Who is the bride of Christ?

Today's headline is an honest question, and I want to give an honest answer.
Who is the bride of Christ?
It has never resonated well in me when Christians have said that "we are the bride of Christ". I never really found that in the Scriptures. In Revelations 21 I read that the new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ: "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." (Rev. 21:2+9)
And everywhere I see in the New Testamente, I see that we, the believers, are called "the body of Christ".
To further clearify the matter, I want to quote from Dake's annotated reference Bible, page 1258:
Israel the Wife of God (from Isaiah 54:5)
Israel is often spoken of as a woman and as the wife of Jehovah (Isaiah 54:4-6). The church is never spoken of as a woman or the bride of Christ. The church is referred to as a man (Eph. 2:14-15; 4:13) and part of the bride of Christ, which is the heavenly city, New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2,9). This wife of Jehovah is the woman of Revelations 12. Here God speaks of forsaking her for the moment because of her sins; but He will again bring her back to Himself to remain thus forever (Isaiah 4-10). This is a truth that is greatly enlarged upon in Hosea.
It's a widespread belief that the Church is the bride of Christ, and I wish to clarify, and set this matter straight.
We, the born again children of God, are the body of Christ!
Let's not get confused and spread more lies about this, but let's keep our doctrine straight and let's hold fast to the truth!

Beauty for ashes

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified" (Isaiah 61:1+3).
What would you rather have, beauty or ashes? Seems like an easy question to answer. Everybody would rather have beauty in stead of ashes, I reckon.
However, when it comes down to it, many peoples' lives show that they actually prefere ashes over beauty. Why?
Because to get beauty, you have to give up your ashes. And that seems scary to many people. "Ashes" can be old habits, sins, likes and dislikes, a bad temper, an angry attitude, and so on. We want to be gentle and meek like Jesus, but we're not willing to give up our own not-so-meek temperament.
In the verses above, it says that Christ came to give us beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, and praise for heaviness. Ashes, mourning and heaviness! Have you ever felt any of that? I have, and I have trades my ashes, my mourning and my heaviness for God's beauty, joy and praise. Is it easy? No! Is it possible? Yes! Because "... greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). And He that is in you, is greater than your ashes, your mourning, and your heaviness. He IS your beauty; He IS your joy; and He IS your praise. He is all I need in this world and in the next, all I need to do is give Him my old "self", and let Him fill me with Himself.

How to become one with God

One with God? That seems like a tall order, doesn't it? How can you and I, mere men, whom Job calls "worms", be, not only like God, but become one with God?
Before we look at the answer, let's look at a few Scriptures to show man's state without God:
"The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree" (Job 24:20)
" ...how much less man, who is but a maggot - a son of man, who is only a worm!" (Job 25:6)
"But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people" (Psalm 22:7)
"Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you, declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 41:14).
Can you see how man in all these Scriptures is called maggots and worms? That is not a pretty picture, but that's man's state without God after Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden. No-one is exempt, we are all corrupt, depraved and "wormish". What can we do about it? Is there a "cure"? Is there a way out of this sad and desperate situation?
Thank God, He's prepared a way, and it is this:
"I (Jesus) have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:22-23).
Do you see it? Do you see the way out of our "wormish" state?
God's glory <---> Jesus <---> man (you and I)
Jesus said that God has given Him (Jesus) His (God's) glory, and that Jesus has given US, YOU and I, that same glory! That is shouting ground! Now is the time to shout HALLELUJAH!
God's glory is mine through Jesus! Through faith in Jesus I come out of my "wormish" state, and am clothed with glory from above. I am no longer a maggot or a worm, I am a child of God! I am clothed in the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness (see yesterday's text).
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke12:32).

Garments of salvation and robe of righteousness

Are you dressed?
I don't mean if you've changed from night clothes to day clothes, but are you dressed in God's apparel?
What is God's apparel?
The Bible often uses figurative speech, like we see in today's headline; God clothes us with His garments of salvation and His robe of righteousness.
"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isaiah 61:10).Garments are used to cover us, like Ruth said to Boaz in Rut 3:9: "'Who are you?' he asked. 'I am your servant Ruth,' she said. 'Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.'"
The redeemer was supposed to cover the one he should redeem. And Jesus redeemed us: "... who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:14). Salvation is likened to a garment, it covers. Remember after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden? They were naked up to that point, and didn't even notice it, because they lived in perfect harmony and in the presence of God. But after they sinned, they became aware of their nakedness, and God clothed them with a fur coat. God redeemed them from their nakedness. In the same way I see God's garments of salvation. He clothes us with His own garments in stead of our own, sinful clothing.
What is the robe of righteousness? Abraham is our example of faith and righteousness. It says about him that "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend" (Jacob 2,23). We know that Abraham's faith walk was extraordinary. You can read about it in Genesis. But what made him righteous in God's sight, was that he believed God, and did what He said. That's what I believe being clothed in a robe of righteousness means, to listen to God, believe it in your heart and doing it.
So my question to you today still stands: Are you dressed? Are you clothed in God's apparel?
If you are, go in peace and rejoice in the Lord. If you're not, God is more than willing to clothe you and dress you up in His finest apparel. All you need to do is ask Him.

