Are we guarding our hearts? Part Two

"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the does of the field: Do not awaken love until it desires" Song of Solomon 3:5

Why would Solomon give such a charge? And what does it mean?

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This is a subject I never tire talking, writing or reading on.
I have watched many people in my life and people who cross my path fall captive to the worlds thoughts of love and purpose. I have heard Christians profess that God is the ruler over every aspect of their life, but never seek Him in relationships with the opposite sex.
Are failed relationships the result of love and then that love leaving, or is it the result of poor planning, unhonest honesty and no one keeping guard?

You hear success stories from many couples about how they knew they were meant for each other at a certain point in their relationship. But what about the ones before? Did they know their ex's weren't meant for them, yet they stayed with them until a drastic end? This is a question NO ONE brings up during "love story" telling time because everyone only wants to hear the good stuff...not the bad. Yet, all through life, we learn lessons based on mistakes and based on poor decisions...yet, we hide them. And then there are children, teens and even adults who are floating around in uncharted waters going along with everyone else because no one told them what lies ahead.

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"Sharing is Caring"

If people really cared about others they would tell them where they went wrong. What traps the devil set for them. How they got to the point of sin without knowing until it was too late. If no one is being open about their mistakes NO ONE will learn from them! If you, yourself learned, and came out knowing it wasn't right and are sure that you indeed made a mistake...that excitement and knowledge you get once out of it SHOULD lead you to warn someone else.

That is what I believe is in this verse. He was being captivated by emotions and temptations, he didn't want others to fall into the trap.

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Let's break it down...

DO NOT AWAKEN LOVE UNTIL IT DESIRES

There is no room for questions in that charge. Just don't do it!
But he also goes on it say when, which is totally cool. I think he knew that if he just said "do not awaken love" everyone would not believe him. He would be crazy. I mean how can we not awaken love, what would be the point in life, without love?

UNTIL IT DESIRES

This gives the impression that love has a certain time it is supposed to be awakened. Hum...who do you think set up that "time" for love? Who would be in control of loves "clock"? Who would understand exactly the right time for the love to be awakened?

None but the first LOVER-God.

DO NOT AWAKEN

Implies that we can awaken it before it's time.
Many people get stumped on sex before marriage. How could God set a rule, yet give us the ability to have it beforehand?
I'd say, Free Will.
Even though God has a perfect time for things...we have a choice to have it now, or later. The problem with having it now, when it's meant for later...is that we aren't ready.
God knows us better than we know ourselves...so He knows the perfect time, spot and mindset when we should have it.
It's like Christmas...if you go snooping around looking for the present before Christmas, then Christmas morning is less of a surprise. And if you open a gift, that was meant for Christmas morning...you ruin the excitement all together and often hurt the one that got it for you, and wanted you to be surprised that day.
God is disappointed when people open His gift before it is time to, because He knows the perfect moment and after that gift is opened...you can never get it back. That wonder and excitement that would have been there is now less than what it could have been.

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Not awakening love does not just mean not having sex.

Love is a deep longing for someone, a desire to love them with all that you are and give them all that you have. To be totally devoted to them without needing anything in return.

The love of a husband and wife desires to be awakened in marriage.

The love that is experienced when engaged...desires to be awakened with the proposal.

The love that grows while knowing each other so long and learning about one another desires to be awakened in courtship.

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Love is not a vending macine.

You don't pick what you want and it pops into your hands.

Love is a flower.

You have to have the right seed...the right soil that's ready to take care of the seed..the right season...and the right place where it can be warmed by the sun and watered by the rain.
It won't pop up in a day. It takes time.

And if you plan to have the right seed, soil, season and place...it will be a beautiful flower.

In times of drought you will have to water the flower...in times of winter, you will have to keep it safe.

The seed is...God's love and understanding His will

The soil is...your life, are you prepared for a seed? Are you soft and nourishing?

The season is...when God has prepared you and told you that you are ready

The place is...in obedience...

The sun is...God looking at your love, being the very food that makes it grow

The rain is....the Word of God, soaking the flower all the way to it's roots to strengthen it.

Some flowers can't stand the winter, some can't even drink the water, and some were planted in the shade away from the sun. It withers and dies.

