1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,840 I just want to open an word of prayer this morning on the way 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,080 in this morning heard the song, that old contemporary song Open 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,440 the Eyes of my Heart, and it just really struck me. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:13,720 So let's just open an word of prayer. 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:24,480 Father God, we come to you this morning to hear from you, to 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:31,360 hear what you would have for us to be shaped and transformed by 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,600 the power of your Word working in us. 8 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,720 So we humble ourselves under the authority of Jesus Christ, and 9 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,760 we say, God, would you work in me? 10 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:10,440 In Jesus name, Amen, this morning we'll be in James 11 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,080 chapter 5. I would encourage you to go 12 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:15,240 ahead and turn there. James chapter 5 will be in 13 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:21,680 verses 7 through 11. It is found on page 1013. 14 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,640 If you happen to be using one of the Bibles there in front of 15 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:33,120 you, James 5. Now ours is an age of instance. 16 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:39,560 It all started with instant coffee way back in 1853. 17 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,640 Believe it or not, it was invented because soldiers needed 18 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,000 something when they were away at war. 19 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:58,880 Rumor is it was not good. Fast food became a category in 20 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,800 1921 when the very first White Castle opened. 21 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,240 I am proud to say I have never frequented White Castle. 22 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,840 I have never heard anything good about that place. 23 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,640 Instant noodles were invented in 1958 and by 1971 they had found 24 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:23,320 their way into a cup thanks to a company that many of us are 25 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:29,320 familiar with, Nissan. Today we have text, instant 26 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,000 messaging, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Google Chat so you can 27 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,840 quickly communicate with somebody without actually having 28 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,680 to pick up the phone and call them. 29 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,000 You can order your food online and go pick it up and avoiding 30 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,280 any lines. If you don't even feel like 31 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,080 heading out to get your food, you can just simply order 32 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,520 Grubhub or Uber Eats and they'll bring your food to you. 33 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,400 Now, it used to be that when we would order something online, we 34 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,160 could expect it to arrive in five to 10 business days. 35 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:11,880 Right now, so often if we order something, it's possible you 36 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,320 might even have it in a few hours. 37 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:19,520 It's absolutely amazing to me how this works and it blows my 38 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,680 mind. So when something you order 39 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,560 happens to take a couple weeks, I'm just astounded. 40 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:28,720 How does this happen today? That's something you order can 41 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,360 still take weeks when we can have something in hours. 42 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:40,160 So our our society has grown to be a bit impatient. 43 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,840 Delayed gratification has become a thing of the past and now 44 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,880 instant gratification is the rule. 45 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:53,080 Proverbs 1632 reads. Whoever is slow to anger is 46 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,800 better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who 47 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,680 takes a city. Patience is a virtue of the 48 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:07,560 strong, yet in our society so many are weak. 49 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:13,040 We want what we want, and we want it now. 50 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,640 However, this isn't how God works. 51 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,520 God's work is often done through a long slow cooked process 52 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,320 rather than at microwave fast speed. 53 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,640 So what is patience? The Greek word for patience is 54 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:39,600 macro thumao, Macro meaning long in thumos, meaning anger. 55 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,560 Patience is literally long of anger or long tempered. 56 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,400 You may recall how back in May in our series on Psalm 145I 57 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,680 devoted a bit of time to conveying God's character and I 58 00:04:52,680 --> 00:05:00,160 said God is slow to anger. Or literally God is long of 59 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,480 nostrils, long of nostrils. It takes a long time for God's 60 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:10,000 metaphorical nostrils to flare up, for his patience to wear 61 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,480 thin. And remember when when we talk 62 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:17,480 about God in in terms like having nostrils, this is called 63 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,160 anthropomorphic language. God does not actually have 64 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:27,280 nostrils. God doesn't have an actual body 65 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,360 save for the person of Jesus Christ. 66 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,520 So we talk about God in human terms in order to help us 67 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,840 understand who he is. So we see God's patience 68 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:42,600 demonstrated over and over again in the book of Judges. 