Hebrews 12:6 says, “For whom He loves He chastens…” The Greek word for chastens means to train up a child, educate, or discipline. The Lord’s goal was explained in verse 10. Speaking first of our earthly fathers, “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.”

Verse 11 in the Amplified says, “For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields…” Let me remind us of God’s afterwards for Job. 

James 5:11 says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the endurance of Job and seen the end intended  by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

Trials are never punishment for wrong, but are for specialized training in something that is right. Everyone has trials, righteous or unrighteous. The key is accepting our trial as essential for our spiritual growth—the end intended.

Peter expressed it well. In 1 Peter 1:4-5 he wrote about the future hope of our incorruptible inheritance that is laid up and kept by God’s power. Verse 6 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while,  if need be, you have been grieved by various trials.”

I link this to Paul’s expressed words in 2 Corinthians 4:17. It says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

I’m sure that you agree with me that our trials don’t feel light. Paul went on to help us with this right perspective. Verse 18 says, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things  which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

What we focus on will determine our attitude. This was written about Moses. Hebrews 11:27 Amplified says, “(Motivated) by faith he left Egypt behind him, being unawed and undismayed by the wrath of the king; for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible.”

When we focus all our attention on the intensity of our trial, we lose God’s perspective that will empower us to endure. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). His future joy (us) was His focus.

What is our future joy? 1 Peter 1:8 says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” We can endure now because we know nothing is in vain. Everything will be redeemed.

The Lord will use every situation, hardship, trial, emotional pain, and adversity we have ever been through, or will go through for our good. He uses them to mold us into His character. His end intended is that we will be more like Him, so that we might reflect Him to others.

What we desire to reap will be determined by our choice of seeds to sow. James 3:18 says, “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Here are some seeds of peace that we can sow.

Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Titus 3:2 says, “To speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle showing all humility to all men.”

How does this practically work? When we live under the control of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to lead us, He will always set our feet onto the path of righteousness. When our flesh rises up, we must instantly conform our next thoughts to God’s perfect way.

I read this in Matthew Henry’s commentary many years ago. Proverbs 15:1, “If wrath be risen like a threatening cloud, pregnant with storms and thunder, a soft answer will disperse it and turn it away.” I love the word picture.

Proverbs 25:15 Amplified says, “By long forbearance and calmness of spirit a judge or ruler is persuaded, and soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.” Proverbs 29:11 says, “A (self-confident) fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.”

We have a strategic part. It takes two to quarrel. It doesn’t work with just one person. Proverbs 26:21 Amplified say, “As coals are to hot embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man to inflame strife.”

Proverbs 17:1 says, “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife.” Proverbs 15:18 Amplified says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger appeases contention.”

One of the ways that our trials train us is by sitting still in the Presence of the Lord. He is our True Refuge in the midst of the storm. Psalm 91:1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

James 1:5 alludes to the fact that during our trials we will have questions. We have never been this way before. All we have to do is to ask. He will give us His wisdom that will help us navigate through.

It is already stored up. It is part of our spiritual DNA. Proverbs 2:6-7 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.”

Genesis 1:29 says that every herb will yield seed, and the trees that yield fruit will have a perpetuating seed within them. The harvest is in the seed. Let us sow for a harvest of righteousness!

All glorifying fruit comes from abiding. John 15:4 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” This is a principle that never changes.

Our trials are designed to draw us closer to the Lord. They help to make us more aware of His eternal truths. Verse 5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We cannot endure our trials unless we are abiding in Him. James 1:3 says that our trials test our faith which produces the fruit of patience. Verse 4 in the J. B. Phillips says, “But let that process go on until that endurance is fully developed…” 

Hebrews 10:36 says, “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” The Greek word for endurance combines two words. Hupo (under) and mone (to remain).

We often try to get out from under the intense pressure of our trials instead of embracing them. We use mental gymnastics by deflecting, complaining to others, seeking emotional fillers, or resisting grace through pride.

If you have pleaded with the Lord to remove your trial, but He hasn’t done it, then it is time to rethink your prayer. Paul did. Three times He pleaded with the Lord to take away the thorn in his flesh.

When the Lord made His perfect way clear, Paul wholeheartedly embraced it. The words, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” echoed in Paul’s heart. His heart exploded with revelational insight. 

They impacted him. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “…Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” We need God’s grace-strength to endure, so let’s embrace our trials with gladness and joyful heart acceptance.

There is a note in my Bible from the Strong’s on hupomone. I refer to it frequently. The word means: constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, steadfastness, holding out, patient endurance. The meaning describes the fruit of righteousness.

