You Might Be Inspired...

...through the blogs of a couple of friends of mine. Here are their blogs for today with links:

For the Girls
by Salle J. Sandlin

Under the Apple Tree

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” (Song of Solomon 2:3)

In the beautiful, mysterious Song of Solomon, the language of love is both physical and verbal, two elements of any good marriage, and both of which are best judged by intimacy and sincerity. A good example of the latter is this verse. The bride here compares her lover to an apple tree. It may not be profound, but it’s definitely descriptive and as it turns out, most accurate. I have just a few thoughts on these common, homespun words of this young bride, applying them (as so often done) to our relationship the Jesus Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom.

To this young woman, her invitation to sit and fellowship with her Beloved was comparable to resting in the shade of huge apple tree on a hot, summer day. And mark it well, this girl knew what it was to toil in the heat of the day, suffering multiple sunburns (1:6). To have a luxurious apple tree to shade her from the hot rays of the sun was, to quote her, delightful! This is a reminder of how sweet it is, after toiling in the heat of the day, to be able to take advantage of the refreshing shade of the presence of God and the promises of His Word. Sometimes we may even need to cool off from some heated encounter with someone.

Best of all, though, I’m reminded that a shadow is cast by something or someone coming between the sun and us, and this in turn reminds me that between me and the heat of Divine wrath, and the scorching Light on my own sinfulness, is my Redeemer/Lover, Jesus Christ. His bruised, bleeding Body stands between me and the blinding heat of God, shading me from its Holy rays. Bless the Lord, O, my soul!

Then the bride goes on to extol the fruit that falls to her from this beloved Apple Tree. It’s “sweet to my taste,” she says. It may not be to others, but it is to her. The Psalmist says, “How sweet are thy words to my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psl. 119:103). Time spent with Christ and His Word are a matter of personal taste. There will always be those who choose onions and garlic when there’s sweet manna to be had (Num. 11). And they’re usually not hard to spot.

This Bride was so in love with her Bridegroom that He was everything to her—both food and shelter. The shadow of His love and the sweet apples of His fellowship were dearer to her than all the glory of His banqueting table. All she had to do was take the time to sit quietly in His shadow and let Him feed her. Are you and I willing to do that? If so, we’ll be the ones with the “great delight”!

As the old song says, “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me [Him]”

 

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...and ...

THE JOURNAL

by Dr. Richard J. Sandlin

To Each His Own

The above statement is true of many aspects in the Christian’s life, but none so spot-on as that thing we call prayer. In this most holy endeavor we must all come to realize, as the saying goes, “You’re you and I am I.” There should be a uniqueness about each of our prayer lives that matches no other. One size doesn’t fit all. What works for one may not for another. It is true in the Father’s house there is uniformity, but also, there is individuality.

I am wholeheartedly in agreement with a statement I read in one of J.I. Packer’s books, “Pray as you can and don’t try to pray as you can’t.” The only restriction is staying within the confine of the scriptures. Jesus was known on occasion to stand when He prayed, Paul knelt, Hezekiah prayed in bed;, David sat before the Lord, and Elisha walked to and fro in his house. I personally have done the latter for over fifty-five years. However you pray, be yourself, and be comfortable in doing it.

That unique and blessed old-time Nazarene preacher, Billy Bray, used to say, “I must talk to Father about that,” referring to prayer. As someone has so aptly said, “Experience can’t be taught.” It is something you learn, not from books, but from doing. There has been many a prodigal child brought back home to God by a mother praying at the altar of her sink, as she did her dishes. O, child of God, “Pray as you can and don’t try to pray as you can’t!”

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BLESSINGS.

Compliments of

ROYAL HEIR