Day 297: God's Discipline

Hebrews 12:3-11

Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?He said,

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.

6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”

7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? 10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Now I know we’ve all been in trouble before, by our parents/guardians, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself when it comes to being in trouble by everyone. I’m told it takes a village to raise a child and I turned out fine. However that’s not the point. We all know what discipline feels like one way or another. I can speak for everyone when I say it’s not fun, we don’t like it. The big kicker is when our parents discipline us, because they say they are doing it because they love us. Now when I was younger I was not here for any of it, I did not want to hear it. My mother was a firm believer in “spare the rod, spoil the child” with that being said, there was physical punishment. Every time we would get in trouble, when my mom was done whooping us, she would talk to us and tell us that she was only doing it because she loves us. Little did I know how much that discipline and correction would affect the person I became as I grew up. What I failed to realize is that this discipline was rooted in love, she could have easily let me do what I wanted, not corrected me, and watched me become something I was never meant to be. But she loves me too much. I did not understand it then but now I know that my parents corrected and disciplined me literally because they love me. They did not want me to grow up wild and not knowing the difference between right and wrong. They raised me the best they knew how, and I turned out great. Proverbs Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” My parents raised me right and I I grew I learned to appreciate that discipline, because it gave me direction and helped shape me into the person I am today. When we put that into context, how much more does God love us? He loves us immeasurably more than our parents ever could.

God disciplines us in the same way that our earthly father discipline’s us. God loves us so much He is going to correct us, He is going to discipline us, He is going to make sure that we stay on the right track. I love that the scripture labels these as encouraging words, because it is very encouraging. It’s encouraging to know that we have someone that loves us so much that He will not allow us to go down the wrong path if He can help it. Not only that but He gave us the Holy Spirit as a guide, giving us direction and correction. Sometimes we deliberately disobey Him, but that’s another topic for another day. God has a path laid out for each of us, and sometimes on that path we will have to endure times of correction and discipline. God does not discipline us because He’s mean and evil. No He disciplines us to train us, to help us, to teach us how to live a life that is pleasing to Him. We learn a lot from our moments of discipline, we learn a lot about our mistakes and the things we do. However we also learn that God loves us so much that He will not watch us destroy ourselves. He will not stand back and watch us ruin ourselves. No, God is too invested in us, we are His children. Imagine if God did nothing when He saw us straying away. Is that really love? God corrects those He loves, and He has blessed us with parents and guardians to do the same.

The thing about discipline is it doesn’t feel good. It’s painful, it hurts but sometimes it takes pain to grow. It takes pain to mature, I might have gotten in trouble for things when I was younger but I knew not to do them again. No, God’s punishment will not feel good, correction isn’t the easiest thing to take in, but it allows us to grow. It teaches us something. But after it all we will flourish, we will know what it is like to live right. To walk with Christ. It’s a part of growing up. We may not understand it now but when we look back we will be eternally grateful for God’s correction.

All this to say, don’t overlook God’s rebuke. He is not going around constantly looking for ways to punish us, in fact He is constantly drawing us closer to Him. He is raising us to be His children and He will discipline and punish us as He sees fit because He loves us. He loves us enough to hurt our feeling for a little while in order to make sure that we are walking and living how we are supposed to. He’s willing to hurt our feelings for a little while in order to teach us and raise us. Sometimes love is brutally honest and cannot spare our feelings, but it doesn’t mean that it is not love.

Reflection

1. Can you think of a time when your parents punished you and you can look back and be grateful for it now?
2. Can you agree that discipline is rooted in love?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray to God and thank Him that He is a God of correction and that He loves us so much that He will correct us. Pray in whatever way you feel led. Just have a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 298!

Day 214: Walk through the Door

Matthew 7:7

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Growing up my mom would always say, “A closed mouth don’t get fed.” This was her way of telling me to speak up for myself, and ask for the things I want. This was her telling me, I don’t know what you want, what you’re feeling, or what you need if you don’t talk to me. If you knew me as a child you would know that I rarely spoke. I was beyond quiet. So needless to say I grew up hearing this scripture, both at home and in church. We were always told to ask for what we want. We were told to knock and the door will be opened. The door can’t be opened if we don’t knock. We always talked about the door being opened, we never talked about walking through it. Opening the door is one thing, walking through it is another.

Ever asked God for something and then hesitate to accept it when He gave it to you? We as humans do it constantly. We are constantly asking God to do things for us and when He does, we hesitate. We have enough faith to believe that God will open the door and when He does, we expect Him to carry us over the threshold too. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, God will not do for us, what we can do for ourselves. God will open the door, but we have to walk through it. Walking through that door is completely on us, Often times we ask God to open doors for us, but for some reason when He opens the door we have to take the time to figure out of it’s right for us or not. We send ourselves into a full on anxiety attack, posting on Facebook and asking for prayers to help with big decisions. We often think there’s a catch to blessings and grace. There isn’t there’s no catch. When God opens a door for us we don’t have to hesitate, we don’t worry that’s it’s not right for us because He’s opened the door. He opened it for us. God will not open a door for us and then not allow us to walk through it, (I mean unless you’re Moses, you’ll get a glimpse and that’s all.).

I think sometimes we are so concerned and caught up with “the right thing” that we overlook the right thing. What I mean is that we put so much pressure on ourselves to do what is right that we are blinded by the very idea. We become so infatuated with the idea that we start to overlook the real thing. Sometimes we complicate things more than we should. We tend to make the smallest things into an obstacle course when they don’t have to be.

