RECAP 04.16.20: 14 Days of Praise
- Sherry Braswell
- Apr 17, 2020
- 7 min read
Good Morning Sisters,
Sitting at the feet of Jesus. Basking in His love for us. What a wonderful message Stacy shared last night. It was the perfect end and the perfect beginning. Don’t you just love that about our Father? When one chapter ends a better one begins. We never have to wonder about our future because our Father is already THERE. There was a supernatural peace in the atmosphere last night…a peace that can only be found in HIS presence. I have included Stacy’s notes below as the message was so rich and so timely for the season we are in. We ended in a beautiful song and then prayer.
For the next three days my prayer is that we would all sit at His feet and just BE...just BE in His presence. As you rest in Him make a list of things that you are praising Him for...things He has done for you in the past and things you have asked Him for but have yet to manifest. Gratitude journals are great as they remind us of His past faithfulness, giving us hope for current struggles we are in.
We’ll start our “14 Days of Praise” next Monday, April 20th. We have moved from “asking” the Lord to “thanking” Him that it’s already done. When we praise HIM our focus is no longer on ourselves but on HIM. We are now in a position of PRAISE, WORSHIP and THANKSGIVING.
Judith will lead this first night. The Lord has instructed me not to do written recaps as He wants our whole focus to be on HIM. Our carnal nature is to “do, do, do” but these next 14 days is not about doing, it’s about BEING, BEING, BEING. BEING IN HIS PRESENCE. This is why the Lord gave Stacy the word she shared last night. He wants to transform our Martha mindsets into Mary mindsets. What was Mary doing while Martha was busy, busy, busy? She was sitting at the feet of Jesus, feeding off of Him. He wants to pour His love into us but that requires us to be in a position to RECEIVE it. He can’t fill our cups if we’re in motion. When we experience who He truly is a heart change occurs. And this is what the Lord is after...OUR HEARTS.
I look forward to praying with you next Monday. (will send link)
4/17-4/19 Break/Rest (make a gratitude list)
4/20-5/3 14 Days of Praise
Judith will lead on Monday, April 20th.
Love,
Sherry :-)
Stacy's Notes:
Sitting at the feet of Jesus
Jesus is jealous for you. He wants you. come as you are! Nothing can satisfy a heart that is desperate like the love of Jesus. We all have lovesickness. Single desire to be connected to something and that something is our Heavenly, Father. It is a blissful craving and thirst for him. Come to me who are thirsty and drink from the living waters. It is a deep presence. Jesus created our human hearts to have the ability to love. Our heart's desire is to be loved deeply. We can ask God for many things but NOTHING can satisfy us like him, just Him. He may give us many blessings, and gifts but HE is the only one that truly satisfies our soul's cravings. Our longing, our aches, our fears, our failures, our burdens all washed away disappear when we are truly sitting at his feet and basking in his presents. He is our source. When we have a craving or hungry we can come and feed on Jesus. We walk away filled and full. We are all lovesick longing for him, let him wrap his arms around you, fall into his presence he is a safe place to fall. When we fix our eyes, hearts, and lips in alignment with his heart true intimacy is formed. You are his beloved daughter, nothing can separate you from your father's love. He was so lovesick that he was thinking our you hanging upon the cross. God invites us to partake of him. Come to his table and feast! He is your daily bread. He brings life to the fullest measures. When we realize not the idea of who our Father is but truly experience who our father a heart shift takes place. These effortless yielding of fruits comes from simply feeding and yielding to his will. A true delight in him causes us to take sight off of what we want in order to long for what he desires for us.
““I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love”” (Song of Songs 2:3-4)
The Song of Songs set forth in tender symbolism the love of Christ for the Church (His Bride); and the love of the Bride (His Church), for Christ (the Bridegroom). In this small section of scripture the bride is speaking about her bridegroom, and in what she says we have a glimpse of the sufficiency of our Lord. The bride speaks of her estimate of her loved one and tells us what she possesses in him. She describes him (in verses 3,8,9,10,16) as her “”lover””, and she concludes by saying, ““My lover is mine, and I am his.”” It is exactly like this with the Lord and His people. We are married to Christ (Romans 7:3-4). How rich and how blessed we are! –-
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1. IN CHRIST WE HAVE PERFECT REST
We learn this from the words in verse 3: “”I delight to sit in his shade.”” In the first part of this verse the Lord is spoken of as a beautiful citron tree, rich in fragrance, abundant in foliage and fruitfulness. This was by far the best among the trees; thus, our Lord excels all others, and here the bride says, “”I delight to sit in his shade””, indicating the perfect rest she found in his presence (Matthew 11:28-30). After His work on Calvary, Jesus “”sat down””, because His work was done (Hebrews 10:12); and because He has finished the work of our redemption we may “sit down” and enter into a two-fold rest; peace with God (Romans 5:1), and the peace of God (Philippians 4:7). Do you know rest from the burden of sin, from a guilty conscience, from the dominion of sin and from the demands of the Law? This can only be found in His ““shade”” or “”shadow”” – look up Psalm 91:1,
2. IN CHRIST WE HAVE COMPLETE PROTECTION
We learn this from the words in verse 3: ““in his shade”” –- that is to say, under the shade of the citron tree, protected from the fierce rays of the sun. The word “”shade”” in scripture denotes protection, as in Judges 9:15; Job 40:22 and Psalm 63:7. What is the protection which we have in Christ? It is two-fold: spiritual protection for the soul for time and for eternity (John 10:28-29); and physical protection so long as God wills it (Romans 8:28). Our protection is summed up beautifully in Colossians 3:3!
