Jesus, he came like a dove. When he came to those in the upper room, he came like fire. This time, he is coming like rain. He has not been missing. But we have not appropriated his power in our lives. It is time to receive the rain just as the dry, thirsty earth receives the autumn rain.

    I don't fully understand the implications of this. I know that these are the last days of the earth. This is not a prophecy of apocalypse, it is instead a prophecy of great hope. There is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming that is unparalleled in all of history. It has been prophesied by Old and New Testament prophets. The Old Testament prophet, Joel said, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people." (Joel 2:28a). These are the days. Though you may not see it with your eyes, a heavy rain is coming. It is spiritually perceived through eyes of faith. This is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
    Where I live, a rain storm came. It rained nearly 6" in 48 hours. There has been flooding, the courses of rivers have changed, and the landscape has been refashioned in many places. Roads have been destroyed and houses damaged. It is a difficult time, even tragic. But I know this is a physical picture of a spiritual event. The rain of the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. The works of men will be shown to be weak. The flow of the Holy Spirit will change the spiritual landscape. Even now, there is the sound of heavy rain. Do you hear it?

Wind of the Spirit

 "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." 
Acts 2:1-4

This scripture documents the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised his followers that the Holy Spirit would come, but they did not understand the impact of what would actually happen. they knew about the him, but they had never experienced him in a personal way. None of them had ever had a personal infilling. This was a history-changing event. Quite literally, the world would never be the same again. It was true then and it is still true today. The coming of the Holy Spirit ushered in a brand new day for the people of God.
    Jesus told them to wait for the Holy Spirit. So they all gathered in an upper room that had been rented in Jerusalem. 120 people gathered there and waited. They were not quite sure what they were waiting for, but in loyalty and love for Jesus, they did as he had commanded. During this time, they prayed. They sought God together as one. There was a sense of loneliness mixed with a sense of anticipation, all at the same time. And then it happened: The Holy Spirit came with power. There was a violent, rushing wind, followed by fire. And all present were filled with the Holy Spirit. The power had come, the new day had arrived, and the church was birthed in strength.
    I believe it is time for us to move. We have been living in an Acts 1 place. We understand about the Holy Spirit and his power, presence and help, but we continue to wait for something earthshaking to happen. Things are different now than they were 2000 years ago. The Holy Spirit has already been given. He is already active in our lives. So for us to move into an Acts 2 life, we must take the necessary step. Living a Spirit-filled life is the greatest place for a Christian to live. But it is not just about the manifestations that may occur. We long for healings and miracles to take place, and they will. But living the Spirit-filled life changes us first. We learn to depend on God rather than ourselves. We begin to live in his presence all the time. We receive all the gifts of heaven because we dwell there. The kingdom of God is manifested in our lives. When all this happens, it will overflow, producing miracles and healings. God's word will be confirmed by these things, all leading to the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that there is only one God, and only one Savior of us all.
    I hear it clearly in my heart. It is time to move into an Acts 2 life. I'm tired of waiting, proclaiming that the Spirit-filled life is coming. It is time for us to move in and take what we already have. The presence of the Lord is ours already. The power of the Holy Spirit is ours already. The heavens have already been opened up to us. We already have everything we need for life and godliness. So let's move in. Let's allow the wind of the Spirit to blow through our lives. When it happens, the wind is so strong that it will move us to places God wants us to be. The wind is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let's stop anchoring ourselves down with worldly and religious stuff. Let the wind of the Spirit blow!

