Deuteronomy 8:5  Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. Chasten (1) to correct by punishment, or reproof, take to task. (2) To restrain; subdue: chasten a proud spirit. Years ago when it was more politically correct to punish a child for bad behavior it was not uncommon for somebody to be sent to the principal office for a paddling. I never had the honors of meeting my principal but did received the occasional whopping from my parents. Does God chasten his children? Yes! Now my physical earthly father chasten me for his own profit; usually to get me to do something he didn't want to do.  Hebrews 12:9  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?  The fathers of our flesh in the above verse has nothing to do with anything physical; but rather speaks of our own fleshly wisdom, that tried to correct our thinking. We birthed in our own minds what was right to God, in words we fathered those thoughts. We only gave reverence to our own self-righteous thoughts about what pleasing to God. Hebrews 12:10  For they [the they are our own thoughts]verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but [GOD]he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. If God not chastening us we not His children but children of the devil. Hebrews 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Now the chastening God’s dealeth to us is not physical, but what goes on in our mind or temple if we can endure it. Let say after you found out you did not receive the Holy Ghost just because you perform a physical act. This would chasten the mind and we would profit Spiritually if we could endure the chastening. Most people would just get mad at such teaching. Nobody can see while God is correcting our thoughts, it is unseen work on the inner man: the destruction of the old man of sin.  Act 5:32  We are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.  When God starts revealing His word, a correction happens in the mind. Jeremiah 10:24  O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. God judges our own thoughts about him even if we never picked up a Bible. Psalm 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. God Spirit putteth down our carnal thoughts against His word. James 2:4  Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?  You are judging your own thought about the Bible and saying these are God's thoughts: partial in yourself. Now you are a judge of evil thought and your counsellors are your own thoughts. Job 12:17  He leadeth counsellor away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.  When the Holy Ghost not doing the counseling in our mind we are rebellious children. Isaiah 30:1Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.  Remember the medical community calls the sides of the head a temple. Isaiah1:5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. God Spirit wants to dwell in our minds but he will not dwell there until that temple is scourged. John 2:15 And [Jesus] when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple. We have all been fools thinking we understood the Bible without God’s Spirit of Truth. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. We have all went to Bible in our own counsel and represented ourselves. Abraham Lincoln once said ''He who represents himself has a fool for a client''. Michael Rudolph Hodges 11/28/2016/Revised 12/7/2020 amended 4/29/2021/ AMENDED 4/8/2022

A FOOL FOR A CLIENT