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

and His bride in a holy oneness were unable to talk, for mere words could not express what their hearts were experiencing!

What joy, what pleasant fruits: glorious fellowship with Him while ministering, souls saved, saints encouraged, hurting Christians delivered and filled with the Holy Spirit, all falling more deeply in love with the Bridegroom and His Word, becoming hungry for much more! Anyone passing near them could smell the delectable fragrance of the spiritual mandrakes.

 

"...new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved."

It’s time for you and me to go and find a quiet place. Let us take out the precious mandrakes and just sit in silence with the One we so dearly love. We will reminisce over what He has done and all the spiritual fruit He has produced in our lives. May our thankful hearts simply reflect on the remembrance of His holy work that has been accomplished in us. Thinking about the old with the new reminds us of just how infinitely consistent the Beloved really is. Placing past and present blessings together will dispel any doubt that He might change tomorrow! What a pleasant reassurance this time is to the soul of the surrendered believer! It will encourage more consistent dependency on Him who never changes (James 1:17). Let us pause and do what the Psalmist did, "...I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands." (Psa. 143:5). "I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works." (Psa. 145:5). "All thy works shall praise thee...." (Psa. 145:10).

As the Lord walks through the main archway of your heart, there appears a number of gates allowing access to the deepest recesses of your life such as: the gate of Bible study; the gate of praise; the gate of giving and receiving; the gate of earnest intercessory prayer; the gate of witnessing; the gate of intimacy; the gate of hurt and spiritual attacks.

You place at these gates for your Beloved, fruit gleaned in each area, sharing with Him the wonderful things His blessed Holy Spirit and Word have done through you. Oh to save up in the memory of your heart all He has done for you. Oh to just sit and savor all of His grace and mercy which has been daily bestowed upon you, thanking Him and thanking Him and thanking Him from an overflowing heart!

Is not this the purpose of the Lord's Supper? When the body of Christ comes together for communion they are to remember Him, His cross, His character, His attributes and the fruit of the cross in our lives today. It is a time to think about all He is to us individually and corporately, sitting in His presence around the emblems of love for us, His bride! It is a continual victory celebration!

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Lord, my heart is overwhelmed with Your presence! Thank You for being so real, so personal, so patient! I love You alone! In Jesus' Holy Name, amen!"

 

PAUSE FOR A MOMENT AND GO TO THE PRAISE LIST AT THE END OF THIS BOOK. SELECT A FEW WORDS OR PHRASES TO PRAISE YOUR DEAR BRIDEGROOM. 

 

CHAPTER 8 - THE DEVOTED LIFE (continued)

 

AN OVERVIEW OF CHAPTER EIGHT: The bride in perfect union and communion with her Beloved, ministers to her younger, spiritually immature sister. As the bride and her Beloved come up out of the wilderness, she leans completely on Him for strength and guidance. One of the most sacred moments in the life of the bride comes when the Beloved asks her to set Him as a seal upon her heart and her arm. The Beloved entrusts her with His vineyard, her personal one, as He leaves to minister in other vineyards. There is no hurt but just a longing for Him to return to her very quickly. The Song ends with the Mountain of spices instead of the mountains of Bether (division). There is perfect harmony between the Beloved and His wonderful bride.

 

The Bride continues:

V.1 "O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised."

She loves Him with all of her heart and wants every one else to know. She is not ashamed, as so many Christians are about their Lord in the world. In her there is a Holy Spirit boldness of heart. Feel the fervency of her "first love", love (Rev. 2:1-5) for the one nearest and dearest to her heart as she declares over and over in her soul, "I want to let the whole world know that Jesus is my Lord, the Love of my life, my everything!" She wants to show her Beloved public affection. Isn’t that what “first love” is all about?

We who are God's new creation are unique. We are not only His bride but also His family. He is not ashamed to call us "brethren" (Heb. 2:11) even though we do much to disappoint Him. Has not the Holy Spirit, by the blood of Christ, placed us in the family of God and caused us to be spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ?

