Selwyn spends another day looking at ‘rain’ as an emblem of the Holy Spirit.

I liked this particular point Selwyn makes: “The rain of the Spirit is like this. It appears to descend in the most unlikely places, but there are predetermining factors behind every visitation. … It is my conviction that behind every visitation (of the Holy Spirit) we would find …  fervent and passionate praying, great agony of heart, endless tears and expectant spirits. The rain of the Spirit falls according to a great design – a divine design.”

It’s my view that God interacts with His creation on a much greater scale than most people think. I often hear people say: “Why did God allow this to happen?” It’s often a legitimate cry from the heart when a disasterous event has occurred in a person’s life. What we don’t see, is the thousands of times God has intervened in our everyday lives – to help us from becoming ‘lost’ – of this, I am sure.  Do you agree?

The prayer for today is good and worth meditating on: “O God, forgive us for complaining that we do not see enough of Your power when we are so unwilling to pay the price in fervent and passionate praying. Change our hearts and our attitudes, dear Lord. And begin today with me. Amen.”

[P.S. I've a bit of a cold today - and my mind and spelling ability are not working as they should - as you may have noticed.]

Today, Selwyn covers the story of Elijah praying for rain to end a severe drought. 

The context is that in 1 Kings Chapter 18, verse 18; we read that the drought and famine was a result of the King of Israel’s abandonment of the Lord’s commands. Elijah prays to God to accept his sacrifice by a miracle of fire from heaven, (Verses 37-39); “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The Lord – he is God! The Lord  – he is God!’”

Once the people have started to turn back to God then Elijah prays for the drought to end. This is the important point – God will bless Israel when they follow his commands; and, through his love for them, he (God) is the one who acts to ‘turn their hearts back again’. Notice, the change of heart was not initiated by the people but by God. In the same way, God works with you and me – how great is that?

So, now we see Elijah praying to God to end the drought, and you can see his confidence that the conditions are now right for the rains to come. 1 Kings 18: 43-45 “‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back,’ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’ So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on as Ahab rode off to Jezreel.”

I think that this is a great story about how faithful, perservering prayer may not be answered at first, but in God’s perfect timing  – will be; it may also first appear as an inadequate response but it will develop into an abundance of blessing – do you agree? 

Selwyn ends today’s study with the question – “what if the servant had stood staring at the prophet instead of gazing out to sea? He would have missed the heavenly signs.” Do we, as Selwyn goes on to say, look to the prominent TV evangelists and other preachers for answers rather than gazing at the heavens (& God’s word) for God’s direction? He concludes: “The rain of the Spirit comes from the skies alone. It is heavenly in its source.” What do you think about Selwyn’s conclusion?

Selwyn continues to meditate on the significance of rain as an emblem of God’s Spirit.

 He draws our attention to the fact that sometimes God uses rain – to withhold it or to release it, as a devastating downpour – as a sign of God’s judgment.

The point Selwyn makes: “The Holy Spirit often has to deal in judgment with God’s children. This judgment … has at its heart not merely condemnation but correction. … The Holy Spirit, in His care of the Lord’s work, often has to discipline us in order to develop us.” 

This is not a point (highlighted above) which is accepted by many in the Western world – we’re keen to do God’s will when it comes to living prosperous, healthy lives; but our indulgent society – has, in a general sense, almost given up on the discipline required to bring up our own children. Consequently, God’s discipline for His children – is a bitter-pill for many to accept – as they think it’s at odds with their incorrect view of a loving God. Yet, there are many areas of the Bible which present a different picture. What’s your view on this?

Selwyn now moves onto a different emblem of the Holy Spirit – ‘rain’.

He refers to the text for reading and meditating; Hosea 6:1-11 – which “tells us that in Israel there are two main periods of rain – the winter rains and the spring rains. The point Hosea is making is that they are a picture of how the Lord will come to those who acknowledge Him.”

As Selwyn mentions Joel also has similar verses. Joel is writing about a significant locust plague and terrible drought which has laid waste the land of Israel. He likens this to a warning that God’s day of judgment was approaching and this was a call to repentence. Restoration and blessing would come to those who repented and called on the name of the Lord to be saved.

Joel has some great verses 2:13 “Rend (tear) your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.”

(Verse 23 – the Lord’s answer after repentance) “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” 

(Verses 28 – 30) “And afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Selwyn asks the question: “Is there another Pentecost to come before the Lord returns?” He responds with the view that he thinks there will be; the point I would like to make is that many of the prophets point to the need for real repentance before our Lord responds with his righteous and refreshing rain. I think the world is moving away God; and, in general, we are not in a mood to repent because of a general hardness of heart – do you agree?

Selwyn continues his study of the emblem of fire as a representation of the Holy Spirit.

I liked the quote fron St Augustine: “Get close to the fire of the Holy Spirit and others will catch it too; one loving heart sets another on fire.”

Selwyn uses this feature in his conclusion: “People who look at the Church, generally speaking, see its icy exterior and remain unattracted. But a church on fire – ah, that’s different. Fire attracts attention. The flame of God burning in one heart can quickly set another on fire.”

I find that many Christians, perhaps out of a desire for humility, don’t readily show to others the flame of God burning in their heart. After Jesus delivers His famous, ‘Sermon on the Mount’, He says: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men and women, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) This is not saying that someone should boast about their deeds but rather demonstrate the effect of God’s love working in their heart which enables them to love their neighbours; and so, provide the light of Jesus to a dark world.

In John 13:34, Jesus says to his disciples: “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men and women will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” It’s this fire of love burning within us that attracts others to God’s love through the power of the Holy Spirit – do you agree?

Well, I’m not too sure about Selwyn views regarding the Greeks’ thinking on fire as an element of heaven – I did not think it to be terribly relevant – what did you think?

The Charles Wesley hymn was nice; but again, nothing, that stood out for me – must have been one of those mornings?

As I pondered on today’s study – trying to think of something positive to say – I read today’s prayer; and it is for me that patch of blue on an otherwise ordinary day: “O Father, how true this is – the more I feel the fire of Your Spirit in my heart, the more I want to lift up a song of praise to You. Thus, I exalt You – exalt You with the deepest joy a person can know. Amen.”

Did you find some positive aspect in today’s study?

Today, Selwyn talks about ‘fire’ as an emblem of the Holy Spirit, in the sense that fire can ‘get things moving’.

He tells the story about machinery in a factory which did not move because the fire in a boiler, to generate steam, had gone out.

I like his conclusion because I think it is a common problem in many churches: “There is nothing sadder than a church where the fire has gone out. Unless the fire of the Holy Spirit is at work in a (church) community there will be no movement and no real progress. It takes fire to get things going – and the fire must never be allowed to go out.”

Another point I’d like to make is that churches where the members have ceased to entirely depend on God for direction; start to embark on all sort of wordly tactics – running surveys on what people want in their church – focus groups – appoint new leaders, re-arranging the furniture, painting the walls, nothing wrong with any of these activities. They are just symptoms of people trying to resolve spiritual issues with human-led initiatives, it never works.  First and foremost – seeking God’s direction through persevering prayer is the only way to start moving in the ‘fruitful’ direction: Do you agree?

(I’ve turned off comments for awhile to control spam – and, it’s actually reducing the number – plus, I’ve upgraded to WordPress 2.2  and that may have helped as well – an excellent product if you are looking into setting up your own blog.

Remember you can send me email neroliandshayne@hotmail.com and I can post your comment for you.)