Joel 2:23

"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" Joel 2:23

God had disciplined Israel -- severely. It's like making a kid stand in the corner for 3 weeks! 70 plus years in exile, separated from your homeland, cut away from your place of worship -- the visible evidence of your God. It had been a long, long time. How did God respond? He blessed His people. This is indicated by the rains. In an agricultural society, the rains are everything. Without them there are no grains to make into bread, no grapes for wine, no pasture for the animals -- no animals -- no food -- no drink. But, there's more. God provided the early rains -- those needed to provide moisture for the germination and growing of the seed into plants. Even these are worthless without the latter rain.

Ask any farmer. The best looking corn will produce nothing if there is no rain at the appropriate time during the growing season. No rain then equals empty ears of corn equals no harvest. God was faithful to provide all the needs of His people. He always is. For those who turn to Him, He makes all the provision necessary for success. It may not be rain that is so important to you. It could be an unexpected raise, or another unexpected raise in gasoline prices, or a seemingly worthless stock that suddenly becomes a hot commodity.

I don't know how many times God has provided for HIS family in ways that seem miraculous. Those are the former and latter rains to our modern society. Remember this: God has His hand in all things concerning His children - that's you and me. He is fully capable to do what is best for us. All we have to do is move over and get out of the way! Amen and Amen.

"Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" Matt. 16:17

Sometimes we just "know" things. I have been walking down the street and "just known" that someone had just come up beside me. How? I don't know - they had not yet entered my peripheral vision. They walked silently. I don't know how I knew they were there; I just knew. How? I just knew. There is no explanation.

Peter was in one of those moments. He had blurted out the knowledge that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. How did He know it? He most likely couldn't tell anyone - even Jesus. He just knew. But Jesus had the answer. "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Peter "just knew" because God told him - no, not in some audible voice. God did not reveal Himself in that way on a regular basis. Peter knew because in his heart, God had planted a seed. That seed had taken root. The seedling grew into a flowering plant. And that flowering plant had begun to produce fruit. This statement is the first of the many fruits that Peter would produce over the next years.

Jesus even tells Peter that his fruit would be quite amazing. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18

Ah! What fruit! Out of Peter's confession would grow a great assembly - "My church" - and that assembly would be a powerful force in the world - "the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." I suspect you and I would be very pleased to hear these words spoken to us. Peter was most likely taken back a bit, but soon recovered his former bravado. It wasn't until the denial that Peter was humbled enough to know how great a responsibility was being placed upon his very human shoulders.

There was more. "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" Matt. 16:19

Not only would a great congregation come from Peter's confession, but Peter himself would be handed the keys of the kingdom and the authority to use them! Unfortunately, we don't know what Peter's response to these promises was. Perhaps Matthew is saving Peter from further humiliation; I don't know. I do know that Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and multitude was saved. I know that the keys of the Kingdom were used that day to unlock the bonds that bound lost men and set them free. I know that Peter eventually understood what Jesus was trying to tell the bull-headed fisherman who would not listen.

I also know that Jesus is training each of us for a specific project. All that we go through in life is designed to help us prepare for that mission. I also know that you and I do not understand what we are intended to do with ourselves - oh, we may think we have our lives all sorted out and planned from today on to the day we die. But we would be wrong. If we are dedicated to the will of God, our plans can be changed by the Master on the spur of any given moment - because He knows where we need to be and what we need to be doing. The real question is this: "Are we the pre-Pentecost Peter-type or are we the post- Pentecost Peter type? Are we living our lives our way - or God's way?" And that, my friends, is a question we must answer every day. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.