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“Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord,
And whom You teach out of Your law;
That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity,
Until a pit is dug for the wicked.
For the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
For judgment will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.” (Psalm 94:12-15 NASB1995)
We read in Hebrews 12 that the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastises every son whom he receives. And if we are left without discipline, then we are illegitimate children, and not sons and daughters of God. And he will use trials and tribulations, and rejections and persecutions, et al, as his instruments of divine discipline, correction, and training. For God disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. And later such discipline yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who’ve been trained by it.
We also read in Titus 2:11-14 that the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training (instructing) us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. And we read in 1 Corinthians 11 that when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. And we read in Revelation 3:19 that those Jesus loves, he reproves and disciplines. So, as followers of Christ, God will discipline, train, instruct, and purify us.
But the whole point of the discipline, via the trials and tribulations which we face, is so that we grow in Christ, that we mature in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, that we gain wisdom and understanding, and we draw closer to our Lord. It is so that we learn obedience, faithfulness, moral purity, honesty, commitment, and devotion to our Lord and to his word and to his will and purpose for our lives. And it is so we are strengthened in our faith and endurance so that we can withstand the persecutions we will face.
And the people whom God will not abandon are not those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah. They are also not those who give lip service only to God, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but then who continue in deliberate and habitual sin and in living for self and not in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. It is the upright in heart who he will not abandon, who follow in his ways and who obey his commands, in practice, and for whom sin is no longer what they practice, by God’s grace.
Gospel:[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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God Disciplines Those He Loves
An Original Work / August 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
