A Living Promise!

“Mary! You are a woman given the highest favor and privilege above all others, for your child is destined to bring God great delight. How did I deserve such a remarkable honor to have the mother of my Lord come and visit me? The moment you came in the door and greeted me, my baby danced inside me with joy! Great favor rests upon you, for you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord” (Luke 1:42-45 TPT).

Mary was given a promise like no other. As a young virtuous woman, engaged to marry a carpenter in Nazareth, she was visited by an angel and given an incredible message, “You are greatly favored by God and have been chosen to bear the Christ child, the Savior of the world!” What a promise, and what a great responsibility! 

It was the highest honor to bring the Messiah in the world, but surely the weight of becoming a young mother to a Child of immense destiny tempered the joy with sober reality. She would be shamed by some for bearing a child outside of marriage. She even left her hometown to spend a few months with Elizabeth, her aunt, in the hill country of Judea. The promise would come with pain. She would live to see Him grow in popularity, then be cruelly mocked, tortured, and crucified as a common criminal. 

Mary witnessed unjust treatment, inhumane suffering, and the death of her son while she grieved at the foot of the cross. However, she also was among those who rejoiced over His resurrection. The reality of all the promises was fulfilled after Jesus rose from the dead, empowered His followers, and ascended into the heavens. Even as they watched the ascension there was also another promise, “He will come back in the same way that you saw him ascend” (Acts 1:11 TPT).

We live with that same hope and cling to His eternal promise. He will come again! As Peter proclaimed, “The Lord is not late with his promise to return, .… But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 TPT).
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Our promise is alive. He patiently waits for repentance. He gives ample opportunity for more to respond to His mercy and accept His grace. He will come, let’s get ready! 



Theme passage:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJ).

Let It Rain!

“Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain” (1 Kings 18:41 NKJ).

In a dry land, the promise of abundant precipitation is welcomed as an unexpected blessing. Showers are few and far between, and seldom is the rain measured in excess, or disparaged as a curse. Similarly, it was so in the Scripture. Drought was often seen as judgment, but the rains were identified as blessings.

The prophet Elijah once commanded the rains to stop until he gave the word for their continuation. It was pronounced as a judgment on the House of Ahab, king of Israel. They were given over to idolatry and pagan worship and Elijah declared the word of the Lord against their sin. 

After three and a half years of drought the famine had become severe in the land. Many suffered and people died because of the lack of food and crops resulting from the lack of rain. After a divine confrontation on Mt. Carmel, Elijah demonstrated the power of the true God against the vain incantations and antics by the powerless priests with no help from their false gods.
Elijah executed judgment against the false prophets of Baal and declared an end to the period of drought. He instructed Ahab to eat and drink and said, “there is the sound of abundance of rain.”

However, Elijah did not just speak the command, he then turned to God and began to ask for a sign that his prophecy would come to pass. Seven times, he had his servant go out and look for a rain cloud. Only on the seventh time did the servant return to report a small cloud, the size of a man’s hand coming over the horizon. That was enough sign for Elijah to declare that the rain was coming and it was time to head for shelter. 

We have had numerous promises for revival rain in our days. We are assured of an abundance of increase and the outpouring of the Spirit in our generation. Joel said, “It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28 NKJ). Let us continually pray for the rain of the Spirit until we see the sign of fulfillment, then we will rejoice in the abundance of His Spirit outpouring! 


Theme passage:
“Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. (Joel 2:23 NLT)