Like a Bride adorned for her Husband

2010
Sunday, 17 January
04:53:22 - (68 days to go!)

Lord: Your God is a great big God. He is not confined to wood metal or stone, like the thousands of idols most of the world worshipped, and still do. The Bible doesn't always fully express the delight and thrill I, the Lord your God, take in the creation I have made. When I made the earth, formed the land, and filled it with every living thing, I delighted in everything I made. I enjoyed making it perfect, and as I laughed and sang, creation began to sing with me. My breath caused the wind to blow, the trees began to dance in the wind. The birds soared on the thermals, swooping to the earth in the first formation dance ever. The animals of the field looked up from their grazing and joined their voices to the choir, why even the stars sang in their heavenly pathways, rejoicing with me, and sharing in my joy.

Throughout the Bible you will catch glimpses of this delight I feel in my creation, and of the great love I have for all things and all people. In Isaiah 62, I was rejoicing in my people whom I formed. I selected them and drew them apart. To show you the delight I feel in you, I had to use pictures that you can relate to, so I used the intimate picture of, the delight a young man feels in his new bride. That is the delight, I feel in you, when your righteousness shines like a bright light. A bride flourishes and blossoms in the love of her husband, you too can flower like a perfect rose, in the love and adoration I feel for you.

So great is my love for you, that I have allowed my Holy Spirit to dwell in you. My Spirit tunes you into, the things of heaven. He provides you with spiritual gifts beyond any natural human gifts. These are my wedding presents, to my bride, the Church. Wear these gifts that I give you and value them, like a bride values the ring on her finger, the symbol of oneness with her husband. Recognise the gifts I have given to each member of the body, encourage their use and their growth, for these gifts are not for your pleasure alone, but for the Church to grow and be effective. As my bride, the Church, uses the gifts I have given you, and you shall be like a young woman adorning herself with beautiful fragrances, and making herself beautiful for her husband. I laugh, and I shout for joy, when I see my church thus clothed.

When Jesus, my beloved son, visited his mother in Cana, they went together to a family wedding. In the first public miracle he performed, Jesus showed them, how much I care about every detail. Wine is provided as a sign of celebration and joy. It is also a sign of love, and the wine flowing at a wedding helps all the guests to enter into the celebration and joy of the young couple. For the wine to run out when things were in full flood, was not only a disgrace to the family, but would be seen as a disaster for the couples relationship with each other. By turning the water, some 160 gallons of it, into the finest wine available, I showed how much I love and value them, and in turn, how much I value you.

I am the bridegroom, and you my beloved church, are my bride. I love you more than any groom ever loved his bride. I take great delight in you, for you bring joy and laughter into my house, and I want the very best for you. Do not be afraid to explore, use and delight, in the many spiritual gifts I have poured out on you. They are given that you may be used to help heal our broken and hurting family. I came into the world to bring life. I came to heal and to save my broken world. I have defeated the evil one, and we are now doing a mop up operation to bring home our wounded children.

As I delight in you my beloved, delight in me, and in the work we do together.