“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.” ~ Hebrews 12:11
Discipline and punishment are not synonymous. Punishment is a form of discipline, but not all discipline is punishment. Discipline, simply put, is training. When we train ourselves, or another, we are overcoming what comes naturally in order to improve. Training can result in sore muscles, tired minds, and bruised pride. Whether you are training to become an athlete, or a scholar, or a soldier, it takes a great deal of work: Teaching, training, correction, and even rebuke. Discipline is seldom pleasant.
We are told that God disciplines those He loves and accepts as His children. In His mercy and grace, God accepts us just the way we are, with all our faults, stains, and failures, but He loves us far too much to just leave us like that. When we commit to a relationship with God, we are immediately made new. What follows is our learning what it means to be a member of God’s family and a citizen of the eternal Kingdom of God. No one likes to hear that they are wrong, but our journey begins with confession and repentance, and it continues throughout our journey as we are continuously refined.
We are not in this process alone. Just like those training to be a part of a sports team are learning their place in the bigger picture, so are we as followers of Jesus Christ – His body. As we grow together, there will be times where we need to correct one another. To say, “I love them too much to risk offending them,” is a lie of the enemy. If we truly love one another we will speak the truth in love and be willing to walk with one another through seasons of correction and rebuke. God has set the perfect example: “The Lord disciplines those He loves.” Tolerance is good if it is biblical tolerance. We do not tolerate error and sin – treating it as acceptable, but we are patient with the expectation of change.
We must be careful that any correction is founded on the Word of God and not our opinions and preferences, for Jesus said, “Stop judging self-righteously and make a right judgment!” It is by the Word of God that we are judged, and so it must be our standard of measurement for right and wrong; holiness and sin. As “iron sharpens iron” and we grow together this way, then we will truly experience righteousness and peace. “For the joy set before us, we endure...” both offering and receiving words of correction.
Weekly Devotional: June 28, 2009
Words to Grow On
“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” ~ Jeremiah 1:17
The Christian life is a scary thing. We are first confronted by the fear of God – great and holy and just. We recognize our pitiful condition in light of His majesty and glory and become, rightfully, afraid. Eventually, however, we learn to trust His heart and afraid becomes a reverent fear and love for God. Yet, there is also fear from the other side.
As a follower of Jesus Christ and a child of holy God, we are called to stand out. Though we are in the world, we are not of the world. We are “aliens and strangers here.” We do not fit in, and we do not have a place in this world, but rather, in the kingdom of God. When one stands out, swims upstream, goes against the flow, or marches to the beat of a different drum, they are usually rejected in some form by society. Those set apart from the world for the sake of Christ will suffer rejection and/or persecution in the world. That can be unsettling, and in many instances, frightening.
Jesus told us, “Do not fear those who can only kill the body and after that do no more. Instead, fear He who can kill the body and soul by throwing it into hell.” When we commit to trust God and follow Jesus, we belong to the One who holds life and death in His hands. God’s message to Jeremiah was that he belonged to God, and therefore he must act in faith, not fear. Acting in fear comes when we put too much value on something we can lose, and we become willing to disobey God in order to preserve that thing. In Jeremiah’s case, it was his security and safety. God was warning Jeremiah to keep his trust and hope in God’s power, plan, and promises and remain obedient and not bow to the world’s will or he would realize the despair of choosing separation from God. Those called unto God will find peace and fulfillment – refuge – in nothing else.
Fear will drive us to disobedience. It will lead us into compromise as we attempt to do God’s will our way, or in our timing, or not at all. Faith, though wrestling with varying degrees of uncertainty, trusts and obeys. It is willing to let go knowing that our life is not connected to the things of this world. We are passing through. True fear realizes that we are promised something far greater than what we can see or make for ourselves and doesn’t want to do anything to risk losing it. You are faced with a choice – in fact, many choices. Will you act in faith, or fear?
Weekly Devotional: June 21, 2009
Words to Grow On
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice… For … arrogance [is] like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” ~ from 1 Samuel 15:22-23
A Christian’s greatest mistake is to assume they are not susceptible to sin. That is when we get blind-sided and fall to temptation. Idolatry is perhaps one of the most subtle temptations, and deadliest sins. We assume idolatry means images and statues, but it can be so much broader than that. Things that are good in and of themselves can easily become an idol. Things like religion, ministry, and success.
The above verses are in response to King Saul’s disobedience to God’s instructions. Saul thought his intentions were better than God’s command. In his arrogance, he held back animals from a conquered city and used the excuse that he was going to offer them as an offering to God. Not only did Saul disobey, but now he was going to lay his disobedience on the altar of God as a gift? We can be quick to judge Saul, but we can do the exact same thing.
