I have discovered that the discipline of the Lord is a bit like the work of an artist with a sculpture. It has been said of Michelangelo that he would take a block of marble, then chip away anything that does not look like the image that he wanted. I tend to think that is what the Lord is doing with us. Sometimes we give up those chips willingly, sometimes there are things that we want in our lives, not realizing that God wants it gone. Those are the things that cause us pain and grief.
I was reading in Numbers this morning where the Lord was telling Moses about the land that he was giving to the children of Israel, when they were about to enter the promised land. God tells them to drive out the people who now live in this land. These people are wicked, idolaters, and corrupt. He goes on to tell them what will happen if they don't.
Num 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
Num 33:53 And ye shall dispossess [the inhabitants] of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
Num 33:54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: [and] to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's [inheritance] shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.
Num 33:55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them [shall be] pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Num 33:56 Moreover it shall come to pass, [that] I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.
Discipline is God's way of purging us from things that are not of Him, and replacing it with things that are of Him. (ie: changes) The closer we want to be with God, the more cleansing and purging we go through. The more we become 'dead to self'.
The closer I draw to the Lord, I have noticed the more 'dead to self' I have become. The attacks of the enemy have become equivalent to the enemy 'kicking a dead horse'. The Lord has protected me from the enemy, and I have come to recognize that. It is not just the Lord's discipline in my life, but in fact, the way that the Lord is using me for His purposes, that I have been resisting. Giving up. Surrendering to the Lord, there is peace.
I want to go here, do that and be this. The Lord's ways are greater.
Isa 55:8-9 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Why bother? Is it hopeless to try to figure out His thoughts, His ways? Adam may have been created in His image, but Adam fell. We are no longer in the image of God. However, when you are born again, you are given a new life. You become a new creation in Christ Jesus.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son...
Conform to the image of Jesus. It is a process. Becoming born again is the beginning, not the end. It is a process. From the point where you gave your life to the Lord, you are never the same. You go through times of growth, and times of pruning.
Jhn 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Jhn 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
That is the goal of discipline. The pain of discipline is a result of either God taking something from you, or adding something to you. Surrender. Ask Him what it is that He desires to do, then submit to it.
I encourage you to read the lyrics of "Hold Me Jesus", by Rich Mullins
http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/ar ... jesus.html
