Tag: Bridegroom

Tools for a Life of Prayer: God Delights in You

On By CaitlynIn Prayer and Worship2 Comments

God delights in youPerhaps the most important component of growing in prayer is cultivating a right view of God. If we believe that God is mostly sad or mostly mad, no wonder we don’t want to talk to Him! If we can reorient our perspective to see God as mostly happy and thoroughly in love with us, it gives us confidence to “boldly approach the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). When we come before God in prayer, we can be confident that He has a big smile on His face welcoming us into His presence.

Put simply, He likes us.

“…you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the Lord delights in you,
And your land shall be married…
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night…”
(Isaiah 62:4-6)

Isaiah 62 is stunning beginning to end. In this prophetic passage that ultimately proclaims the restoration of Jerusalem, God proclaims both His delight in His people as a bridegroom delighting in His bride, and His sovereign setting of watchmen– prophetic intercessors. These two realities are not separate. If we want to be prophetic intercessors–those who hear God’s voice and pray what’s on His heart–we must be rooted and grounded in the revelation of God’s love and delight in us.

Prayer is hard! We lose motivation and vision so quickly. The thing that keeps us anchored in prayer is actually connecting to the heart of God and feeling His emotions, believing that He actually enjoys and delights in us. He loves our weak prayers. He loves our gaze fixed on Him. It moves His heart so much!The thing that keeps us anchored in prayer is believing that God enjoys and delights in us

The Song of Solomon gives us many intimate glimpses into God’s heart for us. In this poetic allegory of a Bride growing into mature love for her King, we see the King’s overwhelming joy and passion for His beloved. In a few of my favourite verses in the Song, we catch a glimpse of how Jesus feels about His Bride’s attention turned toward Him:

“O my dove… let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely…

“You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace…

“You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love… Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me…”

(Song of Solomon 2:14; 4:9; 6:4-6)

This is astonishing to me. The eternal Creator, high above everything, is so tender and emotional toward His beloved. He longs to see my face and hear my voice. He says that I have captivated His heart with even one glance–one short prayer, one moment of leaning into His presence, is enough to overwhelm His heart with swelling emotion.

If this is how He feels every single time I come into His presence– that should fuel my desire and confidence to come eagerly into my prayer times, and to seek out every chance I get to be with Him!

David made a stunning statement– “…He rescued me, because he delighted in me.” (2 Samuel 2:20, Psalm 18:19) He said this at a time when he was just coming back into obedience after a season of compromise, and yet he had full confidence that God delighted in him and wasn’t holding his sin against him. David’s life was a roller coaster of extreme highs and lows; he had some major sins, but always came back even stronger into the love of God. I think it was this confidence in God’s delight in him that allowed him to press in instead of pull back after his sin.

God enjoys His relationship with all those who set their hearts to seek Him. We make Him happy. He likes us! Even when our love is weak and flickering, He knows that it’s real, and He’s overwhelmed by even one glance.

I encourage you to spend some time meditating on some of these verses. Pray them, journal them, ask God to write them on your heart. This is absolutely key for pursuing a stronger prayer life. He enjoys you, He delights in you, and He is smiling brightly at you with His heart bursting with love today!

“The LORD… will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.”
(Zephaniah 3:17)

Is it hard for you to imagine God’s delight in you? What verses do you use to encourage yourself? Tell me in the comments!

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Revelation Study/Getaway Weekend!

On By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, Ministry Life3 Comments
Bible, beach, babes.

This past weekend, I attended a mini women’s retreat with a few ladies from my church. We went to a friend’s condo in Oceanside, CA, and spent the weekend walking on the beach, talking, praying, and studying the Bible together. It was a truly special and memorable weekend!

I was asked to prepare a few teachings on the book of Revelation, and so was another woman, named Lynn. Revelation probably isn’t the topic I would have chosen for a women’s retreat (I mean, isn’t Song of Solomon and Proverbs 31 more typical fare for these kinds of things? I’ve actually never been to a women’s retreat before.) but these ladies were really hungry to know what the Word says about this crucial area of understanding– the end times and the return of Jesus.

I admit to being nervous about the teaching. Lynn planned to also teach on Revelation, but from the opposite eschatological perspective. Whereas I believe that the events of Revelation are still to come (the futurist/historical premillennialist view), she believes that most of the events were fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (the partial preterist/amillennialist view). I really wasn’t sure what form those discussions would take, and even though I’ve studied several different eschatological views, I was really nervous about being able to represent my beliefs well in this kind of situation.

As it turned out, everything went very smoothly. I was amazed at the unity and fellowship that God brought. Several of the ladies got deeply touched by the Father, and we all felt very encouraged. I came to love and respect Lynn very much; she is extremely kind, wise, and hungry for God and His truth. Her wisdom as we candidly discussed different life situations and world issues was invaluable. She has spent years studying Revelation, sometimes for 10-15 hours each week, while being a wife and homeschooling mom. I was deeply provoked by her determination to search out truth for herself, as well as the way she prioritised relationship over debating. That’s a woman who loves Jesus and loves people very well indeed!

