Those who live in the Lord Jesus, know full well that He is the Light of the world. If we follow Him, there is no darkness that can overtake us. He is the Son-shine of our lives! (John 1:1-9; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 1:5-7; Rev. 22:5)
Joshua was able to avenge his enemies because God gave him special light. We too have that special light. And like Joshua, we are destined to be overcomers through the Light of the Lamb of God. Proclaim and live it today!
Our world is fast changing and soon a generation will walk in Revelation 21:22-23, “And the city has no need of the sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and it’s lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it.” Don’t you feel better already?!
Linda Schreurs
INTIMATE LANGUAGE
What if you were addressed as ‘man’ or as ‘woman’ much of the time, or spoken to as ‘child’ rather than your actual name? Those are generic generalities to address someone you probably don’t know very well. Some might use the term ‘Mr.’ or ‘Miss’ but again, that’s not very personal either. Most people will respond, but it sure doesn’t warm their hearts.
Most of us respond in a much more friendly or affectionate way when our names are used. That’s why it’s important to try to remember names.
Consequently, we need to remember the magnificent names of our Lord and use them! I sense the Body of Christ needs to learn a more intimate language of love for her heavenly Bridegroom. We’re speaking of the Divine Lover of our souls. Surely we’re capable of addressing Him in much more affectionate ways than the generic term ‘God.’ It isn’t very personal. And, it’s not much of a creative approach to our Almighty Creator God. In fact, it could be described as simply surface talking. It’s not very deep. He deserves more than that from those who are madly, passionately in love with Him! I’m certain He even demands it!
The Bible most often uses the term ‘Lord,’ more than anything else. Why? Because our glorious Lord God is not just any god. He is God of all creation! He is LORD of lords! KING of kings! LORD of all! He is the MOST HIGH GOD! “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Tim. 6:15)
Using the term Lord is probably better than just addressing Him as ‘God.’ But let’s also not incessantly, with every other word we use in prayer, speak of this generic term. His profound, eternal nature is sovereign and holy beyond measure commanding deeper expressions of His glory.
Generic and boring
Let’s put it this way. When you are having a conversation with your spouse, friend or a child, do you call them by their generic name of man, woman or child? Of course, that is truly what they are, but it’s not all of who they are! You most likely do not do this. So we Christians must ask ourselves why so many of us do this with our Wonderful Lord God? Additionally, why would we keep addressing other people or our Lord incessantly using generic terms (or a name) with every other word in our conversation? Here’s an example in every day language with one another:
“Oh Linda, I want to tell you, Linda, that I really appreciate you, Linda. Linda, I have always enjoyed reading your journals, Linda. And Linda please accept my request, Linda, to keep me on your list, Linda.” That’s annoying and boring. Unfortunately, this over use of the generic name of ‘God’ is how many pray. Every other word is ‘God’ or ‘Lord.’ We need to understand it’s OK to pause…to ponder, to listen to the Holy Spirit while speaking with Him. It would be much better to pray more from one’s heart allowing natural expressions of love to flow.
Saints, there can be so much more to our prayer life than generic expressions. Please do not misinterpret me here. Addressing our Living Lord is a good, good thing. It’s much better to talk to Him than not to talk to Him. It’s most comforting and wonderful to know that He accepts us just as we are, no matter what our phraseology. But there’s more, so much more!
As we grow in Christ, we’ll learn ways of going deeper in our affectionate language of love to Him. Intimacy calls for affection and the Lord Himself will put fresh expressions in our hearts. Challenge yourself on this and you will see your depth in the Lord grow and expand far more than you ever imagined.
Out of the box
We need to begin to train ourselves to get out of our little god-boxes and soar to new heights of glory in the Lord by addressing Him in wonderfully, intimate ways.
Those of you who are married most likely have little love names for your spouse. They might range anywhere from ‘honey’ or ‘darling’ all the way to very personal, special names that are only known between the two of you! So why not do that with your Beloved, Holy King of glory?! Revelation 2:17 says that the Lord will give us hidden manna, a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it. Now that’s spiritual intimacy! Do you desire this? If so, now is the time to use your heart to learn a new love language unto the Lord. Begin to approach the Divine Lover of your soul in alive and vibrant ways. It’s fun! It’s exciting! And, it keeps your walk with Him fresh and anointed in ways you couldn’t imagine.
