Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
These two verses are so rich—extensive study would reveal precious and life-changing nuggets. (In Part 3, we will go into the gifts that God has given His Body.) Here however, Paul is laying the groundwork of what it takes to be among the brethren, those individuals that comprise the Body of Christ, and members of the Church.
As I said earlier in the previous segment, the Church is going to go through a very deep refining because the level of compromise in the Church today is wide-ranging and God must prepare her to rise up and take her place. The refining is here because He needs His Body to be holy and acceptable unto Him. He needs His Body to stop conforming itself to the world and start living its life as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him. As intercessors, many of whom have gone through some pretty serious levels of refining in the last couple of years, our responsibility as intercessors, as shields, is to pray for the Church. Pray for the Church? Why? Because what God is calling us to is to become a Church that becomes a holy and acceptable, living sacrifice to God.
My daughter was married several years ago. It was an outdoor wedding, held beside a lake. She did such a beautiful job arranging her own wedding; truly a beautiful job. After months of preparation, we arrived early in the morning to prepare. The wedding was held in the evening just before sunset. Of course, both sides of the family were present, all busy about our work putting the finishing touches on the tables, decorations, etc. It was breezy. It was a perfect day.
In the bridal chamber, my daughter and her bridesmaids spent all day preparing her for this special day. Her nails were done, her makeup was perfect, her hair was flawless. Then we helped her put on her gown—it was not extravagant however, it was elegant in its simplicity. As I looked at my daughter, I had to fight back the tears as key childhood memories of this little girl I’d raised flashed before me. Today, on this special day, she stood before me a woman, mature, ready to become one with the man God created to walk with her for the rest of her life.
She did not compromise her faith in this wedding; she did not allow alcohol at her reception. We had a pastor that we had known for years come into town to marry her and her husband. She stood for righteousness that day. As I looked at my daughter, I saw the work that had gone into raising her and developing her into this woman that stood before me and I was more than proud of her—I was honored to know her. She’d credited me with the woman she’d become and as such, she insisted that both her dad and I walk her down the aisle. As the bridal procession began and my daughter came into view of the attendees, all eyes turned and looked at her, the bride. I scanned the people gazing at my daughter and I could see in those who knew her well and even those who, as out of town family members, did not know her that well, looking at her with such honor and tender admiration. It’s what we do at weddings, right?
Something happened when I looked up at her groom. There was so much love coming from him toward my daughter as he watched his bride walk down that path from the bridal chamber to the altar. The closer we got and the closer she got to her groom, the greater his love for her grew. I could see it welling up; there were tears in his eyes. This was the moment he had waited for. This is the moment he longed for. All the planning and preparation, all of it led to this moment.
I watched him watch my daughter and it seemed like they both felt as though they were the only two people there. Their love for one another could be felt, and it seemed to draw them to one another. All eyes were on the bride, yet their eyes were only on each other. The closer we came to the altar, the more tangible their love became. I handed her over to him, knowing I could trust him with this precious jewel of mine because this was a union formed by God, before the beginning of time.
It’s been eight years and the Lord reminded me of this today, bringing forth all the emotions I felt as though it were yesterday. He said, “This here, this is your example. The refining that I am taking My children through will bring them to a place that everyone ‘in the room’ will know who My bride is. All eyes will be locked and focused on her, because when I look at her, she will not be looking at anyone else, she will be looking at Me, her groom. She will have grown, matured, and prepared everything down to the very last detail, the very last thing within her that needs to be resolved and laid before Me will have been accomplished, and as she walks toward Me from the bridal chamber, she will be holy, pure and acceptable to Me. The love and intimacy that we will share will be unlike anything experienced before; it will be the fruit of all her labor preparing herself for this union with Me.”
You see, right now the Church is not the Bride that she needs to be. She has not prepared herself. You can barely tell the difference between her and the world.
Paul says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:2
This word “conformed,” as in “be not conformed to this world”, is only found in two places in the Bible, Romans 12:2 and 1 Peter 1:14. This word means “to be identified with, to have the outward shape, assuming a similar outward form by following the same pattern.” We are not to assume a similar outward form by following the same patterns and models that the world does. Nor are we to be identified with the world. There should be a stark difference between the Bride of Christ and the world.
Consider my daughter’s wedding—there was no confusion as to who the bride was. Can the same be said of the Church today? God is bringing forth a refining that will bring the Church into such a place of purity that when the Church is in the room, when the Church is assembled, everyone will know who the Bride is. Everyone will know that the Church is hungering for that union with Christ because her eyes are locked on his, never wavering, never compromising. Everyone will see it, everyone will feel it, everyone will know it.
To be continued next week…
Blessings & Love
Ricci Johnson-Wilson
