Intimacy with GOD, Esher Shoshannah [red queen free ebook .txt] 📗

have its effect on me to make me desire to do His will for His good pleasure. I've been teaching men and women little thoughts from the book and they end up staring at me with so much more understanding of the love Jesus has for them. Where it has been difficult to get them to move for evangelism, just sharing the thoughts from this book has caused them to want to move. May God bless you abundantly for sending me this book and those that are on the way.

Sold out for Jesus,

Helga

 

Dear Esher,

Thanks so much for this wonderful devotional! I have been blessed beyond measure! I have been spending time with the Lover of my soul like I have never done before or even knew I could. I have been a believer for over 25 years and have always spent time in discipleship classes and personal studies. I have continually tried to put into practice what I have learned. This devotional is far more than what I expected. I have been taken to the most intimate relationship with my Lord! It has given me confidence to really know who I am in Christ. I look forward to sharing this book with my friends and whoever will listen. I am requesting a copy for my daughter-in-law and her mother. I can't wait to hear and see the change in their lives as they pursue Him with this wonderful life changing experience.

Thank you and God bless you,

Linda

 

Good morning Esher!

I want to take time to let you know how much the Holy Spirit has spoken to me through this devotion guide! I have been hungrily working my way through it since March! I can tell you, I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as I study and look up each verse!! I have learned a deeper and deeper understanding of who Jesus is and how MUCH He loves and cherishes me! I have such a fervency to serve Him as I have never had before. I now want to start having study sessions with my three teenage daughters. They have seen the change in me and they are hungry to learn who Jesus is on a more intimate level.

God Richly Bless You!

Dawna

 

For Additional Testimonies Please Go To The Website:

http://www.songofsolomondevotional.com/

 

THE SPIRITUAL VISION OF THIS BOOK

 THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL: JESUS DESIRES FOR EACH BELIEVER TO BECOME A MARY OF BETHANY

 

"Never forget this Lady!" a lady who only spoke twelve words in the New Testament! Who is this very important, mysterious lady? It's Mary of Bethany. Every time she appears in the Word of God she is at Jesus' feet. First, she listened to His WORD; second, she witnessed in her WOE; third, she quietly poured out WORSHIP on Him. How important is she? So important that Jesus instructed us to speak about her wherever the gospel is preached! Jesus clearly declared it in Mark 14:9, "Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." What makes Mary of Bethany so special, so significant to the Lord that He insists she must be mentioned wherever His Gospel is preached? She is extremely important in learning what the truly consecrated, surrendered spiritual life is all about! Do you really want to know what will please the Lord? Learn from this lady!

 

PRAY WITH ME: "Dear Abba Father, cause my spiritual eyes to observe the actions of this precious lady’s heart. May her desires be my desires. May my heart please You as much as her heart did so many years ago. 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law' (Your Word – Psa. 119:18), in Jesus precious name, amen!"

 

I. SITTING AT JESUS’ FEET TO HEAR HIS WORD

Please read Luke 10:38-42. Martha desires to do something very good. She invites Jesus into her home to make Him a meal. Martha wants Jesus to feel special. However, it would be on her own terms. Nothing was to get in the way of her plans, not even Jesus! Martha represents the busy believer, always doing and seldom pausing just to sit quietly, with undivided attention, listening to the Lord speak through His Word to the heart. Mary had been helping but chose to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to Him. To be a Mary of Bethany is a choice. Under enormous emotional pressure, Mary chose between her sister and Jesus. She had counted the cost (Luke 14:26-28). She took advantage of the moment! Mary is teaching us that it is necessary to drop all activities and sit at Jesus’ feet and have our spirit fed, comforted and strengthened by His Word. By stopping all activities Mary was saying, "Lord, You and Your Word are much more important than my activities."

Martha had an inflexible agenda. There would be a meal and it would be served when she planned it to be served. Why didn't Martha ask Jesus if He wanted to eat at that moment? What began as a heartfelt, loving act turned into an emotional nightmare for the whole household! Martha became distracted on the task itself. In Luke 10:40 the Greek word for "distracted" carries with it the idea of being drawn in different directions; going around in circles! This verb is passive, meaning that she is controlled by the circumstances.

