Lately I have been swept up in a whirlwind of the goodness of God and have been so preoccupied by all the wondrous things he is doing across the planet. My heart has been fixed on all the testimonies, all the prophetic words and all the powerful movements sweeping the earth that all point to the greatest reality; the goodness of our God and his true nature.
With this being said though, these past few days I have been slapped through the face with the reality of the war that is still being fought, not between the church and her enemies, but between the church and herself. It is like a dagger to my heart to know that the body of Christ is still 'cutting off its nose to spite its face' and insists on stabbing and wounding itself repeatedly, hindering its overall performance as a unit and making it less effective on the earth. Rick Joyner's vision of the army at war with itself in the book 'The Final Quest' comes to mind, and I think we all as Christians and members of the beautiful body of Christ need to realise that we can only take this, and will only win this war if we are in radical unity with each other across ALL denominations. I believe that one of the first steps to getting to this place of unity and oneness we are called to is to lose the 'denominational titles' that hang over our entranceways and keep us reclusive and too inwardly focused on our little portion of the Kingdom. God is bigger than that and he can not and will not be confined to one group of people who think they've got all the right methods and have 'found the perfect balance and theology.' No, no and no.
Inclusivity and not exclusivity is the business of the Kingdom.
I know my dad in heaven and I know that he is into variety, he loves it. He didn't just create one type of dog, but multiple species of the same animal, he didn't just create one tree, but thousands of variations. His love for variety is even more evidently displayed in his finest creation, human beings. I'm sure you have noticed by now that none of us are alike. Just when you think you've seen it all, another wild and wacky character pops out of the woodwork and shows you that the human race is a very colourful breed.
Did God create us and wire us all differently only to try and squash us into a mould? Were we free as birds before salvation and then upon coming to Christ, forced to slip into the 'one size fits all' glove that the church thinks it needs to wear? My knowledge of the person of God tells me otherwise.
Our God is the most vibrant and colourful being in all existence and we are just chips off the old block. He loves people who are conservative just as much as the extravagant 'fairy' that dances at the front of the church every Sunday. The same goes for churches and movements. When we realise that the Lord is not looking at us from a behavioral lens and not judging our every every move, but rather that he looks at the spirit of a believer for he is a spirit being himself and everything pertaining to the Kingdom is in fact spiritual. When we fully get a revelation of this, we learn to rejoice in wildly celebrate each other, and who we all are in spirit. I am a person that loves and appreciates art, creativity and colour, and when I think of the bride, I think of her as a multi-faceted, colourful, dancing bride that celebrates each of her parts and the different function they have, for she knows that an arm brings just as much joy to the heart of the father than a leg or a mouth. Imagine removing your ear because it couldn't speak, or amputating your arm because you couldn't walk on it. This is absurd, and so is persecuting fellow members of the body of christ because they don't 'play church' the way you do.
With all this being said, I have read the story and I know how it ends. The body of Christ comes out victoriously. Jesus is coming back for a bride who is unified and knows that 'the whole is greater than the sum of parts.' I am ridiculously excited to be alive at such an hour as this and get to play a part in this Kingdom. I love seeing the daily transformation of the bride as she begins to look more like the Song of Solomon portrayal each day.
I myself am on a journey of learning to see a different facet of the father in every single person I meet, and in every single church I visit. I am learning that in this Kingdom, it is vital relate to each other on a spiritual level for that is where our true identity lies. When we look at each other through the lenses of our actions and behavior we only set ourselves up to become cold and judgmental at the imperfections of those around us.
One thing I am wildly passionate about is the bride of Christ, and I can go from a peaceful dove to a fierce lioness in a moment, at the sight of anybody trying to persecute, condemn or put the bride into religious bondage. We are called to follow in the footsteps of our father who is the author of love. Walk in love, demonstrate love and abound in love. That is our commission and that is the force that binds us all together and will lead us into victory.
Showing posts with label Bride of Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bride of Christ. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Wedding Ceremony
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being a guest at the wedding ceremony of two beautiful lovers of the Lord, and although I have not known this couple for very long, it was a very emotional experience for me.
As the church is portrayed in scripture (particularly the Song of Solomon) as being a bride with Christ as her bridegroom, when I was witnessing the ceremonial coming together of two people yesterday, it was a spiritual experience for me as it was a portrayal and a foreshadow of what The Great Wedding Ceremony is going to be like when the rider on the white horse comes back for his ravishing bride.
Tears flowed from the eyes of yesterday's bridegroom as he awaited the arrival of his beloved. Before he even had a glimpse of her in all her bridal glory, he was beset with emotion and just watching him weep tears of love and joy made me, as a witness, very emotional as well.
Much like this groom, one day, Jesus will be standing awaiting the arrival of the bride that has for centuries been prepared for him, and as he stands and anticipates her, his eyes will be decorated with the colours of passion and love as his heart burns for her, for the church, for us.
After the procession of elegant bridemaids had paved the way for the gorgeous bride, she finally appeared, and arm-in-arm with her father, gracefully walked down an aisle of rosepetals, with eyes locked on her beloved who had been waiting for her, anticipating her, desiring her. She was clothed in the finest white dress elegantly caressing her female figure, and her head was adorned with a veil that cascaded from the top of her head.