I also noticed several themes that we both shared as we were teaching:

  1. Revelation is meant to be understood by all believers, not only the theologically elite.
  2. Revelation becomes clear as we let Scripture interpret Scripture.
  3. Revelation is the revelation OF JESUS CHRIST (Rev. 1:1) – it’s the story of His heart.
  4. Revelation isn’t meant to be fearful- it’s a story of hope and courage for the Church.
  5. Revelation is at its core the story of a jealous God of love, not an angry, trigger-happy God of smitage*.
  6. Revelation sees the Church come into full maturity as the Bride finally looks like Jesus.
  7. Revelation ends with God’s Kingdom being fully established and His Bride being with Him forever.

I also had volunteered to lead worship (I brought my little keyboard and set it up on the kitchen table), and it was such a privilege to glorify the Lord through song with these ladies and invite the Holy Spirit into our midst. God brought a supernatural unity as we fellowshipped, studied, worshipped, and prayed.

Here are the notes from my Revelation teachings this weekend. I’m also adding the timelines from IHOPKC that I used and gave the ladies with the session 1 notes. Many more study resources can be found at IHOPKC.org.

Session 1 – Themes and Structure
Session 2 – Bridegroom, King, and Judge
Session 3 – Jesus’ Second Coming
IHOPKC Revelation timeline
screenshot_2016-09-13-20-43-01-1
*Don’t go looking for that word in any theological dictionary. You won’t find it.

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Who is Jesus?

On By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff

My cousin had a Bible study assignment to ask someone who they believe Jesus is. She told me my answer didn’t need to be elaborate, but what can I say, my heart was “stirred by a noble theme.” (Psalm 45:1) I just really like to write lots of words about Jesus. He is worth so much more than the English language can offer, but I enjoy trying. So…

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God. He is the second member of the Trinity, which means that He is one with the one true eternal God– He is fully and completely God just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are God. He is also fully and completely human. He chose to become human when He was conceived in Mary, and even today He is a human forever in a resurrected body. (1 Timothy 2:5, Acts 1:11, 1 Corinthians 15)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
(John 1:1-2, 14a)

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can enter the presence of God except by accepting His sacrifice for sin in our place. (John 14:6) Not only did He willingly suffer the most heinous physical death ever invented by mankind, but He willingly bore the full brunt of divine wrath for all of the vilest moments in history–everything from an unkind word to the Holocaust–on His own soul. Only one who was fully God (and thus qualified to be a perfect sacrifice) and fully human (and thus able to stand in our place and actually die) could have done this. No other religion would dare to suggest that their god would do such a thing.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
(Philippians 2:5-8)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
(2 Peter 2:24)

Jesus is the Bridegroom. He has many names, but at the end He is most fully revealed as the Bridegroom coming back to claim His Bride and make all things right. (Matthew 9:15, Revelation 22:17) He burns with passionate love for His Bride, the Church, and desperately desires to bring all people into deep, eternal unity with Himself. He is kind, gentle, and tender with each of us personally. Everything He does in our lives and in the world is out of the purest, deepest love.

“‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
(Ephesians 5:31-32)

“For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
(Isaiah 62:5)

Jesus is the King of all creation. He has power over everything–sin, sickness, demons, nature, humanity, everything. He created the universe and even now upholds it with the word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3) Nothing happens outside of His control, and He is the most noble, true, just, fierce, compassionate King who has ever lived. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. (Psalm 89:14) He alone is worthy to rule the earth forever.

“On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(Revelation 19:16)

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
(Revelation 5:12)

Jesus is the Righteous Judge. (Psalm 7:11, 2 Timothy 4:8) He will not tolerate evil. He would be less than loving if He did. There is coming a day of holy, righteous judgment for those who stand against Him. (Psalm 96:13, Isaiah 66:16) He fights of the side of the oppressed and He wages war for the sake of humility and righteousness. (Psalm 10, Psalm 45:3-6) He will bring about the restoration of all things in the new heaven and new earth. (Isaiah 65:17, Acts 3:21, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1)

“Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
(Psalm 96:13)

Jesus is beautiful. (Psalm 45:2, Song 5:10, Isaiah 4:2) Everything about who He is stunningly gorgeous. His outrageous humility is beautiful. His scandalous grace is beautiful. His overwhelming love is beautiful. His lavish generosity, His pure truthfulness, His magnificent wisdom, His explosive joy–all dazzlingly beautiful, like a thrilling symphony of a trillion rainbow-coloured tones. He is worthy of all of our worship and all of our trust and all of our lives lived completely for His glory– because the extravagant beauty of His character actually deserves such an extravagant response.

“In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious…”
(Isaiah 4:2)

“My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.”
(Song of Songs 5:10)

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
(Revelation 1:5b-6)

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