Patience

Patience is not the easiest virtue to attain or master, maybe even the most difficult. To make our psyche wait for something, even if it be from Our Heavenly Father, is a frustrating challenge. If we are in search of the peace and joy of the relationship with the Holy Spirit then we must learn to wait for our life to unfold as He would have it.

Mt 6:8 ( for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.)

This is where the rubber meets the road in our journey and life time relationship with our creator. Patience and faith must be part of our game strategy as we live out our share of the time that we are allotted on this earth. I believe that my life has gone according to a Divine plan, not a plan that rewarded me as a deserving servant of God, rather a plan that could turn sour if there was not a resonance with a general direction that was true to an instilled knowledge.

Waiting for our life to unfold I don't think is supposed to be a time of idleness, rather a time of seeking and being aware of opportunities to serve in what ever capacities become available. We must take ownership of our life and live according to the direction that we feel drawn by the Lord. This would obviously be an unselfish direction in which we would be making our world in tune with our belief and the Truth as unveiled to us by the Holy Spirit.

Ga 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Lu 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

This verse has always bothered me, seeming to be a harsh thing for my Jesus to be saying, but it gets even more bothersome if we try to take the tiller from the Lord and steer our own course.

Mt 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Lu 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

We must continue on once we have put our hand on the plow. Growing old is especially a time when impatience can be a stumbling block. We must persevere as best we can, remembering that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.

Ec. 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Perseverance might be a better title for this article because that is the discipline necessary to be patient. To me it is obvious that I will never be fit for the Kingdom of God no matter what I attempt to do, I can only accept the wonderful gifts of God, and live one day at a time trying to serve as best I can with the understanding which will come if I patiently persevere along the path of my journey.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

I do want to say that I also love the statement in the Book of James about Faith and Works being together

Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Life is good!

Wisdom

Knowledge is something that you can pursue and attain, wisdom is not something that you have after a pursuit, or study. It is something that you acquire as you travel through life. Older folks are supposed to have it, but I don't think that this is always the case. It appears to me that if you have not ventured out in life and taken risks then you probably have missed the experiences of failure and success that teaches wisdom. Jesus taught about taking risks, when he told the parable about the servant that buried his masters property instead of investing it.. Wisdom would pertain to values and priorities as you live your life. I suppose wisdom might be the sum of the other virtues as they add up in your life, it seems to me that humbleness travels with wisdom. You can never be done growing in wisdom. As I turn to write on the virtue of wisdom I find it very elusive. It is almost like the harder I try to put my finger on what is true wisdom, the more it evades my grasp. In the book of James we are told that all we have to do is ask for wisdom and it shall be given. ..


Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.


This statement in the book of James might be taken with a word of caution as some say "Be careful what you pray for!" This gift of Wisdom may be encapsuled in a life changing experience.
One of my Sunday School memories is how King Solomon could have had any gift from God and instead of asking for riches he asked for wisdom..
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1Ki 3:9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people
1Ki 3:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
1Ki 3:13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days


So maybe I am making my quest to find wisdom too complicated, maybe seeking the kingdom of God will bring me to wisdom. I don't mean to the extent of King Solomon, I mean just enough to stay out of trouble.


In the book of Psalms it is pretty clear that to have a hallowed awe inspired respect for God is the beginning of wisdom.


Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

Evidently empathy and understanding must go along with humbleness in having a common tie to wisdom.
I believe that Solomon was coming to a point of understanding as he wrote the last few words of the book of Ecclesiastes.


Ec 12:13 ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Humility

Pride is a wonderful thing when it is a feeling brought on by an act of God, such as the pride felt by the new parent as they admire their newborn with a feeling of wonder and awe. As they worship the Lord in their thoughts as they view the tiny hands and features of the new person that has been created through them. This sense of pride will be relived many times as they watch their child grow and achieve, this sense of pride will be accompanied with a humbleness as it realized that it is all a gift given by the Grace of God.This is a pride of humility, not of arrogance, such as referred to in the book of Proverbs!

Pr 8:13 The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate.
Pr 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame; But with the lowly is wisdom.
Pr 13:10 By pride cometh only contention; But with the well-advised is wisdom.
Pr 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his pride; But the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Pr 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pr 21:24 The proud and haughty man, scoffer is his name; He worketh in the arrogance of pride.
Pr 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.
(ASV)

So here is another simple rule of living, arrogant pride that we use to elevate ourselves to a higher position than our fellow men is sinful and will separate us from God.
Jesus referred to this problem of pride, during teaching in the fourteenth chapter of Luke,
Lu 14:11 For everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Jesus said in Mt 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mr 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve; and he saith unto them, If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Mt 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The call to humbleness is all through the bible, another good example is in the fourth chapter of James,
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.
Jas 4:13 Come now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain:
Jas 4:14 whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. What is your life? For ye are a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall both live, and do this or that.

