Living Grace

“I slept but my lover was awake, when I heard my lover knocking and calling.” Song of songs 5:2

The voice that calls to you in the deep place of your heart is the voice of God.

It is often a whisper, a still small voice, a delicate invitation to come and enjoy the fruits of the garden

But there is a tendency within all of us to push away that whisper and let the cares and hurts of life take root. Brokenness, heartache, disappointment, fear and worry cause our hearts to hide, shut down and eventually go to sleep.

The Apostle Paul saw this and in his letter to Christians living in Rome he wrote “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Romans 13:11.

God is knocking and calling at our hearts to live in the fullness of his finished work to acknowledge every good thing that has been planted into the good soil of our hearts.

He comes as a lover to arouse us to enjoy the fullness of his love. He calls us into a passionate relationship consumed with his glory and grace.

He has awaken our hearts to his desire and takes us by the hand into his delight.

He wants to whisper his words of love and awaken your heart to hear his voice.

“Oh, lover and beloved, eat and drink. Yes, drink deeply of your love.” Song of songs 5:1

To lose heart is to lose everything.

One of the most amazing invitations of Jesus is “if anyone is thirsty , let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me , as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7 37:38. It is from the deep thirst of our hearts that our desire and passion is met. The promise of Christ to us is that once we meet him we will never thirst again.

The lie that Satan has placed and taken root in our hearts is that God in Christ is holding out on us, that we have only been given a measure and that his grace is dependant upon our thirst.

The truth is we have been given the fullness of Christ, that our hearts have been immersed into the death and resurrection of Jesus and his Holy Spirit flows within us like a mighty river.

Here in Song of songs the bride invites the bridegroom to come and drink deeply of the love within her heart. The love within her is the love given and placed by her lover. The love they share is the intimate love of each other, birthed and planted in the garden of the heart.

God is constantly calling us to drink more deeply of the love that he has poured into us. To recover the intimacy, beauty and wonder of a life filled with God. To drink deeply of his new life already within us.

New Covenant life is found in enjoying the wonder of adventure in intimate delight with a lover who has immersed us into his river of grace.

You don’t have to thirst anymore you can now drink deeply.

“I have entered my garden, my treasure, my bride. I gather myrrh with my spices and eat honeycomb with my honey. I drink wine with my milk.” Song of songs 5:1

The truth of the new covenant is to set us free to love God and others with our whole heart.

The garden of our heart has been enriched with the new covenant soil of Christ and the finished work of the cross. Within every believer there has been planted the power of the resurrection and the faith of Christ. We can now abide in Christ because he abides in us.We now have the faith to respond to the grace of God because he has given us His faith.

Here in the Song of songs is the promise of the new covenant whispered to us from the lover of our heart.

Firstly, it is myrrh that speaks of the death of Christ as the invitation to grace. It was myrrh that was presented to the baby in the manger which pointed to a future day of deliverance and grace. The bridegroom comes to gather myrrh from the garden of your heart. For your heart has been immersed into the death and resurrection of Christ. The fruit of your heart is now new life in Christ.

Secondly within your heart is the harvest of milk and honey. The communion of Christ, new manna and new wine are now flowing inside your heart. Your heart is the Promised Land of God, it is flourishing with the abundant produce of God’s provision, alive with the promises of God given to you to heal, restore, guide, keep, protect and fill you with all good things in Christ.

For in your New Covenant life the delight of God has been birthed into your heart, the desire of God is now the motivation of your heart, you have been set free to love and you have been planted into the promises of God.

“Come into your garden, my love; taste it’s finest fruits.” Song of songs 4:16

Deep within every human being there is a hidden Kingdom, a realm of abundant treasure, a garden of enriched, fertile soil. Where life can be generated, seeds can be cultivated, saplings can be nourished and beauty can be nurtured.

This hidden garden is called the heart. It is a place of mystery where hope is formed, seeds grow and mature and beliefs take hold and flourish. It is a garden birthed to feed you, to build you up and establish your body, soul and spirit into a overflowing expression of creation.

It is a unique place it cannot be defined with the mind for it goes beyond the intellect and logical thought. It is a garden of intimate desire, passionate longing and endless delight.

And just as your physical heart is the core of your body so it is with your heart for within it is the core of your spirit and soul and what you believe in your heart has the power to bring you life or plunge you into death.

Life is a love affair with your heart.

And this is the place where the Holy Spirit works, the place where he draws us to him, the place where he whispers to us to “come”, the place where he produces his fruit.

His invitation to us is to come into the garden with him and taste it’s finest fruits. To eat of the abundance of heaven and let the riches of the grace of God be cultivated in our hearts.

The whisper of the Holy Spirit is to come and be one with the passion and glory of heaven inside your innermost being, inside the depth of the core of your life.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” – John 15:7

There is a lie of Satan that has echoed from the very first lie, that God does not want us.

Impression #13

Courage

Don’t let failure crush your courage.

Don’t let failure determine your desire and dictate your actions. Jesus Christ took all your failure to the cross and defeated it forever. You have been set free from past failures, so don’t go back and bind yourself with the chains of the past. You have been set free from the prison of failure, walk in the fullness of Christ that dwells in your heart. Jesus Christ has given you courage. Courage to see that the enemy is defeated, courage to walk in the victory of the cross.

 So today, walk in the courage of Christ.