I personally went from being a man that was mostly living in a world with other men (my brothers in Christ and men I was trying to help see God's love and his redemption for themselves and their hearts) in my life up until God brought my wife and me together, into a world that is more filled with women (my wife, my daughter, our dog, family, friends, etcetera). I've begun to see just what Satan is doing to women in this world. Not personally, I haven't served yet in a place that is helping these poor women and children. But the effects of what is going on among us is slowly becoming clear.
I think there are two main concepts going on with this evil that attacks our world, with regard to women especially in the sex slave trade: 1. Understanding how jealously drives our enemy, and 2. Pure unadulterated hatred. The latter is self-explanatory, but I really think the first one deserves some attention. Just imagine the bitterness that can arise from someone who has been thwarted from their own desires, especially in a "beauty" contest as Lucifer tried with Jesus and lost terribly. I think he sees us worshipping God, which is us being intimate with him and it really helps drive his hate. I don't think it's too different, in a way, from the most popular (terribly selfish) girl in high school losing her crush to the quiet, yet beautiful and unassuming girl in the class. Imagine her jealousy when she starts getting the thoughts of them making out in the back of his car. It would probably be enough of her to stop off at the Exxon station on the way home and pick up a couple extra Hershey bars and a bag of crispy Lays to make her feel better. The thought of us having intimacy with God must drive the demons crazy. Good! Let it. They deserve it (plus much more!). The other thing that drives them nuts is taking it down a couple notches to human intimacy. This is where they've really wrecked havoc. I bet seeing an image of a couple's intimacy drives them crazy with jealousy and hate. Because they are seeing an image of the intimacy Jesus has, and will have in heaven, with his lovers. Intimacy here is the earthly copy of heavenly intimacy with God. It's a lot like how Hebrews 8:5 says,
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. NIV
Our earthly bodies are God's temple now, but they are just a seed of what our spiritual, redeemed bodies will be (we will still have skin, Jesus did after he was resurrected). Earthly intimacy in marriage here and now is a shadow of the heavenly intimacy we will have with our God in our marriage with him. Unfortunately, many have fallen into terrifying sin; God's redemption knows no bounds though. The sex slave trade is just one example of many wars Satan and his demons use to physically realize their jealous anger on humanity. Unfortunately the damage is done in most cases. Women and children caught in that war need to know this: they are beautiful and incredible and, as John Eldredge would say, worth fighting for. Jesus definitely thought so. He died for them and one day will physically fight for their rescue. And he is the one asking our hand in marriage. He wants to be their Knight in Shinning Armor.
I think our worship of God is increased incredibly by others. I don't like thinking of people as "ministry projects." Especially those in need of healing from Jesus. The Spirit said it was not good for us to be alone. We, as lovers of Jesus Christ, are involved in the greatest love war of all time. We are trying to bring home the desires of God's heart to him. These desires of his heart are the people that won't have him for themselves. That don't know him. Or that are trapped in an evil world (like the sex trade, drug trade, the sinful underground of the world...etc). We all are suppose to have a beautiful, free, unashamed, unabashed, passion-filled relationship with Jesus and then we are suppose to reflect it to and share it with each other. Jesus said that in marriage (intimacy) we will be like the angels in heaven (Mark 12:25). I love what John Eldredge and his best friend Brent Curtis, who died years ago in an accident, said about this in The Sacred Romance:
The angels Isaiah sees flying around the throne room of God [cry] "holy, holy, holy" not to God but to "one another" ....to see what they see of the majesty and beauty of God, so that their joy might be increased as they celebrate him together...the exploration of Heaven shall also include our knowing of each other. How could it not? How can love be complete without the freedom to be naked and unashamed? More than unashamed, we shall be celebrated. (p. 189)
Loving others in this world isn't just helping them, or a social justice project; it's bringing deep restoration to someone by drawing them into an incredible romance with God. There in Jesus' sweet arms we find us, we find ourselves, and in ways we never understood before, we find each other. We lose part of that every time there is a death outside of Christ. Loving God is everything; and he's given us all of him and each other. Worshipping Jesus isn't just with ourselves, it is also worshipping him together. And through that, our joy and celebration of Jesus is exponentially increased. Our hearts' destiny is woven towards that intimate moment in God's arms one day. We can't help but fight for others, because we are fighting for our own hearts in a very deep way by doing so. Satan would attack the place most vulnerable to everyones' heart: women, the image of God's beauty, and children, the image of God's innocence. We really are in a dark hour with this war. We must fight back and fight for each other and ourselves.
Backing off a little bit, I wonder about Jesus sometimes and what he says to the angels in heaven. Does he have a couple angels that he has a special friendship with? Does he talk about me? I know a lot of people who want to hear Jesus tell them when they get to heaven, "Good job, faithful servant." I want to hear Jesus saying now to the angels about me, "I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me." (SS 7:10, NIV) I want his heart to feel pursued. I've never done anything that I can imagine which warrants a good job and a thumbs up from Jesus. I'm not that good, really. All I want is for what I'm doing now to drive him to rush passionately into my arms and kiss me when I finally am with him (Hopefully it will be in the clouds one day when he returns!) For heaven, I really hope for this verse:
...at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover. Song of Songs 7:13 (NIV)
I'm excited to see our relationship come into full blossom all at once. Being with Jesus one day will not just be our marriage to him, but it will be our consummation of our relationship with him. The new, and the old. All of our relationship with him. The Spirit uses the most intimate and tender earthly experience, the union of a bridegroom and his bride, for describing our union with Jesus in Heaven (Eldredge & Curtis discuss this in The Sacred Romance). And we will fully have him and he will fully have us :)
One day we will spend time worshipping Jesus Christ with all we are. It will be great when we can make a facebook status of us with God that says,
His left arm is under my head and his right arm is embracing me. (SS 8:3, NIV)
And life is perfect!
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