Bride of Jesus

"Bride of Jesus, how beautiful you are when you no longer have anything of your own, but seek only His beauty. You will then be the delight of your Bridegroom, and He will be all your beauty! He will love you without measure. He will put His own life in you." -Fenelon

I believe the book of Hosea is the most beautiful book ever, it's more beautiful in my eyes compared to Song of Solomon. In this book we see such a vivid picture of the grace and love of God. Because you see, we are all Gomer, that of a prostitute. We have cheated on God, we trade His love for other things in this life. We waver and fall away at times, never staying fully committed. However, because He loves us so much, He saves us, He disciplines us, convicting our our hearts once more, and it says in Hosea 2:14-19:
“But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
15 I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble[a] into a gateway of hope.
She will give herself to me there,
as she did long ago when she was young,
when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
16 When that day comes,” says the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’[b]
17 O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
and you will never mention them again.
18 On that day I will make a covenant
with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky
and the animals that scurry along the ground
so they will not harm you.
I will remove all weapons of war from the land,
all swords and bows,
so you can live unafraid
in peace and safety.
19 I will make you my wife forever,
showing you righteousness and justice,
unfailing love and compassion."
Isn't this the most beautiful picture of redemption?! Oh, I can remember being in the desert ever so often, and hearing Him speak tenderly to me after He has broken me. How He has turned my valley of weeping and trouble into a gateway of hope. He became my light, and led me out of bondage, and despair. He does this often. My deserts are never ending.
I long for the day when He takes me Home to be with Him forever!
In the meantime, we brides need to start preparing ourselves. How sad it would be to have our bridegroom come for us and we are not ready (Matthew 22, Isaiah 55). Let us fix our thoughts on Him whose love knows NO boundaries.

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