Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise
by “the love of Christ.” Very few of us really know what it means to be
held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled
simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul,
to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. “The love of
Christ compels us . . . .” When you hear that coming from the life of a
man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is
completely unhindered in that person’s life.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based
solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change
and be removed forever once you “receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you . . .” (Acts 1:8). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, “. . . you shall be witnesses
to Me . . . .” Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and
understood— but “witnesses to Me . . . .”
We will accept everything that
happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or
blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for
Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power.
It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the
last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was
gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People
could perceive him as mad or sane-he did not care. There was only one
thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and
to tell them of “the love of Christ.” This total surrender to “the love
of Christ” is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it
will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never
drawing attention to your personal holiness.
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