PART 13 ~ THE MEMOIRS OF A BRIDE: A Prophetic Picture of The Bride of Christ Getting Ready

PART 13 ~ Struggling with Scripture and Two Unexpected Words of Prophecy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets,
that the one who reads it may run.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time;
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it, for it will certainly come, it will not delay.”
(Habakkuk 2:2-30)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PEGGY CONTINUES HER TESTIMONY:

I will remind everyone that in PART 11, I wrote the following: “Fairly soon in 2013, Jim bought me a diamond ring.”

At that time, I was busy with the last year of closing out at my place of employment prior to retirement. That was certainly not the time to plan a wedding! Then, upon first entering retirement, I decided to wait a little longer to get married. I was thinking of Jim. He had never been married before and was accustomed to being alone for a very long time. He had dated fine women from time to time, but usually just 1 or 2 dates, and then he broke things off right away, realizing that they weren’t compatible. His longest dating record was for a 9 month period when he was a Senior in High School. I think he loved her, but it ended because she decided to leave the area and become a nun.

Twenty-five years later, she had left the convent and they arranged a meeting for one day. He said at that time it was obvious that they were not meant to be together. So I was considering all of this about him.

I didn’t think it was fair to him to be suddenly both married with me retired and around him all the time without a specific direction for myself as far as God’s plan for me.

Therefore, I went about exploring what God had for me to do, and I went at it full tilt. Jim supported me. As I mentioned before, Jim allowed me complete freedom in anything I thought, spoke of, or did. He truly loved and respected me. He never pressured me about anything. That was great, but it had its pitfalls. We were becoming a bit “stuck.”

Because of our Biblical convictions, we would never stay over-night anywhere unless it was in separate bedrooms and with married friends. By the time 2014 came around, I started feeling like the relationship was like a plant growing in a pot that was way too small for us, and I’m sure he felt that way too.

I was ready to really take the initiative with Jim and tell him that we HAVE to schedule this wedding!

Jim wanted a Pro-Life Priest that was a long-time friend of his to perform the ceremony. I decided to let Jim fully have his way. After all, I had been “so-called married” before, and at least the ceremony part had been exactly as I wanted it to be. I very well knew that a ceremony was important in the eyes of God, but in the end, it was the compatibilities of the actual couple, and their relationship to God that would really be the key factor. With that sure knowledge, it was easy to yield to Jim in this. Well, there were blocks upon blocks with that Priest. He was in the hospital. He was in Rehabilitation. He said that he would call, and it didn’t happen. He was retired. Time upon time, we just couldn’t reach him. It wasn’t God’s time.

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Okay, I’ll wait, I thought. I continued diligently reading in my Bible and spending more time with the Lord. I thought, “if this isn’t working out, I’ll just use this time in pursuit of the Heavenly Bridegroom.” I knew time was short, anyway. Then, all of a sudden, the Scriptures on divorce were really bothering me. Jim knew it, too, and was ready to yield to whatever I was convicted about regarding that. I read:

” But I (Jesus) tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” ~ (Matthew 5:32)

Well, I knew that I wasn’t excused from that verse. There had been absolutely no sexual immorality between my former spouse and I. It had been a case of not following God’s lead on the choice of a mate, and there had been mental cruelty involved on his part and he had admitted that. There were other verses, too, that I copied and studied. Also, I became very concerned. I loved Jim too much to be the one to make him commit adultery! That just couldn’t happen. I could never live with myself! It would be better to be apart from him than for that to happen!

I certainly believed the entire counsel of Scripture from a deep spiritual place within me. This was not simply mental assent, but deeply felt Rhema conviction from the Holy Spirit. I was not about to erase any Scripture from the Bible or rip out any page just to accommodate my strong desire to marry Jim.  Furthermore, I saw that God hated divorce:

“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” (Malachi 2:16)

I could see why. So much of Scripture was based on the principles of the Marriage Covenant. God even considered Israel as “his wife.”   Here’s yet another Scripture to consider:

“And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” (Jeremiah 3:8)

Well, after reading the words of Jesus and of God on the topic of divorce, I really felt like I was between a “rock and a hard place.”

I came face to face with Scripture and felt my utter helplessness before “The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” I just continued to repent of everything I could think of and humble myself before Him. I didn’t let this keep me from continuing to serve Him or spend time with Jim.

The Catholic church offers annulments to those that are divorced. Actually, I knew back in 2003, that if Jim and I wanted to marry, he would want a Catholic Priest to officiate, and that would mean that I needed an annulment. I went through the long hard process, and then on June 21, 2004, I finally received the annulment certificate. Some people questioned why I was putting myself through this. My answer was that I loved Jim, and if that’s what would make him comfortable, then I would do it. Personally, I saw nothing in my “Instruction Manual,” the Holy Bible about annulments, and therefore considered the whole idea a man-made doctrine. I didn’t place personal “stock” in it. I did it for love of Jim.

