Like a Bride Adorned

A few days before my wedding, my parents presented me with a special gift: a beautiful white gown and robe for my wedding night. Along with their present was a small card. When I opened to read what they had written inside the card, all I found was this:

Revelation 21:2
Love,
Dad and Mom

It didn't take long for me to find the verse which says, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

....as a bride adorned for her husband.
 
I had read that verse many times throughout my life, but that night, just a few short days until my wedding, that verse took on a whole new meaning.
 

When I think of the new Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven one day, I think of beauty. Splendor. Glory. Shining, glistening, gleaming....   When the holy city comes down, it will be a sight to behold! And the Bible likens that glorious picture to a bride adorned for her husband. What a comparison!! Before that night when my parents presented me with their special gift, I had always thought that the bride's adorning the verse spoke about was her wedding gown. And it could very well be. However, after I received that beautiful evening gown and robe, I began to really dwell on that verse.

 

....as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

For her HUSBAND. Not a crowd of people. Not her friends or family, but for her husband. To me, that speaks of privacy. I think of intimacy. Sacred. Mysterious. I think of purity. How should a bride be adorned for her husband? She should be adorned in holiness, in glory. She should be adorned in beauty, but it should be a beauty that is reserved for her husband only. Far too many women refuse to protect that which is pure and sacred. In our culture, girls and women flaunt their bodies and reveal themselves to everyone around them. Then when they adorn themselves for their husband on their wedding night, they are giving him a view of their beauty that has, usually, already been glimpsed, if not completely seen, by many others. Sadly, the adorning that most choose is NOT likely to be compared to the holy city of Jerusalem in all its splendor and glory.

If I could encourage you girls, ladies, and brides out there to do one thing, I would encourage you to adorn yourself honorably for your husband. Keep what is sacred, SACRED. Keep what is mysterious under wraps. Make up your mind to refuse to dress or act unholy. My prayer for each of you is for you, as a bride, to be holy and clothed in splendor....like that holy city of God we will see one day.

 

 

As He Rejoices

Isaiah 62:5
For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.


As the bridegroom rejoices over his bride...so shall God rejoice over you.

That jumps out at me and gives me such girlish delight! As a girl, as a woman, as a lady, and as a bride, you LONG for your love to rejoice over you. You long for him to gaze at you in awe. When he speaks of you, you want his words to drip honey! Being rejoiced over by a prince is every girl's desire!

When I fell in love with Grant, I wanted him to love me with a love that could not be matched by any other human. I wanted him to be anxiously excited when he spoke to me or when he saw me. I wanted him to REJOICE over me. And he wanted to be rejoiced over as well.

When I married Grant, that feeling exploded and began to rise to a much higher level. I not only wanted him to rejoice over seeing me or speaking with me, but I wanted him to rejoice when he came home to me at the end of the day, when he tasted dinner made specially by me for him. I wanted him to rejoice over me as I kept house, cooked, cleaning, washed, and ironed. He is my bridegroom and I want to always be worthy of his rejoicing; of his delight. And I want to rejoice over him too!

"...as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride..."

Now, let us look at the second part of that verse, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. That brings me to a whole new dimension! So shall GOD rejoice? When I think of it, I have to ask myself if I have done anything that merits the LORD God to rejoice over me? Have I? To be honest, no.

We often wrap ourselves so deep into earthly relationships that we become completely oblivious to the need of our heavenly romance. We long for our fiance' or husband and we work hard to be worthy of him and have him fall more in love with us every day. But rarely do we work to make ourselves a holy, pure, empty vessel that Christ desires us to be. If we would spend as much time and effort and energy every day beautifying ourselves spiritually, and making the temple of God (us!) a more pleasant, clean, and holy place for our heavenly Bridegroom to dwell, then our God would definitely rejoice over us more than we could fathom! Let us "seek Him first" and make our relationship with Him our first priority. Let us desire to be desirable by Him. Let us long to be rejoiced over by HIM. Our earthly marriage is VERY important, but always remember that our Heavenly Marriage is the foundation for it all.

Praise God From Whom ALL Blessings Flow

It's funny how I have been married for four months and a part of me still feels like a bride. I hope I never lose that feeling! I hope 20, 30, 40, and 50 years from now, I still feel like a bride on her honeymoon. I know I have said it many times, but I have to say it again. I love being married!

I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a granddaughter. I am a niece. I am a cousin. I am a friend.

I am a WIFE! ....and this spring I will become something else. I will become a mother!

God Almighty has seen fit to touch me intimately and physically and has blessed my womb with a life! A soul! A little one. I am beyond humbled. I am 7 weeks into my pregnancy and I covet your prayers. Please pray that this little life will be a mighty prince or princess for the Kingdom of Christ!

In closing, all I can say is:

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

Psalm 127:3-5
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

We've Been Featured!

  

Ashley over at Bride on a Budget has featured Grant's and my wedding!

Please go check it out!

To Top It Off!

Did I ever blog about my cake topper?

.... I didn't think so.

In my post about our wedding cake, I likened the cake to salvation. Salvation is sweet! Salvation is amazing! It is the precious blood of Christ which redeemed us from sin! While thinking about our cake topper, I suddenly had a great revelation!

My God did not just give me salvation, but also SO much more!

