God's Loving Discipline

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Thursday, May 28, 2015

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014. | (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)

"For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child."
— Hebrews 12:6

Lot's point of reference was Egypt. Genesis 13:10 tells us, "Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)"

Instead of lifting his eyes up to Heaven, Lot lifted his eyes up to the plain of Jordan and saw a place called Sodom. The eyes will always see what the heart loves.

Next, Lot separated himself from godly influence. In Abraham's defense, he was supposed to separate from Lot. But Lot should have stayed close to Abraham. And a sure sign of spiritual decline is when we find ourselves wanting to get away from godly people.

Then Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. He wasn't quite in Sodom, but he was very close. He could overhear the parties. He could kind of see what was going on. Call it research if you want, but Lot was just a few feet away from full participation.

If you have sensed that God is warning you to walk away from certain things you are doing, then rejoice. That means you're a child of His. Hebrews 12:6 says, "For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child."

The fact that the Lord brings about a conviction of sin in your heart, puts a roadblock in your path, or allows your secret sin to come into the open is a good thing. God loves you so much that He will try to stop you from going any further. So you have a choice. You can persist in your course. Or, you can listen to what God is saying to you.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 Used with Permission