I have come to believe the greatest lack in my spiritual life is a concept including ideas of discipline and restraint. It is my equivalent of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Charlie adequately described it this way, “it’s like you’re an ADD Christian.” I cannot stay fixed on one concept God is teaching me long enough for it to internalize and become a practice in my everyday life. I skim the surface just long enough to enjoy the notion of personal growth, but never allow myself deep enough to be truly affected by it. To be clear, it is not a self-discipline I am concerned with, not a psychological concept of will-power. Rather, I am missing (or refusing) an element of God’s discipline in my life. I deny Him His corrective authority.
When the Lord’s discipline is present in my life, I often do not recognize it (or I don’t allow myself to recognize it). I call it Satan’s attack, when often God is correcting me for my own good. This failure to recognize God’s hand scares me because unrecognized discipline might-as-well be Satan’s attack. Nothing is gained from it because the error, mistake, the sin warranting the discipline is not recognized as such and is thus likely to be repeated. This is an effective strategy of Satan’s I (and God for that matter) aim to destroy.
I am not sure where it crept in, probably has something to do with a spoiled childhood or maybe it has roots in a defense-mechanism I use to keep from being hurt by something or someone that really matters. After all, how harmful can simple, carnal pleasures really be? How much can a funny movie or a good book really hurt me at a core level? How unhealthy can a card game or tennis match be? You’d be surprised. Wise King Solomon had all the earthly pleasures man could dream of (and them some). Yet he called it all meaningless (Eccl 2:1-16). Earthly pleasures are fleeting at best, deceptive at worst.
But back to God’s discipline. I long to believe in a way that informs my everyday judgment, that God’s correction, which ultimately leads to a confident security in Him, provides greater fulfillment, peace, joy, contentment and all those abstract emotions we as humans long for. I long to believe God provides those needs more than strip-mall seductions and callous entertainment. In truth, I far too often rather spend $7.50 on a few hours of shallow escapism in Hollywood (and then only if I’m lucky) than spend that same amount of time in God’s Word, engaged in abundant eternal truth which delivers endless peace. And you know what the thing is? Scripture isn’t just free, its almost like it pays you!
In Hebrews 12, Paul says, “In your struggles against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. And thus you have forgotten the word of encouragement that calls you God’s child: My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes everyone he accepts as His own.” I think that sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before we realize the purpose and usefulness of God’s discipline. Many never hit rock bottom and therefore never discover this truth. Some, like me, hit the bottom and bounce back before the realization hits them (again, the ADD). It is only in hind-sight that I recognize God’s hand in my life, but at least I recognize it. It is never too late to accept the discipline and the love of God.
Epworth is very quickly approaching and many warn of the inevitable attacks on God’s people. While I do not contest this idea, I challenge each of you to examine your life with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Is Satan really attacking you, or is our loving Father spurring you towards righteousness? Is He disciplining you? How you answer that question may define your experience at Epworth. Maybe Satan isn’t attacking us as much as we may think. Don’t give him too much credit. Maybe the Lord is preparing us to meet with Him in powerful ways and needs sanctified worshippers. And why not embrace it when the latter is so much better than the former? What this world offers doesn’t compare with what He offers. This is a decision each of us will make, leadership just as well as everyone else (and in a sense probably more importantly). We will make a choice in receiving the correcting of the Lord or rejecting it, even if we don’t realize that’s what we’ve done.
I think back to what Paul said in Hebrews, about God disciplining those He loves. To make His point, Paul prefaces the explanation of God’s discipline with this: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily ensnares, and let us run with perseverance that race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. We already know the endgame… we win. He has already done everything for us. All we have to do is accept it, embrace it and live it. Let Epworth be a celebration of that. And let’s prepare for that celebration by accepting His discipline which shows us how to run that race in a way that is honoring and glorifying to Him.
When the Lord’s discipline is present in my life, I often do not recognize it (or I don’t allow myself to recognize it). I call it Satan’s attack, when often God is correcting me for my own good. This failure to recognize God’s hand scares me because unrecognized discipline might-as-well be Satan’s attack. Nothing is gained from it because the error, mistake, the sin warranting the discipline is not recognized as such and is thus likely to be repeated. This is an effective strategy of Satan’s I (and God for that matter) aim to destroy.
I am not sure where it crept in, probably has something to do with a spoiled childhood or maybe it has roots in a defense-mechanism I use to keep from being hurt by something or someone that really matters. After all, how harmful can simple, carnal pleasures really be? How much can a funny movie or a good book really hurt me at a core level? How unhealthy can a card game or tennis match be? You’d be surprised. Wise King Solomon had all the earthly pleasures man could dream of (and them some). Yet he called it all meaningless (Eccl 2:1-16). Earthly pleasures are fleeting at best, deceptive at worst.
But back to God’s discipline. I long to believe in a way that informs my everyday judgment, that God’s correction, which ultimately leads to a confident security in Him, provides greater fulfillment, peace, joy, contentment and all those abstract emotions we as humans long for. I long to believe God provides those needs more than strip-mall seductions and callous entertainment. In truth, I far too often rather spend $7.50 on a few hours of shallow escapism in Hollywood (and then only if I’m lucky) than spend that same amount of time in God’s Word, engaged in abundant eternal truth which delivers endless peace. And you know what the thing is? Scripture isn’t just free, its almost like it pays you!
In Hebrews 12, Paul says, “In your struggles against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. And thus you have forgotten the word of encouragement that calls you God’s child: My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes everyone he accepts as His own.” I think that sometimes we have to hit rock bottom before we realize the purpose and usefulness of God’s discipline. Many never hit rock bottom and therefore never discover this truth. Some, like me, hit the bottom and bounce back before the realization hits them (again, the ADD). It is only in hind-sight that I recognize God’s hand in my life, but at least I recognize it. It is never too late to accept the discipline and the love of God.
Epworth is very quickly approaching and many warn of the inevitable attacks on God’s people. While I do not contest this idea, I challenge each of you to examine your life with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Is Satan really attacking you, or is our loving Father spurring you towards righteousness? Is He disciplining you? How you answer that question may define your experience at Epworth. Maybe Satan isn’t attacking us as much as we may think. Don’t give him too much credit. Maybe the Lord is preparing us to meet with Him in powerful ways and needs sanctified worshippers. And why not embrace it when the latter is so much better than the former? What this world offers doesn’t compare with what He offers. This is a decision each of us will make, leadership just as well as everyone else (and in a sense probably more importantly). We will make a choice in receiving the correcting of the Lord or rejecting it, even if we don’t realize that’s what we’ve done.
I think back to what Paul said in Hebrews, about God disciplining those He loves. To make His point, Paul prefaces the explanation of God’s discipline with this: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily ensnares, and let us run with perseverance that race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. We already know the endgame… we win. He has already done everything for us. All we have to do is accept it, embrace it and live it. Let Epworth be a celebration of that. And let’s prepare for that celebration by accepting His discipline which shows us how to run that race in a way that is honoring and glorifying to Him.
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