GOD’S LOVING DISCIPLINE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2023.  

SUBJECT: GOD’S LOVING DISCIPLINE! 

Memory verse: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3 vs 19.)

READ: Hebrews 12 vs 3 - 11:

12:3: For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

12:4: You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

12:5: And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

12:6: For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

12:7: If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

12:8: But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 

12:9: Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" 

12:10: For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best for them, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it

INTIMATION: 

God deals with His children as a parent deals with his or her child. Discipline is for correction, education, and growth. Discipline is for the purpose of molding our characters in order that we will be prepared for eternal dwelling. While in persecution, therefore, one must remember that the love of God is being manifested in one’s life because God is using trying times in order to mold one for eternal dwelling. God wants no spoiled children in heaven, and those discipline is necessary in order to train our minds to be able to dwell with Jesus who suffered the same tribulations. 

Discipline proves you are a member of the family of God. Anyone who rejects the discipline of God is considered illegitimate by God Himself. Jesus was the Son of God, but did nothing He was not instructed to do by His Father in heaven. Yet Jesus suffered in God's boot camp (Hebrews 5 vs 8). God wants to make us mature and complete, not to keep us from pain. Therefore, we should respond to discipline (chastening) gratefully, as the appropriate response we owe a loving Father.

God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish but to bring people back to Him. Instead of complaining about our struggles, we should see them as opportunities for our spiritual growth. For instance, if you are lukewarm in your devotion to God, He may discipline you to help you out of your uncaring attitude, and He uses only loving discipline. You can avoid God’s discipline by drawing near to Him again through confession, service, worship, and studying the Word. Just as the spark of love can be rekindled in marriage, so the Holy Spirit can re-ignite our zeal for the Lord when we allow Him to work in our heart.

It is a blessing to be disciplined by God when we do wrong. At times God must discipline us to help us. This is similar to a loving parent disciplining his child. The discipline is not very enjoyable to the child, but it is essential to teach him or her right from wrong. Also, it’s never pleasant to be corrected and disciplined by God, but His discipline is a sign of His deep love for us. When God corrects you, see it as proof of His love, and ask Him what He is trying to teach you. Realize that God is urging you to follow His path instead of stubbornly going your own way. 

Discipline sounds negative to many people because some disciplinarians are not loving. God, however, is the source of all love. He doesn’t punish us because He enjoys inflicting pain but because He is deeply concerned about our development. He knows that in order to become morally strong and good, we must learn the difference between right and wrong. Correction is a vital part of discipline, and discipline means “to teach and to train.” 

It’s difficult to know when God has been disciplining us until we look back on the situation later. However, not every calamity that happens to us comes directly from God, of course. But if we rebel against God and refuse to repent when He has identified some sin in our lives, God may use guilt, crises, or bad experiences to bring us back to Him. Sometimes, however, difficult times come when we have no flagrant sin just like Job. Our response then should be patience, integrity, and trust that God like Job also. 

In trying or difficult situations don’t try to second-guess what God is doing. Rather, in an act of spiritual discipline, raise your hands in the darkest night of your life and praise God in heaven for the victory that you can only see through the eyes of faith. Then and only then will you see the miracles of God's provision. A man on his knees can see more and farther into the future than a man on a mountaintop. Trials force us to pray with an intensity that causes God to incline his ear toward our cry.

Prayer: Abba Father, I desire Your loving discipline to put me on the right path, and mold me to Your child worthy of eternity with You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!