Rain on Me

Daily Reading: Isaiah 45

Scripture Focus: Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it. (Isaiah 45.8)

Devotional Thought: The ancient story of Noah describes the time when "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened" (Genesis 7.11).  God promised that floods would never destroy the entire earth like that again.  Instead, the rain and the waters of the deep came to be symbols of the blessing of God. 

Isaiah saw a time of captivity for God's people when they would need the refreshing waters of the Lord.  God decreed that...

·       Showers would come from heaven above, righteousness raining down on the earth.  These "showers of blessing" originate in heaven.  There is no hope of life and love, of peace and plenty without the grace of God.

·       But, the earth must respond.  The Lord decreed that the earth itself would open up and spring forth with salvation and righteousness.  Without our faith and cooperation, the blessings of God will go unclaimed.  Will you be a person of faith and obedience?  Will you trust and obey God's call to salvation and righteousness?

·       Then, the grace of God, combined with the response of the Church, will cause the earth to sprout and bear fruit.  In the parable of the soils (Matthew 13), Jesus speaks of how the seed (God's Word) and the soil (our will) work together to bring forth a harvest, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold more than was planted.  God declared that he created the earth for this purpose.  When we respond to God, the harvest is as inevitable as the sunrise tomorrow.

God send the rain, and I will open up!

Prayer: Lord, creation declares your glory and reveals your purposes.  As the rain falls from heaven and nourishes the earth that it may bring forth fruit, I pray that the Spirit would be poured out upon me that I may bring forth the fruit of salvation and righteousness.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 78.9-16

9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.

10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.

11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.

12 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.

14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.

15 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16 He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.