Beautiful Fruit (Patience part 2)

 “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is

love [unselfish concern for others],

 joy [inner] peace,

patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting],”

(Galatians 5:22)

This time let us look at the outcome of God’s presence within us.  Whenever we see the fruit of the Spirit we see the evidence of God’s presence.  The fruit and the presence go hand in hand.

This is an online quote from www.machammond.org :

“If you are like most believers, you probably cringe when you hear the word “patience.  To most Christians, being patient means gritting your teeth and hanging on by your toenails in hopes things will eventually get better.  We think it means, hang on until the bitter end or until Jesus comes back, whatever comes first.

If you have been reluctant to ask for patience, I’ve got news for you today.  That’s not what the Bible means when it talks about being patient.  Bible patience is something very different.  In fact, I am even reluctant to even use the term patience because we ‘ve gotten such a skewed perception of what it means.  I prefer to use the term consistency.  Patience = consistency”

WOW!  I might not know much about patience but having been in the food industry for many years I know what consistency is about.  A cook can be fired if he lacks it…A restaurant can close if there are no consistency with its menu.  Consistency is important everywhere and so it is with God.  No more, no less.

At the end of our lives when we meet God face to face, we will, hopefully all be better than when we began our walk with him.  That is consistency, patience under trial…I call it.

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4 KJV)

Wanting nothing means lacking nothing.  Patience and hope are linked they both are content in life.

With patience comes a reward like in the prophets and in Job’s life

“As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  Behold, we consider them blessed who remained steadfast.  You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”  (James 5:10-11 ESV)

I have not even mentioned the cloud of witnesses found in Hebrews 11 who were not only an example of faith but also of patience.