God’s love leads to discipline (the price of God’s intimacy)
Good morning brethren, I like to write on a topic “God’s love leads to discipline (the price of God’s intimacy).” The scripture in Amos 3:2 challenged me to write on this topic, “From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins.” (Amos 3:2). As believers, God’s discipline begins when we become born again into God’s family, we are expected to learn and understand the teachings of the Word of God and adequately adjust our lifestyle accordingly. The Psalmist in Psalms 94:12-13 says “Blessed is the one You discipline, Lord, the one You teach from Your law; You grant them relief from days of trouble” Unfortunately, many people see discipline as a bad or negative thing, hence equate discipline as being beating. God’s way of disciplines is not to punish us or to inflict any kind of mental, emotional, or physical pain on us. Rather God’s discipline and rebuke come to every believer as correction and it is His sign of love for us.
Scripture in Proverbs 3:12 says “For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” We grow in our Christian walk and grow even more into the image of Christ through God’s discipline. God’s discipline is more like training which can be of two aspects - positive and negative. The positive being in form of guidance by following rules example is Jobs trials, it wasn’t for punishment but for training in righteousness (Job 42:3-6). While the negative being in the form of reproof to correct sin or disobedience in this case, the discipline or chastisement is meant to be corrective. David, in one of his psalms, expresses his desire for God to moderate the severity of His punishment on him. For example we read in Psalms 38:1-4 on how David admits to his guilt and acknowledged that God’s punishment was just; at the same time, the sharp and crushing nature of the discipline seems more than he could bear, and hence he asked for help. As we look at Amos 3:2 again God expressing the privileges the Israelites has over the whole families of the earth - the privilege of choosing them as number one and His intimacy and love for them. Therefore is only natural for Him being a good and loving Father to keep them under check, especially in the way they were constantly failing into sin. Godly training and discipline will help a true believer to reach his or her full potential, perhaps I should use a popular slogan here ‘no cross no victory’ and ‘no suffering no success’. Therefore it will be right to say that God’s discipline is not meant to inflict pain or cause harm, but rather to refine, train, and guide His children towards spiritual maturity and a closer relationship with Him. Enduring God’s discipline will make a true believer carry supernatural enablement to enjoy a better lifestyle (Proverbs 6:23), it helps triggers an impartation of divine wisdom (Proverbs 8:33), it helps guarantee access to divine insight (Proverbs 12:1), you will enjoy a lifetime of honour (Proverbs 13:18), a guaranteed encounter with spiritual understanding (Proverbs 15:32), Godly discipline will preserves your life (Proverbs 23:13), perhaps I should add that Godly discipline will give a believer access to a lifetime of prosperity, pleasures and plenty (Proverbs 1:8).
In conclusion Proverbs 3:11 says “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when He corrects you.” Please kindly understand that Godly discipline is an act of love and it is for our good and for God’s glory. Service is for 10.30am and workers meeting is for 10am. God’s blessings - Mike