Revelation 19:7, New Living Translation

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time had come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.”

Weddings take a lot of preparation. You have to set a date, find the perfect place and the perfect dress. You have to make sure everything is the best it can be.

We too are going to a heavenly wedding one day. We all are the bride and Jesus is the groom. We must be ready for His appearance!

We are the bride of Christ, and we prepare ourselves and make ourselves ready for the groom. I think of all the work that goes into planning a wedding here on earth, as there is much to prepare before the big day. 

When you think you are going to see God your first instinct will be to make sure you are right with God! God is 100% clean and pure because He is Holy. We should want to be like our Father God. God told us this, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16, NLT) Be clean because God is clean! We want to be a pure vessel.

So, what does the bride of Christ look like? The bride of Christ possesses several things: Ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage and godly character. Have you made yourself ready? Have you removed all things from your life that would hinder your walk with God ?Are you walking in the characteristics of the bride of Christ? We need to make ourselves ready. Just like when we get ready to walk down the aisle for an earthly wedding, we have to be ready to meet our Heavenly Groom.

It is very important that Jesus’ bride be “ready” for Him. “His bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7) How does the bride (Church) make herself ready for her Bridegroom Jesus?

First the radiant bride of Christ will be walking in an anointing of the Spirit of God. She will have the Spirit of God in her.

We have to make ourselves holy and blameless. Holy and blameless! Jesus will marry a bride “suitable for Him” The spotless character of the bride is to resemble the spotless character of her Bridegroom Jesus. We must be daily cleansing and washing ourselves with the influence of God’s word.

I want to make sure that I am as ready as I can be for my Bridegroom. I want rid of anything and everything that would hinder my walk with God. I refuse to have unforgiveness or bitterness. I refuse to hold on to past disappointments. I refuse to harbor anger or resentment. I refuse anything that does not line up with God's word in my life. I want to be found pure and spotless for my Groom.

It is my prayer for you and I today that we are prepared for our Bridegroom … ready and waiting.