Mar 8, 2010 - Monday Meditation (Discipline Leads to Holiness!)

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Mar 8, 2010 - Monday Meditation (Discipline Leads to Holiness!)

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Written by Bobot Apit

Saturday, 06 March 2010 22:05

"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates reproof is stupid" (Proverbs 12:1). Do you seek the Lord for instruction and help so you can grow in holiness?

Monday of the Third Week in Lent

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4

L uke 4:24-30 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. (25) But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Eli'jah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; (26) and Eli'jah was sent to none of them but only to Zar'ephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. (27) And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Eli'sha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Na'aman the Syrian." (28) When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. (29) And they rose up and put him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw him down headlong. (30) But passing through the midst of them he went away.

Meditation by Don Schwager

W hat can limit God's grace and power in our lives for change and transformation? Indifference and lack of faith for sure! The prophets confronted God's people with their indifference and unbelief. God's grace and mercy is offered fre ely to those who seek it with sincerity, repentance, and faith. When Naaman, a non-Jew went to Jerusalem to seek a cure, the prophet Elisha instructed him to bathe in the river. In faith he obeyed and was healed.

Jesus did not hesitate to confront his own people with their indifference and unbelief. When Jesus spoke in his hometown synagogue he startled his listeners with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own people. He then angered them when he complimented the gentiles who seemed to have shown more faith in God than the "chosen ones" of Israel . They regarded gentiles as "fuel for the fires of hell". Jesus' praise for "outsiders" caused them offence because they were blind-sighted to God's mercy and plan of redemption for all nations. The word of warning and judgment spoken by Jesus was met with hostility by his own people. They forcibly threw him out of the city and would have done him harm had he not stopped them.

The Lord offers us freedom and pardon and the grace to walk in his way of righteousness. His discipline is for our good that we may share his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates reproof is stupid" (Proverbs 12:1). Do you seek the Lord for instruction and help so you can grow in holiness?

"Lord Jesus, teach me to love your ways tht I may be quick to renounce sin and wilfulness in my life. May I delight to do your will."

Supplementary Reading

An Eternal View of Circumstances

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. ~ Philippians 1:12

A re your life circumstances advancing the gospel? Can you see the Lord's hand in your life in such a way that all of your life experiences, joys, sorrows, hardships, and training have resulted in advancing the gospel?

Paul was a tentmaker by trade. But he had an overall ministry objective in his business life. That objective left him imprisoned and persecuted at times. But Paul saw these events not as roadblocks to his mission. Rather, they were catalysts to advancing the cause of Christ. Paul's revelation of this kept him from despairing about his circumstances.

One day a little-known pastor who lived in the small African nation of Benin began to pray for his Marxist president. For two years he prayed. Then the Lord told the pastor to go to meet this president and share the gospel with him. The president rejected the gospel, but after another such occasion, the president accepted the gospel and became a Christian. He was removed from power but was discipled by this pastor.

Sometime later this same president was elected again. Today that president is now a Christian leader of a nation committed to spreading the gospel throughout his nation. One man - yet millions have been affected by his obedience. This modern-day story is retold in countless lives of those willing to live for a cause greater than themselves.

Are your work and life experiences serving to advance the gospel? What experiences has God allowed in your life that are part of His plan to advance the gospel? Ask Him to help you see your life the way He sees it. Seeing our life the way God sees it will help us avoid discouragement in those times when life appears to be a mystery to us. --OS Hillman

For meditation of the previous days/months , please click any of the following links:
http://his-ways-better-than-our-ways.blogspot.com/
http://www.mabuhayradio.com/sections/the-daily-bread.html
http://butuanglobalforum.org/cgi-bin/dboard/YaBB.pl?num=1229339492/220

http://www.tlig.org/en/messages/

EL SHADDAI Radio Program : http://www.eradioportal.com/index.php?p=2&aid=1&sid=50&tid=1

GOD BLESS US ALL!

O Theos Na Mas Evlogisi!
PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.