Hebrews 12:3-13 – “Consider Him who endured such opposition
from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of
encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son?
It says, “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
the one he loves, and he chastens (corrects) everyone he accepts
as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as
his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If
you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are
not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 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 spirits and live! 10 They
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but 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. 12 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.” (NIV)
Sometimes, our concept of love is limited to “what feels
good,” but love is so much more than that. Here it is written that “God disciplines
us (corrects us) for our good” – but that does not always feel good. Actually,
it says that it never seems pleasant, but painful. However, it brings forth
good fruit.
God is a loving Father. He loves us, and His correction is
always for our good. Look at these different reasons given for why God corrects
us…
- “So that you will not grow weary and lose heart”
- This word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son”
- “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens (corrects) everyone he accepts as his son.”
- “God is treating you as his children.”
- “Submit…and live!”
- "God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness."
- It produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
- “So that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed…”
These are all good things, even if it may not feel like it
at the time. The correction of the Lord IS LOVE.
So let us look at our part in this passage and use those
things as prayer tools to make changes in our lives.
What is our part?
- “Consider Him” (focus on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, how He laid down His life for us.)
- “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…” (which means we need to resist sin to the point of shedding blood…
- “Have you completely forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you as a son?” (which means, that we need to remember, and constantly remind ourselves of it.)
- “Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline”
- “Do not lose heart when He rebukes you”
- “Endure hardship as discipline.”
- “Submit to the Father of spirits and live!”
- “...for those who have been trained by it” (God, help me be trained by Your discipline. Help me be changed by it).
- “Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees” (Do not lose heart. Be encouraged.)
Prayer Time: Take this passage and these
thoughts and talk to God about them in your own words. Turn this into a conversation
with Your Loving Heavenly Father and ask Him what needs to be corrected in Your
life. Ask Him to strengthen you and help you to make changes. Ask Him to
encourage your heart and strengthen you and bring forth fruit in this time.
Thank Him: Thank Him for being your Father and
helping you and correcting you. Let thankfulness flow from your heart that He
has not left you as an orphan and He is teaching you during this time.
Write: Write your thoughts and impressions in
a journal. Write down the things He is asking you to correct and prayerfully write
down action steps of how you can take little practical steps in your daily life
to change those things.
For more practical prayer tools on praying Scriptures,
see the previous posts on the “Knowledge of God Series.”
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