Waiting For The Rain

Joe 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Joe 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Joe 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

Joe 2:18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

Joe 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.


I send my rain to the thirsty ones. To those who are seeking, crying out. Have I not said, Ask and it shall be given, Seek and ye shall find, Knock and a door will be opened? I stand knocking upon your hearts, will you in return come knock upon mine? If you knock with sincerity I WILL open My heart to you. I will flood you with My rain. I will cause you to be glad again. Did I not say in Joel I would give corn and wine and oil? Unless a kernel of corn falls to the ground and abides a lone and dies... then there cannot be corn in the storehouse! But if you will plant your seed- your kernel into the ground of My Heart...your sacrifice will not be in vain! You will see the corn of your harvest. For when you give yourself to me, is it not like the seed? You must die to self. You must separate from all else... if you want to see growth, if you want to harvest the fruit I have prepared for you! Then shall come my wine- the Joy of Your Lord. Then shall come new sweetness into the relationship as you taste of what you had not known before. Then shall come the oil, fresh anointing. Fresh flow from My Throne. If you will but trust yourself to me in the wilderness of separation and abandonment to Me. Many may not understand as you come aside. But they cannot provide what only I can give you. Come aside. In Me abide. Plumb My Heart, even as I search your own. You will find echoes of yourself in Me, for that is where you came from! From My Heart. Come let us explore together as I turn the wilderness into a pool, and a fruitful field that produces a crop that is designed with you in mind. For you are always on My mind! So, will you wait in the desert for Me? It will be worth the wait my love, I promise you.

Isa 32:15 Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is valued as a forest. [Psalms 104:30; Ezekiel 36:26, 27; 39:29; Zechariah 12:10]
Isa 32:16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) will abide in the fruitful field.
Isa 32:17 And the effect of righteousness will be peace [internal and external], and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

Oh I’m waiting in this desert
Just waiting for the rain
Oh but I won’t leave this desert
Until I see the rain

And I’m waiting in the wilderness
Of promises yet fulfilled
Oh but I won’t leave this wilderness
Until I see the rain

I’m waiting for the rain
Oh I’m waiting for the rain
I’m just waiting for the rain
Oh I’m waiting for the rain

For I have heard the story told of a prophet who prophesied
Of the rain that would come in the middle of a drought
As a sign of the rain to come

And though years have come and years have gone
We’re still waiting for the rain
Oh but I can see the clouds gathering now
Are you ready, are you ready for the rain?

Open up the heavens and let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain, let it rain, let it rain
Open up the heavens and let it rain, let it rain
Just let it rain, let it rain
God let it rain, let it rain
Let it rain

Misty Edwards

Repentance/Break these Chains

If MY people who are called by MY Name... Christian... the Sheep of My Pasture... My beloved children, My peculiar people, My Holy Nation, My Priests and Kings...My BRIDE... Oh if You will humble yourself My Love. If you will simply return to me with a whole heart in purity of purpose, in beauty of Holiness, in Power given by My Spirit and not your weak arms of flesh. Oh my Bride, I long for you! I weep at the tears in your gown, I weep over the disheveled appearance of my beautiful Bride. You have struggled and fought sometimes against the current, not realizing that your fight is in the spirit first then in the flesh. You have warred amongst yourselvesm you have isolated, you have dwelt in caves instead of My kingdom. You have ran from My touch, running to your lovers, looking for them to support you, to please you, to satisfy. But deep inside you are empty and longing and tired of running. My wayward ones, it is time to return to Me, and repent and call upon ME. I have promised you I will be found of you, IF you search for me with all your heart. For a half-hearted attempt will will only turn up the dis-satisfaction in your own soul. Return and be found of Me. Let Me remind you of My Promises to you. Let us reason together. Come my daughters, come my sons, come my friends. Come my Bride. Come!