Hebrews 12:11 Amplified says, “For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful, but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it…”

How sad and futile to go through a trial and not be trained. If we are not trained then there will be no fruit that glorifies the Lord. The rest of the verse says, “…a harvest of fruit that consists in righteousness—in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action…”

Like a potter works water into dry clay, our trials work to conform us to God’s will. Isaiah 32:17 says, “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul wrote that Christ has laid a foundation in our lives. We are to be careful how we build on it. Verse 12 gave two categories. Gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw.

A record of wrongs is like wood, hay, and straw. It can instantly set a blazing fire through our tongues that burns others. Have you ever been burned in a relationship? “Reviving Burned Stones” is the title of one of my 2016 ebooks, and the title of chapter two in my paperback and ebook entitled “Victorious Garden.”

Before our tongue wags, a thought was formed. James 3:5-6 says that our tongue is a little member, a fire, and it is so strategically set that it can defile our whole body. Ugh! Would you drink water that was full of disease causing germs?

Let me take you back to Numbers 5:11-31. You can read the whole portion for yourself. When a wife is thought to be unfaithful, she is made to drink contaminated water. Verse 19 says of the priest, “…take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.”

Picture for a moment what this meant. The tabernacle floor was where the animals were killed. There would be blood on the floor and flies all over it. it would dry until the next sacrifice. Do you eat food after it has fallen on your floor, or flies have been all over it?

Ephesians 4:29 Amplified says, “Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk (ever) come out of your mouth…” Foul, polluting, evil, unwholesome, and worthless words contaminate in two specific ways. First through records of wrongs inside our heart, and then spewed on the one we just blasted.

James 3:2 is our wisdom. Let me rewrite part of it for you. The criteria for our words comes from, “…a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.”

Every trial, adversity, and hardship trains our character to be more like Christ in our words and actions. Romans 5:3-4 Amplified says, “Moreover (let us also be full of joy now!) let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, know that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity)…”

As we feel the squeeze of our circumstances, we can be assured that the Lord is at work to form our character. At the moment when we think we cannot take it anymore, if we embrace it, our hidden flesh will surface. The Lord knows how much pressure it will take. He never goes over that.

I know this from personal experience. After I fell into the ravine my pain was intense and unrelenting. About every four months I would tell the Lord that I couldn’t take it anymore. That was my pattern for years, until the Holy Spirit taught me how to process it to acceptance, and embrace my pain because God was at work through it.

A wheel potter must center the clay before it can be worked into a usable vessel. So it is with our hearts. Our trials are divinely designed and orchestrated to expose what keeps us from reflecting the Lord to others.

We are not forced to think the way we do. James 3:2 in the Amplified says, “For we all often stumble  and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech (never says the wrong things), he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.”

Never say the wrong things are preempted by our thoughts. Every word is first a thought. Yesterday I addressed perversity through transforming our mind. We can only do that through bringing Scripture into our heart.

What happens when we say something that should not have come out of our mouth? We offend our hearers. If we gossip, we not only sin, but we bring another into our sin. Proverbs 26:22 says, “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go  down into the inmost body.”

The Amplified says, “…words of sport (to some, but to others  are like deadly wounds); and they go down into the innermost parts of the body (or of the victim’s nature).” ‘Just kidding’ type words, as well as gossip affect in myriad ways. Have you ever been wounded by other’s words about you?

The literal for innermost being is rooms of the belly. I wonder how many digestive problems are related to wounds from words. There is a term ‘gut punched’ which might be said when we are betrayed or our character is slammed.

For me, James 3:2 helps clarify that we are the true controllers of our thoughts. I love verse 3’s analogy of the horses’ bit. It says, “Indeed we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.” 

Our ‘bit’ in our mouth is God’s hidden word. It will redirect our speech before it goes in the wrong direction. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This ‘bit’ will turn us from an angry outburst (flesh) to a calm spirit that will not react when provoked.

1 Corinthians 13:3-7 lists some ways to express God’s love to others. Verse 5 says, “Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.” The Greek words for ‘provoke’ are: arouse to anger, irritate, to exasperate.

What do you do when someone irritates or exasperates you? Does that arouse hidden anger, or unresolved issues to surface? Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”  

When we don’t keep our heart house cleaned out, these hidden things will spew out of our mouth unexpectedly. You have heard of hoarders. These are folks that don’t throw anything away. We are admonished to cast off the works of darkness. In other words, we are not to stuff them away and ignore their sinful roots.

1 Corinthians 13:5 Amplified says, “…it takes no account of evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong). How many of us keep a record of wrongs done to us? That is exactly what we do when we keep bringing up the past to someone. We will continue this tomorrow.

