The Sacred Journey

After listening to the questions that my middle schoolers have about life and Jesus, I realize that us as adults ask the same questions. Why does there have to be pain? What exactly is He asking of me? What does it mean to walk with Jesus? Will I really be satisfied by a life fully surrendered to Him? And what does that even look like? 

 

 Often as a mom I long to be able to give my girls a complete understanding of Jesus that voids them of the heartache they are assured to face in this world. But the more I have wrestled with the pain of this world, I am convinced that our unity comes from a beautiful intimate walk that must be experienced first hand. And this calling to walk with Jesus has been explained to me in a beautiful personal way in the Song of Songs:

 

 “Our communion with Jesus will never be known through an unbroken heart. This is the priceless heritage of the meek and lowly.” But it is often this pain that drives us to the heart of the Father. 

 

This Sacred Journey with Him, starts with him reaching towards us in love. A God that created us to be loved by Him even though it meant he had to suffer and die to have union with us.  

 

We come to know and experience first hand His beauty, His love, His divine affection, and His sweet voice and His presence. He reveals to us who He is and He whispers who we are. 

 

We want to stay in this safe place forever gazing upon His goodness. Once we have tasted his fruit and held him in the sacred arms of intimacy, it makes sense why we never want to leave. This is a beautiful glimpse of how Heaven will be.

 

But His invitation calls us deeper and calls us out of ourselves. In Song of Songs 2, He calls us forth to complete maturity:

 

The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived. 

I hear the cooing of doves in our land, 

filling the air with songs to awaken you

and guide you forth.

13Can you not discern this new day of destiny

breaking forth around you?

The early signs of my purposes and plans

are bursting forth. 

The budding vines of new life

are now blooming everywhere.

The fragrance of their flowers whispers,

“There is change in the air.”

Arise, my love, my beautiful companion,

and run with me to the higher place.

For now is the time to arise and come away with me.

 

He says the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

But Lord, Isn't it enough to know you and walk with you? Why must I be a part of the Great Commission? Why do I feel such absence of your Presence when I just want to do things the way I want? What does it look like to be transformed in your image?

 

These questions came to me as I experienced countless spiritually mature women pour into me and shepherd me over the past 3 years. 

The Sacred Journey by Brian Simmons (the translator of the Passion Translation) give a beautiful picture of the complete work of Christ. He describes the Shulamite (us) at the end of Song of Songs complete maturity and unity with Him: 

 

“But now she has grown and become a tower of passion and contentment. The seal of fiery love transforms her from a nobody into a beautiful bride. His heart has longed for his flock to be cared for and protected. She has become a shepherd after his own heart. Jesus is content and satisfied with the life of His bride. She is a tower and brings contentment to the King of Kings. She is a firm wall of protection for others. She stands mature and faithful, often taking the arrows before they can get to the more vulnerable. She stands confident on the day of battle. She leads by example and stands on behalf of others. He will entrust her with stewardship in his vineyard, and we will stand before him feeding, leading and maturing his vineyard (his people.) She brings forth the fruit of righteousness. She will have the privilege and reward of bringing to him the abundance of fruit from the maturing lives of those they shepherd. Precious fruit will come forth and be gathered by the multitudes. He has given her all she needs to bring forth this fruit. She must cultivate it and tend it until maturity is produced from her labors. Jesus receives this fragrant offering every time a life comes to maturity. How wonderful it is to cultivate the divine life in others. To be branches united in love. God wanted this fruit in Eden and now he tastes that in her. He says, I will give double honor to those who serve my beloved. And have watched over her soul. This double portion has come to those elders. Many are those who have helped me in this journey. The Lord will not forget those who have labored in his name. What a beautiful journey into God's heart of love. His mightly love has carried her through from a life of darkness under the sun to a life of fullness and fruitfulness. This is the power of his grace that works in her to do his pleasure. Have you seen what the king longs to do for you? It's the fire of love that won't let you go. To be forever changed in his likeness. The happiest of all endings of all that He will dwell with his bride and be together as one. The song of her heart. How sweet it is to know the voice to the Lord. This communion is irreplaceable to Him and He longs to hear your voice. Your voice is a source of pleasure to the king in worship, in intercession, in teaching and in evangelism. If the shulamites voice was sweet to him in our immaturity, then how much more sweet is it to HIm now that her devotion is complete as His bridal partner. Lifting our voice to him in adoration, worship and prayer ministers to His heart. To pray is to satisfy his longing for communion with him. May our voices be ever sweet to him. May our teaching and feeding of others be a sweet sound in his ears. The king commissions his bride to intercede and be faithful to his bridegroom until he returns to take her to an eternal honeymoon and she can be found in the garden where she diligently labors for him. She has made her garden her dwelling; she is occupied with his concerns, learning holy passion for his beloved. He admonishes us to never let business, tension, stress and pressures of this life, drown out the words to our Father. Let your cry for revival and your intercession be a continual love song to our God as you sing your song to Him.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know well what happens when we say no to the invitation of Jesus. We are not rejected but it can be lonely in that self made wilderness of wanting our own way. Your king is an amazing leader and He is faithful to make you over into his image. This test will prove to be the easiest trial to awaken your heart to obey again. Even through the difficulty of these test we gain a greater ability of God to see you through. There are times where God will hide his face from us so that we work more intently for him he was draws his awareness are awareness of him. End it often happens when we need him the most we feel vulnerable betrayed and confusion sets in. We rarely interpret these times as training.

