The Bride Makes Herself Ready In Adversity

1/1/2026

ALL the adversity and foaming hatred and darkness and chaos from Satan against true disciples is the glorious context for her continuing preparation to come through Shining. (Attenders will never notice, but disciples will be experiencing these things, according to Jesus.)

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)

“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” (Philippians 1:29)

“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:10)

“But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13)

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7)

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” (Matthew 10:21)

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” (Mark 13:12)

“For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.” (Luke 12:52)

“They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother‑in‑law against her daughter‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law against mother‑in‑law.” (Luke 12:53)

“They are the ones who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb….before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in the temple…” (Revelation 7:9)

“They triumphed over [the accuser] by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, loving not their lives to the point of death….” (Revelation 12:11)

“Keeping God’s commands and holding fast to [the evidence] their testimony of Jesus….” (Revelation 12:17)

“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people…” (Revelation 13:10)

“This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people…” (Revelation 14:12)

“And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God” (Revelation 15:2)

“‘Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.’” (Revelation 16:15)

“They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of Lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.’” (Revelation 17:14 )

“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;” (Revelation 18:4 )

“Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.’” (Revelation 18:20)

“For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) (Revelation 19:6-9)

From “Martyr of the Catacombs”

“The persecutions which raged around them strengthened in them all that zeal, faith, and love which glowed so brightly amid the darkness of the age. It confined their numbers to the true and the sincere. It was the antidote to hypocrisy. It gave to the brave the most daring heroism and inspired the fainthearted with the courage of devotion. They lived in a time when to be a Christian was to risk one’s life. They did not shrink, but boldly proclaimed their faith and accepted the consequences. They drew a broad line between themselves and the world, and stood manfully on their own side.”

A Fragrant Crushing

“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2)

“Smyrna” comes from a Greek word (σμύρνα) which means “myrrh.”

Myrrh releases its fragrance when crushed. So rereading Revelation 2:8-11 was even more meaningful, considering how in the midst of afflictions, poverty, slander, sufferings, prison, persecutions—even to the point of death—that crushing can release the Fragrance of Jesus’ Life and Beauty!!

Delight, Trust, and Wait

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm. For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.” (Psalms 37:4-9)

The Stoning of Living Stones

George Fox (1624-1691) taught publicly and boldly, without apology, that true faith in Jesus Christ purifies and gives victory over sin. He fervently exhorted men to pursue complete holiness rather than empty religious ceremonies. As a result, he was often beaten, stoned, and driven out of town. Fox also often pointed out that what was commonly called the Church was only a building. He boldly declared that only the fervent believers of Christ were the living stones of the true Church.

God’s Economy—The Culling of Pretenders

Negative publicity in God’s economy can actually be publicity for the people who REALLY care. Positive publicity generally attracts the wrong crowd anyway. The culling of the pretenders who refuse to take up their cross and lose their reputations for truth is good, not bad.

“I’m confooooooosed! But what about…?”

“Did not our hearts burn within us?” is different than “This sounds true to me and shouldn’t get me into too much trouble.”

The culling of the ones who want to hedge their bet and use an XY-detector1, instead of a Z-detector, is a good thing not a bad thing.

Also, Jesus knew He’d be betrayed and when it was coming. When His Plan to die became evident to anyone with Ears—Judas made a place in his heart for satan to enter. And then the kiss of betrayal was the VERY spark that gave way for God's Salvation Plan to Release his Spirit!!!

A Journal Entry

“Nice Guys” Turn Freakish, When Given Over to Delusion

It is fascinating to watch these things happen right in front of us, even to previously “nice guys” turning freakish. It’s all supernatural, far from logical.

Deuteronomy 28:28–29 (NIV) says, “The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday, you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day, you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.” The same section adds, “The sights you see will drive you mad” (Deuteronomy 28:34, NIV), tying covenant infidelity to mental torment.

Ecclesiastes reflects on this condition: “I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly” (Ecclesiastes 7:25, NIV), and again, “The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead” (Ecclesiastes 9:3, NIV), presenting persistent wickedness as a kind of madness.

Daniel 4 narrates Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation: when he exalts himself instead of honoring the Most High, he is driven away from people to live like an animal until he lifts his eyes to heaven and his sanity is restored (see Daniel 4:28-37, NIV), making explicit the link between refusing to acknowledge God and the loss of soundness of mind. In the New Testament, the language shifts from “madness” to inner futility and darkness of mind.

Romans 1:21-22, 28 (NIV) says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools... Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done,” describing a spiritual and moral insanity that flows from rejecting God.

Ephesians 4:17-18 (NIV) teaches that the Gentiles “are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts,” connecting hardness toward God with a darkened, futile mind.

Similarly, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (NIV) speaks of those who “perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved,” and says, “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness,” portraying a judicial delusion that accompanies persistent rejection of the true God.

