God REPROVES Those He LOVES

 

Proverbs 3:1-2 

King James Version

3 My son, 

forget not my law; 

but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2 For length of days, 

and long life, 

and peace, 

shall they add to thee.

All the blogs Holy Spirit and I created pertain to Scripture, the Word of God.

We need Scripture to rule our lives.

Without which, we'd all be boats with no mast, floating around, subject to the winds and tides, facing great danger.

We wouldn't even have a lighthouse to guide us away from rocky shores.

We'd be a ship, or a plane, without a captain.

If we are to survive in this world right now -- in these most perilous, and seemingly-uncertain times -- we need the Word of God.

Scripture carries all the prophecies, and instructions of God.

It carries all the laws, and commandments of God.

It carries the history of God, and our story, too.

And yes, Scripture comes from God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 

and is profitable for doctrine, 

for reproof, 

for correction, 

for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, 

thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

If God didn't love us, He wouldn't do this:

John 3:16 (KJV)

16 For God so loved the world, 

that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 

but have everlasting life.

And because Jesus loves us, He prayed to the Father to send us a very PRECIOUS gift, to comfort us when the Lord had to leave this earth.

God has a right to correct us.

We are His children.

He has to correct our erring ways, as a sign of His love.

Proverbs 3:11-12 (KJV)

11 My son, 

despise not the chastening of the Lord; 

neither be weary of his correction:

12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; 

even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Sure, the reproof can sometimes be tough.

And sometimes, we don't understand it.

And sometimes, we resent it.

But God wants to save us from destruction.

Psalm 118:18 (KJV)

18 The Lord hath chastened me sore:

but he hath not given me over unto death.

Without the Holy Spirit guiding us, we can't survive the battle foisted upon us each moment.

Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 

but against principalities, 

against powers, 

against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 

against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Hard-hearted as we may be, God continues to watch over us, and reproof us, in preparation for the "days of adversity".

Psalm 94:10-14 (KJV)

10 He that chastiseth the heathen, 

shall not he correct? 

he that teacheth man knowledge, 

shall not he know?

11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, 

that they are vanity.

12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, 

and teachest him out of thy law;

13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, 

until the pit be digged for the wicked.

14 For the Lord will not cast off his people, 

neither will he forsake his inheritance.

Just so you know, God has a deeper purpose for chastening us.

Hebrews 12:5-11 (KJV)

5 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:

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, 

and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

7 If ye endure chastening, 

God dealeth with you as with sons; 

for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8 But if ye be without chastisement, 

whereof all are partakers, 

then are ye bastards, 

and not sons.

9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh 

which corrected us, 

and we gave them reverence: 

shall we not much rather be in subjection 

unto the Father of spirits, 

and live?

10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; 

but he for our profit, 

that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, 

but grievous: 

nevertheless afterward 

it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 

unto them which are exercised thereby.

And if we think only man is chastened, the next post will show you that even a nation is chastened by God.

Whom God loves, He reproves.

That's how the Father from heaven loves.

One important note, though.

Only a true born again can understand, and welcome such reproof.

It is the only way we can understand things of the Spirit.

And not resent the chastening.

(Image source: Caleb Jones)

Updated 26 January 2022