(Clip) Those I Love I Rebuke and Correct — Zac Poonen

Divine Love Expressed Through Rebuke and Discipline

Those whom I love, the Lord says, I reprove and I discipline. So what does the Lord do to those whom he loves? He rebukes them. He disciplines them. When I was a young Christian, the only proof I had that Jesus loved me was that he died for me on the cross.

Growing from the Cross to Personal Correction

So if you had asked me in those days, how do you know Jesus loves you? I'd say, oh, it's easy. He died for me on the cross. Today, if you ask me, I'm a mature Christian, how do you know Jesus loves you?

Hearing God's Rebuke as Evidence of Maturity

I say, boy, he rebukes me. He disciplines me. And the more responsibility I have, the more severely he rebukes me. You ask me, do you hear an audible voice? No. But what I hear in my heart is almost as loud as an audible voice, a rebuke.

Receiving Correction with Joy

I'll tell you, there are times when the Lord has rebuked me for some small little thing that I have wept with joy, wept with joy. I often weep before the Lord when I'm alone, mostly when I wake up in bed in the middle of the night or something like that, that I don't disturb anybody, and wept with joy that the Lord cares so much for me that he would, you know, punish me for a small slip up.

Seeking Preservation from Falling Away

And I say, Lord, please do that. Please keep on doing that. I know many preachers who have done great ministries and fallen away, and I'm not any better than them. If you preserve me, I will never fall away.

Embracing Correction Without Offense

I want you to correct me, correct me, correct me. I promise you, I'll never get offended. I have said that to God and to man. I will never in my life get offended. I finished with getting offended. That will never happen in my life.

There are certain areas I'm battling, but getting offended is not one of them. That's finished years ago. I want all of you to overcome getting offended. Our children will get offended.