The Silent Rebuke - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 28, 2016

Done:
I was walking down a darkened street in the evening as I was going home.  As I walked along, there was a man standing at the end of the street, leaning against a pole leering at me.  I knew that look.  It was not good.  The times were hard and rapes were on the rise.  I prayed, "Lord, protect me!"

As I kept walked, the man kept lustfully staring at me.  I tried to glare at him, he was not deterred but gaped openly and boldly.

Then I heard a voice deep within me saying, "Take up your spiritual authority."

I asked, "How?""

The answer flashed back, "Rebuke in My name, break the stronghold of lust."

I did not want to speak aloud as I did not want to appear as if I was talking aloud to myself and crazy, afraid that the man would take more advantage of me.  In my heart, I said, "In Jesus name, I bind and break, and bring down the spirit of lust!"

I said it with great conviction, but silently.

The man suddenly looked confused, and looked away.  He continued looking away while I passed him silently and swiftly.

I reached home safely that evening, rejoicing.

We know that spirits and demons cannot read our minds, but they can understand spiritual authority.  When I was rebuking the spirit of lust, the demons saw in the spirit world.  They saw the rebuke in Jesus name, its authority and they had to obey.  The authority of Jesus rose to confront the demons.

Many times, in an evil situation, I have silently rebuked the evil in Jesus name and the air clears up very fast.  The demon causing that evil had to respond to the authority in Jesus name.  When we take our authority in Christ, demons will flee!  This is called breaking down stronghold.  We can break the stronghold of rape in India through prayer.  It is possible, my friends.

Though it is always recommended to rebuke aloud, in certain situations, we cannot.   I do believe that the spirit world receives the silent rebuke of Christ at those times.  I have seen this happen many times.  At the times I can rebuke aloud, yes, I do that too, and that is obeyed of course, just as fast!

Luke 10:17:  The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Red Sea Way - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 27, 2016

Worry only makes a curry they say!  Means it makes a further concoction of bad things.  One time, I was very anxious about something and prayed much about it.  It was eating me up and the long drawn out prayers did not ease my worry.

I finally started to talk to God about the problem, which means sharing out my heart.  And I waited upon Him to hear what He said in the silence.  I seemed to hear, "It will be okay."  Some hours later, the situation turned around.  The tension left and mellowness filled the air.

Not only that, but in communion, a new door opened in my life. , something I prayed for, wished would happen but thought it never could, well, it did happen! All this happens when I talk to Him during the day, talk to Him about everything.

A miracle happens when we talk with the Lord through situations, not after they happen, not before, but through.

Calling the Lord to be the Lord of that situation can open doors we never even dreamed would ever open. Dare to believe, He is the Lord of the impossible.  He will do it.  Learn the joy of the communion way of talking to Him through the day, through our situations

Psalm 106:9

Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Dry Cracked Branch - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 26, 2016

Walking down the road, I noticed a tree growing in an arid, dry cracked ground, without water and looked withered and brown.  I saw a man came, and attempted to break the branches.  They were so dry that they broke off easily and he took all of them and used them for firewood.

I set my mind thinking.

Another day, we were driving near a stream and I noticed another tree.  The branches were greenish in color, full of sap and juicy. It was not easy to crack them.

I remembered the dry cracked branches of the other tree and was inspired with these thoughts:

If we hardly spend time nourishing and feeding our souls and receiving the Word to nourish us, we can crack up and break down every easily.  A slight trigger can turn on the trouble and we feel withered and burned out.

When we are well watered and feed our souls spiritually, stress cannot take us down easily.  The work of the Destroyer cannot crack us and break us and he will eventually leave us alone.

Chose to live with "your branches full of sap" to be spiritually strong.  Chose ways to feed and strengthen your soul and spirit.

AMPC:  Psalm 104:16:  The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly and are filled with sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,

ASV Psalm 92:12-15:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,

    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

13 planted in the house of the Lord,

    they will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 They will still bear fruit in old age,

    they will stay fresh and green,

15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;

    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him

Under the Shadow of His Wings - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 25, 2016

Throughout the year 2015, the words" shadow of His wings" brought great release and comfort in my times of meditation.  A precious truth shed its light on my soul is that as we abide in Christ, in His presence, wonderful change happens.

