Intimacy with GOD by Esher Shoshannah (e book reading free .txt) 📕

Do you only think of Him in secret or is the resurrected Bridegroom seen in your daily walk and talk through the power of a submissive, spirit-filled life? (Prov. 3:5) O how the world needs to see the Henna flowers in your life (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27).

Think about this for a moment, in your speech and in your manner of living, how much attention do you bring to yourself? How much attention is brought to Jesus? In other words, is your lifestyle such that the manner in actions and attitudes reflect Him? You won’t even be aware of it but others will! They will know there is something very different, very beautiful about you which they themselves do not possess. It’s the henna blossoms being observed in your life.

The Holy Spirit will begin to draw them to the Lord who is inside of you. Does His Holy Spirit life flow through you automatically (John 7:38,39) to refresh Him first then to others around you? It happens most of the time without you realizing it because you are simply surrendered to Him!

"...in the vineyards of Engedi."

Engedi was on the edge of the Wilderness of Judah. A hot spring there provided an abundance of fresh water. It was a place where God defeated the enemies of Judah (II Chr. 20:2). This was a place of plentiful grapes and fruits in the wilderness. Jesus, the Beloved, is your Engedi in the wilderness! (John 10:10; Eph. 3:20).

He is peace for the angry; love for the hated; joy for the sad; healing for the wounded; fulfillment for the empty and so much more! He is the vine of Engedi (John 15:5)! Dear reader, daily surrendering in heart to the Lord causes His Holy Spirit fruit to produce heavenly fruit on your branch. Your vineyard (the responsibilities of life God has chosen you to be part of - family, school, marriage, work place, church, etc.) will be fruitful (Col. 3:12-17, 23-24)! Meditate and be thankful for the following spiritual absolutes: Eph. 1:3; Phil. 4:13,19; Col. 1:17; 2:19; 3:11; Heb. 1:3.

PRAY WITH ME: "Dear Abba Father, engrave the adorning of Your Son upon my heart. Your spiritual vineyards are so plentiful, I ask You to adorn me with my Beloved's henna flowers so all can see that I truly love Him only."

 "My beloved is to me a cluster..."

There is nothing boring about your God and never will be! Your Beloved is your multifaceted Bridegroom. He is so many things for so many situations and needs: the Image of God; the Word; the Creator; Judge; Prince of Peace; Healer; Counselor; Sustainer; Shepherd; Bread; Life; Savior; Lord; King of kings and Lord of lords; Husband; Jehovah; Omnipresent; Prince of Peace; Rock; Wonderful; Sacrifice; Truth and on and on. The "cluster" is endless and you will be given an eternity to pick, taste and have revealed to your heart His glorious attributes. There will be "clusters" of secrets revealed that not even the heavenly hosts will be privy to. Why? Because we are His bride, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, (a new body), mind of His mind (we have the mind of Christ I Cor. 2:16) and spirit of His Spirit (He indwells us)! Wow!

Have you noticed the "cluster" of descriptions springing forth from her innermost being concerning Him in all of these verses (12-14,16)? Visualize a cluster of grapes with me. Consider how close they are to each other and to the vine. They are so close together that they must rub up against each other. May we have pure relationships with each other so that the cluster may be pure. There is a sad thought here of warning. As we remove rotten or unattractive grapes from a cluster, so also the Lord must do the same (I Cor. 11:30). Think for a moment what it must mean to Him when the Holy Spirit gathers together only Mary’s of Bethany. O what a pure, heavenly cluster it must be to Him and all the angels He brings with Him so they may look in wonder at His glorious new redeemed who are in love with Him, His bride!

PRAY WITH ME: "Thank You Abba Father for filling me with Your Spirit. You have already given to me intimate revelation knowledge concerning the Lord Jesus Who is the joy of my life. I have barely begun this love letter and You have already opened my spirit to things too wonderful to describe. Abba Father, I give You all the praise!"

She has touched the deepest recesses of His "first love" loving heart with the "cluster" of the full, heartfelt love pouring forth from her lips! The bride had responded to His words (vs. 9-11). For a moment He is speechless. He just looks into her eyes and sees a spiritual brightness in them that He had never seen before. Dear reader, do you realize that you do the same to Him when you pour your heart out in worship to Him and acknowledge Him in all things (Prov. 3:5-6)? He takes both of her hands in His and with love filled words says,

V.15 "Behold, thou art fair (beautiful), my love (precious companion), behold, thou art fair (beautiful); thou hast dove's eyes."

