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

instructive that just before the momentous, life changing statement to come (v.10) her mouth and breath are dealt with. Read James 3:3-18 and do a spiritual word check. How do you react in unexpected, irritating moments? What does your spouse, children, parents, sisters, brothers, friends, acquaintances, fellow workers see? Has the Lord taken hold of your mind in the morning so that you are ready for the surprise attacks of the enemy? The wicked one wants you to fail and fall in the presence of others in order to try and embarrass Jesus. Do as Mary of Bethany did in the circumstance, say nothing and just look to Jesus to solve it.

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Father, I praise You for having given to me the wine of Heaven, Your Beloved Son. Thank You for having placed in me the Power of that wine, Your wonderful Holy Spirit. Lord, thank You, that others are touched and changed because You are actively living in me. I open myself to all the intimacy of Your heart. I submit my mind and my mouth to You! Be blessed in me. Let Your mind control my mind. I love You Lord Jesus, in Your wonderful name, amen!"

 

THE DYING TO SELF - 7:10

And now the mystery presented in the beginning of this book will be solved as you consider the next verse. O how important this verse is. The victorious Christian life hinges upon it. She will be able to say in truth, "It is no longer I but Christ who lives in me." What has been latent truth in her heart now will become vibrant, active and ready to serve. In this verse, faith and love are working together in this final, ironclad commitment to her Beloved and His plans. Paul rejoiced concerning the Thessalonian believers, declaring, "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love..." (I Thess. 1:3). Gal. 5:6 states that "...faith which worketh by love."

 

V.10 "I am my Beloved's, and his desire is toward me."

Praise God, the bride has reached the place where she can be fully led by the Holy Spirit and bring glory to the Lord. It has been a long journey but a spiritually progressive one. What awaits her is so wonderful that it will make the years before surrender seem as if they had never happened! Be encouraged dear bride of His heart, it will happen to you if it hasn’t already! Be patient with yourself. Verse 10 is the confession Jesus waits and waits and waits to hear from your heart and your lips.

 

"I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me."

Let's review so we can get the big picture. The Song began with a Holy Spirit implanted desire in her heart, longing for an intimate, personal, holy relationship with the One she dearly loved. She said, "Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth..." (1:2); "Draw me...after Thee..." (1:4); "Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth..." (1:7). When she entered into His chamber and He kissed her with the Word, I can hear her excitedly exclaim within, "There is nothing I wouldn't do for Him and I will go anywhere He desires, just so that I have constant fellowship with Him."

Yet when the Beloved asked her to come away with Him she responded, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His..." (2:16). In other words, "Jesus belongs to me first and foremost and I also belong to Him, and I will decide when it is time to go." There was no doubt about her love but the "little foxes" of self shared the throne with her Beloved! Shadows and night appeared in her life once again (2:17; 3:1).

She was not in the will of her Beloved, the Light of the world! Realizing what she had done, the bride searches for Him with a heart filled with longing love. ("...I will seek Him whom my soul loveth." 3:2). The glorious truth is, when you seek you will find, and, praise God, she found Him. What a lesson, never quit seeking! In chapter 3 the Holy Spirit gives her a vision of the power and glory of her Beloved. In chapter 4 the Beloved describes her in beautiful, intimate terms assuring her that His love has not diminished one iota.

Because she was separated unto Him alone (chapter 4), He describes the garden of her heart in glowing terms. Then, He shares the blessing of her heart garden with others (5:1). Then she rests. The Beloved goes out in the night ministering to the needs of others. He returns at a very inconvenient time, desiring that she come with Him. The Beloved asked her to open to Him. She hesitated. Finally she did go to the door but He had left. What is the lesson? There still were a few "little foxes" of convenience (self) left on the throne of her heart. She was not one hundred percent submissive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

As a result, she suffered in spirit, soul and body (5:6-8) for hesitating; however her heart was still filled to the brim with love for the Bridegroom. The transformation came when she began to lift Him up in her mind and confess it out of her mouth (5:9-16). Jesus said it, "If I be lifted up I will draw..." (John 12:32). And now she is right there in Her Beloved’s presence and proclaims from the depths of her soul the sweetest words a surrendered heart can say to Him, "I am my Beloved's, and my beloved is mine..." (6:3). "Above everything else in life, my heart belongs to You first, my Love, whatever You want is what I want. You are in reality Lord of my life!" Then, in chapter 7, the Beloved begins to describe her, beginning with the feet. Praise God, she was now ready to be actively used in His service. After this glorious description by Him she exclaims, "I AM MY BELOVED'S AND HIS DESIRE IS TOWARD ME!" Thank God the "little foxes" no longer have an effect on her!

