INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the Bible verses related to each devotion.
Then follow the actions and prayers for yourself and a nonbeliever at the bottom of the page.
READ SONG OF SONGS 8:6-7
Song of Songs 8:6-7
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as cruel as the grave;
Its flames are flames of fire,
A most vehement flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.
The major theme of the great love song of the ages—the Song of Solomon—is the King sealing the heart of the Bride with fiery love. It is a supernatural impartation of the Holy Spirit to reveal the love of God and to impart the love of God.
1. The theme of the Song is the King sealing the heart of His Bride with His fiery love.
2. Song 8:5-7 speaks of the anointing of the Spirit to reveal and impart God’s love for His people.
Imagine (and I say imagine because holy imagination is given to you by God) that you are a scribe in heaven. (I am not sure how this would work, but just imagine for a brief moment.) Ok, settle down and imagine that you are a scribe in Heaven, and it is your job to record the conversations that the Father has with the Son. So quickly grab your pen, spread out your holy parchment, and let’s get ready to write—the Father is about to speak!
“Son?” the Father says with the tender ponderings of the Most Ancient of Days. When Wisdom ponders, you know the truths about to be revealed are truly Heavenly. Continuing the divine dialogue, He playfully asks, “Do you want to know what is on My heart?”
Jesus, majestically seated at the right hand of the Father, turns, and with an expectant and excited smile, remembering all the wonder and creativity that has burst forth each time this question has been previously asked, enthusiastically replies, “Amaze Me.”
“As You know, I have created children—My sons and daughters—each one the very dreams of My heart,” the Father says, while proudly looking at you, me, and all of humanity, still hidden in the very depths of His heart. This is where you were before you existed physically. You are the dream of the Father’s Heart. You are His inheritance. You are the joy of the Father, the one He wants to spend eternity with. Jesus, thinking upon these things, smiles with eager anticipation of the future. And then the divine Inventor of creativity stands and turns compassionately to His Son and prepares to speak.
Jesus notices a questioning dilemma arise upon the Father’s face. Agonizingly, the Father says, “But!” This word causes bright lightning to explode from the Father in a circular ball of energy, followed by deafening thunder pounding the air like a shockwave. “Sin, the devil’s twisted lies, will keep My children from Me. Sin will keep them from eternity with Me. Sin is robbing My family of true happiness.” Jesus hears the words come out of His Father’s mouth while hearing the stories within each word. It is your story and mine.
Imagine, for a moment, a book—not just any book, but a very special book penned by the Father. It is the story of your life, before you existed physically. After all, you are the dream within the heart of the Father. It is the book of your life, my life, your families’ lives, and the lives of your neighbors. Now imagine that God has written a wonderful story filled with His precious thoughts toward you and your response. These books are made of three volumes:
Volume 1: “The Dream of the Father”
This is your life while you’re still hidden in the heart of the Father. He created you. He writes the story of your life and holds you as a dream within His heart. Jesus is introduced to you; Heaven is physically created and Earth will be physically created in 7 days.
Volume 2: “This is your life”
After you’re fashioned in your mother’s womb, then you are born, and your life is unfolding day by day on Earth. This book records the conversations and intentions of the Father’s desire for you to succeed and walk holy. Then, if you stumble and fall, Jesus is there to redeem you, and the Holy Spirit is there to fill your repentant heart with cleansing Mercy while empowering you to walk forth in Grace.
Volume 3: “The Age to Come”
In the Age to Come, you will be enjoyed by the most magnanimous lovable Father, tenderly loved by Jesus the Bridegroom King, and wisely counseled by the loving Holy Spirit while loving your neighbor as yourself—forever.
At this moment, Jesus, who is the Living Word of God, watches sin try to erase the story of your life, while the Father loudly laments as sin seeks to destroy the dream (your story) which is perfectly safe in His heart.
Sin, an outside force, is not greater than God, but evil and deceitful in nature. It is there to rob, steal, kill, and destroy. It is there to separate you from God forever. Imagine the pain of a mother that has just had her child stolen out of her hands. Imagine the terrifying cry of grief that would explode out of her mouth as she wails for her lost child. Then multiply that measure of grief by 1 billion and you can barely begin to imagine the pain that the Father feels in having been separated, having you stolen by the horrible, wretched, lying deceiver, satan. The Father weeps, for sin has stolen you from His heart. The way the Father loves the Son is the same way God loves you.
BUT THE STORY DOESN’T END THERE...
God’s ultimate eternal purpose for creation is to provide a family for Himself that includes faithful children for Himself and an equally yoked Bride for Jesus as His eternal companion. God promised to give Jesus an inheritance consisting of a people whom He fully possesses in love. I [the Father] will give You [Jesus] the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. (Ps. 2:8)
The goal of this devotional is for you to REST in knowing God and being loved by Him; God loves you and you love God. Therefore, you are a successful “son or daughter” of the Father in Heaven. And the second goal is that God’s love would be imparted to your heart. After all, love is the greatest commodity of heaven, and it should be first priority in your life. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). We cannot treat this as the first option in the Christian faith. What if many of our earthly issues are because we are trying to fill our hearts and minds with so many other things instead of God’s love?
