Living UnReserved | 365 Days in the Song of Songs/Solomon

  "Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song  of Songs 1:4 Each day, many guests come and go in a house. Some will never make it past the gate, some will make it to the front door, some to the living room but only friends, friends who have proven themselves trustworthy make it to the bedroom. The Bride says here that the King brought her into the most intimate place in His court, His bedroom. The chamber is where we get to know the King personally. Where He takes His intimate friends. It's just like oftentimes Jesus went to a secluded place with the twelve disciples. Sometimes He goes with only Peter, James, and John. In Matthew 6: 5-6, Jesus said: “Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they

"Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 This is the first time the Bride is addressing her Beloved by a title. She didn't address Him with a pronoun as she previously had, and though her love for Him was budding she didn't refer to Him yet as Beloved, rather she referred to Him as King. One would think all that the Bride has expressed, learned, done, and experienced so far would bring her straight to a revelation of Him as Beloved. But all she had been through so far was only a foundation for a life of intimacy. She had only learned the basic principles that fuel and sustains a life of intimacy. Until all those things were in place, intimacy couldn't happen. Now, in response to all these, she receives first a revelation of Him as King. Why? Jesus is many things. Healer, Provider, Deliverer, Miracle Wor

  "Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 This is the first time the Bride is addressing her Beloved by a title. She didn't address Him with a pronoun as she previously had, and though her love for Him was budding she didn't refer to Him yet as Beloved, rather she referred to Him as King. One would think all that the Bride has expressed, learned, done, and experienced so far would bring her straight to a revelation of Him as Beloved. But all she had been through so far was only a foundation for a life of intimacy. She had only learned the basic principles that fuel and sustains a life of intimacy. Until all those things were in place, intimacy couldn't happen. Now, in response to all these, she receives first a revelation of Him as King. Why? Jesus is many things. Healer, Provider, Deliverer, Miracle W

  " Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 Mark 6:7-12 documents Jesus sending His disciples out two by two on a missionary journey. He gave them authority and power over evil spirits as He gave them the task of proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom. They did as He instructed. They preached repentance, anointed and healed many who were sick, and cast out demons. When they returned they reported all they had done and taught; the miracles, the signs, the souls saved. You can imagine how ecstatic they were to do the very things they had seen Jesus do. How exciting it was to command a demon to come out and it obeyed. I can imagine how proud Jesus was. For Him, it was a small glimpse into a future when we will do the same things in His name. In answer to their report in verses 31 and 32 of Mark 6, Jesus said: "..

  "Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 We know, by now, that a life of intimacy with Jesus involves relentless pursuit. We must always run after Jesus our Beloved whether He pulls us or not. It's what He did and still does for us. Though we didn't know Him or care about Him, He died for us. Even after He died, He continued to chase us until we finally accepted His love. After accepting His love, He still in every way show His love for us. Everyone has something that means the world to them. Caring for and committing to that thing translates into love for them, not just love, but the ultimate expression of love. If God had a weakness, it would be man. If Jesus had a weakness, it would be His Bride, collectively and individually. There is one thing Jesus is continually working on. A project that means ev

 In the Old Testament, we find words like congregation, Zion, sometimes Jerusalem, and some others to convey the idea of a gathering or collective body of God's people.  In the New Testament, especially in the Apostles' letters to the church, we see it also emphasized in many ways. Just like children are born into families, every believer should belong to a family of God's people. It is however in His discretion to choose our spiritual families just like He chose our physical families. Psalm 68:6 says: "God sets the solitary in families... But the rebellious dwell in a dry land." Wherever God sets us, His purposes remain the same. There are many things we can learn about the church, but of what benefit is the church to the individual Christian? Many scriptures express this but there's something amazing we should know in Hebrews 10:25 to understand this subject. "not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit

"Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 The Bride saying " we will run after you" in this verse beckons a question, who are these people she's purposing to run with? We have a great example in the Psalms of what it means to love and pursue Jesus. In many of these Psalms is a common theme: a longing for God and His presence. More specifically, longing to appear in His tabernacle. In Psalm 139, David penned in my opinion the most beautiful description of God's omniscience and omnipresence. Yet, we have portions like Psalm 84:2 which say: "My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." They longed for God's presence in His house but the Psalmists did not stop there, they also expressed a longing to worship God in His tab

  "Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 Right after the Bride makes another request of her beloved she follows with a promise to pursue Him in the company of some other people. When we look at the change in tenses in this book so far, we will realize that a life of intimacy with Jesus, though private and personal, is not a solitary life. This is because when we were born into Christ we were born into a body and Jesus is as committed to His collective church as He is to every individual Christian. So far, every statement the Bride has made, she made not as an initiator of action but merely as a recipient or beneficiary. But here she goes from passive to active tense. Her desires had grown to the extent that she commits to not wait for his actions alone but to do something on her part. It's a statement of det

  " Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 Just like every maiden in Esther's time had a chance with King Ahasuerus behind closed doors, the Bride was asking for her chance to get to know her Beloved without prying eyes. She realized that intimacy required privacy and she was ready to be drawn away. The only purpose of being drawn away is to be alone with Jesus. When we are alone with Him, He opens up Himself to us and intimacy begins. Just like we want to spend time with human lovers, getting to know them and creating memories, Jesus wants to create memories with us. Intimacy is a one-on-one private affair. No matter how much a man desires, he'll only know Jesus to the extent he gives Him time. Our time with Jesus should be both scheduled and spontaneous. Scheduled prayer can either be routine or planned

" Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you." Song of Songs 1:4 In this verse, the Bride makes another request of the beloved after the initial one in Chapter 1:2.  The fervency of her request is indicated by the exclamation mark. It shows an increase in the intensity of her longing after the fragrance and name of her Beloved delighted her heart. She showed by her outburst here that she now realizes that expressing her desire is not enough, her efforts to draw closer though necessary will never be enough, there must be a drawing on His part. So she cries 'draw me away!' and it perfectly correlates with Jesus' words in John 6:44 TPT “The only way people come to me is by the Father who sent me—he pulls on their hearts to embrace me...” When we begin to express our desire and delight our hearts with His fragrance and His name,

Consecration is the only thing Christ requires from His Bride. Every other act of obedience springs from a consecrated life. Consecration simply means to be made holy, sanctified, or set apart. More accurately to be separated for a special purpose. It's like we've examined in the last two lessons how a betrothed woman in Jewish times is separated for her husband alone and no one else. To hack consecration, we must establish in our minds that we are to live consecrated because we've been made holy not because we are trying to be. The Bible in 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a holy race. Many believers are trying to be holy when we've already been set apart for God. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perf

" Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you . " Song of Songs 1:3 In the previous lesson, we likened every believer in Christ to a betrothed woman in ancient Jewish times who was required to have her face veiled from anyone who is not a member of her family including her husband-to-be. It was a symbol of dedication and separation to him alone. A sign to all that though she was not with him yet, she was forbidden to all others. A few more reasons for veiling the Bride: 1. It was believed by some that veiling during the ceremony also meant that in the process of the wedding when she's presented with a ring by the groom, she won't know its monetary value. The Groom's wealth was not to be the motivation behind her commitment. 2. The Groom was not allowed to lift the veil under any circumstance, even during the wedding ceremony. It was on his part a show of his commitment to marry her regardless

" Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth ; Therefore the virgins love you. " Song of Songs 1:3 We stated in the previous lesson that a name is the shortest representation of a man's life: his identity, reputation, authority, and value. We examined why the name of Jesus is unlike any other name. This scripture tells us that  HIs name is not ointment sprayed but poured forth. When you spray perfume and when you spill out a whole bottle of perfume, they produce the same fragrance but in different measures and strengths. The Hebrew word translated poured out in this scripture has another meaning which is to empty out. I think in this context, empty out is more appropriate and we'll see why. First, our Beloved Jesus humbled Himself by becoming flesh. He walked the earth without sin and gave His life on the cross for our sins. When He walked the earth, He always made it known in His speech that He was still one with Father but on

 " Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth ; Therefore the virgins love you. " Song of Songs 1:3 We stated in the previous lesson that a name is the shortest representation of a man's life: his identity, reputation, authority, and value. We examined why the name of Jesus is unlike any other name. This scripture tells us that  HIs name is not ointment sprayed but poured forth. When you spray perfume and when you spill out a whole bottle of perfume, they produce the same fragrance but in different measures and strengths. The Hebrew word translated poured out in this scripture has another meaning which is to empty out. I think in this context, empty out is more appropriate and we'll see why. First, our Beloved Jesus humbled Himself by becoming flesh. He walked the earth without sin and gave His life on the cross for our sins. When He walked the earth, He always made it known in His speech that He was still one with Father but o

" Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth ; Therefore the virgins love you. " Song of Songs 1:3 The Bride said her Beloved's name is a perfume that gives a fragrance that makes many love Him. That exactly is what Jesus' name should do to our hearts. Just like certain ointments produce certain fragrances, names evoke emotions and responses. Some evoke anger or bitterness when we hear them, some laughter and fond memories, not really because of the name but the personality behind the name. When we truly know Jesus, then we can know the fragrance of His name. Jesus' name is not what gives Him personality or makes Him powerful, it's His person that gives virtue to His name. Before Jesus came to earth, that name was just another beautiful name. Even today, anybody can name their child Jesus. But there is something about Jesus that makes HIs name so special. When you read through the bible you'll know that a name is no

