Patience (Part 4)

So, my beloved friends, with all that you have to look forward to, may you be eager to be found living pure lives when you come into his presence, without blemish and filled with peace. And keep in mind that our Lord’s extraordinary patience simply means more opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. 2 Peter 3:14-15 (TPT)

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him. 2 Peter 3:14-15 (NLT)

**Waiting is one of the worst aspects of serious illness. We wait to hear the biopsy report. We wait to get the test results. We wait for the doctor’s call. Those waiting days each can seem like a thousand years. So why do we hate waiting so much? When we wait for others, it puts us at their mercy. They are controlling our schedules, our pace of life and our agendas. Things are out of our hands.

Let’s be honest: most of us do not like to be at the mercy of someone or something else. Waiting goes against our very nature as any parent knows who has taken a long car ride with a small, are-we-there-yet child. But waiting can draw us closer to the Lord better than just about anything else.

When you’re waiting. Don’t give up. Give in…to God. Go ahead and put yourself at His mercy. That’s where we already are anyway. We might as well admit it, because when we do, we can start to experience the transforming power waiting can have on our character. It’s not the waiting that changes us, it’s how we respond to it. Try these “waiting’ responses.

I’m not waiting on test results. I’m learning to depend more on God. I’m not waiting for a doctor’s call. I’m learning to be patient as God is with me. I’m not waiting to be cured. I’m becoming more like Jesus.

Ever notice how slowly time seems to pass when we are waiting? We jump when the phone rings and worry when it doesn’t. We are irritated when medical answers don’t come quickly enough. Nobody ever says how much they enjoy waiting.

But some things are worth the wait: eight hours on a plane for a dream vacation; nine months to hold a new baby; ten years to welcome home a wayward child; a lifetime for a new heaven and earth.

Waiting is not optional. How we wait is our choice. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight. **Taken from the book—He Cares – New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs: Pray For The Cure

Selah


Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Patience (Part 3)

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Note from Romans 5:3-5 and Galatians 5:22 that the fruits of the spirit, these godly characteristics, are developed in our lives when we are put in situations that we are tempted to respond in exactly the opposite way; so when unexpected interruptions get in your way take a deep breath and remember Proverbs 20:24 that God is working to provide some great fruit in your life! So, deepen your love. “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Eph. 4:2 (TLB).

And one more thought: when you learn to love the people who irritate you, you take a weapon out of Satan’s hands that he can use against you. Today pray, Lord, make me a more patient person.

You will notice that in listing the fruit of the Spirit, patience comes right after peace. Why? Because when you have peace in our heart, practically nothing can cause you to feel impatient. But these qualities are the fruit of the spirit, not the effort of the flesh. You can’t psych yourself up and say, I’m going to be patient if it kills me. If its is the genuine fruit of the spirit, you will have genuine inner peace and certain circumstances won’t bother you the way they used to. Why? Because you are depending on the Lord. Patience is a kind of faith. It says, “I trust God. I believe He is bigger than this problem. I believe He has His hand in these irritations and can use them in my life for good. Frustration says, why did this happen? Faith says, God, what do you want me to learn here? Abraham was 100 years old when his second son, Isaac was born. That’s a long time to be patient. The toughest kind of waiting occurs when you are in a rush and God is not. It’s had to be patient when you are waiting for an answer to prayer: for God to change your financial condition or your health problem or your family problem or that relative who bothers you. Being patient is both the evidence of your faith and the test of your faith. It’s at such times that God whispers “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). In other words, I’m in control, I have a better plan, I’m working things out of your good. **Taken from UCB Radio

Selah

Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Patience (Part 2)

Note again Proverbs 16:1,3,9 and consider this with Proverbs 20:24

We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer…Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed… We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:1,3,9 (NLT)

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?Proverbs 20:24 (NLT)

So why try to control outcomes?

When your heart overflows with understanding you’ll be very slow to get angry. But if you have a quick temper, your impatience will be quickly seen by all.Proverbs 14:29 (TPT)

People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.Proverbs 14:29 (NLT)

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that love is patient!

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.1 Corinthians 13:4 (NLT)

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud.1 Corinthians 13:4 (TLB)

Conversely when we are impatient, we are not loving! Filled with love practically nothing can provoke us, when anger prevails provocation is easily at hand. Patience speaks to being vulnerable with each other, just as the Lord made allowance for us.