All this to say, walk through the door. When God opens a door, don’t hesitate, don’t doubt. Trust Him and walk through it, He’s not going to walk through it for you, He will walk through it with you. First we have to choose to walk through it, so we have two choices, either stand there stuck or walk through the door that God has opened and continue to move forward. It’s our choice. The door is open we have to decide to walk through.

Reflection

1. Do you hesitate to accept what God has given you?
2. Do you have trouble walking through the doors GOd opens for you? If yes, why?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above question guide your prayer today, Talk to God about having faith and accepting what He is giving. Just have a conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 215!

Day 48: Parent Appreciation Day

Proverbs 23:22-25

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy truth, and do not sell it;buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.Let your father and mother be glad;let her who bore you rejoice.

If you grew up with strict parents, respect was taught to us at a young age, it was ingrained in us. We were told to respect our parents, our elders, and our peers.

If you grew up with parents who knew anything about scripture, you heard at one point or another, Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and mother so that your days may be longer on earth.” and if you had a smart mouth like my sister, at one point your response to this statement was the beginning of Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers provoke your child not to wrath.” every time the pastor talked about disobedient and rude kids your mother broke her neck to look at you. We love our parents, but sometimes we don’t always like our parents. I’m just being honest. Sometimes we aren’t as respectful as we should be. Sometimes we forget that no matter how old we are, we will always be our parents’ child. Sometimes we just forget to appreciate our parents.

Countless times throughout the entire bible we are told to honor our parents, to listen to their wise counsel, not to disgrace our father's house, but to listen honor, and obey.

Colossians 3:20

Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.

Proverbs 1:8-9

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

God personally chose our parents, he did not just pick two random people to take care of us, God gave us the people in our lives that would raise us right, that would teach us and show us how to live an abundant life. These are not always the people who created and gave birth to us. No, our parents aren’t perfect but neither are we, they are doing the job God has given them, being our parent.

At some point we lost that innocent unconditional love we had for our parents. Not that we don’t love them, but we’ve lost that shine we had when we were kids. When they were our heroes, and we leaned on them for everything. When all we wanted was to make our parents proud. There was a time when we wanted nothing more than to spend time with our parents. As we got a little older that dependency started to fade, and we started to need them less. Sometimes as our dependency fades our respect fades. We started going through changes, and our minds started to mature and we got to a point where we ‘no longer needed’ our parents. They raised us and brought us up right, yet when we got older we went against it. We have all gone through a time of declaring our independence and feeling like we don’t need to listen to our parents anymore.  Yes, we love our parents but how often do we tell them? We appreciate them but do they know it? Our parents love us so much, more than we could ever imagine, no matter how upset they are with us, or how much we fight with them, their love doesn’t fade. It is important that we understand how much our parents just want what is best for us. Sometimes we don’t listen because we think we know it all, and sometimes our parents are wrong. But for the many times they’re not, we have to learn to accept their wisdom, learn from them, because one day we’re going to wake up and and all of sudden we’re a parent and we will understand all of the things our parents told us when we were younger.

I don’t think we understand how happy it makes our parents when we just call to say, “i love you, or i appreciate you.” They want nothing more than for us to be happy, and as we get older we will start to recall the teachings of our parents. We will start to appreciate all the things we didn’t like when we were younger I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in conversations and caught myself saying; ‘Well my mom always said…” or “My dad taught me this..” And it is a great feeling to just sit a realize, my parents were right. To realize that even at my worst moments my parents had my best interest at heart. That even when I didn't want to listen their consistency, and strict parenting made me the person I am. It was always so that I could be a better person. Parents are the most selfless people in the world. They put their children ahead of them everyday. I thank God for my parents, even though my father is no longer with us.

Some of us don’t have our parents with us anymore, and I understand that. I lost my dad when I was eighteen, but everything he taught me up until the day he died is ingrained in me. I can find comfort in knowing that even though I didn’t have him as long as I would have liked, God allowed him to raise me and show me a way that was right. He gave me a father who would teach me how to love, and be loved, how would teach me about life, and the little things that matter the most. So when God called Him home, yes it shattered me but His wisdom and what he taught me while he was here will forever be ingrained on my heart.

-Dyamond

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Many times when we get older we break our parents hearts by straying away from their teachings. We go against the grain, and act as if we forget what they taught us,  But it is the prayers of our parents and our grandparents and our forefathers that keep us going. We might stray but we will never depart, we will always find a way back home. That wise counsel, and those morals that have been taught to us will bring us back every time. It is because god gave us parents who would pray for us and love us even when we screw up, even when we break their hearts. They are always waiting with open arms to forgive and accept us. Just like When the prodigal son returned home.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to just think about all the things your parents, guardians, and/or parental figures has done for you. Thank God for them, thank God for putting them in your life. And pray for your parents, or the people you consider or call your parents. When all is done, call you parents today and tell them you love them, send a card, write a letter. Do something to show your parents that you appreciate them. We don't have to wait until Mother's or Father's Day for our parents to know how much we love and appreciate them.

This might be hard for those of us who have lost parents, but thank God for the time you had with them. Remember the good things about them, and how they helped mold and shape you into the person you are today. I love you.

Have an awesome day or evening. I love you so much. MAke sure you come back tomorrow for day 49!