" Because of the fragrance of your good ointments , Your name is ointments poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you. " Song of Songs 1:3 Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:15 says we are to diffuse the fragrance of the knowledge of God. This means that we must have an accurate knowledge of God and then express it to others. Both in the Old and New Testaments, the Bible states many things God is but Hebrews 1:3 says Jesus is: "...the exact expression of God's true nature- His mirror image.." (TPT) Meaning to know God is to know Jesus. However, there are many things we can know about the Son too, but there is a knowledge of Jesus that is foundational for every other thing we can know about Him. Matthew 16 tells us what this foundational knowledge of the Son is. Verses 13-18 say: "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, an

" Because of the fragrance of your good ointments , Your name is ointments poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you." Song of Songs 1:3 First, we should note that the above scripture says the fragrance of your good ointments and not the fragrances of your good ointments. It means that the ointments of Christ compound to give just one fragrance. Everything Jesus did when He walked the earth and even His death burial and resurrection was for one purpose only: the salvation of men. He came to reconcile men to God; if that mission was not completed, all the great works He did would've ended with His death. All of Jesus' actions resulted in our salvation. We are the fragrance, the result of Christ's works on earth and sacrifice. You are the fragrance of Christ, I am the fragrance of Christ and collectively the body of Christ is the fragrance of Christ.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17: "God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partn

The Bride admits she is not the only one in love with her beloved, others loved Him too and she told why. She said: " Because of the fragrance of your good ointments , Your name is ointments poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you." Song of Songs 1:3 When you apply perfume, everyone knows you're wearing one though they can't see it because of the fragrance. The fragrance is proof of the perfume. Our Bridegroom King Jesus likewise wears ointments (perfumes) we cannot see but we perceive their odor. Ointments in ancient times were for two major purposes: they were either for healing or for cosmetic purposes. There were two instances Jesus was anointed in the scriptures and they correlate with these two purposes: He was anointed at His baptism At Jesus'  baptism the bible tells us as He came out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove and remained. Acts 10:38 says about that incident: "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spir

Sin in its simplest form is disobedience. The first action of man labeled sin was that he did something contrary to God's command. From this we can deduce that the opposite of sin is not moral excellence, the opposite of sin is obedience. Obedience to God's command. Our focus as believers must go beyond moral excellence to a life of obedience to God. There are 3 types of obedience Mike Bickle mentioned in His study guide for the Song of Songs:           1. Fear-based obedience: This is obedience motivated by the fear of negative circumstances or consequences. It is usually short-lived. Fear cannot help you overcome sin or truly please God because fear is not of God. Fear is the devil's strategy to keep men bound. Both believers and unbelievers alike.           2. Duty-based obedience: It is obedience as recognition of our responsibility to God. It's simply doing the needful or expected. Obeying when we don't feel God's presence or feel like it. Every believer m

One of the meanings of wine which we looked at in the previous lesson is that it represents the pleasures of sin. There is no doubt that sin at the moment it's being committed is pleasurable, but it's false pleasure that eventually brings the bitterness of guilt, condemnation, and sin's consequences. If we must avoid these, we must be able to recognize sin when it stares us in the face. So what is the character of sin? The character of sin is deception and three characteristics make many people, including believers, fall into its trap repeatedly. These characteristics are given in the Amplified version of Hebrews 3:13. It reads: "But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity] so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [ its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication ]. " Hebrews 3:13 To understand these three characteristics, we'll put this scri

Song of Songs 1:2 reads: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine." Song of Solomon 1:2 In ancient times, there was no feast without wine. Jews believed wine was the highest expression of pleasure. It was also a representation of not the essentials of life but of the extras, the blessings of life. The things that are not essential for human survival but make life sweeter. In that light these are the two meanings of wine: 1. Wine signifies the blessings of God: Jesus says in John 16:24 to ask that our joy might be full, acknowledging that other things gladden a man's heart and that God is ready and willing to give these things. God is not an enemy of enjoyment. Solomon is proof of that. He asked for wisdom, and God gave wisdom and riches. Then gave peace to enjoy wealth. I don't believe Solomon was poor before that encounter. No poor king can sacrifice a thousand burnt offerings, yet God took Solomon from a place of wealth to exc

     "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine."      Song of Songs 1:2 The Bride tells her beloved the reason for her longing: His love is better than wine. The word better means good in the widest sense . It expresses something far surpassing the other . Something excellent and incomparable . So she was saying her Beloved's love can do the same things wine can do but in greater and more extraordinary measures. What does wine/alcohol do? It makes you lose control, makes you carefree, makes you happy, makes you feel good/better, and makes you forget your troubles. Christ's love can do all these but how does His love do it in a better way? Wine is temporal, Christ's love is unending. No matter how much wine a man takes, it will eventually wear off. Christ's love for us however never wears off. As stated in Jeremiah 31:3 it is everlasting love. As stated in Romans 8:38-39, nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from