Introduction
I see the bride…sitting at Your feet, in Your Presence…basking in the light that comes forth from You. I see Mary rushing to sit at Your feet when You come to stay at their house in Bethany. She is captivated by You.
This is the posture of the church that seeks to be the bride of Christ.
Every morning I rejoice to see the sun breaking through the trees and coming to rest upon different parts of my garden and when it does, that part of the garden is gloriously transformed.
More and more I see in Your creation the hidden metaphors that speak of what happens when we come to sit in Your Presence. When Your light falls upon us, we too have the opportunity to be gloriously transformed.
An apple seed contains within it an orchard of apple trees…yet unless it is planted and dies to its former state so that what has been contained thus far can be released to live…nothing will ever happen.
In the same way, the potential to be Your image bearer, is within each one that You have created…yet unless we are planted in You and unless we are prepared to die to our former state, we will not be able to live the amazing life that we were created for.
Lord, I hear You calling us deeper…into the secret place. You are there, already waiting.
Our King, our Bridegroom, our God…
Come away with Me... I will meet with you there... in the secret place...
My beloved spoke, and said to me; “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away! – Song of Songs 2:10
The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Lion and the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ will be coming for His bride… a bride who is totally and completely in love with Him.
With great expectation she waits for Him. He knows by the “light in her window” that she is still committed to Him.
Everything she does is preparing her for her wedding. Daily she is working on her dress…waiting for her bridegroom.
Her dress
Revelations 19:6-9 – And I heard as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ”Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” and he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
The glory of God
In Revelations 21:9 we see that the angel says to John “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
V10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
V23 The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
We see two things that define what the bride looks like…
- She is wearing a dress of fine linen which is made up of her righteous acts – Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- She is illuminated by the glory of God – 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Holy Spirit.
This then is the journey that we have been on for the last 10 years… the preparation of the bride.
We have had the Deeper Light Bible College revealing to us how to grow from glory to glory through the teaching and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
We have had the Emmanuel Project providing us with opportunities to be busy with the good works that God prepared beforehand.
I have been very immersed in the work of the Emmanuel Project for the last 4 years and it’s been really good. I am very grateful for what God has done and what He has planned for the future.
Still, in the midst of the activity I have heard the still voice of God calling me. “Sylvia, Come away with Me…” calling me to the secret place…
I spend time with Him, praying, studying the Word but this is different…and then He showed me…
Revelations 2:1-7 – To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, “These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labour, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.
And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have laboured for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
The Kingdom Dynamics in my NKJV Bible has this to say about that:
- The spiritual vitality springing up from love for the Lord had degenerated into orthodox routine.
- Zeal for the Lord is not optional for His disciples. Give your love for Jesus first place!
We know that it is all about relationship but if our relationship with the Lord is based only on you and I coming in to get Him to come on board with our plans, prayers and needs or by getting revelation from His Holy Spirit then where is the love, where is the adoration, the wonder and the gratefulness? Where is the awe, the reverence and holy fear?
We must be careful that He does not just become the resource centre we run too… some abstract form of help in the distance.
He is Almighty God, the great “I AM”, the beginning and the end, everything exists because He willed it, He created it, He upholds it. You and I are alive because of Him, we have a hope and a future because of Him, every breath we take is a breath He has given. He is the greatest, Most powerful, Immeasurable, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient God…and yet…He is calling you and I to the secret place…Sylvia, where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I hear Him calling and have entered His presence on my knees… you’ll find me there in the secret place…
Will I stop doing the rest? No…but every morning I will give Him first place…
The Secret Place
by Sylvia Colville
You are my God and my King
My relationship with You supersedes everything
It is and will always be the only foundation for my “Zoe” life.
I know this, but am I longing for You, my King?
Do my feet carry me swiftly to our secret place?
My Lord forgive me – Your death on the cross has become familiar
The intensity of Your love, although known, no longer brings me to my knees.
Distractions creep in to rob me of the most Intense relationship there is
Forgive me my Lord. Change my heart my Lord!
Please open the eyes of my heart once again
To see the majesty, the wonder of a God who waits for me… In the secret place.
The door is open and You are here
There will never be a time that I have to wait for You… to have time for me.
Oh my God…
Your love astounds me and Your grace draws me back into our secret place As I step through the door, once more, the wonder of Your love and mercy Resounds loudly in my spirit and I fall down to worship You.
Father, You have taken us on a journey, helping us to understand who the bride of Christ is, what she looks like, also revealing her attributes, nature and character as she is transformed by Your Holy Spirit and now You are calling us to the Secret Place.