 

 

Come away with me! 

I have come as you have asked

to draw you to my heart and lead you out.

For now is the time, my beautiful one.

11The season has changed,

the bondage of your barren winter has ended,

and the season of hiding is over and gone.

The rains have soaked the earth 

12and left it bright with blossoming flowers. 

14For you are my dove, hidden in the split-open rock. 

It was I who took you and hid you up high

in the secret stairway of the sky.

Let me see your radiant face and hear your sweet voice. 

How beautiful your eyes of worship

and lovely your voice in prayer.

15You must catch the troubling foxes,

those sly little foxes  that hinder our relationship.

For they raid our budding vineyard of love

to ruin what I’ve planted within you.

Will you catch them and remove them for me?

We will do it together.

The Shulamite

16I know my lover is mine and I have everything in you,

for we delight ourselves in each other. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He gave me Song of Solomon 5: Go deeper with me, 

 

since I’ve yielded my righteousness to yours? 

You have cleansed my life and taken me so far.

Isn’t that enough?

 

 

 

 

Lord Jesus I long to always be running with you on the mountains of space help me to overcome every fear that would hold me back take away every anxiety from my heart and drop me closer to you my heart longs for you increase my dessert to go with you wherever you go I know you will help me because you are my strength and my Lord go on a head to the mountain of spices. 

 

I will come away at another time. I refused I am not ready to leave this predictable place to run with you how painful it is to say no to Jesus you are my lover but I’m still afraid perhaps later when life is easier and doubts are gone and the full light comes then I will go. She is waiting for another season not realizing she’s missing the season of running with the king. She thinks when the sky is light perhaps then I can run with you when we think we need to wait until we grow more or when the clouds lift in the darkness fleas. We tell him to go ahead without us because I must grow more we went him here with me present in our pain when we need him the most. Jesus can’t you stay here with me in this comfy comfortable place. Behind my wall and make me feel better? But why are we ready to say yes when he needs us to run with him to the nations he has plans in his heart for us how can we say no to his tender affection towards us. We could presume we could do a better job of leading our life then he can we want to be in charge of our own destiny and direct our path but true and lasting transformation comes when Jesus is our true and lasting destiny. Someday I will go with him and skip with him on the mountains Life is hard and we need to protect ourselves behind this while we sayWe must never wait until the imperfections in the shadows flea as we start to walk with him our path is illuminated more and more. He never walks away for him as when we feel him. He says he will never leave us or for sake us he only seems to be distant at times he lifts from our hearts the awareness of his presence to draw us out to seek him he only walked a few steps into the darkness and then turned around to gaze upon her even in our darkness. She must endure the pain of this withdrawal to understand what she is missing. Even in our darkness he is there. Waiting for us to turn away from darkness and find him in joyful reunionJesus waits for us Yeah it is gods way of disciplining those he truly loves depression often hits us when we no longer feel close to Jesus. Temptations to go back to our old habits one tense of fight during these times.

3 night seasons

The night of pain- God will speak to us in language of silence

The night of temptation- 

The dark night of the soul- this happens when we don’t feel his presence even in obedience and he draws us out to seek us with him with more intensity. My souls true love. 

 

He longs to feed us the deep things of our spirit as we walk with him in purity. Psalm 45 said that it was written to the tune of lilies. The lilies do not toil or fear.  We find he truly we truly have nothing to fear he provides a safety I can be his Lily his place of communion he can catch the foxes. But even in this invitation she’s not ready. 

 

I don’t have to be seen by anyone other than my God

Book spt 3:46