I believe that the wisdom of proper living is that if we don't learn to live with an attitude of humbleness, we will be humbled!

Attitude

I pray often to have the right values, priorities, attitudes, patience, understanding, wisdom, compassion, unselfishness, humbleness, and empathy. I know that I have had shortcomings in all of these virtues and I know that satisfaction, happiness, and peace of mind all keep company in this neighborhood of thought.

To find the path to this neighborhood of thought we must first employ the right attitude. We need to find a vehicle to move us through every avenue of experience and avoid temptation to detour to the negative side of thought.

Abraham Lincoln in his wisdom is credited with this quotation "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

There is no switch to just flip on for the joy of a good attitude, if we are suffering from depression it is more important and yet harder to attain a positive attitude.

However we will have an attitude of some value whether it be positive or negative during every wakened minute of our existence, for this we can be assured. I can only speak to this from my own life history, but I know that if I find myself in conflicting thoughts about my current life situation at any particular time, I will soon begin beating my self up over decisions, and actions that haunt me from my past. My cure for this swing to negativity and depressed feelings is to count my blessings and recite or read positive scripture or devotional material, such as "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31.

We have to be on guard at all times and not dwell on ourselves but find needs in our surroundings that we can attend to according to our own limitations. It does not have to be a large commitment just as long as it is something to get our minds off our own worries. Once we have found a vehicle to move us into an area of helping others no matter how limited it may be, we can begin to explore ways to build our confidence and ability to cope with every day problems of life.

We need to find a purpose to busy ourselves with that will make a positive difference in the world, as we know it. If we do this in the Name of God it can be like a mustard seed, or the leaven in the bread dough, and grow within us as we seek peace of mind, and the Kingdom of God.

Our goal will be to improve our attitude to the point that we can go to bed at night satisfied with our day enough to let us give thanks to the Lord for having lived it, and to wake in the morning with enough gumption to ask the Lord for another good day, and to expect it.

Php 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."

Depression is not logical

I remember sitting there in the passenger seat, crying my eyes out while my wife drove us home from church. A grown man, four wonderful children, great wife, good job, and apparently healthy. I was emotionally drained, no appetite, no desire for any thing. I remember that whenever I would drive past a graveyard I would think how lucky the people buried in there were. Their worries were over, they had no burdens, no worries, and they were not going through what I was. Self pity to the extreme. My doctor had changed my medication after a short time on two different antidepressants, he had taken one completely away and I had gone back into serious depression in just a matter of days or maybe even hours. It was so long ago that I don't remember any thing too precise, except some of the misery. When we called and told the doctor this, he felt bad about putting me through more of what he had been trying to cure. He immediately put me back on the drug, and more time off work which gave me something more to worry about. Now this was a legitimate thing to worry about, being off work meant no income and our small savings was disappearing fast. Then my well meaning parents or others would say something negative about our situation and this would just crush me emotionally.

So it came down to if I could get my emotions under control I could work and make a living, but if the environment that I was creating was unbearable, then things just got worse. The whole point that I am trying to make here is that there is no obvious reason that a person can give for feeling the way they do, when they are suffering from depression.

At this time I really needed support. My family had patience, and was there for me, but did not understand my feelings any better than I did.

I think that this was probably about the time that I started reading the Plus devotional magazine that Norman Vincent Peale was publishing. It had stories of people overcoming emotional obstacles and positive scripture on every page. I followed Dr. Peale’s suggestions about confidence building and slowly gained ground. One time when Dr. Peale was in town speaking at a motivational seminar, I laid off work and bought tickets to go. I don't recall hearing of support groups, or seeing ads about the threat of depression. I think that I was ahead of the curve on treatment available and wide understanding of my problem. I am just lucky that I wasn't so far back in time that I was subjected to being locked up or undergoing shock treatment. Reading Dr. Peale’s material was my support group, and the scripture and prayer my therapy.

In the King James version of the Bible, book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 11, Paul writes to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." I think that we need this armour to deal with the difficulties of life too. It could also be looked on as a tool kit. In this tool kit would be having proper values, proper priorities, positive attitude, patience, understanding, wisdom, compassion, unselfishness, humbleness, and empathy.

So whether we have armour for protection, or tools for repair and building back our damaged character and self-esteem, this is what we must strive to find and hold onto like a life ring in the ocean. I was guided to positive scripture like "Lu 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.", " Mt 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.", "Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.", "Phil 4:7 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.", and "Ro 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" For many years keeping scripture like this in my memory in easy reach to use when needed has been my salvation.