69 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,760 God's people would sin. Sin, of course, has its 70 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,840 consequences. And so the Israelites would be 71 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:53,720 oppressed by an enemy. And when this happened, the 72 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,320 natural thing for them to do was to cry out to God for for help. 73 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:04,800 God would hear the cry of his people and he would send a 74 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:12,720 judge, a deliverer to free them. And then things would go well 75 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,840 for a while. They they would walk with God, 76 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:18,680 they would be obedient. But after a season of doing this 77 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,320 they would turn back to living in sin. 78 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:29,600 Sin yields oppression, which turned into a cry out to God and 79 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:35,480 then deliverance, and then after a while would turn back to sin. 80 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,440 And we see this cycle over and over again in the book of 81 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,920 Judges. But God is immensely patient 82 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,720 with us and is faithful to give us time to repent. 83 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,280 When we show patience, it serves as a sign that we're followers 84 00:06:56,280 --> 00:07:00,760 of God, growing to be like Him. When we demonstrate the fruit of 85 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,600 patience in our lives, we too are long of anger. 86 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,760 We're long tempered. So what exactly is patience? 87 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,480 Patience is the ability to endure difficult people and 88 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:21,680 situations without giving into anger or giving up hope. 89 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,880 Patience is the ability to endure difficult people and 90 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:32,680 difficult situations without giving into anger or giving up 91 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,840 hope. Patience isn't just giving up 92 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,760 and being inactive. Some might see it that way, but 93 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,160 that's not what's happening when God's patience is working in 94 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,760 you. Patience sees the situation in 95 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,000 front of you. It acknowledges that this isn't 96 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,960 ideal, but it doesn't allow that scenario to to bring you to 97 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,600 anger or to to cause you to give up hope. 98 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:08,200 So if you're able, would you stand as we read this morning 99 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,200 from James chapter 5, verses 7 through 11? 100 00:08:18,810 --> 00:08:21,130 Be patient. Therefore, brothers, until the 101 00:08:21,130 --> 00:08:24,850 coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the 102 00:08:24,850 --> 00:08:28,130 precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it 103 00:08:28,130 --> 00:08:30,810 receives the early and the late rains. 104 00:08:31,650 --> 00:08:36,000 You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of 105 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,960 the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one 106 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,520 another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. 107 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,680 Behold, the judge is standing at the door as an example of 108 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,560 suffering and patience. Brothers, take the prophets who 109 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:52,200 spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those 110 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,200 blessed who remains steadfast. You have heard of the 111 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,360 steadfastness of Job and you have seen the purpose of the 112 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,440 Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 113 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:12,040 You may be seated. So there are three forms of 114 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,680 patience that we're going to look at this morning. 115 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:18,680 In the first form of patience is patience in waiting for the 116 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:24,840 Lord. The first point James made in 117 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:29,080 this section was be patient until the coming of the Lord. 118 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,160 See, ever since Jesus left this world, his followers have been 119 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,320 patiently waiting for his return, believing that it could 120 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,120 be any day. We've been functioning in this 121 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,960 place for nearly 2000 years now, and that reality has always been 122 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:52,200 the church's hope. Difficult circumstances can be 123 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:58,840 navigated because we know someday Jesus will return. 124 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,160 Let me say that again. Difficult circumstances can be 125 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:10,680 navigated because we know someday Jesus will return. 126 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:16,400 Amen. The topic of of Jesus return 127 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:20,920 naturally leads us into a discussion of eschatology, the 128 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,000 study of the end times or or last things as it's often 129 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:29,760 referred to. When James said be patient until 130 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,640 the coming of the Lord, he used the Greek word parousia. 131 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:38,160 This is an important eschatological term that refers 132 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:44,680 to the second coming of Christ. But parousia means means more 133 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:49,560 than just coming. You see, parousia means 134 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,080 presence. The coming of the Lord is about 135 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,280 His presence coming to be with us. 136 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:04,880 God's presence, both spiritual and future physical presence, is 137 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,640 our comforts in the middle of difficult times. 138 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,400 Someday Jesus will come to bless his people with his presence. 139 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:18,280 And this is the great hope that appears more than 500 times in 140 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:23,360 Scripture. James then calls the readers 141 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,320 attention to the farmer. Now, I just learned something 142 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:31,400 this week. When we think of the planting 143 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,800 season, we naturally think of spring and then harvest happens 144 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,480 in the fall, right? Like this is just intuitive to 145 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,120 us. It just makes sense. 146 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,120 Well, I just learned I did not know that apparently in the 147 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,080 Middle East, that is not how it works. 148 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,320 I don't know, maybe because it's a warmer climate that probably 149 00:11:55,320 --> 00:12:00,440 is a big factor for them. No, in the Middle East they 150 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,920 actually plant in the fall and they harvest in the late spring. 