Sunday 27 May 2018

Blessed is the Bride of Christ

The marriage covenant is so important to God that it is woven through the pages of the Bible from the book of Genesis right through to the book of Revelation. The goal of a covenant marriage is to Glorify God and exemplify Christ to the world. Jesus makes it crystal clear that if we are to be His Bride we have to give up this life

Source: We Believe 2016
I was recently praying to Abba Father and I asked Him; ‘what would a service look like if all His children in attendance came with the sole purpose and desire to meet and Glorify His beloved Son Jesus Christ?’ Can you Imagine a service where the future Bride of Jesus Christ turns up with one purpose and one purpose only; to spend intimate time worshipping their beloved, their first love (Revelation 2:4). A gathering of believers, so on fire with passion for Jesus that no water could put the fire out; Song of Solomon 8:7 ‘Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away’. Wow what a service that would be.

Song of Solomon 5 tells us that the Shalamite woman heard a knocking at her door but she was sleepy and slow to get off her bed, when she did eventually get off her bed and open the door her lover was gone. I pray that Holy Spirit will help the Bride of Christ to never be sleepy; Revelation 3:2 ‘Wake up!’ I pray that we will be wide awake and always ready with extreme excitement for when our lover returns. Imagine the excitement of a newly married couple coming together for the first time on their wedding night. I believe that they would be so focused on one another that nothing from the world would distract them from their night of intimacy. What an even greater honour and privilege for the Bride of Christ Jesus, to be in a intimate relationship with the beloved son of God Almighty, to Love Him, to Praise Him and to have fellowship with Him.

Source: Pinterest
From the beginning to the end of the book Song of Solomon we witness the Shalamite woman growing in confidence and maturity. In Song of Solomon 2:16 she says; ‘My beloved is mine…….’, she lacks confidence and is selfish, she is claiming her lover first but by Song of Solomon 6:3 she says; ‘I am my beloved’s…..’; now we see evidence of less selfish behaviour and she is giving herself to her lover before claiming Him as hers. Then finally in Song of Solomon 7:10 she says; ‘I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me’; now she has matured and confidently knows that her lover claims her as His own. I pray that as the Bride of Jesus Christ there is evidence of us growing in maturity and that the Bride will confidently and boldly claim that she has made herself ready; Revelation 19:7 ‘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’, ready to spend all eternity with her beloved, He whom her soul loves and adores. Just the thought of it makes me want to dance like how King David danced, hallelujah to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The marriage covenant is so important to God that it is woven through the pages of the Bible from the book of Genesis right through to the book of Revelation. The goal of a covenant marriage is to Glorify God and exemplify Christ to the world. Jesus makes it crystal clear that if we are to be His Bride we have to give up this life; Luke 9:23-24 ‘Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it’. Jesus will not tolerate anything coming before him; Matthew 10:37 ‘Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me’. Jesus even warns us of the cost of following Him where He tells us in Matthew 10:22-23 that we will be hated by this world just like He was hated. We are also warned in Revelation 2:10 that persecution is coming, but we must stay strong and not conform to this world (Romans 12:2). We should know with confidence that we are born again of water and of the Spirit; John 3:5 ‘Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’.

The Living Holy Word of God warns us so many times that Jesus will return for His bride like a thief in the night; Revelation 3:3 ‘Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you’. It is therefore our responsibility to be ready at a fraction of a moments notice.

Father God in the Name of Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit I pray that you will continue to protect your Church on earth so that everything we do brings Glory to your Name.  Help us to always have the oil in our lamps (Matthew 25 1-13). Use us to be the beautiful feet of Jesus that bring the Good News to this world and let the people know that one day soon and very soon we are going to see the King. Thank you God Almighty for loving and protecting your children and thank you for the incredible gift of your beloved son Jesus.  We love and adore you with all our hearts. Amen.

Songs of Solomon 8:6 ‘Place me like a seal over your heart…….’.

God Bless.


Author: Christina O’Neill

May God bless and enrich your life
  
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4 comments:

  1. This blog clearly tells us that we should always be alert and prepared as Jesus is coming back for us soon, for which the precise time is known only to God Himself. 'The goal of a covenant marriage is to Glorify God and exemplify Christ to the world', let us pray that we are obedient to God's Word and that we exemplify God today so that people see Jesus in us, to His Glory, not ours. We can then wait with confidence for the returning Bridegroom. Thank you for this blessing this morning. God bless

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  2. What a breath of fresh air WOW , with all the bad and negative things going on in the world this blog shows us to remember where our focus lies! and that's on the reason we are here on this earth, to worship and be obey our great God , to focus on him alone on his kingdom and his glory as the blog says for us the bride to be ready for the return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. thank you dear sister in Christ for helping us through this Blog to re focus on what really matters
    Loved the HOEDOWN
    I saw the light , no more darkness no more night and
    ill fly away oh glory , ill fly away , when I die Hallelujah by and by ill fly away .AMEN


    loved the Hoedown

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  3. If only we fully understood what it means to be the 'Bride of Christ'. How we need to prepare ourselves and be ready not only for His return but also be ready if He should call us home as He can at any moment in time. Today I pray that the church will indeed come together with great expectation and excitement of spending time God's Throne room in pure Spirit filled worship with nothing else on our minds or in our hearts but to magnify Him together. Psalm 34:3. As the article says let's worship our beloved with a holy fire in us and burn bright for Him. Thank you for this encouraging and uplifting blog. Be blessed.

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  4. Thank for blog the words that reminds us we are to serve our Lord Jesus Christ with one accord while we are on the earth and prepare ourselves be ready for his coming.let us pray that we will not be caught by surprise of his appearance we will have oil in our lamps and fill with the holy spirit may the peace of the Almighty God be with all Amen

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