Today one of my crit partners on Penwrites sent a link to a music video one of her readers sent her. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link to see what it was. God knew exactly what I needed to hear right at that moment.
For several years I have taken to heart that even though I've been single all my life, God has given me a special gift of a relationship with Him. The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Bridegroom for His bride, the church. Not church in the sense of a building, but church in the sense of all who follow Him as committed Christians.
Digging deeper into the Word (Bible) I have come to see that it is also a personal relationship in Jesus being my Bridegroom in a spiritual way. God spoke through Isaiah in the Old Testament, saying to widows that He was their husband, and though they were barren (without child), they would have many children through Him. That means, of course, not physical children, but others they would take under their wing and mentor or, in some cases, become like a spiritual mother.
That passage opened up a whole new way of looking at my singular status. And it gave me peace beyond measure.
This has been a stressful week for me and when I watched the video on Ginny's website I sat here bawling. I want to share it with you now. I pray that those that need to hear these words will be drawn to see it and listen to these amazing word, and realize that even when we are feeling cast down, unappreciated, or even unloved, there is One who loves you unconditionally and will never ever leave you.
5 comments:
I believe that God wants a personal and intimate relationship with each of us. If you have found that relationship has helped you in your single life, I’m happy for you. But that being said, I don’t like this idea of applying what the Bible says about the Bride of Christ to women as individuals. I’ve seen married women make this application also. Us guys don’t get so enthused about the idea of being a bride. And yet, if the church is “all who follow him as committed Christians” then it makes sense that all committed Christians are each a bride of Christ, gals and guys alike. But the Bible never said that the church is “all who follow him as committed Christians.” A church an assembly of those Christians. We know this because Jesus used the word for a group of people that assembles when he spoke of the church, as did the other writers of the Bible. So each church can be the bride of Christ, and each of us can be members of the bride of Christ, but we as individuals are not the bride of Christ.
Tim, I don't disagree with you that God's being our Beloved to His church (men and women) is the message. It's been hard, I know, for men to relate to that concept. Men are grooms not brides after all. But I do believe that God does speak to us individually, as well as corporately where we live and we can apply His word to us as a whole as individuals in the way the Holy Spirit speaks to us. The Isaiah 54 passage I referred to addresses widows specifically, not men. Back in those days the only single women were widows thanks to arranged marriages, etc. Today it's a broader brush as far as who is single. The book of Soloman is written from a woman's point of view addressing her Beloved which metaphorically is God.
We all take from Scripture what God speaks to us and He personalizes it in that way. You will never relate individually as being a bride because you can't. But there are plenty of other verses I'm sure have spoken to you as a man. God loved David because he was a man after God's own heart. And God continued to love David despite his flaws and sin. Psalm 51 shows us David's eventual repentance for his sins and how can we as people who belong to God rejoice in that. But David was a man, and I can't rejoice in exactly the same way that a man can relate to that. Have a blessed day!
That was beautiful! Thanks for sharing it and I am glad it ministered to you. It makes me long for our home in heaven when our bridegroom is visible and I long to hold him and I suspect I will cry at his feet and never be able to do much more than that...but he will lift us to his arms and love us as he does now. We are His and we are forgiven and never ever cast aside by our precious Savior.
Not sure if this is where I comment for the launching of your book, but it sounds good and I would love to win it. (Thyme For Love)
Maxie Anderson ( mac262@me.com )
This is Maxie Anderson again. I forgot to mention Whispers in Purple on my comment a moment ago. That was where I saw this contest. ( mac262@me.com)
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