“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55:10-11.
We have lived in a few places where we got to experience the rain, and yes the snow, in all its glory. When we lived in Washington state, we lived in central Washington where all the apple and cherry orchards were and we received an abundant amount of rain for the crops. A good amount of snow too. But on the west coast of Washington where relatives lived, the rain seemed to be nonstop. Of course it was the greenest for sure with lots of grasses, flowers, bushes and trees and when it rained the plants just soaked up the rain as if they couldn’t get enough. They just got greener and more beautiful and the trees just got taller and thicker.
Contrast that when we moved to Arizona and especially to Tucson from Washington state and man what a difference! Of course, we like most who weren’t familiar with Arizona expected sand dune and cacti surrounding everything. We arrived in Tucson late at night with our U-Haul and rented a motel exhausted. When we woke up the next morning and looked out the door, we were wondering where Tucson was! There we trees and shrubs, manicured bushes and plants. Lots of Palm trees, but no sand dunes!
Oh yeah, we quickly adapted though and learned about the Tucson desert landscape. It was funny the first time we went on one of the major streets and passed a over a couple of rivers on an overpass. I’ll never forget the Alvernon and Pantano rivers. I looked at my wife and just laughed! Rivers? Just dirt channels between two banks is all they were . . . then! When it rained, oh yes, did I mention monsoons? Those rivers told everyone what real rivers were! They were raging and nothing to mess with. We soon found out though they were designated rivers, the locals just called them “dry washes,” that is until the monsoons!
Yes, in the one region of the country the ground and landscape soaked up the rain and snow and turned it into a carpet of velvety green. Absolutely beautiful to behold. On the other region, the ground was so hard, dry and packed that when the rain hit it, it just ran off into whatever low lying direction it could go. Yeah, some soaked into the ground and the brown ground transformed amazingly. The plants and shrubs weren’t like in Washington but they had their own beauty to be sure. Oh yes, and once in a while it DOES snow in Tucson, which does wonders for the trees and shrubs that have taken a hold there. Still, no sand dunes.
God created the laws of nature that control our weather and all the things that go on in that system no matter the region on earth. He spoke those laws into existence with His Word. The Bible tells us this; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. – John 1:1-3.
This is a familiar verse to almost everyone but did you see what John said speaking of the Word; “HE was in the beginning with God.” God’s Word is as much God as the Father who speaks it. The Word, the living Word created everything and there is nothing made that He didn’t make. When you read in the Bible about the Word of God, do you keep that in your mind as you read the verses. Yes, God speaks HIM and the Word carries out whatever is purposed in the mind and heart of God, God the Father who is Spirit and God the Word. When you start looking at Scriptures in that light, it takes on a whole new perspective.
It’s easier to understand when Jesus then makes the statement, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” – John 12:49-50. Earlier Jesus equated Himself with the Father with this statement, Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” – John 5:19.
Now I know this all seems very basic to the majority of you, but Isaiah was prophesying about this, at the time when the Word would walk among men. The rain gives seed to the sower so that he can plant more and thus produce what is nourishment to himself and to others.
That is why Jesus came and walked among us. He was sowing the seed that the Father told Him to sow. Why? To spiritually nourish mankind, mankind that had been wasting away for want of bread! Can you see why Jesus told others that He was the BREAD of life?
Remember, He had just finished feeding the crowds with the loaves and fishes and depart to another area. The crowds when they found out where He was going followed and even though He multiplied a few fish and a few loaves, they wanted a sign from Him so they could believe in Him, after all Moses gave them bread from Heaven!
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” – John 6:32-35.
Jesus is the bread that will never make you hunger and the water that will never make you thirst! Do you see it now? Rain and snow also provide the water necessary to sustain life. It gives life and produces what is necessary for nourishment but it also quenches your thirst.
God’s Word, Jesus Christ, does the same thing, only in a spiritual ETERNAL way. These bodies will give out no matter the nourishment they receive. Eventually they will return to dust. But the spirit that lives for eternity, will either be nourished and its thirst quenched for eternity or it will be racked with pain, like what happen with extreme hunger pains.
Jesus as the Word is like the rain and snow from Heaven that fell to this earth to water the plants that were here and give them life and to create more seeds so that many others can be nourished. He is the Word of God that had a mission and a purpose and His purpose was not empty and did not return without accomplishment to the Father.
Isaiah predicted this. He expounded this to show everyone what God, as Father would do and could do. Today, look at the seed that is being produced and the Bread of Life that is being fed to millions of people today. God’s Word does not fail in any way shape or form. It can be counted on as a solid foundation with which to build our lives now and for eternity.
As God’s children, He does not give a stone when His children asks for bread; “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” – Luke 11:11-13.
Who is the Holy Spirit that the Father is willing to give His children? He is The Word dwelling within bearing witness with your spirit! You have the Bread and Water of Life abiding within if you are a child of God!
Because of that fact, you can rest assured that when you speak God’s Word, it will do all that God the Father has sent it out to do and it will NOT return empty or before it has accomplished the Lord’s perfect will.
So in essence, each one of us, as God’s children are the vessels that He has created from the very beginning to carry to the world the Bread and Water of Life. My only question in closing is this, and it is something to pray about and meditate on; are we distributing the TRUE Bread of Life?
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
William Ashley Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American outfielder in baseball’s National League and widely considered the most influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century. Converting to evangelical Christianity in the 1880s, Sunday left baseball for the Christian ministry. He gradually developed his skills as a pulpit evangelist in the Midwest and then, during the early 20th century, he became the nation’s most famous evangelist with his colloquial sermons and frenetic delivery. Sunday held widely reported campaigns in America’s largest cities, and he attracted the largest crowds of any evangelist before the advent of electronic sound systems. He was often accused of being too harsh of which he never apologized for stating that “the absolute truth can be harsh.”
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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