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

and share His Word. These are the one's who hearken to His voice. They lovingly obey the voice of His Word. These obedient ones love to come together and talk about Him, His Word and what He is doing in their lives. Something special happens at this time. He reveals Himself as never before, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name (The Lord Jesus Christ) there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20). What does this mean? We know that He is omnipresent. However, when He becomes the topic of conversation and the focus of fellowship, He allows us to sense His presence as at no other time. What comes out of our sharing heart will flow over His nailed scarred feet, washing them with pure spiritual water springing up out of our innermost being (John 7:38,39). O the joy of "companioning" with those who love Him. As each shares from the Word and in testimony, each will begin to "hear His voice" in what is revealed. It will be spiritual thoughts and spiritual ideas you have never had before. They are a gift from Him to the companions who have come together.

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Dear Lord, I love You with all of my heart! I love the deep things that You reveal to me. Thank You for exposing the beauty of Your loving heart to me and through others. You love to work through the two or three gathered together in Your name. You just love to give that little extra blessed thought or revelation through them as we talk together about You. In the most holy name in the universe, Jesus my Lord, amen."

 

 

V.14 "Make haste, my beloved and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices."

There is no hesitation in her voice as in chapter 2. She says. "Hurry, come and be in the midst of us as we gather together in Your name. We will lift up our voices, full of love and praise to You. As we gather together let us feel Your holy presence. Come quickly and listen to us with Holy Spirit filled hearts, 'speaking to (ourselves) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in (our) heart to (You); giving thanks for all things unto God and the Father in (Your name) the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' " (Eph. 5:19-20).

The bride gathers together with other lilies to talk about the Beloved. They sit, praising Him and contemplating out loud all the wonderful things that make up His eternal character and attributes in great wonderment and revelation. The bride said, "I didn't see it until now! He just becomes more wonderful all the time." One of the virgins excitedly asked, "Well, don't keep it from us, what is it?" The bride responded, "Remember way back when we first went to the Beloved King and asked Him to kiss us spiritually (1:2) Another answered, "Who could ever forget that, we were all changed and especially you?"

The bride, glowing with joy said, "Not until this very moment did I realize how He has spiritually kissed me with precious revelation all through every phase of my surrendered life. At first He compared me with Pharaoh’s choice horses and said that I had dove’s eyes. What a kiss (1:9,15)! Then there was that special kiss when He allowed me to see Him skipping in victory over the troubled mountains and hills of life (2:8). And how could I ever forget the kiss He gave to me as I went to sleep and then dreamed about His wonderful power, it was so glorious (3:6-11). And there was the kiss of the three mountains, Amana, Senir and Hermon. I was never the same after that (4:8). Also, engraved on my heart is the flood of descriptions that came to me in my darkest moment, what a tender kiss it was (5:10-16). I still am amazed at His description of me, comparing me to Jerusalem and an army with banners (6:4)."

"The dear Holy Spirit kissed me with the magnificent vision of Him when I knew in my heart that His desire was for me totally and eternally, it caused me to be actively bold and truly have His mind (7:10-11). But Oh, no kiss was ever greater than taking His nail scarred hand in mine and placing it over my heart and arm (8:6). He really, really loves us with all of His heart!" An unspeakable presence of glory begins to fill the room. For a long time there was a hushed holy silence, then at the same moment each whispered, "He's here! I know He's here!" In their spirit each heard His voice encouraging them, "...I will never leave you, nor forsake you." O how they longed for Him to return in person.

Then one of the lilies touched something - it was a box wrapped up as a gift. It was addressed: "A gift for My bride." All of the lilies gathered round with great expectancy. As it was slowly being unwrapped a light shown from within, lo and behold it contained sixty-six love letters written for His bride. The note on the cover said, "Dear bride of My heart, you didn't think that during this time of My physical absence I would leave without giving something of great value to you, My precious bride? I have been writing all of these love letters just for you. As you hold them close to your heart, you are really holding Me. My Words will guide you, change you, protect you!" He finished the note with these Words, "I love you with all My heart, always Jesus. I'll be back soon!" With eyes filled with thankfulness she glanced at the final Words in His last love letter, "He who testifies this says, 'Yea, I am coming quickly.' Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev. 22:20)

