Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please go the first video link to hear a song I often use in my journaling, the biographical song by Laura Story singing Blessings, reminding us that the blessings of life often come through pain and tears.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Hebrews 12: 7, … 11 [NKJV] …
7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? …
11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Hebrews 12: 3-11 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passages #1 Deuteronomy 8: 5 [NKJV] …
5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.
Reference Passages #2 2nd Samuel 7: 14 [NKJV] …
14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Reference Passages #3 Proverbs 3: 12 [NKJV] …
12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional reminded me of a lesson which was taught over and over again in scripture (see today’s highlight/reference passages); and it’s the lesson of a toothache. In fact today’s ODB refers to this lesson taught by C.S. Lewis in his classic book, Mere Christianity; and I quote:
“When I was a child I often had a toothache; … and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something that would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother — at least not till the pain became very bad; . . . because, I knew she would take me to the dentist the next morning. . . . I wanted immediate relief from pain, but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right.”
We humans seldom go for the long term relief. We’re here-and-now creatures, aren’t we? We almost always will first go for the quickie relief. No, … the long-term cure often requires some serious pain and discipline. Who wants to hear you doc say, “You’re going to have to lose 20 pounds?” Or… the orthopedic surgeon saying, “… that knee pain will require surgery; and the rehab is going to be painful for six months.”
No, as God’s children, we often recoil from hearing the truth … that His blessings often come, just as the correction for a toothache, with some degree of pain or the discipline of corrective action. Laura Story had to learn this lesson the hard way to allow her to write the powerful song linked above, ”Blessings!” Her new husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which ultimately required a number of surgeries; but the outcome was his life and they now have the blessing of a new baby because of what they went through.
I personally have to be reminded of this lesson time and time again. God is a loving Father; and all too often His love has to come with some pain attached.
Ouch!
My Prayer for Today … Be merciful, dear Father. … Amen
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