Godly Chastisement

**“For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives”” (Hebrews 12:6).**

Paul spoke in Hebrews 12 about the perfecting of our faith. He warned us to lay aside the weights of sin, so that we can run the Christian race. We run with our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of God. Paul’s encouragement is to endure, so that we don’t become weary. He stated that our endurance against sin, was not up to the point of shedding our blood. We are sons and daughters of the most high God. Paul’s exhortation is this; “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him” (Hebrews 12:5).

Parental discipline is to help children grow, to become valuable members of society. God disciplines us because he loves us as his dear children. Children feel safe from having discipline and clearly defined boundaries. A parent who fails to discipline their children, is setting them up for failure. “If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:8). God disciplines us because of his desire to keep us from perishing. Paul said that all discipline seemed painful at the time, however it later produces a fruit of righteousness.

Paul’s encouragement is to take heart and to lift our heads. We are told to strive for peace and holiness, which is a requirement to see God. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” (Hebrews 12:15). Paul also warned against sexual immorality and unholiness. He compared such behaviour to when Esau sold his birthright for a meal. In other words, we cannot trade long term gain for short term pleasure. Esau later sought after the blessing of his father, but lost his opportunity due to shortsightedness.

Don’t become offended when you are corrected. You have to examine where and who the correction is coming from. God will use family, friends and other people around you to point out weaknesses. Ministers and leaders will point out times when we may stray away from the truth. Pride and arrogance can stop us from heeding correction. Stubbornness and hard heartedness can lead to destruction. When someone offers correction, you have to examine whether they mean to harm you, or they wish to see you grow in Christ likeness. “An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy” (Proverbs 27:5-6).

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Repentance with Godly Sorrow

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Paul spoke to the Corinthians about repentance and cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh. He warned the church about being unequally yoked with unbelievers. “And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever” (II Corinthians 6:15)? The warning was to come out from among them and be separated. We are in the world, but not of the world (John 17:16). God does not compromise and will not share his glory and worship with any other gods. Paul wrote to the church about their wrongdoings and he was joyful that they repented.

“Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing” (II Corinthians 7:9). Paul was happy that his letters to the church made them sad. They were sad because of their wrongdoing and this led them to make changes. Their sorrow produced diligence, indignation of sin, increased their fear of God, their desire and zeal. Paul spoke about the wrongs which they did, in order to look after their souls as a good shepherd.

Ministers and leaders cannot worry about a gospel of popularity. Pleasing people is sure to cause displeasure to God. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalms 118:8). We have to ask ourselves, when we do what we do, who we are trying to please. People pleasing is a snare and we can make ourselves miserable from trying to please others. Saul lost the kingdom because he was more focused on pleasing people, than he was about pleasing God. “Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice” (I Samuel 15:24).

We have to preach the gospel and be instant in season and out of season. We teach the word to correct wrongdoing, to rebuke and to encourage. Ensuring that we address issues produces a balanced diet. Don’t just teach what is palatable or what will appeal to people’s taste and senses. We cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit, listen to the voice of God and teach what God wants us to say. Don’t dilute your message or stifle your conviction because the message offends someone. By all means be gracious and compassionate, but your message should convict people and lead them to godly repentance with sorrow.

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Blow the Trumpet in Zion

**“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near” (Joel 2:1).**

Joel wrote about the day of God’s judgement against Judah and Jerusalem. He prophesied regarding the impending disaster which was to come upon Isreal. His call was to repentance. “That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning” (Joel 2:12). God was looking for an inward repentance of the heart and not merely an outward show without meaning. Joel spoke of God’s compassion and willingness to forgive his people.

“Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting” (Joel 2:15). Joel called for a time of consecration of the people of Isreal. He had a special call for the Priests who ministered unto God, to stand at the entrance of the temple and weep. Their cries would be for God to spare his people and to remove their shame. Joel spoke of a promise of restoration, if the people would repent. “The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you” (Joel 2:25).

Joel’s final discourse in chapter 2, was a promise of God’s spirit poured out on his people. This outpouring would include everyone young and old, male and female. There would be an increase in visions, dreams, revelations and prophecies. God also declared that wonders would appear both in the heavens and earth. Everyone who called on the name of the Lord would be saved (Joel 2:32). Within Joel’s lamentations and warnings, was a promise of restoration. This restoration was conditional and the caveat was repentance.

Joel was specific about the type of repentance which was required. Not an outward show of the rending of their garments, without inward godly sorrow with repentance. Joel had a specific call for the Priests and those who served in the house of the Lord, to cry out on behalf of the people. Fasting and consecration of the entire nation was Joel’s recommendation. The final promise was an outpouring of the spirit of God. Although times and seasons change, the principles of God remain the same. Seasons of restoration require repentance and consecration.

“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

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Lion of Judah

“And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals”” (Revelation 5:5).

