Restoration – Part 2

To read Part 1, click here.

Joel 2:23
23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, 
And rejoice in the Lord your God; 
For He has given you the former rain faithfully, 
And He will cause the rain to come down for you— 
The former rain, 
And the latter rain in the first month.

Before any restoration can begin, there is always rain.  Rain is a sign of blessing.  Whenever you see rain in the Bible it’s a sign of blessing.  The reason why God can restore is because He has caused the former rain and the latter rain to be over your life!  Today it’s not the thunder cloud that speaks of condemnation, guilt and judgment that is over you!  God is saying today that He has the former rain and the latter rain over your life!

If you look at the verse above, you see that it says that He has given you the former rain faithfully.  The word in the original Hebrew for “former rain” means teacher, and the word “faithfully” there means “righteousness”.  Before the vats can overflow with wine and oil and before the barns can be filled with wheat, there needs to be rain!  And the “former rain faithfully” means “the teacher of righreousness”!  So every time that you say I am the righteousness of God in Christ, the rain comes over you and blesses you!

The Bible says that “the righteous by faith shall live.”  Every time you recognize that your identity is not with your failure, you can fail, but that’s not your identity!  Your identity is that you are the righteousness of God!  And then that cloud comes over you and begins to rain down blessings on you!

What about the latter rain?  Look at Proverbs 16:15:

15 In the light of the king’s face is life, 
And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain.

So then what do you have?  You have righteousness (the former rain) and grace (the latter rain)!!  That’s why Romans 5:17 says that by receiving the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace you shall reign in life!  You are going to reign in life! You are not going to be under the devil’s activity, you are going to reign in life!  You are going to be the head and not the tail!

So you see the beautiful picture there – the former rain and the latter rain.  That is the source of every blessing.  That is why we can have restoration in our life – the gift of righteousness and the abundance of God’s grace.  That is the gospel.  You see the gospel brings restoration that will cause you to reign in this life.

One thing very interesting about the former rain and the latter rain – do you know that the former rain comes during the time of September to October?  That is the time of sowing in the land of Israel.  And the latter rain comes during the period of March to April, and that is the time of harvesting.  Farmers will tell you that at the time of sowing you need water.  Water causes the seed to germinate.  Water provides for the seed a condition where it begins to cultivate and to cultivate the soil around it and causes it to be an overcomer.

Do you know that you are a seed of God?  You are born of the incorruptible seed, and when the rain falls, when the former rain comes, you begin to germinate, you begin to break out, you begin to grow into a plant and into a tree, and you begin to bear fruit!

Pastor Benjamin

To be continued…

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