God's Discipline Newsletter
Church Family, I left a section of our outline from Sunday unfinished. I know that those unfinished blanks bother those of us who love to “fill in the blanks.” Within the context of the Shepherd’s restoration in our lives, I had planned to teach on some ways the Lord disciplines those he loves. Using Hebrews 12:5-11, allow me to fill in the blanks for you.
Discipline/Correction/Chastening:
I.Reveals Your Sonship (Hebrews 12:5-8)
5 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.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 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?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
It is never pleasant to think of receiving discipline (a spiritual spanking) from the Lord, but it should comfort you to know that God disciplines those that he loves (those who belong to him as children). The Lord’s discipline in our life is motivated by His heart to see us restored in a “right” relationship with Him. Growing up, I remember stories from my dad about how he was told to choose his own hickory stick for discipline purposes. I grew up understanding that “a spanking” was just a bad choice away. One thing I appreciated about my dad (years later) is that he always explained why I received discipline and correction. Spiritually, the Lord doesn’t discipline us just for the sake of discipline. He disciplines us out of love, to show us sinful choices, and ultimately, in order that we be restored in a relationship with Him. As difficult as it may be, we can be thankful for the discipline of the Lord because that means we belong to Him as His child.
II.Renews Your Worship (Hebrews 12:9-10)
9 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?
10 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.
Have you ever noticed how grown men tell stories of how their fathers used to “spank” them (like I did in the previous paragraph). These men tell these stories with reverence to their earthly fathers. As I shared before, my earthly father disciplined out of love. In other words, my earthly father loved me enough to correct me. My father held me to a greater standard. As we give reverence to our earthly fathers for correcting us through discipline, we should also give reverence to our Heavenly Father for correcting us toward holiness. Our God has a standard and it is a holy standard. God is not in the business of just making us happy. His chief goal is to make us holy. God didn’t save you just to take you to heaven. That is a fringe benefit. God saved us to make us holy and set apart for His Glory.
III.Restores Fellowship (Hebrews 12:11)
11 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.
Has God ever laid the rod of discipline on you? If so, at the present time it is hard to be thankful for God’s discipline. It is not until we look back at a later time do we see the benefits of his discipline. If we humbly learn the lessons of the discipline of the Lord, then we will become more like Christ. There have been seasons that I’ve felt the discipline of the Lord. When I am in the midst of His discipline, it is difficult for me to Praise the Lord and thank him for the pain. I’ve heard that hindsight is 20/20. When you look back at God’s hand of discipline in your life and see that He loved you enough to correct you, then you can give Him double praise. The bottom line for all of this is that God has a heart of restoration. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). God is holy and in order to stay true to His holy nature, he must judge sin. Ultimately, God has judged all our sin through the death of His Son Jesus (on the cross). On a day to day basis, we still sin against a holy God. God is constantly pursuing a relationship with us. He pursues us with his love, forgiveness and grace. Sometimes that means, in order to restore us to Himself, he has to correct us. It may not feel good at the time, but the end product is holiness. We will talk more about holiness this coming Sunday, as we plow through the pasture of Psalm 23. Reminders: We have an opportunity to do a prayer walk at the High School, after church on Sunday morning. Join us for the prayer walk as we practice intercessory prayer. Also, don’t forget about your directory pictures and the garage sale for missions this week!
Praying you have a Jesus-filled week!
Pastor Todd
Discipline/Correction/Chastening:
I.Reveals Your Sonship (Hebrews 12:5-8)
5 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.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 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?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
It is never pleasant to think of receiving discipline (a spiritual spanking) from the Lord, but it should comfort you to know that God disciplines those that he loves (those who belong to him as children). The Lord’s discipline in our life is motivated by His heart to see us restored in a “right” relationship with Him. Growing up, I remember stories from my dad about how he was told to choose his own hickory stick for discipline purposes. I grew up understanding that “a spanking” was just a bad choice away. One thing I appreciated about my dad (years later) is that he always explained why I received discipline and correction. Spiritually, the Lord doesn’t discipline us just for the sake of discipline. He disciplines us out of love, to show us sinful choices, and ultimately, in order that we be restored in a relationship with Him. As difficult as it may be, we can be thankful for the discipline of the Lord because that means we belong to Him as His child.
II.Renews Your Worship (Hebrews 12:9-10)
9 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?
10 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.
Have you ever noticed how grown men tell stories of how their fathers used to “spank” them (like I did in the previous paragraph). These men tell these stories with reverence to their earthly fathers. As I shared before, my earthly father disciplined out of love. In other words, my earthly father loved me enough to correct me. My father held me to a greater standard. As we give reverence to our earthly fathers for correcting us through discipline, we should also give reverence to our Heavenly Father for correcting us toward holiness. Our God has a standard and it is a holy standard. God is not in the business of just making us happy. His chief goal is to make us holy. God didn’t save you just to take you to heaven. That is a fringe benefit. God saved us to make us holy and set apart for His Glory.
III.Restores Fellowship (Hebrews 12:11)
11 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.
Has God ever laid the rod of discipline on you? If so, at the present time it is hard to be thankful for God’s discipline. It is not until we look back at a later time do we see the benefits of his discipline. If we humbly learn the lessons of the discipline of the Lord, then we will become more like Christ. There have been seasons that I’ve felt the discipline of the Lord. When I am in the midst of His discipline, it is difficult for me to Praise the Lord and thank him for the pain. I’ve heard that hindsight is 20/20. When you look back at God’s hand of discipline in your life and see that He loved you enough to correct you, then you can give Him double praise. The bottom line for all of this is that God has a heart of restoration. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). God is holy and in order to stay true to His holy nature, he must judge sin. Ultimately, God has judged all our sin through the death of His Son Jesus (on the cross). On a day to day basis, we still sin against a holy God. God is constantly pursuing a relationship with us. He pursues us with his love, forgiveness and grace. Sometimes that means, in order to restore us to Himself, he has to correct us. It may not feel good at the time, but the end product is holiness. We will talk more about holiness this coming Sunday, as we plow through the pasture of Psalm 23. Reminders: We have an opportunity to do a prayer walk at the High School, after church on Sunday morning. Join us for the prayer walk as we practice intercessory prayer. Also, don’t forget about your directory pictures and the garage sale for missions this week!
Praying you have a Jesus-filled week!
Pastor Todd
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