A little over a week ago, I saw a beautiful picture of a lightning bolt which appeared to strike the Statue of Liberty in New York. This picture was taken by a photographer (Jay Fine) who for years had waited around the Statue, to capture such an image Lightning Strike. As I looked at this picture and wondered at the beauty and awesomeness of the phenomenon that produced the lightning; the verse of scripture in Zechariah 10:1 came to me. This scripture reads, “Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.” The BBE (Bible in Basic English) translation of the Bible renders this verse of scripture in a way that I prefer. It reads, “Make your request to the Lord for rain in the time of the spring rains, even to the Lord who makes the thunder-flames; and he will give them showers of rain, to every man grass in the field.”
Like a few other instances in the Bible, God throws out a challenge to His people who believe in and serve Him to make a demand of Him. And consequent upon this demand, He in turn will move and act in direct response to their request. Before I go on further, let me share with you why this verse of scripture has captivated my attention.
Because I have come to understand the times we are in presently (The last days), and because I have come to know how faithful and reliable God is to fulfilling His word, I see Zechariah 10:1 as a blank cheque handed to the end time church, by which we can collaborate with God to precipitate the Plans and purposes of God for these last days. This end time Church of Christ is destined to MANIFEST the GLORY of God. The other signs and happenings which tell us of the “season” we are in spiritually have already become so visible, they are all over our faces. For example, the problems of humanity have now been compounded by a strong demonic involvement more than ever before. Our sensibility to moral decadence, inhuman practices, social injustice and human right abuses, are being gradually removed. Selfishness, self-centredness, racial prejudice, etc. are on the increase. There is a general attitude of disrespect for constituted authority and in a majority of places, the idea of a Holy God has become a myth only fit for history books. Self-love has replaced the love for God even in those who profess to know God. It is equally alarming that parallel to all these is a growing religious fundamentalism which is threatening modern civilization, seeking to engrave a psyche of fear and terror on the mentality of human kind. No other power or force can stand face to face with these threats and overcome them except the divine power of The Most High God who created the heavens and the earth. We, the Body of Christ cannot afford to miss our great moment in history. What we see generally of the Body of Christ today is nothing compared to what it really ought to be. Today, the Christianity that is popular is man centred, self-serving and need oriented. It is as if God exists to pander to our lust for earthly gains. But really, it is not about us, it is about Him. God has an eternal plan He is executing. Man and the earth are central to this plan. As God’s people, the prophetic scriptures put a burden on us at this time to grow up into MATURITY in CHRIST and begin to do not only the works Jesus did, but greater work than He did so that through us God’s glory might be revealed.
We tend to have the idea that God is all powerful and can do anything and will eventually intervene when He gets ready to. As true as this is, it is not complete truth. God always needs men in order to move or manifest His power on earth. Please do not misunderstand me, God is sovereign and does act sovereignly. But in the issues regarding His eternal purposes for the earth and the Church of Christ, His Word is clear in passages below.
"The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men."(Ps.115:16). Because God has given man authority in the earth, He requires His men and women, through their prayers and intercessions, to exercise His power.
"And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Eze.22:30
Israel was in captivity in Babylon. God has said through the prophetic declarations of Jeremaiah that Israel will go into the Babylonian captivity, but after 70 years have been accomplished, they will be released to go back to their land.
"And this whole land shall be desolation, and astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." (Jer 25:11-12)
We find out in the Book of Daniel that when the 70 years was accomplished, nothing was happening. It took a person like Daniel who had the understanding of the prophetic scriptures, to start interceding on behalf of Israel, reminding God of His promises before God was able to initiate the release of Israel from Babylon, by sending angel Gabriel who brought the good news of the answered prayer to Daniel after 21 days of delay by satanic force, who presented a stiff opposition to the angel bringing the answer in the heavenlies.
An interceding company like Daniel is being raised by God as we speak, through whom God will release His power to bring forth the rain of His power and glory upon The Church and then through the church to the earth.
There is coming a purging in the church, a washing and cleansing that will bring forth a glorious church, not having any spot, wrinkle, blemish or any such thing. This purging will separate the true Church from the Synagogue of Satan. It will bring a demarcation between the true and the false which will be made so glaring by the mighty power of God that the true Church will manifest.
We need to ask The LORD to send the RAIN, for NOW is the TIME. An outpouring of God's Spirit that is unprecedented in the History of the Church. This rain on one hand will cause a release by and from God of TRUE fivefold Ministry. Teachers of Righteousness who will teach and preach God's Word with power, thereby EQUIPING THE CHURCH to do the work of the Ministry. This will bring about the greatest ingathering of souls into the Kingdom of God that will ever be witnessed by any generation of peoples upon the earth.
We have a direct promise from God to ask for rain in the time of the latter rain. This type of "asking" is not something that you do once and forget about it. We keep on asking or making a demand from God based on His promise. Note that it is only God who can cause this rain to fall. He is the One who causes lightnings to flash. He is the One who will give EVERYONE (who asks) grass in his field. Let's be up and about our Father's business and it won't be long till we'll begin to see the manifestations of His power and Glory in The Church.
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