God Disciplines Those He Loves

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God does not deal with His children the way He deals with his enemies.

When God has to discipline His children, even in anger, there is a distinct difference in the way He disciplines His children and judges His enemies.

This is good news for God’s children!

Shadow of person sitting on floor crying

The book of Isaiah is a prophetic message from God to Israel about the judgment He is bringing upon them because of their idolatry, corruption, and perversion.

They had take the sacred worship meant only for God and perverted it with the worship of the pagan nations around them.

They were worshiping at pagan altars, they were oppressing the poor, needy, widowed, and orphaned, and they had defiled themselves with immorality and perversion.

God used the nations around them to carry them away in captivity as His judgement – his discipline – on His people.

But we read some very interesting passages that indicate that the way God dealt with His Chosen People is not at all the same way He dealt with Israel’s enemies.

God’s discipline is meant to restore

It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 11:11-12

And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.”
Isaiah 12:1

God had allowed Israel to be defeated by their enemies and carried away into captivity, but He didn’t leave them there!

There would come a day when He would bring them back to their homeland and restore them as a nation.

His anger with them was only for a moment, and then He would reach out His hand to comfort them.

The motive behind God’s discipline was restoration, not destruction.

God never disciplines us to destroy us. He doesn’t discipline us to shame us. He disciplines us because He loves us and his goal is to restore us to right relationship with Him.

God never shames those He loves. He only shames His enemies.

God reserves His judgement for His enemies

“For I will rise up against them,” says the Lord of hosts, “And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and offspring and posterity,” says the Lord. “I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of host
Isaiah 14:22-23

As we saw in last week’s blog post: 5 Things God Wants His Remnant to Know, God’s mighty hand of destruction was set against the enemies of Israel because of their arrogance.

They had assumed their victory over Israel was because of the strength of their gods and because they were so great.

They failed to see that they were merely a tool in the hand of the Lord.

Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
Isaiah 10:15

While God is promising restoration and peace to Israel, He is declaring judgement on all of her enemies because for their arrogance against him and their refusal to acknowledge Him as Almighty God.

And dear sister, this is such good news for us!

Are you in a season when it feels like God’s hand is against you?

Maybe you know you’ve been away from God, or have been entertaining sin in your life. You feel His discipline on you.

As a child of God, His discipline is meant to restore you, not to destroy you.

His discipline is only for a moment in time, and then He will gather you up in His arms and He will bring you to a place of joy and blessing.

Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Isaiah 12:3-6

Cry out to Hi in true repentance and humility. Let Him cleanse your heart and revive your spirit.

He will receive you with open arms.

He will restore you.

And He will lead you back to a place of great joy, blessing, and spiritual prosperity.

His discipline is merely a sign of His great love for you.

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.
Proverbs3:11-12

A Little More About Good Morning Girls and My Groups

Good Morning Girls is an online Bible study for women. Began by Courtney Joseph in her church, she took the Bible study to the Internet in 2009 and invited ladies all over America to join her in keeping each other accountable to their daily time with the Lord.

Little did she know that this Bible study would extend beyond the borders of America to literally every region of the world!!

In 2014 I joined Courtney, together with my dear friends Misty, Mandy and Bridget, in helping to lead Good Morning Girls. It has been an amazing journey as we’ve watched Good Morning Girls not only grow beyond what we could have dreamed or imagine, but we’ve had the amazing honor to see women’s lives changed by daily digging into God’s Word!

Good Morning Girls is a simple study – we simply read the Bible.

We believe that there is power in the Word of God and the Word of God alone can defeat the enemy. So we read one chapter a day 5 days a week. And we will continue this method until we’ve read through the entire Bible!!

All the materials are free and are available at Women Living Well!

In the summer of 2012 I opened the very first Good Morning Girls group in Croatia.

12 women, all members of my church.

I had no idea where it would lead. But by the following summer it exploded to cover the countries of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia.

You can read the story here