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WEEK 05 – Discipline
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WEEK 05 – Discipline
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WEEK 05 – DISCIPLINE
This week we’re talking about DISCIPLINE!
Discipline is one of those things, haha, am I right?
Most of us don’t like even the sound of the word. It mostly comes with a straight up negative connotation and makes us shudder inside.
But Hebrews 12 unpacks God’s heart for discipline in such a way that teaches us how to actually LOVE discipline, here’s the kicker, FOR WHAT IT PRODUCES!
This 1 phrase has absolutely changed my life forever.
“For what it produces.”
No other phrase has the power to help us see beyond, to see the ends and therefor justify the means.
Especially within the context of Hebrews 12.
I can’t recommend ANY HIGHER that you grand read Hebrews 12 RIGHT NOW!
It has to be one of my absolute favorite sections of Scripture, so full of hope & transformation.
The writer (it’s still not really certain who the author is, though lots of people think it might be Paul. That’s not as important as knowing that the Holy Spirit is all over it) is encouraging us to endure hardship as though God is making us stronger through it and delivering His gifts to us through it.
His gifts of holiness, righteousness, healing, etc., the author says that they ALL stem from & only come on the other side of, you guessed it, DISCIPLINE and hardship.
Hebrews 12:2 says that this is exactly how Jesus was able to endure the cross, “because for eh joy set before him…”
It wasn’t the joy of being tortured and dying on a cross, that’s for sure.
It was “for what it produces”. It was because He knew what it would accomplish. He knew that on the other side of this incredible suffering, He would have made it physically & spiritually possible for us to be made right with Father God again.
That we could be brought near again, made new again, healed, joy, peace, fulfillment, abundant life… all because we could be with our Maker again… because He endured the cross for us.
This incredible passage of encouragement & training comes to a pinnacle point in Hebrews 12:10-11
“…God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 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.”
-HEBREWS 12:10-11
This is literally the process that God uses to make us more like Himself, to bring us that abundant life He talked about. He uses hardship to discipline the world & sin out of us, so that He can share His holiness & righteousness & peace with us.
It’s our resistance to hardness & discipline that keeps us from having peace.
Then, as if it couldn’t get any more potent, Hebrews 12:12-13 comes in blazing!
“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
-Hebrews 12:12-13
BAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Amazing.
He is re-wiring our thoughts towards discipline completely.
Not only is it good for us, but when we intentionally lean into God’s discipline to strengthen ourselves, we make a way for OTHERS to be healed as well.
He says that when we make those level paths for ourselves, others will walk those paths as well.
When we let God make us more like Himself (through discipline), other people are healed.
Which is totally true. I’ve been healed by lessons & lifestyles I’ve seen in others & God has used lessons & lifestyle from my life to teach & heal others as well.
And the cycle just continues. (Proverbs 10:17)
So don’t avoid hardship & God’s disciplining process of purifying you. It’s His way of sharing His holiness, righteousness, & peace with you.
Not only that, but He even says in 2 Timothy 1:7,
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
-2 Timothy 1:7
SELF-discipline. He has given us His Spirit. And He gives us the POWER to be SELF-disciplined. The power to train ourselves to love no matter what, like He does.
Power, love, & self-discipline.
Let’s lean into that idea this week… “For what it produces!”
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- Is my life full of God’s holiness/righteousness/peace?
- How might I be avoiding God’s loving discipline work in my life?
- What might be on the other side of my difficult situation that God want’s me to see & endure for?
- On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your self-discipline level? (you may have an answer for one area of your life and another for another area of your life. that might be an area of opportunity for transformation & growth right there.)
SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 12!!!! / 2 Timothy 1:7 / Proverbs 10:17 / 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 / Psalm 94:12-14 / James 1:2-3
QUOTES
“We must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline practically has disappeared. What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician’s instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not “disciplined”?”
-A.W. Tozer
“God sees us perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens and purges us that we may be partakers of His holiness.”
-A.W. Tozer
WEEKLY FOCUS
This week, read through each one of these Scriptures each morning.
Think about what it means to live a life of DISCIPLINE. Ask God if there are any areas you need to surrender or change in order to reflect HIS nature of Discipline.
Let this theme guide your God time all week, and even your thoughts and conversation with Him through out your days, all week long.
Let Him speak to you about this idea of DISCIPLINE, and see what He says.
We’d love to hear your feedback, so hop into the devos conversation thread in SLACK & we’re excited to see what the Lord speaks to you this week.
BLESSINGS!
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