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. Joel 2:23

Summer and country, hot and humid, torrential rains and more heat, as well as more humidity are all fond memories of my childhood. As fun as it was playing and hearing my Grandmother say “how does anybody get that dirty” came second to my times of sitting on her large porch, swinging, drinking tea and the days of smelling the rain before it came. The excitement followed just as quickly as the downpour, immediately after the smell. It’s strange how our minds can still recall even the smell of rain because it has been years since I sat on a porch and waited for the rain. Maybe it’s a country thing; that certain smell that lets you know that rain is in the air. I am definitely grateful for the retention and the preservation of my senses. Today, that memory was pricked and all I could do was get excited… it’s about to rain!

In this particular section of Joel, he tells the people that they must repent and in turn God promised to remove judgment and repair the gap between Him and His people and then restore to them all of these wonderful blessings to those who faithfully obeyed. He promised great blessings both spiritually and naturally. God intended to do for the same for us who have faithfully obeyed. He would rain on them with the former and the latter rain, give them mercy, favor, grace, and love. They would know that God’s hand was on them. He offers them hope and the assurance for all that had been taken from them over the years. Simply, Israel would be restored to even a greater state than they had been previously.

It is the same for us today, God is keeping a close eye on each of us and He sees our heart. He knows that we have been obedient to His word. Even as we go through our tests and our trials, He knows. He knows our struggles; He knows our heartaches and pains. He sees our tears and knows what each represents; He keeps our prayers (Rev 5:8). He knows our faithfulness and He sees our good works, even if we don’t feel as though He does. Don’t get weary, and certainly, do not give up. Keep working for the kingdom, our work is not in vain and the Lord knows. The scripture says, “for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. (Heb 6:10).

Today, the word in my spirit is simple really; it just smells like rain, which means that after the smell the downpour of blessings is coming! It’s about to rain. Are you ready for the rain? Of course, I’m speaking of rain in a spiritually sense that will provide tangible (touchable, physical material) blessings. When the smell of rain in the air was revealed, it came with a refreshing and we know that the rain brings about more than a cleansing! It is rain in its proper season and the effects or the results of the seasonable rain that brings about abundance both naturally and most definitely spiritually. There will not only be overflow, because the rain that’s coming is not a moderate little shower, its coming fast and it’s coming hard. God is not only going to restore but re-establish, not only refresh but rejuvenate, not only renovate but rebuild because everything we need is in the rain. Once the seasonal rain begins, we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it could only be God. Verse 21 says, “Fear not, O land: be glad and rejoice for the Lord will do great things!

The rain is coming! Can you smell it?

Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1: 3-8 NIV

I consider myself not only a connoisseur of good food but also one who takes great pride in cooking dishes from my Grandmother’s country kitchen recipes to the finest of restaurant gourmet dishes. However, I realized long ago that the success to great cooking is not just in the labor of love but in the combination of certain ingredients. There are some characteristics or distinction of flavors that compliment one another so well that it gives you the best in blending for a unique and exquisite explosion in your mouth! Your taste buds are happy beyond words and usually, your face will tell the story for you.

This in itself is a great comparison to these verses in Peter. He tells us that God has given us the ingredients needed in order to make and perfect us into the flavor of love that He is looking for to “be partakers, Peter said, of the this divine nature.” God’s faith to love virtues recipe is everything we need for His goodness and for His glory. Peter gives us all of the additives for this recipe of life in these verses. He even tells us the order in which we should add them for optimum results. First, he said, make very effort to add to your faith goodness; and then once you have added goodness, add knowledge; and to knowledge, add self-control; and to self-control, add perseverance; and to perseverance, add godliness; and to godliness, add mutual (common) affection; and to mutual affection, add love. Don't you love those ingredients? I would say that we need to simmer and stir slowly as we add each in order to make sure we have blended properly to make a pleasing combination that the Lord is looking for. Then Peter said, for if you possess these qualities, adding in the proper amounts as needed, they will keep you from being barren (ineffective) and unfruitful (unproductive). This reminded me of two things, first in Matthew 5 – where it tells us if salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing. Without salt, there is no flavor, without flavor, how can you possibly be effective in witnessing to the world of God's goodness, if you aren't tasting too good. Maybe abit bland or tasteless. Secondly, if you are no longer fruitful, how can you help advance the kingdom? We must walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work (Colossians 1:9-10).

We need these each of these attributes for growth. To add, literally means to minister additionally. So, the very unique characteristic of each added or ministered additionally, helps us to be the very uniqued blend or creative work, He intended for us to be (Ps 139:14). If we don’t grow or get seasoned as He purposed, then we become useless spiritually, distorting the purpose of the ministry by which we have been called. Therefore becoming of little or none effect; we are not to give offence in any thing so that the ministry won’t be blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God (2 Cor 6:3-7). I want to be good and savory and give attentiveness to each for a pleasing combination for the Lord and for the world to taste and see (Psalm 34:8); for if we do all these things, we shall never fail (verse 10) and we can share with others this wonderful life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness and this recipe for life! This is a great recipe to swap, wouldn’t you agree?

Until the morning, be blessed, Cynde