Knowing the Terror of the Lord…

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. [2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV]
That’s me. But the terror of the Lord that I know, has not made me want to crawl into a cave and hide. It makes me bold! It makes me want to persuade men. It starts with knowing what it’s like to be made manifest unto God. I… mean opening up absolutely everything in your life for God to examine, with NO reservations… not holding anything back.

I know what it’s like to have God shine His light into the very thoughts and intents of my heart, and the terror of seeing how wretched and far off the mark I was, when I thought I was really up there, just working on polishing up the fine points. There were times as He showed me one thing after another in my heart, as He saw them, that I really thought, “Lord, is there ANYTHING in me, or what I’ve done, that is good and pure?”

But HE LOVED ME! He didn’t condemn me. Of course He loved me when I repented and surrendered to Him, but He had always been loving me, even BEFORE I even knew I needed to repent! I’m talking about AFTER I had been saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, writing songs about coming into perfection.

That’s the love of Christ that constrains me now! (vs.14) How can I scorn or condemn any other man who loves the Lord, but has sins in his life, or wrong beliefs, but he doesn’t see them… yet. It’s true that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (vs.10) Yes, He also showed me the good that He saw in me. That’s why I want to persuade men. And that’s why I want to see the good in others that He sees. He counted us all of such great value, that He gave His Son to die for us!“One died for all!” THAT is the GOOD NEWS! And, “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.” (vs.15) If I wanted to “live unto myself”, I sure wouldn’t be opening up the windows of my heart, and posting all this super-personal stuff for the world to see. But the love of Christ CONSTRAINS me! He says, “For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.” (vs.13) God has poured His love into me, and yes, I am BESIDE MYSELF!