Fear of the Lord

"There can be no intimacy without painful passion." -Ken Helser.

For those of you who heard my testimony, you may remember me talking about the Fear of the Lord. It was a lecture topic that changed my life and flipped my world upside down. Of course, it wasn't the lecture that changed my world, it was the One whom the lecture was about, Jesus Christ.

This last week's topic was the Fear of the Lord taught just as last time by my mentor, Nathan McGill. I was expecting to see break though-- I was expecting to see things happen. I think all of us on the staff team were. I think it's because when conviction comes two choices-- obedience or disobedience. And we were just aching to see conviction come to our school and to ourselves so that we could go beyond what we knew of God and into higher places and more intimacy with Him.
Nathan had 3 days. He always gets shorted because he's not an 'out-of-town' speaker.. But 3 days is enough. It was enough for God to move and alter my life completely, so why shouldn't I expect Him to do a similar thing in the lives if my students?

The first day was hardly a lecture. We all came, knees bowed, worshipping, crying out to God. Some entered in and some didn't. But the focus wasn't on that-- it was on Him. He called us to worship, so we worshipped. I remember Nathan was leading out in prayer much of the time and at one point, in tears he screamed out, "Oh God! I've never started a class like this! But I want so badly to have your will done, I will lay my agenda aside!"
I kinda laughed at that actually.. He didn't realize he was saying that out loud. ha.. anyway.

The second day we spent more time in notes and in defining what fear of the Lord is: to be in awe of Him who holds everything together.. and as a result of a revelation of that power and everlastingness, we submit to hate what he hates and love what he loves.

The third day we came to the thing that keeps us from fearing God most of all other things-- fear of man. We didn't finish the notes because the Spirit of God began to move and we wanted to co-operate with it. We put a chair up their and a microphone and began to repent of being motivated out of fear of man rather than God in all the different areas of our lives.. A student would repent and then we would gather around them and pray, prophesy and speak out what God was saying and doing. Most of us staff went to the chair and repented of being motivated by the fear of man (including myself) as well as 3/4 of the students.. and we began to see SO much breakthrough individually and corporately as we continued to worship God even as we ministered to one another.

3 days. God can change and transform you in a minute if you allow Him to. But so often, we hold on to that which is most dear, that which is comfortable to us. That sinful life of living in fear of man (which is pride) rather than allowing the fear of God to be the purpose and motivation of everything we do in our lives.

Oh God, thank you for moving in the lives of these students! Continue this work in our hearts God. But more importantly, to all who read this, meet them in such a way that all fear and shame will be chased out by your love, for your perfect love casts out all fear. Move them to repentance Lord that they may find more intimacy and that they may know You for who You are, not for what You do. Praise you Lord.

"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecc. 12:13)