151 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,440 So, so James is calling us, calling our attention to the 152 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,600 farmers. They, they plant their crop and 153 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,040 then they, then they wait through circumstances. 154 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:21,880 Of course that circumstances, depending on the rain is 155 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,480 something that is outside of the farmers control, right? 156 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,320 The farmer can't control when it's going to rain. 157 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,480 He trusts that the early fall and the late spring rains will 158 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,680 happen because without them the harvest will just be a bust, 159 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:45,440 James said to us readers. Be patient, just like the farmer 160 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,880 is patient. How is the farmer able able to 161 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,640 do this? How are we able to be patient? 162 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,480 Romans 818 says. For I consider that the 163 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,320 sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the 164 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,480 glory that is to be revealed to us. 165 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,160 The sufferings of this world are temporary. 166 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,760 A future with glorified bodies and eternally being in God's 167 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:18,960 presence far outweighs any difficulty we may experience in 168 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:24,240 this life. Think of it kind of like giving 169 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,160 birth. I've not experienced this, 170 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:32,480 obviously, but I am told that there is immense pain involved. 171 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,960 The mother is able to endure it, though, because the mother knows 172 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:42,760 that something, something great, something better, is coming on 173 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,000 the other side of this horrific pain. 174 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,840 The sure hope of Christ's return strengthens the persecuted in 175 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:59,560 the midst of the trial. So the next form of patience is 176 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,880 patience in dealing with people. Patience in dealing with people. 177 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,440 Earlier in his letter, James wrote about having joy in the 178 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,680 midst of trials. What he had in mind was 179 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,960 endurance in difficult circumstances. 180 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,120 Now, though there are similar concepts. 181 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,400 The word endurance is different from the word patience. 182 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:32,360 Endurance refers to patiently enduring, trying circumstances. 183 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,200 The word macrothemetal is used here though, and macrothemetal, 184 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:42,880 when it's used, it refers to patience in enduring, difficult 185 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,320 people rather than difficult circumstances. 186 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,200 Verse nine of our passage read Do not rumble against one 187 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:58,040 another. Being patient with people is 188 00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:59,760 hard. Amen. 189 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,800 We're all humans, we're all people. 190 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:10,840 Being patient with each other can be hard, but James May well 191 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:14,760 have had a specific demographic in mind here when he's writing. 192 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,960 That demographic seems to be the poor. 193 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,480 These were people who had suffered the darts of ridicule, 194 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,320 injustice by merchants, and the wealthy. 195 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:30,640 Life's hard when you're under a system of oppression. 196 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:34,280 But James encouraged his audience to be careful. 197 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:39,640 As some of the wealthy, maybe they're brothers and sisters in 198 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:44,320 the Lord and not necessarily part of the system that was that 199 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:51,600 was working to hold them down. Oh, it's understandable that the 200 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,960 poor would have bad feelings about the rich, who may have 201 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:01,320 simply turned their backs on the plight of the poor, James said. 202 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,600 Don't complain against your brothers and sisters in the 203 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,880 church. P Patience with them. 204 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,880 No one's well served When we adopt A spirit of complaining 205 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,200 against each other. There will be difficult people 206 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,680 in life, but nothing good is accomplished by our complaining. 207 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,560 We don't actually alleviate the problem when we complain. 208 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,080 So we've seen patience in waiting for the Lord's coming, 209 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:36,120 patience in dealing with people, and now we have patience in 210 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:39,520 trials. Patience and trials. 211 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:48,120 Verses 10 through 11 are our passage read as an example of 212 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,640 suffering in patience. Brothers, take the prophets who 213 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,400 spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those 214 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:59,520 blessed who remained steadfast. And then you have heard of the 215 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:05,680 steadfastness of Job. James expects his readers to 216 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,200 have knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, and he simply 217 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:13,079 alludes to the prophets and to Job and their examples of 218 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:17,400 personal suffering. So what was a prophet? 