Refresh someone today!

Refreshments!
What do you do when you hear someone shout "Refreshments!"? You run to where the refreshements are and expect to have something good to eat and/or drink.
We as Christians should be "refreshers". We should shout: "Refreshments!", and everybody should run to us and expect to be refreshed. Sadly, in my country, anyway, many Christians do NOT refresh others; they gossip, slander, and spread negativity in stead of spreading the Good News about Jesus and His kingdom. They talk about the news and in that way exalt what the devil does rather than talking about and exalting Jesus and what He does.
But see what the Bible has to say about refreshing:
"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint" (Jeremiah 31:25).
When people are weary and faint, you and I should be there to refresh, uplift and give hope. In stead of joining our neighbours, friends, and family in complaining about the weather, the government and everything else that we think is wrong, we should speak positive words, uplifting words, words that build up and not tear down.
Paul's wish was that he would be refreshed by Filemon:
"I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ" (Filemon 1:20).
Our job as Christian brothers and sisters is to refresh one another in the Lord. Let's ask Jesus to lead us to someone who needs encouragement and refreshing today!

Head or heart?

In yesterday's blog I wrote about the difference between faith (the unseen, the spiritual or supernatural) and sight (the seen, the natural). I want to go a little further today and expand the theme.
In Mark 11:23, Jesus is saying to His disciples: "Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and be put into the sea; and has no doubt in his heart, but has faith that what he says will come about, he will have his desire".
Where does Jesus say "whoever" should have his or her faith? In their heart! Jesus did not say "... and has no doubt in his head ...".
We often miss the mark because we tend to listen more to our head than we listen to our heart. My head is the seat of my thoughts, feelings, and my will. But these are bad road signs to follow if I want to go deeper into the things of the Spirit.
My heart, or my spirit, is the seat of God. When God speaks to me either through His Spirit or through His Word, he speaks to my heart. I guess I have to point out that "heart" in the Bible is not the same as "bloodpump", which is the muscle we have on the left side of our chest. My "heart" in the Biblical sense, is my spirit, it's the core of my being, it's what is being born again when I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.
Kenneth E. Hagin has said that you can have faith in your heart with unbelief in your head. The important thing is to follow your heart!
So when Jesus told His disciples not do doubt in their heart, He meant that they should not rely on their natural senses; their thoughts and their feelings. He asked them to rely solely on what God had given them in their heart to believe. If they were to do that, they would be able to move mountains!
Wow! Isn't that something? Isn't it amazing that Jesus said that to them? But the even more amazing thing is that Jesus says the exact same thing to US, to YOU AND ME today. He says that if you and I will lay aside our natural senses, our own thoughts and feelings, and rely on His Word and what He has told us, WE CAN ALSO MOVE MOUNTAINS!
Is there a mountain in your life today? Something you really desire to get rid of? Find what the Bible has to say about it, believe that with your heart, talk to your mountain with faithfilled words, and see the mountain disappear!

"Faith" or "sight"?

Everybody who is saved, has heard about "faith". It's by faith that we are saved, it's faith that keeps us going day by day, and without faith it is impossible to please God. But what is faith, and what is the opposite of faith? In 2 Cor. 5:7 we read:
"For we walk by faith, not by sight". Here we see two ways of conducting or living our lives: by faith or by sight. What does it mean to live by faith, and what does it mean to live by sight?
What is faith? The Bible gives us the answer: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). My personal interpretation is that faith is the firm conviction that what God says will come to pass! I like to liken faith with everyday acts we do without thinking about them. You want to drive your car from A to B. You get in the car, turn the ignition on and start driving. You have faith that your car starts, that it takes you where you want to go, and you also have faith in other drivers that they will not bump into you on the road. Another example: you want to sit down, and if there's a chair somewhere, you sit down without first checking if the chair is safe. You have faith in the chair that it holds you without breaking.
I think of God the same way. When I need something, I look it up in His Word, find what He says, and act as if what He says is true. To me, that is faith.
What does it mean to walk by sight?
Sight is connected to our eyes, sight is one of five natural senses; smelling, tasteing, hearing, touching and seeing. What does it mean that I do not walk (or live) by sight? It means that I do not live by my natural senses. I am not dependent upon what I see, hear, smell, taste or touch.
When what I see doesn't line up with what the Word says, I choose to believe God's Word; I set aside my natural senses and with my will choose to believe God.
That is walking by faith, and that is pleasing to God, and He rewards my faith.