Law of the Spirit

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
Romans 8:1

The apostle Paul wrote the greatest treatise regarding sin that has ever been written. The content begins in Romans 6 and continues through Romans 8. In the sixth chapter, we are taught to reckon or count ourselves dead to sin through Jesus' death and resurrection. We must know that he has paid the price and we no longer are sentenced to death because of our sin. He has stood in the courts of heaven and taken the sentence for all of us. He paid the ultimate price and in doing so, defeated all sin in every person.
    However, the struggle with sin continues for many. Romans 7 tells us that living out our new found righteousness can be difficult. Although we have been declared righteous, we continue to struggle with old sins that have been deeply engrained in our lives. Some of these may include addictive behavior, lust, pride, and other weaknesses of the flesh. It may seem that no matter how mature we are in our relationship with God, these sins continue to haunt us. We find ourselves confessing them again and again. Paul dealt with this issue and was very transparent about his own life through the words he wrote in Romans 7. Near the end of the chapter, he writes: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24). The answer, of course is Jesus Christ. But in order to live out the righteous life offered to us, we must take a powerful step.
    We must live life in the Spirit. The entirety of Romans 8 teaches about the blessing of living in the Spirit of God. We love to quote the promises that are written in this chapter, but many times we fail to live life in the Spirit. I think the reason we fail, is that we really don't understand how to do it. Really, it is a lack of spiritual power. To live in the Spirit, we must be willing to receive him, submit to him, receive counsel from him, and allow him to be our Helper. I'm not sure that will happen for us if we aren't willing to seek God with all our hearts. There must be a longing for him that outweighs everything else. We must desire him instead of the sin. When we begin to walk in this, we will then walk in the Spirit, fully equipped to defeat sin in our lives.
    No matter where you are in your life, you can live in the Spirit of God. I encourage you to reckon yourself dead to sin first. If you are continuing to struggle with sin, seek God with all your heart. I don't mean that you must repent for the same sin over and over again. You should seek God and his righteousness. Take the time to be with him. Allow a desire for him to build in your heart. Fall in love with him to the point that you feel an ache in your heart when you aren't with him. This is living by the Spirit of God. It is coming. God promises to pour out his Spirit in these days. No one is excluded. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit in part, to convict the world of sin. When your heart is convicted by him, he also empowers you to do something about it, to change and defeat the sin in your life. It will be glorious, it will be powerful. You will live by a new law, the law of the Spirit of life!

Lonely Prayers

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."
Luke 5:16

When you think about it, prayer is really an amazing thing. We can pray in groups of thousands. We can pray in small groups of people we know and are comfortable with. We can pray for others by touching them and crying out to God on their behalf. We can pray in the congregation of believers, the churches we attend. But there is something special about finding a lonely place to pray.
    I believe Jesus often found lonely places to pray because he had needs just as we do. He needed strength to live life. He was the Son of God and life on the earth was difficult at times, just as it is for us. He needed time to be with his Father. The crowds were relentless, the needs great, and the ministry exhausting. The time he spent with the Father brought strength and victory into his life. Heaven was released through him because he spent time with the one who created it. The words he spoke and the healings he performed were fueled by these times of being alone with God. Jesus understood something that we must understand as well: Seeking God truly brings life to our flesh, and brings death to sin. Jesus lived a sinless life. He was able to do this because of his position. He was the Son of God, yet he experienced every temptation that you and I do. Never once did he fall, not once did he succumb to sin. The only way this is possible is by spending much time in the presence of the Father.
    Believe me, I live in the same shoes you do. I know the schedules of life. I understand that work, family, church, community events and more, all vie for our time. Sometimes it seems like we are on a spinning top. Everything goes by so quickly that we don't feel we have time to withdraw to a lonely place and be alone with our Father. But really, there is enough time. We must make a priority to do it. Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek FIRST, the kingdom and his righteousness." (My emphasis). So it becomes a matter of priority. Jesus understood that he must make his time with God a priority. If he did not have these intimate times, he would have been ill-equipped to face the onslaught of needy people. Finding time to spend with God is a matter of life or death, success or failure.
    If you have not made it a practice to spend alone time with God, change your schedule. It is true that the more we seek him, the more we find him. We can do all kinds of good things for God, but none of these will draw us closer to him. The time we spend with him is what will bring us to his side. I have always been taught to find a "prayer closet," that is a place to spend solitary time with God. That prayer closet can be anywhere. It is not the location that matters, it is the purposeful intention that counts. Get alone with God. Lonely prayers are powerful.

Words of Grace

"All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips."
Luke 4:22

We are called to be like Jesus and it is a lifelong endeavour to do so. Everything about his life speaks of holiness, righteousness and grace. These are such lofty attributes that we often feel  we will never live up to our Savior's example. But what I love about the life of Christ is the practical insights we are given into his daily walk. We see how he related to people, how he spoke to the crowds and how he taught those who followed him. The verse above is one of those practical insights. We can learn much by considering the words Luke recorded.
    It should be the goal of every believer to be 'spoken well of' by those we come in contact with. I understand that sometimes this is difficult. We cannot control what others think. In fact, there were many who did not speak well of Jesus. But those who didn't, were blinded by religious prejudice that would not allow them to recognize the true Son of God. What is important here is this: Jesus gave no one a reason to speak ill of him. I believe this is the example we should follow. I thank God that there is grace to cover us when we fail, but our goal must be to live the kind of life that gives no one a reason to come against us. John Wooden, the gifted and successful former coach of the UCLA basketball team said this: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Some who have good reputations may not have good character. The one with true character will avoid any pitfalls.
    Jesus was marked by the "gracious words that came from his lips." This is a true mark of a person with character. The Bible speaks often about the words we speak. We are to speak blessing, not cursing. We are to hold our tongues instead of saying negative things about others. We are taught that the tongue can be evil if not contained. Generally, Christians do not make a habit of speaking negative words or giving bad reports about others. But there are those times when a slip of the tongue, or a loose lipped comment becomes destructive. Jesus was never found guilty of such behavior. He spoke the truth, but he did so with grace.
    Our character is important to us and to God. We represent him to others and we must represent him well. To do this, we need character that manifests in gracious speech. Check you life, check your words. Are they edifying? Even if you speak a truth that make reflect negatively on someone, do you speak with God's grace? This is one of the ways that the world will know we are Jesus' disciples. The next time you are tempted to speak evil of someone, check yourself. Then, speak words of grace.

