"Will You Marry Me?"

"Whose heart the LORD opened." Acts 16:14

Dear Praying Friends and Family,


Now that it's officially on FB, i can share with you the news that our son is engaged to a wonderful young lady...a young lady we've been praying for since before our son was born. Last night was the big night he popped the question in the front of a sign we made of CHRISTmas tree lights that said, "Will You Marry Me?" and she said yes! We are so thrilled how the LORD has patiently worked in their relationship, and      after being friends for many years, the LORD opened this special young lady's heart to be our son's girlfriend and now his future wife and helpmate.

Earlier this week, i read a devotion by Charles Spurgeon about the conversion of Lydia, "Whose heart the LORD opened," and I was reminded once again, that JESUS, our HUSBAND, our BRIDEGROOM, the LOVER of My SOUL who died that I might be HIS BRIDE is the only one who can open our hearts, to HIM, where our "hearts unfold like flowers before HIM, opening to the SON above."




"Whose heart the Lord opened."

--Acts 16:14

In Lydia's conversion there are many points of interest. It was brought about by providential circumstances. She was a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, but just at the right time for hearing Paul we find her at Philippi; providence, which is the handmaid of grace, led her to the right spot. Again, grace was preparing her soul for the blessing--grace preparing for grace. She did not know the Saviour, but as a Jewess, she knew many truths which were excellent stepping-stones to a knowledge of Jesus. Her conversion took place in the use of the means. On the Sabbath she went when prayer was wont to be made, and there prayer was heard. Never neglect the means of grace; God may bless us when we are not in His house, but we have the greater reason to hope that He will when we are in communion with His saints.

Observe the words, "Whose heart the Lord opened." She did not open her own heart. Her prayers did not do it; Paul did not do it. The Lord Himself must open the heart, to receive the things which make for our peace. He alone can put the key into the hole of the door and open it, and get admittance for Himself. He is the heart's master as He is the heart's maker. The first outward evidence of the opened heart was obedience. As soon as Lydia had believed in Jesus, she was baptized. It is a sweet sign of a humble and broken heart, when the child of God is willing to obey a command which is not essential to his salvation, which is not forced upon him by a selfish fear of condemnation, but is a simple act of obedience and of communion with his Master. The next evidence was love, manifesting itself in acts of grateful kindness to the apostles. Love to the saints has ever been a mark of the true convert. Those who do nothing for Christ or His church, give but sorry evidence of an "opened" heart. Lord, evermore give me an opened heart.






                                                                             
JESUS is our BRIDEGROOM WHO came to earth the first time as a little baby.  HE came for the express purpose to die on a wooden cross and shed HIS royal, undefiled blood, to pay for your sins and mine. HE created us to have a warm, intimate close relationship with HIM forever and ever. Yet when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, their sin affected all men, women, and children, down through the ages. As a result we are separated from GOD by our sin. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD,"Rom. 6:23 and "the wages of sin is death," Romans 3:23. GOD cannot look upon sin for HE is holy. Because HE loves us so very much, HE provided the way that we could be forgiven our sins, by giving HIS perfect SON to die in our place, and take the punishment for our sin on the Cross of Calvary. "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."II Cor. 5:21.  We are separated from our BRIDEGROOM, until HE opens our hearts to HIM, woos us to HIM, and gives us a new heart to replace the stony, hard heart that resides inside of us, and gives us HIS SPIRIT to dwell inside of us. 
     "And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires and I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.  And will put my SPIRIT in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command you." Ex. 36:24-27.


