25 Things about God's Discipline

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

"My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,

and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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.

1. Discipline in our lives means God loves us.
2. Discipline should be encouraging because of #1 (v.5)
3. Being disciplined means we are God’s children.
4. Don’t get discouraged when God warns you.

5. There are three levels of God’s discipline in our lives.

6. Level 1 is a rebuke (verbal command):  Scripture, a sermon, a friend, or conviction by the HOly Spirit can deliver a rebuke from God. (v. 5)

7. Level 2 is Chastening (translated “Discipline” in NIV).  Chastening is God changing our circumstances to bring about pressure to change:

freepassionmovie.com

Haven't seen Passion of the Christ in a long time?
It came out FIVE YEARS ago.

Remember the controversy? I still love the Pope's response upon seeing it. Half the Christian world was anxious to hear his reaction amid charges of Anti-Semitism, the violence rumored to be depicted in the movie and Hollywood tackling an intensely religious subject--the MOST intensely religious subject.

Upon emerging from the private showing, the Pope said simply, "It is as it was."

That's my reaction, too. Sure, Gibson took a few dramatic licences with scenes implying the Devil and Anti-Christ and a couple of Catholic traditions not found in the Bible.

But, in my opinion, those are easily forgiven because of the incredible Scripture-based portrait of Jesus and His Passion that are so faithfully and awesomely told.

When I first saw the movie, I read the Gospels again with brand new eyes.

Yes, it is brutal and hard to watch. But "it is as it was," and I find tremendous value in understanding for myself and communicating to our media-sensitive culture the Truth of the Gospel that "he was wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:6-10).

Because we are so prone to forget (or perhaps have never understood) the great Sacrifice Jesus submitted himself to, Peachtree Church is a crafting a Good Friday worship experience around watching the entire movie on Good Friday (April 10) starting at 6:30.

Everything is free, everyone is welcome, and kids will have their own Easter experience that evening.

For more details, go to freepassionmovie.com. I look forward to remembering Christ's sacrifice together with you!

Melancholy Treatment: It Works!

Had my first real bout with being a melancholy since the temperament series this morning (I think I’m somewhat sick, too), and I just worked through my first post about how to come out of it, and wow, God’s Truth really works!
Romans 7 and Ephesians 6 (Spiritual armor) were especially meaningful to me!  Put on the armor “so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes.” The Death Spiral is one of his schemes against melancholies.
Even before I got to verse 18, I felt impressed to not only pray about putting on the armor for myself, but for our body as well.  Then, I got to verse 18:

 
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Just wanted to let you know God is God. 
Have a great day!

Life as a Melancholy, Part 5

There’s one more way to stop the Melancholy slide that I have that unfortunately most of you don’t: I have to preach every seven days.

Once a week, I stand up and proclaim that God is Good, that we are not alone, and that God can get you through ANYTHING that comes your way.

I remember when I began teaching every week, I used to wonder, “What happens when the preacher is having a bad week?”

By Saturday night at the latest, I HAVE to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with the Lord if I am to speak with integrity on Sunday morning. It creates a deadline that whatever spiral I might been going down must come to an end.

God is always faithful, and I am so thankful that “His strength is made perfect” in my weakness.

But what about you? You may not have a built-in deadline where you have to come back to the Truth every seven days at least.

Do you wallow in the pit for weeks and months at a time?

Set your own deadline. By today or by this weekend, I will spend time with God, read His Word, get encouragement from a friend, and stop spiraling down.

Six years and counting, it works!