ALL
or NOTHING: The BRIDEGROOM and THE BRIDE:
When I was a teen, my youth director
was a burly man who was marrying a small, petite lady. When he was standing in the
front, and his bride was walking up the aisle, he fainted!
When our second child was born, the
doctor told me that my husband could witness the birth, but that he would have
to be seated in a chair. As he said that one six-foot tall man was standing, watching
the birth of his child, and he passed out and had to be put in a hospital bed,
along with his wife!
Another true story was told to me when
we attended the Nazarene Church some years ago. A tall, stocky man was to be
the soloist at a wedding. He was to come in the side door, and walk across the
platform to the piano, where he would stand and sing his song. But, when the
time for the wedding came, he came out the door and proceeded to walk across
the platform, not knowing that the baptismal had been filled for a later
service. He slipped and plunged into the water with the muffled laughter of the
audience who couldn’t control themselves! He then got out and walked nicely to
the area of the piano and sang his song, with water dripping all over the floor!
They had real entertainment that day at
the wedding!
God gave me a prophecy for the year
2003, and the theme of this prophecy is “All or Nothing”. That is what God is
looking for this New Year.
ALL
OR NOTHING!
1. God wants a pure bride: He does not
want us to mix the wool and the linen. The O.T. priest could not do this, as he
would perspire.
Queen Esther spent 12 months in
purification before going in unto the king.
2. Our focus is to be on Him - like a
new bride
Isa. 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my
soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments,l and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels.
3. Our allegiance is to be to Him
totally - Whatever we try to mix in with our perfect calling, will dilute it
until it is nullified and useless.
4. He has saved the best wine until
now. (Jn. 2:1-10)
We are living in the last days where
the Holy Spirit is being poured out on all flesh. It is the time to arise to
the occasion. The water only became great as Jesus performed a miracle over it.
Otherwise, it was just water. He wants to take our lives, which are ordinary,
and use them for greatness.
5. Can God trust you? Can He trust you
with greatness? It was said of David, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his 10,000’s.” Yet, David stayed small in his own
eyes and even honored Saul when Saul didn’t deserve it in any way.
When the prophet Samuel was sent by God
to remove Saul from being King, he said “When you were small in your own eyes, then
was God not able to use you as King over Israel?”
God wants to enlarge our borders and
give us a greater anointing. Can He trust you and can He trust me?
I heard an account where someone had
prayed and God had sent an angel to his door with the answer. But, when the
angel arrived, there was not enough faith to open the door. So, the angel had
to return without the man receiving.
God wants us to believe Him for
anything; yet not let greatness go to our heads. Keep in that place of humility
and God will lift you up. For few people can accept great blessing without
being adversely affected.
Esther did not show herself to be a Jew
until the appointed time of the Lord. She did not require anything except what
she was appointed to receive. She was obedient to Mordecai. Her beauty did not
cause her to have vanity but she remained true. And, she became the great queen
of the Persian Empire.
Conclusion: This is to be a year
of “All or Nothing”. As we humble ourselves before the Lord, holding back nothing,
let us see what He will do with our lives in this New Year.
Ø
Are we
His bride, His Queen?
Ø
When
we present ourselves to Him, what does He see? Real beauty and faithfulness?
Ø
Are we
someone who adores Him with all of their heart?
The theology of the day when Jesus
walked the earth was to overpower by the law. But, Jesus’ doctrine was:
Ø
Of
loss to gain
Ø
Die to
live
Ø
Serve
to be great
Ø
Follow
to lead
Are we willing to humble ourselves and
to love Him enough to just submit our lives totally to Him? Are we ready to
give, All
or nothing?
(Micah 6:8) “He hath showed thee, O man, what is
good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.”
The first commandment is that “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” (Mt. 22:37)
And, it is from this glorious union of
love with God, as a bride with the bridegroom, that our Isaac will be birthed.
Anything else is an Ishmael. But, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob comes the
blessing of God.
God bless His Bride.
Esther Thornton
