"The Perfect Bride"

Hope is the most distinctive mark of the Christian life in the opposition to the hopelessness of the lost; with out that hope, we are merely surviving day to day, as do those that are hopeless. You do know that hope will no longer be needed in heaven; right? Nor will faith, for that matter. But for now, hope is the reason that we rise above that which others fail to; for the hope that we have in Christ is not based upon something to come, but is based upon something that lives in us; not that we do not look for that which is to come, because we do, and we must! But the point is more about being found doing what you have been made to be doing, not because you are aware of His soon return, but because of the hope that is in you, and the love that has birthed in your heart. As I was getting ready to get out of bed this morning, I took a moment to say a quick prayer about getting up to start my day; something that I rarely do; instead, I usually just head off into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. In taking a moment to do this prayer, the Lord spoke to my heart about preparation of our hearts prior to His coming. It is not just about being busy doing His work at the time of His coming, but more about a preparation of His perfect bride; a bride that is looking towards the wedding day as the day of consummation, and being found pure upon that day. Think of what hope looks like to a bride that is about to be married, and then add to that the fact that the bride is a virgin looking towards her wedding night; you can see the point which I am trying to make, and how it is about a heart being prepared for love; looking towards that which is to be complete... "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." (1 John 3:3)