You said if we would return to You
You said if we would turn from our wicked ways
You said if we would humble ourselves and pray

You said if we would come with weeping
You said if we would come and rend our hearts
You said if we would come
And let you hear our voice
Let you see our face
That You would come

You said if we would learn to cling to You
Forgetting all of the wisdom of man
You said if we would but humble ourselves and repent
You said if we would come tearing our hearts
That You would answer from on high
You said if we would cry out
You would come

In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are, God

In these latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are

We humble ourselves in Your sight
We confess that there is no other hope
And we repent, God, from our wicked ways
I repent, God, for my double-mindedness
My heart so prone to wander
So quickly to cling to another
I've been leaning on the wisdom of man
And I've been leaning on the lust of the flesh
And I've been grieving the Holy Spirit
And now I fall face down, down, down
And I repent

And I tear my heart
I rip it open
All that I've been holding onto
When You are forgotten

I take my heart and willingly, I rip it open
For I only want to cling to You
I don't want to cling to another

I've been chasing all those other loves and I've forgotten You
Now I take my heart and I humble myself in Your sight
And I confess...
I confess...
And I confess...
I need You.

So come break the chains
The chains that hinder love
All that remains of yesteryear
Come break the chains
The chains that pull me down
Come break the chains and draw me near

And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Til all that remains is the light of Your countenance
I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You
As a lover of You

Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, just take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away

And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Until all that remains is the light of Your countenance
And I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You


Ahh Lord, we say, Come Lord Jesus Come! Into our lives. Into our hearts. Into the garden of our souls. Come make us whole. Come send your rain. Come light the fire again. Come Lord Jesus- be the Lord. Truly the Lord to whom we cling. You ARE our everything!


1. Journal a love letter to Him. Thank Him for Who He is and then for what He does.

2. Journal some of the things you have to be thankful for that He has already done

3. Journal His specific Promises to you.

Give Him Praise!

I Give Myself Away

We say we belong to Jesus. We say "my life is not my own." Suppose it became an Anthem in our hearts day to day? William Mcdowell has written a powerful worship song. Dare we sing it and mean it? And if we do, what will it look like? A life that's given away to Jesus?

First it's going to look peculiar! Jesus already said we are HIS peculiar people, His treasures, His Jewels.

Mal 3:17 (AMP) And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.


1Pe 2:9 (AMP) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. [Exodus 19:5-6]


I recently had a side by side encounter with someone, and realized that to them my life seemed extremely weird and peculiar. They marveled that I rarely go to the Mall, and was at a loss when they spoke of redecorating their house and entertaining folks! Another told me they replace their furniture every 3-5 years because they are bored with it! My house overflows with books and tapes and praise music! My decorations are either from around the world on my missionary journeys, or they are scripture based plaques and framed pictures. And if people come, I trust they are coming to see me, not my decorating skills!

When friends ask me what gift I want for my birthday or Christmas... I usually ask them to give to missions instead. I think in terms of exchange rates and how much food could be bought instead of that present. I look at my watch and translate that time into 3 or 4 different time zones automatically.

Ihave listen to some typical Sunday Christianity chatter and I long for where people are desperate for more of God. I am so tired of status quo. I am so over and done with ungrateful, spoiled, self centered pseudo-Christianity,aren't you?!! It is time for us to SHINE as lights piercing the darkness! To be consumed with KNOWING HIM and and CONSUMED by HIM...

2ndly, it will look DANGEROUS!

Act 16:19 When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them
Act 16:20 and pulled them into a court with the accusation, "These men are disturbing the peace--dangerous Jewish agitators
Act 16:21 subverting our Roman law and order."

Christian is what the followers of Jesus were called because it was so EVIDENT through casual observance that they had been with Jesus and now acted and talked just like Him! They were called "Christians" because they ran around acting "Christ Like" being little "christs" in their day to day living.

Act 11:26 (MSG) He found him and brought him back to Antioch. They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.

3rdly we will look HOLY

Act 5:13 (AMP) And none of those who were not of their number dared to join and associate with them, but the people held them in high regard and praised and made much of them.

Heb. 3:1 (CEV) My friends, God has chosen you to be his holy people.

Oh may we embrace losing our own agenda's and finding Yours Lord! May we Give ourselves away to you!


I Give Myself Away

What would happen if a whole generation embraced this?

