Discipline

There is a difference between discipline and punishment. Disciple is a vision for the future that enacts things today. Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My son do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” We need boundaries and consistently ask God to show us he loves us. Because he so loves us he chooses to wound us. We can never be good enough. We fall short at our very best, but we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because of the cross. A.W.Tozer said this: “God cannot use mightily the man whom he has not wounded deeply." Discipline is shaping and molding, not because you've done something wrong but to keep you from straying. As a child of God, he will not let me stay comfortable for long. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." So is this herniated disc my thorn in my flesh? I have been drawn closer to him by it, so yes I believe that God is using this physical pain to mold me.

Jesus help me boast in this weakness. Let me continually find my strength in you and be shaped by your discipline.

Captivated

 I want to not only be captivated by WHAT my God can DO, but also WHO my God IS. So often we reflect on our lives and look for the 'God moments'. When doing that we look to see what God has done in our situations. How often do we long and search to find who God is; the beauty and awesomeness of his being? Augustine said, “How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose!…You drove them from me, You who are true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, You who are sweeter than all pleasure.”
In Mark 2, Jesus is asked why his disciples didn't fast. His response was “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.” More often then not, I am not fasting to find more of Christ. I want to deeply yearn for more of him, my bridegroom. I do not want to focus on what he can do for me. I want to know that he is better than everything else! I must diligently seek his face. I agree with Martin Luther when he prayed this: “I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all. Amen”

Jesus, captivate us with more of who you are!

Song of Songs

There's a reason certain things are repeated several times in scripture. The Song of Songs is meant to show us the natural beauty of romance and marriage. There is a phrase that is repeated 3 times throughout the 8 chapters. A midst the passion of the book we are warned, "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires" (Song of Songs 8:4). I think this is wise advise. 

Pieces

Stability. I lost it.

I consider myself a stable person. I don't get stressed easily. I have control of my emotions. Almost rock-like some might say. ;) So I was caught off-guard last week when I had an emotional breakdown. Sure, I have a lot going on in my life right now; first semester in college, living in a dorm, 12 hours from my closest friends and family, and severe pain due to a herniated disc. But that's no reason to lose control. That's exactly what happened. All it took was my mother asking how I was doing. My heart fell to the ground in a hundred pieces, and there I was, sobbing from the pain, realizing that I'm not strong enough to carry that load.

What did I learn from it? Trust. Surrender. Hope. Peace. Joy.

Trust that I can surrender my burdens to the Lord. He is faithful.

Hope that he will carry me through my current circumstances, or give me strength to endure.

Filled with peace and joy as a result.

“May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and PEACE as you TRUST in him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~Romans 15:13