Dec 13th, 2022: Choose to Be His Bride
A young Nepalese fellow was excited to tell me that his wife finally got her permanent residency paper and will be coming in early January. He was married and had about two months with his wife before leaving for Canada. He has not seen his wife for more than a year.
God has been waiting for us as His bride. The pathway for that began with the first Christmas more than two thousand years ago. We are no longer aliens in the Kingdom of God when we accept the invitation to be at His banquet.
God is indeed excited. Nothing pleases God's heart more than our being with Him. He is with us; that is the promise He has for us.
Maybe the mess we face today has much to do with our desire not to be with Him. We have turned our back on God as a nation and might just undermine His promise. It is a sad day when we are unable to say "Merry Christmas" to people at this time of the year.
Luke 14: 15-24
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yokes of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
