Revelation 19:7-8 "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. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)"
This morning as I was beginning my day, knowing I had a wedding to attend tonight, I was thinking of when I would be writing my blog. I decided I would wait until I came home in case the Lord showed me something at the wedding that He would want me to say. No sooner than I had thought this, and the Lord said to me "Mother of the Bride". That was followed by the soft words "Holy Spirit" and then He began to explain to me what He meant.
The Lord showed me that the Holy Spirit is a kind of mother of the bride. I did not understand at first but then He began to show me how it related. The Bridegroom has loved the Bride since before she was born. Once the Bride was born, all of us who are in the Lord, we have been prepared by the Holy Spirit for betroval to the Groom. It has been an arranged marriage from the very beginning. We were born to be worshipers, born to be the bride of Jesus. There has never been a doubt on the part of the Groom who His Bride would be, nor on the part of the Holy Spirit (Mother of the Bride). The Holy Spirit has been preparing us for so long, so gently that we have not noticed the drawing, slowly, deliberately to be passionate about the Groom. I cannot tell you what day exactly that I began to feel so in love with my Lord. I can tell you when I was saved, how my life took so many turns and twists, times I felt so alone (of course I know now that I was never alone), and times I was not sure of my faith. And I can tell you when my faith began to rise up in me and secure me to a lasting trust in my God, but when that love began so deeply, so rich, no, I cannot exactly say when that was. I just remember waking up one morning and knew I could not live without my Lord. I knew that my life would be nothing if He was not here. I needed His presence as I needed to breathe. The love I feel for my Jesus sometimes makes my heart feel like it will burst, those are the moments I have to worshp Him, no matter where I am. I love Him so much. I have to worship Him always. I try so hard to find the words to tell Him how much I love Him. I am so thankful He can see my heart as I never find the words I think can tell Him how I adore Him, and how I need Him always with me.
The Holy Spirit has been wooing me to love the Lord more and more each day. My sweet Holy Spirit has been cleaning house, so to speak, not leaving one thing undone in me that would be displeasing to the Groom. All worldly things have to go, you know, as there is not place for them in the Bride of Christ. Anything that mocks, ridicules my Lord, anything that takes the place of what I should be standing for, what my Lord expects me to be, it all has to go. So the Holy Spirit has been showing me these things, a little at a time until they are no longer a part of who I am. He will continue doing so until the day my Lord returns for the Bride, making sure nothing creeps in unaware from the enemy, seeing that there is nothing that would cause any separation of His presence from me.
Just as a mother would encourage a perspective bride to prepare for the goom in an arranged marriage, knowing that this is the man she will wed, she instructs the bride in the finer ways of marriage, in the ways that would be pleasing to the groom. So the Holy Spirit instructs the Bride of Christ. Encourages her to read the Word of God, learning the ways to the heart of the Lord, learning how to worship Him, the words He likes to hear. The actions He likes to see, the love He needs to know you give to others in His name. The Holy Spirit shows us the expectations of our Groom. How He counts on our purity, our righteousness, our commitment to only Him. We are shown how to love our Groom, how to adore and worship only Him. At the same time, the Holy Spirit is giving us the messages of the Groom, sharing His heart with us, showing us how much we are loved, adored, and treasured; giving us the promises of the Groom, that He will never leave or forsake us, the treasures He has stored up in heaven for us, the home He has built for us to share with Him. Just as the bride's mother would, the Holy Spirit keeps that flame burning within us with the transferring of sweet messages of love back and forth between the Groom and the Bride.
Then one day, one day soon, I pray, we will hear the trumpet sounding the wedding anthem. The Bridegroom will appear, there will never be a grander wedding ceremony than this one, for everyone will see Him appear but not everyone will be getting married that day. Only the Bride, the righteous one, dressed in fine white linen, the Bride that has been prepared for this day, knowing she is going to glory with her Groom, it is she alone, who is getting married. As a booming voice sounds through the sky and asks "Who gives this Bride" and the precious Holy Spirit that has been with her throughout the years, steps up, gives the Bride a loving kiss on the cheek and says "I do". I can see in my spirit the radiant smiles on my God and the Holy Spirit as the beautiful Bride, righteous and ready, finally ready after all this time, steps forward to be claimed by the Bridegroom.
This 9th day of April, 2011, anticipation is growing, as I pray time is nearing. The Spirit and the bride adoringly say "Come" and the Bridegroom answers lovingly, "Yes, I am coming soon". Come Lord Jesus.
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