Preperation of the Bride

Hopefully the title catches some people's attention because they want to read about my views on marriage. And hopefully that deceiving little trick will let them read the rest of this which indeed has nothing to do with marriage between a man and a woman but between Jesus and the Church.

"But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for you sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment."
2 Peter 3:8-10

"And there will be strange signs in the sun, moon and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. So when all these things have happened, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!"
Luke 21:25-28

"Keep alert at all times!"
Luke 21:36

"Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:14-15

"Then the angel said to me, 'Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires His prophets, has sent His angel to tell His servants what will happen soon."
Revelation 22:6

Okay, so why on earth write all that?

Because those things are happening and will happen VERY SOON. Unfortunately, I probably just lost a good selection of my readers trust in what I'm going to say. But I believe that I am lead by the Spirit of God to write this and I will not be disobedient.

Jesus is coming again soon. He's revealed through prophecies to numerous different people that He is ready for His Bride, but the Church is not yet ready for Him. It's time to get ready!
He says,

"'Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.'
Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life."
Revelation 22:12-14

You say, "that was written almost 2000 years ago." I say, "Yes, it was. Have you washed your robes? Are you ready?"

I don't say any of this to scare people. I write this because it is our joy and privilege to look forward to the return of Christ! But our problem is that we have become so lax in thinking God is coming back soon that we live as though our whole lives are going to go as we plan them to. In other words, we live as though we won't have to stand before Christ before our physical deaths.

But God commands us to live as though we were going to meet Him every day! We want to put everything off till tomorrow. "Oh, I'll deal with that later because I've dealt with this today and that's good enough." Or, "Well, look how I've gotten this whole tithing thing down!" Meanwhile, we get caught up in self-congratulations for that accomplishment that we forget the other areas God's working on us.

He is ready, the Bride is not.
Let that sink in for a moment.
You say, "that's not Scriptural." I say, "Yes it is." Don't believe me? Just think about it--His command is that we are pure and ready for Him. Can you say that most of the Church is? Think about it. Pray about it. Are you?

Peter goes on to say, "And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight." (2 Peter 3:14).

Make EVERY effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.

Are you pure and blameless in His sight? I'm not--I have many issues I have to deal with. I know that. For example, this summer the Lord told me, "You don't love me enough." That hurt! But it was truth and the truth will set us free. Because His judgment is part of His love, I recognize the fact in my life and want to love Him even more. Another example is that God has made it clear that I do not spend enough time with Him. As a result, this morning I had a strong sense that He's asking me to spend at least 1 hour a day reading and studying His word, praying, and singing to Him. That's a lot of time compared to my normal comfort. At first I was not very open to the idea and tried to shrug it off as my own mind. But conviction has convinced me it's His, and I will obey Him.

So what are you dealing with? If Jesus isn't coming in our lifetime, does that give us an excuse for living as though He's not? He's commanded us to live as though He is. Through prophecy He has declared that anyone not ready when He returns will have to face the tribulation. Take that as you will, and read Luke 12:35-48.

I take it as this: if it's wrong, I still want to live by the principle it demands. If it's right, than I want to live by the principle it demands.

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'come.' Let anyone who hears this say, 'Come.' Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life...
He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon!'
Revelation 22:17,20

Jesus is coming soon and He wants His bride to be ready for Him! That begins with us as individuals and progresses to us as a community--His Bride, His Body, His Church. Let's not dink around flirting with the world's pleasures. I do far too often. Even in my mind I flirt with small desires. NO MORE! Again, this is not to scare people to change--though if it does I am not sure it's worse than no change at all--but rather to encourage people to find joy in Christ's return and a desire to be ready for Him because we love Him!