Chorus:
I give myself away
I give myself away
So You can use me
I give myself away
I give myself away
So You can use me

Verse 1:
Here I am
Here I stand
Lord, my life is in your hands
Lord, I’m longing to see
Your desires revealed in me
I give myself away

Verse 2:
Take my heart
Take my life
As a living sacrifice
All my dreams all my plans
Lord I place them in your hands

Bridge:
My life is not my own
To you I belong
I give myself, I give myself to you

My life is not my own
To you I belong
I give myself, I give myself to you

Cutting Edge

What is cutting edge? Well, when you draw a line and cut on it to follow a pattern- that is a cutting edge. You are shaping the thing you are cutting and you are getting rid of and cutting away the extraneous and unwanted! The cutting edge is also the edge of the knife or sword that well- cuts! They who live by the sword will die by the sword. But in this case it is the Sword of the Lord, the Living Word that is sharper than any two edged sword. And we must live by this sword and also die by this sword... die to our selves, our selfish selves, our petty dreams and wants and LIVE to the great big GOD Dreams that HE wants to pour into us. Live by the Kingdom standard and Rule.

What made me think of all this? Well, you see, I spoke at a women's conference this past weekend. Destined for God's Greatness, hosted by Women of Honor Ministries. It was in Portland, Oregon. I was told by someone that my message was cutting edge.

It made me stop to think. Do my words spoken as HIS words, cause flesh to be cut away-and bring a circumcision of the heart? Do they divide to the heart of the matter? Do my words create a signpost to Jesus and to the greater good of being sold out to HIM? Totally sold out.

A Living Sacrifice is what is required for a Living God! No Dead Letter of the Law. No, it must be a New and Living Way. "Way" being the optimum word for Covenant. A Living, breathing Covenant that is filled with Life, filled with relationship. Filled with Love! This is what Jesus strove to teach while here on earth. This is what He suffered and died to bring to life through His sacrifice and resurrection.

Jesus was cutting edge. He didn't mince words. Mincing is a cooking term. It means to chop up finely. No he didn't mince up the meat of the Word, He just handed you a chunk and let you chew on it! But He presented it well seasoned and with a new flavor instead of dried out, tired, or the same old refried hash that religion tries to dish up. NO! His meat was to do the Will of the Father who sent Him and to teach us to do the same. And God's will often doesn't look like anything religion hands out. This meat is moist and succulent and well seasoned and flavored with LOVE!

Cutting edge: (according to The Free Dictionary on line)

An effective quality or element. (How effective are we as Christians?)

The position of greatest advancement or importance; the forefront

(Who and what is at the forefront of your life?)

The position of greatest advancement is total focus on your passion. Edison never gave up with his 1000's of failed experiments. He kept pressing in to find the one that worked. George Carver Washington thought outside the box and discovered more than 300 uses for peanuts and their derivatives!

When you have a dream, a belief that God has given you and you keep your ear to His heart and you don't let the dream slayers kill what God has given to you... then you will be amazed at what HE can and will do through you!

The cutting edge: the effective or decisive element. What element is that in our lives? The Holy Spirit's leading! Wisdom from above. Knowledge gathered and rightly applied. Crucial, resolute, firm in purpose. All these are part of the cutting edge. We must be unwavering in our Trust and in our walk with Him. Emotions waiver, but our Spirit and our heart must be stayed on Him.

As my Dad is wont to tell me: Fear freezes Faith." And, "Your Destiny is not tied to your past but it is in your Future." Don't be look at the past, has been's, used to be's, or the coulda, shoulda, woulda's. Forgetting those things that are past...( both the good and the bad) and straining forward to what lies ahead...

straining =To alter (the relations between the parts of a structure or shape) by applying an external force;

Scripture says: be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind... No weapon formed (can shape you into it's mold) shall prosper... for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds...(usually in OUR minds) But we have the mind of Christ. Cutting edge. Let Him cut away all that is unlike Himself and mold and shape us for His use. A vessel sculpted on the Potters wheel with an Eagle Eye to beauty and functionality.

Cutting edge. It simply comes down to being pliable in His hands, for His use. As the old rock and roll lyrics said: "Bend me, shape me any way you want to, long as you love me, it's alright!" Is it alright? Can we trust Him? Can we step into the center of His Will, His World and trust that it is going to be for our good as well as the good of the Kingdom? Will we eat His Meat? Drink His Cup? Put our ear to His chest and hear His Heart Beat? Will we? Not Can we, because He has already invited us to do so. So it is now a question of will we?

Ahh Lord, let the cutting begin a fresh and a new.

Take this vessel and mold it for You.

No longer strong, standing on my own

Posses my heart and make it Your own.

Let my one Passion be

to be totally sold out to Thee.

Cutting Edge- that's how I want to live

Cutting Edge- my all to give

Cutting edge, take away the rest

Cutting Edge, help me be my best

Cutting Edge, come set me free

to live on the Cutting Edge with Thee!

