Wednesday August 22, 2012

Get together with a few believers and seek to       provide for the poor and needy some time this week.

 

Read Isaiah 54:5-8, Mk 2:18-20, Ephesians 5:22-32, Rev 19:7, 21:2

 

They say that a woman is most beautiful on her wedding day. And rightly so!!! The church is referred to a bride, the Bride of Christ. The roots of this image come from the Old Testament where God refers to Israel as His bride and to Himself as her husband. But unfortunately Israel proved unfaithful and committed adultery with other false gods. She prostituted herself to idols and statues.

 

When Jesus came He referred to Himself as the Groom, whose presence among the disciples made fasting inappropriate.

 

Later in Ephesians we see that Christ loves the Church and gave Himself up for her so that the Church might blossom into her best. Christ will present the Church as radiant, blameless and without spot or wrinkle. Through the love of Christ Jesus the Church will become holy and blameless.

 

The Apostle John sees a future revelation of the wedding of the Lamb. Soon the day will come when the church is presented and ready to be wed again to the Lord.  On that day the church will be her absolute best and her most beautiful. At that point the church will be void of sin, of evil, of hypocrites and wolves. All those who are pretending and hiding in the background will be finally and completely removed. The church will be pure and holy, ready to receive her bridegroom and be united to Him for all eternity.

 

This image of the church as the Bride represents God’s unqualified love towards His people. He has chosen the church and redeemed the church and lavished her with His undeserved love and grace.

 

What is required of us is undivided attention and total loyalty.  God demands that we love Him with all of our thinking facilities, our emotions and our ability to act and react and engage with people and the world.

 

 

Prayer:

¨ Pray for your cell leaders and session leaders to be loving God with their entire heart and soul and mind and strength. Pray that this love would filter downwards to each of us. Pray that we would all be growing into this high calling of love.

¨ Pray that your Committee of Management would be loving God in this selfless way too. Pray that all their decisions would continue to flow out of their love for God.