Nazareth, the Place God Left The atmosphere was electric with expectation the day Jesus returned to His home town. The whole surrounding region was alive with talk of His extraordinary powers and now He was back, in their own synagogue. Every eye followed closely as He took up the scroll to read from Isaiah. Every … Continue reading Has Been’s, Wanna Be’s and Bethany
The Bride of Christ
Destination Christ
The Bride’s journey is not a journey TO somewhere. It’s a journey INTO Someone. Her goal is communion with the Father, by means of the Spirit, through oneness with Christ the Bridegroom. Her destination is nothing less than Christ's fullness (Eph. 4:13). This is the very thing Jesus prayed for in his final hours of … Continue reading Destination Christ
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The Beautiful Journey
Psalm 23 is surely among the best known, best loved of Bible passages. I would like to invite you now to take a fresh look at this well-loved psalm, possibly from a new perspective, for within it is hidden a prophetic picture of the Bride of Christ. The Psalm reveals the Bride’s beautiful journey in … Continue reading The Beautiful Journey
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The Embrace of God
The Bride now emerging from the wilderness is learning one thing above all others: what it means to lean on the Bridegroom. To “lean on” means to shift our weight entirely to something else, wholly trusting that specific ‘something else’ to hold or carry us safely and securely. We do this every time we sit … Continue reading The Embrace of God
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Come Away!
Here on the east coast of Australia Spring has made a welcome arrival. I understand that for most of the world it is now Autumn (or Fall), but we in the southern hemisphere are emerging from our long winter season into the renewal of life that Spring always brings. Spring for me has always been … Continue reading Come Away!
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Becoming Christlike? I Don’t Think So!
In Australia we often say a son or daughter is the "spitting image" of his or her mother or father. Basically it means “to see the child is to see the parent”. Remember Jesus telling Philip that if he had seen Him, he had also seen His Father (John 14:9)? Jesus is the express image … Continue reading Becoming Christlike? I Don’t Think So!
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Bride-Atude Nine: The Faithful Witnesses
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. In China we are imprisoned and tortured; in Egypt we are denied justice; in Nigeria we are regularly gunned down or burned to death; in Myanmar we are used as slaves by the military; … Continue reading Bride-Atude Nine: The Faithful Witnesses
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Bride-Atude Eight: The Light Keepers
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... We have a habit of associating persecution only with ‘non-Christian’ countries and oppressive regimes. Especially in democratic societies we tend automatically to think that persecution belongs to a world we don’t really know. The idea that we may also … Continue reading Bride-Atude Eight: The Light Keepers
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Bride-Atude Seven: The Good Will Ambassadors
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God Somewhere in eternity there is a garden. In that garden humankind was created and co-existed in peace with the Creator. Then catastrophe struck. Man rejected God and the peace between them was shattered. No longer could they peacefully co-exist with God so … Continue reading Bride-Atude Seven: The Good Will Ambassadors
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Bride-Atude Six: The Greatest in the Kingdom
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God A pure heart is an innocent heart. Not innocent in regard to sin, but innocent in regard to having nothing to hide. Hidden agendas and self-centred manipulation of others are unfamiliar to the pure in heart. A pure heart is transparent. A pure heart … Continue reading Bride-Atude Six: The Greatest in the Kingdom
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Bride-Atude Five: The Blood Soaked Mercy Bearers
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy The greatest act of mercy in human history took place on a crude Roman cross at Golgotha when God the Mercy Bearer was denied mercy by those who needed it most. “Go and learn what this means”, said Jesus to the Pharisees: “I desire mercy and … Continue reading Bride-Atude Five: The Blood Soaked Mercy Bearers
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Bride-Atude Four: The Dove Eyed Lovers
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. How do you add water to a river in flood? How do you add righteousness to unlimited righteousness? Answer: you don’t. The point being that in this statement Jesus wasn’t encouraging us to try to increase in righteousness through our own efforts. His … Continue reading Bride-Atude Four: The Dove Eyed Lovers
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Bride-Atude Three: The Mighty Meek
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “God helps those who help themselves” the world screams at us. Success belongs to the aggressive and the assertive. Admiration is for those who go after what they want at any cost. Not surprisingly, success in the Kingdom looks somewhat different. The King of Kings … Continue reading Bride-Atude Three: The Mighty Meek
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Bride-Atude Two: The Passionate Mourners
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. God is irrepressibly drawn to brokeness in the human heart. Jesus was acquainted with grief, meaning He knew sorrow by experience (Is.53:3). One of the most beautiful phrases in the New Testament is “Jesus wept”. When Jesus wept at Bethany it wasn’t because his friend Lazarus … Continue reading Bride-Atude Two: The Passionate Mourners
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Bride-Atude One: The Joyful Poor
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus wasn’t blessing poverty here.This poverty of spirit is more accurately translated ‘destitute’. Jesus demonstrated this spiritual destitution by laying aside all the rights and privileges of His divinity in exchange for a life on earth that included a manger, homelessness, and … Continue reading Bride-Atude One: The Joyful Poor
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The Bride-Atudes
She is black, white, brown, caramel, albino and every shade in between. She speaks Swahili, Tamil, English, Italian, Hebrew, Pidgin, Mandarin and a countless number of other languages, past and present. Her eyes are brown, green, blue, black, hazel and any colour that eyes can be. She lives anywhere from shanty towns to royal palaces, … Continue reading The Bride-Atudes
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Lethal Stones
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59,60 According to Open Doors, approximately 100 million Christians … Continue reading Lethal Stones
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Moving House
Ladies, gentlemen, young people, please fasten your seat belts as we make our final ascent to our destination. As you disembark please take a few moments for your eyesight to adjust to the brightness, which is due to the total lack of darkness in your new host country. To assist you in settling comfortably into … Continue reading Moving House
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Jumping Through Hoops
Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 Then, … Continue reading Jumping Through Hoops
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The Bride: The Lamb’s Wife (Faithful)
Part One: Bridal Covenant Part Two: The Bride, Her Betrothal, Called Part Three: The Bride, Her Election, Chosen Part Four: The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife, Faithful Part Four of Four Part two of this series focused on the first stage of the Bride’s Betrothal. We saw that in traditional Jewish culture, after the betrothal ceremony, … Continue reading The Bride: The Lamb’s Wife (Faithful)
Bread for the Bride 