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

come into the garden of her life and enjoy the fruits and spices for Himself. Her Beloved Bridegroom first takes for Himself what He desires from this garden and then shares it with others.

 

Now let's return to the scene where the bride arouses from slumber and is keenly aware of her Beloved's presence. Her heart beats faster as she opens her eyes and meets His loving gaze. Speechless, she felt His "first love" love fill her soul. So many thoughts flooded her heart. No earthly language could express what was bursting within her spirit.

Then a pang of grief pierces through her. Doubt looms its ugly head. "Does He still love me as He did, before I refused to go? Will I remain His special love in spite of what I did?" At the precise moment these questions flashed through her mind He reached for her hand and held it oh so gently.

Immediately there was a witness in her spirit that nothing had changed! He just looked at her doves eyes. There was joy in His gaze. She was experiencing again the wonders of a Spirit-filled heart in full fellowship with her Beloved! O what a delight to His holy soul! For this is why He died and rose again!

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Lord, as You speak to my wounded heart, cause it to receive every word of intimate healing of Your love. Praise Your Holy Name for Your grace and infinite compassion! In Jesus' name, amen!"

 

So often we punish ourselves with self-doubt, believing the lies that we are hopeless because we have totally failed. We say to ourselves, "I can never be used again!" But, praise God, He reassures us that His heart never, never changes in its intensity of "first love" love for us! Receive now dear bride, dear reader, the heart of your Bridegroom as He speaks to you, oh so quietly, oh so reassuringly but oh so powerfully! Listen to His heart as He proclaims His love to you...

 

V.1 "Behold, thou art fair (beautiful), my love, behold, thou art fair (beautiful), thou hast doves' eyes within thy locks (veil): thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead."

Even though this bride had refused to go with Him, her eyes were still "doves' eyes". All she wanted was Him alone. When she read His Word her eyes were focused on His voice. The only problem was getting her feet to move when He beckoned her to come. She had become satisfied with having Him all to herself (1:1-2:17). The Bride did not realize He wanted to take her to higher levels of intimacy and it would come through fellowship with other Spirit-filled lilies who had experienced Him in the same way.

He looked deep into her eyes for the longest time. Breaking the silence of love He spoke with full joy, "Your eyes are what thrill Me the most. Dear bride of My heart, the window of your soul, those wonderful doves eyes are saying to Me, I belong to You alone. You alone satisfy the longing of my heart. Your eyes are still doves eyes. Even when I was away and hurt so deeply because you would not go with Me, I could never get the wonderful glimmer of your eyes out of My mind. Thank you for surrendering your all to Me."

Doubts had crept into her mind, but here He is reassuring her heart. Nothing had changed concerning His fervent love for her. As she looks into His eyes, her heart melts. Holding on so tightly to His nail-scarred hand, she expresses with joy, "My Beloved, You have '...delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.' (Psa. 116:8). Thank You, thank You, I feel so clean and reassured now." And so with you dear loved one of the Lord, look into His eyes with "doves' eyes" and listen to His reassuring words. Let your heart melt before Him in overwhelming adoration because you know by the Spirit He hasn't changed toward you! Praise God!

Husbands, observe carefully how your heavenly Bridegroom handles His bride. There is no scolding, no negative statements concerning the past. No accusing tone! He made sure she knew that His heart had not changed. Also, we who are in spiritual leadership need to learn a lesson here in how we are to deal with our Lord's bride in the church setting.

What we have here is an amazing revelation of what our Beloved sees in us who have fully surrendered everything to Him for His pleasure and His use. When we fail Him, as a surrendered believer, the spiritual pain is excruciating. We see ourselves as an undesirable, spiritual failure to the One we love. This is why the Song of Solomon is so important. We are able to see ourselves through His eyes. Drink in, my brother and sister, the words of Your Beloved to you, "Behold, thou art fair (beautiful), my love, behold, thou art fair (beautiful), thou hast doves' eyes...." This is what He sees in you as existing already even after your "failure"!

Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him before the rooster crowed three times in the morning (John 13:36-38). Yet in the very next breath Jesus says to him, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1; 14:27; 16:16). How could Jesus say that to him? The sin of forsaking Him would be horrible. Jesus knew his heart's deep committed love for Him. It wasn't perfect but look at Peter's heart in John 13:5-9. Peter's surrendered love declares, "No way will my Rabbi wash my feet, I love Him too much!" Unacceptable to Jesus, Peter's surrendered love pleads, "Lord, wash me all over!" Jesus knew that when he would deny Him, Peter's deep love would immediately repent and cause him to weep bitterly (Mt. 26:75). A truly surrendered believer responds to sin in the same way! An unsurrendered believer is dull to his sin. He might go weeks, months or even years before any type of confession comes from his mouth.

