Check out Gospel Reflections #389: We Don't Beg, We Just Receive

Joel 2:28 “Then I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions."

God has promised a descent of the Holy Spirit before the Second Coming, even more than at Pentecost.

It goes beyond age, beyond occupations, and beyond social discrimination.

Just as God prepared the disciples to receive the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, He will do the same for us.

This does not mean that we desperately pray for the latter rain, but rather that we ask the Holy Spirit to nurture and guide us in our daily lives and prepare us to receive the latter rain.

There is nothing we do in this life that will allow us to receive the latter rain. Latter rain is a gift from God. We are only to receive. We are transformed in our daily relationship with the Holy Spirit and can accept the latter rain when we are fully nourished and satisfied by His presence not by our pleadings.

The latter rain is not for our spiritual maturity, but it is the power of the Holy Spirit that drives us, filled with the Holy Spirit, to take the final step into missionary work by the immense power of the Holy Spirit of the latter rain.

At that time, we will have the joy and confidence of our salvation, and we will share joy and hope as we speak boldly about who our God is.

Just as Andrew brought his brother Peter to Jesus with joy and hope when he met Him, we cannot help but speak of Jesus as love and express the joy we have in Him.

God's love makes us as bold as dynamite!

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.