As I read Isaiah 52 a few weeks back, I felt and heard Jesus’ heart-cry for the Church, His Bride. This is my sense of what He is saying:
Awake, awake, my precious, beautiful Bride, My Church.
For too long, you have dressed in the way of the world,
Trying to look like the world
In the ineffective hope you will become more acceptable, more attractive.
But it is time for you to cast aside these garments,
Which are shabby rags in comparison
To the glorious, majestic robes of My love and power
I have already provided you with.
In My garments
You will rise up as the magnificent, noble Queen I have longed for,
Shining in My glory.
My deep desire, the ache of My heart, is for your purification,
Your cleansing from those who refuse to have their hearts circumcised,
Who refuse to allow My blood to cleanse them.
This is not about outward appearances,
But about the deep affairs of the heart.
Only those whose hearts are purified,
Whose hearts are set on Me alone
Can truly be My Bride.
Oh that you would Come away with Me.
Allow Me to break off the chains that have held you captive to the world
For far too long.
Shake off the dust of the past, allow the chains of the world to fall from your neck,
It’s time for you to step out of the world’s control, direction and domination.
It’s time for you to step up onto the throne I have for you to share with Me alone.
Although you allowed yourself to be sold for no gain,
Remember that I have purchased you, redeemed and restored you,
Not with money, or anything the world deems valuable,
But with My Blood.
I am calling you out from your dwelling place in the world,
From living in that place of slavery,
Although you have longed to fit in, longed to adapt and conform,
It’s time to recognise you are actually an alien, a foreigner, there.
It’s time to make the move, to come and live with Me permanently,
Under the protection of My Name,
Really knowing Me,
Knowing intimately who I AM.