   Even the faith to believe in HIM is from HIM, and the desire to repent and turn from our sins, are all gifts from our SAVIOR and BRIDEGROOM...we can't do anything on our own to establish that loving, intimate relationship with our SAVIOR...it's all a gift from HIM, because HE loves us so very much "For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of GOD, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2, 8

The next time JESUS will appear is when HE returns for HIS BRIDE, the CHURCH, to take us to heaven with HIM and escape the great tribulation that is to come.  We will join HIM in the ultimate feast our BRIGEGROOM has prepared for us"The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

         "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. (8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (9) And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."Rev. 19:7


I have been so blessed to be married for the past 28 plus years to my dear husband. During this season of suffering i have recently gone through, the LORD has reminded me again of how very much comfort and stability my husband is to me in the midst of my weakness. I have often woke up early in the morning with an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach, and have been comforted by my husband's tenderness and his arm around me. He couldn't make it go away, but just being near him meant so much to me. My heart has hurt for those who don't have this comfort. But as much as my husband is a comfort to me, he is a shadow of the comfort the LORD JESUS, our HUSBAND, our BRIDEGROOM is to us who never grows weary or tired, and WHO has perfect wisdom, and encouragement, and is all powerful to deliver, and give us HIS favor and grace to stay where HE has put us to walk. I read these words by Octavious Winslow earlier this week and they encouraged me so much, how strong and powerful my HUSBAND, my BRIDEGROOM is and how tenderly HE loves me and you.



Octavious Winslow
Come, oppressed and burdened believer, ready to give up all and sink! Behold Jesus, the Almighty God, omnipotent to transfer your burden to Himself, and give you rest! It is well that you are sensible of the pressure — that you feel your weakness and insufficiency — and that you are brought to the end of all your own power. Now turn to your Almighty Friend, who is the Creator of the ends of the earth — the everlasting God, who does not faint, neither is weary.
Oh, what strength there is in Jesus for the weak, and faint, and drooping of His flock! You are ready to succumb to your foes, and you think the battle of faith is lost. Cheer up! Jesus, your Savior, friend, and brother — is the Almighty God, and will perfect His strength in your weakness. The battle is not yours, but His! Jesus . . .
sustains our infirmities,
bears our burdens,
supplies our needs, and
encircles us with the shield of His Almightiness!
What a Divine spring of consolation and strength to the tired and afflicted saint, is the Almightiness of Jesus. Your sorrow is too deep — your affliction too heavy — your difficulty too great for any mere human to resolve. It distances in its intensity and magnitude, the sympathy and the power of man.
Come, you who are tempest-tossed and not comforted. Come, you whose spirit is wounded, whose heart is broken, whose mind is bowed down to the dust. Hide for a little while within Christ’s sheltering Almightiness! Jesus is equal to your condition.
His strength is almighty!
His love is almighty!
His grace is almighty!
His sympathy is almighty!
His arm is almighty!
His resources are infinite, fathomless, measureless!
And all this Almightiness is on your side, and will bring you through the fire and through the water.
Almighty to rescue — He is also your Brother and Friend to sympathize. And while His Divine arm encircles, upholds, and keeps you — His human soul, touched with the feeling of your infirmities, yearns over you with all the deep intensity of its compassionate tenderness!
“Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!” Song of Songs 5:16.


Yes, HE is ALTOGETHER LOVELY, my BELOVED and my FRIEND...my HUSBAND, and my BRIDEGROOM. One day, HE is going to take me home to live with HIM in the home HE has lovingly prepared for me in heaven and be with HIM forever and ever. HE has purchased me with HIS blood, and called me to be HIS when i was 19 years old. I surrendered my life to HIM at a youth revival in Central Baptist Church. I didn't go to that revival that night expecting to come to know CHRIST, I thought i already did, but my SAVIOR wooed me down the aisle, where I surrendered my life to HIM to date only CHRISTians, save my body for marriage, and marry only a CHRISTian. Well, HE knew i had already failed miserably at the first two, yet HE loved me and wanted me to be HIS, and wanted me to be forgiven and freed from the sin burden that I carried around with me. Thank GOD for a guilty conscience and the HOLY SPIRIT that convicts us of our sin and doesn't let us go! It was like in "Pilgrim's Progress," by John Bunyan, the sin burden was immediately taken away from me, and I felt as if the weight of the world was lifted off of me. I felt a joy I had never known, and GOD instantly gave me new eyes, spiritual eyes, and a new heart to understand HIS WORD. HE gave me a hunger and thirst to know my HIM better, and the power and desire to obey HIM. Everything about me was changed in an instant, my priorities, my desires...I was a new creature in CHRIST JESUS, and my BRIDEGROOM, had called me to be HIS BRIDE. Little did i know, a month after JESUS called me to be HIS, that HE would call my former boyfriend who I had dated for the past four years to be HIS too. HE convicted him of his sins in the basement of his home reading through the Gospels, and Johnny cried out to GOD to save him, and HE did. He changed my boyfriend, amazingly, and if i ever doubt GOD is real, all I have to do is remember what my boyfriend was like before CHRIST saved HIM, and the change HE made in HIS life when CHRIST came to live inside him. We didn't immediately start dating again...in fact, there were several months my heart was closed to a relationship with him.  But in the fulness of time, GOD opened my heart to him, and when he jokingly asked to marry me several months later, and I said "yes," he was so shocked. It's amazing how the LORD works to open our hearts in HIS time. We've been married  28 plus years....and what a faithful husband he has been to me to love me and care for me  with the tender love of CHRIST JESUS.

