White Picket Fences

Not sure this is anyone’s favorite topic, but we have to talk about it…

Discipline.

Gerr

Yesterday we saw the repercussions of humbly accepting the word or pridefully rejecting it. Regardless if you are a naturally humble to receive the word, or struggle at times to be obedient and let it change you, I’m just going to say this:

God is our Heavenly Father and just as any good father would, He will discipline us.

Dang.

We might feel that way, but without God’s discipline, we wouldn’t stay the same and we wouldn’t become more like Jesus.

Daniel 4:37 is our key verse today:

“Now I, King Nebby, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

Sometimes that last part of the verse makes me feel like God just sticks out His God-foot and trips me to knock me on my knees. But, I know that’s not true. What I do know that is true is that God will humble me. And He does it more and more and more. I believe this is true because I want to be more and more like Him. In order for that to happen, I have to die. I have to be humbled.

Hebrews 12:10-11 say this, “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

That verse couldn’t be truer. Let’s break in down. Not in a beat-box kind of way, but you know what I mean.

God disciplines us for our good: We might know that, but it doesn’t always feel that way. Wait…I think the author is about to say the same thing…

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Das true.

And what might some of this discipline be? It could be that you hang on to the need of money more than having faith in God. He might ask you to give more. Can you be obedient to it?

What if you struggle with glancing over at someone else’s spouse (getting more tricky here). He might require you to actually cut someone out of your life in order to be safe.

What if you struggle with keeping your temple, your body, well and healthy. God might ask us to step it up in regards to what we eat and how we exercise.

What happens when we obey?

It produces a harvest of righteousness.

When God asks us to get sin out of our lives it is never like drawing a line in the sand and not crossing it. Why would God put us up next to a line that is out biggest weakness and say, “Don’t cross this.”

Let me show you something beautiful about where God wants to lead us in regard to that which might cause us to sin.

“Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Psalm 16:5-6

Did you catch it? The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

God will not tell us to run from sin, cut it off, and throw it off and then watch us make foolish decisions by keeping our sin at arms length. If we’re serious about it…He will discipline us.

But it will be for our good. He want to set our boundary lines in places that don’t even look like the acreage of sin we found ourselves in.

For a time, your boundaries between you and what causes you to sin will be close and tight. That’s because we are accustomed to having our sin within reach. In order for that sin to be gone forever, discipline means letting God walk us away from it and set new boundaries around us. They will be pleasant.

And finally, He wants us to share in His holiness.

SHARE in His holiness.

That's worth all the discipline He wants to walk us through.

You can take him at His word.