A place where we learn to know You intimately. A bride who is longing for her groom.
You, our Lord are our hiding place, our all in all, our life, our breath, our Saviour and Redeemer. You are our inspiration, our Creator.
As we draw near to You – You draw near to us. Miracle of miracles, that we can come into Your presence in the secret place and the door is always open…thank You.
Lord, show me the secret place? Firstly, it is the place that you get to meet with God...
In the Old Testament
Once God rescued the children of Israel from captivity in Egypt He begins to introduce Himself to them.
Suddenly, after 430 years of slavery, the children of Israel have left Egypt behind, crossed the Red Sea and now find themselves in the wilderness. Everything familiar has passed away EXCEPT their SLAVE MENTALITY! God has to renew their thinking and He has to establish a relationship with them.
Although they had been provided for under Egyptian rule, they do not understand a LOVING AND KIND MASTER.
He reveals His nature, His character and His power and finally He invites them into a covenant with Him…if they agree He will be their God and they will be His people. As their God, He shows Moses how to build the Tabernacle, a place of worship, and the place where His presence dwells in the Holy of Holies. There – in the place of worship, where God dwells – above the Ark, on the mercy seat beneath the wings of the cherubim is where God will meet with Moses.
Moses was the mediator between God and the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:21-22 – You shall put the mercy seat on top of the Ark, and in the Ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the Ark of the Testimony.
Psalm 91:1 – He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Jehovah Elyon).
V4 He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall take refuge.
Here in the Holy of Holies, in the Tabernacle, God speaks to Moses, guides Moses and equips Moses. God and Moses have a close relationship. Moses is even able to influence God when God has had enough of the children of Israel.
David also understood this principle...
Psalm 31:19-20 – How great is your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear (reverence) You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men (others see where you have put your trust).
V20 You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of men; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Psalm 27:4-5 – One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire (seek Him) in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion. In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me. He shall set me high upon a rock.
V6 And now my head shall be lifted up above all my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
In the New Testament
Now, because of what Jesus did, you and I have the privilege of going into the secret place to meet with our Father and our Lord. No longer do we have to go into a physical building but we can go to whatever spot we choose as long as we can worship Him there and spend uninterrupted time alone with Him.
Matthew 6:6 – But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and Your Father, who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:17-18 – But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Go ahead, the Holy Spirit will help you, put on some real worship music, close your eyes and allow the veil of your flesh to melt away… before long you will feel your spirit awakening and a great sense of gratitude, love and wonder arising in your heart… the place where the issues of life flow from.
Jeremiah 30:21 – “I will cause him to draw near and he shall approach Me; for whom is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?” Says the Lord. “You shall be My people and I shall be your God.”
James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
2 Chronicles 15:2 …If you seek Him, He will be found by you…
He is waiting for you there…
Teach us Holy Spirit how to draw near. Show us, help us to become more aware of our Father and our Lord. Develop such a sensitivity in us that we become accustomed to His finest whispers and that our hearts beat in time with His heartbeat… in Jesus Holy name.
The result of spending time in the Secret Place...
Besides the best and most obvious reward, getting to develop an intimate relationship with our Father, our Lord and the Mighty Holy Spirit… there is a further reward…
Sons of God
Romans 8:19 – For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Romans 8:14 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
Is Jesus the Son of God?
Was He Spirit led? Yes! Yes! Yes! He revealed the glory of God upon the earth! He did the impossible! His life exposed the supernatural everywhere He went! His life revealed the Way, the Truth of the sons of God, who are Spirit filled, Spirit guided and Spirit led!
Luke 4:1 – Then Jesus being filled with the Spirit, returned from the Jordan (where He had just been baptized) and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. V13-14 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.
John 5:19-20 – Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He (the Father) does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does;
When did the Father reveal these things to Jesus?
Matthew 14:23 – And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
Jesus, Himself, drew aside from everyone to go up on the mountain to spend time in the presence of His Father where He received direction and the equipping that He needed to fulfil His Father’s will on the earth.
When we start to spend time in His presence, He will give us direction and the equipping (the grace) that we need to fulfil His will in our lives.
It is the difference between a natural carnal life and a supernatural Spirit filled life.
Spending time in the presence of God will create in you the spiritual sensitivity and connectivity that leads to living a truly Spirit led life. This Spirit led life will fulfil the promise that God the Father and Jesus our Lord made in Acts 1:8 You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
All of creation is waiting for the revealing of the Spirit led sons of God.
A light upon a hill.