SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/2/2019
10:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “Patience”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 4:2
Message of the verses: “2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,”
We continue to look at different passages that speak of patience in today’s SD. James 5:10 “As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” We will now look at early verses from the books of Jeremiah and then Isaiah which show us that when God called them to be prophets to the Southern tribes that He told them that no one would believe their messages, and I would think that this would take a great deal of patience to do what they did. Jeremiah 1:5-19
5 “Before I formed you in
the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have
appointed you a prophet to the nations." 6 Then I said, "Alas, Lord
GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth." 7 But the
LORD said to me, "Do not say, ’I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you,
you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. 8 “Do not be afraid
of them, For I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD. 9 Then the
LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me,
"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10 “See, I have appointed you
this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up and to break down,
To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant."
11The word of the LORD came to me saying,
"What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I see a rod of an
almond tree." 12 Then the LORD said
to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform
it." 13 The word of the LORD came to me a second time saying, "What
do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the
north." 14 Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north the evil will
break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 “For, behold, I am calling
all the families of the kingdoms of the north," declares the LORD;
"and they will come and they will set each one his throne at the entrance
of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against
all the cities of Judah. 16 “I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning
all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices
to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 “Now, gird up
your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be
dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. 18 “Now behold, I have
made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of
bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its
priests and to the people of the land. 19 “They will fight against you, but
they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you," declares
the LORD.”
Next
we look at Isaiah’s calling from Isaiah 6:9-12
9 He said, "Go, and
tell this people: ’Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but
do not understand.’ 10 "Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be
healed." 11 Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered,
"Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are
without people And the land is utterly desolate, 12 “The LORD has removed men
far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
In
Paul’s ministry he surely was patient, especially with the church at Corinth
and also in other places where he ministered where he was willing to endure any
hardship, affliction, ridicule, or even persecution in order to patiently serve
his Master. In the book of Acts we read
the following which happened soon before he would be arrested. “"What are you doing, weeping and breaking
my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for
the name of the Lord Jesus.’”
John
MacArthur writes “When H. M. Stanley went to Africa in 1871 to find and report
of David Livingstone, he spent several months in the missionary’s company,
carefully observing the man and his work.
Livingstone never spoke to Stanly about spiritual matters, but
Livingstone’s loving and patient compassion for the African people was beyond
Stanley’s comprehension. He could not
understand how the missionary could have such love for and patience with the
backward, pagan people among whom he had so long ministered. Livingstone literally spent himself in
untiring service for those whom he had no reason to love except for Christ’s
sake. Stanley wrote in his journal, ‘When
I saw the unwearied patience, that unflagging zeal, and those enlightened sons
of Africa, I became a Christian at his side, though he never spoke to me one
word.’”
We
mentioned in an earlier SD that there was not Greek word for humility, and the
writers of the NT had to combine two words in order to give us a Greek word for
patience, and the reason for this is seen in a quote from MacArthur’s
commentary where he writes “Aristotle said that the greatest Greek virtue was
refusal to tolerate any insult and readiness to strike back. But that is not God’s way for His
people. The patient saint accepts
whatever other people do to him. He is ‘patient
with all men’ (1 Thes. 5:14), even those who try his patience to the
limit. He is patient with those who
slander him and who question his motives for serving the Lord.
“The
patient saint accepts God’s plan for everything, without questioning or
grumbling. He does not complain when his
calling seems less glamorous than someone else’s or when the Lord sends him to
a place that is dangerous or difficult.
He remembers that God the Son left His heavenly home of love, holiness,
and glory to come to earth and be hated, rejected, spat upon, and crucified—without
once returning the evil for evil or complaining to His Father.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The only way that I can do the things that
the prophets and apostles did and of course what our Lord did is to be filled
with His Spirit, understanding that He is the One who has to work through me in
order to accomplish what He wants me to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to think about humility as we have
been looking at in Ephesians and as I have been looking at in Romans 12:3.
Verse to go along with yesterday’s
quote: “Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves bread in and
steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).
3/2/2019 11:38 AM
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