"Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so The LORD your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of The LORD your God, walking in His ways and revering Him." Deuteronomy 8:5-6 (NIV)
This Fifth Book of Moses, the fifth book of the Pentateuch, which center around the events that occur near the end of the life of Moses, was written to the people of God. Here Moses told them that just as they discipline their children, so The Lord God disciplines them. His purpose was to correct their wayward attitude and behavior. Moses encouraged them to obey The Lord, to keep His commandments, and to walk in His ways.
Some times as believers, because of our back-sliding sinful behavior, we need a good old fashion spanking, and The Lord God provides us with the appropriate discipline to get our attention and to change our behavior. In this day of "time out" as a form or punishment, some parents need to be reminded that The Bible says, spare the rod, spoil the child. (Proverbs 22:15, Proverbs 23:13, and Proverbs 29:15) None of us received all of the punishment from our parents that we deserved, and thanks to His goodness and mercy, The Lord God did not discipline us every time that we sinned. However, our sins did not go unnoticed. (Job 34:21)
If we confess our sins and ask to be forgiven, He will cleanse us of our unrighteousness because Jesus paid the price for our sins. (1 John 1:9) If we do not confess our sins, then we will have to give and account for them. (Luke 16:2) Blessed is the man whom The Lord God chastises. (Psalms 94:12) He only disciplines us because He loves us, and He wants us to do that which is right. (Proverbs 3:12 and Hebrews 12:6)
Showing posts with label God's discipline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's discipline. Show all posts
Friday, November 22, 2013
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
An Invitation To Take Up The Yoke Of Jesus
"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
The Apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, recorded these words of Jesus, The Christ, as He spoke to the crowd of lost sinners and extended to them an invitation to follow Him. The invitation was to all those who were weary from life's labor, and those who were weighted down with the burdens of life. Jesus said that He would give rest to the weary, and He would lighten the load of those carrying more than they could handle. He said that the yoke that they carry was heavy, but His yoke was easy and light weight. If they would learn of Him, and from Him, they would find that He is gentle and humble, and the He could save and give rest to their lost souls.
The invitation which Jesus extended was to all of the lost souls then, as well as to those who are lost today. To those of us who would follow Him, He offered to take the heavy load of our burdens from us, and to carry them for us. Although all were invited, only a few of us will accept His invitation and follow Him. But those of us who take up His yoke, who pick up the cross daily (Luke 9:23) and follow Him, who learn that which He teaches us, will find rest for our souls. This invitation contains three commands, "come", "take", and "learn". If we obey these commands and come to Jesus, take up His yoke and follow His ways, and learn from Him who is the Master Teacher, we will be rewarded with relief from our burdens; rest for our bodies now and eternal life our souls later on; and we will learn the Truth and gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. This is an invitation to trust in The Lord Jesus, and to develop and intimate and personal relationship with Him. The yoke of Jesus is becoming one of His disciples and making a commitment to follow Him. The benefit for doing this is the forgiveness of our sins, (1 John 1:9) the gift of eternal life, (Romans 6:23) and everything that happens to us in this life will end up being for our good. (Romans 8:28)
The Apostle Matthew, the former tax collector, recorded these words of Jesus, The Christ, as He spoke to the crowd of lost sinners and extended to them an invitation to follow Him. The invitation was to all those who were weary from life's labor, and those who were weighted down with the burdens of life. Jesus said that He would give rest to the weary, and He would lighten the load of those carrying more than they could handle. He said that the yoke that they carry was heavy, but His yoke was easy and light weight. If they would learn of Him, and from Him, they would find that He is gentle and humble, and the He could save and give rest to their lost souls.
