Tag Archives: Punishment

December 7, 2020

Human Resources

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 20:26

26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them. (NIV)

I have worked for many companies over the years. One of the great differences between some of them were how employees were handled.

A good human resources (HR) department handles issues with employees really well.

At one of those companies, the HR Manager volunteered to take all of the difficult situations no one else wanted (hence her being the manager!) Whenever there was an employee who caused more problems than good work, she would convince them that they wanted to work in a different area.

If they still did not improve, she would remove them from employment (fire them, lay them off, however you wish to say it).

Separated

God is our wise King and the greatest at handling human resources.

Jesus told us that at the end of the Age all of humanity would be separated out.

In Matthew 13, He tells the parable of the wheat and weeds. The wheat and weeds grow together, and then after the harvest they are separated with the weeds sent to the fire.

Likewise, when Christ returns, the righteous will be separated to go with Him, but the wicked will be sent to the Lake of Fire.

To be saved, we must seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our forgiveness, and believe in His resurrection. His Holy Spirit takes care of all of the hard work of preparing us for the final harvest.

Trust in God, and follow Him.

Wise God, thank You for saving us and in Your judgment preparing places for all of us. Help us to find and root out the evil in our lives wherever we encounter it.

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1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked

April 10, 2020

Repeat Offenders

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 19:19

“A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.”
“A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again.” (NIV)

Foe-Worker

I once worked with a young man whose uncle was the manager.

He did not like me. I did what was required of me and tried to help everyone get along, while he did the bare minimum and got into fights with everyone.

Nobody really liked him, and we all tried to report each of his offenses. His uncle simply shrugged it all off and covered for him.

This guy did not like being corrected, being told he was wrong, or being told what to do. He would get angry each time, even over the simplest of things.

He would get into a fight over something, and things would have to be fixed by the rest of us. His uncle would cover for him, and the next day it would happen again.

Motivational Churches

Too many churches today preach a message of positive thinking and good works. The message tends to be somewhere along the lines of being sincere, doing enough good works to look good, or to keep plugging away until things work out well.

The pastors and leaders of these churches are little better than motivational speakers.

The danger of preaching these kinds of messages: without any acknowledgement of our sins, we are cursed to repeat them.

Many people, through only receiving these messages, never come to realize the true need for a Savior. This is not Someone who necessarily saves them from the effects of their sins, because He wants them to know the dangers of their sins.

This Someone saves us from the eternal implications.

Merciful Savior, grant us control of our emotions. Help us to find the peace only You can offer, that we may be at peace with ourselves, our world, and with You, that we may help others overcome this world and not fall into trouble time and time again.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

February 2, 2020

The Weighed-Down and the Beaten

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 17:26

“Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.”
“If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right.” (NIV)

There are many ways to go with this verse.

We could look at the injustices between the rich and the poor, the government and the people, or families.

Here is another track:

Religious Leaders

Jesus said, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46, NIV)

Many people may think of the likes of the Catholic Church with all of its rules and traditions. Others may think of cults with their crazy rules and restrictions.

In some cases this may be true. However, any leader from the Pope all the way down to mom and dad at home can place restrictions on people that may be unfair or difficult, things which they may be exempt from obeying.

The other danger comes from giving too much freedom.

It is as though we all take Paul’s words to heart: “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)

All we get from this much freedom, without any restriction, gives us the old burden of our sin. We still have no freedom.

Our Lord

The only true freedom we get comes from Jesus Christ, our good and perfect Judge.

And how did we treat Him:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

The Prince of Peace and the highest official in the universe, the only One righteous, was flogged, beaten, struck by us.

It may not have been right, but God used it for our sake and His glory. He used our hatred and violence to show His love, forgiveness, and grace to us.

Righteous Father, thank You for redeeming our hatred and violence with Your sacrifice. Teach us to be just and merciful. Help us to love each other, even when we are unjust, by Your power.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked, Value and Worth

April 26, 2016

Human Resources

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 20:26

26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them. (NIV)

I have worked for many companies over the years. One of the great differences between some of them were how employees were handled.

