The Betrothal: The Priestly Bride by Anna Roundtree
“When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 16:8)
Often men identify with the priesthood of Christ and women with the bride of Christ. But in reality, neither the priest nor the bride has anything to do with our own gender. Our heavenly Father is looking only for His Son in us. He is looking to see if we exhibit the holiness and righteousness that was to be displayed in the lives of His biblical priests.
God is looking to see if we exhibit that single-eyed devotion so apparent in a loving bride—the one who wishes nothing more than to live in perfect union with her husband—even as Christ lives in perfect union with His Father. Since only perfect union will satisfy our Father, He created us so that only perfect union will satisfy His children.”
The ancient betrothal process in the Bible is a spiritual road map for the believers’ “rite of passage” into this consuming intimacy with God in Christ. When we are born again, we are joined to Christ in spirit, translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, seated with Him in heavenly places and made coheirs with Christ Jesus of God the Father. We begin as high as we can get, but not as deep – Depth is a journey.
If in this journey we seek the Lord for His sake alone, if we long to know Him as He knows us, then He will draw near to us in startling reality. He will ratify the betrothal covenant into which we entered (arranged by our heavenly Father) at the time of our new birth. Passionately He will draw us after Him and usher us into that stage of our Christian growth that the Bible describes as “the time of love.” This stage of our spiritual journey is like unto courtship (Ezek. 16:8).
For the betrothed, this is a time of intense joy and severe testing. An acute longing begins to grow within such believers. They realize that nothing will satisfy this hunger except a deeper union with Christ Himself.
If we will persevere, seeking consolation for our hearts in Christ alone, the Lord will draw us into a spiritual oneness. There are three distinct stages within the bridal process.
The individual experiences two of these, and one is corporate. This book is an actual account of such a journey—a journey (open to all believers) into a CONSUMING INTIMACY with Christ. I am sharing my love letters with you because the One who gave them asked me to share them. These love letters chronicle a relentless, passionate drawing by the Lord unto Himself, culminating in a glorious, spiritual union.
It is my great hope that these will be an encouragement to all who wish to live in God as deeply as possible while on Earth—and to know Him above all others and above all else both on Earth and in heaven. For you, Christ has love letters of your own awaiting. — Anna Roundtree.”
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If you have not repented of your sins and made Jesus your Lord and Savior, please do so NOW! If you do not have a personal love relationship with Jesus, please invite Jesus into your heart NOW! CLICK HERE!
