Message
Sometimes, when you hear from God, it may be a rebuke. However, you must still open your heart to Him despite the rebuke. In any case, I would rather God rebuke me than stay silent. If a Christian only wants to hear sweet things from God but never wants to listen to His rebuke, he or she will eventually stop hearing from Him. You should be glad when God rebukes you because says that it is the child the father loves that he chastens. When David was rebuked in , he did not harden his heart, rather, he repented, and God continued to walk with him.
How do you react when you hear a rebuke from your pastor? Do you harden your heart or do you make amends immediately? No matter how influential a believer is in ministry, or how gifted the fellow is in the Holy Spirit, if such a person hardens his or her heart against God's rebuke, God can reject such a believer (). :17says:
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
If you want God to keep walking with you and speaking to you, you need to have a broken spirit and a contrite heart. God is not moved by mere religious activity; He is most interested in a relationship with you. However, just as it is impossible to have a good relationship with someone that you cannot correct when he or she offends you, God will not dwell with hard-hearted individuals. He said in :
For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Beloved, when God rebukes you, whether through His word, a fellow believer, or directly by Himself, never harden your heart. Hardening your heart against His rebuke will only lead to destruction as we see in :
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Do not despise rebuke from God, rather, embrace His correction as evidence of His love for you.