Daily Rhema: Recognizing God’s Chastening

Psalm 119:67, 71 (KJV)
Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

It is vital that we recognize the fact that God chastens us when we sin, either by omission or commission.

He does so because He loves us and wants us to learn to be like Him in character and power.

How then does God chasten us?
God uses Satanic affliction to chasten us, by removing the hedge of protection around us, making it possible for Satan’s attacks on our bodies and circumstances to overcome us.(Job 1:9-11).

Because Satan is the originator of affliction, many times we do not see the chastening of the Lord that is behind some afflictions.

Not all afflictions are God’s chastening: sometimes Satan attacks simply because we are obeying God’s Word (Mark 4:17).

How then do you know when an affliction has God’s chastening behind it?

When you resist the devil through prayer and the spoken Word and he does not flee, then you know that God is chastening you so you can submit to Him in some area of your life before you can successfully overcome the Satanic affliction assailing you (Jas. 4:7-10).

So it is vital to examine and judge yourself when faced with an affliction, so you can make any necessary inner adjustments to be able to overcome Satan’s attacks.

Many times God’s chastening through Satanic afflictions comes as weaknesses, sicknesses or even premature physical death (1Cor. 11:30-32).

So anytime you see yourself being spiritually weak: you don’t have the strength to pray or be spiritually effective; or having a recurrent sickness that robs you of your physical and spiritual ability, first examine yourself to see if God is using the situation to chasten you.

You may need to repent of a wrong attitude of unforgiveness, bitterness or rebellion. It may be just plain spiritual laziness, or negligence that has opened the door to Satan since the Bible says “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6).

When God chastens with premature physical death it is to save His people from some evil to come (Isa. 57:1), through some loophole in their lives Satan is exploiting, that they have not taken heed to closing after repeated warnings by God. God does this so that they may obtain a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35) and not go to hell (1Cor. 5:5-6).

If they take heed to God’s warnings and close the loophole, they can be saved from premature physical death.

So by examining ourselves when facing afflictions, particularly of weakness, sickness and life threatening situations, we can recognize God’s chastening and learn from them to partake of His holiness, and triumph over the affliction as it is the will of God that we triumph always in all situations (2Cor. 2:14).

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