Making Ourselves Ready to be the Bride of Christ
“We are washing all our robes the tree of life to eat; ‘O Lord, Amen, Hallelujah!’—Jesus is so sweet!” (Hymns, #1151, stanza 3)
“Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints.” (Rev. 19:7-8)
Surely at the time of her presentation to Christ, the bride will not have any wrinkles or spots. In His bride Christ will behold nothing but beauty. This beauty will be the reflection of what He is. The beauty of the bride comes from the Christ who is wrought into the church and expressed through the church. Our beauty is not our behavior; our only beauty is the reflection of Christ, the shining out of Christ from within us. What Christ appreciates in us is the expression of Himself.
Today we must prepare ourselves to be the bride by taking in the element of Christ’s riches as our nourishment. Christ is the food for the church. Therefore, as she prepares herself to be presented to Christ, the church must eat Christ. There is no other way to be prepared. Eating Jesus is the way. By eating Him we become a beautiful and even glorious bride. (WL, The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3451)
God’s Sovereign Arrangement for His Dispensational Move
“Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in the heavens.” (Matt. 16:18b-19)
[God] wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom. His purpose is not general and ordinary. How can He bring this age to a close and bring in another? He must have His dispensational instrument. This is what God wants to do today. We should never forget that God can be limited. He waits for man in all of His moves…. Everything depends on the church. (WN, The Glorious Church, ch. 6, sec. 1; this chapter, a short overview of God’s dispensational moves, is well worth reading)
We need to be more aware of God’s sovereign arrangement of the world situation, more concerned about the crucial time in which we live, and more burdened for God’s move in the present world situation. (Special Conference, msg 2, III.H)
High School Sisters Conference
The High School Sisters Conference will take place this weekend, March 10 to 12, at Oak Glen. Please pray for the Lord to speak a particular and personal word to each young person that would preserve and prepare them to be part of His beautiful and glorious Bride.
Bibles for Europe
There is a burden to distribute hundreds of thousands of Bibles in Germany, both through online orders during the year as well as in-person mass distribution at various events, especially in October. The number of Recovery Version NTs to be printed will depend on the offerings received this month. Ask the Lord to grace us to participate in these preparations by praying and by giving. Offerings may be made until March 19 to the church in L.A. designated for ‘BfE’.
Germany
Please pray for the thrusting out and abundant gracing of workers for the follow-up trips during the first half of 2017 for gospel preaching, shepherding, and perfecting of key contacts among the refugees and students, and for the increased labor on the college campuses for the gaining of typical German young people and seeking international students. Those who are able to serve in Germany for a minimum of one month can find information at http://germany.lebensstrom.de.
South Africa
Michael Stewart is in Pretoria for his second week with FTT Pretoria and for the annual national spring conference, March 10 to 12.
Lord’s Move in Asia
Current reports from Papua New Guinea and the Arab gulf states are in this newsletter.
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/E-2017-02.pdf English)
http://lmasia.org/temp/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Asia-2017-02.pdf (Chinese)
Announcements
- Morning revival: Week 3 in The Direction of the Lord’s Move Today (Thanksgiving Conference).
- Daylight saving time starts Lord’s Day, March 12. Set your clock ahead and meet on time.
- Information about Germany and Europe:
- February 2017 report (2 pages): http://lordsmove.org/oldsite/pdfs/2017SpringGermanyReport.pdf
- audio (four languages) sharing at Special Conf.: http://lordsmove.org/oldsite/reportspecial2017.html
and graphics shown then: http://lordsmove.org/oldsite/pdfs/GermanyUpdate2017PowerPoint.pdf - spring trips to serve with refugees or campuses: http://germany.lebensstrom.de
- blending trips and conferences in October: http://itero2017.amanatrust.org.uk
- Winter Training report (4 pages): http://www.lordsmove.org/pdfs/2016WinterTrngEuropeReport.pdf
- Europe schedule, UK Building Fund, universities: http://lordsmove.org/information.html
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The International Memorial Day Conference will be May 26 to 29 in White Plains, New York. Information about the conference and hotels is at https://churchinlosangeles.org/prayer/. Saints from L.A. who plan to attend are asked to RSVP before April 30 at http://www.tinyurl.com/memdayla (adults) and http://www.tinyurl.com/memchildrenla (children).
- There will be a conference in Atlanta May 5 to 7 on the gospel to all the nations. The burden is to find a way to contact, labor among, and gain people of African descent to be part of His expression in the Body. For more information, contact churchinatlanta@gmail.com.