THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

June 15, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

Jon and I will be celebrating our 17^th wedding anniversary on June 18^th, so I want to continue writing this week on the theme of being prepared for our spiritual marriage, when we become the bride of Christ. If you have not yet had an opportunity to read last week's newsletter, I encourage you to go back and do so. There is a button left of each title bar to make it easy.

In Matthew chapter 25, we read the parable of the ten bridesmaids/virgins. All ten took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five who went were foolish, and five were wise. The five foolish didn't take enough oil for their lamps, but the other five took extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

They were all awakened by the shout, "Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!" They all got up and prepared their lamps. But the lamps of the five foolish were going out and they didn't have any extra oil. They wanted to borrow from the others, but were told, "We don't have enough for all of us. Go buy more for yourselves."

They left to go buy more oil, and the bridegroom arrived while they were gone. The five who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five returned, they stood outside calling, "Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!" But he called back, "I don't know you!"

Jesus then says, "You, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return."

How foolish I would have been, on my wedding day, had I waited until I heard the music of the wedding march being played, which was my cue to enter the church sanctuary, then begin to try and hurry to get ready. By that time it was too late to shower, have my hair fixed, and get dressed up in my wedding dress and veil. I would have missed my own wedding, had I done so.

Jon would have been devastated, thinking that I had changed my mind and didn't truly love him enough to marry him, had I not walked in at the very moment that I was supposed to. Had someone told him, "Oh sorry! She's at her dad's house showering.... then she's running to the beauty shop to get her hair fixed.... then she has to come back here to put her dress and makeup on.... then I think she'll be ready. I have no idea how long that all will take!"

Jon would have left and I would have shown up at the church to find my bridegroom was gone, and I was too late. He proposed to me in February, so I had four months to prepare and get things ready. It would have been foolish of me to wait until the very last minute to try to prepare; yet many do that spiritually. They have been given time right now to prepare their hearts for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus is wooing them and showing His love for them, yet many ignore Him and think they have plenty of time to prepare later. They're being "last minute" brides; hoping that the Bridegroom will wait for them when He arrives to take them to be with Him.

I had to make plans and have all of the details ready before the day of our wedding. I had to have my wedding garment ready to put on, so that I could prepare myself for walking down the aisle when the time came for our wedding ceremony to take place, so that we could make vows to one another. Preparations had to be made in advance, before we could begin our marriage.

Really, although our wedding was special, it was our marriage afterwards that Jon and I were focused on. We realized that the years following our wedding day was really what it was all about. But we spent the time beforehand getting to know one another, preparing for the time when we would be joined together as husband and wife, and anticipating the future.

That's what our time on earth is for. We are getting to know Jesus, our bridegroom, through His word and prayer and spending time with Him each day. But what we are anticipating and looking forward to is that moment when we are forever joined together with him, for all eternity, as His bride.

We don't know when our Bridegroom will return for us, His bride. We don't know if we will join Him through death or the rapture of the church. Be we can't wait until the moment arrives, then decide to make preparations. Today is the day of salvation! Now is the time to repent and commit yourself to Jesus!

If anyone decides to wait, thinking they'll have have time to say that last minute prayer of repentance, they are living like the foolish bridesmaids in the parable that Jesus spoke. The Bridegroom, Jesus, will appear, and they'll find themselves unprepared and left behind and miss out on the wedding feast. The door will be close and they won't be able to enter into His presence. That's one wedding none of us want to miss!

Let's all take heed to Jesus' words to, "Keep watch, because you don't know the day or hour of My return!" Let us all keep our hearts and lives ready to meet Him, at all times. Don't put off spiritually preparing yourself for His return. You don't want to be banging on the door, crying out to be let in because you missed His coming, only to hear the Bridegroom say, "I don't know who you are!"

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

If I knew Loretta was going to be late to our wedding, I might not have left. But if she slept in, or just goofed around instead of getting ready that morning, I would have known that she didn't take it seriously. I would have known that our wedding wasn't that important to her. And I might have suspected that she didn't think marriage was very important to her.

Our relationship with Jesus is much more important. If He knows we don't take it seriously, He will reject us. Revelation 3:16 quotes Jesus saying "So, because you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" He isn't looking for a bride who will just accept His invitation into heaven. He wants us to be excited and fired up for Him.

We can't just go half way, and expect someone else to share their oil with us. We have to be eager, and watch for His coming, and be prepared ahead of time. I admit that my first thought each morning is usually "Ugh, do I have to get up?" But we really should wake up each morning wondering, hoping that this will be the day He comes back for us all.

ON THE MENEWE:

Oreo Cheesecakes

Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. Set an Oreo cookie on the bottom of each muffin liner.

Beat together 3 packages of softened cream cheese (regular or light) and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until just blended. Spoon mixture over each cookie.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until center is almost set.

Cool completely, then refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

Place a dollop of Cool Whip on top of each cookie, then drizzle with melted Bakers chocolate.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

Jon and I met in December of 2003, but it was May of 2004 before he ever asked me out. We attended the same church and started setting together first. We got to know one another and became good friends first, before dating; which I think made our dating experience better, because we were never awkward being together.

One of my favorite memories was before we started dating. Jon and I were walking out of church together one night and as we stood together, before each heading to our own vehicle, I was pretty sure that Jon wanted to ask me something. He stood there for just a moment, then said, "I just don't have the words!" before hurriedly turning away and going to his own car. Thankfully, he finally found the right words!

Jon's parents were going out of town for a week in May, over Mothers Day, to visit their daughter and her family in Texas. That Mother's Day Sunday, after the church service, Jon asked me if I would like to go to lunch with him. After lunch, he asked if I would like to rent some movies and watch them together. That began our official dating life! That week, while his parents were gone he cooked dinner for me one night and we had a few dates. He was waiting for them to leave town for a few days, so that we could date without his mom grilling him with questions!

We both knew that she really wanted us to get together; although she would word it like, "I think it would be nice if the two of you just went out and did some things together.... it doesn't have to be a date."

Both Jon and I pretty much knew by the time we began dating that we were in love and would end up getting married. Finally, nine months later, Jon proposed; then 4 months after that, we began our married life together. June 18^th, will be our 17^th anniversary!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. - Albert Einstein

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org