Banner of Love

Song of Songs 2:4  He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary “A banner is a flag, ensign, streamer, or emblem attached to the end of a standard. Banners served as rallying points for military, national, or religious purposes……The most common use of banners was for military campaigns. A large signal flag usually was erected on a hill or other high place.”

 

God is raising up a warrior bride/army. The banner over God’s warrior bride/army is a banner of love.  This warrior bride will have a fierce love for God and for each other.    

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

You may wonder about my choice of the word “fierce.”  That is the word I heard from the Lord.  I looked up the word in the dictionary.   Here are some definitions of “fierce” from Webster’s Dictionary:   “marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence, furiously active or determined, having or showing a lot of strong emotion : very strong or intense.”

I think that could describe the love that will characterize the bride of Christ in these last days.  It will be necessary to have that kind of love.  That kind of love comes from God.  It is not something we can find within ourselves.  God is love.  His love shines forth to us.  Then through us back to Him and to each other.

Song of Songs 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. ⁷ Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

 

Becoming Unfruitful

Matthew 13:22 KJV He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Matthew 13:22 AMP As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

In the parable of the sower, we see that the seed that is received into thorny ground is choked and becomes unfruitful. Plants become unfruitful if they are attempting to grow in a garden where the weeds are not removed.  In the same way in the life of a Christian unless we have the thorns/weeds removed from our lives we can hear the Word of God over and over and it will not bear fruit in our lives. 

The care of this world is one of the thorns/weeds that will choke the Word and lead to unfruitfulness.  Care can involve being concerned and anxious. It can be the many distractions that can take our focus away from the Lord. 

This parable also mentions the deceitfulness of riches.  A person may think, that cannot possibly apply to them, because they do not have much money.  But the deceitfulness of riches can be a snare to anyone no matter how little or how much money a person has. Our culture, in particular advertising, tells us that we have all these “things” in order to be somebody or be valued in this life. That is a lie and many buy into it.  It is a deception that is constantly put before us.  Our true value is found in Christ not in whether we have the latest greatest whatever. This type of thinking can choke out the Word of God and keep us from the true riches that are in Christ. I am not saying having things chokes the Word, but how we think about the things, what value we place on them is what can choke out the Word.

We may even bear good fruit for a time, but then these thorns/weeds may begin to grow in our lives.  Like in a garden the weeds continue to seek to grow and hinder our fruit bearing.  We must be vigilant to stay free from these things so we can bear much fruit.

John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.