Patience

Another name for Patience is ‘long-suffering’, an old English word which is more picturesque than ‘patience’. This is the first of the three ‘grapes’ under the category of ‘Action’, found in our ‘Fruit of the Spirit’. These three action words are ‘patience, kindness; and goodness’, and are ways of reaching outward to others.

Patience is the will to endure and put up with others without complaining. Patience also is a quality of God, which we can appreciate, as He has been so patient with us. An example of Jesus patience with His disciples would be as He tried to get them to understand ‘faith’. He never gave up even when it seemed they just didn’t ‘get it’.

Romans 15:5 says: "Now may the God who gives the power of patient endurance…" So we know that our power to have patience comes from God, through the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:3 Paul says that hardship produces patience; and in 12:12 he says to be steadfast and patient in suffering.

In James 1:4 it states "let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." We will receive patience when we rely on God alone. Even Paul had to learn this when he reached the end of his endurance with his ‘thorn’. God told him that His (God’s) Grace was sufficient. We need no one else but God through His Holy Spirit, and when we reach the point of relying entirely on Him, patience comes.

"And he said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee;
for my strength is made perfect in weakness."
(II Corinthians 12:9)

Peace

Peace—what is peace? In the dictionary it states that the peace is an undisturbed state of mind; absence of mental conflict, serenity. A true Peace, however, can only come as a gift from God and is made possible through the death of Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:7 states this peace passes all understanding, or as it says in the Amplified Version, it "transcends all understanding".

Peace as an attitude of the heart is given to us through the Holy Spirit. It is included as a ‘grape’ in our "Fruit of the Spirit". You have probably heard the saying that "ignorance is bliss." The peace we have in Jesus is not a peace caused by ignorance. It is a peace that comes even when we know life is hard, and everything seems to be collapsing around us. God’s peace is like a tree planted near a stream, where the roots go deep to receive underground water. Then when the storms come, the wind blows, the tree stands firm, and will have green leaves even in a drought.

When Jesus was preparing to leave His disciples and return to heaven, He told them He was going to leave His peace with them. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you…" (John 14:27).

Jesus is called the "Prince of Peace" and in Luke 16:33 Jesus says "in Me you may have peace". Isaiah 26:3 states "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee." (KJV)

When I make Peace WITH God, then I will have the Peace OF God,
and I will be AT Peace.

Joy

The Joy which comes to us as a result of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ is much more than happiness. I always think of happiness or being happy as due to the happenings around us; but with joy, we can be joyful even when our heart is breaking.

Jesus said in John 15:11 that He wants His ‘joy’ to be in us; and in Nehemiah 8:10 "The Joy of the Lord is our strength."

Joy also is an ‘Attitude’ of the heart. When circumstances are tough, our happiness will cease, but we can still have joy. Our relationship with God is the foundation of our joy, it can be unending. Paul states in Philippians 4:4 (Amplified Version): "Rejoice in the Lord always (delight, gladden yourselves in Him); again I say, Rejoice!"

In I Peter 1:8 Peter says that the Joy for the Christian should be: "Without having seen Him, you love Him, though you do not (even) now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious joy!"

When we have the "Fruit of the Spirit", we will retain an attitude of Joy. Praise God!

Love

We often hear about the "fruits" of the Spirit, but did you know it is not ‘fruits’, but the "fruit" of the Spirit. The more we become like Christ, letting the Holy Spirit mold us and melt us, we will begin to demonstrate the Spirit’s ‘fruit’. This fruit comes with several manifestations; it is like a cluster of grapes, the fruit of the vine. For the next few weeks I am going to look at each ‘grape’ and how they fit to make a whole fruit, a healthy, Christ-like Child of God.

The Spirit Himself produces wonderful results in our lives as we obey Him. There are 9 qualities that are the natural product of the Holy Spirit, and these are listed in Galatians 5:22,23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self control.

As we look at each of these qualities, or ‘grapes’, that makes up the Fruit of the Spirit, we see they could be put into three categories: Attitude, Action and Application. The three under ‘Attitude’: are love, joy, and peace. Love, being the first one would make it appear to be the most important one. Even though love is an ‘attitude’, it is also an action word. Jesus is our example, as He ‘loved’. When Jesus described ‘love’ in action, He said "Greater love has no one that this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Here is what Paul had to say about love, from I Corinthians 13: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not ‘love’, I become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not ‘love’, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not ‘love,’ it profiteth me nothing." And then in verse 13 he says: "And now abideth faith, hope, and ‘love’, these three; but the greatest of these is ‘love.’

An Attribute of God is ‘Love’. And because He is God, He is "All Love" just as he is ALL of any one of His attributes. God cannot be some of anything; He is ALL of each one of His attributes. The Holy Spirit, then, is ‘All Love’ and will produce ‘love’ in God’s children. God shares some of His attributes with us, and Love is one of these. This love which God shares with us is called ‘agape’ in the Greek. It is a God-given love and other believers in Christ will recognize us by our love.

"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another."
(John 13:35)

The Little Foxes

Am I the only one, or have others noticed how it's the little things that can set off anger, cause frustrations, erode marriages?

I find I can handle big things pretty well. Perhaps because I know I need God’s presence, His guidance with me. When my husband had Cancer Surgery, I was calm. When the doctor came in and told me his findings, I was still calm. When my sister was dying of Cancer, I felt I needed to be strong, as I was now the family ‘matriarch’. But give me a few little trials, a stubbed toe, a burned meal, a leaky faucet, a bunch of ‘little foxes’ and I may fly apart.

In Song of Solomon 2:15 it says: "catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vine…" Perhaps this is what it is speaking of in this verse. Give me some big problems, I willingly take them to the Father and lay them at His feet. But the everyday little nuisances, I often think ‘I can do it myself’. Then I get stuck in the mire, or as the verse says, I have had my vine spoiled.

My Prayer: O Lord, may we not forget, You are not only the God of the big things, the storms, and the bends in the road, but You are the God of the everyday nuisances, the little frets that come on ordinary days. Forgive me, Lord, and I give You now my day with its little trials and ‘little foxes’ and lay them at Your feet. You are such a great and awesome God, yet You care for my smallest needs. Thank You, Father, You are so good. Amen