S.S. 1:8 “If you do not know,
Most beautiful among women.
Go forth on the trail of the flock,
And pasture your young goats
By the tents of the shepherds.”
As I said in a previous devotional, the words of verse eight are The Bridegroom’s first words spoken in the song of Solomon. He is responding to her quest, in verse seven, to find the place of heart rest in His presence, and freedom from the veils of pretense and shame. Christlikeness is a place of deep Heart rest, because true Christlikeness is being set free from the phoniness of trying to be like Christ in your own strength, for it is true experience of Christ Himself being Himself in you and through you. She no longer wants to just go through the motions, pretending Christlikeness, while knowing on the inside the struggle and failure of the flesh. She wants to experience the genuine thing; Christ Himself in her life on full display.
His initial answer to her is a very practical one. He simply tells her to follow the trail of those who’ve gone before her in the same journey. He tells her to feed by the tents of those shepherds. There are shepherds who are still alive today; that is men and women, who have a successful testimony of pursuing, with wholeheartedness, Christlikeness; and have left us a trail to follow through their writings or writings about them, or even recorded teachings. There are also many men, and women who are part of the church triumphant in Heaven, but have left written records for us to glean from. This is such an important part of our spirituality. In the language of the Song of Solomon, if you want to live a Dove’s Life then spend time listening to, and watching Doves. The Holy Spirit will obviously be speaking fresh things into your heart on this journey, but it is important that you draw from, not only the things God is telling you that it’s fresh and new, but also those things He has spoken to others who have blazed the trail before us. My intention is for this particular devotional to be very practical in helping you go Further Up, and Further In, so here is a partial list of writings by shepherds who have fed me along the way. I am blessed to be able to spend long periods of time at His footstool listening to His voice, and I often glean from the writings of others during those hours of prayer, along with His word, so here is a partial list of writings by shepherds who have fed me along the way. I will post a longer list in the days to come on the Aslan site.
THE SAVING LIFE OF CHRIST- Ian Thomas****
THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE- Watchman Nee
VICTORY IN CHRIST- Charles Trumbull
THE LAW OF LIBERTY IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE – Evan H. Hopkins***
HUDSON TAYLOR’S SPIRITUAL SECRET- ****
THE CALVARY ROAD- Roy Hession****
MOTHER TERESA’s SECRET FIRE**
THE PURSUIT OF GOD- A.W. Tozer **
LISTENING PRAYER – Leanne Payne
COMPELLED BY LOVE – Heidi Baker**
WHAT IS THE POINT – Misty Edwards
WHEN HEAVEN INVADES EARTH – Bill Johnson **