Genesis 16-17

Matthew 5:27-48

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?” Hebrews 12:7

Some of us may not be aware that the Holy Spirit is speaking to us, assuring us of our identity in Christ, encouraging us in our walk with God, and convicting us of our sins. I (Brett McBride) remember meeting with a youth who asked a great question during our Bible Study one time. He asked, “How do I know if it is the Holy Spirit speaking to me?” We had a great conversation about the consolation that comes with when we place our faith in Christ, He comes into our life and starts speaking to us and transforming us. There will be moments when we are in God’s Word doing our devotion or just going through life when we experience His love, His embrace and the warmth. Then, in our conversation, I went on to describe moments when God convicts us of sin. The young person stopped me at that moment and said, “Wait. The Holy Spirit sometimes talks to us about sin?” I answered, “Yeah.” He goes, “Well then, forget it. The Spirit is talking to me all the time.”

We live in a world that is hyper focused on the loving acceptance of God that we often minimizing His loving discipline. The author of Hebrews tells us, “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 12:11). Sometimes, God does what we do not want Him to do in our lives so that we can become the person that He always wanted us to be. Sometimes, His Word cuts to our heart and actually causes pain as He admonishes and corrects. 

The conviction of sin is like when we go through health issues and the surgeon tells us the only solution to better health is to have an operation to remove the problem. While it may be stressful and scary, we are thankful for trained professionals that will do whatever is necessary to bring us healing. God does exactly that through the admonishment of His Spirit. God, as a Good Physician, has a scalpel ready to remove that which is killing us. Although some of us may be aware of the health problems that we have, we deliberately choose to ignore it. Are we willing to heed the correction from God that leads to the path of life, or are we ignoring His wise counsel and choosing the path of delusion? 

As we spend time with God, our Heavenly Father disciplines us as His children. Do we trust in His love for us as His steady hand cuts away the things that are killing us?

PRAYER: Lord Heavenly Father, thank You for the way that You speak to me to bring awareness to my sins and things that I need to change. I trust in Your loving corrections that lead to the path of life.