The God Who Pursues

Revelation 3:15-20 (Amplified Bible)

I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!

For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.

God has given me a huge burden for the body of Christ. I don't even know how to put it into words. When I enter into His word I see Him showing me what He is up to. Again, He is making His Bride ready but there is much work to be done. God is after hearts that are completely His. He will not settle for less. If He does, He does not love us. Because He knows that the only way we will be truly satisfied is when God has become everything to us. That is the way He created us. He is the only one that can satisfy our deepest desires and longings. So why do we settle for less? Why do we look to things of the world to fill us? Do we really love Him?

I am so thankful for a God who pursues us! The above scripture is a wonderful picture of Jesus lovingly pointing out to us where we stand sometimes, which is in the middle. He desires for us to be hot or cold. But not lukewarm. He comes after us and convicts and shows us where we fall short so we can get back on track and enjoy His fellowship again. So, are you hearing His voice? What is He talking to you about? Are you in the middle? Is He working on an area of your life that He will not seem to let up on? If so, you can be sure it's out of love. God desires for us to find our pleasure in Him and Him alone. Thank you God for going after us! Pursue us til we are consumed!

Are you preparing your wedding garments?

"And Jesus answered, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come, they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise& then he saith to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment; And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matt. 22: 1-3,5,8,9,11-14)

One Night with the King

One night with the King changes everything. One day in His courts could forever change my course. One moment in His presence and I’ll never be the same. One night with the King changes everything.

From a peasant to a queen, it had been my destiny to be chosen for such a time as this. I did not know all my dreams could become reality until I saw His face and His love captured me.

One night with the King changes everything. One day in His courts could forever change my course. One moment in His presence and I’ll never be the same. One night with the King changes everything.

(song lyrics from the movie)

Praise the King

How can I keep from singing Your praise? How can I ever say enough? How amazing is Your love? How can I keep from shouting Your name? I know I am loved by the King and it makes my heart want to sing.

(How can I keep from Singing?-Chris Tomlin)

Much Preparation

In Ancient Israel a cup was set in front of the woman of his choosing. Now it was up to her. Would she pick up the cup and drink of it? Slowly the woman extends her hand to the cup and then lifts it to her mouth to drink. From that moment on, her life is changed forever, and she is now betrothed to a man who dearly loves her. Now it was time for the man to go home to his parents and have a room prepared in their house, for the woman he was going to marry.

The woman eagerly asks when the wedding will take place. The bridegroom tells her that he is uncertain- as the decision is completely up to his father. Once the house is ready for her to come and live he will come for her. Excitingly he exclaims….it will be soon. Once everything is ready, the bridegroom and the groomsmen will go throughout the town blowing a ram’s horn alerting the bride that the time has come for the wedding.

The bride, in the meantime has her heart’s affection on the man of her dreams. He is the love of her life and she can’t keep her mind off of him. Out of her mouth is the endless chatter of “love” to anyone who will listen. She is a beaming ray of light and her face glows with the gesture that says, “Chosen”. She quickly becomes focused daily with making herself beautiful and purifying her heart for the big day. She also keeps her lamp full of oil and burning brightly by her bed in case he comes for her in the night. The time he will appear is uncertain, but one thing is for sure, she will be ready.

Much like an engagement in early Israel, the moment we drink of the cup (in faith) that Jesus sets before us we ourselves become betrothed to our Bridegroom.(Mark 14:23-24) The Father is preparing for us a room in His house and Jesus will return and receive us to Himself. (John 14:1-3)The hour is unknown as to when He will come for us and there is much to do to prepare. (Mat 24:36) Our hearts should be eagerly expecting His arrival at all times and not a moment should be wasted. After all, can you imagine Him showing up for us only to discover that we did not make ourselves ready for Him? (Jer 2:32)

As the Bride of Christ, our affections should be set on our true love. (Matt 22:37) Our mouth should be constantly proclaiming His love and of His coming to us. (Mark 16:15) We should be preoccupied with making ourselves beautiful for our coming King. This is the beauty of the heart, the desire to please our King. (1 Sam 16:7) As we sit at His feet in intimate relationship we become more like Him and He changes us from the inside out. (Phil 3:10) Our face should be aglow with a gesture that says, “Chosen” (1 Peter 2:9) and a light that draws others to ask the reason for our joy. (2 Cor 3:18) We need to keep a fully oiled lamp at all times incase our King came for us in the night. (Luke 12:35-36)And all of our plans will center on that unknown day that we know for certain will come soon. As we gaze upon His face, our hearts will long for hearing the words, “The king desires your beauty.” (Psalm 45:11) So, how are the plans coming so far?

Rev 19:7-8 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

A Ready Bride?

Well, let me start by saying “thank you” for all your sweet comments! I did not anticipate such love and encouragement. I do like Marianne’s comment on using the site for short bible lessons and sharing prayer needs. Usually my thoughts from the LORD turn out to be bible lessons anyway (I just can’t help it!) but certainly feel free to share prayer requests as well. I am up for anything that will help build up the body of Christ!

Ok, so on to my first thought. I just got through watching the movie “One Night with the King” (The story of Esther) again. I absolutely love this movie. Aside from the fictional love story and a few other details, the movie is pretty close to the biblical text. It gives a beautiful picture of the Persian Empire as well as how God’s hand was on His people while Haman the Agagite fought to make the Jews extinct.

But, I want to get back to the love story. Although it was not biblical in the movie, there is just something about watching a king standing in a royal robe in all his splendor and majesty extending his hand in marriage to his bride, the queen that makes my hands sweat and my heart throb out of my chest. Could this be eternity set in my heart? I believe so.

Let’s look at scripture. Rev 19:16 says: On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. According to scripture, This King, the Bridegroom is coming for His Bride. Rev 19:7 says: 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.

Those who have placed their faith in Jesus are the Bride, also known as the church. We are preparing for a wedding. So, I leave you with this question before I make any further comments on this topic: In knowing that we await the return of an awesome and mighty King that will extend His hand and take us to an incredible wedding, how does a bride make herself ready? I welcome all your comments!