Every Praise, In Control, Jesus Paid It All, How Great Is Your Love, Never Once

Growing up, were you the child that got disciplined a lot because you were often disobedient, or were you the child among siblings that hardly got disciplined because you were mostly obedient?

4 You have not yet resisted [d]to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 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 [e] earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of [f]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. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

The Christian life is not a walk in the park, part of the challenge is our struggle against sin. We are forgetful, and the Bible reminds us of the reason why we go through discipline. We need to learn not to take sin lightly; sin is a terrible thing! On the other end, the God does not want us to lose hope or get discouraged when we are disciplined (vv.4-5). But why does God discipline us?

REASON FOR DISCIPLINE

God disciplines those He loves, His children (vv.6-7). Discipline is a part of love; you may see some people living the way they want with seemingly no consequence…. maybe you should be worried, they may not be God’s children (v.8)! Discipline is part of our inheritance and identity and our Heavenly Father disciplines us so that we may live (v.9). For example, when we lack discipline in our eating habits, exercise, rest and sleep, the way we work, etc. our health and relationships will suffer. Discipline will help us truly live because it takes out things in our lives that are not healthy. “Paideuo” is the Greek word used for “discipline”, the same word used in 2 Timothy 3:16 when it teaches about “training” in righteousness. Paideuo (pais=child) refers primarily to the training or discipline of children; includes instruction, discipline, correction, and warning. Life is tough, and God says, that is part of the Christian life—training time. God disciplines us for our good, and it leads to holiness (v.10-11). God’s discipline is part of His tender love (Proverbs 13:24). So how do we respond when we go through discipline or training?

RESPONSE TO DISCIPLINE

David had the “credential” of being known as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). How did David become that man, and what did God do in his life? He was a shepherd, a poet/songwriter, a giant killer, a king and an ancestor of Jesus! There were many good things about David, but he was also a betrayer, liar, deceiver, adulterer, murderer (2 Samuel 11). There’s a “David” in all of us. We all want to be a “man after God’s own heart”, and we all struggle with sin.

How did God show love to David when he went through this? Nathan, the prophet confronted David about his sin (2 Samuel 12:9-10). When we sin, we hurt people, but the first offense is against God. Nathan told David that when you sin, you despise God’s Word, and you despise God. God told David the painful consequence of his sin. What was David’s response to “correction”? He acknowledged that he “had sinned against the LORD” (2 Samuel 12:13); he didn’t make excuses (unlike king Saul when he was confronted), David just admitted that he was wrong. Nathan assured David he was forgiven but also told David that God’s enemies have a reason to blaspheme Him when they hear of David’s sin. This consequence of David’s sin was not allowed by the Lord just for people in that time, but for us as well. That we will learn that even though we have been forgiven by God in Jesus, there are still consequences for sin; don’t play with fire! You could see David’s heart through this (Psalm 32:3-4). Repentance is to acknowledge what you did was sin and confess that to the Lord. David’s response to God’s discipline was humble repentance. May we learn to respond like him.

David also went through a lot of training—as a young shepherd, and while waiting to reign as king. All those years watching sheep trained David to fight, and he learned to trust in the LORD to deliver him from his enemies (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

When you go through hard times, it shows you what you trust. Tragedy shows us what we trust while good times show us what we love. When you don’t have problems, do you still read the Bible, do you still pray to God? In hard times, you need someone to run to, but in the good times, is God still Number One? We have three options for our response to God’s discipline:
We can resent God’s discipline bitterly (Proverbs 3:11)
We can accept God’s discipline reluctantly
We can embrace God’s discipline willingly (James 1:2,4)
Have you made the best response—to embrace discipline willingly? There is no sin too small for us to repent from, or too big for God to forgive.

RESULT OF DISCIPLINE

God sees what we can be in Jesus, and He chisels our lives until we become what He designed us to be. One of the blessings of discipline is forgiveness (1 John 1:9). No matter how far you’ve ran from God, He is just one step behind waiting for you to turn around. Godly character is another result of discipline (Proverbs 22:6). Those who are trained will experience the fruit of righteousness; peace with God, in your soul and conscience (Hebrews 12:11). Be strong, don’t be afraid of discipline and live right so that God will not have to discipline you more, but rather be healed (Hebrews 12:12-13). God knows our hearts, yet He loves us (Jeremiah 17:9-10). “Heart work” is hard work, and God does the work through loving discipline, Hearts change when we realize we need God, that only Jesus can make us right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21, Psalm 145:6-9). What is the time that God may be found in your life (Psalm 32:6, Hebrews 3:15)? Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not come so TODAY is the day we repent and to do what God is calling you to do!

What challenges are you facing in your life today?

Is there someone in your life you need to show “tough love” to? How can you balance it with “tender love”?

Is there something in your heart that God is asking you to repent from?

Pray that you will be an example to others of how to respond to God’s training and discipline in your own life. Help those who may be going through tough times to see God’s hand and His purpose for their lives. Lead them to Jesus, so they too can experience God’s forgiveness and restoration.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• God’s help and comfort, salvation for Israel, wisdom for their leaders in government, military and their soldiers as they defend themselves against terrorists’ attacks. PRAISE GOD for the release of hostages so far! Continue to pray for the release of the remaining ones.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented, violence and lawlessness in Haiti to stop.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expansion worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.