Satan approaches Martha in the kitchen and whispers to her, "Look at all you have to do and nobody cares!" In verse 40 of the text, the Greek word "left" is a strong word meaning "to abandon; to utterly forsake"! Evil seeds of irritation are planted in Martha's heart which turn into anger. Infuriated and outraged, a root of bitterness is implanted in her heart (Heb. 12:15) and would attempt to defile the very act of service meant to bless. Martha waits impatiently for Mary to come and help her. You can hear Martha thinking, "She hates me, look at her there sitting with Jesus as if I don't exist!" Mary was fulfilling a requirement of a true disciple of Jesus, to be so in love with Him that it looks as if she hates her sister (Luke 14:26).

Having had enough of Mary's seeming lack of concern, Martha bursts in on them in anger, questions whether Jesus cares for her, scolds Mary to Jesus and commands Him to do something about it. Wuest's translation gives us a true picture of Martha's demeanor in approaching Jesus. "And bursting upon Jesus she assumed a stance over Him and said...." She is so aggravated that she cannot speak to Mary directly. Martha had welcomed Jesus into the heart of her home but not into the heart of her activities. So many welcome Jesus into their soul for salvation but few welcome Jesus into the circumstances of their life.

Through Martha, Satan is attempting to rob Mary of receiving precious truth from her Lord and robbing Jesus of the joy of her fellowship. Martha allowed the enemy to bring in a tense, angry, negative, hatefully charged atmosphere into the home. The word "troubled" or "bothered" used by the Lord is another very strong Greek word meaning, to: "disturb; throw into a tumult; set in an uproar; make a noise or disturbance, especially the noise made in lamenting the dead."

What can we learn from Mary? She sits quietly and does not respond. There was no angry reaction from her! She was completely focused on her Lord. Mary allowed Jesus to take care of this very volatile situation. Jesus said that, "...Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." What Mary received at Jesus' feet (Luke 10) will give her strength when her brother tragically dies in (John 11). When death comes to Lazarus, Martha will be crushed but Mary will be comforted.

Martha was into service alone. Mary was into the Lord Himself. Mary's heart is summed up in these words, "The Lord is my portion, says my soul...." (Lam. 3:24). Sacrificing time for Jesus alone opens to us precious revelation from God's Word. Precious to His heart is this very real act of love!

What was it that Mary had which would not be taken away? It was her absolute confidence in the Lord, her love for Jesus, faith in Him, and the emotional and spiritual strength that would remain in her heart when the family tragedy would strike. Mary had no idea that her brother would die in the not too distant future. When Lazarus died Martha would have none of those qualities. Mary will handle it in total faith and trust. Martha will lose her peace and will let fly an accusing attitude to the Lord in John 11. Do you want to please the Lord? Be a Mary of Bethany by sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to His Word.

 

 

II. FALLING DOWN AT JESUS’ FEET IN YOUR WOE

Please read John 11:1-45. The word comes to Jesus that His very close friend Lazarus is deathly ill. So important is Mary that the Holy Spirit mentions what she will be doing in John 12:1-3 before it actually takes place in the narrative (11:2). The Lord sends a message back to Mary and Martha giving them the distinct feeling that their brother would not die. The emotional shockwave hits them. Each hour he grows worse. "Jesus will get here in time" they whisper to their dying brother. Then Lazarus dies! And Jesus is still outside the town making no move to help! Martha thinks that Jesus really didn't care about His friend. Instead of rushing to Lazarus' side, which was expected, the Lord waits two more days and then shows up.

Martha runs out in anger, and with an accusing tone says, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died." She tells Jesus she knew that when He prays the Father answers Him. But implied in that statement is, "but You didn't pray for my brother did You!" (John 11:21,22)

Then Martha returns secretly to Mary, she calls Him "master" or "teacher". Notice carefully that she calls Jesus, "Lord" to His face but now it is only "teacher". So many of us sing songs and hymns about Jesus being Lord, but when the circumstances of life turn sour, our heart is exposed and we find out that He really is not our Lord at all (Rom.14:9). He just taught us some nice Bible scriptural that have no real power in our lives.

In the deep trial of life, Martha had nothing. Why? She was so busy "serving" Jesus that she had no time to receive from Him! What Mary had received in Luke 10 was still there when the tragedy struck! She did not turn on the Lord. So many of us, deep in our heart, blame the Lord for not stepping in and turning things around when everything goes wrong. When the dark clouds of life sweep over our souls there is nothing to lean upon to carry us through. Having had no intimate time with Him, they fail to put into practice