Years later I had been told that the medicine I was on might cause heart trouble so I asked my doctor, (who was a different doctor by this time and new to me and had been writing my prescriptions based on my medical history), to consider taking me off these meds. He wanted nothing to do with taking them away from me. He said that treating depression with these types of medication was so new, that it was not understood and if the medicine was working I should leave well enough alone. This would have been in the late nineteen eighties, ten to twelve years after my start into depression. A few months later another doctor referred me to a Psychiatrist who weaned me off the medicine a small fraction at a time. It seems that if you come off all at once it messes up your body chemistry as I suggested earlier in my writing.

So this is my story that is not over yet, as I still cope with the difficulties of life wearing the armour of God, and using my tool kit.

Why Jesus Came

Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I am being called to write my thoughts about Jesus and why he came to be known by mankind. I have been neglecting this calling for some time because I felt it to be a futile hope that any one would read any thing that I would write. However the calling does not go away so I will give witness to my observations that I believe to be of Divine Truth. I will not write any thing that isn't already written in the Scriptures as far as thought goes, I may only word it different, or expound on it.

Of course the obvious is to go right to the Gospels and read the testimony of Jesus the Christ Himself. How many times had I heard, read, or discussed what is written in Mat 5:17 Jesus proclaims that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. I was sure that the meaning of this was too deep for my comprehension, until one day in church it came to me out of the blue how obvious it was what Jesus had already done to fulfil the law. He had become the sacrificial Lamb of God, the Lamb without blemish, even the Passover Lamb. He came to, once and for all time, reconcile mankind with his Creator and to teach how important reconciliation and forgiveness are for a person to have happiness. It is a pretty simple formula, forgive others, and seek forgiveness. I like to imagine what it would have been like to have been among that group of naive inquisitive men as Jesus The Christ instructed them. Every one of his parables could be used as an example of how to handle every day life. This philosophy of forgiveness is almost everywhere in what Jesus taught from the Lords Prayer on.

The Lords prayer could be an outline for some pretty extensive thought all by it self. Jesus tells us in scripture that he is sent by the Father, that He is in the Father, and that the Father is in Him, (John 10:38) and then elsewhere He shares with us how to converse with the Heavenly Father. He began by referring to God as our Father, and to His being in Heaven, He then showed reverence for even uttering His name.

"Our Father Which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name"

In spite of my realization of how wrong it is to take the Lords name in vain I still do it to this day out of a habit formed while under the influence of my own egotistical pride which is reminiscent of a bridle complete with a cruel bit in my mouth, with reins held by the evil powers which still haunt mankind to this day. It is a fact that mankind's worst enemy is his own pride and ego.

His prayer continues on to be a petition for the coming of The Kingdom of God and for His will to be done on earth.

"Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven. "

Continued petition for every day security, and then a ten word phrase that encapsulates a key to peace of mind and perhaps the Kingdom of God!

"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors."

Then further petition for guidance and protection.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"

Finally ending in praise and a declaration of the omnipotence of God the Father.

"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever. Amen"

It came to me, possibly from the Holy Spirit, one day of how much of a feeling of peace and of being refreshed I receive from watching a hot and tired animal take deep drinks of cool clean water, or watching a horse or cow eagerly graze in a plush pasture. I think that this is why Jesus referred more than once to the thirst satisfying living water of truth. ( John 7:37-38 ) among others, and when he asked Peter to feed his lambs or feed his sheep. ( John 21:15-16 ) Mortal man can understand these needs and fulfillment's of daily life. This message of how to find our place in God's world is not that complicated, we just have to persevere in our search.. Mt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Thank God For Adversity

One sermon title or theme that I happen to remember hearing during the earlier time of my recovery from depression, had to do with the blessing of adversity. I now know that my bout with depression was a blessing and could only be described as adversity. The joy that I felt as I found my way out and to the shelter of my Lord would not have been possible without first suffering the extreme anguish that was there when I was separated from God by guilt.

It's obvious that we could not appreciate comfort without first experiencing discomfort, so as to know the alternative. So adversity can come in many forms I suppose, ranging all the way from an uncomfortable inconvienence, to a life long hardship dealt to one of us seemingly at random. The American College Dictionary compares adversity to affliction or misfortune, and refers to the Bible story of Job as an example. Adversity, affliction, or misfortune whatever it is, is the best evangelist there is. Because no one would come to the Lord seeking comfort and shelter without a need created by one of these. And if that afflicted person suffering from adversity or misfortune will surrender to the Lord, he will receive the power of the Holy Spirit to have a life with meaning.

2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 15:26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
(KJV) Amen