We’ve had just a little bit of rain. Not enough to break the drought but every drop helps. I took a few photos at a game farm outside town before the rain and there wasn’t a speck of green. Not one blade of green grass in sight. Everything was brown and grey and barren. When I walked on the grass it crackled under my feet. This week I went there again and the difference was remarkable. I had to take more photos to convince myself that I was seeing right. The transformation was dramatic. It looked like one of those before and after makeovers. Only there were no human hands involved in this makeover. God had sent a little bit of rain.
That’s what our lives should look like when we receive a little bit of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:28 – 29, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions.” Isn’t that just such a vibrant description of what happens when God pours out His Spirit on us? Wouldn’t it be really spectacular if we actually grabbed hold of it and acted on it? We feel warm and fuzzy for a while and then life happens and the enemy whispers to us that we are being too gullible and “POOF” gone! Like mist when the sun comes out. We were so on fire and we started to pray for the sick and we even thought we heard God speak to us. Next thing someone tells us that we shouldn’t be so radical; It’s just not normal, we should have balanced lives. How many times haven’t I heard people say it’s okay to believe in God and you should even talk about Him, but please don’t walk around with the Bible under your arm. It’s not acceptable. People are going to think you’re weird. They probably will. But then I think Jesus was weird too. He never did anything convention expected.
Jesus had a group of followers who went around baptizing people, healing the sick and casting out demons. Remember that Jesus’ ministry only lasted three years. These people had spent less than three years learning from Him. Luke 9:1-2, “And He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them. Verse 6, “And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.” And in the very next chapter, Luke 10:1-2, “After this the Lord appointed 72 others and he sent them on ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.”
Jesus sent out people to preach the Gospel even though they didn’t have a degree in theology or any formal training. They had been walking with Jesus and learning from Him. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing? We should be walking through the Word and learning from Jesus every day. Plus we have the added bonus of being able to go to Church on Sundays, and other days. There are sermons and teachings on TV, Podcasts and YouTube. So many Christian books bave been written and we have access to unlimited resources. Yet we sit in the pews on a Sunday like dead people! Why are we in church anyway? Shouldn’t we be out there gathering the harvest? Anyone who has been saved and attending church for more than three years has no reason whatsoever not to be out there doing what Jesus said.
Mark 16:15-18, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.
Let us receive the rain gratefully, it is free, and it gives life. Let it soak in all the way down to our roots so that we can be transformed and start doing what Jesus said we must do.
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