“Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is very hard on those who disobey, but very good to you if you continue to love and trust him. But if you don’t, you too will be cut off.” (Rom. 11:22 TLB)

Yeah....that really is there in our Bible, so if you want to take a moment and go underline it, I’ll wait for you here.

It has been said that you can often find ditches on ‘both sides of the road’, which speaks volumes to me when it comes to how we teach what we believe the Bible says regarding our faith and walk with Christ. If we’re not careful, we can end up in either ditch, sometimes simply because we overcompensated in trying to avoid the ditch on the left, we ended up in the one on the right; if that makes sense?

So take that verse from Romans we began with here, that speaks to ‘two sides’ or two ‘natures’ of God, where He is both loving and good, but can also be ‘severe’ or harsh. If one spends an unhealthy amount of time placing emphasis on one nature or the other, you can end up with a distorted perception of who God is and what He is like. And if you have sat under the prolonged teaching of either ‘side’, then it can be quite challenging to come to learn and understand the ‘other side’ when you are presented with scriptures that expound upon it. Paul made it a point to declare to the believers at Ephesus that he was not guilty of shunning to declare the ‘whole counsel’ of God to them (Acts 20:27).

We believers often make the mistake of ‘withholding’ various truths found in God’s word because in our minds, we think it will do more harm than good to those in our audience. Friends...God’s ‘truth’ is designed to set people free, not to harm them; but I will readily admit that it’s not ‘what we share’ that can inflict damage, but the manner and spirit in which we share it. And being ‘led by the Spirit’ can go a long way in delivering truth that brings healing and freedom, as we are admonished to ‘speak the truth in love’ (Eph. 4:15). Then we have to trust the Holy Spirit to oversee that ‘word work in’... the ones who receive it. (1 Thess. 2:13)

Take for example this idea that God ‘chastens those whom He loves’, which is spelled out for us in Hebrews 12:1-14.  Personally speaking I truly believe I was raised by parents who had a good, healthy, and balanced handle on what it meant to ‘discipline’ my brothers and I. We were spanked, we were placed on restrictions, we were ‘punished’ when we messed up, and 98% of the time, we most likely deserved it and had it coming. And none of us were scarred by our upbringing, when it came to being disciplined. But we also found no shortage of love and care and provision by both our parents as well. Yes...I count myself fortunate in this regard, because we all know this is not the case in many, many homes.

So I can only imagine how a person who was on the receiving end of major physical abuse throughout their childhood, compounded by a lack of love and kindness and goodness shown at the hands of their ‘parents’...would process such a lesson from Hebrews 12. It certainly is not a theme I would introduce up front to a new believer or anyone who might be ‘seeking truth/God’, but in due time it is important they come to understand this aspect about God. Again...being ‘led by the Spirit’ goes a long way in sharing truth with people. You can only imagine the work any pastor has cut out for them when they stand before a room of people, whether it is 40 , 400, or 4000 souls and you speak the word of God to them. Given their personal stories and background...only God knows how they will receive and process what they hear; which again...is why people who want to be declarers of God’s truth will face much more scrutiny from God (James 3:1).

So when was the last time you heard any sermon or in-depth teaching out of Hebrews 12 on how or why God ‘disciplines’ His children? There are some touchy verses in there that can land in a variety ways to those who read/hear them. Both vs. 6 and 11 are pretty clear in their meaning how being ‘chastened’ or ‘disciplined’ by a ‘loving God’ (our heavenly Father) will make you wince. But they are there for us to learn from, and the whole passage lays out the reason ‘why’ this process of discipline is so important- that “we may be partakers of His holiness” (10), because ‘without this holiness...no one will see the Lord’ (14).

Oh, but you ‘accepted Christ as your personal Savior’ when you were 15, so all is well with your soul, or so you were told? And why did God say ‘His people are destroyed’, according to Hosea 4:6? I wonder what age those folks in Matt. 7:22-23 were when they ‘walked an aisle and prayed a short prayer’.

I closed out yesterday’s lesson with a question that Paul posed when he wrote to the Corinthians and used that first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt, pointing to their repeated failures of disobedience and how they suffered for it. He also mentions that those things are recorded for us as examples to learn from also (1 Cor. 10:5-11). He then continues on and hints how we can intermingle with ‘demons’ if we are not careful (20-21). Yeah...that’s still a thing that I would think many of us are ignorant on, because it goes much deeper than simply playing with a Ouji board at a slumber party. That’s when Paul asked: “Do you really want to provoke the Lord to jealousy?” (22).

Were you aware that God is ‘jealous’ for our hearts, as in He desires to have ‘all’ of your heart...and soul? (Matt. 22:37). God has no interest in just being ‘one of our many idols’. Yeah, I’ll give you a moment with that one also.

He even admits up front: “I am a jealous God!” (Deut. 5:9), followed up there by what He promises to do if we cross Him. Oh, and just so you know...these words are found in the 2nd commandment of the 10 that were given, and the same 10 commandments that Texas made a law demanding they be hung in every classroom of every school in the state. (Not sure if any other state has passed such a law). But it stands to reason they would believe these are good words to be made aware of if you want them exposed to school children everywhere. And while we are here, go ahead and underline that part in vs. 9 that tells how God will “visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him.”

Yeah...this just got awkward quickly, did it not? Meet me back here tomorrow?