Names of God
It’s interesting that scripture tells how the Lord Almighty changed some people’s names. The most familiar of course are Abram and Sara, to Abraham and Sarah. In the New Testament, Simon’s was changed to Peter, and Saul’s was changed to Paul. There are more of course, but I wanted to give you an example of how names are important to our Lord. How much more so His own names! We must learn them and use them as we proceed in freshness in the daily Bread of His Presence. Stale bread can sustain us, but aren’t we all looking for more than that? Wouldn’t we rather have fresh, hot bread?!
Many of you are familiar with the names of God found in scripture such as: Elohim (total power, sovereignty), Jehovah (to be, being), El Shaddai (nourishment, productiveness), Adonai (Master, Owner, Lord), Jehovah Jireh (Eternal changeless One, meets all our needs), Jehovah M’Kaddesh (Jehovah who sanctifies), Jehova Nissi (Jehovah my banner/victory), Jehovah Rophe (He who heals), Jehovah Shalom (Peace), Jehovah Tsidkenu (Righteousness), Jehovah Rohi (Shepherd), Jehovah Shammah (He is there/His Presence), El Elyon (God Most High), Jehovah Tsebaoth (Lord of Hosts).
This is by no means an exhaustive list. So you can certainly find other ways to address the Lover of Your soul other than using ‘God.’ Why not, when He has so many beautiful names? It brings a whole new perspective to your communion with Him.
Creativity
Dear hearts, if you’re truly seeking freshness in your walk with the Lord, then speak to your Creator creatively! Intimacy with Him takes you higher and higher into heavenly realms where your soul bursts with astounding delights of fresh revelations. Time after time, I’ve been amazed at the phrases that come out of my mouth and heart as I’ve been taken into the depths of His holy heart.
Some days as my spirit has climbed upward I’ve addressed the Lord as “Holy Magnificence!” He likes it! We’re delighting in each other and He loves these outbursts of joy from His children. Other times I’ve called Him my “Holy Beloved, Divine Lover, Holy Eternal One, King of Glory, Living Lord, Holy Thunderous One, Light of Glory, Most Fragrant One, My Beloved Holy One, My Love My Dove, Sweet Love Sweet Dove, Holy Bread of Your Presence, Beautiful Majestic One, Lamb of God, Beloved Holy Redeemer, Eternal Existent One and Only, O Holy Radiance, Precious Passover Lamb, Holy Affectionate One, Beloved Savior Jesus…” and my personal list goes on and on.
Most Holy is His Name, the Name above all names, the name at which everything will bow, must bow, has to bow…sooner or later, willingly or unwillingly. He is the Lord of lords, King of kings. Everything comes under His Name of glory! Philippians 2:9-10 wonderfully states, “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Hallowed be His Name! (Luke 11:2) Speak it with awe and wonder in your heart with a holy fear upon your soul.
The caress of the soul
One day while in intimate prayer my soul flooded with these words, “O Magnificent Holiness, how I adore You and love You! Thank you for filling my heart with Your peace and serenity. It’s cool, refreshing water to my spirit.”
I love the intimate language of the Lord. It always caresses my soul in deeper depths of His heart. Glory!
Imagine a world where all you hear are the sounds of God! Enoch did not hear the traffic sounds of cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles. He did not hear cell phones, radios, TV’s, i-pods, computer keyboards incessantly moving about, or the millions of voices droning forth from a megalopolis. But he did hear the Lord and walked in daily intimate communion with Him. How awesome is that?! He experienced heaven and was ‘taken’ there, where he still is. (Gen. 5:22-24) All Enoch knows, (yes, current tense), are the sounds of heaven because he listened to them on earth, and still listens. Could he in fact, be one of the two witnesses spoken of at the End of the Age in Revelation 11? I believe it to be so.
The following prayer rolled off my heart as I pondered these intimate and amazing things: “My Divine Beloved, how could I not love you more and more? I do! I do! And I praise You forevermore!”
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens.” (Ps. 8:1) Precious people of God, enter into deeper intimacy with your Holy Beloved through the vastness of His mighty Name. It will change your life!