Disciplines to share His holiness:

Hebrews 12:6-10
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.

            Try using these verses as an altar call for salvation! How many do you think would come running down the aisle? Nobody wants to be disciplined, especially when you say that He scourges every son whom He receives. Jesus was physically scourged before His crucifixion.  It was an unbelievably painful experience. Maybe you’ve seen Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ. Even if Jesus suffered only half of what was depicted in the movie, most of us would not have survived. Now we’re talking about God scourging us? No thanks! Of course His scourging is not physical. It is inward; however, it can be quite painful if we resist. If we are quick to respond to His Spirit’s admonition to repent and change our ways, we don’t have to go through such a painful experience as we would otherwise. If our earthly fathers disciplined us, why not our Heavenly Father? Unlike some earthly fathers, He would never discipline us if we didn’t need it. He also has the infinite wisdom as to when and how to do it.

            In Proverbs 3:11-12, it warns us to not reject His discipline and to not loathe His reproof … that the one whom He loves, He reproves as a father his son in whom he delights.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are My children. I would not willingly have you to suffer. However, you must walk in My path of holiness; for it cannot be that the world would think that you are just like them. They know that they are wrong, but they believe that you are just like them and do wrong also. They need to see that you walk in My path of holiness and do not desire the things of the world. It is not enough to just say that you do. You must show it in every circumstance. You cannot achieve this without My help. I have need to guide you into the paths of righteousness. You cannot obtain this without Me. You have a struggle to obey Me on you own. You need My help to walk in the path that I have chosen for you. You need My encouragement to keep walking in that straight and narrow path. It is not for the faint of heart, but for those willing to give up everything for Me. You cannot achieve perfection apart from Me. You need My guiding hand to help you on the way.”

            69. God loves me. Therefore, He disciplines me to share in His holiness.