Beloved, as we were praying for you we were suddenly aware of the sound, the deep rumble of Distant Thunder. Not in the natural, but during our intercession for you.
Draw into this place with us. Come under the shadow of the Almighty, come into the secret place of the Most High (Ps 91). Draw into His sacred silence. Get very still and from within your innermost Being, listen for it. Breathe in; do you smell it? It’s that fresh fragrance of rain, the promise that rain is coming. It’s wafting upon the breeze. As the Wind of G-d’s Holy Spirit is stirring, the Wind is picking up and you can feel the temperature is cooling. Does your skin sense the electricity that is in the atmosphere, making the hairs on your arm stand up? You know in your knower that the outpouring is imminent. It’s the promise of the abundant rain, the outpouring of G-d’s Holy Spirit. It’s the excitement of Hope, the joyful expectation that good is drawing near. Life Giving sustenance is about to rain down upon the Body of Christ again. The benevolence of our G-d providing the latter day rain!
The latter day rain biblically mirrors the agricultural blessing that the latter rains bring, sustenance, the nutrient rich blessings that cause the plants to receive what they need as they come to that ripeness and readiness of harvest. It is key, it is vital now more than ever as we see the season shifting and the move of the Holy Spirit approaching that we awaken from the lethargy of the dry days we have come through. We are to awaken and make ready to receive the heavenly nutrition, the refreshing strength from the Holy Spirit that we have so longed for that we are able to serve the Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:36-38 use this passage as a point of prayer, check out the ampc vers and the Passion translation) in bringing in the lost souls that follows the outpouring of the Latter rains as it did after Pentecost, and 3000 were saved in one day.
Remember the early rains were prophesied by Joel 2:28,29
And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. 29 Even upon the menservants and upon the maidservants in those days will I pour out My Spirit.
And that is precisely what happened at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21).
When Pentecost manifested with G-d pouring out His Holy Spirit it was to prepare the ground for the seed to be sown. The outpouring softened the hard ground and readied it to welcome the seed of the gospel. Laborers, freshly filled with the Holy Spirit’s Presence and Power were sent out from the Upper Room to sow the seed of the Good News. And they went into all the world, the scripture says – they went to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
The “early rain” came at Pentecost to give the believers in the upper room power to share the gospel. Another outpouring of rain, the latter rain, is coming at earth’s final soul harvest before the second coming of Christ.
Beloved we are aware of the need to position our hearts, to align our focus with that of the Lord, be One with His agenda. To beckon Heaven with our genuine cry that we long to be Holy as He is Holy…separated unto Him…and flowing in love and generosity towards others; others minded. Flowing from that saturating inwardness of being holy and completely His. All of our being focused on loving Him and praying for the lost. Truly cultivating hearts that are awakened to the needs of the lost. In the upper room at the great outpouring of Pentecost, we see their supplication. We see their separation unto the Lord in that locked upper room. Cloistered, sacred, seeking Him and praying, and He answered. Let’s take from the pages of the Book of Acts as in chapter 2 and again in chapter 4:31 where the Jews received the outpourings; Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 where the gentiles received the same outpourings. We see prayer, praying G-d’s agenda and G-d responding. It is our prayer to get their results!
Heb 12:10 (TPT) Our parents corrected us for the short time of our childhood as it seemed good to them. But God corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, giving us an invitation to share his holiness. 11 Now all discipline seems to be painful at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it. (emphasis mine).
1 Peter 2:9-10
The Passion Translation
9 But you are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. 10 For at one time you were not God’s people, but now you are. At one time you knew nothing of God’s mercy, because you hadn’t received it yet, but now you are drenched with it! (emphasis mine)
Hebrews 12:14
The Passion Translation
14 In every relationship be swift to choose peace over competition, and run swiftly toward holiness, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. (Emphasis mine)
Col 3:12 You are always and dearly loved by God! So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. (Emphasis mine)
We are seeking G-d’s Move of Holiness in our lives now. Not in our own strength can we manifest Holiness. A lot of denominations in history tried to perfect holiness in a manmade way and it became warped and twisted. Beloved, pray, talk to G-d about His holiness. Ask Him to do a deep and lasting work of His Holiness within your heart. He will do it. He will make us aware of what we need to forsake, prune back etc. in our lives. It will be a work of His Spirit and not of our flesh. Apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 5:19,30 ampc) Without holiness we won’t see or enter into His Kingdom flow. Without the Golden Goblet of Holiness securely placed within our hearts, we won’t be able to contain the next move of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said in Matt 25: 1 – Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish (thoughtless, without forethought) and five were wise (sensible, intelligent, and prudent). For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them; But the wise took flasks of oil along with them [also] with their lamps. While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep. (Emphasis mine) But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom! Go out to meet him! Then all those virgins got up and put their own lamps in order. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise replied, There will not be enough for us and for you; go instead to the dealers and buy for yourselves. But while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were prepared went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came and said, Lord, Lord, open [the door] to us! But He replied, I solemnly declare to you, I do not know you [I am not acquainted with you]. Watch therefore [give strict attention and be cautious and active], for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.
So many times beloved, I have gone lukewarm, usually following a wound from someone close to me. Instead of getting closer to G-d when I’ve felt deeply wounded by a friend or family member, I retreated from G-d. I should have been confident that He, more than anyone understood my wound, my heart and my need for that close bond with friends or family. But I was slow to take my heart to the Lord. If you are wounded, please take this time to go to the Lord immediately. It’s not about getting everything right first, or being ready to forgive. You need to just openly share your heart with the Lord and He will heal and enable you to do what might be needed next. Don’t get ahead of G-d, just go to Him and empty your heart and wound out to Him and let Him minister to you.
Our humility beckons His Grace In our weakness, His Grace comes to be our strength and is so sufficient.
Beloved we are very aware that we have been waiting until late into the night for our Dearest Love, The Bridegroom, to return, and we have nodded off, maybe becoming lukewarm in our waiting. Hope being deferred, our hearts may have become affected. But there is a shout coming to awaken us so we can ready our oil lamps. And we like the wise virgins have prepared for His delay by bringing extra oil. Beloved, now is the time to stay filled up with the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Our lamp of guidance, the Word of G-d, saturated in the oil of His Holy Spirit, enabling us to receive from the Word, the Holy Scriptures daily. Let the Word of Christ dwell within you richly. Don’t let the fire go out from within. Don’t become lukewarm now when we are closer than we have ever been to the miracles of G-d’s Glory manifesting again!
These are exciting times, let’s all be ready!!
How have you been staying filled up, ready for the return of our Beloved Lord?
Have you found staying ready challenging? I love comparing notes! We stay on course as we all compare the notes that we receive from the Lord. Our sharing what is working for each of us and what isn’t helps all of us!
You are continually in my prayers and forever in my heart.
