God loves enough to discipline...

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and we started talking about God’s discipline in our lives.   Our conversation made me start thinking that there might be other people with questions about God’s discipline in the lives of his children.  After all, the idea of love and discipline being connected can be difficult for us to reconcile as we may have encountered unloving discipline in our lives.

“My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. ” (Proverbs 3:11–12, ESV)

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews (12:3-17) references this Proverb as he encourages us as followers of Jesus to not grow weary as we face adversity in our lives.  Ultimately God’s discipline exists to encourage us in our growth as his children.  God will do whatever it takes for us to be formed into the image of his Son.  The painful tests and trials in life require our response in faith trusting our loving Father’s discipline.

In light of Proverbs 3:12, we ought to be encouraged when we face the discipline of God because his discipline indicates we are his children.  James 1:2-4 say, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ”(James 1:2–4, ESV)  The thought of God’s discipline in our life being viewed positively is important for every follower of Jesus.  God is not looking to get us or to get even with us but instead to love us.  God loves us enough to bring loving discipline to shape us into who he desires us to be.

Created to work?

As followers of Jesus we love the idea that God created us for a purpose.  We love the idea that we were created for the glory of God and for a meaningful and significant relationship with him.  But we don’t often celebrate God’s intention of creating people to work.  We often simply view work as a necessary evil to be managed and even avoided if possible.

But that is not the view of work that is presented in Scripture.  Genesis 2:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15 ESV)

Before sin entered the picture, God created people to work.  The problem we face is that we have the wrong view of work and it’s purpose in our lives.  When we think that work’s purpose is simply to make money to allow us to do other things and buy stuff we miss the point altogether.  God created us to work for his glory.  That opportunity exists in every work place in America.

In his book, The Me I Want To Be, John Ortberg writes, “Your work is a huge part of God’s plan for your life, and God intends the Spirit to fill and energize workplaces.” (p. 219)  With the right perspective God can transform the workplace into a place where the Spirit’s presence is revealed.  As followers of Jesus we should not feel guilty about desiring to accomplish, to dream, and to work when we are listening to God’s leading in our work.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23–24 ESV)  God’s glory can be revealed each and every day as we work for his glory. 

Dreaming With God

 What is the one thing that you dream about accomplishing in your life?  That’s not a question that is often encouraged in the church.  We often don’t relate the things of God and our dreams.  But what if God has made you to accomplish the dream that he has placed within your heart?  What if the dream that you have stopped dreaming was God’s dream for your life?

God has made us to join in his work.  In that process God has given us passions and desires from his heart to ours.  As followers of Jesus we must allow God’s dreams for us to become our dreams.  Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37:4 ESV) 

As we connect with God in prayer we begin to trade our dreams for his.  As we learn to dream with God in prayer, God transforms the desires of our heart.  What happens then is we begin to dream large dreams; God sized dreams.  We dream those dreams until we decide to come back to “reality.”

Instead of focusing on what we think is possible we should be focused on God’s dream for us.  As we spend quantity time with God, he shapes our dreams.   Yes, you read that correctly, not simply quality time but we must also spend quantity time with God.   So often we think we can make up for the quantity of time we spend with God in some other way.  However, there is no way around our need to spend time with our King.

As we spend time with God, he shapes our passions to come in alignment with his purposes.  The problem we often face is we don’t spend enough time with God to recognize his voice in shaping our dreams.   

Take the time to ask yourself hard questions.  What is your God given dream and how are you joining with God in it?  Then make the choice to allow God to drive your passions toward seeing his dream for you become reality.

Beyond Being Good

This past weekend I gave a message that encouraged followers of Jesus to move past trying to “be good” to being people who rely totally on the “goodness” of Jesus Christ.  In this message, I especially encouraged moms and dads to stop trying to get their children to simply be good and moral people, and instead point them toward looking like and walking with Jesus.   As followers of Jesus our hope is in the transformation that he brings, not in our ability to act and talk right.  This is a message that God has been working out for some time in my life. 

When we stop recognizing Jesus as our righteousness and start thinking we are pretty good, we end up expecting people who are far from God to simply live up to our moral standards.  The good news of Jesus loses when we expect people to clean themselves up apart from his grace.  The kingdom of God is not about our ability to live as decent people, but instead to live transformed lives by his presence.  As followers of Jesus we should not bemoan what is wrong with the world, but instead be people with hope in the midst of hopelessness.

In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encourages the church to be “ambassadors” for the “ministry of reconciliation” that has been entrusted to us as followers of Jesus.  As ambassadors of Christ our message is not to place our hope in our ability to do good and act right.   The message is one that those who are far from God, with no hope of bringing themselves near, can be brought near through Jesus alone as their righteousness.

The hope we bring to the world is that, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)  It’s time for us to live that way.