Bridal preparations

Christ's bride is a temple made up of living stones, who are his people - those with His spirit of love in their hearts.  The organisation that was established on papal principles against God's express wishes is built on sand that will be swept away in the storm. But God's living temple bride is being built - the foundational cornerstone has been laid (Christ, the only begotten Son of God), and on this rock He will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It will stand during the storm so let's be sure we build on the rock. The spirit of Elijah  restores the altar and prepares the bride to meet the Lord,  turns the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers. This spirit of Elijah restores relationships, turning hearts from baal to Yahweh, to appreciate the value of the sacrifice (that the Father gave his son) and to build on the divine principle of fatherhood and sonship established in the foundation.  

Because Christ's bride  is an invisible, relational temple as opposed to Babylon's visible, materialistic one, she is built by the ways we relate and connect to one another.  The tool of relationships is communication - without communication, our spirits shrivel up and die.  God's great purpose is to live with us and in us, and through the sanctuary he brings us into his presence where his principles are located for healthy relationships. In his presence in the Most Holy place, He desires to communicate, interact, connect and be intimate with us.  This is His heart's desire and purpose, for us to live there from now on.

Before that can happen, we have to be ready to hear and receive what he wants to share.  We need to confess our ways of blocking intimacy with him and one another over the Lamb's blood, we need the cleansing of the water, and then to learn his ways in the bread and receive the power to do it in the spirit and then tell him everything on our heart in the sweet incense. Then we can enter his holy presence to hear his voice, to meet with him, to live with him, in the secret place. 

In that place is his sacred law - the law that protects relationships.  They consider God's, others and our own rights and responsibilities. They are principles for healthy and safe relationships.  The first four are God's rights which it is our responsibility and joy to honour.  It's His right to be loved with all our hearts minds, souls and strength because He delivered us from bondage, he recognised our rights were being trampled on by the slavery of Egypt, and He proved himself the greatest human rights protector and provider. He has proven that he values and respects our needs and that he will defend us, He has proven his character is one of love, that he is deserving of our trust and love, our honour and respect. 

So it's His right to be the only One we worship.  It's His right to feel jealous if we worship other idols, images or gods, it's His right for his name to be reverenced and it's His right to spend time with us on the day He designated.  The last six are others rights which it is our responsibility and joy to honour and respect. Because he has protected and provided for us and recognised our rights, we are to recognise others rights too and protect and defend them as he does. It's parents rights to be honoured by their children.  It's everyones right to and responsibility to keep themselves sexually pure. It's everyone's right to own possessions free from others taking them, it's everyones right to enjoy physical and spiritual life that is not injured or killed.  It is everyone's right to a reputation free from lies, and everyone's right to enjoy relationships free from the other person wanting what they've got. When those rights are abused, there is pain and suffering caused which we need to confess and be sorry for. It hurts God when we don't honour his rights. It hurts others when we don't honour their rights.  Love will recognise, honour and defend other's rights. Abuse will not recognise, honour or defend other's rights. God is abused and wounded when we don't recognise his rights. Abuse is sin and love is righteousness.  

Back to the temple. Now mortar holds the stones together.  God's way of building up his bride is by putting one living stone next to another and using sand and water to hold them together. He places one living person with his spirit in their heart next to another and He holds them together with the mortar of truth and love.  Too much water and the stones slide around, and too much sand and the connection is too brittle and they fall apart.  The perfect mortar mix is a balance of speaking the truth in love.   God connects people together, one stone along side another, one on top of, underneath another.  We are all as living stones built on the foundation cornerstone, Jesus Christ.  The foundation which is the truth that Jesus is the Father's only begotten Son cannot be moved and it will stand strong in the coming storm and wind.  Paul reminds us not to forget to communicate, for Jesus is very pleased with this sacrifice.  Communication in love and truth holds the temple together.  Communication that is free from the blocks of sin, that respects and honours and defends one another's rights. Communication that connects firmly to the living stones all around.