He dealt gently with them. Why? He knew that they truly were surrendered to Him and very much in love with Him. Read John 16:27! The word for "love" in that passage is "phileo" (deep emotional love), the very same word used concerning the Father's love for Jesus in John 5:20! Instead of being angry at them, Jesus reminds them of the "phileo" love the Father has for them because of their "phileo" love for Jesus!. Peter was told by the Lord that he would follow Him later. Praise God for their surrendered hearts. Their sin was not as grievous to Jesus and the Father as it would be to them. He lovingly deals with Peter (John 21:15-17) and Thomas who willfully sinned (John 20:26-28). Yet, Thomas was given the greatest revelation of the deity of Christ ever in being restored. They would sin out of weakness (caught off guard) not out of wickedness (deliberate)!

Your Beloved speaks quietly in your spiritual ear and says twice, "Behold, thou art (beautiful)"! Why twice? Because you find it so difficult to believe it the first time. He sees you as His bride, His one and only love. You see yourself as a failure. He sees this as a growing, perfecting time to better serve Him. Say with me, "By my faith Lord, help me to see as You see me. Thank You for letting me know You are patiently changing me through my failure (Rom.8:2 8). Dear Jesus, fill me with Your Spirit of wisdom."

 

"...within thy locks (veil)..."

Her locks or veil conceal a portion of her face. Some things Your Beloved shares with you are only meant for you and Him alone! The world will see a changed life but it is unable to appreciate, in any way, the spiritual secrets from the Word shared with you by your Bridegroom. Many times unsurrendered believers will get jealous over what you share with them. Be wise with whom you share spiritually precious things. We must learn from Mary the mother of Jesus, who could have shared amazing things about her Son who was so different in His birth and His ability to speak with the leading thinkers of Israel at twelve, plus His sinless life as a child. Other mothers wouldn't understand. It says in Luke 2:51 that she kept or hid these things in her heart.

 

"...thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead."

When you are in love, every little detail about the object of your love comes into sharp focus. Also your Beloved cares deeply about every detail in your life. In this chapter and in chapters six and seven, the Lord Jesus reveals the joy every aspect of her spiritual beauty brings to Him. It gives Him great joy to see how you love Him in so many little ways in your spiritual walk. What a blessed shock to the bride it will be when her Beloved reveals all that pleases Him about her in just a few moments.

He loves her hair and will make loving mention about it again in 6:5 and 7:5. Do you have "spiritual" hair that is attractive to Him? Goats from Gilead were known for their beautiful, long hair. It was their glory! What then is this "spiritual" hair that so captivates her Beloved? Let the Holy Spirit unlock the secret. Turn to Num. 6:1-5. Hebrew women would make a special vow before the Lord for a season. They gave up legitimate things in their daily lives in order to focus wholly on the Lord. It was a vow of dedication and separation. It was called a "Nazarite vow" and in the Hebrew "Nazarite" means to be "consecrated", "devoted", and "dedicated".

Oh dear Christian, can you see that long hair is symbolical of surrendering to the Lord, longing to please Him alone? I Cor. 11:15 tells us that a woman's hair is a glory to her. It is precious to her! Do what Mary of Bethany did with her glory (hair) in John 12:1-6. So too with the lady in Luke 7:44 who wiped Jesus' feet with her tears of love using her surrendered glory (hair)! Let us take our glory, our will (Psa. 42:1-2, 63:1, 73:25, 84:2, 119:20), kneel in surrendered love, and spiritually anoint His nail-scarred feet with that costly perfume of our will. Break it over His feet. O how this gives Him great joy! 

 

 PRAY WITH ME: "Dear Lord Jesus, You are my only reason for living. You are the joy of my heart! You alone bring meaning in my daily walk! May my 'spiritual' hair, the submitting of my will, grow more and more beautiful to You each day!"

 

V.2 "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came from the washing, whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them."

Beautiful teeth make for a beautiful smile and a pleasant expression. Teeth are used for eating food. A full set of teeth help the body digest food for nourishment. They unlock the excellent taste of some foods through chewing. She has a full set of teeth which are beautiful to her Beloved. Her Beloved knows that she loves to eat the Word of God (Jer. 15:16) and is able to take it in fully. O how this pleases His heart. She loves His Word. She spiritually feasts upon it. Why? Because the Beloved shares secrets in her spirit for her alone through His Word! His dear bride has food to eat that others know not of (John 4:32). How it gladdens Him to see the full set of spiritual teeth. He does not have to hold back and only give her baby food. She is able to receive the deeper truths of His heart (Heb. 5:12-14).

What does the Lord find in your mouth dear Christian? Does He find figurative teeth being used