The Shulamite has just experienced being brought into the King’s chambers, the innermost place, far away from all other loves, where she freely enjoyed her Beloved in deep communion. It is after her chamber experience that she declares, “we will rejoice in You and be glad.” Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand are pleasures forever.” It is in the chambers of our King, our Beloved, that we come to know true and lasting joy.
Have you ever been feeling down, discouraged, and life seems overwhelming; those times when our circumstances almost seem bigger than our God? And then all of a sudden you are overcome by His presence and His peace as the Beloved reveals His love to your heart and assures you of His faithfulness as He declares over you, “My delight in is you, My desire is for you.” And even though your circumstances have not changed, just experiencing His love in His presence brings a new confidence and joy to your heart. And what seemed so insurmountable a moment ago now has a new perspective in the light of His goodness. While this type of encounter is not always in “the King’s chambers” yet we discover that it is not our circumstances or what we do in life that brings us lasting joy, but it is communing with Him in His presence that is the source of our peace and deepest joy.
We are living in times when the nations are facing crisis in every arena; financially, morally, economically, and spiritually. And if you really believe what the Bible says, there is coming a day when the King is going to shake everything that can be shaken. Have we prepared ourselves for the season that is upon us? Do we really have a sustaining joy that is rooted in Him? Do we find our security in Him or in our own resources? Have we been lulled into spiritual sleep by the entertainment of the world? Do we comfort one another with soothing words that all is OK? I believe the Lord would say that all is not OK. 1 Peter 4:17-18 says “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey God. And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is being saved, what will become of the Godless man and the sinner?”
We need to ask the Lord to draw us away after Him, let Him take us into His chambers where our heart can be grounded in the depths of His love and know His everlasting peace and inexpressible joy. We must have these encounters so we can come to know the depths of His passions for us as our Bridegroom God and not become offended at Him when circumstances in life don’t turn out as we think they should. We need to have these deep encounters so that our entire being becomes infused with our Beloved and we can say “we will extol, remember, Your love more than wine” that is, more than all the pleasures this world can offer. Then when we are faced with temptations, trails, or economic crisis, it will be the remembrance of our intimate chamber experiences with our Beloved that will keep us steady and faithful to Him. The remembrance of His intimate encounters will cause our heart to overflow with joy even in the midst of adversity. We need to have our hearts secured in Him alone, anchored in His unfailing love and know Him as the essence of our joy and delight.
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7
“I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10
Devotional Prayer
Thank You Lord for the everlasting joy that I have found in You. I ask that You take me into a deeper relationship with You, where I can begin to comprehend Your infinite goodness and incomprehensible love for me. Help me to become so united with Your Living Flame of Love that nothing in this life can move me from being centered in You. When the waters rage all around me I will remain steady and confident in Your love. When temptation are before me, I will remember Your love as the greatest pleasure in all of life!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Song of Solomon 1:4 The King has brought me into His chambers
At the beginning of this verse the bride cried out to the Beloved asking Him to “Draw her away.” The King is attentive to her voice and quickly responds by bringing her into His chambers.
The King’s chamber is a place where we encounter the Lord in intimate communion. The Hebrew word used here is “cheder” (kheh’ –der) and is defined as an inner chamber, bedroom, innermost room. It is in the innermost place, far away from all other loves, that we enjoy and experience the Lord in deep spiritual union. It is the King who takes the initiative to draw us and bring us into His chambers. We were created to be His partner for all eternity, we are His delight and His desires are for us. The chambers are a sacred place where we give ourselves fully to Him and He give Himself to us; it is the place where we discover the passions of His heart, and where we develop our secret life in God that establishes deep roots to sustain us through all that life brings our way.
The chamber experiences are very different from the encounters we have with the Lord in a corporate setting. While we can experience intimate encounters with the Lord during corporate meetings they will not have the same depth as an encounter where we are drawn away to a private place where we commune with undistracted attention. We have all attended an awesome worship service where we felt God’s presence and have experienced life changing encounters, but these type of encounters can’t be compared to the Divine ecstasy when the King escorts us to His chambers where He can communicate His passions and desires free from all outside distractions.