NEM 4-14-2010

He's Alive in You!

To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion
by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God... Acts 1:3

This scripture came into my spirit as I was driving home from work tonight, contemplating how Jesus was ALIVE! And the question,
"what proofs do you have of Jesus being alive in you?"

Jesus gave infallible proof. That means there could be no
question about it, it could be believed and trusted as true.
He showed them it was He and that He WAS alive.

He is just as alive today. The question is, is there infallible proof that He is alive in YOU? (Or me for that matter.) He is still giving proofs today.

The proof is in changed lives! Healed bodies. Renewed minds through the power of His Word. Yes, Jesus is ALIVE! He is alive in me! I am not the same that I once was. Day by day I am changed into His likeness and I go from Faith to Faith, Strength to Strength and Glory to Glory.

Am I perfect? Far from it!
But am I changed and changing? Oh YES!

How about you? What is your story?
What is your HIStory with God?

What has He done for you? You know it is a good thing to remember how far He has brought us. So that when we meet that person that has no confidence that Jesus can change them, we can give an assurance and an answer for the Hope that is in our hearts.

What infallible proofs will you let Him work in and
through you today?

Peter the impetuous became Peter the partner with the Holy Spirit speaking boldly and not running away.

Saul the slayer became Paul the captive- captivated by His Love and a Bond Slave of the Lord.

Thomas the doubter became Thomas the dependable.

It goes on and on. Jesus changing the World, One Life at a Time. As He changes you, you become a world changer.

"Who me?" Yes! you! You have a sphere of influence. You have people who watch you. You may be the only Bible they read, the only Jesus they know, the one they see through your life. What infallible proofs is He giving that He is alive, as He lives in and through you? Selah.

Happy Day After Resurrection. He's ALIVE!

The Three Empty Things We Celebrate Today

Joyous Resurrection Sunday to you!

God downloaded some thoughts to me to share with you concerning this day. This is not a lone event. It is a culmination of many events.
But of three in particular.

God is a Triune God- Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
He created a triune man: Spirit,soul and body.
Jesus ministered for 3 years. (Word, Spirit, Deed.)
When God created man He said "it is finished"

by the fact that He rested on the 7th day.
When Jesus completed His assignment, "He said It is Finished" and He now sits at the right hand of God.

When we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, called Easter by many, we need to see the Triune God and the Triune Events that are tied together. We celebrate the empty tomb, but that is only 1/3 of the picture. The whole picture is this:

We also celebrate an empty manager. He came as a baby, but He grew to Manhood in the grace, nurture and admonition of the Lord. He grew so you can grow in the same things.

We celebrate an empty Cross. Because although He was and is our sacrificial Lamb, he did not remain on the cross. Every prophecy was fulfilled and HE met every requirement to be the Perfect Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. But He is no longer on the cross! He nailed our every weakness, transgression and sin to that cross. But He tells us to pick up our cross, that we may nail our "self" to it, and die that He may live in and through us.

And we celebrate an empty tomb.

As my spiritual son Peter in Pakistan so aptly put to me in his Resurrection greeting:

"There is no other tomb in this world which is empty but one and it's Christ's."

Amen! We celebrate an empty tomb. We bury our old man and we rise in newness of life. We are severed from our past and loosed into our future in Christ.

We see that the natural events, the circumstances of life and death, are all subject to this man called Jesus. We see that even when hopes were dashed, and fear set in, it did not and can not stop the fulfillment of God's plans and purposes for us. We can hinder or help the flow of God in our lives, but ultimately God is bigger than and greater than any pitfall we hit, any error we make, any lie of the enemy. We didn't "help God" to get ourselves saved, and we sure can't help Him to keep us, or to perfect us.

What we can do is yield to Him, to speed up the process, or rebel and slow it down. But if we are truly His, then He is already at work in us, doing and willing of His Good Pleasure FOR us. It is His good pleasure to see you healed, to see you whole, to see you blessed, to see you prosper; Spirit and soul and body! It IS HIS good pleasure to give to you the keys to the Kingdom, to teach you what they are and how to use them. That is His good pleasure to you.

So, this Sunday, recognize completely and fully that we are celebrating an empty manger, an empty cross AND an empty grave and receive the gift of each into your own life. Hallelujah! Glory to God in the highest!

Amen.