Page 65 - The Divine Quest

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Hebrews 12:5-11
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are
reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges
every son whom He receives." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you
as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are
without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we
respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines
us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems
not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards
it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

It is not hard to pick out many verses and passages that deal with suffering, for it is
one of the main themes of Scripture, both of the Old and New Testaments. After
Yahweh delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt, typifying salvation, He led them
into the wilderness where He tested them for forty years. Salvation for us is also an
entrance into a prolonged period of testing, as Paul wrote:

Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also
to suffer for His sake...

If you are ready to move on to the next chapter, I cannot blame you. I do not much
care for this message of suffering either. There is much in the prosperity messages
of the day that hold attraction to my soul. It would be nice to think that God saved
me so that I could embark on a life of endless blessing until the day came that I am
to depart this life and go to heaven. There is just one thing wrong with this message
of ease, it is a fable devised to tickle the ears of those who despise the message of the
cross. There is no truth in it, and those who follow messages of ease and prosperity
will fail to learn obedience and they will fall short of maturity in their lives. They will
remain babes in Christ, crying out for God to satisfy the demands of their flesh, and
they will forfeit all the reward that belongs to the overcomer in Christ.

Yahshua said that ALL who would desire to follow Him must take up their cross
daily. He did not bear the cross so that we would be relieved of this task. He was the
pattern Son who showed us the way to victory. Where He walked, we are to follow.
It was because of the high cost of discipleship that He said that all those who
followed Him should first count the cost. If He were inviting the saints to a life of
prosperity and ease there would be no cost to consider. It is because He will lead His
followers down roads of suffering, heartache and pain that they must count the cost.