John the Revelator was caught up to heaven in a vision where he saw the throne of God. John saw God holding a scroll with the seven seals and an angel cried out, “who is worthy to open the scroll and break it’s seal?” John wept loudly as there was no one available to open the scroll. Except that an elder comforted John, because the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, had conquered so he could open the scroll. Jesus conquered death, hell and the grave. “I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave” (Revelation 1:18).

Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, to whom Jacob conferred the blessing of dominance. Jacob prophesied that the tribes would praise Judah and his hand would be on the neck of his enemies. “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him” (Genesis 49:9)? David also sprang from this tribe and the blessing conferred to David was everlasting dominion. God spoke through Nathan, that David would never lack a man to sit on the throne. Although Isreal no longer has a physical kingdom, Jesus Christ sits in heaven at the right hand of God.

Jesus disarmed principalities and powers shamed them openly, by his victory over them at the cross (Colossians 2:15). Jesus conquered the grave and was given all power, authority and dominion. Jesus humbled himself even to the death of the cross. Because of his sacrifice, God has given him a name that is above every other name. “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).

At Jesus’s first coming, he came as a humble lamb, to be slain for the sins of mankind. Saints, there is a second coming when Jesus will appear as a judge and king. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). Jesus will appear on the clouds with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. Until his final return, we work to spread the good news of the gospel and to establish the kingdom of God. We do the work of God with the authority given to us and we do all things through the power in name of Jesus.

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Sanctified for Service

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).

We are a temple for the presence of God to dwell and for the Holy Spirit to inhabit. We are created for the establishment of the kingdom of God. We are not perfect, but we allow the Holy Spirit to live through us and we remain connected to God, for his purpose to be fulfilled in us.

Paul encouraged a daily sanctification and asking God to forgive and cleanse us from our sins. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Yet we are not sinners but we are the righteousness of God. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So we are no longer slaves to sin, because through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we live in him and our bodies are under the blood of Jesus. His grace covers us and keeps us from falling into sin. We are not able to keep ourselves pure and sinless, but when we remain close to God and submit our spirits to him, then the Holy Spirit does the work to keep us pure.

Daily prayer, worship and reading the word keeps us in the presence of God, so that he can continue to refine us. We need fasting to help us to overcome some strongholds and the habitual sins that we struggle to get rid of. God is coming back for a Holy church without spot or wrinkle so we are holy because God is holy. “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple”
‭‭(1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:16-17‬).

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Take it by Force

Our assignment on earth is to advance the kingdom of God, to walk in authority and dominion and to take possession of everything that God has promised us. The enemy wants us to live broke down, depressed, oppressed and well below our potential. When we come into the fullness and complete understanding of who we are in Christ Jesus and the power available to us, we will no longer live with what the enemy is serving up.

Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead, to give us power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over every power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm us (Luke 10:19). If you are sick, we recognise that healing is a promise to the children of God. “You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you” (Exodus 23:25). Daily tap into what the word says about healing, in order to build your faith in that area and then claim your healing in Jesus Name.

The bible provides prescriptions for healing from mental, emotional and physical infirmity. It offers hope and insight for lack and debt and hope and strength for the weary. Time is never an excuse for not studying the bible, when we find time for so many other distractions. Besides, when we come to the understanding of how we can use the word to win our battles, we won’t miss out on learning the word in order to claim from its promises.

God made us in his image to rule and reign as Kings and seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). God’s promise is that he has made us the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Exodus 28:13). We take our rightful seat of authority on this earth and refuse to settle for being restricted, held back and treated like second class citizens.

The enemy will not surrender territory willingly, so we progress violently through prayer and claim our rightly possession. We use the word of God as our weapon, which is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

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Unflinching Convicting

**“For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed” (Isaiah‬ ‭50:7‬**).

I recently heard the word unflinching, used to describe the kind of support that I had provided for someone. Although I didn’t quite know the meaning of the word, the phrase that came to mind was Isaiah’s reference regarding ‘fixing his face like a flint.’ I believe in chapter 50 Isaiah spoke about waking daily to hear the word of God in order to speak a word to the weary (Isaiah 50:4).

Most prophets in bible days were not very popular people, because their message was often one of repentance and judgement. Yet Isaiah was convinced that he was not afraid of shame or persecution, but he would continue to stand firm in his conviction. This is because Isaiah knew that God was with him to protect and defend him.

I looked up the word unflinching and it means, ‘not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty.’ I imagine that this word may have come, from having one‘s face set hard like a flint or a stone. A flint is a hard rock which has been used for centuries to make weapons. I suppose this stone is powerful and hard, so Isaiah’s reference was to having a determined perseverance in the face of difficulty and danger.

We need unflinching determination to do the will of God, to accomplish our life’s mission and purpose and to not be deterred by opposition or trials. We have to have our faces fixed like a flint, because we know that God is with us so we will not be ashamed. We have confidence in what God says in spite of what our circumstances look like. We speak light into the darkness and command things that be not as though they were (Romans 4:7).

