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Bible studies |
| Dear God, Teach us what you want us to know about Longsuffering. Let us all learn something knew. Show me in your word what it is to have and produce this fruit of your Holy Spirit. In Christ’s name, Amen Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇 Video about the pruning process of trees https://youtu.be/IQhmIK-0HOc Notice the branches that try to compete with the main branch are cut off. We are to follow Jesus and to mimic him, but we are not to put ourselves in God's place and compete with him. Video about the pruning process of vines https://youtu.be/E-ltkKSxEy8 I love the fact that in the vine pruning video, the main grapevines are cross-shaped. I want to stay connected to that main vine, Jesus. What about you? Prune- reduce the extent of (something) by removing superfluous or unwanted parts. God prunes us to take out our unwanted parts so that we can produce even more spiritual fruit. This requires patience on his part as well as ours. Abide in Christ by continuing in his love. John 15:1-9 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. The song: Moment by Moment https://youtu.be/eEEpGDz_UHA 🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇 What is Longsuffering? Longsuffering-having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people. Longsuffering is also referred to as forbearance or patience. Forbearance - patient self-control; restraint and tolerance. Patience-the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Patience is making a choice to wait and not complain about it. We need to focus on good things while we wait and not be grumpy about it. Patience is the quality which keeps the believer from responding to negative situations negatively. It causes us to hold back our anger and control our emotions. It keeps us from seeking revenge because revenge belongs to God. Patience sometimes takes work. We must learn to trust God knows the perfect timing for events to happen in our lives. We must trust he has our best interests at heart even during hard times. We trust he is Sovereign and knows what he his doing because he has the best and perfect plan for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 ▼ God has a bigger and better plan for our life than we can possibly imagine. He sees the whole picture; past, present, and future. We can only see a few of the puzzle pieces, and they aren't all put together yet. We can not always see the good in waiting or enduring hardships. We want what we want, and we want it right now. Patience is asking God to align our will with his will. It is trusting, waiting, and hoping for things not seen. Our faith requires patience. The quality and quantity of patience God wants us to have can only come from him. Having patience will also produce perseverance. Perseverance - persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Romans 8:24-28 ▼ God is patient. I love studying these fruits of the Spirit because they are personality traits of Almighty God. Longsuffering is patience. Do we see God as patient? Our God is a patient God. 2 Peter 3:9 ▼ Bearing Spiritual fruit is the result of the Holy Spirit working in the Christian. Spiritual fruit is the result of a process. It is God reshaping us into his image. Being slow to anger takes patience. Psalms 103:8-18 ▼ Patience, both ours and God's, leads other people to Christ in repentance. Romans 2:4 ▼ God is the potter, and we are his clay. Romans 9:21-24 ▼ God's patience leads us to Salvation. 2 Peter 3:15a ▼ Revenge Belongs To God! Romans 12:17-21 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Remember, love and peace are also fruits of the Spirit? Love suffers, endures, and bears all things. Love keeps the peace. Peace and love require patience. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ▼ Patience is enduring consequences of other people's wrong doings while holding back our temper. It is self-restraint. It does not hastily retaliate for wrongdoing. It enables you to suffer joyfully. Patience requires Endurance. Patience is used in showing mercy. No mercy is shown where no mercy is given. We must forgive to be forgiven. This by itself makes patience a precious thing to have. We must exercise forgiveness. Forgiveness requires patience. Mercy-compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. 1 Timothy 1:16 ▼ Matthew 18:21-35 ▼ Enduring Trials and Tribulations James 1:2-4 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Romans 5:1-5 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. This is what develops patience in us, enduring trials and tribulations. My mother used to tell me all the time, “If you don't want trials and tribulations, don't ask God for patience!” The truth is, no one likes to suffer. No one wants to hurt. No want likes to have to wait. This is why this is viewed so negatively. What if we thought about this a little differently though? These verses in James 1, if you look at them closely, are not written in a negative light. It first says to count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Hmmm! That's the opposite of what we have been thought, isn't it? The trying of your faith worketh patience. Yes, it does, but the whole thought doesn't end there. But let patience have her perfect work. What is patience’s perfect work? It is that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Do you want to be and feel complete? You need patience for that. 