GOD’S DISCIPLINE

“For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29


Someone has said,
“If you are looking for a leader to follow, find someone with a limp.”
The wounded in life are those who have learned
difficult lessons through suffering.
Do not resist the Shepherd’s rod of correction.
Is the wounding painful? Indeed.
Does it seem that you will not be able to bear it? Most certainly.
Then, why would He subject you to such pain?
Because you have a Father who loves you so much
that He is willing to hurt you to heal you.
What you need to focus on is not your pain, but your Savior.
God didn’t save you to take you to heaven.
That’s a fringe benefit.
God saved you to make you holy — as He is holy.


Read Hebrews 12:1-13.
    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
    let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
    And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
    fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
    For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,
    and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
    Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners,
    so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
    In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted
    to the point of shedding your blood.
    And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement
    that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
        “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
         and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
         because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
         and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
    Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.
    For what children are not disciplined by their father?
    If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline
    —then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.
    Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us
    and we respected them for it.
    How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
    They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;
    but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.
    No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
    Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
    and peace for those who have been trained by it.
    Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
    “Make level paths for your feet,”
    so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
What application can you make from this passage for your life today?