Longing for Kisses

The Song of Solomon starts out with the cry for kisses. I think I started life that way. Crying to be kissed.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth–for your love is more delightful than wine! (1:2)

If this is about God and humans, what kind of kiss are we talking about?

When the Song talks about the ‘mouth’ it usually refers to the the words that come forth from the mouth. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Word!

Have you ever read something from the Word of God and had it kiss your heart? Have you ever had it soothe your soul the way that a mother’s kisses on a scrape soothe the sting? Have you ever had a kiss heal you? I invite you to ask God for the kisses of His Word. Ask Him to open up to you what this means.

His love is more delightful than wine. Wine speaks of the height of permissible pleasures in this world. His love is far greater than any pleasure this world has to offer.

The human heart is chock full of longings. Maybe yours isn’t, but mine is. Some of these longings are so intense they drive our existence in one direction or another. Here are seven longings that drive the human heart:

1. The longing to be enjoyed.

2. The longing to be fascinated.

3. The longing to be beautiful.

4. The longing to be successful.

5. The longing for intimacy without shame.

6. The longing to be wholehearted and passionate.

7. The longing to make a deep and lasting impact.

I don’t know about you, but when I began to walk with the Lord I looked at these longings with fear and disdain. I tried over and over to repent for having these longing in my heart. I tried to repent of them, but they wouldn’t go away. They’d diminish for a little while, but they wouldn’t go away.

I’m here today to tell you that you CAN’T repent of these longings.

What?

You can’t repent of them because God placed them in our hearts for a reason. The longings themselves are not sinful. The pursuit of them may be sinful, but the longings themselves are not sinful. And every single one of those longings can be satisfied by the Word of God, by pursuit of the Lord, and by holy intimacy with our King in the secret place.

It’s here, within His Word, that I learned that I am ENJOYED by God. God doesn’t just put up with me, He doesn’t just love me, He enjoys me (even in my weakness!).

It’s here in God’s Word that my longing to be wholehearted and passionate is satisfied. I can be given the ability to love Jesus in the same way the Father loves Jesus–Jesus prayed for me to have this (John 17:26). Amazing! I can love God in the way that God loves God–this blows my mind. Talk about wholehearted and passionate.

And I can have intimacy without shame. Shame is baggage I’ve carried all too often in my life. I’ve had more reasons to be ashamed than I care to recall, more reasons to want to cover up and hide away than I thought possible for any one human being. But through the gateway of His wondrous cross, I can stand before Him naked and unashamed (see Gen. 2:25). Heck, I can even stand before another human being that way.

All my longings for kisses are satisfied in Him.

Ask with me:

Lord, would you kiss me with the kisses of your Word? Would you show me how to satisfy these longing in my heart through intimacy with you? Thank you for placing those longing within me, so that I may hunger and thirst for you, your Word and your righteousness!

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The Cross as the Gateway to the Bridal Paradigm

I can hardly begin to explain the journey my heart has been on these past few months, a journey straight into the heart of the God who chose to go to the cross.

He endured it for the joy set before Him. He did it of His own free will. He offered Himself once for all. For you. Me. All. Any who would dare to dive into this ocean of grace that demands our all and gives more than we could ever dream possible.

There’s this interesting and almost obscure verse I ran across in Daniel 4:17:

“The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”

That ‘lowliest of men’ is Jesus.

“…learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart…” Matt 11:29

Take note that this is the only time Jesus uses adjectives to describe Himself, and what does He say? He says He’s gentle and lowly in heart.

And what would He have us learn?

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

If eternal life is knowing God (John 17:3) I want to know this God. I want to know His ways. I want Him with me forever. I want to see His glory.

This is only possible through the cross. Jesus’s body was the veil that was torn and now, by His limitless GRACE I have unhindered and everlasting access to His throne.

And the most amazing thing? He wants this more than I do.

It was His decision to open up the veil and draw me into the secret place.

“Draw me!…Let the King bring me into His chambers.” Song of Solomon 1:4

This was His intention. This was the joy set before Him. The bride, longing for intimate communion with the Bridegroom, that most humble and lowly Man to ever walk the earth, and she’s as righteous as He is.

She’s as righteous as He is.

Right now my heart feels like it’s on the operating table for the download of this revelation. Perhaps this is mercy. Perhaps the joy and pain mingled together would be too much for me to walk through while trying to live my day to day life. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand well, let alone stand at the sink to do dishes, or stand at the stove to cook. But the Lord has shown mercy.

I tell you what: I can hardly wait for the ‘anesthetics’ to wear off so I can feel this to its fullness.

And therein lies the heart of the Bridal Paradigm: Spirit driven emotions–feeling the heart of God! In the midst of gazing at Him and communing with Him in intimacy, our emotion are sanctified.

I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those who’s worn all my emotions so thoroughly on my sleeve that I’ve burnt my sleeves and hurt others. Way too many to count. So I found that the cave was easier, not only for me but for people around me. If I didn’t show my emotions so strongly, if I just hid away, then people wouldn’t get hurt on account of me. If I buried the fire of my emotions no one would be burned anymore.

But God had a greater plan: to sanctify the emotions. The Bridal Paradigm is the road the Lord has shown me toward sanctified emotions, but the cross is the gateway to that road. Through the Cross I can live with my arms wide open and my heart exposed. I can love those closest to me without constantly guarding against pain, and I can do that because my Savior went before me and CHOSE to die a death where His arms were wide open and His heart was exposed. Truly this is the Son of God.

And He beckons me onto a path, a path that leads me to His banqueting table where His banner over me is LOVE.

“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.” (Psalm 36:7-8)

Here He sanctifies my emotions until I can love Him in return–with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength. These are His ways.

My Lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand! (Song of Solomon 5:10)

I can’t wait to learn more.

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