Both in Isaiah 11 (see verse 9) and Habakkuk 2 (see verses 12-14), showing the Lord our God, will move mightily on the earth, avenging His people, and turning the persecution of His people back on our persecutors, for the knowledge of the Lord and His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. From these Scriptures, we understand God uses persecutors to humble His people (Isaiah 26:16), so we repent, pray, turn from our selfish ways, and give ourselves totally to the Lord, whose grace, justice, mercy, and truth, is our Lord Jesus, the resurrected Christ.
There is so much “fake news”, hatred, lying, deceptive cover-up, and usurped authority and power, used to bully honest, peaceful people, that not only sickens law-abiding people, but it is sickening the God in whom there is no sin (1 John 3:5), no imperfection.
God, in Hebrews 12, tells us not to despise the Lord’s corrective, disciplinary training, because it is for our holiness, purifying us in Christ Jesus, so we are righteous (have right standing) before God. And even though God’s disciplinary training seems evil at the time, yet the results are eternally profitable.
Every caring and protective daddy lovingly corrects his children, so we make honest, truthful, wise choices, and we learned this from Father God, who loves us enough to correct us, bring us back into His forgiving and sweet relationship, so we receive His best.
Proverbs 23:12-14 assures us correction either by hurtful circumstances, situations, or a paddle, if done in love and mercy, will probably keep us right with God, and out of (hell), the lake of fire. But Satan, the devil, d evil 1, has today uses the satanic spirit of fear to stop parents from lovingly correcting children, except for yelling their wrongs at them, or placing them in “time out”, so they have time to pout, get angry, and hate the parent, but God says, “spank them—use the rod”, forgive them, love them, and renew the parent-child relationship.
Using God’s way instead of the world’s way will keep our children honest, loving, kind, alive, and out of jail, prison, and the lake of fire. We just read in Hebrews 12:5-6, the Lord corrects those He loves, meaning if God does not lovingly and correctively discipline us, then He does not consider us His child, and neither does any parent love a child they do not discipline.
We are told Jewish shepherds break a leg of a disobedient, wandering lamb, mend the break, place the lamb in a pouch next to the shepherd’s heart, and carry the lamb until the leg heals; thus by this, the lamb always stays close to the shepherd, which is according to Isaiah 53:4-6 and 1 Peter 2:21-25, and is the way Jesus Christ, our Shepherd (Psalm 23; 1 Peter 5:1-11), uses pain, disease, and sickness to discipline His sheep (His children, members of His body, the church).
Honor God, reverence Him, remain in His relationship, but when we get out of Christ (John 15:1-8), then enjoy our corrective discipline and thank Him for it (Ephesians 5:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), I am so thankful for parents that disciplined and prayed with me.
Jim Nabors