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Make haste and continually fill me! Make haste and search me. Let me know if there is anything unpleasing to You in my life (Psa. 139:23,24)! Make haste and continually revive and renew me! Make haste to sit with me in the very private and quiet times. Let me feel Your presence right away! Make haste and place Your left hand under my head and Your right arm around me. Make haste to receive my love and praise for You alone! Make haste, my Beloved, my Love, my Lord, my King, my Satisfaction! I desire nothing but You and You alone Lord Jesus! Sweep me up on wings of glory to the mountains of spices where nothing will ever interrupt our eternal love affair with each other. I long for those spices that come from You alone. I long to be with those who love You alone. How wonderful, my Love, will be the fragrance emanating from those mountains. Just like the anointing oil of the high priest with its four separate ingredients; each one of us coming and anointing Your feet with our particular fragrance. O the joy of combining our individual perfume and making heavenly incense for You our Beloved! One spiritual thought is combined with others. Is this what Rev. 5:8 is all about dear Lord? O to feel the breeze of Your blessed Holy Spirit on those mountains, lifting me up in holy ecstasy, with a heart bursting with pure holiness to be poured out on You, my Spouse! You lavished Your love on us fully (Rom. 5:5) but now, on the mountains of spices we will return it totally back to You as it floods Your Blessed soul! I love You, I love You, I love You with all of my Spirit-filled heart! Cause me to grow in a greater capacity to love You my Beloved!"

 

"...upon the Mountains of spices."

"Lord, Your spices are spiritual endowments which beautify and change me into Your blessed image through the power of the Holy Spirit! These are the spices emanating from the garden of my heart." For those who are sold out to Jesus there are mountains of spices waiting for you! The mountains are not barriers but blessings filled with His personal aroma of spiritual spices. Oh how joyful it is on these mountains. "This is where You planned to take me when You beckoned my heart so long ago to, '...Rise up...and come away..." to mountains of new spiritual adventures with Him (2:10).'" They will now leap and skip together over the mountains and hills (2:8) in His strength while holding her hand!

There's one last thing on her heart that needed to be done. Her mind went back to the beginning when the Holy Spirit came and filled her with that blessed longing for intimacy with Him. Looking wistfully in the distant past she said to herself, "I wonder how Marybeth is doing? I must write and thank her for leading me to ask to be kissed by My Beloved and share all the other kisses He has given me."

 

Taking out paper and pen she began to write a thank you note, "Dear Marybeth, so much has happened since you shared your heart with us. Thank you for obeying the Holy Spirit and showing me how to have our Bridegroom kiss me, and by it, spiritually igniting a flaming, panting desire for Him alone. The day after you left I...." She continued to write and write and write wanting Marybeth to know it all. She stopped for a moment and the Holy Spirit said, "Marybeth already knows but don't stop writing, she'll weep for joy hearing about all that has happened to you." A few pages later, she closed the letter, "With all of my love, filled up with our Beloved, your sister, Ruth."

 

P.S. If you haven't caught it yet, let me let you in on a little secret, I chose the name "Ruth" because the real Ruth of the Bible was a Gentile not deserving any consideration from the Lord. Our bride was a Gentile also (1:5). And the name "Marybeth" was a play on the term "Mary of Bethany" who truly understood our Beloved Bridegroom more than anyone else. And the Holy Spirit is still allowing her to teach us even in our day, twenty centuries later! We began so long ago, in this devotional commentary with the Words of Jesus, "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel is preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." (Mark 14:9). We have obeyed His desire and passed it on to you! Be blessed by the Bridegroom and pass along the name and precious character of Mary of Bethany.

 

 

 

 

FROM MY HEART: "Thank You, dear Bridegroom of my heart that there are no mountains of Bether (division) between us anymore (2:17) but only mountains of spices. Thank You for this wonderfully, unsought journey through Your 'first love' love in this Song! O how You sang it to me early, early in the morning hours. Just You and I alone; sometimes sitting for quite a while thinking about the verse before us that day. Then You would reveal Your heart in that verse; tears flowed from my eyes in astonishment at the preciousness You were sharing! You sang it just for me in those hours. You kept telling me just how much You loved me and at times I could not handle the streams of love flowing through every note sung to me in Your Song. I never dreamed that anything like this was ever possible! But O how my heart rejoiced in Your arms!"

 

"What an amazing, tender Lord You are. My Beloved, You took me by the hand so many years ago and led me on this indescribable, intimate journey through Your eternal "phileo" heart in this Song. You chose me: the weak, the unworthy, the failure, the unskilled and began a new work in me.