Like A Son

Hove you all, praying for you. 
 
I just love God’s Word.  It changes your thinking.  It helps you see things from a right perspective instead of wrong perspective.  There may be few things worse than wrong thinking.  You cannot escape it.  You’re stuck in a rut of misbelief or wrong belief or false belief.  If you can’t see what’s in front of you – you keep bumping your head against a wall.  If you don’t understand what God is trying to tell you or show you, you keep failing, and wrong thinking perpetuates repeated failing.  Hebrews 12:7 – Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  Where does hardship come from?  Hardship from God – David said “In faithfulness you afflicted me.”  Or hardship from yourself - from our own foolishness.  Step on a rake, despite your father’s warning - there will be consequence.  You’ll get a lump on your forehead.  Are you going through hardship right now?  God can use it as discipline.  Discipline is correction and training.  Discipline is both of these.  Correction to change your course, and training to establish you in the right course…  His course for you.  Both are painful, but welcome them as discipline – because God is treating you as sons.  He is demonstrating His love for you.  If He didn’t care, He wouldn’t bother disciplining.  It takes effort to discipline children consistently.  It takes time to train children, steady plodding, never faltering or missing.  Discipline isn’t occasional, it’s perpetual.  So welcome hardship – whatever hardship you are facing… as an opportunity for God’s discipline to correct you and then train you, to establish you!  Be quick to change course if He is trying to get your attention.  Ask Him, if it’s not obvious to you.  And once you turn, welcome the training to establish your course in His way and His plan for you.  If you haven’t done it before, or done it in a while, it will take a learning curve.  Like the first morning run…  It’ll get easier as you go, but put in the hard work of hardship.   Rejoice that you are a son, be thankful that He loves you enough to discipline you – correct you and train you.  Take joy in the discipline, and even the correction.  He loves you.  He’s proving it.  Seek Him and His heart for you – it is only love and only good.  You can trust him.  Humble yourself, and in every hardship you will get closer to Him, or further from Him – that choice is yours.  If you will humble yourself, hardship will lead to His blessing.  That’s the Good that He always longs to give you.  If you will let Him lead you – He’ll take you to the good.  It’s coming – because He promised.  And even the hardship – is good in progress.  Worship, Praise, Thank Him, Soak in His Word, Get His Plan and follow it completely.  Walk with someone, overcome with your testimony – as God turns hardship into blessing.  If you understand the love of his discipline, his correction and training, then even the hardship becomes a blessing.  You should thank Him for it.  His Word will change your thinking.    
 
Love you all,
dad