November 1, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Giving God the Opportunity

#1 Preparing for Rain

Lately, I have been encouraging all Christian to pray, but when God is talking I try to listen even more intently. God talks to us often and in a variety of ways. I sometimes miss the moment when He is trying to get my attention. God is a gentleman; He does not force Himself on us. This is why He has offered a variety of means to talk with us, and He encourages us “to know His voice”.

Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” I have many stories about knowing the voice of God and how God gets our attention. But, what I am about to share with you comes directly from ‘knowing God’s voice’ nothing else.

Out of the blue, without any inclination of God wanting to speak to me, the Spirit of God spoke to me these words, “Prepare for rain.” I knew immediately that God was not speaking about physical downpours, but the rain that is spoken about in Scriptures and comes to us only from the Holy Spirit. So I began to think about what the Spirit had spoken to me, ‘prepare for rain’. I decided to do some Biblical research about the words ‘preparing, to prepare, and preparation’ and the meaning behind ‘rain’. Here are the results:

John the Baptist’s ministry was about preparing the people of Israel for the coming of Christ. He was to prepare the way for Jesus. His ministry was all about repentance and the cleansing from sin.

Jesus spoke about preparing our lives for the deposits of God’s nature into our life. Jesus said for us to prepare the ‘soil of our lives’—break up the hard ground and get ready for the planting of God’s Word and the receiving of God’s rain.

The Old Testament speaks of becoming a new vessel for the Master’s use. Jesus said God cannot put new wine into old wineskins. Prepare, prepare, prepare—this is a central concept of New Testament doctrine.

God will not send rain without preparation, and preparation means getting rid of the old and ushering in the new. We must become clean, whole, and ready to do His will. Now more than ever God is reaching out to us saying, “I want a relationship with my people.”

This preparation for Christ’s return in the last days must come. I am praying this prayer, “God prepare me! Breakup the unproductive ground in my life so the rain of heaven can be absorbed into my life. So much rain that I cannot contain but overflows to all around me.”

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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