The Discipline of The Lord

“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“’My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

    nor be weary when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and chastises every son whom he receives.’

“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” (Hebrews 12:3-13 ESV)

What are some ways in which the Lord disciplines those of us who are his by genuine faith in him? He allows us to go through trials and tribulations to test our faith so that we can see whether or not our faith is genuine. And he allows us to be mistreated by other people, to be abandoned, sinned against, betrayed, lied about, rejected, and cast aside as worthless. And people will treat us this way because we don’t conform to the standards of the world and because we live holy lives, pleasing to God, and we serve him.

But we are not to grow weary and fainthearted when disciplined by the Lord, no matter what forms of discipline we must endure for the sake of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord. For God is treating us as his children. And discipline, though painful, is necessary in our lives to keep us on the right path and so that we do not stray and get off the path that the Lord has us on, which is the way of righteousness and holiness and walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For discipline strengthens us in our faith.

For the discipline of the Lord is for our good, even though it doesn’t feel good when we are having to endure it. But this is so that we may share in God’s holiness, becoming like him in thought and deed and character, by the grace of God, and in His power. And the discipline of the Lord is painful, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. But if you are not having to endure the disciplines of the Lord, then perhaps you are not his legitimate children by genuine faith in him.

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For he also said that not everyone who professes him as Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14]

Therefore, we are to lift our drooping hands and strengthen our weak knees. And hands are usually symbolic of our deeds (works), and knees are generally symbolic of our submission to God and our prayer lives. So if our deeds are drooping, they are sinking. They are not going in the direction of holiness and righteousness, but they are going in the ways of the flesh and of sinful practices. And if our knees are weak that means that our submission to the Lord is failing and so are our prayer lives.

And the only way that we can strengthen these drooping hands and weak knees is through submission to Christ as Lord and through surrender of our lives and our wills to the will of God for our lives. And this involves dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power. And this engages us daily disciplining our own lives and us renouncing (saying “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and us living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return.

For we must now make straight paths for our feet, and straight paths are the ways of God which are righteous, holy, disciplined, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to the Lord and to his commands. This is the way in which we are to walk if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and not dying daily to sin, then regardless of what we profess with our lips, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31] 

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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