From the desk of Steve Shultz:
Sometimes we need to be reminded of just who WE are and WHO's we are. It's easy to say, but to fully receive and believe it will make all the difference.
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Tiffany Ann Lewis:
"Who Are We?"
Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved? Song of Solomon 8:5
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
The above nursery rhyme has some powerful spiritual truths for us to glean from today. They can't put us back together again, but there is One who can. However, we will look different afterwards.
In His Image
We are created in His image, yet we spend a lifetime creating our own. I believe that is one of the many reasons that God takes us by the hand and leads us into the wilderness. The wilderness is a scary and often lonely place to be, however, a metamorphosis occurs when we meet with God there. We experience the power of His love and emerge as a Bride leaning on Him alone with a new image – the image of Jesus.
Notice that Humpty is sitting on a wall. I see this wall as representing our achievements. Often we find ourselves sitting/leaning on our wall. We become identified by our wall of accomplishments. Next Humpty has a great fall. All that we think makes us identifiable and acceptable gets broken off of us in the fall/wilderness (wilderness, for the sake of this article).
Everything we thought we were is now gone. How will they recognize us now? Jesus says they will know us by our love. Not just our love for Him but our love for one another (John 13:35). Oh boy, now that's a toughie. It's easier just to be recognized by the words that are coming out of our mouths and the plaques hanging on our walls than by our love.
The apostle Paul put it this way: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
This is quite the list of accomplishments. We have: speaking the language of Heaven, prophesying, understanding deep mysteries of God, miracles, enough faith to move a mountain, charity, and even self-sacrifice. Wow! Nevertheless, Paul states that love is the only thing that matters. The greatest is love. Love for God and love for our fellow man. It is the only thing that has eternal significance; the only thing that will never fail.
Song of Solomon 8:6 reveals to us the transformation process. The bride is filled with love for her Beloved, and she says, "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame."
Before the wilderness, we don't even want to lean on the Lord; we're walking out in our own strength and power. We're self-absorbed, self-centered, and have our own agenda. After encountering the Lord in the wilderness, we want Him to be a seal on our plans so they become His plans, on His will, and most importantly, His heart.
A Change in Identity
The Apostle Paul had a type of wilderness experience, too, before writing the great Love Chapter that was just quoted from in 1 Corinthians. While on the road to Damascus, he had a great fall and underwent an identity change (see Acts 9:1-10). He went from Saul, a murderer of the saints of God, to Paul, bondservant, a love-slave of Jesus Christ. If anyone could have confidence in their image, it was Saul. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, basically the best of the best. His resumé, the reputation and image that he had, was outstanding, flawless. Yet Paul counted it all now as rubbish compared to the possession of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him.
You see, Paul had to be blinded to see who he really was, and after that he didn't want to be recognized as Saul anymore. Melted, bruised, beaten down, and imprinted with King Jesus' signet, the only identity he wanted was to be found and known as in Him. Not wanting any self-achieved righteousness, he tossed all his knowledge, skill, strength, and credentials that he had as Saul so that he could know this Love that died for him and the power of His resurrection. God didn't want to scrap the knowledge and experience he had, He just wanted to redirect the focus off self and onto Jesus.
It's the power of His true love for us while in our shattered state that causes this change of identity. Face to face with God in the wilderness, He tenderly picks us up from the fall. Our identity has been melted, pushed down, squashed, stripped down, and broken open. His love heals us and His love fills us. Coming out of the wilderness, we are hopelessly in love with Him and so full of the power of His love that it's going to spill out of us whether it's our motive or not. We will now finally be able to respond to His command to love one another in the way that He loves us (John 13:34).
I am sorry to say, but the wilderness is not a one-time experience. It's a dying to self that we will experience every day only as we choose to decrease so that He may increase. There is some hope for us, while in the wilderness, that we can see in our key text though. Look at the address of the passage: "Who is this, coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved?" (Song of Solomon 8:5). The number 8 is the Hebrew number for new beginnings; the number 5 is the Hebrew number for grace.
Though we may have not always responded the way Jesus would have, though we may have had a wrong motive or two, though we have leaned on our own understanding now and again, it's okay, there is no shame. God gives us the grace to begin again, and again, and again as we cling to Him.
He will take the pieces of our shattered image and put us back together in the image of Jesus. We will emerge in the image of His love. We will be free from striving, and we will be an earthen vessel in which His love can move in us, to us and then through us. Amen and Amen.
Tiffany Ann Lewis
Dancing with the Flame of the Lord Ministries
Email: tiffanyann@tiffanyannlewis.com
Tiffany Ann Lewis is a prophetic worship leader and Bible teacher with a unique focus on Biblical Hebrew, and whose heart has been passionately awakened by a God who sees us in our shortcomings, loves us in spite of it all, and calls out to us so we can live (Ezekiel 16). Her vision is to create an atmosphere in worship where we can meet with God face to face, where the Spirit of God moves freely, releasing emotional, spiritual and physical healing, and igniting a passion for our Heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus. Tiffany Ann has been ministering for over 10 years in prophetic worship throughout the Body of Christ. She worships with her family at Northway Church in Malta, New York, where she serves on the worship team.
