I send her My refreshing rains.

There she is standing in the distance--My precious bride! Even in the
desert, she stands strong and beautiful! She is so beautiful! Look at
her arrayed in such beauty!

However, when she looks in a mirror, she doesn't see what I see. That is
why I am changing her heart--for "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
Therefore I am changing her heart:

No more will she see through her pain.
No more will she see through her fear.
No more will she see through her impurities.

I give her a new heart. I am taking away the heart of stone and replacing
it with a heart of flesh. I have placed her on the wheel of change, and I
am molding and shaping her into My image. I am sending My holy fire to
burn up all that is made of wood, hay and stubble. I am sending My flood
to wash away the debris.

When she thinks she is dry and thirsty, I send her My refreshing rains.
When she hungers and thirsts, I fill her up--and from her belly will flow
rivers of living water. Many will partake of that which flows from her and
will begin to see with new eyes and changed hearts.

My Bride will arise in holiness and in full splendor. Oh, look at her
arrayed in My glory. I cherish My Bride, and she is a splendor to behold!



The Lord God Almighty is calling whomsoever will come into a new place of wonder with Him. It is imperative that you respond to His voice, His plea, dear one, for time is of the essence. Keep this truth in mind when you feel a tugging on your heart. Yes, keep this truth in mind when you feel My tugging on your heart, wooing you into that place that I have prepared for whomsoever will come. Respond to Me. I want you to respond to My plea – My wooing – without hesitation. You will not regret it, blessed child. You will never regret responding to the wooing of your Beloved. Not ever!!!

The Rain is coming -- hold on...
Charlene Gates
Aug 10 2007 11:08AM


Shalom Y'all,

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain pouring down on my roof. What a wonderful sound! Here in the Florida panhandle, we haven’t had a hard rain like this for several weeks. The dry grass crackled when you walked on it. Bobby and I have been praying for it to rain everyday. Finally, today, we had the down pour we’ve been waiting for! Let it rain, let it pour!

Our soul can get dry and thirsty too, especially when you are in the wilderness season of your life. And yes, we all go through a time of spiritual drought. It’s like the heavens are closed to your prayers. I like the way John Kilpatrick put it -- the heavens are brass. It’s times like this when you must keep praying, even when there are no clouds in sight. This is when you see what your faith is really made of. Remembering always that we walk by faith and not by sight. No rain in sight? Keep expecting anyway, for the Lord will bring forth the rain. We will reap in due season, the Word says, if we faint not. Don’t faint. Now’s not the time to give up. Now’s the time to do like Cornelius did, give your alms and pray, pray, pray. Because of Cornelius’ faithfulness, God saved his entire household.

Interesting how the rain brings forth new life. As I looked outside this morning, the grass seemed to shoot up over night. I could see little light green sprigs of grass already an inch high in areas and the birds are singing their new songs. That wonderful rain that brings joy, new life and refreshing! Many of us have been praying for the Holy Spirit rain to be poured out in our homes, churches, and towns. Just hold on -- it’s coming! Don’t give up now -- the latter rain is coming!!

"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." (Zechariah 10:1)
=========================================================

All division in the church, and for that matter, sin in the world, is caused by disobeying the ultimate authority, God. The answer to every problem in our lives can be found in obedience to God, or in other words, respecting the ultimate authority.

Before discussing how our submission to God’s authority affects the ultimate outcome of our lives and the lives of those around us, we should look at the example we have in the Godhead consisting of the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. John 16 shares how the Godhead works together:

John 16: 13 – 15:

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The Holy Spirit does NO (0%) self glorification, He only says what He hears and only glorifies God, not Himself. There is no self involved here; all is done in obedience to God (100%). Also, He does not neglect to do what God wants. He performs God’s will 100%; He does not go over and do His own will. In additon, He does not go under and neglect some that God wants Him to do.

Likewise, the same discussion applies to Jesus. Hebrews 9:14:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Father is the head, He is in ultimate authority. Both the Son and the Spirit respect that and submit willingly to that. The Father, however, does not rule like a dictator, but leads in Godly love, which wants the best for the whole Godhead. The result of placing the value of the entire Godhead over the individual parts is that it is the best for the individual parts. Each part knows this, the Godhead together understands this, therefore, each part accordingly submits to it. As a result there is oneness in the Godhead. Mark 12: 29 – 30:


12:29
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
12:30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

God is one and we must emulate that by placing the good of the whole in the church over the good of the parts in the church, because the good of the whole in the church IS the good of the parts in the church.

This mutual submission that is discussed in the chapter is the best for the whole AND the best for the parts. Anytime we sin, and ignore God’s authority, we are doing it because we don’t know God. If we did know God, we would understand the implications to ourselves (the parts) and therefore, would not sin.

So let us now consider practically how insubordination to God’s authority affects our lives and the lives of those closest to us. But before we do let’s consider what Jesus called it when one wants their own will more than God’s will in Matthew 16:23:

But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Therefore, it is Satan to place God’s will behind the will of self. If we choose that inevitably we eventually hurt our self. We must learn to place God above self; that is in self’s best interest.

Practical Application:

The present situation we are in, in this world is not our destiny. Why are we in our situation and not in our destiny? We are here because we need to grow. The only reason God allows difficult situations into our lives is for the purpose of growth. Once we have grown and don’t need that situation any longer, why would God continue to allow it to exist?

So the point where we are in our lives is not an accident, God has providentially allowed us to get here to teach us something. What is it that God is trying to teach us? That is the most important question in our lives! If the situations don’t get removed until we have grown through them, then it is of utmost importance to focus on what God is trying to teach us so that we can learn from them and be victorious.