The Beloved calls His bride "sister" 5x in this Song. The terms "sister" and "brother" are used in the spiritual family – the body of Christ. Examples of this are found in Rom. 16:1 and Philemon 1:1,16. So we have the freedom to express our love for Him publicly because we are not only His bride but His family (Eph. 3:14). May His love be demonstrated in our love for our brothers and sisters (John 13:34,35)! (Serious references John 5:24 and 1John3:14)

 

"...when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee."

First love always makes a spectacle of itself. It talks about, thinks about, and publicly demonstrates its fervent passion for the object of its affections! What does it mean, "...when I should find thee without"? "Without" indicates publicly. Let the Word of God unlock the meaning. Read Mt. 25:34-40. When we minister to those in need (hungry, thirsty, a place to stay, naked, in prison, sick) we will find Jesus right there! That is how we lavish our love on Him publicly! He said, "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Mt. 25:40). O the pleasure of spiritual love He must experience as we love on the hurting, the lost, the rejected, the failures! Read Gal. 6:10; John 13:35; Col. 4:5; I Thess. 4:12; I Tim. 3:7.

Then there is that very, very special time when His lilies regularly meet to love on Him. Although God is omnipresent something happens when believers meet with the specific purpose of gathering to His Name. He causes His anointing, presence and glory to be experienced when He is loved in "one accord" fervency. Jesus makes this point very clear in Mt. 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Praise God for a place He has provided for us to express our love for Him publicly. A place where we are able to share those spiritual kisses the Holy Spirit placed upon our hearts (I Cor.2:9,10).

The local body of believers is the place where we can come to gather and express freely our love for what He is doing for us and in us. Isn't this what it means to be continually spirit filled? Listen, "...but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Eph. 5:18-21.

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Dear, dear Lord Jesus, Beloved of my heart, I love You. I love You alone! I do love my spouse, I love my friends, I love my children, but love for You supersedes all other loves. I worship and adore You only! Cause me Holy Spirit to kiss the Lord of my heart publicly by a willing heart to obey His Word no matter what the cost. Bring into my pathway those who are in great need. Give me discernment to see their need. Lord, I love to serve others and in so doing I am serving You! Father, keep my mind and heart on the alert. I want to "find" Jesus out there in the public arena and meet "His needs". By doing so I will be kissing Him publicly! Lord, once again I bow my heart, soul and body to You. I break them over Your nail scarred feet in total surrender to You! In Your awesome name, Amen!"

 

Kiss Him with the submissive, serving will. The daily joy of the abundant life, the power of God controlling their heart; the peace, contentment and rest all of this brings will cause those around you to marvel and long to possess what possesses you.

 

V.2 "I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would (has taught) instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."

After the consummation of the marriage there is a desire to go back home to the families and rejoice together over this wonderful union of committed love. It is a time of returning and saying thanks to the parents, especially the mother who has instructed the daughter in the proper ways of relationships.

Notice how the bride is initiating things she desires for her Beloved and it is with others, not as in chapter two where she only wanted to be alone with Him. The commitment in 7:10 is proving to be very real.

Spiritually, it is a time of demonstrating gratefulness to those who have been used to lead and guide the bride in her tender years as a believer. How beautiful it is to contact them (those who were your caring mother in the Lord) and let them know that their efforts were not in vain. The Lord used all of them to produce a beautifully mature "Mary of Bethany"! What an encouragement it will be to those who nurture new believers.

O how this bride wants to share Him with the one who had nurtured her. Spiritually, where have we been "nurtured" or "mothered" so to speak? Our spiritual "mother's house" is the church, the body of believers. The Lord, over a long period of time brought specific members of His family into our lives to supply us with what we needed to further our spiritual growth at that moment of time. Please read Eph. 4:11-16!

Yes, dear surrendered believer, go back to the church fellowship and share with young and old alike what it means to give your life over in total trust to love of Christ. Plant the seed in the hearts of the next generation. Encourage others who are where you are not to give up but to continue leaning on their Beloved, teaching others by example what all this means. Go back to your spiritual "mother's house", the church,