OUR DAILY BREAD : THE POWER OF PATIENCE

[cimi]

September 25
Thursday


THE POWER
OF PATIENCE

READ:
Galatians 5:16-24
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The fruit of the Spirit
is... longsuffering.
__Galatians 5:22
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We've all heard the prayer: "Lord, make me more patient__and do it now!"

Why is it that patience evaporates when we are late for a critical engagement and are caught in a traffic jam? Or we rush to the "10 items or less" line at the store, only to find someone in front of us with 16 items!

Being forced to wait ratchets up the stress and shortens our fuse. When that happens, we not only fail to be patient but we undercut the Spirit's work in our lives.

Patience is not just a virtue, it's a fruit of the Spirit (Ga. 5:22)__which means that demonstrations of impatience reveal the sour fruit of our fallen hearts rather than the sweetness of Jesus in our lives. Since God is a patient God, when we abandon patience we miss the opportunity to show our world the glory of God through our lives.

Bursts of impatience only demonstrate that we are more concerned with our own agendas than the needs and struggles of others. So let's all take a deep breath and turn our focus away from ourselves by patiently loving others instead of ourselves in the midst of stress.

Patience gives us the privilege of sharing the refreshing fruit of God with others. __Joe stowell
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```````````````````Our wrath uncurbed will not fulfill```````````````
```````````````````````God's perfect plan for us;`````````````````
````````````````````We must be patient and refuse```````````````
```````````````````To fret, to fume, to fuss. __Sper``````````````
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Be patient. Show your world what God is really like.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Galatians 5:16-24**********

16 I say then: Walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusts against
the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; and these
are contrary to one another,
so that you do not do the
things that you wish. 18 But
if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the
flesh are evident, which are:
adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness,

20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred,
contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish
ambitions, dissensions,
heresies, 21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and
the like; of which I tell you
beforehand, just as I also
told you in time past, that
those who practice such
things will not inherit the
kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no
law. 24 and those who are
Christ's have crucified the
flesh with its passions and
desires.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

All believers struggle with sin. This is a truth taught in Scripture. We
have a sinful nature (the flesh) received at birth and inherited from
Adam, and a new, divine nature received at rebirth or regeneration
(John 1:13; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:9). Paul in his other letters also
spoke of this struggle (Rom. 7:14-25; eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10).
Here Paul wirtes that a believer living by the power of the Holy
Spirit will overcome the control of the flesh. __Sim Kay Tee