Sometimes love hurts
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. {author: or, beginner} For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:1-6 KJV)
Despise not the chastening of the Lord because God chastens every one He receives. God is love and He loves all His children. It seems like most of us learn the hard way. Don’t touch that you will get burned. Ouch! I told you. If we never got burned the lesson may not stick in our minds, and the possibility of getting burned later my happen anyway. We must also be hurt out of every deception the adversary has a foot hold on in our lives. It is the only way we will let go of something that we may desire yet is hurting us in some way. Sometimes we have become so hardened in our hearts that the word of God will not penetrate our desires. It is then that the chastening of the Lord is necessary so we will not fall into a deeper temptation or even turn away from God and His blessings.
When we are in tune with God and His word we will hear God’s word speak to us and the deception will be brought to the light and we will be cut to the heart by His word and then turn from the deceptions we may encounter in life. This becomes a learning experience maybe a revelation of God’s will to you and a blessing. You will find that after going through the fire of a tribulation or a subtle nudge from God’s word that you will understand the purpose and wisdom of God’s loving discipline to keep you in His blessings and away from the deceptions of the adversary. God loves those He chastens.
In Christ,
Greg