As I saw her, The Bride of Christ came to mind. As we are called the Bride, we too will one day walk down the aisle, and standing before us, desiring us with every fibre of his being, will be Jesus, our bridegroom King. Just as yesterday's bride had been prepared for her beloved, so the Bride of Christ will be. She will be clothed in a gown of righteousness, not her own, but the righteousness paid for on her behalf by the Lord Jesus. She will be dripping with grace and the favor of the Lord's face will shine upon her, and she shall reflect this magnificent light to the world that watches her dance towards Him. As I saw the bride with her beautiful veil flowing around her face, it was an image of the Holy Spirit. Much like this veil that covered her, so The Bride of Christ will be saturated and submerged in the Holy Spirit who will escourt her down the aisle as he has been the one helping her, over time in the preparation process with which she now resembles the bride she was destined throughout scripture to be. She is perfect, she is flawless and her eyes have no peripheral vision, they only have the ability to focus on that which is before them, The Bridegroom King. She has no spot, no blemish, and she knows this. She does not wear a black cloak of condemnation, guilt or fear, this was removed from her long ago, on the day she first met her beloved. As she floats towards the face of beauty she has been dreaming of her whole life, her mind is solely flooded with thoughts of him. She is not concerned about how she looks for she knows she is the most beautiful thing in all creation according to her beloved. To him, she is a lily of the valley, there is no one like her. She is mature, not schooled in the things of this world, her mind not distracted by every wind of teaching, but she knows, by personal experience, the love, grace and favor of her beloved. She believes who she is because he whispers words of identity into her ears. His voice is the one she is familiar with and is the voice she has followed and will follow for all eternity.
He brings her then, to the banqueting table where together, they feast on the abundance of his house. His provision for her stretches beyond what the eye can see or what the mind can comprehend. Joy overflows as they drink new wine from the cup of salvation with arms interlinked. When she has drunk her fill, he whispers "Come away with me my darling" and together they go into eternity with hearts ever praising, and eyes ever gazing upon eachother's beauty.
As the church is portrayed in scripture (particularly the Song of Solomon) as being a bride with Christ as her bridegroom, when I was witnessing the ceremonial coming together of two people yesterday, it was a spiritual experience for me as it was a portrayal and a foreshadow of what The Great Wedding Ceremony is going to be like when the rider on the white horse comes back for his ravishing bride.
Tears flowed from the eyes of yesterday's bridegroom as he awaited the arrival of his beloved. Before he even had a glimpse of her in all her bridal glory, he was beset with emotion and just watching him weep tears of love and joy made me, as a witness, very emotional as well.
Much like this groom, one day, Jesus will be standing awaiting the arrival of the bride that has for centuries been prepared for him, and as he stands and anticipates her, his eyes will be decorated with the colours of passion and love as his heart burns for her, for the church, for us.
After the procession of elegant bridemaids had paved the way for the gorgeous bride, she finally appeared, and arm-in-arm with her father, gracefully walked down an aisle of rosepetals, with eyes locked on her beloved who had been waiting for her, anticipating her, desiring her. She was clothed in the finest white dress elegantly caressing her female figure, and her head was adorned with a veil that cascaded from the top of her head.
As I saw her, The Bride of Christ came to mind. As we are called the Bride, we too will one day walk down the aisle, and standing before us, desiring us with every fibre of his being, will be Jesus, our bridegroom King. Just as yesterday's bride had been prepared for her beloved, so the Bride of Christ will be. She will be clothed in a gown of righteousness, not her own, but the righteousness paid for on her behalf by the Lord Jesus. She will be dripping with grace and the favor of the Lord's face will shine upon her, and she shall reflect this magnificent light to the world that watches her dance towards Him. As I saw the bride with her beautiful veil flowing around her face, it was an image of the Holy Spirit. Much like this veil that covered her, so The Bride of Christ will be saturated and submerged in the Holy Spirit who will escourt her down the aisle as he has been the one helping her, over time in the preparation process with which she now resembles the bride she was destined throughout scripture to be. She is perfect, she is flawless and her eyes have no peripheral vision, they only have the ability to focus on that which is before them, The Bridegroom King. She has no spot, no blemish, and she knows this. She does not wear a black cloak of condemnation, guilt or fear, this was removed from her long ago, on the day she first met her beloved. As she floats towards the face of beauty she has been dreaming of her whole life, her mind is solely flooded with thoughts of him. She is not concerned about how she looks for she knows she is the most beautiful thing in all creation according to her beloved. To him, she is a lily of the valley, there is no one like her. She is mature, not schooled in the things of this world, her mind not distracted by every wind of teaching, but she knows, by personal experience, the love, grace and favor of her beloved. She believes who she is because he whispers words of identity into her ears. His voice is the one she is familiar with and is the voice she has followed and will follow for all eternity.
He brings her then, to the banqueting table where together, they feast on the abundance of his house. His provision for her stretches beyond what the eye can see or what the mind can comprehend. Joy overflows as they drink new wine from the cup of salvation with arms interlinked. When she has drunk her fill, he whispers "Come away with me my darling" and together they go into eternity with hearts ever praising, and eyes ever gazing upon eachother's beauty.
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