For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines

 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.

Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

 How:

 

            Purified – zealous for good deeds:  

 

Titus 2:14

14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

 

            All those things we did in the past which were out of a rebellious heart … Jesus redeemed us from them. We were in bondage to sin; but He redeemed us. He didn’t redeem us just to get us out from under the bad things we had done. He redeemed us for Himself … His very own people for His very own possession. He didn’t want a blemished people. He wanted one purified for Himself. Why? So that we, being out from under the bondage to sin, would be zealous to do good deeds; not just to keep from doing the bad ones.

 

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

            "I desire that you have a strong desire to be like Me. I would have you walk in My path. You should have a passion for doing what is pleasing unto Me. You cannot have true success without walking in My holiness. It is not a path of least resistance, but rather one of strong resistance. You have to have a passion for My holiness to walk in this path. It is not a struggle that the faint of heart would take on. It is one of tremendous importance in your life. You cannot reach the place that I would have you to without overcoming the sin that begs you to obey it. It is not something that the flesh would choose. The flesh would choose a way of least resistance, but the spirit must choose the path to glory through obedience to Me.”

 

            68. God has purified me and I am zealous for good deeds

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

                                                                         Chapter 7

Sanctification

         

            What do we mean when we talk about sanctification? It means behaving like God would in the situation. What would God say? How would He act? Whatever the answer, that’s sanctification. That is what God is after in our lives. Those of us who are parents wanted our children to grow up to the point where we didn’t have to “keep after them to behave” … that is, they would “naturally” do the right thing.  Well, that’s what God wants. He wants us to grow up to the point where we will “supernaturally” behave the way we should without Him having to remind us. That is what sanctification is all about. We were legally in the spirit sanctified when we came to Christ. It is the outworking in our soul of that inward legal act in our spirit that brings us into the sanctification He is after. Some people believe that sanctification is a separate act of grace. We are not here to agree or disagree. What we are saying is that there has to come a point in your life where you say, “I am going to follow God and do what He wants me to do in my life.”

  

Calling/Chosen:

 

            Holy calling in sanctification:  

 

1 Thessalonians 4:7

7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

 

2 Timothy 1:9

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

 

            If God had wanted us to act like the people of the world, He wouldn’t have bothered to save us. He wouldn’t have needed to deliver us, because we would simply keep acting the way we always had. But God has a better plan for us. He called us to a holy life; one patterned after the one His Son lived on earth. This is not only a desire on His part … it is our destiny. This is what we were meant to do when He decided before the beginning of time to choose us to be His.

 

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

            "My children, I would hold you in My arms and speak peace unto you; for you have chosen the better way. You have chosen to walk in My Son’s footsteps. He walked in the way of holiness and chose to not sin. You have that privilege too. You can decide to walk in holiness and not sin. It is your choice. You have the ability to choose and you have the ability to lose. You can choose to walk in righteousness or in the path of sin. You can choose to not sin. It is not an easy path, but it is one that will bring pleasure unto Me and peace unto you. You have the choice. I cannot choose for you. You must decide to walk in the paths of righteousness. I cannot do that for you. I can only help you to walk in that path. I cannot walk it for you. I will however tell My Spirit to help you to walk in that path.”

 

            67. God has called me with a holy calling in sanctification. Therefore, I will walk in a manner worthy of my calling.

I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture

 You Shall:

 

            Go in and out and find pasture:  

 

John 10:9

9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

 

            We’re not “locked” in the sheepfold. We are free to go in and out. We don’t have to stay where the grass is not plentiful. We can seek His pasture. Be sure to stay in His pasture and not wander looking for greener ones, especially by yourself. The pastures may look greener, but there are wolves in them. We have all we need in His pasture.

 

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

            "You have come unto Me. I am the Good Shepherd. I will never leave you nor forsake you. I have bought you with a price, and I shall not soon forsake those who have come unto Me. I am yours, and you are Mine. I would not throw away those that are Mine. Come unto Me and find rest for your souls. There is peace in no one else. There is hope in no one else. There is salvation in no one else. You are My sheep, and I am your Shepherd. You shall never roam alone. You shall always have Me; for I am the Good Shepherd and I forsake not My own.”

 

            66. I shall go in and out and find pasture wherever I go.

 

 

            These were just a few of the many results that are our destiny. We are free to enjoy them, but if we don’t know they are ours, we may never experience them the way we should. Each day we should repeat all the results that are our destiny. As we do, our faith rises and we begin to experience them in our lives.