By this time, Jim knew that I wanted to go strictly by the Word of God and not by what I considered a man-made doctrine of the annulment. We were stuck, as I said. I just continued to pray for God’s will to be done, no matter what that was, even to breaking things off with Jim after so many years, although he was the only man I ever met that was the closest resemblance to the qualities and talents of my deceased Father.

Jim had known, worked with, respected, and loved my Father. He even used to quietly slip into the darkened High School Auditorium on his free period at the end of the day to watch Dad rehearse his large Concert Band on Stage. Jim loved to attend my Dad’s Concerts and Marching Band Shows. He also tremendously admired my parents’ fabulous relationship with each other and counted them, along with his own parents and two other couples to have really rare and outstanding marriages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Side Note: Jim’s best friend up until the point of our first kiss was a Protestant man that was introduced to him by my Father. This wonderful man had passed away about 8 years before our first kiss. (Okay, those details will have bearing later on. Please just tuck that away for now.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Jim was an integral part of my life from when I was 8 years old. Much of the people in my past had slipped right out of my life. Losing Jim would be like losing my Right Hand, but I had to obey God’s Word! There’s no way I wanted to “compromise”! I thought I would rather die than compromise!

 

Well, now we’re to the point of the “Full Baptism Immersion” on August 17, 2015. Remember that I said that Karin and Pastor Debbie had mentioned that this Baptism often meant that gifts and callings would “kick in” afterwards. I couldn’t believe how QUICKLY there was a change, at least by way of prophecy.

The very next day after my Baptism, August 18, 2015, Karin and I happened to be on the phone praying in our Prayer Languages for some needs of others. We were both constantly doing the “ABC Challenge,” and we were finding that when we prayed, we received answers to help people very quickly. We believed that it happened because we were both saturated in the Word of God.

Well, all of a sudden, Karin said very excitedly, “Peggy, Peggy, the Lord is showing me WEDDING BELLS. They are big White Bells and there are white doves flying all around. I am getting the word “freedom.” I see a date of December 31, 2015.”

I asked Karin if the Lord was showing her that it was the actual wedding date. Karin said that she wasn’t sure about that, but she knew she was being given that date.

Wow! I really think that Pastor Debbie and Karin were correct about God’s supernatural work as a part of the Baptism! On top of that, I was amazed by the correlation between “WEDDING BELLS” and the name of the Lake in which I was Baptized. It was “BELLS LAKE”! The Holy Spirit was definitely intervening in the situation of Jim and I.

I was grateful, and wrote Karin’s word in my notebook, in which I recorded all of her words given for others. Another amazing thing was that Karin gave this word on AUGUST 18th. That was the same date of my divorce in 1998. Think of it: a sad date in 1998 and a joyous date of prophecy in 2015. All I could think of is:

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” ~ (Psalm 30:11-12)

Somehow, though, I still wasn’t sure how this wedding would happen. We would have to feel the strong leading of the Holy Spirit, that’s all. We were watching and listening.

Two short months later (October of 2015), I knew without a doubt that I was supernaturally led to this blog (BelieveActs2). I devoured Linda Clay’s posts like nobody’s business. I was learning so much and enjoying the very high-level focused interactions on it. Linda’s comments were both intelligent, compassionate, and Holy Spirit filled!

There was a woman that posted once in a while on BelieveActs2 as well as on Z3news, the site to which Linda had led most of us. I felt very drawn to this woman although she was totally unknown to me. I was also very drawn to her responses as well as to her blog. She was very much like Linda, in every way that I stated above. Once in a while on Z3news, she would make a comment to another person’s comment and in the process give beautiful Words of Prophecy. Secretly, I hoped that she could give one to me, about ANYTHING!

One day, I was reading the comments on Z3news, including one short one I had posted the day before. Suddenly, I saw something very gratifying. It was a comment underneath mine by Debra Walker of Nevada. She is the woman I’ve been referring to. Her comment said, “Peggy, I’m not positive, but I believe I left a ‘word’ for you on Linda’s blog.” Whoa! I went back over the various post comments and it wasn’t long before I found the following from Debra Walker, a woman from Nevada that I had never previously known or conversed with:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INCREASEGLORY, November 25, 2015 at 3:40 pm

“Peggy, your pastor is training those gifted in the apostolic that they might become leaders in the underground, house churches about to spring forth. You are among them.

You listen to her teaching through the week to more firmly set it in your spirit, and even more important, you spend a significant amount of time, like the Bereans, searching the scriptures for yourself. God loves this about you; that is why He directed you to this church.

He also loves the time you give Him in praise and worship, and how quick you are to burst out in song throughout the day when He brings one to your mind.

