Ponderings and words of wisdom from the Song of Songs 3/3/13 Renee- re: Mike Bickle The pleasurable knowledge of God’s word gives us language to who He is. Song of Solomon describes the longings of the bride and the groom for each other. It reveals the adoration and depth of character built as one gets to know the other. We find that as we meditate and ponder the true essence of the bridegroom the internal beings of who he is gets caught in our skin; by his perfume; to reveal the true nature of the bride. Verse two of chapter one says “let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine.” His word comes from his mouth; the declaration of himself is expressed through his word and imparts his love towards the bride. As the Father loves the son so the son loves you. This is described and expressed through his words, which is his adoration of the unity of God, Son and Spirit. We get the joy of experiencing this love because we are the one that it gets imparted too, expressed upon, given too. The revelation of the love of the Father is what our hearts long for, it seeks after it intensely, and nothing can satisfy it but from the love of God. Many people try to find it in the pleasures of this world, the desire to be loved and to give love, the passion to pursue enjoyable things, like laughter, intimacy, new experiences, beauty and so much more. But these are to be done and found through the unity with the Spirit the Son and the Father. The knowledge that it’s not about the individual person but the whole body of Christ has been misrepresented and seen as a possession in this world’s natural culture. The evil one of the world deceives us to believe that we can find pleasure in wickedness outside of the being of Jesus. But it isn’t true for no matter the wine we experience or the senses used to intoxicate us with love. It is the love of God that will last forever and will keep us longing and seeking and hungering after the truth. Even the pleasures of blessings that God gives us through financial wealth, good relationships, and ministry opportunities cannot equal to or quench the desire to be loved and to give love. The superior pleasures of his word are better than the pleasures of this world. We need to acknowledge that the pleasures of the world are pleasurable but there is a force more powerful more satisfying more fulfilling than those pleasures. Intensely experiencing Jesus’ words can be unfolded by praying his word back to him, this is the superior pleasure of his mouth. A circle complete, a moment of true satisfaction, and the taste of the food he gives to us at his banquet table. Just as wine exhilarates the heart in the natural, so the words of God wow and excite us, in our lovesickness for the bridegroom in the spiritual. The longings of his heart to be revealed in us and the longings of our heart to see him come in the natural sense is so intense that lovesickness prevails and keeps us going in this life on the earth. God says I want people who are lovesick for me not be thriving in ministries and neglecting me in the secret place. From the lovesickness of God we give out of affection based obedience not feelings or religion based love. For a lovesick bride will do anything for their bridegroom. The standard of love, the insight and knowledge of how we love is found in the way the trinity love each other. It is revealing God, loving God and revealing it in your spirit. John 15:9, 17:25-26. When there is a cry in your heart to obey that is where God’s grace, his fellowship is given and he can express his enjoyment in us. We need to understand that there is a difference between spiritual immaturity and rebellion, because we are loved by God we are His favourite and he likes us. But when we get disciplined we feel that God doesn’t like us or he’s anger at us. God gives correction because he loves us and wants the best for us it is different from his anger- his anger is towards the rebels his wrath comes upon the rebellion. God likes us he just doesn’t like all that we do and so he disciplines in love. Just as a parent loves the child they discipline the action of the child, and brings correction to the way they do things. Revelation based passion for Christ- it takes the power of God to love God. It takes God to love God and it is in the understanding of the Knowledge of who God is that we are able to love him. Thus the importance to know God and make him known in our lives through the love we give to others. That we ourselves have received from the bridegroom. As we ponder and mediate on the image and perfume of Christ; which is his personality his beauty; we begin to get revelations of who we are as the bride of Christ. It’s the essence of the being of Christ revealed in mankind that emanates the love of God. And the perfume is not the activity in the physical that happens but the feeling and attention that is directed to Christ. It is the internal properties of a flower that creates the perfume that invigorates us to the smell and taste of pleasure, of delight, of enjoyment in the external flower. The smell draws us to the external flower. So it is with Jesus we see and smell, taste and experience his perfume his personality his beauty and are overcome with joy and excitement by his being both the external and internal. Thus the importance that we as humans need to be good reflectors of Christ, to give off the perfume we have experienced of Jesus so that it too will draw others to the nature of Jesus. We are the physical representation of Jesus just as Jesus is the physical representation of the Father. 2 Corinthians 6 talks about how his perfume becomes her perfume as it saturates her life. That as we walk in righteousness, walk out the kingdom culture of being truthful in speech, sincere in love, patient and full of kindness.... we will be pouring out his name the perfume, his being. God has made his name the only name that can be poured out, because it has sweetness to it a sent that attracts us, the father has done this through declaring and making His name praise in the world. As we accept Jesus’ free gift of eternal life and take on his yoke of himself we take his name; just as when you get married the woman takes the name of the husband; so too do we take on his name. As the perfume gets in our spirit it transforms us to the likeness of Jesus. The perfume draws us to it, so too does God draw us to himself, to experience in his chambers and his presence, in the secret place unique and personal memories of deep relationship between the bride and the groom. But sometimes he calls us to run with him to mountains and they can be simultaneous, but in season he calls us to run or he will draw us away to be loved by him and make memories with him, so that in the running we will not turn to the right or the left. The running seasons will make our lovesickness grow deeper more intimate, more real. We renew our minds with the experiences that are found in the secret place and help us know the wisdom of who he is so we will praise and rejoice over him. SOS 1:4 “We rejoice and delight in you, we will praise your love more than wine.”