Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

THE PATTERN OF PATIENCE

This entry was posted on 04-24-2008 and is filed under uncategorized.

The fourth fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Gal. 5:22 is "patience." Are you like the person who prayed, "Lord, I need patience. Give it to me right now!"? I hope not. Only the Holy Spirit can make us patient. Our human nature does not like to wait. We live in an impatient world. To be patient means to endure, to wait on the Lord, to be long suffering or "long tempered." Some people count to 10. Just count on the Holy Spirit to help you be patient.

The Bible says, "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense" (Proverbs 19:11 NIV). When I read this verse I think of how many home problems and church problems could be alleviated if we were patient enough to overlook an offense (real or imagined). Solomon said, "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride" (Ecc. 7:8 NIV). Our Lord Jesus Christ had "unlimited patience" (1 Tim. 1:16 NIV). Think how patient He was with His disciples. Think how patient we need to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Preaching must be done "with great patience" (2 Tim. 4:2 NIV). When I think of how patient my Heavenly Father has been with me, I want to be more patient with others. Let patience have her perfect work in you.

Prayer: God of all patience, we thank You for being longsuffering with us. Now help us by Your Spirit to be patient with those who try our patience. We want the this fruit seen in our lives to Your glory. Through Christ we pray.