Does the Lord love some people more than others? Peter, James, and John were special disciples to Jesus, and John was the one whom in a very special sense, “Jesus loved” (John 13:33). They were eager students in the “school of Christ” like those who sit on the front row in class.
The Holy Spirit tells us:
(a) Don’t “despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him: for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:5, 6).
(b) Some people go through life like it’s a picnic (“have a continual feast ... ,” Prov. 15:15). Others are “gifted” with pain, sorrow, and disappointments. In the end, “gifts” more valuable.
(c) Did the Lord love Joseph more than He loved the ten brothers who sold him into slavery? All eleven were in “the church” of that day; He had a very special work for Joseph to do—hence his special “chastening” (discipline). Joseph seems to be a type of Christ, the Savior of the world, because he saved his family and yes the Middle East world of that day, from starvation in the great famine of seven years (Gen. 41:41ff).
(d) For Joseph to have become able to hold that high position required all that special discipline. The LORD’s love therefore had to be manifested in that very unique way.
(e) No discipline (“chastening”) “seems to be joyful for the present,” that is, when you endure it you seem to be missing out on the picnic. It’s “grievous,” painful; “nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (vs. 11).
(f) It may be hard to see through your tears now, but it’s New Covenant training because it prepares you for that place of honor in the Lord’s economy: “You shall be a blessing” wherever you go throughout the earth in your life time (Gen. 12:2, NC promises!); all who knew you will thank the Lord for giving you to their world!
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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