Claire's Prayer

During the time of Christ leprosy was common, so serious was this disease that those suffering from it had to live outside the town, they weren’t allowed to come within 6 feet of anyone and cried “𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻!”to alert others of the danger.  A horrible disease, debilitating, painful, and humiliating.  Leviticus gave very strict instructions on how to treat this disease and considered it 2^nd only in seriousness to touching a dead body!

A fascinating articled by Arnold Fruchtenbaum tells us something absolutely enthralling about the healing of leprosy.  There were two kinds of miracles, one that could be performed by anyone under the Spirit of God and another that only the Messiah could perform.  You see, from the time the Mosaic Law was given until the day that Jesus came not one Jewish person had ever been healed of leprosy.  Even though there were detailed instructions on how the priest was to deal with someone healed of leprosy, not one time had those instructions ever been used!  Therefore, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿.

Enter Jesus and the ten lepers, not one but ten!  “𝑨𝒔 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆, “𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒔!”  𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝑮𝒐, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔.” 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒅.” (Luke 17:12-14)

“𝗚𝗼, 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀,” Jesus said, fully knowing that the chief priest was Caiaphas who had just pronounced a sentence of death against him!  Oh, the irony, the delicious irony.  Caiaphas had to then take the next seven days investigating, not one, but ten healings, and then declaring that Jesus had performed this miracle.  Ten times over they had to declare that a Messianic miracle had occurred, one that had never happened before!

I love that our LORD has a sense of humor, I love that there was no disputing the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and I love that this Pharisee, this enemy of our Savior, had to decree that a Messianic miracle had been performed by Jesus.  How it must have stuck in his throat!  Proof yet again that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. 

Sprinkled through God’s Word, time and time again, is evidence of the Messiah, something worth digging for as these treasures are so deep and so great and so very undeniable!

In Psalm 90:12 we read this verse; “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔.” A seemingly impossible request, how many of us know the number of our days? Only our Abba Father who has appointed every single one of them for us.

Hidden in this verse is a sparkling treasure, a truth that will change us if we let it. In the Hebrew, this verse says; “𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐡’ 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬,” to not just number our days but to prepare and appoint them. Our instructions are to look upon every day as important, and to plan for that day ahead of time. To prepare for the things we need to do, even to appoint moments in our day.

Perhaps make an appointment with a friend for coffee and set aside a particular day. Elect a time when you will meet with your Savior and keep the date. Set aside time for your children, your spouse, your parents. Appoint a day to write a blog or journal, study a book or meditate on God’s Word. Plan and prepare your days instead of watching them fly by in what seems like a flash and a blur.

If we ‘manah’ our days then, “𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔.” The wisdom that we all want, desire, and need. We will be like the five wise virgins who had oil in their lamps, they knew there was an appointed time for the bridegroom to come and get them. In this same way, we are asked to appoint, prepare, and number all the days of our lives. 🦋💕

I often have great intentions, but the busyness of life, procrastination on my part, and the squirrels in my head, (oh those squirrels!) often distract me from my destination.  But I am learning, and one of those things that I have learned is that nothing about being in relationship with our Eternal God is passive.  There’s always a part we must play, a choice we have to make. 

Let’s take a look at a few examples from the Word of God:

“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉…” Isaiah 40:31

“𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅; 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎.” Psalm  34:8

“𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”  James 4:8

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓; 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆.”  Proverbs 18:10

“𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑶 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔.” 1 Timothy 6:11-12

Action words and verbs simply abound in these passages. 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕! 𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒆𝒆. 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝑵𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑹𝒖𝒏! 𝑷𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒆. 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒆! 𝑭𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕!

So much of the Word of God requires action on our part.  We cannot just sit, doing nothing, and expect to grow in the knowledge of our God.  Good intentions and good ideas don’t get us anywhere!  Therefore, I love the consistency of our Abba Father, and this is why I so want to be like Him.  If we consistently wait, consistently taste, consistently draw near, we will get to know the LORD and we will see change in our families, our nation, and across the world.

Let’s make this our prayer – “𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 – 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯!”

When I think about being kissed by the King, I think about just how close you have to be to be kissed.  Face to face.  No distance between you at all.  I think of the scripture “𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (James 4:8) If you want His kisses, you must draw so close that you are touching, no space, no gap at all.  That’s close!

