Deep Unto Deep - Week #14 (Final Week)

This is our final week in Deep Unto Deep. I’ll be taking a break (except for an occasional greeting perhaps) until January 11 when we will start with the first chapter of the classic, The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer.

Chapter 12 – Consumed in Love’s Fire

This final chapter begins, “The journey of the heart does not ever reach an ending point.” Even throughout eternity we will be growing and learning. “…for all the ages to come, Love will unfold and unfold…Our lives on the earth are but the womb of the life to come.”

And so we should expect that our present lives will be full of ebb and flow and will be passing through different seasons in our maturing process.

The author asks the question: “What does a heart on the earth aflame with the love of God look like in full blaze?” Acknowledging that every heart is unique in its expression of this, she goes on to suggest some general realities of a heart ablaze with God’s love:
1. “No longer our own, we belong to Another…No longer is any sacrifice too great or any reward held in higher importance than the reward of the love of Christ…we would give for Love all the wealth of our house and…possessions, utterly despising any recognition of our sacrifice (Song of Sol. 8:7; Phil. 3:8).”
2. We reach a point of no return. This doesn’t mean we don’t need to grow more but simply that we’ve been too ruined by His love to ever return to that which previously brought pleasure outside of Him. (Jn. 6:68; Psa. 73:25,26)

Eph. 3:17-19 is the Apostle Paul’s prayer that the Ephesians would experience the depth and height of God’s love unto the fullness of God.

“As He seizes our hearts with His magnificent closeness, He takes us to the heights of enjoyment and satisfaction in His word. He brings us to the mountaintops and wins our hearts forever by divine pleasure…Yet this is only part of Love’s communion. Along with the heights come also the depths…“When we began this journey, we had so many glorious aspirations and imagined that our way forward would be a continual ascension – a never-ending climb to higher heights of divine pleasure…”

Our idea of going “from glory to glory” is similar to Much Afraid in Hind’s Feet on High Places. She thought that the promise of the Shepherd to take her to the high places meant a straight shot up the mountain and was surprised and offended when He led her down and around in order to finally bring her to the heights.

But the Lord’s idea of going from “glory to glory” and from “strength to strength” and from “faith to faith” is as far removed from our idea as the heavens are from the earth. “As we move from the introductions of intimacy to the place of maturity, we find that He is truly moving us to complete abandonment, and…that is far more painful than we had imagined. We are surprised to find that with the heights of Love come the depths of Love. With the south winds come the north winds and with the mountain tops come the valleys. With the power of the resurrection comes the fellowship of suffering…”

In my personal journey, the fire of the depths is what has revealed how much mixture there is in my love for Him. Mixed in with sincere love for Him has been much natural and self-seeking love. Only the fire of difficulty and suffering can expose the mixture and burn out the dross so that what’s left is the real love of God in my heart.

This is the journey of the Shulammite in the Song of Solomon. The first half of the story is her relating with Him for what SHE will get out of the relationship; midway through the book, there’s a shift that takes place, and she now wants to be with Him for HIS sake. She begins to see from His perspective and what HE will get out of their relationship. She is now walking in “mature love” for Him and would give all for His love, no matter the cost.

Now it’s not only that He is my Reward but that I am His reward, and I want Him to have all of me, the reward of His sufferings (Isa. 53:11). And as I catch vision for this, it compels me to give all to see that He has all of me, but it also compels me to give all for the sake of His getting His reward in many others because I want Him to have all that He died for.

Later in this chapter Dana Candler says and asks, “This God-Man encompasses the heights and the depths of Love’s extent within His very person…He is just as acquainted with sufferings as He is with conquering. The question to ask is, am I offended by Your meekness? Do I embrace Your prominence and shun Your lowliness? Have I received Your kingliness and rejected Your servanthood?...surely within the vastness of His personality, it is His meekness that we most stumble over. And it is this part of His heart that invites us to His fellowship of suffering…”

When we say “yes” to Him in the beginnings of our intimate walk with Him, He knows how to lead us perfectly into mature love; and no matter who it is that He’s watching over, His leadership will always include the depths as well as the heights. As we realize and acknowledge and accept this reality of His perfect leadership, we are able to keep saying “yes” to Him even when we can’t understand the divine reasoning in the way He’s leading us.

The chapter ends with a challenge to recognize that in the critical times we now live in before the Lord’s soon return, He is asking for nothing less than wholehearted response to Him. By His fiery Spirit, Jesus will have a lovesick Bride when He returns.

Holy Spirit of God, come and fan the flame of my heart afresh this holiday season before the new year. Awaken desire for Jesus within me that will empower me to say “no” to the seductions of this age and say “yes” to His invitation to Love. Do this over and over and over in and for me, I pray, for the sake of the Lamb who said “yes” to being crushed by the Father for my sake. Take my life afresh, Lord, and lead me into the fullness of God along with all of your saints…thank You!

The Lord be with you and show You His countenance and favor as you walk out of the old year and into the new in Him. God bless you!