WHO’S BRIDE
ARE YOU?
.
Pastor Lynda MacDonald, Nova Scotia
When the theme came out for this month’s article, I could
not think of anything to write. That is unusual. I read the theme suggestion; I
pray for understanding on what to write then I sit and write. This one did not
come easy and when it did, I write it with great apprehension. Why? I do not
want to offend you. I want to be a vessel useful and encouraging to a Body that
is so in need encouraging in this evil hour.
I will, however, obey the voice of my Father and I
pray that this will fill your heart with joy and not cause you to turn from the
words.
I have been a believer since 1972 – 37 years last October. I have a Pentecostal
background –not that it matters to God. I tell you this so that you know I
truly do know “obedience is better than sacrifice”. I was taught to live
according to His Word – I thought I was!
My life as a believer has been rooted in the church
–Sunday school teacher, orchestra leader/choir member, etc. When the church
door was opened, I was there. We raised our 2 children around the altar and
attended every revival meeting possible. I was faithful to go to women’s
weekends, training sessions for leadership and so on. I tell you this not to
brag but to spread out before you my life that loved to serve God. I was an
elder and lay pastor and assisted a local pastor in a prison ministry. I love
God!
Early one morning of May, 2005, I was in the
observation car of a train heading home to
I heard his voice - inaudible but clear. “Why are you
being a prostitute?” I don’t know about you BUT that got My attention. I quickly replied “God, I have never been
unfaithful or been with anyone else except my husband -ever”. He said, “You
have been unfaithful to me.”
Now, I don’t pretend to be perfect but when I become
aware I have sinned I know how to repent and call on my Father for forgiveness
on a daily basis. I believe that I must walk holy before Him and I need His
power to do that. BUT, I desire to walk in that direction so what was I doing
wrong?
I asked how had I prostituted myself and He began to
open “my heart” to how I was breaking “His heart”. He said that I had been honoring
other gods by keeping their special days. I had been participating in pagan
practices and was acting like I was the bride of another god. I was stunned
–deeply stunned.
Next, He told me to write everything He said down
because it would be attacked and the enemy would try to rob me of this moment
with Him. I did just that. I wrote everything down as He spoke it to me. I
later went back to the sleeping compartment I shared with my husband but I
could not tell him what had just taken place. I was shocked! I was humiliated
and I was not sure how to tell him about this visitation. It would later change
our lives.
Here is what the Almighty God of the universe spoke to
me:
1.Christmas
was abhorrent to Him. It was as pagan as satan himself but dressed up to
deceive believers.
2. Easter
was nothing but a modern day fertility celebration.
3. Many
“foods” that I ate were not food at all but garbage fit for rats and other
vermin. Certainly not fitting for His bride.
4. Sunday
was the most effective thing satan had done in getting the Body of Yeshua to
disobey His commandments and there was a great judgment against us because of
it. He had said “Remember the Sabbath” and we forgot despite His warning.
5. His own
special days He called “His feasts” were being totally ignored by me and it
grieved Him to come to His appointed time with me and I wasn’t turning up.
He spoke about the kind of bride He was returning for.
He told of how much it had cost Him in a dowry to buy me – it cost Him His
life. He talked about how He yearned for me to love Him with all my heart and
how wounded He was when I was keeping company with other god things. He
reminded me that He was coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle but I
was so dirty and wrinkled, I didn’t even look like His bride at all.
Two weeks went by as I kept this to myself. How do I
tell anyone this shocking event? They will either tell me I had a nightmare or
the devil was deceiving me. But I know what happened! I know! I was there!
Finally, I told Jack, my husband. I showed him my
notebook and the notes I took. He believed me as to God speaking to me but he
just couldn’t understand how serious God had been, how stern He was in what He
said.
A few days later, I risked telling my best friend who
also was a strong believer. Like me –she was very serious about her witness.
She couldn’t accept what I shared with her. That has driven a wedge between us
since that day despite our friendship. In August of that year, I was led by God
to speak to two strangers who I met at my first ever Jewish/Gentile weekend.
God had promised me that if I went (900 miles from home) He would change my
life forever.
I asked both of these people about “kosher eating”
(one thing at a time J). One was a Jewish woman who could trace her lineage to
The other man –a Gentile believer- was one of the
speakers there that weekend. We (Jack and me) have come to trust and enjoy his
friendship. He lives 1500 miles from us but thank God for phones and the
internet.
I came home from that August weekend much like Moses
when he came down from Mt Sinai- my face glowed. That is the last time that I
knowingly ate what the Word of God calls “detestable”.
I asked Jack if we could stop celebrating Christmas
and instead learn to honor and keep God’s Feasts –we knew nothing much about
them. The first one we did was Chanukkah –not one of the Biblical 7 although
Yeshua himself went to
The process
that ensued was a bit slow as we took our time to not get caught in “man’s
ideas” but the clincher was the next year when a month before Christmas, I was
studying for a teaching I was doing and Jack was watching TV. He came down to the
office and said that never again would we be doing “anything pertaining to
Christmas”.
A&E had presented an hour long show called “The
Origins of Christmas”
(just from a historical view). In that 1 hour, every facet
of Christmas was exposed –the yule log, Christmas tree, gifts, mistletoe,
advent candle, etc. I asked if he had taped it and he said “no, I was too
shocked to think of it” but the next evening it was offered again and we did
get it on tape. That worldly media presentation (nothing religious about it)
unlocked his heart and we have been on the most exciting journey with God one
could ask for since then.
The dirt is slowly leaving our lives and the wrinkles
are being ironed out. It is not without pain and hurt as our loved ones and
friends mock and get angry.
For over 30 years of me loving my Yeshua, I was
longing for something I didn’t know existed. It was more than knowing about
him; it was being in love with him! Being His bride!
"Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li"
I am
my beloved’s and He is mine
