My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” Song of Solomon 2:10-13 (New International Version, NIV)

We are the bride of Christ. Now is the time for us to rise up and go with the Lord. We must commit to going His way. We must walk in His paths and cling to His hand. We must stand with Him. We are His bride and we are not betrothed to another. Our hearts are to be fully given to Him.

In this day, being His bride means we display a beauty that has not been seen in the church before. I am talking about a fierce beauty; a beauty that shines in the face of ugly circumstances and evil times. As His beautiful bride, we do not back down in the face of intimidation and threats. We do not run from issues, but we confront them in a spirit of love- but with firm resolve. We allow the power and majesty of our Lord to flow through us.

We have been in a wintry season- a season of coldness and death. But, we are leaving that and we are entering the season of singing. Sing now, oh bride, sing now! Sing the praise of the Bridegroom. He is mighty to save, and save is just what He is doing. He is rescuing His bride and rescuing the unsaved who don’t even know they need Him yet.

What an amazing time to be the bride! As we confront wickedness, as we stand with our Beloved, as we lovingly praise His name, the seasons are changing before our very eyes. Death is turning to life, harshness to peace, and lack to prosperity. The glory of the Lord is about to be poured out in a measure that has never been seen before. Arise, beautiful bride, arise!