What's the difference? For the first time His lovely bride realizes it is no longer important that she has Him ("my Beloved is mine") but He possesses her wholly! She is about to initiate something her heart had never dreamed of saying before let alone doing! You will see this in a moment. The words that follow are extremely significant:

 

"...His desire is toward me."

This is the key to a walk of faith. This heartfelt statement is the ultimate revelation for living the surrendered life consistently. You are absolutely sure of His heart toward you! It changes everything: the way you think, feel, respond, pray, praise and walk! Without this there is no real progress made in sanctification, worship or service. In heart she is saying, "I am absolutely convinced in my spirit that I'm totally possessed by Jesus. His desire is for my good only and nothing else. I have heard His words of assurance spoken to my heart and I am persuaded that His love is totally for me. What have I to fear? My Beloved’s "perfect love" is casting out all of my fears! Hallelujah! "(I John 4:18).

For most Christians they have two lives, their real daily life and then, what they call, their spiritual life. They separate them. There is only one life, the spiritual life! It includes my personal life, family life, married life, school life, work life, recreation life, church life - these are but aspects of one true life. This declaration, "...His desire is toward me" can be summed up in these words, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being..." (Acts17:28); "For to me to live is Christ, and to die gain." (Phil. 1:21); "...Christ, who is our life..." (Col. 3:4)! Of what are you afraid? In making this total commitment you will begin to experience "...the mountains of spices" (8:14)! There will no longer be mountains of separation in your life (2:17).

By coming to this place in your surrendered walk, knowing that His desire is always for your good, you will be able to give thanks in every kind of circumstance. Why? Because you know that even in the "bad" He is leading you through it, giving you strength in it and, using it in building up your spiritual character to help others who are hurting in the same kind of difficulty! I Phil. 4:6,7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." I Thess. 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." We do not give thanks for what the devil or our sin nature is doing to us. No! But in those things we give thanks because we are completely assured that our Beloved’s desire is for our good only. Why? Because we are the number one item on His heart – we are His bride! Knowing all this, these verses will become food to your soul: I Cor. 10:13; II Cor. 1:3,4; II Cor. 3:18; Rom. 5:3; I Pet. 1:7; II Pet. 1:1-8.

She has received the ultimate in Holy Spirit confidence! Listen to her heart speak, "If my Beloved is for me who can be against me? My Husband shall supply all of my needs according to His riches. I am able to do all things through my Bridegroom who is strengthening me! I am trusting my true Love with all of my heart and I will lean not on my own understanding. In all my ways I am acknowledging my Beloved and He is and will continually direct my paths. Since I am delighting myself entirely in Him, whom my soul loves, He shall give me the desires of my heart. I have committed my way to Him and trust my Beloved fully. He will bring everything that is right, good, pure and true to pass in my life. My Beloved is my strength and I will not be afraid what man can do to me." (Phil. 4:19; Phil. 4:13; Prov. 3:5,6; Psa. 37:4,5; Psa. 27:1).

O how gently the Holy Spirit leads you to this point in your Christian walk! Then it finally dawns upon your spirit and you say "He really does love me with all of His heart. His desire is for my good!" To walk away from this moment is to insult God Almighty! It is to commit the ultimate discourtesy! To not fall at His feet, joyfully resigning your will to Him is to commit extreme spiritual rudeness. It is impossible for you to even imagine the depths of pain and grief experienced in the heart of your Bridegroom! Dear caring reader, will you make an absolute quality decision, once and for all? Take her words and make them your own! 

 It is at this moment she is totally free in her spirit to make the initial move without her Beloved having to ask as He had done previously in 2:10 and 5:2. For the first time she truly trusts in the promises of her Beloved (II Cor. 7:1; II Pet. 1;3,4). She is ready to act upon them. THE BRIDE DEMONSTRATES IN TRUTH SHE POSSESSES THE MIND OF CHRIST (Phil. 2:5-13)! How do we know this? In the next verse she speaks with an urgency and excitement, "COME, MY BELOVED, LET US GO FORTH...!" She has a boldness that was not there previously. She is spirit-filled and she can’t help herself!

"There was a moment in my own life in the excruciating spiritual pain of despair, I cried out to God in my failure and exclaimed, "O God, I cannot go on like this any more. I am filled up with Christian activities but empty of spiritual satisfaction that