Proverbs 5:23 “He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.”

IT’S NOT A BAD WORD

In our permissive society today discipline is looked upon as bad or unnecessary.  Our verse for today reminds me of Hebrews 12:11 “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.”  Without discipline, Solomon says we die and are led astray.

Discipline is really conditioning.  It’s conditioning our spirits to obey a holy God. It’s conditioning our minds to dwell on His Word.  It’s conditioning our mouths to speak truth.  It’s conditioning our ears to not listen to gossip.  It’s conditioning our eyes to look on godly things.

TEACHING MOMENT

 If you ask your little Gertrude or Elrod what discipline is, they would probably say a “whooping.”  Children equate discipline with pain unless we teach them otherwise.  Discipline may not be pleasant, as the writer of Hebrews says, but it does not have to be painful.

In fact, when we learn to discipline ourselves, the pain subsides quickly.  When we learn to practice self-discipline we don’t have problems with authority.  When our children learn that discipline is a good thing, parenting becomes so much easier.

How about you?  Are you disciplined or self-disciplined?  Do you require God to take you to the woodshed or do you deny yourself those things that you KNOW will lead you astray?  Discipline yourself.  Listen to the Spirit.  He will always point you correctly.

God of discipline, I know You love me and only discipline me because of that.  When I complain of the discipline remind me why You do it.  Your goal is to make me more like You and that is not possible until I yield to Your Spirit.

 Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

GET IN AWE

Continue reading →

 Job 41:1 “‘”Can you draw out the crocodile with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?’”

JOB NEEDED THE SWAMP PEOPLE

Continue reading →

 Job 39:1-30 “‘Do you know…’”

DO YOU KNOW?

Continue reading →

 Job 37:5 “‘”God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend.’”

THE FORCE BEHIND IT

Continue reading →

 Job 32:8b “‘And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.’”

WISDOM FROM ABOVE

Continue reading →

 Job 29:14 “‘”I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.’”

RIGHTEOUSNESS

Continue reading →

 Job 25:4 “‘How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?’”

MADE JUST AND CLEAN

 The shortest man in the Bible is talking to Job here.  This is Bildad the Shuhite (shoe height, get it?  You will later, lol).   Bildad is telling Job, “There is no man who is just before God, including you!” Oh, what Bildad didn’t know.  He assumed Job’s guilt.  He assumed Job had sinned some terrible sin or sins.  But he didn’t know the real story. Continue reading →

Job 21:14 “‘They say to God, “Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.”’”

REBELLIOUS

Continue reading →

 Job 17:7a “‘My eye has also grown dim because of grief,’”

 BLINDED BY GRIEF

Job’s days aren’t getting better. He said he is grieving so much his eyes are getting weak.  Have you ever wept so much your eyes swelled up?  I have. I remember one time I cried so hard and my eyes swelled so big that someone thought I had been punched.

Grief is a horrible thing and a wonderful thing.  Grieving, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.  Grieving allows us to vent emotions over the loss of something or someone. These emotions need to come out for us to remain healthy.  But too much grief, unresolved grief, will lead to depression and worse.  Give your grief over to the Lord, which Job has not done yet in chapter 17.

TEACHING MOMENT

Have you seen your child grieve yet? It’s a horrible sight for a parent. It’s a helpless feeling to see them hurting and crying.  There is literally nothing we can do to stop it.  All we can do is pray with them and for them and hold them.  If you haven’t experienced this yet, you probably will sooner or later.

How to we teach “proper” grieving? How do we teach godly grief?  Only by modeling it to them and taking them to the Word.  Kids learn by example.  If they see us holding on to our own grief, they won’t learn to let go of their grief. If they see us using grief as an excuse for behavior, they will learn to do the same.  Like I said earlier, grief can be healthy if handled correctly.  But it must be given to Jesus. He understands your grief.

Are you grieving right now over something in your life?  Do you have unresolved grief?  Hand it over to the Master.  He gave you that heart, and He knows how to ease the pain.  Trust Him with your emotions.

 Heart Maker, take my emotions and turn them Godward.  Take my hurt and grief and turn them into joy.  Help me the kind of example of godly grief that others can turn to.