When God appeared to King Solomon after the completion of His temple and the king palace, He spoke clearly on the instances and reasons why He would shut the heavens on Israel His people. One of the prominent sign of a shut heaven is “lack of rain”. This obviously lead to famine both physical and spiritual. It is important to know that most of the problems we go through have spiritual stronghold that ought to be dealt with before dealing with the physical. What is spiritual dryness? is a lack of consolation, comfort or relief in our spiritual life. It is a sense of desolation experienced in separation from God. Our prayers, worship and devotions no longer provide the sweet consciousness of the Divine Presence it is a moment devoid of spiritual rain of joy, rain of peace, rain of breakthrough, rain of confidence, rain of miracles, rain of faith etc. rain springs up fresh vegetation. So if there’s no spiritual rain you will walk in the old odd ways of doing things. Spiritual dryness, is not a problem in itself. In fact, the awareness of our spiritual dryness is a gift from God. It is His invitation to come and partake of His life and His Spirit. However, spiritual dryness does become a problem if we: ¨ do not recognize that we are becoming depleted, or ¨ do not recognize that God is the answer to our need, or ¨ become too exhausted to connect with God Therefore it is important for us to recognize the signs of depletion as early as possible. Signs of Spiritual Dryness 1. Giving While Empty or Weary A sign of spiritual dryness is that we are no longer giving to others out of a sense of fullness. We feel empty or weary—our inner tank is running dry. 2. Serving out of Duty We are no longer motivated by passion. We feel an inner reluctance, or resistance to serve, but continue to do so because we feel we have no choice. 3. Our Faith is no Longer Contagious According to David in the Psalms, it is the joy of our salvation that results in us leading people to God. (Ps 51:12-13) People are not seeing something in us that causes them to thirst for God, and we lack motivation to share with them, feeling we have nothing to offer. 4. God Feels Distant When we are spiritually dry, there can be a gradual distancing from God. Either we are not encountering Him regularly, or we are not hearing from Him, or we are hearing Him speak to us intermittently. God is, in fact, continually speaking to us. However sometimes we neglect to tune in. (Ps 139:17-18) 5. Our Spiritual Life is in a Rut We lack the excitement we once had in our relationship with God. Our devotional life—connection to God through the Bible and prayer—has either been reduced to a rote exercise, is occasional, or has ceased to exist at all. The good news is that when we are spiritually dry, God has already initiated and provided the answer to our need. The package of salvation has variety of spiritual brands . There is deliverance, filing of the Holy Spirit, prayer, giving, forgiveness, power and authority, love, mercy, grace, intercession, worship, praise, fasting, healing etc. Do not just cling to prayer, seek God though worship. If prayer doesn’t work, try to water your spiritual seeds with the rain giving. If the seeds defy this rain, try to water your spiritual seeds with rain of thanksgiving and is it proves hard still, get on the water of forgiveness and praise. Do not give because one spiritual method does not work. Remember Jesus Christ reminds us in John 15:5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing The Christian life is meant to be one of reliance upon God, where the life of His Spirit continually flows in and through us. By Wahome Gladys
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But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God .Acts 7:55
When God gave Jesus the name above all other names, He gave him a seat just to the right side of the throne of God. This symbolizes the position of authority of Christ. However the events leading to Stephen’s death as the first Christian Martyr, When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal 2 Kings 2:1 This was an example in the Old Testament where God opened heaven to receive the heroes and Stephen’s account was another example when God opened the heaven again in the New Testament. Stephen testifies as seeing heaven open. Presumably it was God Ushering Him in a glorious picture. God opened the heavens and Christ who was previously seated stood to welcome the brave over comer. Stephen was one that has reputation and great courage in defending his faith before the stiff necked religious leaders of his days. This is part of the price he had to pay. When I compare the painful opposition and challenges he had to overcome and the reasons why we give up so easily, I subscribe to reason why the heavens had to open for him. Christ has people that stand firm even when things get so dim. There is a price to pay for greatness. You have your own opposition and it mostly comes from within or from your closest friends or from people from authority. Stephen had to contend with the Sanhedrin, a full council meeting to defend his faith. Most Christians cannot even face one sinner, friend or even a spouse to stand for their faith. Stephen steadfast testimony and willingness to suffer for his faith resulted to the conversion of a fierce persecutor of Christians Saul, later known as Apostle Paul, the one who consented to his death. Paul later endured for Christ sake 2 Timothy 2:9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained.. For whose sake are you enduring? Your endurance and patient defense for your faith regardless of how dark things become will not only open heaven for you but will lead to change,, conversion and transformation of your enemies. When heaven opened for Stephen he was ushered in , the grace of God was released for Saul and his diligent zeal to fight and destroy the powers of darkness against the Church he was persecuting making him an obvious hero in the New Testament. John to who revelation was given had unrevenged perseverance on the Island of Patmos that made God to open the heavens on him and was never the same again. You have the solution for your enemies today. That husband challenging your faith today has a remedy in your hands. Standing firm and not fearing the consequences will appropriate the unfailing transformation in his life!. Those who have overcome and have come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the lamb and shall be taken before the throne of God. He shall spread His Tent over them. The greatest joy in overcoming is knowing that you will never go through what you have come over when the heavens when the heavens finally opens By Wahome Gladys |
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August 2016
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