Are You Preparing To Meet Jesus, The Bridegroom?

"Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. 7 “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he *said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19: 6-9) (Underlines added.)

Wow! What a powerful passage of Scripture! The Bride of Christ has been snatched off the earth and is about to begin the seven year celebration of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb! In Jesus' revelation to the Apostle John, John was told to write, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb!" (Verse 9) I don't know about you, but I can't wait for this incredible feast with the One who has taken away the sins of the world! But notice, only those who are invited can come. It's obvious to me then, that not everyone will be invited to this feast; only the bride of Christ.

“But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22: 11-14)

When Jesus asked the man how he got into the wedding feast without wedding clothes he was speechless. It is clear that He had not prepared himself for the feast. It's quite obvious to me that when anyone is invited to appear in the presence of the King, he must follow the proper protocol. This man did not, so the king had him thrown out of the feast. In context, Jesus said, "For many are called, but few are chosen."

Those who are called are the ones that Jesus died for. Everyone! The chosen are those who are invited to the WEDDING FEAST. They have received Jesus as Lord and Savior in this life. They are living for Him. They are preparing to meet Him in the clouds! They are preparing for the wedding feast. They will celebrate with King Jesus for seven glorious years before returning to the earth with Him in His second coming! Jesus is coming soon for those who are looking for His return at any moment.

Who then is the Bride of Christ? The church? The body of Christ in the earth? The Scripture said, “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” (Verse 7) (Underline added.) If we drill down a bit we can find that the word "prepared" here from the original Greek means: to make ready. So the bride of Christ has made herself ready for the Groom, Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, are you preparing for His soon coming return?

Thayer's Greek Definitions says that the word "prepared" means: to make the necessary preparations; to get everything ready; and to prepare the minds of men to give the Messiah a fit reception and secure his blessings. Are you making the necessary preparations to meet Jesus in the air? Will Jesus come only for those believers who are preparing for and looking for His return? The truth is His appearing is imminent!

The common belief that Jesus is coming for those who have simply prayed the "Sinner's Prayer" is a very dangerous one. A repeated prayer alone cannot save you. It doesn't authorize you to live as the world does, yet believing you will celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb. What saves a person is a total surrender to Jesus Christ. When a person totally surrenders everything to Jesus, He comes into them; they change. To say "Oh, I believe in God" won't save you. What saves you and me is not only surrendering it all to Jesus, but also living, moving, and existing to follow after and serve Jesus...now and forever!

"It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." (Revelation 19: 8) (Underlines added.) We know that salvation is the greatest gift we could ever receive. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2: 8-9) We cannot earn our salvation. It is a free gift born of God's infinite grace! But Revelation 19:8 says "It was given to her (the Bride) to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, and that the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." Preparing to meet the King is born out of passion for the One who took upon Himself our sins, and delivered us from the the wrath to come. 

Thank God, we don't have to be perfect. But we should realize (because the Bible teaches us), that our passion as truly born again followers of Jesus should be focused on preparing ourselves to meet Jesus. His coming is imminent. I am preparing to meet the King. I pray that you are too!

Worship 101 (6) - Trend vs The Presence (of God)

Many churches (not every one) today operate by the latest trends set by large mega churches and by Christian Contemporary radio stations. When being trendy is more important than seeking for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our corporate gatherings, there will be no life-producing presence of the Holy Spirit upon our worship. It may be impressive, but not anointed by the Holy Spirit and power! Remember, when His presence comes, things happen, and folks change...for the good. I pray you are blessed and encouraged by this teaching. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Worship 101 (Part 5) - The Presence of God

This teaching addresses the protocol of corporately entering into God's intimate presence. I'm talking about the level of His presence that changes us. I pray you are blessed by this episode. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

 

 

The Gift Of Making Memories

We can't have our family and close friends with us forever. But we can make wonderful memories with them. Rehashing those precious memories is, in a way, like living them over and over again. I am very grateful to God for the gift of family, and the incredible privilege to make memories with them. It also gives me joy to be able to share some of them.

In my Dad's later years I saw Jesus touch him miraculously amid a challenging time in his life. He mellowed tremendously after God touched him. He changed instantly and exuded a peace that can only be described as “heavenly”. And that’s the way he remained until the day he went to be with Jesus. Thank God, that’s the way I remember him.

Dad had a great sense of humor. He was also an exceptionally talented artist. He drew some of the funniest caricatures of us kids over the years. And of course, they were always exaggerated to the extreme!

Here’s an example: As a child, I loved sweets; any kind of sweets. Our family owned and ran a pharmacy in Bay Springs, MS. Our store had a vast, extensive candy case! One of the blessings of being a family member was that occasionally my parents and Grandparents would allow me to raid the candy case, with limitations, of course. What a joy! One time Dad drew a caricature of me literally sucking all the candy out of the candy case…from several feet away! It was truly hilarious! My two sisters, Katherine, and Cindy; my brother, Van, and myself, all inherited a vast portion of his sense of humor.

I will never forget the times when he was cutting up with us kids! It was usually when he was off, or we were away on vacation with the family. Speaking of vacation, one of our family traditions was that we went to a fish camp near Kiln, Mississippi for a week, at least twice each Summer. We would go just after school got out in early June, and go again, just before school started back in late August.

On one particular outing Dad and I were out fishing on the Jourdan River in an old, wooden skiff. That old skiff had a 5-hp motor that you could outrun walking at a slow pace! Anyway, we came upon a huge Gar Fish, dead, floating in the water, and stinking to high heaven! Dad decided we would play a little trick on the rest of the family who were back at the cabin. So, he had me hold the dead, stinky Gar Fish up next to the skiff, leaving it in the water as we rode about a mile on the river to the cabin.

As we pulled into the little boathouse lagoon, my little sister Cindy came running out to see what we had caught. Her eyes became as big as saucers when she saw the big, dead, stinky Gar Fish! She ran to get Mother who hurried to see the catch. She began to smell the fish even before she could see it. At once she knew neither of us had caught the completely inedible fish. Mother ordered us to immediately take the fish as far away as we could, making sure the tide or the currents wouldn't bring it back again! Daddy laughed so hard and told me it was worth all the trouble just to prank them and see their reactions! I miss him tremendously.

One of the greatest blessings of this life is to make memories with family and love ones. Family is a gift from God. My Dad has been in heaven since 2010. But I have the blessing of rehashing those memories over and over.