You are truly blessed, Peggy, and are being trained by the Master for such a time as this. When He tells you that it is time to lead others, obey and do not doubt, for as long as you follow His leading in leading them, you will be used mightily. Praise God!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOW! That was so very gratifying to hear, and she was correct about all that I knew I was doing, anyway. For example, I did listen to Pastor Debbie’s CD’s diligently throughout the week. They were recordings of her lesson/sermons. I was so very grateful to Debra that she had followed the Holy Spirit and wrote to me!

Then, I read her last paragraph and practically fell out of my chair:

~~~~~~~~~~~~
“One last word: you make no mention of having a husband, so I hesitated to write this at first, but the Spirit won’t let me get away with that. He wants you to know that this word is for both you and your husband. Peggy, if you are not in fact married now, please don’t discount this word. It would only mean that He has a husband for you and will bring you together soon. Your husband is a man also after God’s heart, and your marriage is or will be a strong cord of three strands tightly woven around Him. God bless you, Beloved of God.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, WOW! This seemed like a confirmation of Karin’s word about “Wedding Bells” on December 31, 2015. I was grateful. However, today was November 25th. How in the world could things happen so fast?

Also, Debra’s last three words of Prophecy, “Beloved of God” affected me very deeply. The reason is that for many months now, out of all of Scripture I thought one of the most beautiful Scriptures was the one where Daniel was called “beloved of God.” I thought previously, that it must be “the ultimate” to be called “beloved of God;” to be that pleasing in God’s sight!

“And said, ‘O man (Daniel) beloved of God, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.’ And when he had spoken unto me (Daniel), I was strengthened, and said, ‘Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.’ ” (Daniel 10:19)

I think that perhaps God was giving me “strength” perhaps in response to my sincere acknowledgement about what His Word said about divorce, as well as my personal heartfelt ongoing repentance about my involvement with it; also my sincere heartfelt desire to follow Him and His Word even if it meant giving up my dreams of Jim after these 49 years.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Of course, my understanding of this is that it means heartfelt confession, and He will forgive us. But, after our last breath here on earth, it will be too late. Keep that in mind.There is a deadline on this. It’s best to seek Him NOW!

“Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.” ~ (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Well, I was now getting to feel very good about going forward with marriage plans with Jim. A big burden had lifted. I felt forgiveness from the Heavenly Father regarding my divorce, but I knew that He wanted me to make a big U Turn away from that and not do it again. How? By keeping close to Him day by day and continuing in His Word. That was do-able!

I did write to Debra Walker for a little more clarity. The only man I was ever interested in was Jim, but I wanted to be positive that he was the husband that God had in mind. Debra sought the Lord on it, and replied that it was indeed him, despite that 20 year plus age difference. Debra also astounded me by e-mailing a list of about 7 points in the progression of the past marriage. Every point was 100% perfectly correct! It was unbelievable! In fact those points were things that I had long ago purposely forgotten about. I refused to think about them.

“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Then I mailed Debra the “Divorce Scriptures” and said that I was concerned. Her reply was “You do have to make things difficult, don’t you?”– in a nice tone, I could tell. Debra had been a victim of much abuse throughout many years of her life, and she thought that was part of the reason that the Holy Spirit connected us.

She knew that I had experienced mental abuse without me ever telling her so. She had a heartfelt mission to help abused women and was doing well with that. She thought that there was a Scripture that was favorable toward women that had undergone abuse.

We didn’t actually find the Scripture, but the bottom line was that I sensed God’s involvement in all of this so much that I just didn’t have any more questions. Debra also told me that she strongly felt that Jim and I could’ve been married quite a while before this time, except the enemy, satan, was really trying to stop it.

Debra also prophesied that the God-given gifts of Jim and I would be best utilized if we were in the Marriage Covenant together. Debra headed her e-mails to me “One Flesh.” She assured me that I would still be “beloved of God” regardless if I married or stayed single, but that our destiny was with each other. Well, I shared all of this news with Jim. He could tell that I was thoroughly convinced that God had intervened.

I asked Debra if she had an idea of a date. Her concise reply was “Git ‘er done!” All of the above correspondence with Debra took place over about 2 weeks. That put us in the middle of December, 2015.

By that time, Jim and I both were totally convinced that we should move ahead right away. Jim quickly dismissed the idea of the Priest that he had formerly desired to have officiate. He picked up the phone and called his Parish office, telling them that he wanted to contact someone about discussing our marriage! I just knew that everything would work out just fine this time! CAN I HEAR AN “AMEN”?
“For I know the plans I have for you”–this is the LORD’s declaration–“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” ~ (Jeremiah 29:11)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to privately contact Peggy (or Linda), please fill out the contact form below:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE NOTE:

ANY ADS LOCATED ON MY BLOGS ARE NOT MY CHOICE, NOR DO I ENDORSE ANY OF THE THEM. . . I have a free account from WordPress, which may place ads of their choosing on my posts. I suppose it’s a good example of “you get what you pay for”. Currently “free” is all I can afford, but THANK YOU JESUS, I’m able to do this at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~