The great secret is that even if we spend hours in prayer and the moment we walk away from prayer and live in our own thought patterns, not much change happens… not that I am underestimating prayer, but the illuminating fact is His Presence.

On New Years Eve 2016, Pastor Solomon in Bangaluru 
( Bangalore) spoke a wonderful message about dwelling under the shadow of God's wings, abiding and hiding there.  Under that shadow, we are deeply protected.  Peter dwelt in the Presence of God, and when his shadow fell on the people, they got healed!  Such change can happen when we dwell under His Shadow.

Dwelling under His shadow protects us from harm, danger, evil, accidents, and untoward events and even protects our relationships.

Dwelling in the presence of God pours out great blessing to the world around us.  It is only then that we can see walls crumble down, lives transform, nations even repent and call upon God, people get healed, delivered, and people even get healed from debilitating mental illnesses and becomes shinning vessels in a world of darkness.

In His Light, we see Light.  Our dark minds are unveiled and only then can we see the supernatural realm to understand situations and events beyond our natural limited perspective.

A little example is whenever I am in a walking, talking communion relationship with the Lord, I see change around me.  It never fails to amaze me.  Even in the family, even with others, wonderful change starts to spring forth and situations start to change, locked iron doors swing open, and new avenues start to open up.

On the other hand, if I spent hours praying about the same thing in desperation, not much seems to happen.  Why?  Simple!  Because when we start to seek Him, and His presence, He starts to change things around us.  If we just want and want and want and want, we are never satisfied and we are actually struggling in our flesh with issues we do not have the power to overcome.

In 2016, there are many prophesies of doom, but let us not get overcome by the gloom.  If we abide under the Shadow of the Almighty, living in His presence, not walking in and out of His Shadow, but literally dwelling, our shadows in Christ can impact the world around us.

We can even pray for a last great revival before the Lord takes away the church in the rapture and it will happen!  Over the centuries, the Lord has touched nations and they have turned to Him in repentance revivals.  If we pray and keep abiding under His Shadow, we can experience a great outpouring of His Spirit again on the nations and see nations turn to Christ before the rapture of the Church, before prophesies of the anti-Christ and such come to pass.  We can expect great things and attempt great things for God in this year 2016 and years forward.  Amen

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Specific Instruction - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 24, 2016

Years ago, on a very hot sunny sultry Sunday, Nishat did not want to go church even though she was dressed for it.  She reasoned with herself, "No need to go. I have my own good devotional books and reading material. I can stay here and pray on my own."

She knelt down and prayed about it for a minute and got a reply so clear and direct that she felt a tingle go down her spine,"Go to the temple of the Living God and worship Me there." She realized immediately that it was from God since she had never used the word Temple for church ever nor had she heard anyone else use it.

 Hence she went that Sunday and was excited about it. A day or so later, she got a verse from Revelation 3:12 King James Version  
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 

 She was deeply blessed from going to the church that Sunday.  From then on, she started receiving spiritual strength and blessings from that church.

She could testify that against all odds that God's hand of grace and favor was upon her.  She even took water baptism late in life in her 80s, in the river in Siliguri!  She has been touched by the Fire of God's presence in such a way that she could not stand in His Presence several times- where she literally fell down in God's holy presence and after that, felt even more closer and awakened to the Lord and His glory.

Over these years, she has grown spiritually stronger and more rested in God and experienced many wonderful things. Even though she has faced trouble and storms, she has felt the strength and peace of the Lord and experienced a rainbow at the end of each storm.

Indeed, the Lord does wonderful things when we obey His specific instructions!

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Power of God's Touch - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 23, 2016

Albert was one of those hundreds that got caught in a vicious cycle of drugs and started injecting himself with heroin, alcohol, smoking pot, the whole works.  He always carried a knife in his pocket and his hand would draw to his knife if he found anyone staring at him for too long.  He was the gang leader, but slowly that position of honor fell as he delved deeper into drugs.

