Patience Is a Virtue

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things! (Galations 5:22,23  NLT)

   I was thinking about a topic for today’s post, and I had asked the Lord for His help.  I prayed and waited in silence for Him to answer.  Evidently, I hadn’t waited long enough before I began to ask when He was going to give me  a topic.   And then, yes after I began to complain, the thought “just came to me.”  Why not write about patience?  Gee, I wonder where that thought came from.  My mind was instantly filled with good examples of my frequent lack of patience.   I can’t claim that I evidence all the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23, but it seems that my weakest just might be patience.

   In today’s world of fast food, microwaves, AI that summarizes things for us, mini-sermons, and Amazon (Why wait, when Amazon will deliver it today.).  I’m not even patient enough to take enough time when I print by hand so that I can read it later.  Are you patient in traffic?  I’m not.   Are you patient in the grocery store?   I’m not.  Are you patient at the DMV?  I’m not.  I have a sneaky question.  Are you paying a little extra for high speed internet so you can download a file a little faster?  I’m not, but then I’ve been known to verbally encourage my computer to speed up when I’m downloading something. 

   But what bothers me most is that I show my impatience to my God.  God, who is the master of correct timing, has to listen to me complain that He doesn’t do things according to my timetable.  If patience were not important to God, He would not have had it listed in the fruit of the Spirit.  He knows that we tend to miss a few things, no, a LOT of things when we aren’t patient.  He knows that we need to learn some things before we jump into an action.  My wife and I did that a number of years ago when we jumped into a ministry before we were adequately prepared to do so.  I think we run past blessings that God has for us because we are too impatient to wait for His timing.  The hurry-up, impatient type of lifestyle we live today keeps us too busy to receive many of God’s blessings that we can enjoy just by “slowing down and smelling the roses.”  

   Patience is, indeed, a virtue, and I apologize to my Lord for allowing my impatience to interfere with what He has for me.

How Much Do I Honor God?

“So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV)

I have an exercise for you today.  No, not that kind of exercise.  I just have a list of questions for you to answer honestly to yourself.

 

 

I hope and trust that you were honest with yourself.  Now, discuss your answers with God.  It’s okay; He will forgive you.  He has forgiven me.  And He will encourage you.  He has encouraged me.

 

Privilege and Responsibiity

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.  Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.   And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:19,20  NIV)

   The responsibility is to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey what He taught us.  His promise is that He will always be with us.  We have the privilege of having Jesus with us every second of every hour or every day.  His presence is a joy that brings me peace when I take time to stop and listen to Him.   It is my responsibility to take the time to listen until I hear.  Sometimes it takes a while until I hear, and sometimes He asks me to just sit still in His presence and experience the grandeur of Him.  When I do that, I become empowered to be a spreader of His peace, joy, and encouragement.  

   Having the attention of the creator of the universe, listening to every word that I speak to Him is one of my privileges.  Isn’t it special when a loved one listens intently to what you say, and don’t you feel appreciated when a group gets quiet and looks to you when you speak?  Listening intently is a mark of respect, and the creator of the universe, the Savior of all mankind does that for me.  That’s how much He loves me, and that shows just how important I am to Him.  Isn’t it then my responsibility to listen intently for Him to speak?

   I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to read what I write, and when they say they like it or comment on it, I am delighted.  It is my privilege to read the book that God has written through many writers over many centuries.  This book, the Bible, contains vital information that God wants me to know.  Reading it is my privilege, and my responsibility is to read it carefully, slowly, and with both my heart and my mind open to what God has said for my growth in Him.

   By reading His Word, I realize other responsibilities He has given me.  “Love your neighbor as yourself” is what God tells me in Mathew 22:39 (NIV).  In case I don’t quite understand the command in Matthew 22:39, Jesus speaks in Luke 6:31 (NIV), and tells me, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  One of Solomon’s proverbs, Proverbs 19:17 (NIV) names the privilege and responsibility in the same verse: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”  Isn’t that remarkable that God says that we lend to Him when we help the poor.   There’s a responsibility that I can satisfy just about every day.  