With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience…But instead be kind and affectionate toward one another. Has God graciously forgiven you? Then graciously forgive one another in the depths of Christ’s love.Ephesians 4:2,32 (TPT)

Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love….Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ.Ephesians 4:2,32 (TLB)

Shalom.


Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Patience (Part 1)

Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate or endure

• delays
• problems (unwelcome or harmful situation that needs to be overcome)
• sufferings

without becoming annoyed or anxious. To be powerful is to have control and influence over people and events; producing great force. I’d rather be patient so that what the Lord wants for me will materialise than force situations because I think I have power to influence outcomes. Note Proverbs 16:1,2,9 flowing from Psalms 37:3-8.

We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives… We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:1-2,9 (NLT)

Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. Psalms 37:3-8 (NLT)

Patience rests on trust in the Lord, a character quality built on a lifetime of walking with God, through good times and bad times. Someone said, patience is faith taking its time. Patience is fundamental to the journey from dream to destiny. Patience is developed through interruptions, delays and irritations (longlines, traffic etc). Microwave mindsets are anti-patience. Let us take heed to Proverbs 19:2 and Job 14:14.

Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes. Proverbs 19:2 (NLT)

Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. Job 14:14 (NLT)

Shalom.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Stories That Melt The Heart (Love Is What You Do, Not What You Feel)

The following article was written by Marie R. Harness

Stories That Melt The Heart (Love Is What You Do, Not What You Feel)

My parents were married for 55 years. One morning, my mom was going downstairs to make dad breakfast, she had a heart attack and fell. My father picked her up as best he could and almost dragged her into the truck. At full speed, without respecting traffic lights, he drove her to the hospital.

When he arrived, unfortunately she was no longer with us.

During the funeral, my father did not speak; his gaze was lost. He hardly cried. That night, his children joined him. In an atmosphere of pain and nostalgia, we remembered beautiful anecdotes and he asked my brother, a theologian, to tell him where Mom would be at that moment. My brother began to talk about life after death and guesses as to how and where she would be.

My father listened carefully. Suddenly he asked us to take him to the cemetery.

“Dad!” we replied, “it’s 11 at night, we can’t go to the cemetery right now!”

He raised his voice, and with a glazed look he said: “Don’t argue with me, please don’t argue with the man who just lost his wife of 55 years.” There was a moment of respectful silence, we didn’t argue anymore. We went to the cemetery. With a flashlight we reached her grave. My father sat down, prayed, and told his children: “It was 55 years… you know? No one can really talk about true love if haven’t done life with a person.” He paused and wiped his face.

“She and I, we were together in the good and in the bad.” he continued. “When I changed jobs, we packed up when we sold the house and moved. We shared the joy of seeing our children become parents, together we mourned the departure of loved ones, we prayed together in the waiting room of some hospitals, we supported each other in pain, we hugged one another each day, and we forgave mistakes.”

And then he paused and added, “Children, that’s all gone and I’m happy tonight. Do you know why I’m happy? Because she left before me. She didn’t have to go through the agony and pain of burying me, of being left alone after my departure. I will be the one to go through that, and I thank God for that. I love her so much that I wouldn’t have liked her to suffer…”

When my father finished speaking, my brothers and I had tears streaming down our faces. We hugged him and he comforted us, “It’s okay. We can go home. It’s been a good day.”

That night I understood what true love is. It is more than just romanticism and sex, it’s two people who stand beside one another, who are committed to one another … through all the good and bad that life throws at you.

Peace in your hearts.

— Marie R. Harness

Shalom.

Pastor Afolabi Oladele

What Is The Evidence of Love?—Galatians 5:13

This question we asked in the last posting, do I show your love to God by service or by intimacy with Him, sitting at His feet?

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Galatians 5:13

Feeding from Galatians 5:13 we come away with the truth that love is what you do and not what you feel. So how do you express love—by the things that we do that demonstrate care. Just as the:

• the 3 laws of real estate are “location, location, location;”
• the 3 laws of relationships are observation, observation, observation.

The people who give us life are those:

1. who notice us,
2. who know what we love, what we fear and what we need.

When we truly notice someone, our love for them grows, and when we work to truly observe another in self-forgetfulness, our own soul flourishes.

Mother Theresa said ‘if you cannot do great things, do small things with great love; and if you cannot do them with great love, do the small things with little love. If you cannot do them with little love, do them anyway’. Great advice to practice. Shalom.



Pastor Afolabi Oladele