Tag: persecution
“Well hello there,” I whispered, gently touching the paper-like head that balanced precariously atop a long, skinny stem, “I certainly did not expect to see something like you in here.”
It seemed to nod, the bright splash of red peeking out of the thicket in my hedgerow. A poppy. A single, lone poppy. How in the world did it get here?
In a neighbor’s yard there is a flower garden with poppies, but with the distance and obstacles in-between, it seemed unlikely a seed blew this far. Maybe it was carried by a bird, or got caught on the fur of a stray cat?
More importantly though, how did it grow in such a hostile environment?
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/poppy-in-the-prickers/
I’m noticing something in my study of the Song of Songs. Translations cannot be fully trusted to give an accurate picture of all that should be conveyed. Some seem to even tamper with the meaning, watering verses down to make them less offensive. I blame religion for this, who is knowingly or unknowingly always coming up with ways to strip the Bride of her association with Christ’s offense — thus making people fit their perfect ideal of “who gets in, and who stays out.” In 1:9 for example, a few versions translate “my mare” as a “company of horses,” when the Hebrew is clearly a female horse, who is among Pharaoh’s horses. But of course this would be a problem for the ancient mind. Often, and for a variety of suggestive details, a comparison of a woman to a mare or filly in poetic literature was a provocative one. In addition to that, horses in general were often associated with a pagan, extravagant lifestyle as well.
But there’s more to it than even this!
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/the-courage-of-the-bridal-mare/
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….
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/scandalous-mission/
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 …
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/artificial-flowers/
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…
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/pausing-to-think-about-friends/
Did you know there is a “mark” for the people of God? Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 7 are a couple places that speak of it. It is not the “mark of the beast,” or the “mark of Cain,” but a mark of identification with Christ. It is the reproaches of Christ Himself, by which He bore loss, rejection, ridicule, and misunderstandings.
The Shulamite woman in the Song of Songs was a “marked” woman as well. What little information she does reveal is intentional. Consider the following points:
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/gods-stigma-dark-secret-2/
“The biggest symbols make the biggest targets.”
Explaining movie plots is so not my skill, but I just watched one called “G.I. Jane” that was inspiring to me, and I’d like to try to share something I saw in it pertaining to the Bride of Christ. Along with some other encouragement from the Lord and others, it has energized me to wade back into …
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/g-jane-bridal-paradigm/
Those who have “the mark” know that it is deeply painful, deeply personal, and one of the most profound honors imaginable. The Shulamite woman in the Song of Songs was one such woman. What little information she does reveal is very intentional. Consider the following:
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Permanent link to this article: https://intimatekingdom.com/gods-stigma/
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