The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."
In the pages of Scripture we find that those whom God loves, he takes through hardships. "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Proverbs 3:11-12. Jesus Christ said, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Revelation 3:19.
And as the writer of Hebrews says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11.
The hardships the Lord takes us through are designed for our benefit, for our growth. As the Hebrews passage says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." In our passage in 2 Corinthians, we see the Apostle Paul's team was not without need of this process. He acknowledges the purpose of the hardships they encountered in Asia, the discipline of the Lord they endured, was that they might not rely on themselves but on God.
The discipline of the Lord comes not without its reward. We learn from it, we grow from it, we mature from it, and we are shaped into the likeness of Jesus Christ through it. And there is something else here in this passage. Paul speaks of special comfort that comes from God accompanying his discipline. As a loving responsible parent ensures a disciplined child receives comfort and encouragement along with discipline, so our God does with us. Paul and his companions suffered hardships in the province of Asia to learn reliance on God and together with that they received comfort from God in their troubles. He says God "comforts us in all our troubles", calling God the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort!
Today I worship our "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles" as we read in verses 3b-4a.
In the pages of Scripture we find that those whom God loves, he takes through hardships. "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." Proverbs 3:11-12. Jesus Christ said, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline." Revelation 3:19.
And as the writer of Hebrews says, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11.
The hardships the Lord takes us through are designed for our benefit, for our growth. As the Hebrews passage says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." In our passage in 2 Corinthians, we see the Apostle Paul's team was not without need of this process. He acknowledges the purpose of the hardships they encountered in Asia, the discipline of the Lord they endured, was that they might not rely on themselves but on God.
The discipline of the Lord comes not without its reward. We learn from it, we grow from it, we mature from it, and we are shaped into the likeness of Jesus Christ through it. And there is something else here in this passage. Paul speaks of special comfort that comes from God accompanying his discipline. As a loving responsible parent ensures a disciplined child receives comfort and encouragement along with discipline, so our God does with us. Paul and his companions suffered hardships in the province of Asia to learn reliance on God and together with that they received comfort from God in their troubles. He says God "comforts us in all our troubles", calling God the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort!
Today I worship our "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles" as we read in verses 3b-4a.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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