219 00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:22,520 A prophet was someone who was sent to correct God's people, to 220 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,800 call them to repentance, and to turn back to God. 221 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,520 Somehow, over the years, we've come to understand the prophet 222 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,920 as being someone who would tell what's going to happen in the 223 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,080 future. And sure, there are aspects of 224 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:45,280 that in the prophet's message, but that's not the primary role 225 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,400 of the prophet. The prophet's primary role was 226 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:54,560 to tell people they were sinning and to call them to return back 227 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,800 to God. No one apart from the spirits 228 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,600 working in them, no one wants to be told they're sinning. 229 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,160 They're living life wrong, right? 230 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,360 This is human nature. We want to live life on our 231 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,760 terms. Don't tell me what to do, I do 232 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,080 what I want. The prophets went around telling 233 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:21,520 people how to live their lives and so because of this they were 234 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,240 ridiculed and suffered greatly for it. 235 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,040 They demonstrated endurance as they shared their message and 236 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:33,840 trusted God to work things out and for God to be their 237 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:39,040 vindication. Let me share a few examples with 238 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,000 you and what they would have experienced. 239 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,480 Jeremiah. Jeremiah wrote two books, 240 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,560 obviously the book bearing his name, the book of Jeremiah, and 241 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:55,000 then the book immediately after that, the book of Lamentations. 242 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,960 Jeremiah is said to be the weeping prophet because he 243 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:04,480 didn't see any fruits from the work that he had been engaging 244 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,440 in. God told him to go tell the 245 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:12,040 Israelites to turn from their sins, and instead of listening 246 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:16,720 to him, they imprisoned him on multiple occasions and they 247 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:22,040 threw him in a well. He faced relentless opposition 248 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,960 from the people as he delivered God's message of repentance in 249 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:32,000 the face of coming judgments. Then there's Elijah. 250 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,520 Elijah faced serious threats from Queen Jezebel and her 251 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:43,200 sidekick husband, King Ahab. Jezebel was notorious for having 252 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,480 replaced Yahweh worship with the worship of Baal and Asherah. 253 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,480 She's also well known for violently persecuting the 254 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,840 prophets of Yahweh. In the showdown at Mount Carmel, 255 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,000 Elijah defeated all the prophets of Baal, and fire had come down 256 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,440 and consumed Elijah's sacrifice, making him the winner. 257 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,600 So he ordered all the prophets of Baal and Ashara to be killed. 258 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:14,560 Well, of course Miss Jezebel didn't take too kindly to this, 259 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:21,760 so she ordered Elijah dead. Not a good thing when someone 260 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,360 calls for your life. He escaped. 261 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,640 But this made for a very serious situation. 262 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:35,760 And even as he escapes, he wishes that he were dead. 263 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:41,840 He wants to die. That's a very significant trial, 264 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,000 Daniel. Daniel's trials are well known. 265 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,840 He lived in Babylon during the exile, and he faced all kinds of 266 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,600 pressure to compromise his faith. 267 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,280 It started with pressure to eat the King's food. 268 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,520 Then there's pressure to worship in the manner that the king says 269 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:09,160 and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or of 270 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,960 course, thrown into the fiery furnace and they survived. 271 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,680 And then there's also pressure to pray only to King 272 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:21,800 Nebuchadnezzar. But Daniel says no, I'm going to 273 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,080 continue praying to Yahweh as I have always done. 274 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:39,600 He chose to to disobey the king and to pray to Yahweh, but the 275 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,600 king and made a decree. And So what happened? 276 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:46,280 We know he was thrown into the lion's den. 277 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:53,680 He became a cat person. He was he was the cat whisperer. 278 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,920 God shut the mouths of the lions and Daniel was saved. 279 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:09,240 But of course, this would have brought tremendous stress on him 280 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,680 in the midst of this trial. But Daniel was patient and he 281 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,320 waited for the Lord to deliver him. 282 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,880 Many other stories of trial and persecution could be told of the 283 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,240 prophets. Then James explicitly said in 284 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,960 verse 11, You've heard of the steadfastness of Job. 285 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:34,080 The story of Job is one that sits couched in ancient history. 286 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,920 The book of Job is placed after the historical books in the 287 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,320 poetry section of our Canon of scripture. 288 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,920 So it's easy for us to see the account of Job as something may 289 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,920 be happening relatively late in Israel's history, just prior to 290 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:56,360 the exile. However, the reality is that the 291 00:22:56,360 --> 00:23:01,560 tale of Job happens very early in time, before the vast 292 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:07,680 majority of the book of Genesis, possibly just after the flood. 293 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:15,400 So what happened to Job? He lost his immense wealth. 294 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,760 His oxen and donkeys were stolen and some of the servants were 295 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,040 killed. Some form of fire came down from 296 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,320 heaven and burned up his sheep and their accompanying servants. 