Discipline Produces Healing
Prayer 365 // The Power of Discipline (Day 5)
More from this week:
Today's Scripture:
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” - Hebrews 12:11-13 NIV
Today's Devotional:
All week we’ve seen how God masterfully uses discipline to shape His children for purpose and calling. The Lord’s discipline is not meant to offend but to correct, protect and perfect us to be used by Him. Our need for discipline is obvious. As the scripture says, we are weak and feeble, our natural tendencies are selfish and broken. Yet we desire both growth and comfort — we want to grow and become better but we also value our comfort, we have no desire to be challenged out made uncomfortable. Here’s the thing, growth and comfort can never coexist. Thus our need for discipline.
In our text this morning it says: “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” Hebrews 12:12-13 NIV
There are a few things I want to show you in this text. First, I want to point out how the author describes the arms and knees as feeble and weak. Those words, feeble and weak, describe a person that is disabled. This makes perfect sense because the arms and knees are the key areas of mobility on the human body. Without arms and knees there’s little that we can do to move forward or around. This leads us to see a valuable truth: Without discipline, our lives are disabled. In other words we are limited in our ability or progress without discipline in our lives. Because we are disabled, we are in desperate need of God’s discipline. His discipline serves as rehab to our weak and feeble lives.
If you’ve ever had to go through any type of rehab or physical therapy, the purpose is so that you’re body is restored to adequate normal mobility without the assistance of another. In a sense rehab is essential to the healing process. For each of us, discipline is essential to our healing. We were once weak and feeble in our minds, our will and our ways but discipline is the key to our strength. What’s dangerous is that for some we’ve been this way for so long that our disability feels normal to us. It’s normal to not be moving. It’s normal to not be strong. We’ve normalized sin and chaos. We’ve normalized waste and laziness. These things maybe normal to the world but they are not normal in the Kingdom of Heaven, in fact they are despised. God didn’t make you to sit around wondering what you’re going to eat today, He created you for purpose and with a calling. But you cannot walk in either if your life is disabled.
In the text he goes on to say: ““Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” This means in our healing process, your must be careful where your go. You can’t just go anywhere while you’re being healed. You can’t just do anything while you’re being healed. Your can’t watch everything while you’re being healed. You can’t eat everything while you’re being healed. If you do, your run risk of re-injuring what God has been healing. Therefore, be careful where you go, what you do, who you’re talking to. If it’s going to affect you’re healing it’s not worth your time.
As your can see God desires that your be healed through discipline, but I believe this healing goes beyond you. I believe that He desires to bring healing through you. The power of God cannot easily flow through an undisciplined life, but when you become disciplined, there’s little resistance to the carrying out His will in the earth. I believe that God desires to bring healing into the earth through his children, but it can only flow through the life that’s disciplined. This is why it’s important that we receive the discipline of the Father. There are countless people around you who will experience God through the work He does in your life, but it can only happen if you are healed.
I know you’ve been weak, you’ve been stuck, you’ve been disabled. Now it’s time to be healed! God wants to heal you but the healing you need will only be produced through discipline. My prayer is that you will receive His discipline so that you might be healed and others might be healed.
I'm praying for you and with you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
In our text this morning it says: “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” Hebrews 12:12-13 NIV
There are a few things I want to show you in this text. First, I want to point out how the author describes the arms and knees as feeble and weak. Those words, feeble and weak, describe a person that is disabled. This makes perfect sense because the arms and knees are the key areas of mobility on the human body. Without arms and knees there’s little that we can do to move forward or around. This leads us to see a valuable truth: Without discipline, our lives are disabled. In other words we are limited in our ability or progress without discipline in our lives. Because we are disabled, we are in desperate need of God’s discipline. His discipline serves as rehab to our weak and feeble lives.
If you’ve ever had to go through any type of rehab or physical therapy, the purpose is so that you’re body is restored to adequate normal mobility without the assistance of another. In a sense rehab is essential to the healing process. For each of us, discipline is essential to our healing. We were once weak and feeble in our minds, our will and our ways but discipline is the key to our strength. What’s dangerous is that for some we’ve been this way for so long that our disability feels normal to us. It’s normal to not be moving. It’s normal to not be strong. We’ve normalized sin and chaos. We’ve normalized waste and laziness. These things maybe normal to the world but they are not normal in the Kingdom of Heaven, in fact they are despised. God didn’t make you to sit around wondering what you’re going to eat today, He created you for purpose and with a calling. But you cannot walk in either if your life is disabled.
In the text he goes on to say: ““Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” This means in our healing process, your must be careful where your go. You can’t just go anywhere while you’re being healed. You can’t just do anything while you’re being healed. Your can’t watch everything while you’re being healed. You can’t eat everything while you’re being healed. If you do, your run risk of re-injuring what God has been healing. Therefore, be careful where you go, what you do, who you’re talking to. If it’s going to affect you’re healing it’s not worth your time.
As your can see God desires that your be healed through discipline, but I believe this healing goes beyond you. I believe that He desires to bring healing through you. The power of God cannot easily flow through an undisciplined life, but when you become disciplined, there’s little resistance to the carrying out His will in the earth. I believe that God desires to bring healing into the earth through his children, but it can only flow through the life that’s disciplined. This is why it’s important that we receive the discipline of the Father. There are countless people around you who will experience God through the work He does in your life, but it can only happen if you are healed.
I know you’ve been weak, you’ve been stuck, you’ve been disabled. Now it’s time to be healed! God wants to heal you but the healing you need will only be produced through discipline. My prayer is that you will receive His discipline so that you might be healed and others might be healed.
I'm praying for you and with you,
Pastor Enrique Brooks
Did you know that Thryve Church prays together 365 days a year? Join us Monday-Friday at 6:30am & Saturdays at 8am for "Prayer at the Altar" by dialing 339- 207-7471 and then join us Sundays at 11am for Worship Service! Learn More