When people turn from the Lord—whether in Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness, pagan pride like Nebuchadnezzar’s, or New Testament idolatry and unbelief—the result is variously called madness, confusion of mind, darkened understanding, a depraved mind, and powerful delusion.

Understanding Wisdom By Backwards Engineering

“How can I tell what’s from God and what is an appeal through the wrong tree?”

In the context of seeking wisdom, God gave us several ways to backwards engineer to gain understanding or wisdom.

“By their fruit you shall know,” is the most obvious.

Another is a well-known scripture, James 1:8. “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Do you want to know the difference between religion and God? The difference between thoughts and emotions and logic, versus Life? God frequently trips up the mind to get to the heart, as we all know. “Take, kill, and eat.”

Work the problem backwards. “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” The person serving two Masters will be unstable.

But, a person walking with God will be “stable in all his or her ways,” living in the Life of God.

When words don’t solve the problem, look for fruit.

When words don’t solve the problem, look for stability.

When words don’t solve the problem, look for love.

Unstable = Double Minded

What does double-minded mean? It’s not hard to identify an unstable person. But why are they unstable?

Because they’re not telling you everything. They’re not telling you the division in their heart about who they are really serving.

“A double-minded (δίψυχος) man is unstable in all his ways.”

δίψυχος (dí-psy-khos)

1. Literal meaning
• di- = two
• psychē = soul, inner life, self

Def: “two-souled,” “split-souled,” or “divided within.”

This is not about being indecisive. It describes an inner fracture—a person trying to live with two controlling centers.

A dípsychos person:
• Wants God’s help but also insists on self-sovereignty
• Prays, as a mental escape hatch
• Trusts God conditionally

This is why James says such a person is “unstable” (akatastatos):
• restless
• unreliable
• internally agitated
• constantly shifting positions

Work the problem backwards when seeking wisdom, as James said. Look for fruit, says Jesus. Look for stability versus instability, says James.

The Signs and Symbols

Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered!
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted;
propose your plan, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me,
warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12 “Do not call conspiracy
everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.
13 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
He is the one you are to fear,
He is the one you are to dread.
14 He will be a holy place;
for both Israel and Judah He will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem He will be
a trap and a snare.
15 Many of them will stumble;
they will fall and be broken,
they will be snared and captured.”
16 Bind up this testimony of warning
and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
17 I will wait for the Lord,
who is hiding His face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in Him.
18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Really Cool, Even Without Being Fun?

Can something be really cool because God said it was coming, even if it’s not fun?

You can’t possibly envision yourself in these situations and think it would be fun to be there. Nevertheless, knowing in advance that it’s coming, it can still be gratifying and very cool. It depends on how deep your heart and mind run, and how connected to this present age, and sentiment, and comfort you are.

The Book of Revelation unfolds with the terrifying arrival of the Four Horsemen. As the first four seals are broken, these figures gallop across the world to deliver conquest, violent warfare, and crippling famine.

The sequence culminates in the appearance of a pale horse whose rider is named Death, followed closely by Hades, as they are granted authority to claim a quarter of the earth’s population through plague and the wild beasts of the earth.

The atmosphere of dread intensifies when the fifth trumpet sounds, signaling the opening of the Bottomless Pit. From the billowing smoke emerge supernatural locusts with human faces, lion’s teeth, and the stinging tails of scorpions. These creatures are commanded not to kill, but to torment humanity with such agony that people will desperately seek the release of death, only to find that death has fled from them.

And then the war between the Archangel Michael and the Great Red Dragon. After being defeated in the heavens, the Dragon is cast down to the earth, burning with a frantic and terrible fury because he knows his time is short.

In his rage, he pursues the righteous with a relentless malice, unprecedented spiritual and physical conflict. This period of judgment is marked by ecological horrors; the oceans and rivers are transformed into blood like that of a corpse, causing every living thing within the waters to perish and leaving the inhabitants of the earth to drink from crimson springs.

A gruesome peak is the Great Winepress of God’s Wrath. In this vision of final judgment, the wicked are gathered like ripe clusters of grapes and cast into a massive press. As the press is trodden outside the city, it does not produce wine, but a literal tide of blood. The text describes a river of gore so deep that it reaches the height of a horse's bridle, stretching across the landscape for nearly two hundred miles.

The natural order has collapsed, replaced by a series of supernatural catastrophes that signal the end of the current realm and age.

Fun? No. Gratifying with a twinkle in our eyes “no matter how bad it gets” and who in your family it victimizes? Sort of, yes.

1In this conversation, the XY-axis versus the Z-axis is being used as an illustration of the difference between eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vs. eating of the Tree of Life. XY-axis living is a “flat,” natural living of good vs. evil. Z-axis is a supernatural Zoe life in Jesus. Back

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