we are called to be the bride of christ

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" — Revelation 3:20-21, NKJV The bride of Christ has a desire to be great, noble, and successful. This deep human longing is answered by God as He enthrones us as His bridal partner throughout eternity. As the bride of Christ we have the highest position of honor and authority in eternity, a position far above all the angels. The highest position of honor for all of God's creation is reserved for the bride who will partake of the wedding table of Revelation 3:20. The bride who sits at the table feasting with Christ is the one who sits with Him in the position of government and authority as well. The bride of Christ is the queen of heaven because she is married to the King of kings. Believers are priest and kings. As priests we are wholehearted lovers, but as kings we are indeed in the government of the city of God. *PRAYER * Lord, Your desire for me to be Your bride satisfies the deep longing of my heart to be great, noble, and successful. I am great in You and will rule and reign with You in glory forever. *Greatness in God is not defined by earthly circumstances—greatness in God focuses upon His greatness.*

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

"One of the miracles of the grace of God is what he is able to do with the torn nets of lives surrendered to him." - G. B. Duncan

A Life Prepared for God

BY FRANCIS FRANGIPANE

I love the Word of God. I have a burning passion that my words, whether written or spoken, might be filled with the substance of God. I love comparing translations, researching commentaries and then using that holy information to prepare teachings. Several years ago, however, I found myself being corrected by the Lord. I had spent too much time preparing my message for a service. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit interrupted my study to recalibrate my focus. He said, "I have called you, not just to prepare sermons, but to prepare people."

This was a subtle, but profoundly significant correction. I was reminded of John the Baptist who was sent as a "forerunner before [the Messiah]." God had called John "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17).

There is a difference between preparing a message about God and preparing a people for God. Obviously, sermon preparation is very important, but it is not an end in itself. The goal is to equip and train people to represent Christ.

As we approach the end of this age, I believe our Father is in the process of training people to serve during the last great harvest. Our destiny as Christians is to "grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15). This means, we must not only know that Jesus heals but know who He intends to heal and how He wants to heal them.

You see, our quest is not only to possess accurate theology, but that the actual "life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).

Reward or Reproof
Our success in life is determined by one primary objective: how functionally transformed into Christ's likeness have we become? This reality - man created in the image of Christ - is the core purpose of our existence (Gen. 1; Rom. 8:29; etc). In my opinion, the Lord does not need to examine every individual thing we have ever done, good or evil. All things are already "open and laid bare" before Him (Heb. 4:13). What He will probe is the cumulative effect of our life's choices; He will measure how Christlike we have become.

If He sees that we were forgiving even when wounded; if He sees in us a heart that holds fast its faith even in times of adversity; if He finds us to be truly repentant and genuinely humble, even when we could boast; and if He sees we are committed to a life of love, we will have fulfilled the purpose of God. We will receive a great reward.

If, however, the Lord sees in us a soul easily offended or that we blame others for our joyless, angry attitude; if He scans our inner man and finds we are self-righteous and judgmental; or if our conscience alternately either accuses or defends ourselves, then we will render an account for our life at the judgement seat of Christ (Rom. 1:29, 2:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27).

Thus, it is of the utmost importance that we settle the eternal goal for our lives. Are we seizing life's opportunities to appropriate Christ or are we mostly coasting? Let us say with vision and assurance, I am preparing myself for God!

More GREAT QUOTES

More GREAT QUOTES
-Sermonindex.

"If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes."
- Corrie ten Boom

"The secret formula of the saints: When I am in the cellar of
affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines."
—Samuel Rutherford

"God takes a safe course with His children, that they may not be
condemned with the world, He permits the world to condemn them,
that they may not love the world, the world hates them...."
—Richard Sibbes

"We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power."
— R. A. Torrey

"A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing."
- W.B. Dunkum

"Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be better men and women. Do not
pray for tasks equal to your strength, pray for strength equal to your
tasks." - Phillips Brooks

"It's Jesus - only Jesus"
- Denny Kenaston

THE CROSS

"The second command Jesus gives in Mark 8:34 is not so easy to define. In Jesus' time, no one ever took up a cross unless they were going to die on it. How do we "take up our cross?" The idea has such a mystical, super-spiritual sound to it. Some have even gone so far as to allow themselves to be crucified in a modified way to show identification with Christ. But your "cross" is not literal; it is instead an attitude of radical obedience to God in which you willingly accept any consequence for Jesus' sake. If denying yourself is all about saying no, then taking up the cross is all about saying yes. "Yes, God, I will do whatever you ask of me -- whatever, whenever."
~Kay Warren, Dangerous Surrender: What Happens When You Say Yes to God

VALUE TIME

VALUE TIME
Every day, every second, carries with it its own finality. Time is our one indisputably nonrenewable resource. 'Where did the time go?' we ask when we sense we have spent the years wrongly or have taken some great gift for granted. And the answer, of course, is that it went to the same place it always has. At the end of every day, one more box in the calendar has been shifted from the future column to the past column, from possibility to history. And all of its moments can be remembered, can be celebrated or regretted, but can never be retrieved. The philosopher Simone Weil wrote, 'All the tragedies that we can imagine can be reduced to just one: the passage of time.' Life is one of those games in which you can only move forward. Life does not have a rewind button, so we must seek to get it right the first time."
~John Ortberg, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box

Grace Magnet

Greetings lover of God!

As you probably know, the undimming vision of this ministry is to possess the nature of Christ. Yet, even as we've sought to provide training resources as inexpensively as possible, we still felt that there were some to whom the Lord was reaching out to, but were currently low on finances. Yet, the Holy Spirit has burdened my heart that Christ has many whom He desires to train and empower, and that the calling of God should not be limited to only those who can afford it.

As I sought the Lord, it occurred to me that we could offer the complete text of In Christ's Image Training for free. While this opportunity will not include audios, testing or certification, it will put the powerful core training of ICIT right there into your hands.

Let me say something about the training itself. Over the years, many have asked at different times if I would be able to mentor or personally train them. In response, I felt the Lord underscored four realities I personally experienced that were fundamental to my ongoing spiritual development. I'll call these "grace magnets." What I mean is that walking in these four truths actually attract the grace of God to my life. Remember also that grace is not just unmerited favor, it is the workmanship of God in our lives (see Eph. 2:8-10). We are saved by grace and also changed by grace.

So, what things attract grace (that is, the workmanship of God) to our lives? I narrowed my grace magnets to four principle realities:

1). Passion to be like Christ. Rom 8:28-29. God works all things for the good of our conformity to Jesus Christ. If we expect grace to change us, we must have a vision for the goal God has for us. That goal is Christlikeness.

2). Humility. The Bible says repeatedly that God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. If we want to change, we must desire humility.

3). Prayer. It is one thing to humble ourselves and become dependent upon God, but prayer liberates us to obtain the promises and provisions of God to meet our needs.

4). Unity. Oneness with other Christians is the first expression of spiritual maturity. We must know the power of Christ in us as individuals, but also the corporate manifestation of Christ, which is actually the substructure of revival. We are to be perfected "into a unit" (John 17). Without the revelation of Christ-centered unity, we have no hope of seeing citywide revival.

It is my heartfelt prayer that you will consider taking the In Christ's Image Training course. Please consider the full training as it comes with 39 audio messages and will lead to certification and eligibility for Level II training . Yet, the free course will bring all four of the above themes into focus, attracting the workmanship of God into your life on a new level.

See below for more information.

Sincerely yours

Francis Frangipane