Jeremiah 46:28 
“Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, 
for I am with you,” declares the LORD. 
“Though I completely destroy all the nations 
among which I scatter you, 
I will not completely destroy you. 
I will discipline you but only in due measure; 
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.” (NIV)

“Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, 
for I am with you,” says the LORD. 
“I will completely destroy the nations to which I have exiled you, 
but I will not completely destroy you. 
I will discipline you, but with justice; 
I cannot let you go unpunished.” (NLT)

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Have you ever been afraid God was just going to wipe you out? You know, maybe you’ve gone one sin too far, and having gone one sin too far, that next lightning bolt is headed straight for you?

I’m pretty sure all of us have felt that way at one time or another. 

Here’s the good news tucked away inside this verse: 

“I will not completely destroy you. 
I will discipline you but only in due measure; 
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

The Message paraphrases these last three lines of this verse with these words: 

I have more work left to do on you. 
I’ll punish you, but fairly. 
No, I’m not finished with you yet. 

Again, the message paraphrases Philippians 1:6 this way:

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. 

God is more interested in shaping you into a trophy of His grace than target practice for lightning. (See Ephesians 2:10 again.)

The good news is that God is still smoothing the rough edges of our lives. He’s patiently breaking off everything that doesn’t look like Jesus. He is relentlessly refashioning us by his grace and in his mercy. 

God’s discipline is measured. His perfect love is measureless. 

This is a point worth pondering. Begin. 

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I will enjoy the truths that God disciplines me in due measure and loves me without measure. 

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Our Father, I return to the Potter’s Workshop and ask you to keep working on me. Mold me. Shape me. Fill me. Use me. Amen. 

A Note: I use the dictation app Wispr Flow to write these devotionals. This is a wonderful tool. However, it has not yet learned to use a capital G or a lowercase g when referring to God. Sometimes it gets it right. Sometimes it does not. I tell you this only because I don’t want you to think I’m psychotic. I’m confident the app will learn after repeated use. Until then, smile and know that I am not that great of a grammar and syntax failure.