What Saul later confesses drove him to disobey was fear of the people. When we place anything above God, we are guilty of idolatry. Our religious habits and rituals are an insult to Him if we refuse to trust and obey – if we do not love Him. We are like a wife that says, “I love you,” but then goes and gives herself to other lovers. Whether Saul’s idol was his image among the people, his position as king, his earthly authority, or his personal safety, the bottom line is the same: He values something else above God. As a result, Saul lost his position of power and influence.
We are in danger of the same fate if we allow ourselves to be taken in by idolatry. Jesus says to John in the book of Revelation that He will, “remove their lampstand.” The “they” he refers to are those who do not heed his call to lay down their idols, denounce false teaching, and return to their “first love.” The lampstand is the light of life that shines before men, the truth, the message given to the ambassadors of Christ; the influence we have in the world because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When our religion, our ministry, or success in these areas becomes more important that the Lord Jesus himself, it has become an idol. If we cannot or will not lay something down, that thing has become an idol. God will not show up in a life with a divided allegiance. “You cannot serve two masters.” Does God seem distant? He has not moved. Do you fail to see God at work in and through you? Does His message not appear to go out from you? It is time to seek out the idols in your life.
Weekly Devotional: June 14, 2009
Words to Grow On
“Then He said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” ~ Exodus 3:6
God wants us to know Him. The more we come to know Him, the more we will love and trust Him. By identifying Himself to Moses as the God of his fathers, Moses would have a point of reference for God’s authority and faithfulness. Moses may have known God as story, but now he is confronted with the Living God, and it scared him to death.
Being confronted by God can be very frightening. We put God in a box where we can understand Him and even control Him. We feel safe with God in our little box. But God is greater than any box we can put Him in. True, His character is unchanging and consistent, but His greatness is far vaster than our ability to comprehend. Before God invites us to join Him in His plan, we must first understand who He is more fully. With this proper perspective, we will find it easier – even essential – to trust and obey.
When Moses was confronted by God and realized Who it was that was speaking to him, his only response was to fall on his face. This is a consistent biblical response. We see it with Joshua before the battle of Jericho, and we see it again with John in the opening of the book of Revelation. Seeing God and knowing Him for who He is (i.e. when the walls of our box burst) our response is one of fear or reverence, and humility. If it is not, then we have not encountered God.
It is as we work through the shock and fear of God’s revelation of Himself that we come to truly love Him. For it is always here that God’s mercy and grace are most evident, and His love for us most obvious. We see God and yet are not destroyed. In fact, we are invited; we are drawn closer, and realize that we are wanted by God. Moses hid his face and found purpose. Joshua fell on his face before God and was encouraged and strengthened. John fell before the glorified Christ and was shown victory through the veil of earthly suffering.
Often, like John in revelation, we get very comfortable with God. Jesus was to John a friend and teacher. He laid his head on Jesus’ breast at the Lord’s Supper. Yet, John still needed a fuller view of God and he was shown the glorified Christ – One whom he dare not recline against. You, too, may have too comfortable a view of God. God may be tame and safe to you. Get ready, because as God moves to do greater things in and through you, you will first need to be confronted by God and see Him for who He is. “Humble yourself before God’s mighty hand, and He will lift you up.”
Weekly Devotional: June 7, 2009
Words to Grow On
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” ~ Psalm 2:1
Our lives are vain and empty. This is why we never have enough; why we always look ahead for the next big thing at the expense of the now; why we tend to celebrate the fall of greatness. It is a sad reality, but it is not the end of the story – at least, it does not have to be.
We lack joy in our life because we live for the impossible. We set our sights on the “not yet” and fail to make the most of now. We do not see the value in the things of our lives because we have convinced ourselves that what we have is not good enough. “Not yet” is never now. What’s worse, we doubt God’s heart and see His commands as a burden, holding us back from the happiness we feel we deserve…and need. Our plan is to make for ourselves a nice, safe, comfortable life. This leaves us constantly longing for more, and leads us to drag God down, convincing ourselves that He is not that great and that we can do better than what He calls us to. This is the sin of Satan, and many other religious systems: Drag God down to our level, and elevate self to His level. Yet it is all in vain.
Though we see submission and boundaries as oppressive, we cannot experience freedom and joy without them. Until we are honest with ourselves about our weakness, brokenness and need, until we can subject ourselves to God’s authority trusting His power and His heart, until we can come to depend on God for all we lack, we will never have joy. Rather we will continue to find ourselves striving for an undefined goal in a race that has no defined course or rules and no one to turn to for guidance, validation, encouragement, and instruction – no one with any authority.
Joy does not come from opposition to God and His authority. That only results in chaos. Joy comes from the blessed assurance that the true authority is with you and for you. True joy comes from the assurance that you are right with God, and that He is for you – regardless of circumstance. Where happiness is dependent on circumstances, joy transcends circumstances. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The answer is no one. There is no one who can frustrate the plans of God. Joy comes when you understand that you are part of that plan. Joy comes when we look, not beyond us to “not yet,” but when we look to God, our refuge, strength, and great reward.
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