The Chastening of The Lord

Author: Rev. Esther Holmes
May 10, 2018
Heb 12:5-11 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?  But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
If we aren’t careful we will become spiritually depressed in times of chastening.  (I Thes 4:3; Eph 1:4)
God’s greatest concern for us is not our happiness but our holiness.  His means of getting us to holiness differ with each person.  Look at the things you are suffering.  Why are you suffering them?  Once God starts a work He completes it!  He instructs us toward holiness by doctrine and His principles.
If a child is given proper instruction then still disobeys they must be chastened.  Its painful but necessary.  We must rejoice in tribulation – it’s proof we belong to our Father in Heaven.
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