Chastened

Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.


When we read of the patriarchs and prophets, men of God through the Bible we read of trials they endured. Were they chastened by the Lord? Yes. It's easy to see where by their example we are to follow and not to follow. Were most of these men perfect in all their ways? No. But most of them repented of their wrongs and returned to the way of the Lord.


'Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.'


Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty


Pro 3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction


We can't forget the exhortation. When we forget exhortations God gives to us we we risk our eternal lives. Read through this slowly--


Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.


Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Heb 12:10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure;


I'll be the first to jump up and say I, as a mother, don't enjoy chastening my children. However, and it's something to think about, a lot of times we consider our children reflections of ourselves and as such we want to mold them to be children that we can be proud of so when we chasten our children we are in some small ways selfishly doing so. Yes, we want what's best for them, we do, but our children are our heirs their children are our heirs. We want our heirs to carry on our names remembering us and yes, being people we can be proud of. It all comes back to us and our pleasure- to be proud of your children brings pleasure to us. I'm not saying we shouldn't desire to be proud of our children but this passage in the Bible is so true, we do punish our children and it's not entirely without selfishness.


God punishes, God chastens and He does so because He wants us to be partakers of His holiness. He wants us to be His heirs, His children, His sons and daughters.


We want life to be easy but it's not and it never will be.


Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.


Chastening is grievous. God's chastening will bring us righteousness. We are chastened over and over again to have no other God before God, to turn from our selfish ways and to turn to Christ. When we fully accept Christ and yield to Him it is HIS righteousness that becomes ours through His sacrifice.


Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
Heb 12:13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.


Make straight paths for our feet- the striaight paths will give us healing any other way will result in our eternal deaths. We all need the healing of Christ and by His grace we will live.


May God bless us and keep us on the straight paths. May we resist our temptations unto blood. May the Lord God chasten us so that we may be healed and find righteousness in His son, keeping us from being self-absorbed, choosing God first always!


By His will, in love.


Amen.