Heart Matters

I'll take this opportunity to talk share about two fold parts of the heart, the Supernatural and the Natural, as well as general and personal :). In a time when it seems that knowledge, power, entertainment and money are often our cultures focus and values, its good to delve into the matters of the heart, and acknowledge that the heart matters.

• SUPERNATURAL

The topic of God's Heart and His Heart for us is just unfathomable huge, so I'll just share a facet of the little tiny part of what I'm getting to see.

I am continuing to read Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) and am thoroughly enjoying studying it and gaining insight on the parallels of relationship, not only for me in my walk in maturity with Christ, or for the individual believer, but also between Christ and His Bride/the Church. There is passion, tenderness, and depth of the scriptures here that show some of the Truth that its not about religion, dead acts, guilt or "suppose tos" but a vital living relationship with God and His desire for us.

The two main people in the Song are often labeled as the Beloved (female) and the Lover (male/King). At one point in the song, the Beloved has experienced rejection and shame from her family-(here possibly seen as a part of the church, community or body of Christ where she was misunderstood, overworked, condemned) as well as shame of her own sin.

• Tangent #1- "Weak flesh but a willing spirit (matt.26.41) Did you know that God is committed to revealing the weakness of your flesh to you? God does not make us sin, but at the endo f this book (SoS) in 8.5, she is leaning on her beloved Christ Jesus coming up out of the wilderness. God's goal for your life is that you would have a leaning and loving heart at the end of the journey. .....We don't have more dirt when the Lord exposes sin, we just have more light. The Lord only gives us a little light each time, because we would be overwhelmed with despair with too much knowledge of our sin. Every time God reveals your sin, it is a judgment against Satan. Satan's victory is sin in your life.

Beloved- "Tell me, O You whom I love, Where you feed Your flock, where You rest your sheep at noon." SoS 1:7 The context here is her cry for intimacy. Some in the church around her are angry at her, she is tired and burned out. Things are not going as expected and she is becoming disillusioned with the body of Christ. She is desperate for Jesus and not religious activity in the midst of her weaknesses, realizing that she just wants to sit with Him and listen and only He can satisfy. Regardless of what it costs her, she want the fire of intimacy with God to consume her again.

Jesus' Glorious Answer- "If you do not know, O most beautiful of women, follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats beside the shepherds' tents." 1.8 ..."o most beautiful/fairest"... He speaks directly to her identity, to her shame and rejection. He speaks to her heart before He speaks to her mind. We often look for mental answers when God wants to first embrace our heart with love. Then He gives her a specific 3-fold answer to her cry for greater intimacy.

1. Commitment to Body- life To be in community, not isolated in bitterness.
2. Commitment to servant-ministry Feed and tend to those given to her by Him, not everyone
3. Commitment to spiritual authority God uses these imperfect shepherds (leaders) to temper us and to do deep things in our heart when we stay submitted to Him.

I'll stop here for now and just get this part up....I haven't gotten to the natural/personal stuff yet...:) I'll be back to continue.