A Message For Women Of God... Or To Those Who Are Not...

Recently I was blessed to share a message with the ladies of my church. Several people were touched by what I had shared and so I have decided to post what I shared. I hope it blesses you and gives you something to think about...

A Bride... What Does That Mean?

When I look back to when I was first in love with my husband…

•  I knew I needed to purposefully keep my purity in check for him and I felt like I’d prepared to be his wife all my life.

•  I did not know him fully, but I adored him.

• I wanted to be with him, to talk to him all the time, to be seen with him,

• I wanted to be known as belonging to him

•  I even wanted to dress in clothing he’d appreciate.

•  I wanted to know what he thought.

•   I wanted to please him.

•  I wanted to serve him.

•  I dreamed of children someday, and to have those children look like him and be like him and

•  learn our ways as a couple,

•  teaching them how we work together as a team.

•  Showing them that their daddy’s ways were the best route to a good life; a life of love and deep down joy.

•   I wanted to do things with our family.

These are just a few of the dreams a Bride may have. These desires were not labeled in my heart as responsibilities, but joys!  Did you know that the church is the “Bride of Christ”? So as a person who has accepted Christ as her Savior you are His bride, the fulfillment of which will be at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb referred to in Revelation. 

(Revelation 19:7-9).

Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready.
⁸ Fine linen, bright and clean,
    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

⁹ Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Those are some of my FAVORITE verses!  

If we are followers of Jesus Christ we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

    God loves us so much Christ gave His life for us. He is passionate about us!  Even before we were followers! (John 3:16)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

     We also know that He is always at work for our best interest. He will take the difficult things in life and make good of them if we allow Him to do so.   (Romans 8:28) ²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

     He has a plan to prosper us. (Jer. 29:11)

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

     He is with us always. (Matthew 28:20b) … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

    He wants to have a conversation with us all the time. (1 Thess. 5:17) ¹⁷ pray continually,

    He wants us to think of Him as our best friend. (John 15:13-15) ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

     It is His joy to have that relationship with us! (Hebrews 12:2) ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

    He is jealous for us. (Exodus 20:2-6) ² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

   ³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

   ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

By the way, God’s jealousy is not man’s jealousy. You know the scenario, the man comes home, finds his wife in another man’s arms and in shock goes into a rage! No, God is jealous FOR us, not ABOUT us!  He wants our best as we’ve already discussed and when we do not follow Him closely we lose God’s best for us! He is jealous for us!

Now that’s a romance!

Did you notice verse 7 of Revelation19… “…For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”  So I started thinking… What kind of bride am I? What kind of bride are you?

•  Do we adore Christ?

•  Do we want to talk to Him in prayer continuously, knowing and trusting that He is there and wants our best, even when that means circumstances may be difficult for a while? 

•  Do we want to know what He thinks about the decisions we are struggling with?

•  Do we want to please Him?

•  Do we dress respectfully for Him?

•  Do we have spiritual children? In other words have we told others about this awesome Groom we have and led them to a saving faith in Him, adding to His children?

•  Are we mentoring others, formally or informally to help them resemble their Father?

•  Are we connected to a family of God, a church family?

•  Do we serve God when He asks?

•  Are we practicing a life of purity? And if you are, is it out of love or out of responsibility?

Or do we resemble the world? Married in name only - married, but have grown weary of it.

 Do we sometimes skip church to have our own version of “Sabbath fun”? Hebrews 10:25 says “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

          Do we serve God under duress?

Do we hate the word submissive? Do we want to be in control all the time?

 Is dealing with the process of having spiritual children just not something we want to get into?  

 Have we had an affair with the god of wealth, family, beauty, popularity? (Or anything else that takes our focus off of the One True God?) That is adultery, by the way! Is God stepping on our toes tonight?

But there is Good News!  We - YOU can get that passion back again!  In a good marriage counseling session, where you have been the unfaithful spouse, the counselor will have you to look back at when you first met your spouse… recalling the joy of expectation and the joy of everything being new in your relationship… remembering the pure joy and the freedom of your love.

The Counselor will lead you to confess your sin of walking away mentally/spiritually/physically from your spouse. You must ask for forgiveness. But there is one more step… You must accept forgiveness.

God is that spouse. Ready to forgive you; ready to start over. He is not going to walk away. He is still standing at the door and knocking… (Revelation 3:20)  ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.  God is NOT a God of second chances… He’s a God of ANOTHER chance! No matter how many times you’ve failed He is waiting for you to return to Him. (2 Cor. 7:1) Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

If God is convicting you that you have been unfaithful to Jesus, and you want to make it right tonight and start fresh you can do that.

I’d also like to speak to those of you who have never prayed and asked Jesus to be your Savior… The Bible says in Romans 10:9 that… If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  So if you have never asked for His forgiveness and never made a life turning decision to follow His lead, I believe that God is speaking to your heart right now. You may have known earthly “love” but you have not known “true love” yet. Jesus loved you so much that He died in your place for your sin. All you have to do is accept that gift.  He has a place in heaven He is preparing for each of His loved ones, ones who have made the decision to ask Him into their life. If you’d like that kind of love in your life, the kind of love that gives a deep down joy, a deep down peace, even in difficult situations in life… all it takes is an honest prayer of surrender.  
 

Dear Lord, Jesus,

Thank you for joining us here. Thank you that You love us. You have seen the hearts of all reading this.  Lord, I ask that your will be done and that no one leaves this time without getting things right with you. We hold on to Philippians 1:6… “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”.  Please bless everyone who has read this, keeping them safe in your loving arms and we thank you in the name that is LOVE, Jesus. Amen!                                  

(For more information, you may contact me or go to a church that teaches the Bible as God's truth, His love letter to us.)

Many Blessing,

Until All Have Heard!