The invitation which Jesus extended was to all of the lost souls then, as well as to those who are lost today. To those of us who would follow Him, He offered to take the heavy load of our burdens from us, and to carry them for us. Although all were invited, only a few of us will accept His invitation and follow Him. But those of us who take up His yoke, who pick up the cross daily (Luke 9:23) and follow Him, who learn that which He teaches us, will find rest for our souls. This invitation contains three commands, "come", "take", and "learn". If we obey these commands and come to Jesus, take up His yoke and follow His ways, and learn from Him who is the Master Teacher, we will be rewarded with relief from our burdens; rest for our bodies now and eternal life our souls later on; and we will learn the Truth and gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. This is an invitation to trust in The Lord Jesus, and to develop and intimate and personal relationship with Him. The yoke of Jesus is becoming one of His disciples and making a commitment to follow Him. The benefit for doing this is the forgiveness of our sins, (1 John 1:9) the gift of eternal life, (Romans 6:23) and everything that happens to us in this life will end up being for our good. (Romans 8:28)
Monday, March 25, 2013
Blessed Is He Whom God Corrects
"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of The Almighty." Job 5:17 (NIV)
This comment was made to Job by his friend Eliphaz, one of the three friends who came to him after he was afflicted with a dreaded disease. His point was that God punishes those that He loves to correct them.
Our parents disciplined us because they loved us. The same is true of God, His punishment is out of His love for us. His chastisement is to correct us and teach us. (Deuteronomy 8:5, Psalms 94:12, Proverbs 3:11-12, John 15:2, and Revelation 3:19) This is an honest attempt to put a positive spin on a negative situation. God may only be allowing us to go through a bad situation in order to prepare us for the blessing that He has for us on the other side of the storm. God did not punish Job, He allowed Satan to test him. But Job went through his storm and was blessed with twice as much has he had before the storm. (Job 42:12) However, the Bible clearly states that God does chastise His children. Do not despise Him for His discipline of us, because we deserve it, and so much more. Thank God for His mercy.
This comment was made to Job by his friend Eliphaz, one of the three friends who came to him after he was afflicted with a dreaded disease. His point was that God punishes those that He loves to correct them.
Our parents disciplined us because they loved us. The same is true of God, His punishment is out of His love for us. His chastisement is to correct us and teach us. (Deuteronomy 8:5, Psalms 94:12, Proverbs 3:11-12, John 15:2, and Revelation 3:19) This is an honest attempt to put a positive spin on a negative situation. God may only be allowing us to go through a bad situation in order to prepare us for the blessing that He has for us on the other side of the storm. God did not punish Job, He allowed Satan to test him. But Job went through his storm and was blessed with twice as much has he had before the storm. (Job 42:12) However, the Bible clearly states that God does chastise His children. Do not despise Him for His discipline of us, because we deserve it, and so much more. Thank God for His mercy.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Disiplined Taught And Blessed By God
"The LORD knows the thoughts of man; He knows that they are futile. Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, the man You teach from Your law; You grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked." Psalms 94:11-13 (NIV)
While the author of this psalm is unknown, the intent is quite clear, It admonishes the wicked and it gives assurance to the righteous. The psalmist acknowledges the omniscience of God and the futility of man. God disciplines those that He loves in order to teach and bless them.
God knows all. Not only does He see all of our actions and hear all of our words, He knows all of our thoughts. Like a good parent who punishes their child to help them learn what not to do, He disciplines us in order to teach us because He loves us. That in itself is a blessing. However, there are many more blessings in store for us if we would learn from our mistakes and His instruction, and follow His directions. When we know better, we ought to do better. Some of our future blessings will only be granted to us if we do the right thing.
While the author of this psalm is unknown, the intent is quite clear, It admonishes the wicked and it gives assurance to the righteous. The psalmist acknowledges the omniscience of God and the futility of man. God disciplines those that He loves in order to teach and bless them.
God knows all. Not only does He see all of our actions and hear all of our words, He knows all of our thoughts. Like a good parent who punishes their child to help them learn what not to do, He disciplines us in order to teach us because He loves us. That in itself is a blessing. However, there are many more blessings in store for us if we would learn from our mistakes and His instruction, and follow His directions. When we know better, we ought to do better. Some of our future blessings will only be granted to us if we do the right thing.
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