Imagine a couple who are in love as they become impatient from being in a crowd of people; they look for the right moment when they can steal away to a secluded place. It is in these moments where lovers learn about each other as they exchange the secrets of their heart. Our spirit also, longs for these private places where we can draw away and discover the deep things of our Beloved and feel His heartbeat; it is here that love’s passions are increased. A moment in His chamber can change our lives forever!
We must not be satisfied with a casual encounter on Sunday, instead we need to contend with the familiar and seek for deeper encounters with the Lover of our soul. Let us cry out to be drawn away into intimate chamber experiences with our Bridegroom King; He will not delay to bring us closer to Himself.
Devotional Prayer
Lord, nothing compares to the beauty of Your Majesty, to gaze upon You and to see the fire in Your eyes. In the depths of Your chambers is inexpressible joy, the place of all true contentment. Oh, to see the Bridegroom King in His glory! To be drawn by You into Your chamber, to experience the sweet union of fellowship with You in the deepest core places of my being. Your passion and love for me is incomprehensible. What can compare; who can compare with the One who is totally other than! Thank You Lord, for the amazing encounters with You as You draw me away!
The King’s chamber is a place where we encounter the Lord in intimate communion. The Hebrew word used here is “cheder” (kheh’ –der) and is defined as an inner chamber, bedroom, innermost room. It is in the innermost place, far away from all other loves, that we enjoy and experience the Lord in deep spiritual union. It is the King who takes the initiative to draw us and bring us into His chambers. We were created to be His partner for all eternity, we are His delight and His desires are for us. The chambers are a sacred place where we give ourselves fully to Him and He give Himself to us; it is the place where we discover the passions of His heart, and where we develop our secret life in God that establishes deep roots to sustain us through all that life brings our way.
The chamber experiences are very different from the encounters we have with the Lord in a corporate setting. While we can experience intimate encounters with the Lord during corporate meetings they will not have the same depth as an encounter where we are drawn away to a private place where we commune with undistracted attention. We have all attended an awesome worship service where we felt God’s presence and have experienced life changing encounters, but these type of encounters can’t be compared to the Divine ecstasy when the King escorts us to His chambers where He can communicate His passions and desires free from all outside distractions.
Imagine a couple who are in love as they become impatient from being in a crowd of people; they look for the right moment when they can steal away to a secluded place. It is in these moments where lovers learn about each other as they exchange the secrets of their heart. Our spirit also, longs for these private places where we can draw away and discover the deep things of our Beloved and feel His heartbeat; it is here that love’s passions are increased. A moment in His chamber can change our lives forever!
We must not be satisfied with a casual encounter on Sunday, instead we need to contend with the familiar and seek for deeper encounters with the Lover of our soul. Let us cry out to be drawn away into intimate chamber experiences with our Bridegroom King; He will not delay to bring us closer to Himself.
Devotional Prayer
Lord, nothing compares to the beauty of Your Majesty, to gaze upon You and to see the fire in Your eyes. In the depths of Your chambers is inexpressible joy, the place of all true contentment. Oh, to see the Bridegroom King in His glory! To be drawn by You into Your chamber, to experience the sweet union of fellowship with You in the deepest core places of my being. Your passion and love for me is incomprehensible. What can compare; who can compare with the One who is totally other than! Thank You Lord, for the amazing encounters with You as You draw me away!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Song of Solomon 1:4 Let us run together!
In the first part of this verse we cried out to our Beloved to “Draw us after Him” to a place where our spirit is united with Him. It’s in this place of union with His Spirit that our will becomes infused in purpose and desire with His heart. We long to know the things that please Him and run with Him to see His desires fulfilled. We could not run after Him if He did not draw us. Notice the word used here was to “run” which implies an eagerness to pursue; as He awakens us to His passionate desire for us, our spirit is not content to walk, but with much longing we run hard after Him. There are two ways that we run together with the Lord, the first is to run together in intimacy where we fulfill the first commandment of Matthew 22:37 to “Love the LORD with our your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
The second way we run together with our Beloved is in loving our neighbor as ourselves, thus fulfilling the second commandment of Matthew 22:39. It is from the place of a heart inflamed with the love of God that our hearts overflow with His love to those around us. All of our ministry should be an overflow of this union of our hearts and wills. For centuries men and women who have been captured by His love have loved not their own lives unto death because they refused to deny the Lover of their soul. With hearts impassioned by His fiery love they suffered imprisonment and death.
