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God’s Chastening HandHebrews 12:5-11“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”The Bible is very clear that God does chasten His children when He feels it is necessary.It also is clear that if you be without His chastisement then you are not His child and He is not your Father. It can be hard to distinguish between what is true chastisement from God and what is the consequence of sin, because all sin has consequences.God’s purpose behind chastening is that His child might be a partaker of His holiness and yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. The chastisement of God will lead to a corrected life. God would not be a good Father if He allowed any of His children to continue in sin.