He had to leave home as he was so heavy on dope his family could not handle it or help him.  He rarely took a bath and even looked ugly with the gauntness of his bones and unhealthy skin pallor with a bluish tinge to it.

One night in Bangaluru, he searched the streets for a place to sleep.  It was an extremely cold winter night and he shivered, thinly clad as the cold air ripped him.  He gathered newspapers and huddled down on the streets covering himself with the newspapers.  "Well, this is a bit better!" he reflected to himself, trying to cheer himself up. He made it through that night and many more nights and days on Johnson streets, often having to ask passerby's for money as he had none.

Many would look at him, shudder and turn the other way.

One evening as he was walking along Johnson Street, he saw another boy he knew and felt glad to see him.  As he approached him with a smile on his face, the boy looked at him, and abruptly turned and walked away.  He obviously recognized him but wanted nothing to do with him.  At that moment, he felt the familiar sting of rejection.

He was deeply hurt and also badly shaken.  He slowly walked down the road that cold night thinking "Why am I like this?  What happened to me?"  He walked to a park near the market.  He could see his house across the park.  He sat down in the park and thought for a while.

At that moment a song suddenly popped into his head.  It was as if God reminded him of a song which he learned in Sunday school. The song went like this “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…….”.  He asked God, "Do you really love me?  Nobody loves me in this world.  if you really love me, get me out of this mess."

As he spoke to God for the first time, he felt a supernatural peace filling his heart.  It was an amazing sensation.  He never felt like this before, not even when he was high on a drug trip!  In fact, that was nothing compared to this, this had the essence of purity.  He knew it was God.

He realized he wanted to kick something out of his life real fast.  He searched his pockets for all the drugs he had there, and with a matchbox that he had, made a bonfire of all the drugs.  As he watched them going up in smoke, he felt exhilarated and liberated.  It was a miracle!  He was set free instantly from drugs.

He then made his way home.  As he knocked on the door, his mother opened the door and gasped with joy to see him, declaring happily, "I was praying for you and I knew you would come home."

This was the beginning of a new life for him.  He had no withdrawals, no cold turkey, no shivering-wet-drenched sweats and never had the urge for a drug again.

That was around twenty years ago.  It was an outstanding miracle.  Jesus broke his chains and set him free instantly!  He did not go through any medication, but God delivered him.

Now, Albert has started a rehabilitation home for drug addicts called Abhayam in Bangaluru, India, helping hundreds.

The touch of God is a transformation that lasts forever.

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Change - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 22, 2016

Della shares with us what transformed her life:  "I would like to share some experiences in my life which have helped me to overcome certain situations and grow in my walk with the Lord over the years.

There was a time that I had a lot of struggle and difficulty with a person I had to closely interact with.  I felt anger rise in me towards her because her understanding about me and expectations about me were so wrong, and whenever I did something with lot of thought,  I always got a response of outright rejection, suspicion, ingratitude etc., and this attitude of hers used to break me.

In that deep human struggle of trying to overcome this pain and hurt, I concluded on a few truths that helped in this situation;  Don’t expect a right response from her any time as she is capable of only doing wrong. In thinking so, I brought my pain level down and I was free in that regard.

 I tried to reduce interactions with her, but it wasn’t possible, because she kept approaching me even more!  The more I tried to run away, the more she made her demands clear that, time spent with her is not enough.  I was in this  struggle of a very demanding "friendship" for at least six years and how I got it off my mind was by thinking,  God sees my heart and He will not condemn me as I’m not doing anything  wrong because she often tried to make me feel guilty.

 I thought I was getting over it all over the years, but of late, I did notice that if any one mentioned to me about her misdeeds, I would gladly add in a mouthful about her to them as I was still deeply hurt!   But I was in trouble again on thinking of this verse, "Love covers a multitude of sins."