A good human resources (HR) department handles issues with employees really well.

At one of those companies, the HR Manager volunteered to take all of the difficult situations no one else wanted (hence her being the manager!) Whenever there was an employee who caused more problems than good work, she would convince them that they wanted to work in a different area.

If they still did not improve, she would remove them from employment (fire them, lay them off, however you wish to say it).

Separated

God is our wise King and the greatest at handling human resources.

Jesus told us that at the end of the Age all of humanity would be separated out.

In Matthew 13, He tells the parable of the wheat and weeds. The wheat and weeds grow together, and then after the harvest they are separated with the weeds sent to the fire.

Likewise, when Christ returns, the righteous will be separated to go with Him, but the wicked will be sent to the Lake of Fire.

To be saved, we must seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our forgiveness, and believe in His resurrection. His Holy Spirit takes care of all of the hard work of preparing us for the final harvest.

Trust in God, and follow Him.

Wise God, thank You for saving us and in Your judgment preparing places for all of us. Help us to find and root out the evil in our lives wherever we encounter it.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked

March 8, 2016

Repeat Offenders

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 19:19

“A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.”
“A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again.” (NIV)

Foe-Worker

I once worked with a young man whose uncle was the manager.

He did not like me. I did what was required of me and tried to help everyone get along, while he did the bare minimum and got into fights with everyone.

Nobody really liked him, and we all tried to report each of his offenses. His uncle simply shrugged it all off and covered for him.

This guy did not like being corrected, being told he was wrong, or being told what to do. He would get angry each time, even over the simplest of things.

He would get into a fight over something, and things would have to be fixed by the rest of us. His uncle would cover for him, and the next day it would happen again.

Motivational Churches

Too many churches today preach a message of positive thinking and good works. The message tends to be somewhere along the lines of being sincere, doing enough good works to look good, or to keep plugging away until things work out well.

The pastors and leaders of these churches are little better than motivational speakers.

The danger of preaching these kinds of messages: without any acknowledgement of our sins, we are cursed to repeat them.

Many people, through only receiving these messages, never come to realize the true need for a Savior. This is not Someone who necessarily saves them from the effects of their sins, because He wants them to know the dangers of their sins.

This Someone saves us from the eternal implications.

Merciful Savior, grant us control of our emotions. Help us to find the peace only You can offer, that we may be at peace with ourselves, our world, and with You, that we may help others overcome this world and not fall into trouble time and time again.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

January 7, 2016

The Weighed-Down and the Beaten

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 17:26

“Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.”
“If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right.” (NIV)

There are many ways to go with this verse.

We could look at the injustices between the rich and the poor, the government and the people, or families.

Here is another track:

Religious Leaders

Jesus said, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46, NIV)

Many people may think of the likes of the Catholic Church with all of its rules and traditions. Others may think of cults with their crazy rules and restrictions.

In some cases this may be true. However, any leader from the Pope all the way down to mom and dad at home can place restrictions on people that may be unfair or difficult, things which they may be exempt from obeying.

The other danger comes from giving too much freedom.

It is as though we all take Paul’s words to heart: “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)

All we get from this much freedom, without any restriction, gives us the old burden of our sin. We still have no freedom.

Our Lord

The only true freedom we get comes from Jesus Christ, our good and perfect Judge.

And how did we treat Him:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

The Prince of Peace and the highest official in the universe, the only One righteous, was flogged, beaten, struck by us.

It may not have been right, but God used it for our sake and His glory. He used our hatred and violence to show His love, forgiveness, and grace to us.

Righteous Father, thank You for redeeming our hatred and violence with Your sacrifice. Teach us to be just and merciful. Help us to love each other, even when we are unjust, by Your power.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked, Value and Worth

June 11, 2013

Human Resources

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 20:26

26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them. (NIV)

I have worked for many companies over the years. One of the great differences between some of them were how employees were handled.