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3. IN CHRIST WE HAVE ABOUNDING JOY
We learn this from the words in verse 3: ““I delight””. How does the bride feel as she sits with her lover? Surely she is filled with joy and delight –- look up 1 Peter 1:8, and compare Psalm 16:11. Thus we, as believers, enter into and experience the Lord’’s own joy (John 15:11), a joy which was full even on the eve of His death, a joy which is supernatural and which is experienced even in the midst of trials and testings –- look up Acts 5:41 and Acts 16:25. Do you know His abounding joy?
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4. IN CHRIST WE HAVE BOUNTIFUL SUPPLY
We learn this from the words in verse 3: ““His fruit is sweet to my taste.”” The reference is to the fruit of the tree under which the bride was sitting with her lover. She found complete sufficiency and absolute satisfaction in his gracious provision for her. What is this sweet satisfying fruit that we, as Christians, experience and that is only ours because of our union with the Lord Jesus? It is mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. We cannot produce this fruit; it is “”the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the work which His presence within accomplishes”” (Amplified Bible) –- look up and compare Hosea 14:8 (last phrase). How satisfying His fruit is! – – “His fruit is sweet to my taste””!
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5. IN CHRIST WE HAVE PERSONAL GUIDANCE
We learn this from the words in verse 4: ““He has taken me to the banquet hall”” –- notice the “‘he’’ and the ‘‘me’’. The bridegroom puts his arm around his bride and leads her lovingly into the banquet hall, and this is exactly what the Lord is doing, or wants to do, for us – look up and compare Psalm 32:8 and Proverbs 3:5-6. His guidance is personal. His leading is gentle, and His direction is accurate, certain and purposeful –- look up Psalm 37:23-24 and see what David was able to say in Psalm 78:72.
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6. IN CHRIST WE HAVE SWEET FELLOWSHIP
We learn this from the words in verse 4: ““He has taken me to the banquet hall”” –- literally, ‘’the house of delights’’. This is a picture of His Church and of the fellowship we enjoy as members one of another –- fellowship around His Table (1 Corinthians 11:23-26); around His Word (Acts 17:11-12); in prayer (Acts 12:5); in service (2 Corinthians 6:1); in our joys and in our sorrows. What a wonderful thing it is that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we are ““all one in Christ Jesus”” (Galatians 3:28).
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7. IN CHRIST WE HAVE CONSTANT VICTORY
We learn this from the words in verse 4: ““His banner over me is love””. Through faith in Him, and because of His victory, we are “”more than conquerors”” (Romans 8:37). It is His banner that is over us, not ours; it is His victory we share, not something which is the result of our trying or effort. The banner is the symbol of victory, and His banner is over us and over all God’’s children.
If we really do have all this in Christ, our Lover, what more can we want, in time or in eternity?
study notes by Francis Dixon
Prayer:
Father,
I pray that you would continue to renew, refine and refresh like a HOLY REVIVALS in our hearts. Let us continue to seek you above all else. I ask that you will raise us to the next level of intimacy with you. I ask that we desire your presence more than any earthly pleasures. We set our eyes on the unseen. We only see in part Lord open our ears, minds, hearts, and lips to your truths. let them roll off like honey. Sweet and refreshing. We praise you and we thank you for the Joy that is in our present, and future. I ask for those that are lost and seeking souls that you give us opportunities to share of your great love. We thank you for the sacrifices that you made that we are invited to sit and partake of fresh manna daily. Your grace and mercy are endless. We ask that each heart is longing and craving that we are filled at your feet. We just want to sit at your feet, drink from the living well they never runs dry. Amen
Music:
The more I seek you(feat Kari Jobs)
Lovesick by Housefires
Message: video
Lovesick by Eric Gilmour
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