God's Got It All In Control Part V

     Continuing with our teaching let's now go to verse 9 of Hebrews 12.

     Verse 9:  Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of  Spirits, and live?

    There are two words I want to point out in this scripture and the first one is the word subject:  If we look this word up in the Greek it is the word "Hupotasso" which means= To place in an orderly fashion under, to obey, be made subject to and voluntary subordination.

          The second word is:  live.  The Greek word is "Zao" which means:  To have life, to live and applies to God who has life independently from anyone and from whom all living beings derive their life and existence from.  It also denotes a particular manner of living as pertaining to righteousness, holiness and living in the constant guidance and influence of the Spirit.

     The Father is asking us: Are you be willing to yield to the correction of My Spirit knowing that the discipline and light affliction is a little thing compared to what Christ suffered for us? Are you willing to trust His judgements in your life?  Are we willing to submit to God's training and guidance for your life?  Remember:  A father always disciplines his child if he truly loves him. God deserves our respect and we need to reverence Him knowing that He is working everything out for our good and for His glory.  His wisdom seeks only for our highest good according to His plan and purpose for our lives.

     Verse 10:  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good that we may share His holiness.

     What is this kind of discipline?  The Lexical Aid to the New Testament says that the word means:  to bring up a child or youth, to educate and used of activity directed toward the moral and spiritual nurture and training of the child that would influence his conscious will and action.

And the word holiness means: The qualities of character for which there need not be any proof.  It speaks of the essence of the character of God.

     All of us are as children in the sight of God and need to be reminded that were still in school.  We need to be educated in the things of God and in His ways, but if we don't know what His word says about Him how are we going to actively apply His nature and character to our lives?  God has given all of us a conscious and all of us were raised with certain moral values.  But once we let sin have it's way, it took control and we left that God given moral conscious behind and covered it up with fleshly desires.  We became blinded to spiritual things and became as rebellious children and acted arbitrary (in which we made decisions by chance or on a whim not thinking about the consequences) to our choices in life.  This is why God's discipline is so important because it shows us what's in our hearts, our weaknesses and vulnerable areas of our characters.  It reveals where our thought life is, how strong our faith is or isn't and the areas that need to be turned over to God. 

     Verse 11:  For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness in conformity to Gods will in purpose, thought, and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God).

     In Proverbs 3:11-13 it tells us:

          Verse 11: My son, do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord (His correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering of trial); neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or abhor His reproof.

          Verse 12: For whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in which he delights.

          Verse 13: Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly wisdom, and the man who gets understanding (drawing it forth from God's Word and life's experiences).
    
     Let me ask you a question at this point.  What kind of an attitude do you project to others while going through the discipline of the Lord? 

     Do you complain to God and everyone around you and say that it isn't fair?
     Do you struggle through with defiance and a lack of gratitude?
     Do you get lost in self and caught up in your own self pity?
     Do you resent God and say what did I do to deserve this?

     Think about this and ask yourself:  What is God trying to teach me, show me and do with me through this experiance?  And always remember:  There is no discipline of
God that does not take it's source in love.  God's love is always the motivating factor.

     What is the peaceable fruit of righteousness that verse 11 talkes about? Godly Wisdom

     In James 3:17-18 it tells us:

          Verse 17:  But the wisdom from above is first pure, them peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hyprocisy.

          Verse18:  And the seed(harvest) whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

     The word "peace" here means:  Rest, untroubled, undisturbed, well being

     So what is this saying to us?  If we can learn to rest during seasons of discipline then we can trust that His wisdom will lead and guide us into understanding is ways.  We then can begin to accept His correction, discipline and the training process knowing that it all is an intricate part of learning to conform to Gods perfect will, plan and purpose for us.

Blessings,

Elma Garlock    

God's Got It All In Control Part IV

     Let's now go back to Hebrews 12:6 and go over the second half of this verse.

     Verse 6:  And scourgeth every son whom He receivieth.

     The Dictionary defines the word Scourgeth as:  A lash, whip, a vindictive affliction or to afflict greatly.

     I want you to understand why I am bringing to your attention the meaning of the word "Scourgeth".  Please understand and hear me.  God does not afflict us or bring disease upon us.  He will test us and even sift us if needed.  And then there are times when we bring devastation, sorrow and trauma upon ourselves because of our own rebellion and sin.

     As I was studying and preparing this message, the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance of how Christ suffered the "Scourging" through the hands of the Roman soldiers.  He reminded me of how the "Scourge" or "Whip" was made of leather thongs that were weighted with sharp pieces of bone or lead which tore the flesh.

     Paul the Apostle and many christian martyrs suffered and some even died as a result of being scourged and whipped until they bled to death.  Our small amount of suffering we have on this earth today is but a fleeting moment compared to what the early Christians had to suffer. We will never fully understand or completely comprehend with our earthly mind the amount of suffering He endured for us.  I am so thankful that He paid the ultimate price and that was that He gave His life for us....He became the lamb of sacrifice for us....He gave us everything He was as a man and everything He is as our Lord.

          Verse 7:  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons.

     The living bible reads:  Let God train you, for He is doing what any loving father does for his children.

     As I sat back and thought about this verse the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said:

     You as a father or a mother. If you knew what lay ahead for your children and you knew  they would have to face difficult situation of trials, testings, discouragement and failures wouldn't you try in every way to help them hear the voice of the Spirit so they could respond to the calling in their life?  And you knew they needed to be taught the word of God and trained to handle the call?  Wouldn't you lovingly take your child and lead them step, by step, by step and do whatever needed to be done to accomplish that training so the end results would be for his good and for My plan and for My purpose?  Of course you would.

          Verse 8:  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

     The Amplified bible says this about this verse 8:   Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all of God;s children share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons at all.

     In Proverbs 3:11 & 12 it tells us:   My son do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord, His correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering or trial, neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or abhor His reproof.
     For whom the Lord loves, He corrects, even as a Father corrects the son in whom he delights.

     You see, God has taken each of us as a potter takes a lump of clay and painstakingly molds it into a vessel that can be used for His glory and filled with His Spirit.  A vessel that He perfects so when the firing of the kindle is turned up, (the testing as by fire) we won't crack or break under intense heat or pressure.

The Open Vision

     Many, many years ago I had an open vision.  As I opened my eyes that morning I looked up at the ceiling of my room and coming towards me from the right corner of that room was a beautiful long necked vessel that had a handle on it's right side.  It's shape and proportions were pleasing to the eye, but as it got closer I could see the top of the vessel and that it was damaged.  As I continued to study it, I noticed on the top were two indentations, one on the left side of the spout and one on the right. It looked like someone had taken a knife and sliced the top leaving it deeply indented and flawed making it difficult to pour anything from it.

     As I prayed and sought the Lord for the interpretation of this vision He told me that the vessel represented me.  He said that He wasn't finished with me yet and that the flaws represented traumatic trauma I had experienced in my life.  He said that they needed to be healed and dealt with and that He would be working in these areas to reform, shape and mold me into a perfect vessel so He could fill with His glory. 

     Beloved, He isn't finished with you yet!

Blessings,

Elma Garlock