297 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,360 A band of Raiders formed three groups and took all of Job's 298 00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:34,080 camels and killed the remaining servants that were left. 299 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,440 Lastly, his children were having a party at their oldest 300 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,840 brother's house one day and a huge storm came along and 301 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:46,960 destroyed the house. And as it destroyed the house, 302 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:58,440 all of Job's family was lost. He lost everything, all his 303 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:02,120 wealth, his children, even his health. 304 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:06,520 When he ended up with sores all over his body, what was he left 305 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:14,920 with? A wife who was no support and 306 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:22,000 that was it. Not to mention his three friends 307 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000 who I don't know if I'd really call them friends. 308 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,520 They did good for a few minutes when they listened, but then 309 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:39,920 they open their mouths. Job 122 reads In all this, Job 310 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:44,200 did not sin or charge God with wrong. 311 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:55,160 Job knew that God had a plan. He was willing to accept what 312 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,160 God allowed in his life and and wait patiently for God to reveal 313 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,880 his purpose behind the suffering. 314 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:08,400 In the end, God rewarded Job's patience, faith, and trust with 315 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,880 twice as much as he had had in the beginning. 316 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:25,640 So how do we achieve patience? First of all, patience is 317 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,840 developed through trials. I, I, I don't know if you know 318 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:35,080 this or not, but you're not supposed to pray for patience. 319 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,320 Well, you can, you can pray for patience, but if you pray for 320 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,680 patience, you know what's going to happen, right? 321 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:50,280 God is going to give you many opportunities to grow in 322 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:54,120 patience. I'm a little amused myself that 323 00:25:54,360 --> 00:26:01,280 as I was preparing this message, we had some car issues. 324 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:06,480 Bought a car for my son back in May I think it was, and we knew 325 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,200 there would be some issues coming down the road, like we 326 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:14,200 didn't pay a lot of money for it so we knew some things would be 327 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:17,040 coming down the road. I've been driving it, it's a 328 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,280 stick, he's getting used to it, not quite ready to start driving 329 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,640 it yet. So I've been driving it. 330 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,960 Loving the gas mileage it gets 30 miles a gallon. 331 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,080 It's awesome since my commute distance literally tripled from 332 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,240 what it used to be. So I'm enjoying it. 333 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:36,840 Feel like I'm 20 years old again. 334 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,320 Driving around a Honda Civic with a stick, just like I did 335 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,560 when I was 20. So I knew some things were 336 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,120 coming down the road. I was almost to the beplex the 337 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:52,040 other day on my way into the office, and suddenly I start 338 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:59,440 hearing these horrible noises. So I'm just processing, thinking 339 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,680 what do I do? OK, it's driving. 340 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,640 How bad is it? Oh yeah, it's really bad. 341 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:10,040 I should pull over. Pulled over, tried looking under 342 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,920 a little bit, couldn't quite see what I suspected the problem 343 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,800 was. I was like, OK, I'm just going 344 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,000 to go home. Realized I didn't have my sermon 345 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,440 with me. I had yet to put it in the 346 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,400 cloud. I always store a copy in the 347 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,160 cloud. So I continue the rest of the 348 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,200 way here. And oh, that was not fun. 349 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:36,160 Everybody behind me was annoyed. I was giving them the 350 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,080 opportunity to grow in patients, right? 351 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:46,440 Got here, parked it, did some research online and everything 352 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:48,960 checks out. Pretty much seems to be what I 353 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,720 thought it was. Ball joints, tie rod ends. 354 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,200 It's going to be a fun time that Mister Finley and I are going to 355 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:01,760 be spending next week. But I just was amused by the 356 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,880 fact that as I'm preparing this message, this happens. 357 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:07,920 It's an inconvenience really, right? 358 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:12,360 Like that's, that's all it is. But it's an opportunity Satan 359 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:17,600 wants to take that opportunity to make you become impatient. 360 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,720 And I think I passed. I think I passed. 361 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,360 I'm pretty sure I did. I didn't stress or freak out or 362 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,080 anything. The car will get towed home this 363 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,760 afternoon, but yeah, it's just funny that this happens. 364 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,200 So we don't pray for patience because it'll give us lots of 365 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:40,000 opportunities to learn patience. But patience isn't something 366 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:46,640 that we just manufacture. We don't just will it, but there 367 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:51,520 are some steps that we can take to help ourselves to grow in 368 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:56,400 patience. First of all, trust God's timing 369 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:00,600 and promises. We can trust in God's timing and 370 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:07,200 promises, Verse 11 continued. You have heard the steadfastness 371 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,320 of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the 372 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,480 Lord is compassionate and merciful. 