“So the King will greatly desire your beauty.” —Psalm 45:11

“Set me as a seal upon your heart” —Song of Solomon 8:6

“The accuser wants you to see a Father who is harsh, demanding, never satisfied with your performance, mostly disappointed with you, and frustrated with the rate of your spiritual growth. If that caricature of your heavenly Father is even close to the image you carry on the inside, that false idea of how God views you will begin to drive your emotional responses to Him. You will be wearied with trying to please Him, and your spirit will not soar in the liberty of loving adoration that He has designed for you. Nothing is deadlier to the secret place than a false idea of how God views you…

When you gain ownership of the fact that God is smiling on you, that He is desiring your company, and that He longs to be intimate with you, then the truth of that reality starts to touch your emotional chemistry, and you actually begin to feel attractive to God! 

“God is eternally and infinitely passionate about His Son’s cross! Those who place their faith in this great demonstration of love come under the intense favor of God Almighty. Your faith in Christ’s sacrifice unlocks the infinite passions and delights of an exuberant God who yearns to be joined to your heart in eternal affection. Because you have set your love upon the One whom the Father has set His love upon, you now have an automatic ‘in’ with God. You’re His child; you’re family. 

“He doesn’t enjoy you any less because you struggle. He knows your weakness, He sees your failures, but yet He owns you as His child and enjoys you even when you fall! He loves it when you pick yourself up and keep stepping forward again into His arms. How comforting to know we can bring the entire package of our inadequacies and shortcomings into His presence and know that He lovingly embraces us and delights in us! He enjoys us at every stage of the maturity process. 

“You are stunningly beautiful to Jesus! When He looks upon your beauty, He longs to have you and hold you, for ever and ever. When you come to the secret place, you are coming into the chambers of the King who finds you both beautiful and desirable. Not only do you long for His presence, He longs for yours! 

“As we come into His glorious presence we are changed into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18), and the continual transformation into Christ’s image causes us to be—if it were possible—even more attractive to Him! As the bride adorns herself with “the beauties of holiness” (Psalm 110:3), the lavish affections of a lovesick God are only intensified. 

“The bride is saying to her Beloved, ‘Cause Your life to be bound up in my life. Cause the primary affections of Your heart to be fastened upon me. Make me the center of Your universe. I don’t want You to feel anything without including me. I want to share every passion of Your heart. I want Your thoughts to become my thoughts. I want to be joined to You in love.’ It’s a cry to become His soul mate…Jesus is turning His bride into His soul mate, and the secret place is where that love is incubated and enflamed. 

“God loves us just as much as He loves His only begotten Son! He feels the same way about us that He feels about His holy, spotless, selfless Son. Incredible!! God feels much more deeply and passionately about me than I do about Him. Even when my passions are burning hot and bright for Him, they do not approach the intensity of His love for me…His eyes are constantly riveted on me, and His mind is incessantly focused on who I am and who He is making me to be. When I return to thoughts of Him, the immediate witness of the Spirit is, ‘I’ve been here all along, waiting for you. I love you so much!’

“He waits for you to come to Him! He waits all night long, watching over you, waiting for you to rise, hoping that He might be the first thought of your morning. You don’t have to wonder if He wants you to come into the secret place. He has been waiting for you, and He’ll continue to wait for as long as necessary—because His heart is bound up in your life.”—Bob Sorge

My Prayer

“With tears in my eyes right now, I thank You Lord for the exquisite and extreme love You have for me. Your love and desire for me is past understanding. It is beyond me completely. You have determined to hold me close to Your heart, despite my failures and weaknesses. Your every thought is upon me and You do not want to live a day without me. This is so humbling and so inviting. I come to You, not out of duty but because You are there loving and inviting me in. I come Lord, in response to Your love. I love You Lord and will forever seek to bask in the warmth of Your love. I can never love You even close to how You love me but I commit to loving You dear Jesus. I bow my heart this morning and fall into Your embrace again. Oh God, thank You for accepting me as I am, and patiently working on me to become who You want me to be. Thank You again Jesus. Amen.” 

The Challenge

Enjoy the love of God. Bask in it. Respond to this love in worship and fellowship. Jesus invites you into enjoying Him. So enjoy Him today.