On December 24th, I was too troubled and I thought I would not be able to celebrate Christmas, in the true spirit of Christmas..  I cried out to God and He led me to Romans 12:6 which says, we have different gifts according to the grace given to us, verse 8d says, "If it is in  showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 14; bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 16, live in harmony with one another Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. 17: do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.18: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

These were breakthrough verses for me and the light of God dawned on my heart to deliver me! When the eternal God inhabits you, where is the limit to forgiveness? I agreed with God on this and He transformed me.

Meditation on the Word of God started to change me!

Today, though she continues to be the same,  I rejoice every time I deal with her now as God has lifted me above those “petty issues”.  It is indeed a powerful victory in my life that I rose above the slush and mud of that murky situation.

Today when I look back ten years ago, when this person was very mean to me, at some point I took it as a challenge to learn about the grace of God and how I can extend grace to someone undeserving , just the way I received it from God, but now when I look back, I know it was all my effort in the flesh.

Today, I have brand new perspective and strength given by the Lord, and now there’s no struggle no matter how I am treated. Praise God!

I have shared this in detail as I believe there are many of us who need to forgive our offenders and soar above our hurts to be experientially  seated with God in the heavenly places. Unforgiveness blocks each of our blessings.

  

I just want to encourage you that when you are brought to the dead end in life, don’t give up. Ask God for strength to leap over it and He will bless you far beyond what you can even imagine or even asked for!

Joel 2:25 "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm - my great army that I sent among you."

I feel that the Lord is restoring my life in a wonderful new way again, restoring back what the locusts have eaten in my earlier years!  Praise God!"

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Call -

They were a missionary couple with a call, a call to go to Brazil.  When God specially spoke to them about going, they were not too pleased about it.  It was a hard decision and they struggled with it.

The husband said, "Lots of poisonous snakes and spiders, don’t feel the safety in going!" and his wife agreed.

They did not go eventually.  They had a baby boy.  Traveling would be difficult, and of course the fear of snakes and spiders loomed heavily in their mind.

Four years slipped by.  One day, their toddler was playing in the backyard.  Sometime later, his mother called him in and he did not come.  She went to the backyard to find a horrible shock.  Their little child was dead.  They found out later that he had been bitten by a poisonous rattlesnake.

The pain was too deep.  Deeper than a knife.  There was no healing balm.

Eventually after a year, they obeyed that call and went to Brazil.  They slowly began to heal.  The Lord touched them anew.  They got another baby.  Of course the first one's pain could totally never be erased.

Would we say God had punished them for not obeying.  Personally, I think it works more like when we don’t obey the call, we break a hedge and a serpent bites us.  Satan has power over our lives when we don’t walk in obedience to what God is speaking to us about.  Satan gets those rights.  We should never give him those rights.  Walk in obedience and we walk in Divine Protection, daily.

Proverbs 29:1  "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy."

Galatians 1:15 "But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased."

Philippians 3:14:  "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

If God is calling you for something, go for it, don’t wait.  It is God's power and grace that will help you to accomplish it.

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.

Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Dangerous Gamble - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 20, 2016

A pastor in a church had a tradition of housing poisonous snakes in a room in his church, wrapping them around his neck claiming God' protection.

He along with his church kept declaring the Bible verse:

Luke 10:19 King James Version (KJV)

19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

One day, in church, as a snake was wrapped around his neck, and he was singing and worshiping, the snake viciously bit him.  It was a poisonous snake.  The pastor refused medicine believing he would get healed.  The pastor died.

The Bible says Luke 4

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

    and they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test."

Purposely doing something dangerous and claiming God's protection is folly.

One day in India, a man was walking along a road when he saw something lying on the road.  He looked closer and saw it was a half dead cobra snake.  The man was a worshiper of snakes so his heart was filled with compassion and took the snake home, gave it milk and helped it revive.  He thought "It is a god and it will bless me!"

That night as he was sleeping, the snake crawled over to him and bit him.  It was a cobra snake with venomous poison and the man died within 30 minutes.

