God’s Plan for Financial Freedom

Today’s Scripture…
”No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening-it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”    Hebrews 12:11 (NLT) 

Devotional Thought…
Discipline is a word that through the years has changed.

When most people think of being disciplined, they think of punishment.  This kind of thinking relates discipline to the idea that we did something that someone in authority didn’t approve of, and now we must be punished for it.  It associates discipline with words like spanking, grounding, and loss of privileges.  When we think of discipline in these terms, we tend to run from it.

But discipline is really a word that means to be shaped into something we are not.  True discipline is not focused on the pain, even though pain is felt.  True discipline is focused on the end product; on what we can become if we are willing to change.
 
It is much like a great whittler, who was asked one day how he could create such beautiful carvings.  “Well, what I do is start with a piece of wood and if I want to whittle a dog, I just cut away everything that doesn’t look like a dog!”

God’s discipline is the pocket knife He uses to take us from an ordinary piece of wood to a spiritual carving of Christ.  The Bible is clear that God’s goal for each of us is to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29).  For most of us, there is a great difference between what we are today and the person of Jesus Christ.  God loves us too much to let us stay where we are, so He uses all sorts of things to whittle away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus.

What is the Lord whittling on in you?  Are you angry at God, because you are focusing on the pain?  Are you at peace and celebrating the fact that God loves you enough to whittle on you?  Take some time to talk to God about your perspective on his whittling, and ask Him to help you keep in mind the Christ-likeness that He is whittling toward.

Kingdom Focused!

Flora M. Kynard, author of
Prosperity Renewal: 14 Biblical Principles for True Financial Freedom
info@prosperityrenewal.org
www.prosperityrenewal.org

Excerpt from DAILY DEVOS, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Allen, Texas.  We would love to hear how God is using this ministry to help you find and take your next steps with God.