A good human resources (HR) department handles issues with employees really well.

At one of those companies, the HR Manager volunteered to take all of the difficult situations no one else wanted (hence her being the manager!) Whenever there was an employee who caused more problems than good work, she would convince them that they wanted to work in a different area.

If they still did not improve, she would remove them from employment (fire them, lay them off, however you wish to say it).

Separated

God is our wise King and the greatest at handling human resources.

Jesus told us that at the end of the Age all of humanity would be separated out.

In Matthew 13, He tells the parable of the wheat and weeds. The wheat and weeds grow together, and then after the harvest they are separated with the weeds sent to the fire.

Likewise, when Christ returns, the righteous will be separated to go with Him, but the wicked will be sent to the Lake of Fire.

To be saved, we must seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our forgiveness, and believe in His resurrection. His Holy Spirit takes care of all of the hard work of preparing us for the final harvest.

Trust in God, and follow Him.

Wise God, thank You for saving us and in Your judgment preparing places for all of us. Help us to find and root out the evil in our lives wherever we encounter it.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked

May 6, 2013

Repeat Offenders

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 19:19

19 A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.
19 A hot-tempered person must pay the penalty; rescue them, and you will have to do it again. (NIV)

Foe-Worker

I once worked with a young man whose uncle was the manager.

He did not like me. I did what was required of me and tried to help everyone get along, while he did the bare minimum and got into fights with everyone.

Nobody really liked him, and we all tried to report each of his offenses. His uncle simply shrugged it all off and covered for him.

This guy did not like being corrected, being told he was wrong, or being told what to do. He would get angry each time, even over the simplest of things.

He would get into a fight over something, and things would have to be fixed by the rest of us. His uncle would cover for him, and the next day it would happen again.

Motivational Churches

Too many churches today preach a message of positive thinking and good works. The message tends to be somewhere along the lines of being sincere, doing enough good works to look good, or to keep plugging away until things work out well.

The pastors and leaders of these churches are little better than motivational speakers.

The danger of preaching these kinds of messages: without any acknowledgement of our sins, we are cursed to repeat them.

Many people, through only receiving these messages, never come to realize the true need for a Savior. This is not Someone who necessarily saves them from the effects of their sins, because He wants them to know the dangers of their sins.

This Someone saves us from the eternal implications.

Merciful Savior, grant us control of our emotions. Help us to find the peace only You can offer, that we may be at peace with ourselves, our world, and with You, that we may help others overcome this world and not fall into trouble time and time again.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Warnings

March 22, 2013

The Weighed-Down and the Beaten

By Daniel M. Klem

Proverbs 17:26

26 Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
26 If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right. (NIV)

There are many ways to go with this verse.

We could look at the injustices between the rich and the poor, the government and the people, or families.

Here is another track:

Religious Leaders

Jesus said, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46, NIV)

Many people may think of the likes of the Catholic Church with all of its rules and traditions. Others may think of cults with their crazy rules and restrictions.

In some cases this may be true. However, any leader from the Pope all the way down to mom and dad at home can place restrictions on people that may be unfair or difficult, things which they may be exempt from obeying.

The other danger comes from giving too much freedom.

It is as though we all take Paul’s words to heart: “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20-21)

All we get from this much freedom, without any restriction, gives us the old burden of our sin. We still have no freedom.

Our Lord

The only true freedom we get comes from Jesus Christ, our good and perfect Judge.

And how did we treat Him:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

The Prince of Peace and the highest official in the universe, the only One righteous, was flogged, beaten, struck by us.

It may not have been right, but God used it for our sake and His glory. He used our hatred and violence to show His love, forgiveness, and grace to us.

Righteous Father, thank You for redeeming our hatred and violence with Your sacrifice. Teach us to be just and merciful. Help us to love each other, even when we are unjust, by Your power.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in The Righteous, The Wicked, Value and Worth