God's Patience

God's patience is not like ours.  It is unfathomable.  How many times have we turned our backs on God and worshipped foreign gods? i.e. things, fame, relationships, self, carnal desires etc... And how many times did God punish us, only to welcome us back later with open arms?

Think about that....

Although our sinful ways anger God, He always makes His mercy new and available to us when we seek His forgiveness.  No matter how badly we fail, He still desires an intimate relationship with us. Even when we are reaping the sour fruit of our wrongdoings, He still draws us back in ... with waiting and loving arms.  NOW, that's love!

The test now lies with us.  Do we practice the same kind of patience, the same kind of mercy , and the same kind of forgiving love with each other? How many times do we say to each other, "I told you not to do that", "You didn't listen to me", "Why do you keep forgetting what I say", "If you weren't so hard-headed", "You left the gas gauge on empty again! Why can't you remember to fill up on your way home?".  Sound familiar?

If a Holy God can bear with us in spite of our daily transgressions, why can't we extend to each other a larger dose of mercy, grace and acceptance?  No matter how frustrated we may become with people, the medicine is to approach them with open arms - rather than anger, silence or judgement.  A lot of times, its not even necessary to remind the person of their wrongdoings...just being a friend, a human being, a confidant is wonderful enough.

This, ladies, is a clear picture of who God is and His patience with each and everyone of us. 

Patience Builders:

• What has someone done or said in the past few weeks that really frustrated you?
• How can you communicate patience and mercy in your actions?

How Do You See Yourself?

by Joyce Meyer Do you like yourself? After years of trying to help people emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially, it was a major breakthrough when I discovered that most people really don’t like themselves. Some of them know it, while others don’t even have a clue that this is probably the root of so many other problems in their lives. God wants us to have great relationships, but self-rejection and even self-hatred are the roots of many relationship problems. In fact, I’ve found the Bible to be a book about relationships, providing valuable advice about my relationship with God, other people and even myself. How are the relationships with other people in your life? What about your relationship with God…and even with yourself? Did it ever occur to you that you have a relationship with yourself? While I’ve never given it much thought, I spend more time with myself than with anyone, and it’s vital to get along well with me. Remember, you are the one person you never get away from. We all know how agonizing it is to work day after day with someone we don’t get along with, but at least that person doesn’t come home with us at night. We can’t get away from ourselves, not even for one second, so it’s of the utmost importance that we have peace with ourselves. Many of us fall prey to self-rejection because we feel that nobody really loves us or accepts us. We figure that if nobody else loves us, then why should we love ourselves? Because we think others don’t love us, we feel that we must not be worth loving. But that’s a LIE we’ve believed for way too long! We should love ourselves—not in a selfish, self-centered way that produces a lifestyle of self-indulgence, but in a balanced, godly way that affirms God’s creation as essentially good and right. We may be flawed by unfortunate experiences we’ve gone through, but that doesn’t mean we’re worthless and good-for-nothing. We must have the kind of love for ourselves that says, “I know God loves me, so I can love what God chooses to love. I don’t love everything I do, but I accept myself because God accepts me.” We must develop the kind of mature love that says, “I know I need to change, and I want to change. In fact, I believe God is changing me daily, but during this process, I will not reject what God accepts. I’ll accept myself as I am right now, knowing that I will not always remain this way.” Many times people who reject themselves do so because they can’t see themselves as good, proper, or right. They fail to see themselves the way God sees them—as precious children He dearly loves. As you begin to see yourself through God’s eyes—someone who’s loved and cherished—your view of yourself will begin to change. You’ll begin to see yourself not as rejected, but as loved and accepted…unique and beautiful in His sight. http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/EverydayAnswers/Articles/art33.htm