Delighting in the Lord- Pamper Yourself!

Today the Lord showed something to me.
It started out with a dream I had early this morning, in which I was at work and someone called my extension and said..."so n so is on the line, and they have a whole lot of questions about the blog and what you said. I replied, I figured they would have some questions, it's okay, I'll be happy to answer them and explain to them what I meant. Transfer them over to me." I awoke thinking- "What was that all about?" Then when I was at church praying, all of a sudden I saw my Dad -my spiritual Dad, and he was welcoming me and inviting me to come and sit down with him and discuss some things. By this God was saying, "I know you have questions, it's okay to ask them. Come into my Presence and ask Me and let Me answer you and explain. For then you will see My Heart. And when you SEE my My Heart, and understand it, then you can run with it and with what is in it." He was inviting dialogue and communication! "Come now, let us reason together..." Isa.1:18

It is only through meaningful relationship that we begin to grasp and understand someone's heart, their way of thinking and seeing things through their eyes. We tend to think of our kids when we tell them "No" and they begin to say, "But why?" So we equate questions with rebellion and disobedience or lack of respect, when in fact God ENCOURAGES us to ask. He just expects us to accept what He says when He answers us. But it is okay to ask!

Can you imagine what Eden would have been like, if instead of listening to the lies of the enemy about God's intentions and heart towards her, if Eve had just talked to God about it?!! See, it was God's CHARACTER and His HEART towards us that satan maligned when he said to Eve, "yea, hath God said..?" He portrayed God as being STINGY and WITHHOLDING something GOOD from us, when in fact the exact opposite was true!

He was showing me that all the good that we might have in our hearts- the good deeds, the lofty ideals, the dreams, the desires that we are holding onto and hoping and dreaming about, are really just a fraction of what He desires for us! And He reminded me of this scripture:

Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Webster defines Delight this way: DELIGHT, n. 1. A high degree of pleasure, or satisfaction of mind; joy. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Psa 1. 2. That which gives great pleasure; that which affords delight. I was daily his delight. Prov 8. Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement. DELIGHT, v.t. 1. To affect with great pleasure; to please highly; to give or afford high satisfaction or joy; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear; the good conduct of children, and especially their piety, delights their parents. I will delight myself in thy statutes. Psa 119. 2. To receive great pleasure in. I delight to do thy will. Psa 40:8. DELIGHT, v.i. To have or take great pleasure; to be greatly pleased or rejoiced; followed by in. I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Rom 7.

Strong's Concordance says "to be soft or pliable"

Brown-Driver-Briggs Concordance gives this further definition: BDB Definition: 1) to be soft, be delicate, be dainty 1a) (Pual) to be delicate 1b) (Hithpael) 1b1) to be of dainty habit, be pampered 1b2) to be happy about, take exquisite delight 1b3) to make merry over, make sport of Part of Speech: verb

Be pliable in God's hands, let Him mold and shape the correct desires with in you and then He will set about granting them... but wait BDB says to be PAMPERED! Be pampered in the Lord and He will give thee the desires of thine heart. Did you know that God WANTS TO PAMPER YOU?!!

How do you pamper yourself? We ladies know about pampering... for some it is treating yourselves to a day at the spa, the beauty salon...getting your nails done, taking a nice long bubble bath, sharing a hot fudge brownie sundae with your good girlfriend, well you get the idea! But HOW do you pamper yourself in the Lord? Hmm, that requires some thought!

Let's look at what the word actually means. Here is what Websters says:
1. To feed to the full; to glut; to saginate;{make fat} to feed luxuriously; as, to pamper the body or the appetite.
2. To gratify to the full; to furnish with that which delights; as, to pamper the imagination.

So then to pamper ourselves in the Lord we must feed our Spirits to the full on His Presence and on His Word. We must pursue having more of Him in our lives! We must search out the scriptures for what He says about who we are and what He has already given us and feed on that instead of all the negative junk the enemy tries to fill us up with daily.
We must allow Him to gratify our souls with His love, His touch. We must get an appetite for the things of God! How "hungry" are you?

I "saw" Father God move to caress us today at intercession... Song 8:3 Your left hand is under my head, and your right hand caresses me.

Quite often when I am at the computer, my calico cat, Callie, is in my arms laying across them, as I attempt to type with her draped over me! She just longs to be near me and have me stroke her and feel me touch her. In fact she just came in again and is curling up on my lap right now and purring! So even though it is awkward sometimes trying to type with her butting my hand to pet her or draping herself over my arms, or even reaching up with one paw to "pat me" on the face, it is still delightful having her near and wanting my attention and I enjoy her companionship. How much MORE God enjoys us and DESIRES for us to WANT HIM!

When we spend time enjoying Him, then He can open to us the dimesnion of His heart that only comes through relationship and intimacy. And it is there that we can receive revelation of not only what He desires to do for us, but also through us!

Song 8:6
(CEV) Always keep me in your heart and wear this bracelet to remember me by. The passion of love bursting into flame is more powerful than death, stronger than the grave.

(MSG) Hang my locket around your neck, wear my ring on your finger. Love is invincible facing danger and death. Passion laughs at the terrors of hell. The fire of love stops at nothing-- it sweeps everything before it.

(GNB) Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire.

Do you hear His Passion for you??? Close your heart to every love but MINE says the Lord. Always keep ME in your heart... Wear MY ring on your finger... I dont want to go steady with you- I want you to Marry Me! I want to overwhelm you with my Love. I want to pamper you with all that I AM. I want you to experience every expression of my heart towards you. For I KNOW the thoughts I think towards you... I want you to know them too! Be totally MINE. I want to consummate this relationship, will you carry my Vision? Will you birth out MY desires? Will you allow Me to bring you into the chambers of My heart? Will you dare to allow Me to see you naked, exposed and vulnerable? And trust that I won't reject you? Will you believe in ME, even as I believe in you? Come, there is much you have yet to learn! I will teach you, says the Lord. I will enjoy watching you learn of Me!

Oh Lord, all we can do is but answer you: Song 1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.