The Discipline of the Lord

"My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him —Hebrews 12:5"

It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, "Oh, that must be from the devil."

"Do not quench the Spirit" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, "Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now." When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.

". . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, "Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything." Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!

Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me— sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ).


From: RBC

Call Upon The Name Of The Lord

Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. --Isaiah 40:31

Charles M. Schulz, the creator of “Peanuts,” said much of the inspiration for his comic strip came from his seemingly never-ending stream of bad luck and blunders in childhood.

Like the time a local movie theater promised the first 100 children in line a yummy chocolate bar they could enjoy during the show. Schulz eagerly joined in the queue, already tasting the tantalizing chocolate in his mouth. He waited patiently…only to discover he was number 101 in line!

It’s easy to become discouraged when you eagerly wait for something and have your hopes dashed. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to be discouraged and doubt God at times like these. But oftentimes God uses our disappointments to draw us closer to Him.

When you feel let down, look up to the Father. Praise Him in the midst of your sadness. Psalm 33:18 says “the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.”

Draw closer to Him, and you will find yourself refreshed with a new hope. Don’t let the enemy steal your joy, no matter what you may be going through today!

From CrossWalk Devotionals