“Prophetic Word – Brooding of the Holy Spirit” Joe Joe Dawson

As someone who has backyard chickens, I appreciate this analogy. When a hen is broody, she sits on eggs. This broody phase keeps the eggs safe and warm so the chick inside can develop. When the development is complete, the chick breaks its way through the shell. The hen does not help or break the shell away, for it is an important process for the chick to grow strong, but she remains close by. Afterwards, she takes the chick under her wings, again for warmth and protection, and begins to teach the chick how to be a chicken…..where to find water, how to scratch and roost. The chick learns by watching the hen. Now, of course, the chick can be incubated by artificial means and kept under a heat lamp til it has enough feathers to stay warm, but it’s my observation that the chicks raised as God intended tend to look and behave healthier. The same applies for the child of God. In fact, there are a couple of verses that use this hen-chick analogy.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Matthew 23:37 KJV

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psalms 91:4 KJV

May we trust this brooding process so we can develop and grow strong into the people He created us to be!

Maranatha!

What Say You?

I look forward to speaking with all of them, and many more, but who would you choose and why? (Jesus isn’t listed here, but isn’t that a no-brainer?)

O Breath of Life-A Prayer for Today

The following hymn was written by Bessie Porter Head in 1920. Oh, how these words resonate with me and how applicable they are 100 years later!!

Oh Lord in Heaven, forgive us for our complacency and obese indulgences of worldly things. Breathe on us oh Breath of Life!

1 O Breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your church with life and pow’r;
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,
and fit your church to meet this hour.

2 O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
till humbly we confess our need;
then in your tenderness remake us,
revive, restore, for this we plead.

3 O Breath of love, come breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your church in ev’ry part.

4 O Heart of Christ, once broken for us,
’tis there we find our strength and rest;
our broken, contrite hearts now solace,
and let your waiting church be blest.

5 Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating 
while harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting,
equip your church to spread the light.

This has been my prayer for weeks, though I did not discover this hymn til Wednesday evening.

Lord, fit Your church to meet this hour!