Blessed are Those Who Believe

"'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.' Then the angel left her." 
"'Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished'"
Luke 1:38&45


Mary was visited by an angel. The news he brought to her was too incredible to be believed. He told her that she would become pregnant with the Son of God and that the conception would not be by natural means, but by the Holy Spirit. It had never happened before, and it has not happened since. It was an unbelievable message. There was no earthly reason to even entertain the notion. Even though it was an angel delivering the words, it was ludicrous to believe such a thing could take place. But Mary did believe.
    We must remember that earlier, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist had been told by the angel Gabriel that his wife, Elizabeth would give birth to a son in her old age. She had been barren her whole life. Zechariah found it too difficult to believe. This message,though not nearly as strange as the one Mary received, was too much for him to believe. The angel told him that he would not be able to speak until the child was born, because of his unbelief. But Mary did believe.
    It was Elizabeth who told Mary that she was blessed because she believed what the Lord said to her, and she believed it would actually happen. There was something special about the faith of Mary. Not since the days of Abraham had such faith been exhibited. The end of the story was the beginning of a never ending one. Mary did give birth to the Son of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit. His name was Jesus, the Savior of all mankind. I wonder what would have happened if Mary had not believed. Would God have chosen someone else? Would the birth of Jesus been delayed? Would it have happened at all? Thankfully, none of those questions need to be answered because Mary did believe.
    Sometimes God will promise us things that seem too amazing to believe. But we must learn to believe the things he speaks to us. How will we ever realize the dreams and future God has for us if we do not first believe. We cannot act on something unless we believe that it is possible. Let me remind us that, "With God, all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26). Just as Elizabeth said to Mary, blessing follows those who believe. The things God wants to give us are blessings, not curses. His plans are glorious, not destructive. We labor under the false notion that God is bent on making our lives miserable or sending us to do things that we do not want to do. On the contrary, he wants to bless us by fulfilling the desires and dreams that are already in our hearts. Who do you think authored those desires and dreams? God only needs one thing from us in order to pour out his blessing: He needs us to believe him. If it is difficult, reflect on the story of the birth of Christ, because Mary did believe.

True Strength

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."
Ephesians 6:10

This scripture is both a summary and an introduction. All of the book of Ephesians can be summarized by the one phrase, "Be strong in the Lord." The message of this letter emphasizes this one command. But the same exhortation is also an introduction to the instructions for us to put on the full armor of God. The armor consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the readiness of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. This armor is vitally important to the daily life of the Christian. We must have these things to be effective in defeating the powers of darkness and living victoriously.
    I have had a change of opinion about the armor of God. I realize my need to wear it daily. I pray and put on each piece of the armor every day. But I used to think I was to put on the pieces of the armor to build myself up. If I needed strength, this was the place to get it. In fact, I often feel strength arise in me when I am putting on the armor through prayer. But now I realize that I am not putting on the armor to get power, I am putting on the armor from the place of power that I already have. You see, a soldier is already strong and brave before he gets dressed to go to battle. The armor he wears simply equips him for the best possible outcome in the battle. The armor is not like a gas station that refuels my car when it runs low. The strength of the Lord and his mighty power are already mine. The armor dresses me to go forth in that strength.  This is a new revelation, a new place of strength in God.
    If you do not make a practice of praying daily to put on the armor of God, I encourage you to do so. But when you do it, realize that you already have the strength and power of God within you. It is the foundation for the armor. No soldier who is sick or injured puts on his armor to go to war. He would be ineffective. First, you must have the strength, then you put on the armor, then you go to war. Ruminate on this truth. Gain an understanding of what true strength is. Then take hold of that strength, put on the armor, and go in the strength and power of God...every day.