BBD 08.20.08 The Patience of God
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
The Burning Bush websites have received visits from more than 150 countries.
Celebrating 10 years online since January 31, 1998.
Since June 8, 1998 the Burning Bush Devotional has been spreading the truth
of God's Word to more than 11,000 subscribers across the world.
The Burning Bush Devotional
Welcome to the 1000 new subscribers since January 1, 2008!!
08.20.08
The Patience of God
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility
from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your
souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. -
Hebrews 12:1-4.
I used Google to search for the phrase "I lost my patience" and found some
29,000 results. After I left out the word "lyrics" in my search, I still
found 22,300 mentions of the phrase. I then did a search for the phrase "I'm
sorry I lost my patience" and found only 14 mentions of that phrase. It
appears that there is a whole lot of patience being lost but not very many
people are sorry about it! Patience (NIV) or longsuffering (NKJV) is one of
the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 along with temperance
(NKJV) or self-control (NIV). So, as Christians the more control that the
Holy Spirit has of our lives should result in more patience and
self-control. The lack of patience and self-control indicates that we are
the ones on the throne in our lives and not the Lord.
Have you ever considered the patience of God? He has such great patience
with us. As the hymn says He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the
world and set Him free from the cross but He didn't. Instead Jesus "endured
the cross," "endured such hostility from sinners against Himself." Not only
does God have great patience with us as sinners (And His mercies through
Jesus are sufficient for every repentant sinner.) but he has great patience
in guiding us.
Think for a moment about Gideon in the Old Testament (Judges 6:1-7:22). God
finds Gideon hiding in an abandoned winepress, threshing wheat, but fearing
for his life. God calls him to be the one to lead Israel in delivering them
from the Midianites. From Gideon's actions we know that he continues to have
doubts about God's call and how the deliverance is to be brought about. Even
so, God is patient! He gives Gideon six reassurances as He leads Gideon to
victory over the Midianites.
God created us and He knows our frailties, our weaknesses. He knows that we
need His guidance, His reassurances. When He calls us, He is not finished
with the process. That's the beginning. He is still there to guide us when
we have our doubts. He is still there to reassure us, to point us again in
the right direction. He loves us as His children. Because He "endured the
contradiction of sinners," how much more so does He endure and have patience
with us His children.
Not sure about where or what God wants in your life? Ask Him? He will not be
angry. Would we be angry at our own children if they asked us what we
wanted? No, of course not! God is all powerful and all knowing. I think that
He can handle a question or two (or three, or four, or five.......) from His
children. Unlike us, God does have patience!
Copyright © 2008. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
Prayer Requests: Please pray for the democratic nation of Georgia that has
been attacked by Russia. Please pray for Malachi and Cody who are young boys
with cancer. Many prayer needs are posted at the Burning Bush website on the
Prayer Request page. You can also post your prayer requests there and they
will be forwarded to the Burning Bush Prayer Group (Of course, I am always
in need of prayer - please pray for me. I believe that God is speaking to me
about a change in the ministry He has given to me.).
If you enjoy the devotional please recommend it to your friends. They may
subscribe by sending a blank email to
burningbushdevo-subscribe@welovegod.org
Two videos of my sermons are posted on Godtube at:
http://www.godtube.com/Wrather
You can listen to services at my son, Clark Wrather's church (First Baptist
Church of Broken Bow, Oklahoma) live on Sunday mornings at 10:55am CST
http://www.kkbifm.com/
There is a complete devotional archive at the old Burning Bush website. Here
is the URL: http://www.theburningbush.org/33.html.
You can unsubscribe to the pure text version of the devotional by sending a
blank email to burningbushdevo-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.
You may subscribe to the html text group by sending a blank email to
burningbushhtml-subscribe@welovegod.org and you may unsubscribe by sending a
blank email to burningbushhtml-unsubscribe@welovegod.org and then respond to
the confirmation email.