The key to seeing the issue God is trying to teach us is to look at the issues in the relationships we have with those around us. Whatever our issues are with others is a picture of our issues with God that He is trying to grow us beyond. For example, if I am an individual in the church that has a problem with the authority in the church, my problem with God is that I don’t want to obey His authority. If I am a church leader and I don’t treat underlings with Godly love by fostering the best opportunities for growth for them in the church, but instead have issues with them, those issues with them that irritate me are a reflection of my issues with God’s authority.

Let me give you a concrete example. Anna Nicole Smith has an issue with God relating to material things. She has a lawsuit over her late husband’s estate. If she did not have an issue with material things, there would be no lawsuit. That lawsuit is a reflection of the real issue which is with God. It is a desire to place desires of self (material things) over God. See, her issue with others is a mirror of her issue with God.

Now back to authority. The key to authority is that God is the ultimate authority. So if a leader tells you to do something that goes against God’s word, you should obey God, not the leader. If the leader tells you to do something corresponding with God’s word, you should obey God speaking through the church leader. Otherwise you’ll be sinning if you choose to disobey the church leader and therefore, God. The key for EVERYONE is to know and follow God’s word whether you are a leader in the church or a member in the church and you’ll not go wrong (unless of coarse you choose to disobey God’s word).

Sanctified (or obeying God) church leaders lead to sanctified church members, who then are raised up to perform the Lord’s work in the church and world. This is an upward spiral of God’s kingdom. Conversely, unsanctified (or disobeying God) church leaders lead a downward spiral towards increasing church division. We live in the bed we make.

All cannot be blamed on the leaders, however, because we are responsible for whom we choose to follow. If a leader is not attached to God, and desires you to do something against God’s word, you should follow God and disobey that church leader. If that leader is trying to lead you away from obeying God, you must leave that leader. However, if a leader annoys you in many ways, but requests that you do things that correspond to God’s word, it would be wrong to leave that church to avoid what God wants you to do!

Likewise, the same principal applies to the family. When we allow God to be the authority by realizing that each member in our family is best off with God in charge, rather than placing God’s will behind the individual’s desires in the family, the family is in an upward spiral. Conversely, if we compromise or subject God’s authority to the authority of the individuals in the family, the family will be on a downward spiral.

The leader of the family can only teach those under him/her to the level of obedience to God that they have submitted themselves to. Whatever areas not submitted to God in the family leader will be the very same areas, where problems in the family will eventually arise (when sin comes to full measure).

God allows that to happen so that we will grow in those areas that we need growth in. Put another way, wherever we are not, as delegated authority figures, shining God’s light through (wherever there is blockage to God’s authority) is where we are going to hurt those we love the most, simply because they are around us the most and get the brunt of our insubordination to God.

On the brighter side we can choose to cooperate with God’s authority and that is the most beautiful thing in this world, it “thy kingdom coming on earth”. Let’s look at a beautiful symbol utilized in the Bible in Genesis 9:12 – 17 to illustrate this concept:


9:12
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
9:13
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
9:14
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
9:15
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
9:16
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
9:17
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

After the flood, or destruction of all life (except Noah’s family), God gave a sign, the rainbow, to symbolize His covenant with Noah that the waters would never become a flood again to destroy all life.

Do you know how a rainbow works? It works the same way God works through us, by means of the Holy Spirit, once we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Rainbows appear as a result of refraction, or the changing of the direction of light as it travels from one medium to another. When the sunlight hits a collection of raindrops in the sky shortly after a rain shower, in the right conditions, the sunlight can be refracted and dispersed in the same way as a prism.

A prism separates light into its component colors by causing them to bend more or less sharply as the light moves from the air through the glass. If the prism causes the light to bend twice, the term utilized is dispersion and you’ll be able to see all the colors of the rainbow.

How does the rainbow analogy apply to the authority subject of this chapter? The colors of the rainbow are red (1), orange (2), yellow (3), green (4), blue (5), indigo (6) and violet (7). There are seven colors in all. Notice in Romans 12: 6 – 8 how there are similarly seven gifts that Paul describes:


12:6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy (1), let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
12:7
Or ministry (2), let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth (3), on teaching;
12:8
Or he that exhorteth (4), on exhortation: he that giveth (5), let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth (6), with diligence; he that sheweth mercy (7), with cheerfulness.

A rainbow with only one color would not be that beautiful. We need all seven colors to see the real beauty of the rainbow, or in other words, the real Glory of God. Please take special notice in this chapter of the value of allowing all the gifts to function in the church. We will NEVER see the full Glory of God until we allow all the colors to function in the church.

The bow part of the rainbow describes the nearly circular arcs of color that all have a common center. Likewise, believers in dwelled by the Holy Spirit also have a common center, as we have mentioned in this chapter, which is God as their authority.

The light must hit a clear object for the light to pass through. Solid objects that do not allow light to pass through do not allow rainbows to form. Authority figures in the church or the home that do not let God’s light shine through (partially or fully) do not allow all or part of God’s blessings or rainbows into their lives.

There is one more very important point to make here about rainbows. If you were above the rain, you could see that the rainbow is a full circle, because the light will bounce back all around you. On the ground, however, we see only the part of the rainbow that is visible above the horizon. If we will submit to the authority of God, even though we cannot see from our perspective the entire rainbow (only part of it), and not place our own self desires above God (Jesus showed that this behavior is Satan), we can be part of and enjoy the blessings of the rainbow.

Do you want to be part of the rainbow? Who is your authority, God or self?

Thank you Lois for this. A timely word for me.