Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Since my wife and I just celebrated our 7,000-day wedding anniversary, it reminded me of when my wife and I were initially married in Jerusalem -- before our major wedding in the States.
During that special evening in Jerusalem, my wife elaborately prepared for our wedding. It was just a small gathering at her father's house, but it was so sweet. Her dad prepared beautiful and delicious Israeli delicacies. We built a chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) from her great grandfather's tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). A Paul Wilbur CD played softly in the background, and about a hundred candles lit the living room. My soon-to-be wife had spent hours bathing and doing her hair and getting beautiful for the occasion, and finally, out she came. It all was so romantic, well planned, and wonderfully prepared.
We are our Lord's bride! And in the same way, we have a responsibility to prepare for His return! We have some work to do, don't we?
Let's examine our hearts today and lay it all out before Him. Let's give Him the first fruits of our day in worship and study and prayer and allow Him to refine and cleanse us -- that we may be found a bride without wrinkle or spot – that we would be found a holy and righteous and beautiful bride for Him and our celebration together would be glorious!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we press in closer to the Lord and His calling on our lives, the enemy becomes more and more fierce, throwing all kinds of darts of fear and doubt our way. But as beloved children of God, we can trust the Lord to defend us! God has an invisible army all around, ready to protect us in our times of need. When the battle intensifies, when the enemy seems to be attacking from every side, when it seems all too great for our eyes, know that the Lord has placed His protection all around you! We may not see it — but we must walk by faith!
David is called a “man after God’s own heart.” Considering that he lusted after his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery with her, and had her husband murdered, the Lord’s description of him is remarkable. How could a man who was convicted a murderer and an adulterer also be called one after God’s own heart?
“Break up your fallow ground.” In this context, the Lord is referring to breaking up the ground overrun with weeds and thorns creating a hardness to produce righteous fruit.
Momentum is simply the force or speed of movement that carries an object to its final destination. If you want to break through, you need to have a certain amount of momentum. In order for a rocket to blast into space, it needs tremendous momentum to break the gravitational barrier – but with the enormous power of jet engines and rocket fuel the ship is propelled faster and faster till it breaks free of the earth’s gravitational pull.
This one of several theophanies found in the Old Testament of the “preincarnate” Yeshua (Jesus). In this story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These three men refused to bow and worship another God besides the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. While they knew that God was able to deliver them, they also knew that He might choose not to do so–and whether He delivered them or not had no influence on their loyalty to Him. These three faithful Hebrews were convinced that idolatry was a non-starter for them, no matter what! Their unquestionable loyalty brought wrath upon their heads. Nebuchadnezzar’s violent rage moved him to increase the furnace fires seven times!
Every time I turn on the news it seems the new buzzword is – CHANGE! So how can we just shift gears and change? Let’s learn a lesson about basic automotive mechanics. Generally a car has between 4 and 5 gears. The first gear maximizes power in exchange for speed. As you move through the gears, you can continue to go faster, yet without using any more power, and before you know it – you have to look at the speedometer – cause nobody wants a speeding ticket!
When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians, he was speaking to a church that was surrounded with sexual immorality. The city of Corinth was a haven of hedonism where many temples hosted hundreds of prostitutes which were visited by vast multitudes of foreigners. In the ancient world, the term “Corinthianize” indicated a life of sexual promiscuity.