One such story is of Nijole Sadunaite who was sentenced to prison in Soviet Lithuania in the 1970s. As she stood before the court she told them “This is the happiest day of my life. I was judged today for the cause of truth and love toward men. What cause could be more important? I have an enviable fate, a glorious destiny. My condemnation will be my triumph. I regret only having done so little for men” She was sentenced to prison for three years. After being freed, she met the Pope in Rome, and he asked her, “How was it in jail?” She replied, “Romantic.” (Taken from Jesus Freaks)
I love this story because when a heart is consumed in the passion of loves fire there is no cost too great for the One it loves. Only those who know the passion of His love would find it romantic to be martyred or imprisoned for their Beloved. This Divine Romance empowers us to be faithful through persecution and through the mundane of day-to-day life. Once our heart is captivated by His love and beauty our life vision seems to change from an ambitious self-centered focus to a life vision of wanting to please the One we love, to pour out our lives in pursuing Him and the desires of His heart. It doesn’t really matter where we are in life, what we have or have not accomplished to fulfill a life vision of pursuing and pleasing our Beloved. His is our One desire!
Devotional Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for drawing me to You and for captivating my heart with Your passionate love. You are the One who initiates the pursuit and desire that I am with You where You are. You want us to run together in a deeper, intimate relationship. I want to know the passions and desires of Your heart. I want to know You! Holy Spirit let the fire of Your love and passion permeate every part of my being so that in union with You we can also pour out Your love to others. I want to run with You to bring others to their eternal destiny of intimacy with our Bridegroom God.
The second way we run together with our Beloved is in loving our neighbor as ourselves, thus fulfilling the second commandment of Matthew 22:39. It is from the place of a heart inflamed with the love of God that our hearts overflow with His love to those around us. All of our ministry should be an overflow of this union of our hearts and wills. For centuries men and women who have been captured by His love have loved not their own lives unto death because they refused to deny the Lover of their soul. With hearts impassioned by His fiery love they suffered imprisonment and death.
One such story is of Nijole Sadunaite who was sentenced to prison in Soviet Lithuania in the 1970s. As she stood before the court she told them “This is the happiest day of my life. I was judged today for the cause of truth and love toward men. What cause could be more important? I have an enviable fate, a glorious destiny. My condemnation will be my triumph. I regret only having done so little for men” She was sentenced to prison for three years. After being freed, she met the Pope in Rome, and he asked her, “How was it in jail?” She replied, “Romantic.” (Taken from Jesus Freaks)
I love this story because when a heart is consumed in the passion of loves fire there is no cost too great for the One it loves. Only those who know the passion of His love would find it romantic to be martyred or imprisoned for their Beloved. This Divine Romance empowers us to be faithful through persecution and through the mundane of day-to-day life. Once our heart is captivated by His love and beauty our life vision seems to change from an ambitious self-centered focus to a life vision of wanting to please the One we love, to pour out our lives in pursuing Him and the desires of His heart. It doesn’t really matter where we are in life, what we have or have not accomplished to fulfill a life vision of pursuing and pleasing our Beloved. His is our One desire!
Devotional Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for drawing me to You and for captivating my heart with Your passionate love. You are the One who initiates the pursuit and desire that I am with You where You are. You want us to run together in a deeper, intimate relationship. I want to know the passions and desires of Your heart. I want to know You! Holy Spirit let the fire of Your love and passion permeate every part of my being so that in union with You we can also pour out Your love to others. I want to run with You to bring others to their eternal destiny of intimacy with our Bridegroom God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)