Our flesh has a perverse desire to dwell in the past. How many times have you entertained past scenes through your mind? Rehearsing what might have been is non productive. “If only…” is futile mental gymnastics that fatigues our brain.

James addressed this issue as a temptation. James 1:14-15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

We are enticed with the perversity of futility. It doesn’t make logical sense to keep recirculating our past through our thoughts. Yet we continue to do it. When I fly, I turn off the air vent. Why? I don’t want to breathe in the recirculated germ filled air.

God told Balaam that his way was perverse. Perversity is contrary to truth. Here is eternal truth. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Our past is passed. We cannot go back and change it. We only keep it alive through our thoughts. When we dwell in our past, we are shunning God’s truth. Romans 1:18 says, “…who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Anything that opposes God’s word is unrighteousness. The Amplified says, “…who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.”

1 John 1:6 in the Amplified says, “(So) if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are (both) speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth (which the Gospel presents).”

The moment we were saved, according to John 5:24, we passed from death to life.  Colossians 1:13 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Salvation brought us up and out of the miry clay pit. Psalm 40:2 says, “…and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” Colossians 2:6 says, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”

We are new creations. We dwell in the present, with a living hope focused on eternity with the Lord. How then shall we live? Paul’s example is key. Philippians 3:13 says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”

Forgetting and reaching is a fluid motion. We are not stuck in our past. We have been delivered from dwelling in the darkness of sin. We are children of His Light. Romans 13:12 says, “…Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

We cast off and put on through our thoughts. The moment we think a certain thought, we can instantly change to another thought. When we hide God’s word in our heart, it permeates our thought process. 

Here is one example. If we have Philippians 4:13 woven into the fabric of our heart, it will be there for instant recall. The moment we think “I can’t” we can instantly replace that thought with “I can” because His resurrection power is within us.

The caterpillar used to crawl and eat leaves. When it died in the cocoon, its past was  passed. It was transformed into a totally new creation. God created the butterfly to fly and drink nectar from flowers. Before salvation we were enslaved to think only sin filled thoughts. Salvation freed us to have the mind of Christ, so every thought is a choice. 

Thanksgiving. Gratitude. Praise. Worship. Silence. Memorization. Meditation. No matter what mindset we are stuck in, all of the above will pull us up and out of the negative quagmire.

I have a friend, who years ago, was walking through a shallow creek. She stepped into a hidden quicksand. In order to get free she had to leave her shoe. Sometimes we have to leave something in order to get free.

1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.” What was the ‘therefore’ referring back to? 1 Peter 1:25 says,”But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

The gospel is our foundation for change. Ephesians 4:17 says, “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind.” Negative mindsets are futile, and they stunt our progress in becoming more like Christ. 

The Greek word for ‘useless’ means: fruitless, empty, futile, hollow, unreal, unproductive, lacking substance, ineffectual, void of results, devoid of force, success, and worthless.

The gospel empowers us to resist all of satan’s weaponry of lies. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

What is that power? Ephesians 1:19-20 says that it is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. Verse 19 in the Amplified says, “And (so that you can know and understand) what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe…” 

God is All Powerful. Nothing, and no one has any power because He has it all. All the influence satan has over a believer is through deception. He seeks ways to build strongholds of lies within our hearts. Those strongholds will always be torn down through God’s word which is eternal (2 Corinthians 10:4).

Colossians 3:2 Amplified says, “And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 is an eternal, incorruptible truth. It says, “…But we have the mind of Christ.”

We are born from the will of God. His will is written all through Scripture. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 could not be clearer. It says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

How does that translate into our everyday experience? We sculpt the physical structure of our brain through our thoughts. It is called neuroplasticity. We can create new healthy neuro connections through meditating on God’s word.

Romans 12:2 called it, “…transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Ephesians 4:23 Amplified says, “And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).” Scientific research says that repetitive negative thinking increases the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Caroline Leaf, a Christian neuroscientist says that toxic thoughts rewire our brain. Bitterness causes acid to drop and burn apart healthy neuro connections. Our thoughts, negative or affirmative, affect every aspect of our life. Therefore, it behooves us to program them through the truth of the gospel. We are not captives of satan’s devices. We are more than conquerors!

James 1:18 says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth…” The Amplified says, “…He gave us birth (as sons) by (His) Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures  (a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself).”

Consecrated is another word for sanctified. It means to be set apart. John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is Truth. He came to die for us, that we might walk in His truth, and proclaim it through our lives. John 8:31 was the criteria for a disciple. It says, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.”

