Patience Is The Essence of Maturity

Psalm 37:7
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Patience, what a concept.

God made a promise to Abram which was fulfilled 25 YEARS later! Abram and Sarai, however, were not patient and tried to do God's will themselves. To their dismay, their actions led to bitterness and resentment.

I need to work on patience. Some people or situations really irritate me, but I need to be patient with them as God is patient with me. Sometimes, I really want something to happen, but I need to wait for God's timing and not attempt to make things happen on my own. Lord, increase my patience and help me to faithfully wait for you. Please give me discernment and wisdom.

Romans 8:25
"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 12:12
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Ephesians 4:2
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Nehemiah 9:30
"For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples."

The Heart

"The spiritual life has to do with the heart of existence. This is a good word. By heart I do not mean the seat of our feelings as opposed to the seat of our thoughts; I mean the center of our being, that place where we are most ourselves, where we are most human, where we are most real." ~Henri Nouwen

What is the heart? I know it is an organ that pumps blood, and I am positive a nurse or doctor can give you a much better definition. But I am not talking about our physical heart. What is the spiritual or intangible heart?

Feelings betray, emotions are fickle, and good intentions can be manipulated. Our most inner self, the very core of our character is the heart I am talking about. Emotions, feelings, and intentions are but reactions and manifestations of the heart. But the heart itself is something more. It is our power, our light switch marked "on/off," our battery, our ink...without it we cannot move forward, we live in darkness, we are dead, we cannot be used.

Why do you think the enemy works so hard at destroying our hearts? If the enemy has a foothold on the very center of our being, he will destroy us from the inside out. This is more than a simple "guard your heart" or "give your hearts to God" message. I am saying the enemy already has, to some degree and some more than others, our hearts in bondage. We must be set free......
.........how????

Tune In

God never leaves us. God never forsakes us. The world clouds our vision so we cannot see God, and the world muffles our ears so we cannot hear God. Let go your anxiety, let go your lack of faith, let go the things of this world. Tune in to God's voice which constantly speaks this truth:

You are a son or daughter of God with whom God loves and is well pleased.