Save the last dance for Me by Christine Beadsworth
Dear
saints,
Dancing with the Bridegroom to the music that is next on
Heaven’s playing list is going to be a challenge. It is a song unlike any we
have ever heard before and the rhythm and tempo is unfamiliar – it has never
before been played on earth in your hearing. It is a song which has been
reserved for this moment in your life and this hour in history and the
Bridegroom has already written His Name on your dance card. His request is
simple – “Save the last dance for Me”. This is not the kind of dance the world
is familiar with, where the dance partners stand a distance from each other and
gyrate out of sync with each other in a darkened room. Nor is it one in which
all the women flood the dance floor and dance on their own because they are
tired of waiting for the man of their dreams to come and ask them to
dance.
This is a dance where there may be darkness all around but the
light of Heaven is shining upon you. This is a dance according to old fashioned
protocol. Each of us will be dancing with the Bridegroom according to the
Spirit’s leading. Each of us will be firmly clasped in His embrace, dancing face
to face with our Beloved. There is place for no other name on the dance cards of
our hearts at this hour. It is the dance of the Bride with the Bridegroom,
carried out before a watching world – and in many cases, before a watching
Church who has forgotten what it means to be set apart for the Bridegroom;
believers who don’t understand what it means to be holy and prepared as the
Bride of Christ in such a time as this. It is a dance of love that is done to
express the Father’s heart to eyes and ears that still don’t seem to understand
His message. It is a living letter placed in the embrace of the ‘envelope’, in
other words, hidden in the arms of Christ - and from this place, all people see
is you in Christ and Christ in you. It is a display of oneness with the heart of
God and the beauty of this union is portrayed for every watching heart to read.
The ‘envelope’, Christ the Bridegroom is inscribed with the personal name and
address of each watching soul. It is a personal message for each one watching –
it is their invitation to follow the Lamb wherever He goes..
So how do
you dance to a song you do not know? The only way is to rest and trust in the
arms of the Bridegroom and follow His lead. He has your back and the slightest
pressure from His left hand will guide you. He holds your right hand and you
fear no evil as He gently but firmly guides you through the steps to the song
that He has known from before the foundations of the world. Oh yes, beloved, it
is an ancient song, composed in honour of the Lamb who was slain, when the very
plan of salvation was conceived in the heart of God. It was performed then, far
from the ears of man, for the ears of man had not even been formed at that time.
Only the orchestra of Heaven read the score for that music, penned by the Spirit
of grace and truth, and angels held their breaths and wept in worship as they
heard the words for the first time, “I will go”. Holy, holy holy is the Lord
God, the Lamb. Set-apart for the purposes of the Father is the Lamb. Even as
Esther came to the kingdom for such a time as this, so too, the Bride has been
set-apart and prepared for this moment, this dance performed before a pagan
court in intercession and invitation for the people of God. There has been a
season of the Mordechai’s weeping and interceding at the gate as they overheard
the plans of the enemy for destruction. But now the baton has been passed to the
Bride, the one who already has captured the King’s heart with her
beauty.
Don’t be afraid, Bride of Christ, as you hear the opening bars
of this music. Don’t falter as you take His hand and step onto the dance floor.
You know His embrace – it is your safe shelter. Breathe in the fragrance of the
Bridegroom whom you know so very well - and trust Him. You will not dash your
foot or stumble and the sight of you dancing with your Beloved will do more than
you know in the watching crowd.
Blind eyes, long bandaged by the lies of
the spirit of harlotry, will be opened. Chains and shackles holding believers
long in servitude to the spirit of this age will fall open. Many souls born
again into a compromised and fleshly modern day institution, which is the only
‘church’ they know, will receive the light of the revelation of the glory of God
as you display for them the beauty of holiness in a prepared and adorned Bride.
Your life speaks more than you know – without a single word from your lips. You
are a living letter, displayed before men whom the Father’s heart is yearning
for. You may not even be able to hear the words of the song because you are so
intent on following His lead step by step. But everyone watching it can hear the
strains deep within their own softening hearts – “Come away with Me, My love”.
Through your dance with Him, the Spirit is wooing others to come and follow the
Bridegroom in this holy dance. Your very dance is writing lyrics on the hearts
of all around you. They want to dance this dance too…
It’s time. All the
other dances are over. All your dance partners have had their turn. They admired
your beauty and longed to hold you in their embrace and like eager suitors they
queued up for a chance to ‘own’ the Bride and make her dance to their chosen
tune, work with their ministry and play a part in their vision –giving impetus
to what they have wanted to build for God and display before the eyes of men.
But now it’s time for the last song – it’s the turn of Heaven at last. Now it’s
time to step into your God-appointed place, hidden in Christ, for the last
dance. Christ in you is the hope of glory. You hidden in Christ releases the
glory. Now the dance card can be put down and all those names and other dances
forgotten. It’s time as Paul said, to lay hold of that for which Christ laid
hold of you. Can you see your Bridegroom standing before you with a twinkle in
His eye, saying those old familiar words, “May I have this dance?”
In
the balconies of Heaven, saints who have danced this holy dance before you are
leaning over excitedly and jostling for a place, to have the best view. They are
so excited as they watch the latest addition to the Bride of Christ moving to
the tune they know so well. Heaven’s scribes are busy recording the news – “it’s
happening again, it’s what all Heaven has been waiting for – another wave of
harvest is about to come in. prepare the halls of Heaven for we are soon to
welcome the final harvest. The song of the reapers has begun”….and as they watch
this dance, they are moved to tears with the beauty of the Word made flesh in
you, moving to no earthly song. And the fragrance of your complete surrender and
trust as you step into His arms, ravishes your Bridegroom’s heart. You have eyes
for no-one else. Like Moses of old, you gaze steadfastly on Him who is
invisible. Dance with all your heart, Beautiful Bride and see the hearts of
stone be turned to flesh all around
you.
Selah
selah
Son 4:8
Come away with me from Lebanon, my [promised] bride, come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the top of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the lions'
dens, from the mountains of the leopards. Son 4:9 You have ravished my heart
and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart
and given me courage with one look from your eyes, with one jewel of your
necklace. Son 4:10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my [promised] bride!
How much better is your love than wine! And the fragrance of your ointments than
all spices!
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