If I were to select the best picture of the Bride of Christ out of all the portraits of her that are shown through the words in the Bible, I would choose the one portrayed in this scripture: "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" (S.of S.8:5). There are many other great pictures of her throughout the Bible, but the reason this one is so special is that it shows the Bride of Christ happy, healthy, mature and leaning upon the arm of the Lord.

It is understandable why little girls are sometimes in a big hurry to grow up, for what can be more beautiful than a well-developed, mature woman? However, true beauty includes a lot more than just the physical body. The Bible states: "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion" (Prov.11:22). A gift package, beautifully wrapped, may look nice, but it is what is inside that counts.

Can you imagine the beauty that would be in this world if we were all as concerned about developing our character as we are about our outward appearance? Most of us are so preoccupied with trying to improve our looks that our whole life could slip by before we hardly begin to develop the most important part of our being, which is spiritual. I have had a ninety-nine-year-old woman say to me, "I'm just beginning to catch onto some of the more meaningful things in life." And what can be more meaningful than growing in Christ?

I suppose it is never too late to begin to get serious about our spiritual development, but why waste most of our lifetime on trivia when we can be doing something important like being all that the Lord wants us to be? To accomplish this it is best to get an early start. The Bible says, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth" (Eccl.12:1). That is when people should give their lives to Christ, while they are young. Then they can grow in Him!

It is always thrilling to meet someone who has recently been born again into the family of God. Regardless of how old they are physically, they are new and young in the Lord, and they are a joy to be with; their happiness and enthusiasm are contagious. It is great, indeed, to be with a newlywed Bride of Christ, but it is even better to be with her when she is mature and leaning on His arm!

Life should always be getting better as we grow older, but that doesn't mean childhood should not be enjoyed too. There is a lot of fun and excitement in being a child. That stage of life should be cherished, but should not be remained in any longer than necessary, because childhood does have its drawbacks. There are many things that a child will want but simply cannot have until he is grown up. Even though he does not understand why, it still remains a fact of life. This also is true in the spiritual realm.

The moment one becomes a child of God, he becomes an heir of His through Christ (Gal.4:7), but there are many spiritual riches that he cannot receive until he becomes of age. The Bible says that ". . . the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father" (Gal.7:1, 2). Oh, what benefits there are for the mature Christian; but the problem is that many will miss out on them, for they do not want to grow up, because along with maturing comes responsibility, and also an obligation to deal with reality.

We have some virtues as young believers that we should keep throughout our lives; such as, always maintaining a childlike faith toward our Heavenly Father. A child does not say to his father, "Daddy, how are you going to be able to take care of me; will I have a bed to sleep in tonight, and are you going to have any food for me to eat tomorrow?" The child knows his dad loves him and will take care of him.

If a child can trust his earthly father, why can't we trust God to provide for us? Didn't Jesus tell us not to worry about food or clothing and not to be one bit concerned about the future, but simply to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all our other needs would be provided (Mat.6:33)?

Children do have many excellent qualities that are well worth further devel- opment, but they also have some childish habits that should be dropped as soon as possible. Unfortunately, some like to cling onto them right into old age; that is, if they can make it that far.

Have you ever observed the eating habits of children or how cranky they become if they cannot have their own way or how they demand so much attention? Have you ever noticed how naive kids are? They will believe anything they are told; they will even believe in Santa Claus. It is natural for a child to act like a child, but there is a time when childish behavior should come to an end.

It grieves parents when their child refuses to grow up, and it is appalling to see an adult acting childish. Seeing elderly people in nursing homes being treated like little children is tragic. When an old person--who should be full of the Lord's wisdom--has to be dealt with as a small child, you know that something has gone awfully wrong!

Immaturity can wreck our spiritual as well as our natural life. When you see Christians who have known the Lord for several years still demanding a lot of attention, and wanting someone to spoon feed them rather than learning to feed themselves on the Word of God, it is a cause for much concern. When they believe every wind of doctrine, have temper tantrums if they don't get their own way, want to get into foolish fights and arguments . . . you know that something has gone awfully wrong in the family of God! Paul the apostle said, "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1Cor.13:11).

It is a great joy for parents to see their child mature into a happy, responsible individual; and what a glorious day it is when a child of God grows up enough to receive his or her full inheritance in Christ. How good it is when believers' roots grow deep into Christ and their lives produce much fruit to the glory of God. That is why my favorite picture of the Bride of Christ is the one where she is all grown up and leaning on the arm of the Lord!

Spiritual maturity does not come overnight; it is a growing process. The Bible refers to us who belong to the Lord as God's garden (1 Cor.3:9), and we need a lot of loving cultivating.

Sometimes, when we see so little growth in our lives, we wonder if we will ever mature enough to bear the kind of fruit that glorifies God. We seem to forget that God is the Husbandman (Gardener) (John 15:1); and we toil and spin, trying to make ourselves grow, when all that is required of us is to abide in Christ. If we will only keep ourselves in a position that is close to Jesus, then our Heavenly Father can do His great work in us without violating our free will.

