PREPARE THE WAY!!!!!
- Sarah Bell
- Feb 18
- 3 min read
A Cry to Holiness for the Bride of Christ
I feel the Lord drawing closer each day. There is a holy nearness that is hard to explain but impossible to ignore. The song echoing in my heart lately has been, “People get ready… Jesus is coming. Prepare the way. Prepare the way of the Lord.” This is not fear-based emotion or spiritual hype. It is love calling His Bride to readiness.
Prepare the Way
Isaiah 40:3 declares, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Preparation is not about outward appearance or religious performance. It is about internal alignment. When Revelation 19:7 says, “His Bride has made herself ready,” it reveals something deeply powerful. The Bride responds. The Bride participates. The Bride cooperates with grace.
The Beginning of Readiness: Repentance
This readiness begins with an honest heart check through repentance. True repentance is not shame-driven striving, but humble realignment. It is turning away from anything that dulls our love for Jesus.
It looks like faster repentance and quicker obedience. It means no compromise. It means choosing surrender over stubbornness and humility over pride.
First Peter 5:6 tells us, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” There is no room for pride in a prepared Bride. There is no room for self-pity or comparison. There is only childlike dependence and surrendered trust.
Putting On Righteousness
Preparing the way also means putting on righteousness intentionally.
Ephesians 4:24 calls us to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Holiness is not legalism. It is love without mixture. It is choosing purity when compromise would be easier.
It is guarding what we watch, what we say, what we entertain, and how we steward our time. It is honoring God with our bodies, knowing that as 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit… glorify God in your body.”
We do not belong to culture, and we do not even belong to ourselves. We belong to Him.
Abiding, Not Striving
This preparation is not frantic striving. It is abiding.
Jesus said in John 15:4–5, “Abide in Me… apart from Me you can do nothing.” Holiness flows from intimacy, not pressure.
We prepare by staying close.
We prepare by resting in His love.
We prepare by being loved by Him.
When Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” He reveals that obedience is love responding. It is not duty. It is not image management. It is devotion.
A Whole-Life Surrender
First Thessalonians 5:23 prays that our whole spirit, soul, and body would be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a full surrender. There are no hidden corners, no secret compromises, and no divided loyalties in a ready Bride.
Revelation 22:12 reminds us, “Behold, I am coming soon.” The King is returning for a radiant Bride, not a distracted one.
Church, This Is Our Hour
Church, this is our hour. We are not called to blend in or soften truth to match culture. We are called to be holy.
We are called to walk in purity, steward our words, guard our homes, and lead our families in righteousness. We are called to serve with clean hands and pure hearts.
This is not about perfection; it is about posture. It is about becoming a people who are quick to repent, quick to forgive, quick to obey, and quick to humble ourselves under the Lordship of Jesus.
Let there be no mixture among us.
Let there be no pride.Let there be no compromise.
Let Jesus Center Ministries be a people who truly prepare the way of the Lord.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, search us and cleanse us. Align our hearts with Yours. Remove pride, self-pity, hidden sin, and compromise. Wash us in Your Word and refine us by Your Spirit. Teach us quick repentance and joyful obedience. Teach us to abide deeply in Your love. Purify our speech, our homes, our bodies, our motives, and our ministries. Make us a radiant Bride, holy, surrendered, and ready. Keep our whole spirit, soul, and body blameless at Your coming. Holy Spirit, have Your way in us. Burn away mixture and establish righteousness within Your Church.
Make us ready, Lord. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
Pastor Sarah Bell
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