The Word: 1 Kings 18: 41(KJV)
41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
Dig Deeper:
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Think about it
SOUND OF ABUNDANCE OF RAIN
Several scriptures talks about the rain.
1. The Word.
God will sometimes use the rain to represent his word. For instance:
Isaiah 55: 10 – 11
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
So the rain can be used to represent the word.
2. The blessing
The rain may also be used to represent the blessing. For instance:
Genesis 49: 25
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
Psalm 133: 3
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
So the rain or open heavens may be used to paint a picture of blessing.
3. Restoration.
The rain may also be used to paint a picture of restoration.
Hosea 6:3
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
Joel 2: 23 – 25
23 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 in the first month. 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
So the rain may represent a restoration of things lost in the past.
4. The Spirit
There is also a rain of God’s Spirit whereby there is an outpouring of God’s Spirit on us. For instance:
Joel 2: 28
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that 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:
Isaiah 44: 3
‘For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;
outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Where am I going with all these?
Clearly the rain represents at least 4 things in the scriptures. It can represent the word, the blessing, restoration or an outpouring of God’s Spirit.
Now is the most important bit.
It is still very cold and Icy right now. It seems the winter is even getting worse. That is the present physical manifestation. But in reality, Spring (or the rainy season) is just lurking around the corner. We are closer to the spring than anything else. The icy conditions right now is the last bit of the winter flexing its muscles before it packs its load. Remember weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30: 5). Life is sometimes like that. It gets darker just before dawn, it gets almost unbearable just before a change of level. Thesame way we can relate to our physical winter and spring weather, If we are sensitive, you will realise that spiritually the rain or spring is not only around the corner, in reality it has started raining ever so softly….. I am excited, I am glad because God is giving his people both the former and the latter rain. The equation has changed in the spirit realm, things are activated. Usually God starts with the rain of his word, he encourages his children through the word, after that anything can happen, the blessings, restoration and an outpouring of his Spirit. Can you hear the sound of the abundance of rain? It has started to rain ever so softly
Nuggets:
Thank you Lord Jesus for the rain is here
Our memory verse for February 2018
John 3: 3
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 2 lines:
Line 1: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Line 2: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Once you say it a few times it will stick.
Prayer focus: Our prayers for the next level project:
Let’s thank him for the rain.
On Grace:
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study: Masterlife now on the 2nd workbook: The Disciple’s personality