The words below by Sarah Young who wrote the JESUS Calling devotion book reminds me of the tender love that our LORD JESUS has for us, and how HE tenderly cares for us even when we don't realize it, and may be in the greatest struggle of our lives:




I am taking care of you. Feel the warmth and security of being enveloped in My loving Presence. Every detail of your life is under My control. Moreover, everything fits into a pattern for good, to those who love Me and are called according to My design and purpose.

Because the world is in an abnormal, fallen condition, people tend to think that chance governs the universe. Events may seem to occur randomly,with little or no meaning. People who view the world this way have overlooked one basic fact: the limitations of human understanding. What you know of the world you inhabit is only the tip of the iceberg. Submerged beneath the surface of the visible world are mysteries too vast for you to comprehend. If you could only see how close I am to you and how constantly I work on your behalf, you would never again doubt that I am wonderfully caring for you. This is why you must live by faith, not by sight; trusting in My mysterious, majestic Presence.
We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
—Romans 8:28 amp

Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”
—Job 42:1–3

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
—1 Peter 5:7

We live by faith, not by sight.
—2 Corinthians 5:7


      I sure am happy for my son and for his betrothed....

they're going to have to wait a while before they are married, and i ask you to pray for them as they wait on the LORD for HIS perfect timing to bring them together as man and wife. JESUS has been waiting for me and you to make us HIS bride and to open our hearts at just the right time.JESUS is asking each one of us "Will You Marry Me?"  Have you said "yes" to HIM and surrendered your life to HIM WHO gave HIS life for you?  HE loves you so much, HE came to earth as a little baby and shed HIS blood on the Cross of Calvary, that we could be forgiven for our sins, and have a personal and intimate relationship with HIM for all eternity...if you haven't opened your heart to HIM, I pray the LORD will open your heart today as your read these words.



"For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only SON that whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life. For GOD did not send HIS Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through HIM might be saved." John 3:16,17

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing," by Charles Wesley has really ministered to me this week as I have thought about the powerful words and how they describe our SAVIOR and our HUSBAND's love to us:
Hark, the Herald Angels SingDEC




Hark, the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King,
“Peace on earth, and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled.”

Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Veil’d in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to appear,
Jesus Our Immanuel here.

Mild He lays His glory by;
Born, that men no more might die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born, to give them second birth.

Come, Desire of Nations, come!
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s promised Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.

Glory to the new-born King!
Let us all the anthem sing,
“Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled.”






~Charles Wesley~



Here is a beautiful version of it sung by Chris Tomlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19w0IHPL4X0&feature=related




Thank you for letting us share our joy with you in the way GOD is working in our family.  GOD is constantly revealing HIS love to each one of us everyday.  I pray that the LORD will use these words, HIS SCRIPTURE to draw you to HIM, encourage your heart, lift your from the depths of despair, and help you to rejoice in HIS great love for you this CHRISTmas season and always. 
                                                                                                                With all HIS love,
                                                                                                                     mitzi

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