Mar 15 2020
Finally! King Solomon sends back an answer to the Shulamite about a “noontime rendezvous.” :-) In his note, he gives her instructions for the path ahead. Now the only question is, “Will she venture out?”
I want to share a few things I see in his interesting response:
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/a-guided-mission/
Mar 10 2020
Good news! The love note is in the “mailbox,” and about to be picked up. It won’t be long now before Solomon gets it. :-)
In the next post I intend to expound on his interesting response to the Shulamite. It’s so rich, and frankly I’m still absorbing how to personally apply it.
Meanwhile, I …
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/pausing-mary-magdalene/
Feb 25 2020
Sometimes there’s no perfect time to do it. Love is bursting for expression, and what others think about your timing, or your method, is irrelevant. Your face is set like flint to “do the thing,” because it is love that motivates you and that is all that matters!
This kind of love doesn’t overthink, or analyze the situation. It might know that it’s a “crazy” idea, but it can’t be talked out of it.
This is where our story with the Shulamite continues….
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/scandalous-mission/
Feb 19 2020
There are some biblical scholars who can’t reconcile the way Solomon is portrayed in the Song of Songs. How can a great king, with all his kingdom responsibilities, be romping the hills outside Jerusalem, checking vineyards, and even moving sheep around like a lowly shepherd? I would like to ask them, “How is this not a most beautiful representation of Jesus Christ?” He is the King of kings, the “last Adam,” and our “Good Shepherd” — all in one person.
Besides, why wouldn’t Solomon have experience with things like shepherding? His father David was one by trade, and would have encouraged the young king-to-be to play outdoors and learn animal husbandry. It is recorded Solomon had astounding wisdom about nature.¹ And he owned many animals and vineyards that he put into the care of others.² Would he not check his flocks, and even for recreation spend time with his shepherd friends?
Anyway, this is where the next scene in the story begins: The Woman wakes up one morning to discover Solomon is not in bed beside her. He’s on a shepherding mission, she finds out — and she wants to know where…
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/a-seek-and-find-mission/
Feb 10 2020
Recently I watched the movie, A Star is Born. For those with more sensitive ears such as myself, it has raw language, and a little bit of sexual content. But the acting was so good, and the story so powerful, that I was personally left only with the impression I had just watched a metaphorical masterpiece.
What struck me, as it often does in classic love stories, is the resemblance to the greatest love story of all time…the Song of Songs. One just can’t escape it. An unknown and disadvantaged young woman is discovered by a man of great status, who falls passionately in love with her, and gives her a new life. In this case it is a woman named Alley (played by Lady Gaga) singing in a small-town bar, and a very famous musician named Jackson Maine (played by Bradley Cooper) stumbling in on his way through town, and hearing her sing for the first time.
He’s intrigued, to say the least. But what happens next …
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/a-star-is-born-a-movie-a-meaning/
Feb 06 2020
Do you know the song Artificial Flowers by Bobby Darin? It’s about an orphan girl forced to make paper decorations for rich women’s hats. She dies and finds out that God has a special garden just for her, with real flowers she doesn’t have to abrade her little fingers on.
This touching song was shared with me several years ago, and then recalled this week when reflecting on the Shulamite’s story. I’ve also been thinking about my own past and wondering what to share about it. We all have them, I know: stories of abuse, regrets, or both. The Shulamite woman talks about hers briefly, because she has moved on.
❀∙❀∙❀
🥀 … One of the things I’d like to mention is …
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/artificial-flowers/
Jan 24 2020
Jay Ferris had a striking analogy that was not always understood at first.
“The Kingdom of God is like a drop dead gorgeous woman
who walks into a room full of women….gender neutral.”
The point was not this woman is beautiful, or that she is confident in her beauty, but rather the reaction she gets from the other women. Jay went on to explain the “gender neutral” part:
“A man generally has to either say something or do something to get the same effect. And if a man either says something or does something that is prettier than what the other men in the room are saying or doing, it’s the same dynamic that goes on. It’s seen best when Jesus came to Jerusalem.All the experts who were experts before He got there, wanted to kill Him.”
What a poignant image this is, considering there was a houseful of women in …
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/black-tent-beautiful/
Jan 22 2020
A brief pause here, to share a lesson I learned this week. As it often happens, it’s related to where we are in the Song of Songs. It is:
Telling others too much, too soon.
Doing so may feel good in the moment, but the results do not!
Think about it. Declaring “he brought me into his chambers” (1:4) was a true statement for the Shulamite, but it brought out the immaturity and hidden jealousy of the young women who heard her.
They immediately scanned her for faults. They judged her unworthy of a high calling. And they were closed off from rejoicing with her.
In the next post we’ll look at the stunning way she responded. (Sorry, I don’t mean to keep dangling that!) :-)
But meanwhile I got to thinking…
Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/pausing-to-think-about-friends/
The Woman At The Well – She’s Not Who You Think She Is
Made Perfect in Love
THE SONG – By Guest Author Cheryl McGrath
Esther in Ephesians – For Such a Time As This!
A Tour of a Secret Garden
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