Bridal Joy
BRIDAL JOY
So much has been stirring in my heart in this season, but what I want to share is about being a set- apart bride for Jesus. More and more he has been speaking to me about this subject and what it truly means to be His - ready for Jesus to return. Before I just dive in though, let me tell you about a simple, but beautiful, dream I had.
In this dream I was walking down a road and ahead of me were two revival tents. As I got closer my spirit leaped with Joy! Jesus was drawing me to the tent of His presence. The power of the Holy spirit honestly was so strong that it pulled me right into the tent! The dream was short, however what struck me was how I felt. It was childlike joy and electric with excitement! But how often have we not focused on the joy of being His and getting ready for his second coming? Instead we fidget in our seats, fearful of what Jesus might think of our lives and how we live them. Worried we are not cutting it in this department. Not doing enough, being enough. Or just not willing to lay everything down for Him.
In Matthew 25 you find the parable of the ten virgins. You have the five virgins that were ready and wise for the return of Jesus, and the five that were foolish and unwise. In the story only five out of the ten had their oil filled and ready for Jesus. I know for me I want to be ready. We should not be foolish, but ready for the coming of our King. Being His bride is serious business. But for now, I want to focus on the virgins that were wise. The ones ready for Him and how they might have felt. Were they giddy? I feel like they were. I think they were a little like me in my dream. Filled with Joy!!
Being the bride of Jesus is so special and we should view being ready for Him as an honor. The preparation of a holy wedding to a holy God. I think part of what takes away from the joy of this process is the wrong view of being set apart. Last year my beautiful friend Anya spoke on this very topic. I remember fidgeting in my seat. My pulse going a little quicker as thoughts of shame and condemnation arose. Not because of her message but because of lies that were swirling in my head. You see as I asked the Lord about it, He spoke into my spirit, “You were taught counterfeit sanctification”. According to Webster’s, the definition for sanctification is the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion, and the definition of Sanctify is to be set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use. The definition of counterfeit is made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive. As I dug deeper with the Lord, he showed me that being raised in an atmosphere of religion had taught me that following every rule to the T was what brought sanctification; that if I were not perfect, or even worse, lost my entire self I would not be set apart. All lies! All deception. I believed I had to change everything about me in order to be holy, a robot really. But God in His goodness showed me that he loved who I was because He made me as I should be. That being set apart meant all those facets of who I am are meant to be submitted under Him.
To quote Daniel Sabo “God doesn’t want to change what’s different about you. He wants you to take what is different about you and submit it to him” Now that should fill you with joy! The more I shake off the lies and walk into His truth the more I long to be all His. The more I want to submit my body, soul, and spirit unto the King of Kings. I have gone from fidgeting in fear of being not enough to learning to lay all things down for Jesus, my bridegroom. Like a bride on her wedding day I want to be excited, giddy, and joy filled as I am being set apart. I want to be like the wise virgins filled with the Holy spirit. Allowing his empowering grace to transform me more and more into the likeness of Jesus. To be a wise bride and not a foolish one. My friends sometimes it is hard to lay everything down for Him. But believe me when I say there is more joy in laying it all down than there is in not. This world offers extraordinarily little in comparison to, as Heidi Baker would say, “Being a laid down lover of God.”
Let us remember that in 1st peter 1:16 it says, “For the scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” And in Revelation 19:7-8 it says “Let us be glad and rejoice and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.”. So, this week, I encourage to ask Holy spirit to see the Joy of being a set-apart bride. Ask him to show you places that need to be submitted and laid down for your future wedding with him. He is so excited to invite you on the journey of being his bride.