God is inviting us into mandatory obedience where He will cause all creation to obey Jesus (Phil. 2:9-11). But He will never force us to love Him. Instead He invites us into voluntary love. God will raise up people who voluntarily choose to love Him, and are equally yoked in love. God wants you to love Him with all of your heart and mind because He loves you with all of His heart and mind (Jn. 15:9). This is crazy powerful (don’t skip this part). God loves you the same way that He loves God (God the Father loves God the Son loves God the Spirit). Remember Jesus said, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love (Jn. 15:9).
Jesus divinely prayed for His people to be supernaturally empowered to love Him with God’s love. I declared...Your name ... that the love with which You loved Me may be in them (Jn. 17:26). We call this Bridal LOVE. Today, God’s purpose is to select and train a Bride who would be prepared by voluntary love to reign with Jesus. The first commandment will be in first place in the Church when Jesus returns. The Word of God declares “For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Rev. 19:7)
We can understand God’s love in four clear ways:
First, Love from God.
Second, love from us to God.
Third, God’s love overflows in your life and you rightly love yourself.
Fourth, your love towards others. You were created to be loved and to love.
We must start with God’s definition of love: as being deeply rooted in a spirit of obedience (Jn. 14:21; Deut. 6:1-9). You must love God on His terms (not on your terms). A core issue at the end of the age is whether you will define love on God’s terms or by the humanistic culture that seeks love without reference or obedience to God’s Word.
Loving God is the first priority of God. Jesus did not call it the first option, but a commandment. Jesus makes it clear that cultivating love for Him is the first emphasis of the Holy Spirit. Loving God is a glorious end in itself. However, it never ends with loving God, but always overflows to loving yourself and others (believers and unbelievers).
You burn out when you lose the oil of intimacy. Jesus said you should be the 5 wise and not the 5 foolish—get oil (Matt. 25:1-13). The oil of intimacy is the first priority in living a watchful life (Matt. 24:42; 25:13). Loving God is the greatest commandment, calling, and lifestyle. Loving God has the greatest impact on God’s heart, your heart, and others you impact, as well as being your greatest calling for your heart and your ministry to others.
Today, Your spiritual identity as an individual is, “I’m loved [by God] and I am a lover [of God]; therefore, I am successful.” This is what you look like to God. You are not defined by your accomplishments. Jesus called the accomplished church back to the priority of love; “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Rev. 2:4) Now let’s look at the Bible to see how others lived out this lifestyle.
The Bible clearly defines and depicts heroes of LOVE. Mary choose to sit at the feet of Jesus, and He said she has chosen the “better part” (Lu. 10:42). David desired “one thing”—to gaze at the beauty of God and inquire in His Temple (Ps. 27:4). Daniel had a fiery passionate prayer life, and the angel said he was “beloved of Heaven” (Dan. 6:10; 10:11). All of these have one thing in common, they loved God well, and so should you. Today, we need revelation of the supremacy of the first commandment. It is the standard of evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ. We need to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK until the love of God grows in our hearts.
Now, let me ask you a question. Do you have a plan for retirement? Hopefully you do. Next question and more important, do you have a long term plan to grow in God’s fiery love? Do you have a deep desire to have His fiery seal of LOVE upon your heart? God did talk about finances as very important, but only one thing is the first commandment. Only one thing is needed. Jesus said, Mary has chosen the better part. Have you?
Remember, not only is Jesus saving you from something, He is saving you for something. He is saving you to be loved by the Father and loved by the Bridegroom (in a non-sexual way). You, in all your weakness, in all your pain, both past and present, are loved by the Perfect Bridegroom, the One that left Heaven to come and get you.
This is the greatest love story ever told. It is greater than any Hollywood story that has ever unfolded. The villain has stolen the girl, turned the girl against her lover, and he is seeking to destroy her and her offspring. However, the Hero (Jesus the Bridegroom) risks all for the sake of love to make the miraculous rescue. Jesus leaves Heaven to rescue you, the Bride of Christ, and He will gather you back again with Him in Heaven. (You are worth so much more than you know.) And you will be perfectly loved by Our Father and Perfectly loved by the Bridegroom—Jesus—forever.
ACTION4U
Today, you are getting closer to growing in God’s love. But let’s do this. Stop, yeah right now. Go outside. Stare up at the sky and say this, I know You created the Heavens and the Earth, I know that You love me, show me Your love right now. (Let Him speak to you through creation.) Remember Paul taught, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20).
PRAYER4U
Hold your hands over your heart and pray. Father, I want to be set on fire with Your fiery love. I want to have my heart Sealed in love. So today, I give You my heart in a deeper way. I want to love You with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strengthen. Right now. Right here. Fill me with Your fiery love.
ACTION4ONE
Give them the gift of time. Ask them if you can help them for 30 minutes. Just help them whenever they need it. It might not be today, but make time. NOTE: younger people should never go in anyone else's house without their parents’ permission.
PRAYER4ONE
FATHER, You love _______ immensely. I ask today that You would show Your love towards their heart, soul, mind and strength. Touch their heart with Your love. Fill their soul with Your fiery affection. Take away anything that hinders love. Take away all lesser loves in their lives. Set them FREE!
Have you been blessed by this and want to be a blessing?