   Jesus lists the greatest commandment in Mathew 22:37 (NIV):  “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind….”  That’s our number one responsibility, and in return for fulfilling that responsibility we receive eternal salvation, a life together with Him forever.  We can do that only if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, and that’s a privilege that comes with both rewards and responsibilities.  It seems to me that the responsibilities are actually blessings in themselves.  So, love the Lord.  It’s a win win proposition—we get privileges and are given responsibilities that are actually blessings.     

Privilege and Responsibility

 “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”   (Mark 16:15 NIV)

   It is our privilege to experience the joy of salvation, and it is our responsibility to pass it on to everyone.  Salvation is not a gift to be kept hidden; it is a gift to talk about.  The greatest joy in my life is knowing that I will spend eternity with Jesus in a place that He has prepared for me.  Yes, Jesus loves me enough to prepare a place just for me, and He will prepare one for you also.  (See John 3:2,3.)

That is the greatest privilege that I have—a place prepared for me in heaven by my Savior.

    It’s not the only privilege that I received when I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord.  I received His gift of peace, His peace, not peace as the world defines it.   (See John 14:27.)  Peace seems to be one of the main desires of everyone, peace at home, peace at work, and peace between nations.  I know where to find peace in my personal life, and that’s in the arms of Jesus, in the lap of Father God, and in the counseling of the Holy Spirit.  It is my responsibility as a Christian to pass that information on to anyone who is seeking peace.

   “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 KJV)  I have the privilege of great joy, “joy of the Lord,” in fact.   When I think of my Savior, Jesus, joy enters my heart.  Joy is more than momentary happiness; it is a pervading sense that entered my heart when I received Jesus.  Guess what, it’s also my responsibility to pass the “joy of the Lord” on to all who want it.

   Jesus healed many people while He was physically here on the earth.  He still does  today through the prayers of believers and by the laying on of hands of those anointed for a healing ministry.  I know this to be true because I observed a miraculous healing of my wife fifteen years ago.  Don’t you think that it is my responsibility to pass this information along, also?

  The great commission quoted in the Scripture above lays out the responsibility of all Jesus’ followers to spread the good news about Jesus throughout all the world.   If I had a sure cure for cancer, wouldn’t I be obligated to share it with the world.  I know of a sure cure for something much worse than cancer, damnation.   Cancer can just kill the body.  At the death of the body, cancer has done all the harm it can do, but damnation, eternity in hell, starts once the body has died and it continues forever.  Then the spirit begins its constant torture that lasts forever—no breaks, just physical and mental pain for eternity.  I know the 100% effective cure for that—acceptance of Jesus as Savior and Lord.   There is no other cure.

For the Beauty of the Earth

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory in the heavens.  (Psalm 8:1 NIV)

In 1864, a young poet by the name of Folliot S. Pierpoint, in Bath, England, looked out over the countryside and was inspired to write the hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.”  What he saw marveled him, and he stopped, let his mind take in all the beauty of his surroundings, and was drawn to praise and worship of the One who created it all.   He originally wrote eight stanzas, but we will focus on just four.

   In the first verse, while speaking of earth’s beauty and the sky’s glory, he focuses on the love we have received from God since our birth.

“For the beauty of the earth,

For the glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies;

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.”

   He becomes more specific in the second verse as he mentions various sources of beauty throughout the day and night.

“For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon, and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.”

   In verses three and four he speaks of music and art; “For the joy of ear and eye.”   And he speaks of human love, another gift of God, the love of brothers and sisters, parents and children, and friends.   Verse five speaks of the church and its praise and love for our Lord.  

“For thy church, that evermore

Lifteth holy hands above,

Offering up on every shore

Her pure sacrifice of love;

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.”

In the last verse, Pierpoint expresses his love and thankfulness for the greatest gift of God.

“For thyself, best Gift Divine

To the world so freely given,

For that great, great love of thine,

Peace on earth, and joy in heaven:

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.”

This man articulates the feelings and love I have for our Lord and for his creation better than I do.  God’s creation is fantastic, for which we need to be grateful, but our greatest appreciation must be for God Himself.