22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27That
he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.
28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
WE are the bride of Christ. We the members, the church, singularly and corporately are the bride of Christ.
We are the BRIDE!!
I have prayed and I have prayed, and I have hurt and I have cried, over today's subject. But God has unsettled me in such a fervent way, that I can no longer put this subject off. Let me tell you all, that I deeply and truly love YOU! I never knew I could just fall in love with fellow Christians, but I do. The result of that love is that I hurt for you, I cry for you and cry out for you. There are some that will understand what I say, because they feel that same anguish that I do. There are some that will possibly read this and not give it another thought. They will go on about their merry way and forget what they have read, because well, it obviously does not apply to them. And then there are some that may be offended. But I can be quiet no longer. God has sat me down and quieted my fingers in regards to this blog, for some months now. I have obediently listened and learned and confirmed. My God is a gentleman and His Holy Spirit is a gentleman! So with all of my love I am putting this out there for edification. For growth to those that come into church on Sunday morning with their hearts burdened and they leave at the end of service in the same fashion. There is a slump to their shoulders, and a look of emptiness in their eyes. Bu,t they have complied with the weekly routine. They can now tell their friends and neighbors and even fellow church members that "yes, we were in church this Sunday". You may even go so far as to say or give a small account of what a wonderful sermon the preacher gave, or maybe what a not so wonderful sermon he gave. And if this is you, inside of yourself you hear how empty your words sound, and how empty and alone you still feel. Why is that, isn't church supposed to fill your heart? Getting dressed in your pretty clothes and ushering the family into the fourth from the last pew, shouldn't that resolve the questions that you still have within you. That emptiness, that you can't seem to fill? Your pretty house, your career, your kids, and even your most fashionable clothes? But yet another Sunday has come and gone, and your heart remains the same. Empty!
Let me tell you why. YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO! Ever since I was a kid I have heard preachers preach to their congregations, and be very vocal about worship and how in some churches worship is just to get you all worked up! A concert to get your emotions going! And yet these very same preachers, are hard pressed to obtain an amen or a haleluya!
My brothers and sisters. What a lie that we have been fed! Conviction comes with experience. Let me explain. If you have any type of walk/relationship with Jesus, you will know when you are in a place that does not honor God. Now to give those preachers their due, they are correct in some respects, there are places that are only a concert, a show if you will, to boost their very own ego's. When you are in a place like that, that is not actual concert, but a church service turned concert for egos, then my friend, run! However there is a huge difference in that, and in being in a church service in which God meets with YOU! It is not a show, it is worship! Does it make you emotional? Of course it does! You are meeting with GOD! GOD is speaking to you, you have feeling of adoration to your Lord and Savior, maybe feelings of heart healing, or feeling God whisper in your ear to tell you I love you my child! How can you not get emotional over that? Trust me, it is the most wonderful feeling in the world to open your heart up to Lord and let him enter. Let His spirit hug you as you converse or adore HIM the creator of the universe and author of your salvation! I do not know about you, but I love my DADDY! When you have this communion with your Father, it prepares your heart to receive the message. It prepares you to be open to HIS word, whether that word may bring chastisement or a loving hug. Your heart is open to GODS word for you. Not for your neighbors gift, but for your very own. Remember we are HIS bride. And like a husband woos his brides heart in order to have an intimate relationship with her, so does our father woo his bride, the church, ( you and I ) so that HE may have that deeper relationship with us. If a wife does nothing to seek her husbands affection, if she puts him off, if she cuts him short, or is careless in the way she treats him, and vise versa, there will be little to no intimacy in that marriage. Remember then, that your worship to the Lord, and the love, the gratitude, the adoration that worship evokes for your Savior is between you and your Father God. Do not let anyone tell you its wrong! God is a gentleman! And yet David, who was a man after God's very own heart, leapt and danced in the streets with no shame whatsoever and no worries as to what the neighbors or the preachers may think. After all the one that mattered, was the very one that said, that David was after HIS heart! What better endorsement could there have been? So praise HIM, talk to HIM, lift your arms in adoration, worship HIM with all of your heart and you let God tell you what you can or what you cannot do. Let no one stand in judgement of your worship! You tell your Jesus that you love HIM and you and HE can work out the details of what your particular worship may look like! For those who may judge you, are probably as empty as you used to be. Maybe they are those whose hearts are not prepared and they feel ashamed to utter even one Halleluiah or a Praise God. But you might find them thinking about lunch, or looking at their shoes wondering if anyone noticed the scuff on the leather, or perhaps digging through their purse for that finger nail file, because one nail is just not quite right! You fill in the blank of what runs through your mind while the preacher tries desperately to get you to come to the altar. Please, my fellow brothers and sisters, I love you! I have no desire for you to leave the house of God with same emptiness inside, with which you came. Worship HIM, worship HIM with all of your heart! Let us fill those altars! HE wants so very much to have an intimate relationship with you, HIS very own child. Let no-one but GOD dictate the way your worship to HIM will be. For the opinion of our Father in Heaven is the only one that matters in how you worship HIM, and HE alone will guide your heart. IF, you let HIM.
