A couple of posts ago I referenced the idea of our spirit being a ‘womb,’ a place of birthing, noting that the word translated as ‘heart’ in John 7:38 is the Greek word koila.
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38 (NKJV)
2809. κοιλία koilia noun, Cavity, belly, stomach, womb, uterus, innermost being.
Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, The .
So if one function of our spirts is to serve as a spiritual womb, how does it work in practice? In speaking of our natural bodies and our future resurrection bodies Paul told us,
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:46 (NKJV)
How does this tie back to spiritual births? If we think of the natural conception and birth of children, thought this it is not always true, it is the Lord’s design that children are conceived in a place of intimacy. In a similar manner Jesus desires that we come into a place of intimacy with Him so that he can birth things in our spirits and they can be released to bless others. The natural parallels the spiritual.
Let me illustrate ate with an Old Testament example. In Psalm 46:10 we have an admonition to be still and experience intimacy with Yahweh.
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)
The Hebrew word translated as ‘know’ is below.
- ָידַע yādhaʿ verb
to know, to understand
Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary – The.
The word ‘know’ is used numerous times to refer to the physical intimacy between a couple that produces a child. Part of a natural intimate conception process is the involvement of both parties. The same is true spiritually. When Yahweh tells us to be still and be intimate with Him we are being invited into a shared experience, not a shared concept. We need to focus on Him, open our spirits and seek to listen to what He is speaking. This is the place where dreams and destinies are often released.
In seeking to respond to Yahweh’s invitation the context of Psalm 46 is important. As Psalm 46 begins it describes chaos and trouble and in the midst of it there is an invitation to intimacy; a message that we can experience His peace and presence no matter our circumstances. Through the Holy Spirit He wants to release new ideas, plans and purposes to and through us but needs us to first get quiet with and before Him.
For those of us who think this is not possible in difficult of stressful times let me share a story. A number of years ago there was a movie called “We Were Soldiers” that was based on actual events in Viet Nam. In the movie Mel Gibson played a Colonel who led his troops in the first major US engagement with the North Vietnamese. The scene was chaos and I believe the battle lasted continuously for well over 24 hours.
Given this was their first engagement the military wanted to learn as much as they could so conducted extensive interviews with the survivors (these parts were not in the movie). As a result they were considering court martialling the Colonel because some of his troops said he was sleeping during the worst parts of the battle. When they met with the Colonel and laid out the accusations. He was shocked. He explained that when the battle was the worst he tried to get very quiet and focused inside (hence the appearance of sleeping). He said he did this and then asked himself three questions;
- What’s happening?
- What’s not happening?
- Where do we go from here?
I won’t go into detail regarding the purpose of the questions other than to say that they became part of a military training manual. My point is that with men dying around him and being shot at the Colonel not only found time to become quite and focused, he believed that was what he needed to do to lead his men and help them survive. Given this, in our difficult times, how important is it to respond to Yahweh’s invitation, “Be still and know that I am Yahweh?”
A few years ago while a small group of us were engaged in worship He gave me a song, it begins, “I am here to worship, Intimate One.” In Psalm 46 that is how He wants us to see and know Him, as the Intimate One. In reflecting on responding to His invitation, ‘be still and know’ we can think of our invitation to know this ‘Intimate One’ as;
- Be still and open your heart to me
- Be still and receive my heart
- Be still and hear My thoughts
- Be still and open your spirit to me
- Be still and rest in my presence
- Be still and receive My love
- Be still and give Me your heart
- Be still and love Me
These approaches and others are aspects of entering into intimacy with Him. Which one is He speaking to your heart today?