I remember some time back; the LORD spoke to me and gave me a vision.  In the vision I was sitting on a park bench, I was on one side of the bench and Jesus was on the other.  He said to me, “𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳,” so I kind of shuffled along the bench a little bit towards the LORD and He said, “𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳.”  So, again I edged along the bench a little more and He said once again, “𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳.” Your Beloved is inviting you to draw close, really close, close enough to hear His heartbeat, close enough for Him to whisper in your ear. So often we can think we are close, but we are not, we can always draw closer, and then closer again.

And so, I sit here and ask myself, where do I go to be fully wrapped in His embrace, to that place where I breathe in the fragrance of His breath?   How can I be kissed with the kisses of my Beloved?  How can I draw so close to Him that I can see myself reflected in the pupil of His eyes?  The answer is a simple one but often a hard one – 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲!  Time!  A precious commodity and one we seem to have so little of.  We must take the time each day in His Word, worshipping, and talking to our Savior.  Make a date.  Book a time.  Write it in your calendar.  Today I am going to make a date with my Beloved and simply sit, stay, linger, in His presence, at His feet, in His arms.  It is a journey that is Oh so worth it and the more time you spend there the more time you want to spend.  It becomes addictive, moreish, until you just cannot get enough of time spent with the One that loves you endlessly! Do you long to see your Beloved face to face, mouth to mouth? 

The beautiful Holy Spirit is looking for worshippers, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉. (John 4:24). Over the years I have grappled with this verse trying to figure out what spirit and truth meant, and, in the process, I missed the worship.  I missed the part where I am called to worship!  I love to dig into the Greek and Hebrew and there I found what it is the Spirit wants.  The word for worship is “𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘰” taken from two words, one ‘to draw near’ and the other ‘to kiss.’  To come close and kiss. How beautiful is the thought that the yearning of the Holy Spirit is that you would draw so near, so very close that there would be absolutely nothing in between you.  That He would indeed “𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉!”  Proskuneo also means to fall prostrate at the Kings feet, to bow down in holy reverence, to be in that place of awe and wonderment, to kneel before your God, your creator. 

Let’s make a date with Jesus today, let’s not miss one more day in His presence, one more moment when we can rest in His embrace, one more second where we can be kissed by our King, sitting in His presence, and hearing Him whisper in our ear – “𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱!”

It’s the words face to face that really get me though, especially when our desire is to be a Shulamite.  Face to face, gazing straight into our Beloved’s beautiful brown eyes.  I know that when we do, nothing else will matter.  Moses was a man that I envy, he talked to God “𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅!” (Exodus 33:11) In the Hebrew face to face means ‘𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩.’  We will be that close.  Transforming love bringing us straight into His presence, face to face, mouth to mouth.  When we Let Him, our Beloved will kiss us with the kisses of His mouth.

Have you ever read the Word of God when suddenly a verse became alive, suddenly you knew that the LORD was speaking directly to you?  It almost feels as though it hits you in the heart, you begin to glow.  Then, as if that wasn’t enough, God confirms His Word through someone else, the verse echoes all around you.  God is speaking to you.  In Rabbinical tradition this is called 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴!  A kiss from God is that living word, a word that sings in your heart and makes your step a little lighter. 

My thoughts for days have been on how we will see Jesus face to face and the scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:12 had been echoing in my heart.  As I sat down to write this chapter I wondered how to start when an email popped into my inbox.  It was the ‘verse of the day.’  I clicked on it and of course, would you believe it, there I read; “𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, 𝒅𝒊𝒎𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒎 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏.”  Wow!  I had literally just been kissed by the King!  It made my heart dance knowing that He was leading me, that someone, somewhere needed to read these words.  Perhaps that’s you?

Did you know that just as much as the Shulamite longed to be kissed by her Beloved, your Beloved longs to kiss you even more?  He longs to shower you with kisses, to speak those living words straight to your heart.  To bring His Word alive.

I think that a whole bible study could be written on this verse alone.  Perhaps there has been.  The thought that my beloved kisses me with the kisses of His mouth is so intimate and tender.  When I get to the part where I trust, when I Let Him, anything can happen.  And it does!  The kisses of the Savior!  Today I pray that you would be “𝗞𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴,” that His living Word would come alive for you.