😇 In Romans 5, we see patience leads to hope and peace. First we are told to rejoice in hope and in tribulations. With our hope in Jesus and the greater joy set before us, we can endure with patience anything we have to face. We hope and stand on the promises of God's Word. Notice also the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Patience helps produce God's perfect love. (How will you know what to hope in if you do not spend time getting to know and understand what the Bible says?) Romans 15:4-6 ▼ God is also a God of hope. Romans 15:13 ▼ We know that when training for running a marathon, athletes have to go through some endurance training. If they did not train to endure the race, they would faint and not be able to continue. They would not have the stamina to keep moving towards the finish line. In the same way, God trains us to have patience so we can endure hardships. He wants us to be a complete masterpiece that looks just like him. He wants to take out all the bad stuff and junk and fill us with everything good. Jesus even set a good example for us. Hebrews 12:1-3 ▼ We have all been at a place where we feel so tired and exhausted and all we want to do is rest and unwind. We just want to be alone. Then we get that phone call or knock at the door. Our family member has an emergency situation and needs our help. Our friend needs a listening ear. Our neighbor fell down and needs our assistance. We were so tired, we made a mess. The possible situations are endless. Jesus and his disciples found themselves in this kind of situation in chapter 6 of Mark. His disciples needed rest. The crowds kept coming to them. They were tired from all these good deeds they were doing. (Oh yeah, we have been there before.) They just wanted to get away for some quiet time in a desert place, but someone overheard where they were going. So guess what? When they got to their “quiet and secluded” desert place, a crowd was already there waiting for them. Mark 6:30-34 ▼ Even though they were tired, Jesus had compassion on them. He taught them many things and fed them before he sent them away. May we exercise patience every day as we have the compassion of Christ towards other people, especially other believers. This is what Jesus said when he was getting a bit frustrated with his disciples when they failed to cast out a demon. Matthew 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. Jesus was longsuffering. Exercising Patience We are told to be patient towards everyone and told more than once to not seek our own revenge. We are to strive to remain at peace with everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 ▼ Worry- to give way to anxiety or unease; allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles/ a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems/ mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated Worry is the opposite of peace. Exercising patience can help us to avoid unnecessary worry which leads to anxiousness. Anxiousness leads to more stress and the negative effects keep on rippling from it. We can take moments in which we need to exercise patience and look for God's divine opportunity in them. We need to recognize God's Sovereignty and try to see what he might have for us at that moment. God's timing is not only perfect, it's precise. He has a reason for making us wait. Galatians 6:9-10 ▼ You can use traffic jams as opportunities to pray. A long check out line could be an opportunity to connect and engage with a stranger. If you are running a little late to work, maybe God is preventing an accident or tragedy. God has a way of putting us at the right place at the right time. Look for opportunities to help others and share your testimony. Matthew 6:25-34 ▼ Wait Upon the Lord Isaiah 40:28-31 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. God is patient with us. Is it too much for him to ask for us to be patient with him? We know God is faithful and will always keep his promises. Be patient. God will always be there to help you and strengthen you when you need it. psalms 27:14 ▼ When we are teaching a baby to walk. We will hold them by both hands so they learn how to put one foot in front of the other. Once they are ready, we slowly begin to let go of their hands to encourage them to do it on their own. Yes, they will fall a few times, but as they keep trying, their legs get stronger and stronger until they are eventually able to walk on their own. We do the same thing when we are training a child to ride a bike. We give them training wheels and push them around until they get the hang of pedaling. Then we let them ride around with the training wheels until they are ready to learn balance. We remove the training wheels and they are off to ride their bike on their own. Until they learn to balance the bike, they may get some bumps, scrapes, and bruises, but they will be okay. In the end, they will have learned a valuable skill worth any struggle, pain, or inconvenience in the end. In the same way, God brings to situations lovingly by the hand. Then he sends us through them sometimes on our own so we can learn to be patient and gain qualities very worthwhile in the end. Me may get bruises and banged up a little, but in the end we are better for having had the experience. Psalms 37:7-11 ▼ By the way, Jesus thought you were worth the pain, suffering, and death on the cross. Your soul is valuable. You are valuable and precious to God. You were purchased at a very high price! It cost him a lot to redeem you. Scriptures about waiting on the Lord https://jimmiekepler.com/2018/12/20/twenty-bible-verses-that-advise-us-to-wait-u... God's chisel by the Skit Guys. https://youtu.be/3QCkBL2DfVg Resources ▼ Jesus is my permanent anchor!   |
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