Recently, I just completed a three-part Facebook Live series on the Bride of Christ. I feel the Lord’s leading to release this written word, which is a combination of the last two Facebook Live sessions (Intimacy with the Bridegroom and The Pure and Spotless Bride). I hope this word encourages you today!
God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!
You’re a proven help in time of trouble—
more than enough and always available whenever I need you.
So we will never fear
even if every structure of support were to crumble away.
We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes,
moving mountains and casting them into the sea.
For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves
cannot erode our faith in you. | Psalm 46:1-3 (TPT)
The Purification Process: God Is on Our Side!
The Lord is doing a deep cleansing of His Bride in this hour. Many things are coming to the surface and being exposed. However, we can be rest assured, knowing that the end result will be glorious. It is important during this time, as everything that can be shaken is being shaken (Hebrews 12:27), that we don’t lose hope or give into fear. We must remember that God is on our side; if we yield to the process, everything will work together for our good.
God prunes His fruitful branches out of love so that they can produce even more fruit. It is important that we continue to abide in Jesus Christ, the True Vine. As it is written:
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:1-5).
Deep Cleaning
I have come to realize that often the natural and spiritual realms can coincide and mimic each other. If we pay attention to what is happening in the natural realm, we will often see that God is speaking through those circumstances to demonstrate what is happening in the spiritual realm.
For instance, I consider myself to be a pretty neat housekeeper, and I definitely like things clean and tidy. However, recently I had the urge to go through every room in our house and do a very deep and thorough cleaning. As I was cleaning one of my daughter’s bedroom, the ceiling fan caught my attention. As I climbed up onto a chair to have a better view, I was appalled by the amount of dust that had accumulated on the blades. As I continued to press on and wipe down the fixture of the fan, dust began to fly everywhere! Some even got into my hair and onto my clothes!
Even so, in that moment I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, “Let the dust fall. I am exposing the dust that you didn’t even realize has been clinging to you. Though the initial cleaning process is messy and inconvenient, in order to be cleaned, the dust must first be brought into the light. Even as there is much shaking and transitioning happening all around, this process is necessary. My Church must go through a purification process so that she can become the pure and spotless Bride that I have destined her to be.”
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
Though the cleaning process of my daughter’s room was messy and somewhat exhausting, the end result was one clean and spotless room. As I stood back and admired the end result, I continued to hear the Lord speak to me on the cleansing and purification of His Bride. The Lord’s desire is for the Bride to walk in the fullness of all that He has for her; He is desiring that we walk in a manner that is worthy of our calling. As we, the Bride, come through the refining and purification process, the end results will be glorious! We will be a shining example for the world to see: a royal diadem in the hands of our God!
“You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, And a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (Isaiah 62:3).
Upgrade
The other day I went to the store nearby our home to pick up a few household supplies. I hadn’t been to this particular store in several weeks, so when I walked in to see that the entire shop had been remodeled, I was barely able to recognize it! Everything inside of the store was more neat and clean, and it even seemed brighter. Because of the new remodel, the store was also able to hold more product. Let’s just say that this place had just been given a much needed upgrade!
Again, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me. I felt Him say, “The cleansing and purification My Bride has been undergoing will lead her to a massive upgrade! The pruning process that she has endured will allow her to come into the ‘more’ that I am longing to pour out on her.” I was amazed and encouraged by the physical transformation I had witnessed, and how the Lord was able to speak to me through it.
The Lord is always working things together for good (Romans 8:28). Even when things momentarily feel messy and uncomfortable, the end result will be stunning, even as it was with that store. I wasn’t able to observe the remodel process, but we have done enough remodeling in our own home that I knew the initial process (tearing down the old to make room for the new) can feel exhausting and inconvenient. However, as we come forth made completely new, the Lord’s glory will be revealed in and through us: His Bride!
What Has Remained Hidden Is Being Brought to the Light
For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. | Luke 8:17
In this hour, the Lord is separating the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12). He is restoring a clean and holy fear of the Lord back to the Church. Even as things in the church are currently being exposed, I believe that this will only continue. It is in His love and mercy that God is dealing with and exposing hidden sin. It’s so important during this time that we guard our hearts against the spirit of offense and walk in a place of humility. As it says in the Word, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).
We need to not become judgmental of others as things are being exposed, rather, we should pray and intercede for them. We also need to examine our own heart and be careful; if we think we are standing strong, we need to be careful not to fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). Just as it is written in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Walking in Freedom!
When we are living with unconfessed sin in our life, it ultimately leads to bondage. We won’t experience the true freedom that Jesus conquered death to give us. Beloved, truly the Lord’s heart is for His Bride. I love the passage in Isaiah 1:8 that says, “‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'” As we continue to allow His spotlight to shine upon anything that He chooses to reveal to us, and we allow the Lord to cleanse us through repentance, the end result will be glorious freedom!
Watchmen on the Wall
The Lord is calling His people to be watchmen on the wall: to pray and intercede like never before! It says in the Word that, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint” (Habakkuk 2:1).
The Lord is also urging us to take a step back and look at ourselves. Truly our lives should reflect His holiness! In order to be the pure and spotless Bride of Christ, we must remain in a place of intimacy with our Bridegroom. We are to be as the wise virgins in Matthew 25, and keep the oil burning in our lamps as we wait on Him.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
Do you remember the song, “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love?” Well, this much is true! The world will know and recognize us by our fruit! We are called to be a lighthouse, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14). All of creation is longing for the true Sons and Daughters of the King to be revealed!
Wide Open Spaces
My husband and I were at a prophetic class that was hosted by our home church. In the class, we are encouraged to press into the Lord and share what He speaks to us or shows us through prophetic words, visions, or pictures. While pressing into the Lord, I suddenly saw a beautiful meadow filled with colorful flowers. The meadow was so huge, and I kept hearing the phrase, “Wide open spaces.” In this meadow were several people, men and women alike. They were all leaping and jumping through the fields completely free and without any hinderance!
I felt the Lord’s heart of encouragement towards His Bride in this vision. I believe that as she allows the Lord to cleanse her and remove any sins or impurities, she will be able to walk in a place of such freedom and joy! As we allow the Lord’s work to continue in us, we will truly become the pure and spotless Bride: completely free and unhindered by sin. Our light will then break forth speedily, and the Son of Righteousness will arise on our behalf with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2).
Beloved, be encouraged! You will truly see and realize how the process has been working all along, and how the Lord has worked everything for your good. Get ready for the upgrade; get ready to burst into those wide open spaces (Psalm 18:19). We are the Bride of Christ, entering into our finest hour!
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. ” (Isaiah 60:1).
