DCLM DAILY MANNA DEVOTIONAL FOR APRIL 18, 2023 (SPIRITUAL BASTARDS)
TOPIC :; SPIRITUAL BASTARDS
Text: Hebrews 12:5-13 (KJV)
5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the [a]chastening of the Lord,Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 I] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now noch astening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Renew Your Spiritual Vitality
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
KEY VERSE: “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” – (Hebrews 12:8)
MESSAGE
No one likes to be called a bastard. This is because it is a word that connotes a negative image. A bastard is a child born outside wedlock and to be called one implies an identification tag that is both odious and repelling. To be termed a bastard is a tag no one desires.
The writer of the book of Hebrews used this word to describe believers who fail to cheerfully bear afflictions and divine discipline. He observed that the afflictions they faced were incomparable to what Jesus endured for man. He wanted them to bear hardship and corrections because no life can have any value without discipline.
He explained that the corrections were for their good and they should, like good children, obey God who is their heavenly Father. No good father will allow his child to grow up in life without corrections. It is only a child estranged from the father who would be allowed to grow up with unlimited freedom.
The new birth introduces the believer to the family of God. As a child of the Kingdom, there are things to do and lessons to learn. Whenever we wake up in the morning, the Father expects us to begin the day with prayers, reading and meditating on His word. Then He wants us to live up to our confessions, and forsake every known sin. It is a new life with new vision and new commitment.
Every child of God must do the will of our heavenly Father. As His children, we are to delight ourselves in what makes Him happy and to keep ourselves away from things that He hates. Just like Jesus corrected Peter in love after denying Him, the Lord also will use appropriate opportunities to train and correct us as may be necessary. May God give you the grace to heed His warnings and abide by His corrections today.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s correction should make us better, not bitter.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Acts 22-23
Daily Manna is the daily devotional of the Deeper Christian Life Bible Ministry (DCLM) written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi. It is an extraction of God’s Word designed to draw the sincere seeker closer to God on a daily basis through an insightful exposition and analysis of God’s Word.