There are special ways to bring about excellent growth in a garden. If you look closely at my favorite portrait of the Bride, you will notice what it was that helped so much in her spiritual progress. The Bible shows her COMING UP FROM THE WILDERNESS as she is leaning on her Beloved (S. of S. 8:5). There is nothing that helps us mature as much as a trip through the wilderness. (That is, if we learn to come out of it leaning on the Lord.)

The word "wilderness" in Hebrew means "desert," in Greek it means "lonely." It is true that, although we who belong to Christ have unlimited riches, we still go through some dry and barren wastelands while we are here on earth. When we are going through a desert experience, we sometimes have a tremendous struggle just to read the Bible and draw out any spiritual food.

It is also true that, although we belong to the family of God and have countless brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the whole world, there are times when we are awfully lonely. It is when we don't have much contact with other Christians or when we do and it is not the real fellowship that believers should have, because we let our self image get in the way. But the loneliest and darkest times in our wilderness experiences are when we just don't seem to be near the Lord.

Darkness to the Bride of Christ is when she cannot see what she is to do or where she is to go. It is a time when she cannot understand the circumstances that surround her, and she can see no way out of them. It is when there seems to be no one around to help her. She is lonely and frightened. That is when Satan, the enemy of her soul, launches his greatest attack against her.

When we are in the darkness, we cannot see what is going on in our lives, and it irritates us because we cannot be in control. In the darkness we cannot focus our eyes on other people. We cannot see where we are headed; we are as helpless as a blind man. When we cannot see clearly, instead of exercising our faith, we naturally tend to navigate by our feelings, which usually sends us way off course.

If you are going through a lonely, dark time, try to remember that God has allowed you to be there for your own good, that He loves you very much and is right there with you. When the darkness passes, you will see that it was nothing but a cushion for His feet. The Bible says, "He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet" (Ps.18:9). If you are a child of God and find yourself under a cloud of darkness, try not to panic; and before you curse the darkness, think of it as nothing more than a carpet laid out for the Lord to walk on as He comes to your rescue.

In the darkness, whatever we do see will have to be viewed, not with our natural eyesight, but rather, by faith. God is invisible to the natural man so we look by faith to see Him. By faith we can see Him in darkness or in light; but sometimes it is easier to see Him in a lonely dark place, when the other distractions that we love to view are hidden by the darkness.

You could discover that the agonizing, fearful, lonely experiences you may now be going through can become a secret place where you become more intimate with God. The Bible says, "He made darkness his secret place" (Ps.18:11). Sometimes what we think is going to be a difficult experience will turn out to be an invitation to be alone with God in His secret place.

We often do not realize what our brothers and sisters in the Lord are going through when they are having a wilderness experience until we go through one ourselves. After you are snuggled into your cozy, comfortable bed tonight, imagine, for a moment, how it would be if you had to spend the night alone in a desert. There you are, lying in the dark, hearing the howling of wild animals and thinking of the possibility of a snake crawling into your sleeping bag. With that in mind, I am sure you will agree that it is no picnic to be alone in the wilderness. Yet God allows us to experience some wilderness in our lives because it is essential for our spiritual growth.

The greatest danger we face in the wilderness is that we may become like the children of Israel when they were crossing the desert on the way to the Promised Land and gave in to murmuring and complaining. With that kind of an attitude, we see nothing but death and will have to remain camped in the desert until we are willing to turn away from that kind of behavior.

When we are approaching a desert, all we can see, with our limited vision, is barren- ness, while God views the outcome of our journey. He knows before we enter what we will be like when we come out the other side of a trial. We don't enjoy going through the wilderness, but if we come out leaning on our Savior, it is well worth the trip!

Don't always think that you are unspiritual when you find yourself in a desert facing a lot of temptations. Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted of the devil (Mat.4:1).

There are beneficial things we learn by going through the wilderness that could not be taught to us in any other way. Hagar, the handmaid whom Sarah--in her natural way of thinking--gave to Abraham as a secondary wife to bear him a son, had a wilderness experience when she and her son, Ishmael, were cast out of Abraham's household and sent into the desert with nothing but some bread and a bottle of water. When the water was gone, she laid her son under a shrub; then she went a short distance away so that she would not see him die. There she sat down and wept. It was in that barren wasteland, which she thought was the end of the road for her and her son, that an angel of God called to her out of Heaven and said, "Fear not . . . arise, lift up the lad . . . I will make him a great nation." (Gen.21:17,18). God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.

Abraham gave her a bottle of water; the Lord gave her a well. Who will you seek to prepare you for your journey through the wilderness? What is your preference: a jug from a man or a well from God?

A journey through the wilderness does not have to be a negative experience. The children of Israel turned what should have been a great adventure into forty years of needless wanderings. That journey to the Promised Land should have been like a nice vacation--a special guided tour with the Lord. All the food, water and other supplies were provided along the way. Too bad the trip was ruined by people complaining.

Think of the wonderful experience they had of being rescued out of captivity by the mighty hand of God, then seeing the Red Sea open a pathway for them to walk through to safety and after that close in upon the heads of their enemies. Imagine having a pillar of cloud and fire for guidance and protection through the wilderness; and having water come out of a dry rock like a river, and food that tasted like wafers made with honey being supplied daily. The Bible says that He ". . . made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock" (Ps.78:52).

