March 6, 2022

God bestows discipline & blessing on those who love Him. But those who plot, scheme & stir up trouble will feel His wrath.

A couple of weeks ago, God prompted me to post the above comment on several different blogs on the same day. When God shows me multiple things on the same topic in a short span of time, I know that He is trying to teach me something.

I feel like I need to expand on each of the keywords (blessing, discipline & wrath) but I’m struggling with the best way to do so.

So I am leaving it in the draft folder for now…

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March 11, 2020

This unfinished post has weighed HEAVY on my mind this week, so I felt it was time to complete it for this week’s Five Minute Friday ( #FMF ). I have chosen the most relevant definitions for blessing, discipline, wrath.

BLESSING – ¹ a favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness or ² the invoking of God’s favor upon a person

DISCIPLINE – ¹training to act in accordance with rules, ²an activity, exercise, or regimen that develops or improves a skill, or ³to bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.

WRATH – ¹strong, stern, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire, or ²vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger.

My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. – Psalm 38:4 NIV

No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy on you. – Job 33:7 NIV

In light of the definitions & scripture above I feel even more strongly that the Holy Spirit was sharing a micro-sermon with me when He whispered in my ear…

God bestows discipline & blessing on those who love Him.  But those who plot, scheme & stir up trouble will feel His wrath.

Consider this; God has bestowed countless blessings on my family and me. A blessing, in any form, is a gift. In response, we feel like we should reciprocate (pay back the giver) with a gift of equal value.

What about discipline? Isn’t it also a gift? For by withstanding God’s discipline with grace & perseverance we are molded into the image of our creator.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. – Romans 12:1

Is there any gift that we can give back to God to repay the HEAVY price that Christ paid for our salvation? I submit to you, dear reader, that the only gift that comes close to repaying this HEAVY debt is offering ourselves as a “living sacrifice” that is “holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). James 4:7-8a says it this way, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

BUT for those who stubbornly refuse to accept the gift of salvation along with the blessings and discipline from our Lord, His only option is to pour out His wrath and leave them to the Hellfire they have chosen.

#BGBG2 #FMF #Heavy