◄ What Does Hebrews 12:8 Mean? ►

But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Hebrews 12:8(NASB)

Verse of the Day

How important to patiently endure the child-training we all must receive from our gracious Heavenly Father. How wise to willingly submit to the godly discipline and necessary chastening that every child of God receives from our Father in heaven so that we may be conformed into the image and likeness of our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Were we not chastened by the Lord, we would not be His sons but illegitimate children, but having been born again we are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the sphere of the Spirit. If the Spirit of God lives in us we are in the spiritual sphere, for anyone who does not have the indwelling Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.

Rather than seeking to avoid the child-training we receive from our Heavenly Father or bemoaning the discipline we may receive from His hand, we would be wise to recognise God's chastening rod as proof of our kinsmanship with our Good Shepherd, and as the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit within our hearts.

Rather than endeavouring to escape the child-training programme that God has for our life, we should rather embrace it and try to discover the spiritual lessons that the Lord desires us to learn so that we may grow in grace and mature in the faith.

Let us thank Him for the continued evidences of His grace in our lives and discover the fruit of godly obedience. And let us, by the power of the Spirit, be transformed by the renewing of our minds, for then we will be able to test and approve the perfect will of God for us: "Which is Christ in You the hope of glory."

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, I have not always understood the need for child-training in my life and have often resisted You or hindered Your work in my life. But thank You that Your discipline is wise, and Your chastening is a proof of Your love for me as a blood-bought child, accepted in the Beloved. Help me to patiently endure Your chastening, and may I learn obedience and humility while willingly submitting to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, AMEN.