What does Gods discipline look like?

About this Episode

What does Gods discipline look like? The Lord’s discipline is an often-ignored fact of the life of a follower of Christ. We often complain about our circumstances without realizing that they are the consequences of our own sin and are a part of the Lord’s loving and gracious discipline for that sin. This self-centered ignorance can contribute to the formation of habitual sin in a believer’s life, incurring even greater discipline.

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Hebrews 12:5-11
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. 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. 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.

What we need to remember is not to disregard his discipline nor be discouraged by it, why?
If the Lord is disciplining you it’s because you’re his and he loves you. Vs 8 says if we are not disciplined then we are illegitimate children.

Vs 7 says to accept the discipline because we know we need it and he will make us whole.

Job 5:17-18 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages, He strikes, but his hands also heal.

What does God have to discipline?
Our bad habits, bring to our lives wickedness, they also shame us and God. God uses his discipline to open our eyes to see the shame we are bringing to our lives as well as to His.

Jeremiah 2:19 To remove our wickedness. Your wickedness will bring its own punishment, Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is, to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him, I the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!

Vs 10 and 11 Says that God's discipline allows us to share in His Holiness and produces in us spiritual Fruit.
John 15:1-5 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

God uses the scars of our Past sins for our Good:

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. 3 Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. 5 Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.