SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 07-03-06
My
Worship Time Focus:
The Discipline of the Lord
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Hebrews 12:5-6
Message
of the verse: “5 And you have
forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not
despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by
Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He
receives.’” (NKJV) “And have you entirely forgotten the
encouraging words God spoke to you, his children? He said, ‘My child, don’t ignore it when the
Lord disciplines you, and don’t be discouraged when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and
he punishes those he accepts as his children.’”
This is
the beginning of a new section in the outline given by Warren Wiersbe in his
book on Hebrews, “Be Confident.” He
entitles this section “The assurance of the love of God,” and it goes from
12:5-12:13. There are three sub-sections
in this main section and the first one is verses five and six where he says
that the love of God is confirmed by the Scriptures, for in this sub-section
the writer quotes from the book of Proverbs chapter three and verses eleven and
twelve. It is interesting that this is
said to be and exhortation, which means an encouragement and that may seem
strange considering the subject that he is about to get into, the subject of
discipline and punishment, or scourging.
What the writer is saying in these two verses is that if you belong to
the Lord there is going to be a time when the Lord will use some tough love to
move you into the right direction, the direction that He wants you to be
going. The writer says that we are not
to despise this chastening of the Lord and we are not to be discouraged by it
either, for whom the Lord loves he disciplines.
He even scourges those who are his own, and Dr. Wiersbe says that this
could be seen as physical illnesses.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I would
have to say that the problem that I am going through with my investments could
be seen as a discipline from the Lord, a way that the Lord is refining me more
into the image of His Son. I can say
that in many ways that I do not like it, however I do realize that this is
proof that I do belong to the Lord, and that the Lord loves me too much to have
me remain as I was. My prayer through
all of this is that I would learn and put into practice the things that the
Lord is teaching me, and that if it is in His will for my life that I would
recover my investment in a timely matter, the Lords timing.
The Word of God was
certainly challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.
My
Steps of Faith Today: To
trust the Lord, that He will be true to His Word, and that I would also be true
to His Word, as I go through this discipline concerning my investments.
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