“I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.” (Song of Solomon 8:4 NASB)
I came to a place of breakthrough today regarding the Church as I saw the Lord reveal to me an amazing truth from His word which has really set me free…
The Lord loves His Bride but He says not to “awaken” Her “until She pleases”…
He doesn’t “push Her” to be ready…
He “waits” until She is ready…
Now obviously the Holy Spirit is working on the Bride to enable Her to be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
The Lord waits…
He is ready to bring Revival…
He has always been ready…
The Bride will not be ready until she is “pleased” to be “awakened”…
The Lord doesn’t “push” the Bride to be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
He waits like a patient Bridegroom for His “Love” to be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
The Holy Spirit acts “behind the scenes” creating a willingness in the Heart of the Bride to be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
While the Lord waits…
And waits…
And waits…
You can see the Gentleman which the Lord is…
You can see His Gentleness…
You can see the willingness which the Holy Spirit is quietly “working” in the background and once that willingness is complete then the “daughters of Zion” – those who are the companions of the Bride – I would call these the “forerunners” of Revival – can “awaken My Love” and She will be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
Our prayer must be for the Holy Spirit to be working on the Heart of the Bride making Her “pleased” to be “awakened” – this process is never ending for every Saint of God on earth…
It is – Unity between the Bride and the Bridegroom – a work of the Holy Spirit – it is not a work of the flesh – no flesh can “help” in the work of Unity between the Bride and the Bridegroom…
Those who have been made willing by the Holy Spirit to be “pleased” to be “awakened” are to pray for the rest of the Bride to be “pleased” to be “awakened” by Her Bridegroom…
Revival is about living in the Love of God – living in that Intimacy with God that “the Love of God constrains us” as Paul said in such a way as we do everything we do out of our Love for God and desire to Glorify and Magnify His Name…
“Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.” (Song of Solomon 8:6 NASB)
That kind of Love will lead us to die for our Bridegroom, it will lead us to give up everything for our Bridegroom to “throw our lives away” for our Bridegroom and that kind of “abandoned commitment” cannot be “whipped up” or “imposed” or “forced” or “cajoled” onto a member of the Bride – it must be created in the Heart of the Bride by the Holy Spirit – once created that Love “is as strong as death” and its “flashes are flashes of fire” – the Jealousy towards the Lord produced by that Love – “the very flame of the Lord”…
O for that Fire, the Fire of that Love to be produced by the Holy Spirit in the heart of every individual member of the Bride and when it is We will Burn with a Passion for our Bridegroom which the world will see and believe that God, the Father, sent His Son, God in Human Form, Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of the World and the Holy Spirit will enable many, many people to see on that day that they need also to give themselves unreservedly to this God who would offer Himself up unconditionally on their behalf to make it possible for them to come back into relationship – through the Blood of Jesus Christ shed for them on the cross – with the Holy God who created them and has been waiting for them to be made ready by His Holy Spirit to be “pleased” to be “awakened”…
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33 NASB)
This “pleasure” to be “awakened” must be created by the Holy Spirit, we as Intercessors can pray that He will create it in the heart of every one of His Saints and those who will be His Saints – this is how they will be “added” to our number, this is how the Church will grow…
Let us focus on petitioning the Father to allow the Holy Spirit to work the willingness in the hearts of all whom He has chosen to willingly offer themselves to Jesus to be “awakened”…
We put so much focus on trying to change others – let us put our focus on praying that the Holy Spirit will be released to bring the willingness – the “pleasure” – to be “awakened” into the Heart of the Church…
When we see one who has been “awakened” into this place of Revival let us rejoice with them and fellowship with them and pray on for more to be added to our number as the Holy Spirit brings the willingness and when they are ready – not forced, not coerced, not “guilt-tripped”, not shamed, not “emotionally manipulated” – but ready – of their own free will (a free will created by the Holy Spirit within them) – because they want to – then they too will become our true brothers and sisters in the faith and will lay down their lives “unto death” for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ…
No one is to get between our Lord and His Church, He is Patient with His Church, His Beloved, His Bride, His Love and so are we to be…
Who would dare to bring a charge against God’s Elect?
