The Bride Church

Isaiah prophesied that someone would come and prepare the way for The King. He said he would come in your face. 😮 John the baptizer came preaching to prepare your heart for repentance. Repentance clears the way for the forgiveness of sin. Locusts and honey are bittersweet; so is forgiveness. Trials and obstacle are an opportunity to cry from the wilderness. Jesus is the greater and is clearly the...

Peter’s (and the disciples’) view of the Messiah was too limited. The Kingdom of God is here now but is also yet to come. Jesus taught the disciples “on the way.” Rebuke comes as a challenge to understand and leads to repentance. We see what we are trained to see more than what is there. Social justice is important to the heart of God, and He wants the best for us, but there is more to being a dis...

Jesus challenges us to apply His teachings. The warning of imminent storms and coming judgment is motivation for reflection. We know that good works will not save us, but they are a barometer of our spiritual health. Foundations are costly. Jesus paid the price that allows Him to be our Rock. It costs us to follow Jesus and apply His teachings. The passage from Luke comes on the heels of his sermo...

Offering ourselves as a sacrifice leads to love. Loving our enemies is the ultimate test of love. If our ultimate treasure is found in Christ and glorifying Him, we have the motivation to love our enemies. To love in the face of opposition is an opportunity for the world to see Jesus. If we are we are overcome with evil, we may lose an opportunity to give grace; even worse, we may become bitter. I...

Your living sacrifice will lead to transformation that will ultimately lead you to others. Romans 12:9-13 lists 13 commands. Ten for others, three for you and the Lord. None of these commands are carried out by the natural man but by the Holy Spirit working through His disciples.  When these commands are applied and genuine love flows, it is a sign that you have gone from death to life! Ten of the...

God equips the body of Christ with Spirit empowered gifts. Spiritual gifts are to be used to edify or build up the body. Spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Spirit, given by grace to the believer. Prophesy, Mercy, Helps, Administration, Serving, Teaching, Wisdom, Faith, Tongues, Interpretation, Discernment of Spirits, Exhorting, Encouragement, Healings, and Miracles are some of the gifts. Th...

God’s mercy motivates us to give ourselves as a sacrifice. Our sacrifice is continual worship; it’s a “living” sacrifice. Mercy allows us to be merciful. We must willingly allow God to consecrate us from the world. The Word of God is required to transform our minds. He saves all who call on Him, He Saves us from His wrath, He frees us from condemnation. He takes away our shame, He gives us his son...

Paul was zealous and self-righteous when Jesus encountered Him. Paul was broken as he was blinded in order to see. He saw the truth of his need for Jesus and others. Paul was led by another man’s hand to teach him humility. Paul was personally confronted by Jesus. The scales of pride, self-sufficiency, and old identity fell off. Paul was given new power and a new purpose. Paul was taught that God’...

A broken and contrite heart is a sacrifice that the Lord accepts. David had experienced great victories and great deliverance, but his biggest gain was when his heart broke over his sin. When your heart breaks over sin, you have discovered what breaks God’s heart. Spiritual heart disease includes a hard heart, an unforgiving heart, a proud heart, a deceitful heart, a rebellious heart, a lustful he...

Renée Marquez shares her story of brokenness and God's faithfulness through it all.

Naomi suffered a series of great losses but gained a great friend. Ruth’s commitment to the Lord was not hinged on personal gain. God weaves his sovereignty as well as His mercy all the way through their lives. Boaz is a type of Christ as he upholds the law and redeems the lost. God is close to the broken and contrite heart. Naomi said she went away full and came back empty, but her emptiness crea...

Jacob was truly born a sinner as he was attempting to pull back on His first-born twin Esau, even at birth. We are born broken. Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing. Jacob was on the run from his brother, but God was on a run to Jacob. During the 20 years he was in Harlan he was reaping what he had sewn with Leah and Laban. God wrestled with Jacob and Jacob lost; or did h...

The Hebrew word for bless used in the Genesis passage is “berakah” (to kneel) and the Proverbs passage uses “ashre” (to be happy). When God blesses us, we can see a rhythm to it. We realize our need for Him. Our own efforts are not enough. We break or bend our knees. We begin to cling to Him and He gives us a purpose from the pain. Ministry efforts are realized or multiplied. We can see this rhyth...

Luke 15 starts with Jesus responding to the murmurs regarding eating with sinners. He teaches them a Parable (3 stories forming one parable). The Son seeks the lost sheep. The Holy Spirit  the lost coin. The Father receives the lost son. The son wanted the father’s treasure but found out what he really needed was his father. The embrace: forgiveness The kiss: His love The robe: His righteousness...

God is my salvation. Obey God rather than man. Speak the truth in love. Preach the Gospel with boldness. Rejoice in the Lord always. Count it all joy when you face various trials. God's Word will always stand. Be filled with The Holy Spirit. The gospel is the greatest love song. Love your enemies. Depend fully on God during persecution. God will give us the strength to rejoice during the hardest t...

God’s purpose to sanctify a bride for his Son is woven through the Bible as a mystery. The mystery is slowly being revealed through shadows and types such as Abraham, Isaac, and Rebecca. Every Jewish wedding is a shadow of the consummation of His eternal covenant. Everyone is given an invitation to the wedding. But only those with the wedding attire (his righteousness) are in matrimony. The Spirit...

God’s love was displayed on the cross for sinners. Paul describes the difference between a good man dying for a righteous man verses Jesus, the perfect man, dying for an ungodly man. This is love. Jesus says we are more than servants; we are His friends if we do what He asks. There is no greater love than when Jesus gave up His life. To fulfill the commandment of loving others, we are in desperate...

His name is Jealous. His jealousy is Holy. He wants our hearts to belong to Him alone. Friendship with the world is the absence of God’s love. Repentance is the solution for our wandering. The end of idol worship is destruction.

God covered man’s first sin with animal skins. Ham spread the news of Noah's weakness and his other two sons covered it. Love covers sin. The blood of Jesus covers sin. His love covered Peter’s sins, Paul's sins, the woman at the well’s sins His love covers our sins! Jesus moves into the very place we try to cover.

He corrects those He loves. His correction should be expected. His correction should not cause bitterness. His correction should lead us to holiness. His correction is not punishment. His correction proves that we are His sons and daughters. Let’s welcome this kind of love.

Only one time in Scripture does God actually say “I love you,” but He demonstrates His love countless times. God holds up both ends of the Old and New Covenants. God’s steadfast love is: unchangeable, unbreakable, unmovable, unconditional and unending. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ for those that are in Christ. Steadfast love is faithful and full of daily mercy.

The first mention of love in Scripture is the love of Abraham towards his one and only son. God expressed his heart to call a people unto himself by trusting Him. The altar on Mt. Moriah with Abraham and Isaac was a shadow of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. God credited unto Abraham righteousness because of faith. God called him His friend. God’s mercy and faithfulness was made manifest...

Jesus calls us rise up with Him. We come alive in Jesus. His Word comes alive in us. His love comes alive in us. His forgiveness comes alive in us. We come alive when we serve. Some things only come alive after repentance.

Jesus prayed that we would believe in Him as the only true God. His resurrection distinguishes Him as the one true God. His tomb is empty: victory over death was accomplished. Jesus transcends our pain, sorrow, fear, pride, rebellion, and addictions. Jesus offered Himself to His disciples as they were locked in a room. Jesus’s offer remains the same after the resurrection: His peace, a purpose, an...

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem to die, the disciples were blinded to the spiritual vision for how He was going to expand the Kingdom through the cross. The Kingdom of God is not made by human hands, human ideas, human means, human wisdom, or human governments. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours. The message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but life and peace to those being...