There is a verse in the Bible:  Proverbs 22:3:  "3 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty."

When we know someone has the potential to destroy us, we do not entertain them.  We do not invite them to our homes or hang out with them.  This is called wisdom, prudence.  It is not just about saving your skin.  It goes deeper.  It saves other lives too.

Compassion to evil will result in it destroying the person along with perhaps hundreds or even million of others.  This can happen in nations.  We have compassion on a group of people and take them in, but they actually have an intent to get into our homes and kill us.

If a person has embraced intrinsic evil, they will not change, no matter how much love we give them.  It was their choice.  Unless of course, they finally respond to God's love, which is very rare in souls who willfully chose evil.

When we see evil, we do not entertain it, play with it or call it to our homes.  We do not name and claim protection while we willfully call it in.  That is putting God to the test, a sin in itself.

Flee from it, and don’t look back.

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Legacy of Protection - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 19, 2016

Yesterday, early Sunday morning, our soldiers were killed in their sleep by the terrorists in the neighboring country.  A terrible cowardly thing to do, kill someone while sleeping.

The terrorists sneaked into the army camp, not sure how they managed to do that.

We moan for the loss of lives of our soldiers who protected our borders and kept us safe.  We pray for healing and comfort for their families.  Soldiers live on the sword of death daily.  Some live, others die.

Life is unpredictable.  We do not know when we may go.

God has given us a promise on earth, the promise of protection from sudden death....if we ask.

We have a promise from Psalm 91 …God keeps us in safety because:

14: “Because he loves Me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name.

15 He will call on Me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him My salvation.”

I remember the story of Phillip during religious agitation in Orissa.  On Christmas, December 25, 2007, a curfew was declared in Orissa due to the previous conflicts between Hindu Guru Late Laxanananda Saraswati. On the same day in the church, they were celebrating Christmas and the church was filled with both Christians and non-Christians.  Around 80 to 100 people had gathered there to celebrate the Christmas celebrations.

Phillip was preaching from the pulpit.  All of a sudden, 200 to 250 Hindu agitators entered the church violently through the doors and breaking windows.  All of them were inebriated, smelling heavily of liquor, carrying knives in their hands and rushing towards the people in the church mad with fury.  They started dragging people out of the church, thrashing them violently, swearing, cussing, and cursing.

As Phillip watched, he was stilled with fear and almost terror, but then suddenly as he called on God, a deep supernatural calm filled him.  He was suddenly filled with great courage.  He thought, "If I am to be killed tonight, I am ready to die for my Lord!"

Within a short time, they also dragged him by the collar abusing and hitting him.  The church was surrounded by huge crowd from outside and the tension mounted it seemed for hours.  He kept praying within his heart for the protection of his church believers.

Suddenly, something strange began to happen.  The activists started quarreling among themselves on some issue and went on to such an extent that they fought bitterly amongst themselves and then left the church!

It was the hand of God that saved them that day because they had come the intention to murder.

After they left, Phillip suddenly realized how close they were to dying.  Fear hit him with this realization and the calm left him!  It seemed the Lord gave me that calm for that situation and when it was over, he was normal again, naturally fearful in the terrifying time!

Later that night, a police officer asked him to leave the area as soon as possible or the situation would not be in his favor.

Phillip was unable to take that decision as he was not sure whether running away was a good thing to do, so he just went to his house, went into his bedroom, shut the door and started praying hard.  As he kept praying, he had a strong sense that he should leave the place, so within fifteen minutes, he packed a small bag and left the area.

The next morning he reached his hometown and immediately called the police by phone asking them about the situation in the church. He got to know that the activists came to his home, took away all his belongings and then burned down his place. They would have surely burned him if he had been there!   God shielded, protected his life, and directed him out to a safe place.

When we are close to God, we hold the legacy of protection, even in war and when terrorism strikes.

Psalm 91:9-16

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Unforgettable Lady - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 18, 2016

In the 1980s, she was a lady who changed lives…she brought on a mighty revival and transformation in many people.

She was not always like that.