His next statement was referring to the truth that becomes our experience. It is the truth that we live in and display through our actions. Verse 32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

The word ‘know’ is the recognition of truth by personal experience. I love Ephesians 3:19 in the Amplified. It says, “(That you may really come) to know (practically, through experience for yourselves) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge (without experience)…”

Picture the rest of the verse through your own relationship with the Lord. “…that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)!”

Paul gave their credentials as ministers. 2 Corinthians 6:7 Amplified says, “By (speaking) the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand (to attack) and for the left hand (to defend).”

I want to highlight one weapon of righteousness. We are the children of God’s will. That is a weapon you can use when negative thoughts against yourself, others, or your circumstances bombard your mind.

John 1:12-13 says that as many as receive Jesus as their Savior, “…He gave the right to become children of God…who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Before God formed us in our mother’s womb, Jeremiah 1:5 says that He knew us. His will for our entire life was stamped into our seed of conception. Everything that He allows is His will.

If we deflect the trial through our resistant thoughts, then we are resisting God’s will. To deflect means to refuse to acknowledge. Romans 14:23 says, “…whatever is not from faith is sin.” This is in the context of eating something that might offend another. We can personally apply it to our trials. We embrace them by faith, knowing they are God’s will, and accepting them as His instrument for our good.

James 1:2 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” We embrace our trials with our spirit. Our flesh runs from them. Our spirit welcomes our trials, but our flesh views them as intruders.

James 1:2-2 in the J. B. Phillips says, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance.”

All trials have God’s purpose stamped on them. If He has allowed us to fall into a trial, we can welcome it and embrace it as we would a treasured friend. Our new trial is a grace gift that the Lord will unwrap for us as we continue to humble our heart.

Anything that we try to process through our flesh, will seem foolish and unnecessary. It is a bother that we want to deflect, dismiss, or ignore. When we process our trials through our spirit, we stand in what we know. Our hope in God anchors our mind, will, and emotions. It fortifies our spirit man.

Embracing means that we accept it, and begin to process it through the character of the Lord. 2 Peter 1:4 says that through His promises we become partakers of His nature. Romans 8:28 says that He works all things together for good. We embrace His goodness and enter into it through our thoughts.

We stand in verses that sustain, nourish, secure, and strengthen our inner man. We cling to the Lord with barnacle faith. Trials test our faith, like a refiner tests for alloys in precious metals.

Here is a note in my Amplified regarding Proverbs 25:22. Samuel Wesley wrote: “So artists melt the sullen ore of lead, by heaping coals of fire upon its head: In the kind warmth the metal learns to glow, and pure from dross the silver runs below.”

Our flesh tries to repel the fire, but God uses it to flush out the lies that hide it. Part of a trial’s purpose is to set us free from the unseen that keeps us captive. Heavy metals in our body hide parasites. When we go through a detox process, the parasites come out with the heavy metals. Their hiding place was destroyed. 

When we bring detoxing truth into our inner being, the hidden lies are exposed. As we implant God’s word in our heart, their hiding places are destroyed. James 1:21 says, “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your soul.”

I like to think of ‘implant’ as a sliver that embeds itself. It has to be removed or it will fester. When we embed God’s word into the walls of our heart, it permeates our thought process. Truth is woven in, like threads in fabric.

Here is the opposite of perverse. Proverbs 3:32 Amplified says, “…but His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the (uncompromisingly) righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him).”

Psalm 25:14 Amplified says, “The secret (of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner) meaning.”

When our way is conformed to God’s way, we will have clear direction through our intimacy with Him. John 15:15 says, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

All that we need to know is in His word. Our communion with Him is through His word.  Verse 4 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

The Amplified says, “…without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine…” As vital as our breath is to living, so is our intimate communion with the Lord. Verse 5 says, “…without Me you can do nothing.”

The Lord has prepared everything we will ever walk in. Blessings, trials, adversities, good works, conversations, etc. because the list could go on. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says that our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, nor have we comprehended or grasped the things that He has prepared for those who love Him.

Verse 10 says that He has revealed them to us through His Holy Spirit. The Amplified says, “…for the (Holy) Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God (the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny).”

The path of obedience is strewn with grace. The condition for the promise of grace is humility. I love to picture John 1:16 in the Amplified. It says, “For out  of His fullness (abundance) we have all received (all had a share and we were all supplied with) one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift (heaped) upon gift.”

No disobedience is ever worth it. We will reap whatever disobedience we sow. We never reap in the season we sow. Sometimes we may think that we got away with our sin. Numbers 32:23 says, “But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Let nothing rival your time of intimate communion with the Lord. He often speaks whispered words. They are like a wisp that floats over our heart. Our flesh is noisy and blocks us from hearing clearly. As we come to Him, we need to silence our heart and wait in expectation. His Presence is our true resting place.