Waiting for His Return

Waiting is not an easy thing for most people. For Abraham and Sara, after years of waiting for God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled, they decided to speed up the process and look at the world today! Getting ahead of God will lead us only to disaster. The psalmist said, I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry (Ps. 40:1). When we wait patiently for Him, we are expressing faith and belief that moves God to hear our prayers. The Prophet Isaiah said, Blessed are those who wait for God, who expect and look and long for Him (Isaiah 30:18). The word blessed is complete with good things in the spiritual sense and also in the physical. In the physical, where we experience our day-to-day life, it is enjoyment and pleasure and contentment, knowing that in the time given for waiting there is a lesson to learn, and that is peace, be still. About two thousand years ago YAHSHUA uttered a promise of His return. It was just before his exit from earth, when He was going to face His filled with rage and anger against Him enemies. His comforting words were forever to be remembered, not only for His disciples, but for every believer in Him.

He said, Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. This was a call to a peaceful heart in those hours of uncertainties at the news that their Lord YAHSHUA was going to depart from them soon. It was a call with the solution: believe in God, believe also in Me. Have active faith in your belief in God and also in Me… I am going to prepare you a place, and I will come back for you (John 14:1-3). Beautiful, beyond words is the promise YAHSHUA gave His disciples at His last hours here on earth. The promise that has stayed in the hearts of all who believed in Him throughout the world; a promise that has shinned the brilliance of hope, removing any spirit of doubt and fear concerning our future. All believers are called the bride of Christ. And as a bride of Christ, we are going through the process of purification, just as the ancient Jewish bride did while they were separated from each other, for we are spiritually betrothed to YAHSHUA. His Holy Spirit is our engagement ring, confirming our redemption and guaranteeing our inheritance, in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring possession of it- to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:14).

God the Father has chosen the bride for His Son, as it was done in the Jewish ancient times, seen in the life of Abraham when he sent his servant Eliezer to find his son a wife, under his specific instructions:  the bride chosen was to be willing to go with Abraham’s servant, she was to have come from Abraham’s family. Eliezer brought the bride to be and to her family numerous gifts according to the custom back then (Gen. 24). Rebekah met Eliezer at the well, and by volunteering to water Eliezer’s camels, she qualified as the bride for Isaac, according to Eliezer’s prayer. She was also willing to leave her family behind and go with Abraham’s servant to be Isaac’s wife, when asked, Are you willing to go? She answered, I am willing. YAHSHUA, gave His own life for His bride, when He redeemed her with His precious blood. She must be willing to leave all behind to follow Him. In accepting His gift, the bride of YAHSHUA enters into covenant of marriage with Him and is sealed with His Holy Spirit, Who comes to dwell in her, guaranteeing us our redemption. He is our wedding ring, setting us apart for Himself to be holy in consecration to Him and sanctified, for we are destined from the beginning to be molded into the image of His Son, that He might become the firstborn among many brethren (Rom 8:b).

 As it was in the ancient times, when the Jewish bridegroom left her bride for a year to go to his father’s house to prepare a wedding chamber for his bride, so it was with our bridegroom, Who left us, to go to His Father’s house to prepare a place for us.  As the Jewish bride was set aside for her purification before her wedding, so the Bride of Christ is also set aside for purification and sanctification before her marriage to YAHSHUA.  A process we must submit to, if we are to be His bride and enjoy the promise to be fulfilled in the future. Wanting our relationship with Him, He says to us, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land, the fig tree puts forth and ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away (S.S. 2:10a-13). We are spiritually betrothed to YAHSHUA. We must be in love with Him, as He is with us. We must be in relationship with Him every day, feeding on His word and listening to His Holy Spirit, as we go to be alone with Him. It is the season to be alert, in expectation for the return of our bridegroom to fetch us. Because we do not know neither the day nor the hour, we must be compelled to faithfulness, laboring in season and out of season, reaching out to the lost world, so that they too become part of the family of God, that is, His bride. Paul commended the Thessalonians for their faithfulness while waiting for YAHSHUA’S return saying, And [how you] look forward to and await the coming of His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead- YAHSHUA, Who personally rescues and delivers us out of and from the wrath which is coming and draws us to Himself (I Thess. 1:10). May we be like the Thessalonians, who in spite of persecution, kept the faith, looking forward for His return.

This song by Claire Cloninger is the cry of YAHSHUA’S bride echoing the words of Revelation 22:20: He Who gives this warning and affirms and testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen! Yes, come, Lord YAHSHUA!

While we are waiting, come

With power and glory, come

Come, Savior, quickly come

Jesus our Lord Emmanuel,

While we are waiting, come

Amen!

Before eternity replaces the space of time, and opportunity vanishes from you think about your destiny. Is YAHSHUA coming for you? Will you be ready to meet Him? Will your name be called out when the trumpet sounds announcing His arrival? Out of ten virgins who were waiting for Him, only five were ready; their names were written in the book of life and their lamps were filled with oil ready for the journey to meet Him. It is not through church that you will enter heaven, but through YAHSHUA, Who is the only Way to God; and through a relationship with Him. The mid-night call is at the door; make sure you will hear it.

Think About It!