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Are you ready for love?

Is this the time God set up?

Are you ready to to grow a flower?

If you aren't ready, your flower will not be all it can be.

If you aren't ready, you will miss the excitement meant for you when it desires.

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Continue to seek God's will and not your own agenda.
We really don't know it all. We barely know anything as humans.
God knows it all.
Trust Him.
And wait for the love He has already planned for you.
If you do, it will be a beautiful flower.

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For the flowers that were planted before their time and are struggling to survive or have withered away. Let God uproot your flower and place you in His light. There is still hope for you. You may not have gotten the excitement on Christmas because you opened your present early...but God still wants to bless you. It will take time to nourish your flower again...but if you stay in the light and let the rain seep into your roots you will be beautiful again.

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This is Mandy, The First Kiss Girl, and I'm so blessed God uses my hands to reach hearts for Him. Once again, The Lord wrote this, not me. And if you are reading this...it's for you. I bet He had a plan all along for this post :)

(There might be a Part Three...keep an eye out)

Are we guarding our hearts? Part One

[Thought starter:]

The Heart is a very special place. It is the organ that keeps our blood flowing which keeps us alive. It is also where all things about us come from.
It is no surprise that God told us to "guard it" (Prov. 4:23) and that what we do comes from our heart (Matt. 15:18-20).
However, I have to ask...have we considered these things? Have we considered our heart? Have we made it a point to be guarding it "above all else"?

I grieve for this generation, okay, all generations. Since Adam and Eve we have struggled with the very thing that created us, love. But of course the love of "infatuation" is not the same love God had when He, with His own hands, created us. In comparison to God's love, infatuation love doesn't seem like love at all. We say we experience "love" to such an extreme, to the point of not being able to control ourselves. Yet, we "fall out of it". This puzzles me. Extremely.
Where would humans, the world, the whole universe be if God just "fell out of love". WE WOULD BE DEAD! (God, thank you that Your ways are so much higher than ours!)

This infatuation "love" is intense, I'll give it that. But it isn't really love. It's like a wolf in sheep's clothing (John 10:1-18)...it looks cute and soft and even says "baaaa" like a good little sheep...but THAT AIN'T NO SHEEP...it's a wolf. Definitely, a wolf. A teeth gnashing, drool hanging from it's mouth, unkept fur (you get the picture) wolf. Sadly, you may not know it is until you find your sheep slaughtered with blood on their once soft, puffy white wool (oh, beautiful wool). So who is this wolf?? It's name is lust. Now, don't get all offended like "I am not in lust. You just don't understand. You've never been in love like this!". Oh, I've heard it all. The thing is, I do understand. See you don't have to own the sheep to know who killed them...you can watch from a distance. Or even catch him before he attempts to pounce. Oh yes, I've been there. In and out of "love"...feeling like my heart had been slaughtered as I grieved over the wool, I mean, sheep. :)

I know what he looks like. And boy, does he know how to play a good sheep! luckily, I have better security now...I thoroughly investigate every sheep that comes in my pasture. I've also recruited some help to make the security even more...well, secure ;)

So what does this all mean in guarding your heart??

I'll give that question to you, to think about...

What does this all mean in YOU guarding YOUR own heart?

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[Facts:]

Meanings from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/:
Guard: To watch over or shield, to keep watch over, to control, to take precautions, to control entrance and exit, to provide a device to protect the operator.

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[Application:]

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a(NKJV)
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

If love "never fails" and it "endures all things" then, is the "love" that so many people, couples and marriages "fall out of" really love?

Are we being fooled by the wolf? Are we not checking our sheep?

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[Teaser for Part Two:]

Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to have romance and excitement.

But what if God wants those things for us too??

What if He set up the perfect time for us to have our romance??

The perfect time that would make it 100 times better than any other time.

The perfect time that you can't have any other time.

What if you wait for that perfect time??

What if that perfect time will grow even better the more you "suffer long", "not seek your own" and "endure all things"??

"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the does of the field: Do not awaken love until it desires" Song of Solomon 3:5

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[Conclusion:]

Until my next post...ask God "In what ways can I better guard my heart? How do I inspect my sheep?"