The trip was meant to be a joyful experience where God's people would learn of His mighty power to provide for them and protect them; but through disobedience and unbelief, the journey became so long that many never made it out--they died in the wilderness.

Some Christians waste a whole lifetime in a type of dry desert without entering into the promised land; that place of rest where they have a close relationship with God; that place where they claim their full inheritance.

This is a time when Satan is preparing for an all out attack on the Bride of Christ. Every Christian is on his hit list. He knows that he has but a short time left before he will be cast into the eternal lake of fire prepared for him and his angels (Rev.20:10). He will be striking out against the people of God right to the very end of his existence here on earth; and you can be sure he will try to remove you from your secure position near the Lord so he can get at you.

He will go all out to spoil your resting place by trying to make you doubt your relationship with Jesus. He has a powerful weapon aimed at you with a key in his hands to activate it. If it is unleashed against you, it could destroy your life. If you are hit with this weapon, it could strip away your security by breaking down your faith. It could plunder your joy, diminish your hope, and get you to think that you are an unloved, forsaken orphan rather than a victorious child of the King.

This weapon is aimed at your mind; that is the place where Satan will launch his greatest attack against you. He has devised this weapon to blow away your identity. If he scores a direct hit on you, you may be so devastated that you won't know who you are or to whom you belong.

I almost hesitate to name this weapon because it is such a common word and you have heard it so much that you may not fear it the way you should. The weapon is called "DOUBT" and it is deadly. It is like a guided missile poised on the launch pad, zeroed in for a direct hit on your identity.

Satan is the great master of deceit. This weapon will appear to be striking at God when it is aimed directly at you. You will hear him strike at the identity of God. (This is the tactic that he used to deceive Eve in the Garden of Eden when he implied that God lied to her [Gen.3:4].) If he can get you to believe a wrong concept of God, such as, Him being a hard taskmaster rather than a loving Heavenly Father, then you will be afraid to stay close to the Lord and will want to run away from His presence.

The other path taken by this deadly weapon called "DOUBT" will not be toward the identity of God; it is set for a direct hit on your own identity. If you have received Christ as your Savior and Satan can persuade you to accept a wrong concept of your identity as a beloved child of God, then you will become an easy prey for his vicious attacks.

The key that Satan has to unlock this deadly weapon of doubt appears to be small, because it is only a two-letter word; but it can activate an incredible force against you. The key is called "IF."

The devil tried to use this key on Jesus, and he will try to use it on you. When Jesus was weak from forty days and nights of fasting in the wilderness, Satan said to Him, "IF thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread . . . IF thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from the pinnacle of the temple" (Mat.4:3-6). Jesus knew who He was and did not have to perform a miracle to prove His identity.

When you are in a weak position Satan will speak to you--usually through your own thoughts, although it could be through another person--and say, "IF you are a child of God, why are you having such a difficult time?" He will put an evil thought in your head and then say, "IF you are a Christian, why are you thinking such things?" He will tempt you to sin against God and then say to you, "IF you are a true believer, why do you have these temptations?" His great desire is to get you to doubt your identity as a beloved child of God.

Identity deception is also a weapon the devil uses against people who are outside the family of God. They are deceived into the humanistic conception that they and every- one else in the world is a child of God; therefore, there is no need for repentance, no need to receive Christ and be born again. But the Holy Spirit will not let the unbeliever get away with that; neither will He let the believer get away with accepting a false I.D. God wants us to be sure of our real identity--even if He has to teach it to us in the wilderness.

In the wilderness where we are out of the reach of men, we are in a good position to be ministered to by angels. It is a place where we learn to get a hold of God! Just listen to the words of the Bride after her experience in the wilderness with Jesus. She said, "I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in His eyes as one that found favor" (S. of S. 7:10). That is a picture of strength and maturity. She was not putting herself down, but rather seeing herself as the Lord sees her. He views His Bride from His finished work on the cross of Calvary. She has learned to relate to God through the sacrifice of Christ; she has His cross engraved upon her I.D.

The mature Bride no longer listens to the devil who is the accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10). Nor does she hear the legalistic preacher who is trying to move her away from God's grace into the bondage of trying to become righteous through the law. She does not give ear to her own flesh when it tries to place her under condemnation (Rom.8:1). She has been in the wilderness where she has learned to walk by faith and listen to the voice of the Lord. This is what she is hearing from Him: "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee" (S. of S. 4:7).

This Bride really knows who she is in Christ! She no longer will try to build a self image. She has come out of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her Lord and listening to His voice; and when she hears Him call her names like "MY FLAWLESS ONE" (S. of S. 5:2), she does not care what others may think or say about her. She is now walking in the Spirit, and becoming strong in faith, feasting on His Word and receiving more and more insight into His grace. She is now ready and eagerly waiting for the Bridegroom to return to rapture her into a new dimension where she will sit at His banqueting table and spend eternity in glory with Him.