Tuesday 1/6/15 Showers 1

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You, and I give You all honor and glory for a great day.  Please, Lord, clean my slate and forgive my sins and shortcomings.  Thanks for the snow that has covered the ground.  Please, Lord, be with Your people during the cold snap that is coming across America.  Lord, more police officers have been shot.  Please, Lord, protect them, protect our President and all of our leaders, and Lord, please protect and bless all of our veterans and all of our current military.  Also, Lord, please protect Your Christian Army as we who are in that Army want to move forward in getting out the Good News.  Help us with that and help me do just that in the daily messages.  Please  help me now with that and then to get it dispatched.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, please pray for our police and all other first responders.  Please also pray that these sit-ins stop, and please pray our President would step forward and talk to our nation about this.  And we need to pray that Reverend Al Sharpton would come to Jesus.  Did I just judge him?  I just can't understand why he who is to be a leader for the Lord can do what he does.  Pray, warriors, pray.  Let me get started with this message.  More than likely this will go on for more than one day.

Tuesday:  January 6, 2015:  Showers (Day One)

Ezekiel 34:25 - I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.  26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill.  I will send down showers of blessings.  (NIV)

Showers, how many different kinds of showers are there?  Each morning for years and years and years I would get up and take a shower, and I still do that in retirement.  Well, most every day since I retired.  I really love that indoor plumbing, don't you?  Today we had snow and some snow showers.  In the month of December we had many days where we had rain and rain showers.  And we know often, often we receive rain showers and even have a saying about "April showers bring May flowers."  All those showers can be grouped with the showers I want to talk to you about for a few days.

Showers of Blessings.  There is an old revival hymn called "There Shall Be Showers of Blessings," and it is taken right out of Ezekiel 34:26, our scripture for today.  Let's sing a verse or two today.  Will you join me?

There shall be showers of blessings.
This is the promise of love.
There shall be seasons refreshing
sent from the Savior above.

(Refrain)
Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need.
Mercy-drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

Now let's sing and look at the third verse of this great revival and renewal hymn:

There shall be showers of blessing.
Send them upon us, O Lord.
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come and now honor Your Word.

(Refrain)
Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need.
Mercy-drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

In the first verse of the hymn it tells us that this is a promise of love and that it is sent from the Savior above.  I want to bring out the word promise and also the word Love.  If we really dig into the Bible, it is full of promises and it is full of love, all these things God wants to give us, and they are part of the Love God gave us when He gave Jesus to us,and of course Jesus loved us so much He gave His life for us.  That is love!  Real Love.

Now we look at the third verse, and it is really a prayer.  When we are singing this, we are asking in song, Showers of Blessings, "Send them upon us, O Lord."  And we sing the prayer even more when we sing, "Grant to us now a refreshing."  Even calling on the Lord to "Honor His Word."  That is a prayer, my dear brothers and sisters.  A Prayer.

Today I ask all of you, besides those basic blessings we receive each day, like the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the water we drink, how has God showered you with blessings?  Starting tomorrow we are going to be looking in the Bible for some of the blessings that God has already given to us and those we have yet to receive.

Now, as promised, each day I want to close with the sinner's prayer or a renewal prayer.  A good day to  have your brand-new birthday.

Dear Father in Heaven:  Please forgive me of my sins and wash me white as the new fallen snow.  Help me to repent and turn away from sin.  I do believe that Jesus was born of a virgin mother and that He was put to death to save us from our sins.  I believe also that God raised Jesus from the dead on that third day.  Renew me today, save me today.  In the Name of Jesus, I pray.  Amen.

Now go forth and share your blessings.  Love ya, and please, please, share my love with others.

Pastor Dan

See you tomorrow, and remember, it will be SALVATION WEDNESDAY.