The Need for Discipline

It is nice to be able to communicate with my "internet family" through this blog. I missed being able to share my heart on a daily basis but I will admit the past few days served as a reminder to me of my life prior to all of the electronic communication that we presently enjoy. I can report that I did survive the lack of cell phone service (where were you AT&T, more bars in more places) and quick access to the Internet. It was a blessing to serve the Pine Camp Church in Coeburn, VA as Evangelist this past week. The Spirit of the Lord was present in each of the services with the intensity of our hunger and desire growing stronger during the process of the services. I was blessed by the warm reception of the people and the freedom of the Spirit to share what the Lord placed in my heart. I can truly say that my desire to draw closer to God and my desire to obey God was strengthened during this past meeting. I am more convinced that God is at work and all of us need to submit and surrender our lives to Him and His purpose for our lives. I give God praise and I thank each of you for your prayers for the meeting. Throughout the week God would deal with me concerning the need to allow His Spirit to bring correction and discipline to my life. I must not exclude myself from the discipline of the Lord. The Bible declares that God corrects us because He loves us. I must accept the principle of discipline and allow the Word of God to have free course in my life. Read the challenge of Hebrews 12:11, "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way"(NLT). WOW, what a challenging promise and provision that the Spirit lays before us. We can all agree that discipline is not enjoyable. I can remember the times in my life that my earthly father administered discipline; you can rest assured that I did not "enjoy" what was being administered. But that discipline which was administered in love had a influence that helped mold and shape me as a child and still serves as a guide in my adult life. Although I did not enjoy the moments of discipline, they became the foundation of my adulthood. The principles of that foundation still serve as anchors of my life today and I am doing my best to share those anchors with my children and grandchildren. As we look at discipline over the next few days we need to remember the great love and care that God has for all of us. Let us remember that we are the children of God and we are in desperate need for Him to shape, mold and form our lives in such a way that all we do will bring glory and honor to God. Let us receive the discipline of God in the manner that it is being administered to our lives; discipline springs from the heart of God who loves us more than we can realize or even understand.