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..

TEMPERANCE–self control 2

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
― Lao Tzu

 

 

The greatest enemy to us is not the devil but self,the greatest battle we need to fight is not that against the devil because he is already a defeated foe but it’s the battle against self,for if you can defeat yourself and put yourself under control every other thing about your life would be settled.

 

THE PRODUCT OF A SELF CONTROLLED LIFE AND A LIFE OF LACK OF SELF CONTROL.

• Moses was a man who was called by God to lead the children out of egypt,but he allowed the lack of control of anger to make him miss out from entering the promise land – God asked Moses to speak to the rock but the children of Israel vexed Moses and because he couldn’t control himself at that time,he struck the rock,and brought the anger of God on himself. Numbers 20:1-13.

Moses didn’t enter the promise land because he lost his temper and disobeyed God in the wilderness of Zin.

If we loose control we can loose something we may never get back during our life time.

Anger in itself is not sin,but when in our anger we loose control we can do things that we will regret and sin against God.Moses' lack of control kept him from the promise land.The bible says “be angry and sin not,do not let the sun go down on your wrath” Ephesians 4:26.

The bible uses two words in Ephesians 4:26 "be angry and sin not,don't let the sun go down on your wrath”.

Anger is a strong feeling of displeasure and the word translated anger here is “orgizo” meaning to provoke to anger,to arouse to anger,to bring a feeling of displeasure,that alone is not sin,but wrath on the other hand means vengeance or punishment as the consequence of anger,so wrath goes a step further to take actions on your anger that’s when it becomes sin,the word translated wrath here is “parorgismos” meaning indignation,exasperation,when anger grows to wrath its sin.

Proverbs 16:32 declares “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty;and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” this tells you that self control is much better than been a warrior,a warrior that cannot control himself is certainly going to fall,samson is a clear example of a warrior who could not control his lust and he lost his glory.

• David a king that could not control his lust for sex – 2Samuel 11-12.

This is a very profound story,when kings were supposed to go to war King David stayed back and sent his men to go for battle,David was at the wrong place at the wrong time,he was supposed to be at the battle field and not at home,we must understand timing,we should be at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

This was a sign of laxity,woe unto him that is at ease in zion,the bible teaches us to be sober and watchful,be at alert for our adversary the Devil moves around like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour,the period of laxity is the period of vulnerabilty,and now satan knew when to strike,David was alone and just woke up from sleep in the cool of the evening,the time,the place and the settings.

The common english bible said “David woke up from sleep on his couch,and he was pacing back and forth on the roof of the palace,from the roof he saw a woman bathing and she was beautiful and good to look upon” David was pacing back and forth,the king was alone and bored,also very vulnerable and he lost control the minute he saw the woman bathing from the roof of the palace.

This tells you that then,their bathrooms had no roof,for david to have seen her that much and of course the kings palace was huge,he sent for her and he had sex with her.The king lost control of himself and also used the control as king to get her to sleep with him,even when he knew she was married,who is she to say no to the king?

David had committed sin against God and against Urial the husband of the woman David slept with Bathsheba.David in his bid to cover the sin from the man Urial asked Joab to put Urial in the hottest part of the battle,where Urial was killed,this was a king out of control,one sin leading to another sin,now God who sees everything was angry,David thought his sin was covered,yes from man but not from God,how sometimes we commit a sin and try to cover it from man,but we cannot cover it from God,he will expose it in time.

Because of lack of self control David incurred the wrath of God.But was forgiven after he cried in repentance for mercy,but the son that was born from the Adultery was killed by God and also Rebellion was birth as a result of the sin,God had to judge the sin,there was no record of David indulging in that sin again.

• Joseph a man called the dreamer,who was hated by his brothers because of the dreams that God gave him,he was sold and traded to a rich man in egypt called portiphar,pharoahs chief officer and a commander of the royal guard,a man of influence in egypt,we will see how Potiphar's wife had eyes on Joseph and asked Joseph to have sex with her – Genesis 39.

Joseph had grown to become a successful man,even in egypt as a slave to Portiphar and knowing that God was with Joseph,he made him, head over his household,Joseph was his direct personal assistant,and God blessed portiphar because of Joseph.The bible records that Joseph was well built a very handsome man and good to look upon also.

Potiphar's wife had taken notice of Joseph and got attracted to him,she wanted him to have sex with her, “sleep with me Joseph,she said” but Joseph been a man who feared God and had respect for his master refused,to sleep with her,saying “how can I commit this great sin before God” it would have been a good opportunity for Joseph to have fun,at least there was no record of him having sex before now.

She continually stressed Joseph with the request to sleep with her and am sure she made him promises,but Joseph continually refused,then she nursed a plan against him,on a particular day,she sent all the other servants away,such that Joseph was left alone in the house with her,she tried to force herself on Joseph but Joseph struggled his way out of her hold,but she had his garment with her,he ran off almost naked.

