How did I know it was time for some discipline?
There were lots of red flags:
Clearly, things weren’t playing out well.
Job 5:17 (NIV)
Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
Day 3 – bring in the discipline. 
40 days of discipline
does not equal
40 days of punishment.
Proverbs 3:12 (NIV)
The LORD disciplines those he loves.
It’s not punishment; it’s love.
Day 2 ends on a note of love.
God and I just finished a long chat. He reminded me of the one-word I chose for 2020: discipline.
1 Timothy 4:7 (AMP)
Discipline yourself for
the purpose of godliness.
Unfortunately, I’ve dropped off the wagon. I’ve been sleeping in, ordering out, sitting down, taking it easy. Too much junk food, too many TV movies, too much social media.
Not enough discipline.
I sensed a nudge from the Spirit: 40 days! Let the discipline begin.
Yes, Lord.
So ends Day 1.
James 1:2-4 (ESV)
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
No doubt about it, God, the coronavirus isolation has tested my faith. Counting it all joy? I need Your help with that!
“Count your many blessings,
name them one by one,
And it will surprise you
what the Lord has done.”
Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1897
Gonna be a long list!
Johnson Oatman wanted to be a good singer, like his father. He didn’t have the voice for it. Instead, he wrote the lyrics to 5,000 songs, including this hymn, “Count Your Blessings.”
Matthew 18:21-22 (MSG)
Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.”
70 x 7 = 490
Once a month for more than 40 years.
Once a week for almost 10 years.
Once an hour for more than 20 days
Only God can forgive at that rate. I can’t.
Matthew 10:29-30 (CEV)
Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. Even the hairs on your head are counted.
God doesn’t estimate. His models are never wrong. His counts are always spot on.
I see daily updates to the COVID-19 death count.
Are these counts less important?
Every life counts. Every life is someone’s child. Everyone is a child of God.
God knows what I don’t know.
Job 34:21 (TLB)
God carefully watches the goings on of all mankind;
he sees them all.
Show me, Lord, what I need to know, what counts to You.
Open Doors USA reports that Christians in northern Nigeria are facing increasing harassment and violence. As many as 1200 Christians were killed in the first half of 2020.
“In some northern states, increasing numbers of Christians are dressing like Muslims to make their faith less obvious and reduce the chances of attack. Young Christians in these states are frequently denied access to higher education, and Christians have been asked to give up their faith in order to obtain work.”
Let us pray for Nigerian churches–
Almighty God, grant our brothers and sisters the perseverance to be faithful in the face of persecution, the strength to stand up for You and the grace to be good witnesses in the midst of mistreatment. May our prayers shelter and encourage them, in Jesus’ name.
Our cancel culture is quick to condemn. Jesus spoke about this sort of rush to judgment:
Matthew 7:3-5
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye.
Teach me to be kind, Lord, not critical. Humble, not a hypocrite.
