God sets before me each day life and death – Deuteronomy 30:19. He recommends choosing life, His Life.
I may not always like it at first, but when God chastens me (when He prunes, corrects or disciplines me), He’s showing me His love and care for me as His child.
Why do I try to do what the Bible says I should do? Why am I letting God show me how to live this life His way instead of living it my way, or the world’s way? Is it because I’m legalistic? Is it because I want to look super-religious? Is it because I think I’m better than someone else? No, it’s because living God’s way blesses my life. His ways teach me to think like He does; to see life as He does. God’s ways bring me a peace I didn’t have before. His ways are making my marriage a tremendous blessing. And His ways change me from glory to glory making me more like Him as I – with the help of the Holy Spirit – apply His Word, His Truths to my life. His ways add His Life to my life. What an amazing thing.
In the pages of the Bible, you can clearly see His rich, spiritual blessings (like His transforming, matchless contentment) will happen in the life of anyone who applies His Word to their life. God states His desire for our lives in His Word. He does so in order to bless our lives. His ways keep us from the destruction sin – our ways – create in our lives.
Like the blind man in , all I know is that once I was blind – my life was out of control in so many ways – but now I see. He wanted to open my spiritual eyes to Him, to all He could change in me that would bless me with His fruit of the Spirit, with a marriage dependent on Him, with His patience, joy, and rest.
I don’t always understand why He asks me to live this way or that, but I find that if I do what He asks of me, I gain more of Him, of His peace, strength, mercy, grace and joy.
Once I was in charge of my life and it wasn’t good. Now, I let Him lead, I let Him show me how to live this life, I yield to Him, and the difference is everything to me.
1 I (Jesus) am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:1-12
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.
Hebrews 12:5-11
Thanking and praising God in all things,
Mark
Note: While we may not agree with everything a particular church or Christian group teaches or believes, there are times when we can be blessed by something outside the realm of our current understanding of God.