In the year 2,000, I surrendered my will to Messiah. I was concerned about spending too much of my mental time with business. I pled with the Lord not to let be be like Lot and told him I did not want any of my family to be lost or for me to lose my soul.
Almost immediately the Lord began to discipline me (not punish me). It has been the toughest time of my life. I would not change a thing as the spirit man in me has matured and that is priceless! To to stay on this path has required me to crucify my old nature countless times. I also have experienced countless spiritual blessings from the Lord and I am "not who I once was".
In Luke 14 ISV, the following verses from Messiah came to my mind as I wrote the above. I doubt you will ever hear these verses from the ear tickling pastors who rule the pulpits. The question is, who and what do we love? Jesus also told us we cannot serve two masters at the same time. We will love only one.
- 25Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus.k He turned and told them, 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can’t be my disciple. 27Whoever doesn’t carry his cross and follow me can’t be my disciple.
- 28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. He will first sit down and estimate the cost to see whether he has enough money to finish it, won’t he? 29Otherwise, if he lays a foundation and can’t finish the building,l everyone who watches will begin to ridicule him 30and say, ‘This person started a building but couldn’t finish it.’
- 31“Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He will first sit down and consider whether with 10,000 men he can fight the one coming against him with 20,000 men, won’t he? 32If he can’t, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace while the other kingm is still far away. 33In the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.”
Hebrews 12 ISV
We Must Look Off to Jesus
1Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entanglesa us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, 2fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view ofb the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Father Disciplines Us
3Think about the one who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you may not become tired and give up. 4In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding yourcblood. 5You have forgotten the encouragement that is addressed to you as sons:
“My son, do not think lightly of the Lord’sd discipline
or give up when you are corrected by him.
7What you endure disciplines you: God is treating you as sons. Is there a son whom his father does not discipline? 8Now if you are without any discipline, in which all sons share, then you are illegitimate and not God’sh sons. 9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. We should submit even more to the Father of our spirits and live, shouldn’t we? 10For a short time they disciplined us as they thought best, but Godi does it for our good, so that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.
Live as God’s People
12Therefore,
- strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees,
- 13and straighten the paths of your life,j
- so that your lameness may not become worse, but instead may be healed.
- 14Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness,
- without which no one will see the Lord.
- 15See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God
- and that no bitter root grows up and causes you trouble,
- or many of you will become defiled.
- 16No one should be immoral or godless like Esau,
- who sold his birthright for a single meal.
- 17For you know that afterwards, when he wanted to inherit the blessing,
- he was rejected because he could not find any opportunity to repent,
- even though he begged to repentk with tears.
18You have not come to somethingl that can be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, 19to a trumpet’s blast, or to a voice that made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. 20For they could not endure the command that was given: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”m 21Indeed, the sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”n 22Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together, 23to the assemblyo of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect, 24to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better message than Abel’s.
25See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearersp did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escapeq if we turn away from the one who is from heaven! 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also heaven.”r 27The expression “once more”ssignifies the removal of what can be shaken, that is, what he has made, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and worship God in reverence and fear in a way that pleases him. 29For “our God is an all-consuming fire.”t
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