Years ago, she was a teacher in Darjeeling.  She had two young children.  Her husband worked in the air force many miles away in Bagdogra.

She was hardworking, sincere and faithful in all she did.  However, slowly a nagging pain started eating her up.  She did not know why she was feeling this way.  She sunk into a pool of depression.  The depression swallowed her up and she became  suicidal.

One night she decided to take her life.  The pain and depression was overwhelming.  Mrs. Bhakre tells us that she was ready to end it that very night, but something made her cry out to God in her pain, not really expecting Him to hear her.

The next thing she knew was that she postponed her plan to end her life that night, not sure what made her delay…There was a terrible rain storm that night with the wind howling eerily through the giant fir trees.

Somewhere around the dead of the night, there was a resounding-ground-shaking crash.  Everyone got up with a terrible shock, almost afraid to see what had happened.

Finally, gingerly, they made their way out of the cottage.  What they saw horrified them!  The old gnarled huge fir tree had crashed down in the storm missing the cottage by inches!  It was a miracle.  If the giant tree had crashed down on the cottage, it would have smashed the wooden cemented cottage to smithereens.

When Mrs. Bhakre saw this, all she could do was stare in wonder praising God realizing how close to death the whole family was that night, and how the God spared them.

When you are inches away from death, you suddenly appreciate the gift of life that God has given you.

Mrs. Bhakre wanted to live again.  God poured out new life into her that night.  She was born again, that very night.  It was as if the fire of God had entered her life.  She was baptized in the Spirit of God.

The next morning, she was a new woman.  She shared her testimony everywhere, with the teachers, with students, with everyone.  She had the Word of God in her heart burning like a flame that could not be quenched.

She shared the Gospel at the cost of many people even calling her a fanatic and mocking her.  As she shared the Gospel, her dark brown eyes glowing and her dark wavy hair framed her serene face as she spoke in a calm but strong voice.

There was no stopping her.  The Word of God was like fire in her bones and a bubbling brook that could not be stopped.

Eventually, many, many came to know Christ including teachers, students, and others.  Those who accepted came to a deeper relation with Jesus because of the powerful Bible studies she started.  Some folks over the years may have retreated and backed out, but many more came to a deeper walk with God.

I saw her some years ago in Mumbai.  I was sad that I had misplaced her phone number.  I had people asking me where she was. 

She was an amazing lady.  The Spirit of God was upon her life.  She walked the walk and talked the talk, with kindness and love.

When the fire of God is upon a person's life, people search out and look for them because they carry the blessing of the anointing.

  

Mrs. Bhakre was touched by the fire of God.

When we are touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit, we can never go back to the plains of compromise.  If we slide back, the Holy Spirit keep convicting us to move forward…and if we really belong to God, we will respond to that conviction.

We keep moving forward to the hills of holiness and we never stop until we reach the mountain top…spiritually speaking.

Jeremiah 20:9: "…..But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not hold back."

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

Out of Dark Waters - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 17, 2016

I was in the midst of a dark gloomy season when all hell was breaking loose and things were going wrong.  During that time, it was very difficult to even look to the Heavens to pray.

I went into a frantic mode of endless doing and rushing around, sometimes went into a retreat mode where I would slip under my covers and hide under the comfort of a blanket and shut out the world because situations were becoming overwhelming.

One particular night, I felt as if I was drowning in dark waters!  I think I must have cried out to God, I cannot exactly remember what happened, but there was a lot of cry in my soul.

A few nights later, I had a dream.  I had a dream that I was in a place, which was dark and grey-black and full of brownish colored creatures – demons!  In my dream I kept rebuking them and as I did, they would slink away.  Yet after a while, they would come creeping back to invade my home and cause disruption and chaos.

In my dream, I was finally exhausted.  I was tired and I could not rebuke them anymore because they kept coming back.  It was as if the backdoor was open and they found their way back again and again.

Tired, I finally started to sing a song in my dream, weakly in a whisper.  It was an old song I knew from before, but later, I suddenly started singing new words with a new song.  I was making up the words instantly in my dream.   I could hear my voice ringing out powerfully.