Think about it. Salvation would have been enough. God Himself, in all His divine glory came down to this earth. He put on flesh, He lived on earth, He endured trials and temptations. He suffered. He was refused and rejected. He died. And He did it all for me....and for you. He gave all that He was to redeem us from our sin. We did not deserve His salvation. We did not deserve His love or grace, or His pardon. We surely did not deserve His sacrifice. Yet He gave it....and then He gave more!!

When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, He not only comes into our hearts and lives and SAVES us, but then He blesses us, directs us, convicts us, teaches us, strengthens us, comforts us, and enables us to do His will. Talk about icing on the cake!

Galations 5:22 and 23 says that the fruit of the Spirit (meaning, the proof and evidence of having Him in our lives) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, to ask God in faith, and He will give it liberally (meaning, as much as we need!). Wow! All those wonderful gifts given freely by Jesus to those who call upon Him.

In a wedding, there is a cake. It is beautiful and sweet to the taste - like Salvation. But in most weddings, there is also a cake topper; an added touch on the top. It may be flowers, a figurine of the bride and groom, a crystal shape or, like my husband and I, a monogram letter. It is a personal touch to the cake that is already wonderful and perfect! So it is spiritually. Salvation is already there, waiting to be "eaten"....and to top it off, our great King also places a personal, added touch on top! Blessings! Gifts! ....and more!


Ephesians 1:3"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

Ephesians 3:20
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."

More of Him

This song has been on my heart all day. Grant and I asked our dear friends to sing the following song at our wedding. Written and recorded by Eric and Leslie Ludy, you can listen to and download the song on iTunes.

In a marriage, it is easy to demand that things be all about us. More of "my way," more of "my needs met" and "my likes." But in reality, for a marriage to flourish and thrive, it should be ALL about more of Jesus.... in life, and in marriage.

I stand before you nowWith a sacred vow
To love you for a lifetime
To give all my heartBut there's One who's there
Where my love will fail
And He is all that I'm not

So now I must decrease
Usher His full glory in
May there be less of me and more of Him

When you see me
May you see reflections
Of One who's perfection won't end
When you hold me
May you feel the touch of
The One who loves much more
Than I can comprehend
When you fall more in love with me
May you fall more in love with Him


As the years go by
May I always try
To draw you closer to your one true destinyMy love for you is great
But it's just a taste
Of what's waiting in eternity

So now I must decrease
Usher His full glory in
May there be less of me and more of Him

When you see me
May you see reflections
Of One who's perfection won't end
When you hold me
May you feel the touch of
The One who loves much more
Than I can comprehend
When you fall more in love with me
May you fall more in love with Him

I Promise To Be There... Occasionally.

My sister had a great status on Facebook this morning that convicted me, challenged me, and inspired me. I'll share it with you:

Does a wife have to write down when to talk, spend time or show love towards her husband on her calender? Does she talk to him just one time a week IF she feels ok? NO! Then we as Christians should NOT do the same to God. We are the Bride of Christ therefore HE is our husband. We should delight ourselves in Him. Lets not cheat on HIM with our pillow, FB etc or even OUR time. He wants to spend time with us.

How true that is! As a newlywed, I understand it in a new light. I would never even think of arranging time on my calendar to "fit" my husband in my life when it is convenient for me. I would never cheat on Him in any way with any one! I would never ignore him throughout the week and save the sweet looks, praising words, and gentle touches for one day of the week. I would never act like I wasn't married when around friends, family, or strangers. How could I?? I have given my all to him and have promised to be faithful and true forever. I LOVE being married and I love spending time with my husband. While he is at work, I spend the day making the house and home acceptable to him; cozy, clean, comfortable. When 5 o'clock rolls around, I'm watching the window, excited about seeing him after a day's work. I work to make it quite clear that I am married; I am taken; I belong to someone.  Why would a wife act differently??

But my sister had a point. Too often we, as spiritual brides and wives, do exactly that! We ignore our Prince throughout the week. We go to work, go to school, go to parties, clubs, the bar, and then pop in Church Sunday morning and put on a grand show. We tote our Bible into Sunday School and read His love letter to us, without being moved or affected...much less changed. We sing the hymns, nod our heads during the sermon, then go home. And as we reach our house, the Bible is put back on the shelf where it will remain for the rest of the week. We do not pray (unless we need something). And we assume that our Groom is satisfied and pleased with our "time."  God, forgive us. We cheat on Him. We are unfaithful to our God, putting everything in the world above Him. We will sleep late and skip Church, we will read books and magazines more than our Bibles. We will spend more time watching TV, surfing the internet, or out with friends than in the presence of God, praying. We use our talents and gifts to glorify ourselves instead of glorifying Christ and leading others to Him. When we asked Him to save us and come into our lives, we relinquished our rights. We gave Him all. And quite often, we take it back later. When we want our way, instead of His, we break our promise to serve Him, obey Him, follow Him, and love Him. We do what is convenient for us, instead of what is commanded of us.

We have made it too easy to forget and ignore our Bridegroom. We don't want Him "in the way" of our activities and plans, because...well, let's face it, He may not like them. Yet, we claim to be His servants, His children, His BRIDE.

I am guilty, too, of not giving my Heavenly Love as much time as my earthly love. I am guilty of being more excited to see my husband, than spending time in the presence of my King.

So it is time to change. It is time to re-evaluate. It is time to repent.

If you are human, like me, then you are probably in the same shoes as I am. So join me in giving Jesus, our Heavenly and Mighty Prince, our ALL...every day, every hour, every moment.

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."