Facing Your Shit

It feels more prolific many times when I'm tapping out the video descriptions for my message. The written word seems more impactful. But after some inspiration bounces around in me for a while I just can't keep my mouth shut.

What has any man desired but unfailing love? (Proverbs 19:22). So may the countenance of the LORD rise on you! Let it only be a terrible thing in that the throes of ecstasy eject us from every illusion of false self. Here is where we crave the face of the LORD! Any allusion to passion and intensity by the references to “wrath” contained in the following texts have to be clarified by the desire for intimacy. Literally - INTO-ME-SEE! What is imminent here is a face to face encounter. When we become locked into a Reckoning from which we cannot look away, the discomfort of “vengeance” is in the resistance to the captivation. No soul suffers from divine displeasure or retribution. Conversely, it is precisely that delight and pleasure that drives God toward the sinner so that he may enjoy REAL BEING in REAL PRESENCE! We don’t even know who or what we are until such an engagement is experienced. This is the kind of “trouble” we can count on to clarify our desires and burn up everything pertaining to the false self.

These verses have been marinading in my gut for a while. This will probably be the last go-to verse, used by fundamentalist to justify E.ternal C.onscious T.orment, that I will refute by video. The nuances from translations bear some enquiry. So here are three different renderings of the texts (emphases mine).

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION and shut out from the PRESENCE of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all those who have believed” - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 NIV.

“…since [it is] a righteous thing with God to give back to those troubling you - trouble, and to you who are troubled - rest with us in the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven, with messengers of his power, in flaming fire, giving vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall suffer justice - DESTRUCTION AGE-ENDURING - from the FACE of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when He may come to be glorified in his saints, and to be wondered at in all those believing - because our testimony was believed among you - in that day” - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 Young’s Lireral Translation.

“…if so be that it is just of God to repay affliction to those afflicting you, and to you who are being afflicted, ease, with us, at the unveiling of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful messengers, in flaming fire, dealing out vengeance to those who are not acquainted with God and those who are not obeying the evangel of our Lord Jesus Christ - who shall incur the JUSTICE OF EONIAN EXTERMINATION from the FACE of the Lord, and from the glory of His strength - whenever He may be coming to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all who believe (seeing that our testimony to you was believed) in that day” - 2 Thessalonians 1:5-11 Concordant Version.

Here’s the Strong’s rendering of the Greek for “face” or “presence”:

πρόσωπον
Transliteration: prosōpon
Pronunciation: pros'-o-pon
Part of Speech: neuter noun
Root Word (Etymology): From πρός (G4314) and ops (the visage, from ὀπτάνομαι (G3700))
TDNT Reference: 6:768,950
Outline of Biblical Usage:
the face
the front of the human head
countenance, look
the face so far forth as it is the organ of sight, and (by it various movements and changes) the index of the inward thoughts and feelings
the appearance one presents by his wealth or property, his rank or low condition
outward circumstances, external condition
used in expressions which denote to regard the person in one's judgment and treatment of men
the outward appearance of inanimate things.

***SCRIPTURES OF HONORABLE MENTION***

"They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!'" - Revelation 6:16.

"For our God is a consuming fire" - Hebrews 12:29 NKJV.

"The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the face of the earth" - Psalm 34:15&16 KJV.

"Jacob named the place Peniel (which means 'face of God'), for he said, 'I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared'" - Genesis 32:30 NLT.

"...the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints - which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" - Colossians 1:26&27 ESV.

"Your gentleness has made me great" - Psalm 18:35 NKJV.