Quick things to get off of my chest, today.
Psalm 35. Composition is by David, on how the Lord helps him against his enemies. On my part, I don’t necessarily see any physical enemies, or folks who call themselves my enemy, anywhere near me – which is either a good thing or a bad thing, but overall, I suppose it’s a nice thing to know that the Lord doesn’t just guard me against these folks, but He also actively pursues them.
But like I said, I don’t have any particular people in mind – well, maybe folk who have hurt me in the past that I still have issues getting over up until today, and I don’t wish the wrath of God upon them (more of His mercy, really) – so this Psalm doesn’t seem to be compatible with me today.
I go back instead, to Psalm 33 – where it emphasizes on the plans and the counsel of the Lord being infinitely superior to anything we could ever conjure:
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
Psalm 33:10-11
So, yeah – in all things that are going on in our lives, well, we give thanks to God, for He is for us, and therefore, His counsel is for our good, and His plans are not only for us, but for the generations that follow us.
I’m also going to be talking to the youth in, oh, a little less than half an hour from now. We talked about how Christ’s presence produces Courage in us, and how Truth is the foundation to our honesty. Last time we talked, we talked about how we can be consistent in our actions, and true to our word – simply because Christ is consistently faithful to us, and again, the advice He gives is not mere fact, but eternal, infinite Truth – He is, after all, Faithful and True. Yeah, that’s it. We have integrity, and we are consistent, because Christ is Faithful and True.
Today, though, we’re going to be talking about another virtue – that is, Discipline. I’m going to attack or assault this topic two ways.
First, by way of self-control. Discipline is self-control. If you are emotional, chances are, you are undisciplined in your actions. We’re able to have self-control because Christ is the Vine and we are the branches – and this means that Christ produces the fruit of self-control, and we bear it. It all comes from Him, just like every other virtue we talk about.
Christ was actually a prime example of discipline, and through His account we can see the function and purpose for discipline.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.Hebrews 12:1-2
By way of discipline, Jesus asserted His identity. And the other way around: Jesus expressed His identity by way of disciplining Himself. He knew that He was the only One who could lay down His life to save all creation. He knew that He alone was the founder and perfecter of our faith – which is why, though we see so much drama in depictions around His crucifixion, I could imagine He was disciplined, even as the most painful and humiliating execution was inflicted upon Him.
Jesus was disciplined because He was secure, and He knew who He was.
Second, we read that Jesus ‘endured the cross‘. Why? – it was ‘for the joy that was set before Him‘. Again, I could imagine that Jesus was disciplined through the torture, and through the physical, mental and emotional pain, not only because He knew His mission, but also because He knew His goal.
He endured the cross for the joy that was to come. In my words, He was excited to see you and me in the finish line. Jesus was disciplined because He was excited, because we were His goal.
So, I suppose, my prayer is not for my younger brothers and sisters to be disciplined, more than it is for them to realize, as young as they , who they are in Christ, specifically; and also, I pray they would also discover what their goals are – that they would strive towards them.
Then I’ll pray for them, and end with what Dr. Farley says about discipline:
Discipline is not punishment for your past, but preparation for your future.
One more thing to let out before I actually head down there to start that youth service. I’ve been reading and writing about The Making of a Prince by Dr. Jonathan David, and before I jumped into Chapter 2, I thought I’d actually read through the story of Joseph for myself, and, well, I didn’t brace myself for all the good stuff that I gathered and/or recalled: As we approached the final chapters, I found myself crying.
I cried because, well, the whole account of the sheer forgiveness and grace that Joseph demonstrated to his brothers really resonated with me. He had all the resources and reason to inflict righteous vengeance upon them, but… as ‘the Lord was with him’ in the house of Potiphar, and as ‘the Lord was with him’ in the prison, so I believe that ‘the Lord was with him’ in all that he did for and to his brothers – testing them, until finally, tearfully, presenting himself as their help… not only to them, but to their families, and to their father.
Man, those were other tearjerkers – when Jacob (Israel) mustered all possible resources only to ensure Benjamin’s safety, I felt the pain and anguish and conflict going through his mind… and then that one time, when he finally saw Joseph again – I swear someone’s chopping onions, even as I type this.
Jacob putting all that he could together reminds me of God, and just has me imagining, how, while He knew that Christ was the only Way for man to be saved, Jacob’s desperation shows me the fatherly pain God could have felt, down to the final moments of Christ’s capture and crucifixion… But then, man… To think of all the raw joy and vindication and relief, when Christ ascended and returned to His Father… Really, we gotta stop with all the onions.
I guess the point I’m trying to pull out here is that, on its own, there’s already so much for us to derive from the Scripture without the perspective of others – or, if anything, the perspective of Dr. David only serves as a supplement to the grace and glory of God that we see for ourselves, when we read through the story of Joseph, ourselves.
With all that in mind, with all that out of the way, well… it’s about time we go back to it.
…Next post, that is. Till then… God bless you. Greatly.
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