His heart is so full of love for her. Dear bride of His heart, He is saying these words to you! Did you ever imagine that your heavenly Bridegroom could feel this deeply about you? Think about it, just her words have such a great effect on Him. So much so that all He can say, over and over again, is "You are beautiful, you are beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!" He pauses and again He says in a quiet, very contemplative tone, "Yes...beautiful." Do you find it too difficult to believe? Listen to these words from Isa. 62:5, "...and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

So many believers take and take of His love and seldom give it back to Him. They take the Lover of their souls, Who has provided everything for them, for granted! These believers have gotten “used to” the Lord. He no longer is fresh and vibrant in their thinking and meditation. O the sad condition of the Lord's bride today.

Her hands are so busy with temporal things and her eyes so easily distracted by the meaningless (hours of TV, videos, games etc.)! Spending so much time even on what is considered legitimate, yet it crowds out the best time for fellowship with her heavenly Husband.

The Beloved Jesus longs for that special, sustained look from His bride's eyes. But alas, He only receives a quick glance on the weekend when she goes to hear a sermon. It is then He hears her saying in passing, "Hi" and "goodbye" or "I'll catch you later in an emergency." That's why His soul cries out for "first love" love from you and me!

Earlier I spoke of you being His joy because of what this verse says,. What joy is this? It is you dear bride, loving Him with an all-consuming "first love" love. What joy this brings to His loving heart! The lady in v.15 is so special to Him that He uses the form of a Hebrew word nine times which is exclusive to the Song of Solomon ("rayah" - "my love" and not the usual word for "love" - "aheb" 1:9,15; 2:1,10,13; 4:1,7; 5:2; 6:4). It has a meaning of "intimate companion". It is a word for her alone, much like those words shared between husband and wife that only they understand. Think of it, we have the closest relationship possible with God Almighty; closer than the angels, cherubim and seraphim! The Beloved is so filled with emotion for her that He has to repeat it

"...thou hast doves eyes." 

She is beautiful because she has "dove's eyes". Dove’s eyes are mentioned six times in the Song of Solomon. They mean so much to your Beloved. These are eyes that only concentrate on one thing at a time. He was all of her vision! Her eyes never moved off of Him. In her daily life, with a myriad of decisions, she would filter all of them through His eyes. The more she looked into His eyes the more she began to read His heart. She just knew what to do after looking at them. Listen to Him, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." (Psa. 32:8). How do you gaze into His eyes? When you gaze into His holy Word then you will hear the voice of His Spirit within your heart and mind!

O the fullness of the spiritual application of the dove. It was considered clean and could be used in sacrifice (Lev.1:14). Are you a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1,2)? Some doves have a mourning sound when their mate is away (Isa. 38:14; Nah. 2:7). Do you mourn when you know you are not in His will? Do you mourn over this old sinful earth because it has rejected your Beloved? Do you long for His return to rule this world?

It was a dove that brought back good news to Noah in the ark (Gen. 8:8-12). Is faith and love your good news ( I Thes.3:6)? Do people see Jesus, the Good News, in your eyes, in your countenance? The Holy Spirit is likened to a dove (John 1:32). Are the characteristics of one who is Spirit-filled evident in your life (Eph. 5:18-21)? O how He loves to see His Holy Spirit in your eyes! Having your spiritual eyes focused on Him is simply being surrendered in heart to His word! (Heb. 12:2)

PRAY WITH ME: "Dear Father, cause the eyes of my heart to be fixed on the only love of my heart, Jesus, my Bridegroom! O Holy Spirit I want so much to please Him alone! May You Lord always be able to look into my eyes and see a reflection of Yourself! May You see doves in my gaze. In Your glorious name Lord Jesus, amen."

The Bride responds:

V.16 "Behold, thou art fair (beautiful) my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed (couch) is green."

Notice that she does not get taken up with what He sees in her. She doesn't say, "You know, He is right, I really do look pretty good." O how easy it is to fall into the trap of pride after the Lord has blessed us and spiritually dressed us up in Him (Gal. 3:26,27)! May it never be so (Rom. 12:3)! May you never be taken up with the gifts and talents He has given to you. Never get your eyes on the ministry the Holy Spirit has led you into. Spiritual success is never achieved because you are something but because He is everything in it (Zech. 4:6; Isa. 6:3; John 15:5).

As He looked into her eyes, the Beloved keenly observed that her eyes were truly dove's eyes! This verse proves it to Him. She does not see herself but only His beauty. Whatever spiritual beauty she possesses she knows it came from His hand only - the gold and silver ornaments, jewels and various fragrances, were all given to her by the Holy Spirit from the Father (v.11). Our God is to receive all the glory! (Jude 1:25).

"...our bed is green."

The Hebrew word for "green" here gives forth the idea of "luxuriant or fresh". O to have a fresh relationship with Him each day. "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness." (Lam. 3:22,23)

Notice it is "our" couch, not "mine" or "your". May it always be "our" _____________ and you fill in the blank. O the uniting of two hearts as one! There is nothing more beautiful then being one with our Lord (John 17:21-23). This is having the mind of Christ. His will