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Maintain Your Position

**“And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you”” (Nehemiah 6:3)?**

Let us take a brief snapshot from the story regarding Nehemiah. He rebuilt the walls in Jerusalem following the exile of the Jews. Nehemiah learned that there was a remnant of Jews, who escaped the exile but were in trouble and distress, because the walls were torn down (Nehemiah 1). He gained the favour of the King who he served as a cupbearer. The King allowed Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the wall and also provided the equipment, which he needed to do this work.

Nehemiah gathered the people and the work progresses successfully, until he encountered opposition. In chapter 4, Sanballat and Tobiah were angry, that the work progressed and hurled insults at Nehemiah and the Jews. Nehemiah’s response was to pray and carry on building and the work progressed.

Again in chapter 6, when Sanballat and Tobiah heard that Nehemiah had completed the wall, they continue to conspire. This time they sent messengers 4 times to call Nehemiah to meet, but their intention was to harm him. Nehemiah saw through their conspiracy and his response was, “I cannot come down because I am doing a great work.”

When the first plot didn’t work, they wrote letters spreading lies and gossip about Nehemiah, saying that he wanted to be King. They even sent a false prophet to convince Nehemiah, to run to the house of God to hide because they wanted to kill him. On every occasion, Nehemiah saw through the conspiracies and recognised them as schemes, to distract him from the work. He maintained his focus and completed the work of rebuilding the wall, restoring the gates and the doors (Nehemiah 6).

We can learn a lot from this story about Nehemiah. (1) Stay focused on what God has assigned you to do and complete the assignment. (2) Do not entertain every argument or engage in every fight. (3) Not every “Prophet” or “prophetic word” is sent by God. (4) When God has asked you to do something great, expect opposition and persecution to come. (5) Stay in prayer, remain steadfast in your conviction and God will give you the strength to complete what you have started. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ”
‭‭(Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬).

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Strategic Discipleship

**“And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today”” (Luke 19:5)**.

Zacchaeus was a tax collector who was unpopular among the people. When Jesus decided to go to his home, the people did not approve. “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7). But Jesus’s decision to go with Zacchaeus produced a positive outcome. “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8). Not only did Zacchaeus surrender his life to God and receive salvation, he also redistributed his wealth to those in need.

Jesus once stopped in the city of Samaria to minister to a woman who was an adulteress. His disciples were puzzled about why he was talking to the woman, as the Jews traditionally had no dealings with the Samaritans. After Jesus concluded his ministry to the woman, she ran to spread his message to the people in her town. Because of this woman’s testimony, many Samaritans met Jesus and believed and received salvation. ““Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him”” (John 4:29-30).

We see a similar narrative, when Jesus travelled to the country of the Gerasenes and healed the man possessed with legions. The man begged Jesus to allow him to travel with him. Jesus declined his offer and directed him towards another assignment. ““Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him”” (Luke 8:39).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus reached out to disciple those who people considered, among the worst of sinners. These were people who others had given up on, as being beyond redemption. What was amazing, was how powerful their testimony was in bringing others to Christ. Zacchaeus was an outcast among his people, because he collected taxes for the Romans. The Samaritan woman was won over by the realisation, that Jesus felt that she was worthy to be ministered to despite her failures. The man of Gerasenes had probably given up on being set free. His freedom first made him want to follow Jesus and then his testimony was powerful enough to transform a city.

Despite the history of these people mentioned above, Jesus considered them worthy of salvation. Nobody is perfect and no one is more worthy or salvation than another person. God takes no delight in the death of sinners, but desires that everyone would repent and have eternal life (Ezekiel 18:23). God created us all in his image and he loves us. Sin distorts the image of God in us and we have an assignment as Christians, to win as many souls to God as possible. “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared”
‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭130:3-4‬).

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Being Unmovable

**“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).**

Paul taught the Corinthians on the subject of death and resurrection from the dead. He expounds on Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection and explained that our mortal bodies shall put on an incorruptible body in order to inherit the kingdom of God. “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable”(1 Corinthians 15:50). In essence, Paul was saying that as believers, we do not have a reason to fear death. “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting””(1 Corinthians 15:54-55)?

Paul and the other disciples lived with the certainty of imprisonment and death, given how dangerous their careers as apostles were during that time. Paul also spoke in Acts 20 that the Holy Spirit continued to witness that he was likely to experience imprisonment and affliction. Paul does not seem deterred by the threats, but is ever more determined to carry on doing the work of spreading the gospel. “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God”(Acts 20:24).

Over in Acts 21, Paul starts his journey to Jerusalem and the disciples prayed and begged him not to go. One prophet even demonstrated to Paul how he would be in chains if he journeyed to Jerusalem (Acts 21:11). “Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus””(Acts 21:13).

In the end, Paul journeyed to Jerusalem and was indeed arrested. His conviction was that he had to do the will of God no matter the consequence. Paul was not afraid of death but was determined to complete his God given assignment. Paul was not moved by the threats because he was persuaded that whether he was alive or dead, that his life belonged to God. “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”(Philippians 1:20-21).

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