Patience and Perseverance

Patience and perseverance are much needed virtues but they seem to be sadly lacking in our modern world. The fast pace of our lives today doesn’t help us to cultivate patience. Paul, the apostle, tells us that tribulation produces perseverance (patience) and perseverance character and character, hope. Romans 5:3. Children are born completely lacking patience. Wise parents try to teach their little ones that they cannot have everything they want immediatly. True Christians, God’s children, need to remember that they cannot always have what they want.

God always answers the prayers of the righteous but sometimes he says, “Not in the way you think is right but in my way.” We must wait for God to work his will in our lives. Impatience may sometimes cause us to doubt God but we should be wise and remember that “(God) who works in you both to will and to work on behalf of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 James advises us, saying,  “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it, until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” James 5:7 Every farmer has learned to wait for his seed to spring up. He has to wait patiently for the first signs of growth, The Lord Jesus Christ will come again to establish God’s worldwide rule and we have good reasons to believe it will be soon. In the meantime, we are to continue patiently in well doing. We should read our Bibles daily and believe that “whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans15:4 The Bible, the Word of God, teaches us patience for we can, as James suggested “… take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience” James 5:10.

In this impatient world of sound bites and quick reviews, we need to get back to the Bible, to “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7. Paul declares, “Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ,” 2 Thessalonians 3:5 . Those “who by patient continuance in doing good, seek for glory and honour and immortality,” Romans 2:7, will, when Jesus returns, be given eternal life and will reign with Him forever and ever.

Quotes from the NKJV. To find out more about our hope and how you can become a part of it, visit our website: www.ammanfordchristadelphians.co.uk.

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The Lord’s Prayer Banned!

The Church of England arranged for cinema goers to watch an advert containing The Lord’s Prayer. At the last minute the advert was cancelled by the Digital Cinema Media because it could “cause offence to those of differing political persuasions, as well as those of differing faiths and indeed of no faith”.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of this case the important question we must ask is ‘To whom was the prayer given originally and for whom was it meant’? To find the answers we must examine the teaching of Jesus.

The prayer appears as part of The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:9-13 and later in Jesus’ ministry in Luke 11:1-4. On both occasions the prayer was given to his disciples and not to the crowds who listened to him. Why was that? The prayer is a spiritual conversation between God, the Father “OUR FATHER who is in heaven” and HIS CHILDREN. Therefore it is intended for those who have become part of GOD’S FAMILY. How do we become part of the family of God? The apostle Paul wrote “… for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:26-28. To become a son or daughter of God we must believe in Him and His Son and accept the gospel taught in the Bible and be baptised. We should obey God’s laws and try to live Christ like lives.

Why not make this prayer your prayer and so become a child of God?

 

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*To find out more about our hope and how you can become a part of it, visit our website: www.ammanfordchristadelphians.co.uk. Our next public meeting will be held at 6pm on Sunday 29th November, in our hall, Foundry Road, Ammanford. All are welcome to attend!

 

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