The Groom
Happy February! It’s the month of love so, with or without a romantic love, we can still celebrate the Bridegroom who is waiting patiently to come and get us.
As believers in Christ Jesus, we are His bride, and He has set His affections on us. He longs to tend to us as only He can. His desire is to overwhelm us with His love and to win our affection in return.
The intimacy with which He knows us is thorough and complete and yet He will never turn away. In Him we have no shame or guilt. We are completely known and thoroughly loved by Him.
That moment, when we come out of ourselves and surrender to who He is, is the day we will never be the same. In laying down our failures, brokenness, and pain, we wrap ourselves in His affection for us. We discover the place where we are enveloped by who He is so that who we used to be, along with our past mistakes and pain, is no longer visible to us. We can only see Him and His unwavering, steadfast love. It is all about Him, and yet He makes it all about us.
Oh, what freedom when the bride comes out of herself and lives in the safety and acceptance of her beloved Groom! Total acceptance with a love that will transform and prepare us for the day He will present us to God.
Have you ever seen a Lebanese wedding? Oh. My. Gosh. I have no words to describe it. Search Lebanese weddings on YouTube to get an understanding of how magnificent they are.
Their customs are different from mine, but the sheer opulence with the flowers, venue, over-the-top entry performances, and the gowns is outside my vocabulary. No expense is spared. Prior to seeing one, I had never even imagined the scale of celebration they plan, execute, and partake in. And yet I know that the wedding ceremony that the Groom has planned for us will make the Lebanese celebrations look like my $1000 wedding back in 1986.
Christ is waiting
Christ is patiently waiting for God to give Him the sign to come for us, His bride. When He gets that signal from His Father, Christ will scoop us up in the blink of an eye. If you’ve ever seen a man in love, you’ve received a tiny shadow of a glimpse of how excited Christ will be to show us off to His Father.
We’ll stand by Christ’s side, and He will beam with total affection as He delivers His bride safe, sound, pure, and holy. How is that possible? you might ask. Because one of the most beautiful things about our Groom is that everything is for Him, through Him, by Him, in Him, AND He is the One who sustains it all. I don’t know about you, but I find that to be a huge relief.
What a beautiful thing God did for us when He put us in Christ. In doing so, we get what Christ has earned. We receive everything that has been reserved for the Son. We give Him our sin, and we receive eternal life in exchange. No strings attached. The only thing He asks for is your heart.
But isn’t that truly a man in love? He wants your whole heart. He wants to show off for you and will defend you against anyone who threatens to cause you harm. He wants to hear your voice, spend one-on-one time with you, and He wants to be extravagantly generous with His love for you.
Christ Fulfills His Vows
He promises to be with you always—in the pain and in the joy, in the tears and in the laughter. He will never leave your side.
Even if earthly examples of love, vows, or promises of love have not been fulfilled or have left your heart in shattered pieces, we must not overlay those experiences onto Christ. It is nothing like who He is, and there is none like Him. Our brokenness will never give an adequate picture of who Christ is, and we will never be able to use the examples of others as an excuse to not discover who God is for ourselves.
One of the things I love about Christ as our Groom is that He is qualified to fulfill the wedding vows before we ever get to the actual ceremony standing before God. Put your name in the blank and listen to the pledge Jesus has made to you. If you’re moved to do so, give Him a genuine heartfelt response.
I, Jesus, take thee __________ to be my wedded bride, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till we meet face to face, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my unwavering faithfulness.
My beloved ________, I give you My shed blood as a covenant between you and Me. It is the symbol of My love, and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of My Father God, and pledge to you My love now and forever.
Consider this for your response: Jesus, I believe You shed Your blood for me, and Your crimson sacrifice makes me white as snow. Thank You for not only paying my debt but for dissolving any record of it. Teach me to embrace all of who You are so that I might perceive Your great love for me and, in turn, discover who You created me to be. Saturate my heart and my life with Your great love so I can live in the full freedom You died to give me. Most of all, my Groom, give to me the beauty of Your continual presence. It the Living water and it is life to me.
Get To Know Your Groom
Take the time to get to know your Groom. It is His love that will transform everything about who you are and every facet of your life.
Let’s not be caught in the arms of a lesser love when our Groom arrives to take us to the ceremony!
We’ll close with the benediction as a way of speaking a blessing over you and your Groom. Interesting how it’s for Him, about Him, through Him, by Him and He will fulfill it.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. And may God give you His peace in your going out and your coming in, in your lying down and in your rising up, in your labor and in your leisure, in your laughter and in your tears … until you come to stand before Jesus in that day in which there is no sunset and no dawning.
Self-Reflection
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- Has loving someone every brought pain, disappointment or shame?
- If so, can you trust Christ to redefine that for you based on who He is?
- What do you desire most in a romantic love?
- What do you consider to be the most important quality of love? (for instance, trustworthiness, companionship, affection, etc.)
- Have you ever thought of Christ as capable of fulfilling that desire?
- Find a couple of Bible verses that talk about Christ’s affection for us as the Lover of our Soul or our First Love. Talk to Christ about these Bible verses, and ask Him what does it mean for Him to be the Lover of our Soul and that of our First Love.
Take Action
Use God’s Word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His Word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s Word says about His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” (Revelation 22:17)Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Jesus-As-A-Bridegroom
Translation: Christ is inviting us to come to Him, to draw near and discover His heart for us. If you’re thirsty come. If you’re tired and weary, come. Is your heart in need of refreshment from the Living Water? Come! Rest, restoration, and intimate relationship are found in Christ alone.