And that is what we are…
“The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;” (2 John 1:1 KJV)
What an awesome God we serve…
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:25-33 NASB)
Let us each humbly take our place in the Body – where He has placed us – and fulfil His Plan for our lives as He leads us…
Let all the Glory go to Him…
“I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem, Do not arouse or awaken my love Until she pleases.” (Song of Solomon 8:4 NASB)
a house of prayer for the nations 
Someone had a look at this post earlier in the week and I was blessed to read it again…
This is where the Lord is “at”…
The unconditional love aspect and the patience aspect…
He has seen how we have strayed – we have grown weary “waiting” for Him to “come” in the sense of waiting for Him to do what He has said that He will do on our behalf and He is now wooing us “back” to Himself…
Showing us His Love, showing us His Goodness, showing us His Kindness…
We have strayed…
He is calling us back to Himself…
As a husband waits for his wife so He waits for us…
Intimacy cannot be forced…
It must be willingly entered into and the only way for intimacy to be willingly entered into is when the wife knows that her husband loves her just as much whether she gives herself to him in sexual intimacy as if she doesn’t…
When there is no expectation from the husband on the wife to “give” herself to him in sexual intimacy then the wife is freed to give herself to her husband when the Lord lays that on her heart…
In the same way in the spirit (the spiritual realm) when we give ourselves freely to Jesus to be truly one spirit (intimate – completely given to Him in the spiritual realm) with Him then He comes and unites Himself practically with us – He has been ready but He waits until we are ready – the unity only happens when both parties – man and wife – are ready and the same with the Lord – He is always ready but He waits for us to be ready – and that can only happen in freedom – no one can give themselves freely to the Lord until they are perfected in His Love – until they know His Unconditional Love as a personal reality in their lives – the total abandonment of giving yourself unconditionally to the Lord is impossible until you know that He loves you regardless of your performance and know that He has no expectation on you – that He is the one doing the work in you…
This is where He’s taking us at present…
I feel it…
This is the answer to witchcraft – often I am blessed to view the site stats and see the posts which people have read from around the world – it’s quite cool – this post has been read “a bit” recently – and again yesterday – as I re-read the majority of it again this morning I saw that this is indeed the antidote to witchcraft…
Witchcraft – or control – is trying to change people…
Trying to make them what we want them to be…
It is – at it’s root – selfish…
Selfishness…
Us deciding what that person should be or become…
Even using the bible – the scriptures – to convince ourselves that this is the case…
We – even as believers – tell God what He should do, “Your word says, “blah, blah, blah’ so go ahead and do ‘blah, blah, blah'” but we don’t realise that God’s word is written for all time for all ages and for all different situations in life – we need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to apply the scripture to a specific situation in a specific person’s life at a specific point in time – this is “rightly dividing the word of truth” and not “wresting” it “out of context”…
I’ll give an example…
Someone may have slept with someone else and a baby came from that union and both these people may have been unmarried…
We could look at certain scriptures in Leviticus (I think from memory or one of the other ‘books of Moses’) and say, “they should get married immediately – end of story” and miss the fact that the Lord has allowed this to happen for some other purpose and that their “intended” marriage partners are still “future”…
I’ve walked through this with one of our daughters – and the Lord did eventually tell me that her and the father of our grandson would eventually “come together” in marriage (this has not happened in the natural yet) and yet there is no “control” on my part to make this happen – He just told me… 🙂
Another example…
Anyone who puts their hand to the plow and then turns back is not fit for the kingdom of God…
I’m pretty sure one of the Pastors who “looked after” me applied this to me when I resigned from leading worship (being the worship director) at their church when in reality it was what the Lord was telling me to do…
Another possible example…
Someone (who knows the Lord) confesses to a brother or sister that they have sexual sin in their lives (either heterosexual or homosexual) – implying that they want deliverance (not implying that they want to remain in their sin) – and the one hearing the sharing interprets this to mean that they should be “excommunicated” – i.e. “remove the immoral brother from among you” instead of “restore such a one with a spirit of meekness”…
We have to be so careful when we pray that we have no agenda in prayer…
We cannot have any “say” in what happens or in what we pray…
We must become “impartial”…
And “nonchalant” in prayer…
I had this experience yesterday morning – and have been having it recently – being nonchalant over what God does with my life knowing that whatever He does will have His power and His Presence living through me and that is enough for me – no striving there… 🙂
As we are “indifferent” or “nonchalant” in prayer (in a good way) – just wanting His will then this releases Him to reveal to us His will and we can “let go” of all those other things which we’ve clung onto in prayer trying to twist God’s arm to complete…
I think you’ll know (the Holy Spirit will show you) of these things in your own life as you read this… 🙂
Bless you all,
And let’s pray in accordance to the Holy Spirit’s will… 🙂
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, (Jude 1:20 NASB)
I don’t just believe this refers to praying in tongues but also letting the Holy Spirit pray through us and the only way to be sure of this is to have no will of our own – to surrender all this to the Lord – and the sign of surrender is when He asks for it back we don’t hesitate or feel pain – He will take us through these surrenders until this is the case (I’m smiling again)… Praise You Jesus… 🙂
Love,
Andrew