Then…something started to happen.   the little demons started to flee!  As they disappeared, they finally were gone.  They did not come back.

I looked around me in wonder.  The sky turned a beautiful blue and the air around me became crystal clear and clean.  In my dream, I could hear my own voice singing and as I awoke, I could still hear echoes of the song resounding.  I got up with an amazing pure washed peaceful feeling as if I had met with the Lord in a special encounter in that dream.

I do feel that Jesus revealed to me the secret warfare of songs of praise that have the power to dissipate demons.  There is a verse, Psalm 149:6 "May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands."

From that day on wards, I found a breakthrough in my situation.  I started to come out of the dark waters and my situation started to change, more importantly something changed within me.

In the next few days, I opened the Bible and the verse fell on my eye very clearly as if the Lord was speaking to me directly, " And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD" Psalm 40:3

Amazing things happen when we learn to sing in dark times.  It has the power to rescue us out of dark waters.

It may start as a weak whisper, but will some become a powerful torrent under the Holy Spirit and bring forth miracles and change!

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

Winter Holidays - Devotional: Silver Rain. September 16, 2016

When I was small, during the cold freezing winter holidays in Darjeeling, we would sojourn to a sunny warm golden place.

In those days, tall fir trees towered over red-roofed cottages scattered all over the school campus that we lived in.  In that forested huge campus, house burglaries were common during the winter months.  The campus was deserted and lonely in the winter months.  Everyone traveled to a warm place or their hometowns for the long cold season.

I remember one scary night, our neighbor had a burglar visit her home while she was in the house and he even pushed her down roughly and ran out of the house!  Thank God he did not do worse!  She rushed out of her cottage shouting loudly and came to our home that night for dinner while she relayed the horror of the event.

We had some valuables in our home.  Each holiday, I would come back to our cottage with a fearful anticipation that we would be robbed.  Nearly every winter holiday, we would hear tales of house robberies.  The thieves were never caught.  The thought that they were lurking around watching us was eerie, they were unknown, unrecognized, but watching us…

When I was ten years old, one day when we were back from the winter holidays, I asked my mom why she was not afraid of a robbery and she answered calmly and confidently, "I pray for the safety of our home and our travel, and we are always safe and our home will never get robbed."

At that time, I wondered why God would protect our home and possessions.  Why would He care for something material?  I could understand Him protecting us, but why possessions?

Mysteriously, our cottage was never touched.  It slowly dawned on me that when we turn to God for everything, He literally takes up our case and protects us all the way…to our belongings and possessions and of course us.

Entrusting ourselves and our possessions to the Lord is the safest place we can put ourselves and our belongings.  While we do not idolize our belongings, when we pray, our belongings are safe, our family is safe, and our children are safe.  There is safety in Christ.

True, there are those dear people who have suffered terrible losses and those are the secrets of God we will never know, but in my personal experience, when we entrust things to Jesus, He really takes us into His strong tower, securing and sealing our lives with His safety.

One day, some time ago, I came across a verse in the Bible "Ezra 8:21 "There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions." 

"Wow!"  I thought when I saw that verse "God protects our travel, our journeys and our possessions!"  The secret here is that we need to look to Him for Him to do that.  If we never pray about these things, they are uncovered.  Here, the potent truth is that they fasted and asked God!  They did not take His protection for granted.

Psalm 5:11 

 11 But let all who take refuge in You be glad;

    let them ever sing for joy.

Spread Your protection over them,

    that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.

Silver Rain is a devotional based on true incidents.  I called it Silver Rain because I had a vision of beautiful silver rain falling down.  I saw a musical later with beautiful gentle rain falling down.  Later, I opened the Bible and found the verse Ezekiel 34:26 "I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing."  There is always blessing in showers of rain.  The Word of God refreshes and replenishes us spiritually.  May Silver Rain replenish and refresh you.  This is my prayer for you.
Rita.

Some of the names of the individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.