The capacity of a human soul

Nearly every day, Tozer says something in his devotional writing that startles me. His words may or may not be God’s ‘rhema’ for my day, but this quote has me shaking my head in amazement:

“Out of all God’s creatures, only the soul has a capacity large enough for [God] to empty . . .  the whole ground of his being into it. This He does in the act of giving birth to Himself spiritually in the soul.”

I’d already been thinking about the human heart as I began today by reading part of Exodus, the section where Pharaoh hardened his heart rather than letting the Israelites leave Egypt. Moses told this man what God wanted but he refused. After a few miraculous signs, Pharaoh still refused because God hardened his heart.

This made me think of the hard-hearted people I know. They hear the good news but push it away. The reasons vary, but the result is the same — a decreasing interest in Him and an increasing interest in the powers of darkness.

The good news is not difficult to understand, yet in its simplicity it becomes a puzzle and even bad news to those whose minds are closed to it. Jesus said it this way:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18)

This is a black and white statement. If I believe in Jesus, I am not condemned. If I do not believe in Jesus, I am condemned already. Two choices, and as with choices before they are made, we are usually in one of them. For example, today I can go out or stay home, yet before I decide, I am already at home. In this case, without making any decision at all, the unbelieving person is in a dangerous place.

The amazing statement by Tozer puts awe in my heart. God created us so we have a soul that some say is God-shaped and only God can fill. The wonder is that a soul can be filled with all the fullness of God! Of course, the whole world cannot hold Him, but there is a sense that all of who God is becomes His gift to us when we believe in Jesus Christ.

Why is it so hard? Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)

Was it difficult because Pharaoh did not know God? Did he fear great loss if he lost his slaves? Would he look bad in the sight of his people? He may have had these reasons, but the bottom line is that he did not know God or trust Him.

According to God’s Word, all unbelieving people are held in bondage by another ruler, the ‘prince of darkness’ who has the power to bind people in sin. This is the condemnation that Jesus spoke of for those who deny God and refuse to know and obey Him. This makes me sad, sad for those in darkness, sad that continual refusal could mean God will turn His back on them, even harden their already hard hearts so that they cannot believe. The Bible says that His mercy endures forever, but it also says unbelief condemns those who reject it.

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Jesus, faith in You brings all of who You are into my life. I cannot fully grasp the wonder of that right now because the sorrow I feel for those with hardened hearts is overwhelming. I know that You can do anything — nothing is too hard for You. May the power of Your everlasting mercy and grace change the determination of those who have set their jaws and their hearts against You.

A wider burden

While I pray much for family and friends, God keeps laying on my heart to pray for many more. He has led me to print prayer request calendars from the Internet for Christian organizations that are ministering to children and to those being persecuted around the world. As He enlarges my perspective, I’m more deeply aware and affected by world news. Those hurricanes and the way they have affected millions is on my prayer list. So is Las Vegas. So are the many countries suffering from disastrous weather, wars, and various traumatic events.

When I think of Christians who are dying for their faith, I’ve mixed emotions. On one hand, their pain becomes my pain, but on the other hand, could it me that this is God’s way of taking them home! They are with Jesus; how can I grieve? They are forever safe and forever joyful; it is those left behind who need the comfort and grace of God.

I’ve known Christians who lost loved ones. For the most part, the sadness was admitted as “I feel sorry for me.” The followers of Jesus Christ know that the ones they miss so much are in a far better place. They are certain of this because of the promises of God. He says:

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)

Faith is a sort of ‘knowing’ that cannot be shaken. It is a gift from God, a certainty that drives away all uncertainty about what happens when I die, what happens when others who love Jesus go from this world. It is an unshakable knowledge that they are with Jesus.

For that reason, the gospel becomes our most important comfort. It is a message for everyone; God makes no distinction:

“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Romans 3:22–25)

Even though sin must be punished (and all of us are sinners), God put the penalty for sin on Jesus Christ. This removed the threat of judgment . . .

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18)

The gospel also removes the fear of death, making it a portal to everlasting life, a life that believers already have because this life is in Christ and Christ is in us.

Because of this, I know that anyone who believes but is slain randomly or because of their faith, is safe with Jesus. This is a great comfort for the great pain felt because of the mess that our world is in and because of the suffering of so many people. I pray for their situation, for God’s grace to take care of their needs. Most of all, I pray that He will open their hearts to the good news — that they will know eternal life is as close as two words — “Yes, Jesus.”

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Lord, my heart hurts when I write this, and as I pray for so many suffering people. Yet You know far more about their situations than I do. I believe that the grief You feel is projected into Your followers because so many are involved in caring for the needs around them. My role right now seems to be prayer, but I will not put the word “only” alongside it because prayer is far from the least I can do. I know that because You gave me the burdens of my heart, You are also listening and granting the answers to those pleas.

Jesus’ love feast

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies . . .” (Psalm 23:5)

What is love? We love pizza. We love grandmother. We love a sunset. We love another person. God says we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. What is the difference between loving God and loving a good movie or a ride on a roller coaster?

Love as defined by the Word of God is about putting the ones we love first. It is exemplified in Jesus Christ for that is exactly what He did . . .

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:16–18)

For us, love is giving ourselves and our stuff to help others. For Jesus, it was giving His life that we might live. I know that, but thinking about the Cross is difficult and emotional. Maybe that is why we need the communion table, the Lord’s Supper, also called the Eucharist. It is for remembering what He did to express His love for us. To help us remember, He prepared a table . . .

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:19–20)

Jesus also connects Himself to David’s psalm by calling Himself the Good Shepherd. In those days, the sheepfold had no door, so the shepherd would lie down across the entrance at night to protect his flock. This is why Jesus said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:9–11)

He laid down His body, His very life as a sacrifice for His sheep. He told them it would happen and He did just as He said He would . . .

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again . . . . (John 10:14–18)

Would I lay down my life for a pizza, or a good movie, a sunset, or a ride on a roller coaster? I don’t think so. I’m not sure if I would lay down my life for family or friends, but Jesus did say, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

The demonstrated love of Jesus proves the love of God for me. His sacrifice sets me free from any anxiety about being loved. Each time I sit at the feast He prepared, I remember what my Shepherd has done and how His unconditional love sets me free from worries about myself. My heart and mind experience great emotion and gratitude, yet the intent of Jesus is that His love flows in me and through me — that I will love others as He has loved me.