CONSTANT IN FAITH 1

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is "timing"
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.”
― Fulton J. Sheen



Faith is the base of our christian walk,it holds together our relationship with God,if there is anything the devil will like to destroy is your faith.That’s why the Bible teaches us to hold on to our faith that is more precious than gold.
Jude tells us to “contend for the faith”.

The fight for the faith is the fight for life,without faith it is impossible to please God,and knowing that the just shall live by his faith,this shows us that the faith is most important,if we must have a successful life that would please God.

We have come to see,its important to grow the measure of faith we have received in salvation,so the Bible teaches us to “make every effort add to our faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience..” we will be looking the word patience today and how it affects our faith walk.

It is your responsibility to make effort to add these virtues to your faith,waiting for God to add them is a wait of a life time,we must make every effort to add them to our lives,as we study and apply the word of God.

WHAT IS PATIENCE
The word patience according to the free online dictionary is defined as :
Bearing or enduring pain,difficulty,provocation or annoyance with calmness. and Capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or result:not hasty or impulsive.

The greek word translated patience in 2Peter 1:6 is Hypomone -  which means steadfastness,constancy and endurance.In the new testament it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.

By these definitions we can see why we need to add patience to our faith,because the virtue of patience in our faith gives us the ability to hold on to what we believe even in the midst of pain and trial till we see the result,it gives us the ability to hold on while waiting for the outcome of our prayers and desires.

HOW IS PATIENCE DEVELOPED
You don’t receive patience by the laying on of hands,you make effort in developing patience.Knowing the following;

• Patience is one of the fruit of the Holy spirit: Galatians 5:22 – In the book of Galatians 5:22,the bible says “but the fruit of the Spirit” here it is talking about the regenerated spirit,the born again spirit – when you accept Jesus as your lord and saviour,the holy spirit does the work of recreation in you by the word of God that you received,then you become born again,a new man.

That’s why the bible says “any man in christ is a new creature,the old things are passed away and everything becomes new”,you are reborn,recreated.

To be recreated means to be reborn,to be born of God,scriptures says we have been born of God,not of the flesh but of the spirit,so the minute you accept Christ as your personal saviour your spirit is recreated,reborn,then you become another man entirely different from what you were.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again,he asked how can a man be born again,does he have to go back into his mothers womb?,that’s practically impossible.Jesus begins to explain to him what it means to be born again;
 “ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus could not understand the idea because it doesn’t make sense physically,so Jesus explains to him that this is a spiritual event not physical.”that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit”,but you must be born of the water and the spirit,water speaks of the word of God and the Spirit there is the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:26. Two major agents for salvation,without the hearing of the word,salvation is not possible and the holy spirit uses that word to finish the process of recreation.

But Nicodemus in his curiosity asked Jesus how then can I be born again,Jesus in speaking to him finally said “whosoever believes in the son of man,shall not perish but receive eternal life” John 3:15; that’s the key,whosoever believes; so you become born again when you believe and accept Jesus.

So the fruit of the born again spirit is patience,in other words I have patience as a potential already in my new life,it shouldn’t be a struggle,all I need to do is exercise it and put it to work.

Some born again christians who still struggle in the area of patience are those who are still living in the old self,and not in the new self,that’s why Paul in Colossians say “put on the new man that is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him”Colossians 3:10; In other words your recreated spirit only gets better and not old like your natural self,as you get to know christ,as you walk in the word of God.

Also Ephesians 4:24 explains further by saying “put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and Holiness” the new man is created to be like God,his resemblance in every way,so if God is a God of patience,you also have the ability to walk in patience.So patience is already in you,stop praying and fasting for it,just start walking in it and exercising it.

TO BE CONTINUED..