Steve Porter: "The Beautifully Adorned Bride"

From the Desk of Steve Shultz:

A significant thing that Steve Porter and I have in common is our spiritual father, Wade Taylor.

Through the years, Wade sowed into both of our lives many of the things you will read about below.

The Father is after a Holy, spotless Bride and in the long run, we will only be Holy because of the Blood of Jesus and the robe of righteousness Jesus places on us.

And yet there is a Holy Walk that the Lord is asking of us, as we seek further and further to have intimacy with our Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit.

We will never be saved, nor can we be saved by righteous acts...nevertheless, God desires that we become fruitful and full of many righteous acts that are performed as worship to God.

We must NEVER do works to seek God's love. He pours His love out to us constantly, whether we do good works or not. But as we revel in His love...we should be growing in love and serving others in need.

With that all in mind, here is a greatly instructive word of the Lord through Steve Porter. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)

Enjoy,

Steve

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One morning, as I was waiting on the Lord, I received a vision and saw the throne room. In the center of the room was a woman who knew the wedding was about to begin. She was anxious and glanced side-to-side, asking, "What am I going to wear?" Each time she said this, her face looked more desperate. On her back was written the word "Grace."

Just as her anxiety mounted, a beautiful Bride walked through the door. The beauty of the Lord was upon her, as her face was bright, glistening with the light of the glory of God. Her train was very long, shimmering with brilliant rays of light. Her countenance was difficult to gaze at, as the atmosphere of Heaven surrounded her. On her back were written the words, "The righteous acts of the saints."

I continued to pray for sometime as the Lord embedded these Scriptures of Revelation 19:7-9 into my heart.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His Bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear (fine linen represents the good deeds done by those who are overcomers). And the angel said...'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.' And he added, 'These are the true words that come from God.'" (Emphasis mine.)

Come Up Here

We are living in the end times when the Lord is calling us to walk through an open door into intimacy with Him. The heavenly Bridegroom is bidding His Bride to "Come up here" for deeper, more intimate fellowship (Revelation 4:1). And there is but one requirement for admission: it is open to those who hunger for more of Him. Those who find themselves "in the Spirit" are being progressively changed into His image. (Photo via Pixabay)

The very glory of God is being poured out upon those who heed this call to "come." In this "throne room experience," the Bride is being changed from "glory to glory." Our heavenly Bridegroom desires that the atmosphere of Heaven be poured out in our secret places of communion with Him.

As the Church Age transitions into the Kingdom Age, the Body of Christ will be defined by two types of Believers: those who only content themselves with the permissive "grace" of their salvation and, in contrast, the diligent ones – having their eyes fixed on Jesus – who are preparing themselves like the wise virgins of Matthew 25 through their steadfast "righteous acts." These "righteous acts" are not performed out of a sense of obligation, but rather are birthed out of a love relationship and deep desire to please the Lord.

The Laodicean Spirit

The "Laodicean spirit" runs freely through the Church today and has slowly lulled many to sleep. Thus they are not prepared. Our God has called us to "watch at His gate," and to "discern the times." This permeating spirit masks itself cleverly and convinces many that they are "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," when instead they are "wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17).

Some churches today have replaced the "Anointed Word of the Lord" with motivational speeches. They have replaced godly elders with management teams and replaced God-appointed pastors with hired Sunday-pulpit showmen. They have become more "crowd-sensitive" than "Spirit-sensitive" by relying on man's wisdom rather than divine wisdom revealed.

Being Spirit-led has given way to a controlling religious structure that "denies the power." Bereft of God's transformative power, it substitutes only a shallow form of religion, dispensing a creature-developed mindset.

They sing songs about the Lord instead of becoming themselves "a new song." There is no spontaneous prophetic flow, no move of God. They have substituted the tickling of the ears – misleading information and inadequate, inappropriate encouragement – for the true, divine, deeper revelation. The emphasis is on intellectualism (the rationale of reasoning), rather than purity of heart and mind – doing rather than being.

Fool's Gold

There exists, in certain areas, a mineral composite called pyrite, which has a metallic, brass-colored luster. These glittering deposits have lured many a prospector into believing they have struck it rich! Much to their chagrin, however, when their "find" has been duly examined, the essayer has determined it valueless! The pyrite is better known by its familiar name: "Fool's Gold."

The devil is an expert counterfeiter and he goes to church! Sadly (and with eternal consequences), gullible Christians (not rooted and grounded in the truth) will often fall prey to a look-a-like gospel. It sounds good, appears authentic, and is easy to incorporate into their busy lives. It often passes for the real thing, but like the pyrite, its glitter is only on the surface. The Lord would have us seek deeper depths and higher heights. (Photo via Pexels)

Laodicean Christian, awake! Let your heart be stirred. Today is the hour of your visitation. Don't be enamored of the seemingly religious Fool's Gold that passes for spiritual nourishment. The risk of being left standing outside the wedding chamber with no oil in your lamp is too great!

As the spirit of Laodicea attempts to "blind" the eyes of the Body of Christ, Abba Father is busy preparing a Bride for His Son. The Bride is "buying gold tried by fire" – His divine nature. As we allow the "fire" to burn away our sin, we are conformed into the image of His Son. His nature changes our nature and others will say, "Who is this that comes out of the wilderness, leaning on her lover?" (Song of Solomon 8:5).

Being the Mature Bride of Christ

The refining fire never "feels" good, but it's absolutely necessary if we are to be that mature Bride of Christ. In the fire, His Spirit reveals things we must shed so His divine nature can be wrought within us, transforming us from "glory to glory." In this process we will embrace His Kingdom and fulfill heavenly mandates. With our "invitation" in hand, we'll have our "garment" prepared (clothed with His glory), and not be made ashamed by our nakedness on the day of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

We'll not be frantically searching for something to wear, but rather, through our "faithful acts" of "supping with Him," and by answering His "knocks" on the door of our spirit, we will be "ready" and waiting as His stunningly-adorned, mature Bride.

"And they sang a new song, saying: 'You...have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.'" (Revelation 5:9-10)

Lord, I want to be that mature Bride! I want to be prepared for that special day when we meet at the great marriage supper of the Lamb. I refuse to be lukewarm! May my heart never drift toward the things of the world; may it ever burn with passion for You!

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Steve Porter
Refuge Ministries
Email: G524walk@yahoo.com
Website: www.findrefuge.tv

Steve and his wife Diane founded Refuge Ministries and a presence-driven publishing company, Deeper Life Press. Steve is a regular contributor to many prophetic publications, including the Elijah List, Spirit Fuel, and the Identity Network. His writings have been read worldwide by hundreds of thousands of people. Steve's books, maturity tracts, articles, and videos have touched countless lives around the world. The Porters reside near Rochester, NY.

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