On the return of portiphar,she accused Joseph of trying to rape her,this was what led to Joseph been imprisoned,imagine if Joseph had slept with Potiphar's wife,he probably would have missed out of Gods purpose for his life.He put himself under control and he kept his eyes on where he was going,I wonder what you would do,if you were in Josephs shoes?

• Achans lust for material things cost him the wiping out of his lineage – Joshua 7:1-12,19-26

Achan took what belongs to God for himself,what was reserved for God,out of his lust for material things,this brought the anger of God on the children of Israel,that they were defeated in their battles.Joshua inquired of God why and God told him there was sin in the camp,Achan was searched out and discovered that he took a sacred thing,what belong to God,though he asked for mercy but the sin had to be dealt with and the camp cleansed.

How sometimes we toil with sacred things,that belongs to God,we attract Gods judgement on ourselves,because Achan could not control his lust, he and all that he had and all that was with him was stoned to death as judgement for his sin.God will always Judge the sin,the fact that you are forgiven does not mean that the sin will not be judged.

• Even Jesus was tempted by the devil,Jesus just ended his fast and the bible says he was hungry,satan showed up and tempted him but Jesus defeated the devil with the word of God still,though he was hungry,he didn’t allow his hunger to make him fall for the devil,he stood his ground,he had control over his stomach “Man shall not live by bread alone but by the words from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:1-11.

To be successful in our walk with God we must like Paul put ourselves under,discipline ourselves constantly,so that we will not be a cast away,after we have preached the word to others we miss the prize,God forbid.Self control is important for success in life and in our walk with God.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified 1Corinthians 9:24-27.

TEMPERANCE–self control 1

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
― Lao Tzu



The greatest enemy to us is not the devil but self,the greatest battle we need to fight is not that against the devil because he is already a defeated foe but it’s the battle against self,for if you can defeat yourself and put yourself under control every other thing about your life would be settled.

WHAT IS TEMPERANCE
Temperance according to the Webster's dictionary means self restraint in conduct,expression,indulgence of the appetites,moderation;In other words temperance simply means self control.
According to our text in 2Peter 1:6 “Add to knowledge temperance” the word temperance is translated from the greek word egkrateia meaning self control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions,especially his sensual appetites).
The word of God is complete and gives us a guide on the christian life,we are talking about how you can be fruitful in your faith walk,that we need to add certain other virtue to our faith to bring about a victorious and fruitful christian life.
We talked about virtue – which is the resolve to stand for what is right; we also talked about knowledge – which is knowing all about your christian faith,how can you defend properly what you don’t understand,now we will discuss briefly temperance which is also self control.
Temperance is last in the list of the fruit of the spirit not because its least in importance but because it binds all the rest together.Temperance is a word which covers the whole field of emotions and passions,control of spirit,body and mind.It has to do with enemies within the lust and passions which war against the soul.A whole army storming on the outside,is less than a single enemy within the walls which gives over the key to attacking forces.
Temperance is vital for success in life,whether in the faith walk,in business,in marriage,in career,without temperance or self control we will certainly not be able to achieve our goals,because we constantly have to fight with self in our journey of life and the faith.
Man has learned to control nature around it,now we can even put the weather under control,we can make rain fall,we can now tame animals such that even dangerous animals like lions and tigers and bears are under the control of man,we can now control the spread of fire,we have fire fighters but man has not been able to control himself.
A fire out of control destroys everything in its path,but a person out of control is even more worse – our world is destroyed,relationships are destroyed,everything noble right and true is destroyed.We must master the art of self control,bringing ourselves under.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT A MAN WITHOUT SELF CONTROL

1. A man without self control is like a city broken into and is without walls – this simply means that a man without self control is without defense,without a covering.If he is broken into and without walls it means he is open to attacks and is exposed to the enemy.Proverbs 25:28.The king James uses the word rule,control,restraint over himself.
2. The man that exercises self control is the man that will certainly win the prize – Know that the christian walk is a race for an eternal prize and anyone that will excel must have self control,without it success is not guaranteed.To be a success in the race just like the athlete you must apply self control in all things,you must apply restraint.1Corinthians 9:24-27.
3. Self control is vital for achieving your goals in life – Athletes exercises self control in all things,to be great at the race or any other sport you must bring your body under subjection.You must give yourself to consistent practice,you must have eating some meals,you must avoid some persons and so on,all this is part of putting your body under control,if you must succeed.A man with self control has goals and does everything to run towards those goals and disciplines his body so as to achieve them.
4. Self control is a product of grace – The grace of God that has appeared bringing salvation to all people,training us to live self controlled lives.The christian life is not that of struggle,living a life of self control becomes easy when we walk in the grace that we have received through Christ Jesus,the day we became born again.The grace of God makes it easy for us to live a life of restraint. Titus 2:11-14.
5. The Spirit that we have received from God is the spirit of power,love and self control – 2Timothy 1:7. We have the ability to live a life of restraint and have a successful christian life.