The Church in Ephesus, they had all their doctrines and their dogma's down pat, they could discern between error and truth, and of course that's all necessary and good. Jesus did commend them for that after all. However, they let their doctrinal purity take the place of their personal intimacy with Jesus! They let theological acumen and a love for theology replace their love of Jesus! And they didn’t even realize it! Therefore, the Lord, admonished them, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4)
Folks, this may come as a shock to you! But Jesus prefers our personal intimacy with Him over and above our theology about Him! And admittedly the danger is subtle.
We love to sing that popular worship song “Breath”.
This is My Daily bread
Your very word spoken to me…
This Is the Air I Breathe
Your Holy Presence Living In Me…
And I, I'm desperate for You!
But really? Is it? And are we?
Someone once said “Christians don’t tell lies, they just sing them!”
How often in the busyness of our days do we with exasperation cry out to God and say, “Lord I need to hear you!” Yet, we hadn’t ourselves taken the time to spend with Him in the secret place! We think we are longing after Him, when in reality it’s His Spirit in us longing after us! Do you know that The Lord is longing after you! He is looking for you in the secret place! He wants to hear YOUR voice. He wants to see YOUR face!
In Song of Soloman the Shulamite woman hears The Beloved speak to her; “Rise up, my love, my fair one And come away! “O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice...”
The Father’s heart is for you and for me to spend time hidden in the cleft of the Rock of His presence. Feeding upon the Bread of life. That is, every Word that proceeds from His mouth. That Word, Who was made flesh and is now dwelling in us, is also waiting to hear our voice calling out to Him! The voice of His Word calls to us! “Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!” But alas! Do we hear that call? And if we do hear it, do we heed it? Or does the tyranny of the urgent push it away? Does the busyness of the hour deter it?
I must humbly confess that, all to often, I find myself enslaved to the busyness of this life and like Martha, I miss out on that “better part” that Mary her sister found simply sitting at the feet of Jesus. Yet, my hearts desire is to be as David’s when he exclaimed, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” (Ps.27)
My heart indeed does say this. But yet I find that my flesh is weak all to many times! Yes, Jesus is very aware that, “Indeed the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!”
So then, the Holy Spirit continually woos us, continually seeks to allure us back into the secret place of His intimacy. Because in His faithfulness He knows what makes for both our nourishment and for our peace! Therefore He says, “even though..they went after (other) lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord...(Nevertheless), ...behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” (Hosea 2:13b-14)
He is a faithful and loving God, who patiently waits for us to come and wait upon Him! And in His waiting, He is also wooing! And when we finally yield to the wooing of His Spirit, and shut out the world and turn aside to meet with Him in the solitude of His presence, it is there that the exasperations and frustrations of a world gone wild will melt away. As it is written: “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” (Is.26:3)
Therefore, “you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly...”
It’s time to return to my first love! How about you? This is my hearts cry and prayer!
Abba Father! Let me hear your voice! And if my ears be filled with the wax of this world’s noise which prevents me from hearing clearly, preventing me from hearing your voice, then please open my eyes up that I might see you guiding me with your eye when I cannot hear your voice! For You Yourself promised me, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8)
But if my ears be stuffed, and if my eyes be blind, then let Your Spirit bear witness with my spirit as deep calls unto deep!
For as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.(1 Corinthians 2:9–12)
Amen.
In Him I Remain,
Andy White
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