During my Monday quiet time, I read over the Romans passage and then coincidentally (NOOOTT), a passage in Hebrews that I read that morning talked about being a son (daughter) of God. I thought this week God would continue to reveal to me how loved I am as His daughter and just the...sweetness of that. But God decided to remind me of the harder part of being a daughter of Christ.
"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Hebrews 12: 4-6
Waaaaiiitt a second, but didn't you say you're my daddy? And he says yes, I did. And that is exactly why I want to discipline you, to REBUKE you...because that IS love.
"For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the FATHER OF OUR SPIRITS and live!" Hebrews 12:7-9
Oh man, I could quote this whole thing. The Father of our Spirits, and it's my soul that He's caring about. It goes on to say this discipline is painful but that it "produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." That's what my daddy wants for me. Righteousness and peace. And so post-houseboating He is continuing to rebuke me, to show me my faults, to change me. To encourage me to resist my sin to the point of SHEDDING BLOOD. He pleads with me to keep my eyes on my Father so He can produce such an amazing harvest in my soul. So I guess I lied...partly. God did reveal the harder part of being a daughter but perhaps the sweetest part. That He intends such good for me and knows exactly how to bring me to the sweetness of His Kingdom. Sounds like a pretty good dad to me.
Amen! That's such a fresh perspective, and it's so easy a lot of the time to get caught in that trap of only seeing that side of God, to essentially ignore the plans that He has for us to become more like Him through discipline and in so doing to stagnate and stumble in our walks. Thanks for that reminder, God-through-Stephanie :)
ReplyDeleteOh man this is so good!! Thank you for this amazing bazinga moment =]
ReplyDeleteSteph. I totally hear you. The deeper I dig into the Word, the more dirt I find in myself. But it's seeing the dirt and getting through it that allows me to continue digging into that relationship with God. Ah, tough love! What would we do without it?
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