HIS LOVE CHASTENS US
His love chastens us and as children of God, if we continue to be disobedient and want to do our own thing, we will suffer the consequences of our own disobedience.
Learn From The Past
In 2 Kings 17, we read that the children of God sinned against the Lord. They worshipped Baal and other false gods. Because of this, “the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only” (2 Kings 17:18).
Let us allow this to properly sink in, “the Lord removed them out of His sight.” Since God did this to the Israel, why do we think that He will not do the same to us if we continue to be disobedient.
Scriptures tells us that He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Lord have been so good to us and when we think of it, is really that hard to be obedient to Him? Don’t get me wrong there are times when we do miss the mark without knowing that we have. This is something totally different when compared to willful disobedience.
My Journey
In my current walk with the Lord, there are times when I have been disobedient. However, due to my disobedience, the Lord has chastened me. This chastening is not meant to cause me to turn and run from the Lord but it is instead there to draw me closer and back to Him because I have missed the mark.
If I am being honest, I do not like the chastening, but I have to stand and face it because there is absolutely nowhere I can go and the Lord does not see me. As David says in Psalm 139:7-10, “where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold you are there.”
His Love Corrects & His Love Chasens Us
In reading the Bible, I have come to realise that out of His great and unspeakable love for us, when we mess up, He corrects us.
As parents, when we see our children heading into situations that are not right, as human father who corrected our children when they are wrong, about the choices they are about to make or have made. This is the same thing with the Lord, He hates sin but loves the sinner. When we mess up by being disobedient, it seperates us from Him.
Let us continue to accept the heavenly Father’s chastening even when it is painful. It is out of His never ending love for us, He corrects us.
As the Scripture tells us in Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
The scripture tells us that when we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
When we mess up and disobey the Lord, out of His love, He will forgive us. In Hebrews 8:12, we read “for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Wow, is all I can say. Not only with the Lord forgive us but He will also forget them.
I read in the Charles Spurgeon Bible this today (13/11/2022), that “the Lord cannot in strict accuracy of speech forget anything. But He wishes us to know that His pardon is so true and deep that it amounts to an absolute oblivion, a total forgetting of all the wrongdoing of the pardoned ones.”
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father, at times I forget that it is not about me but it is all about You. Father, there are times when I am selfish and only thinking about me. Lord partial obedience is still disobedience. Help me Lord when I stumble and You chasten me not to run away but to embrace Your love.
Thank You Lord for your love that surpasses all understanding. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
Amen. Thank You Lord, Your love is from everlasting to everlasting.