373 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,680 As humans, we're constantly in need of God's compassion and 374 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:23,560 mercy and need to continually be reminded of the reality of God's 375 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:25,480 grace and forgiveness in our lives. 376 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:33,160 Ecclesiastes 311 tells us God has made everything beautiful in 377 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,760 its time. Second, Peter 39 says the Lord 378 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,120 is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, 379 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:47,200 but his patience towards you. God works all things in His 380 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:53,680 timing, not ours. We can trust His timing, but we 381 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,240 also trust God's promises, remembering passages like Romans 382 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,360 828. And we know that for those who 383 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,400 love God, all things work together for good. 384 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:09,600 God's promises that He's working everything out for our good. 385 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:16,240 Even when I can't see what He's doing, I can trust and know that 386 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:23,520 He is working. Because of God's good character, 387 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,960 we can have faith in His timing and promises, and patience will 388 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,920 be a byproduct of His working in US. 389 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,680 Another key to growing our patience is to strengthen the 390 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,360 disciplines. Strengthen yourself in the 391 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,200 spiritual disciplines. Time spent with God opens our 392 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:53,080 eyes to see His working. We need to grow ourselves in the 393 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,360 spiritual disciplines. Again, we can't simply 394 00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:00,640 manufacture patients on our own, but time spent with God will 395 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:05,080 grow us in Him and increase our ability to see His working in 396 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,360 our lives. There are a number of spiritual 397 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:14,120 disciplines and strengthening all of them is beneficial, but 398 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,680 there are a couple disciplines in particular that I want to 399 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:22,720 draw our attention to. Prayer and time in the word 400 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,160 prayer and time in the word prayer is is a way for me to say 401 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,800 God. I can't do this on my own. 402 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,480 It's the first step in doing as it says in Colossians 312 and 403 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,160 clothing ourselves with patience. 404 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,960 You don't simply wake up in the morning, put on your pants and 405 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,600 then put on your shirts and then put on. 406 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:53,360 Patience doesn't quite work like that. 407 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,600 In order to put on patience, we need to press into the Holy 408 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,720 Spirit. We come to him and say, God, 409 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:06,720 would you form your character in me? 410 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,920 I'm frustrated, I'm grumpy, I'm impatient. 411 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:19,080 I need you to work in me and make me into the person that you 412 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:27,520 want me to be. We talked to God in prayer and 413 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:32,520 this is our declaration of dependence on him. 414 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:38,600 The other discipline we foster is time in the word. 415 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,960 When we spend time in the word, we're saying to the world, we're 416 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:47,040 saying to the rat race. I know there's a lot that needs 417 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:52,920 to be done in life and and life is full, but I don't care right 418 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:57,120 now. My only concern God is being in 419 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:03,680 your presence. Spending time with you, God and 420 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:09,160 and allowing you to speak to me through your word is of the 421 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:17,480 utmost importance right now. Sometimes when having 422 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,000 conversations with people, I'll ask them how their time in the 423 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:25,280 word is going or how is their devotional life going and I'm 424 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,760 often met with I just don't have time. 425 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:39,840 Frankly, I tell people that isn't true and, and, and I say 426 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:45,920 the reality is you do what you want to do. 427 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,440 If you want to watch that show at the end of the day, then you 428 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:56,240 will squeeze it in. You will make time for it, 429 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:05,640 right? If you want to doom scroll on 430 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:11,280 your phone, then that's what you're going to spend time 431 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:17,360 doing. If time with God isn't of the 432 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:22,159 utmost priority in your life, then it'll be squeezed out by 433 00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:24,560 everything else. Whether it's sleep, whether it's 434 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,719 busyness of life or scrolling on your phone, social media, 435 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:34,840 whatever the case may be, you do what you want to do. 436 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:41,880 When I make time to be in the word, I'm demonstrating a sort 437 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:46,520 of patience. The busyness of life, the 438 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:58,280 hurriedness of life can wait. Some of you naturally have more 439 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,920 patience than the rest of us because of your personality. 440 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:09,440 Some of us, we have different gifts we are gifted in, how 441 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:17,080 might you say impatience? We especially need to ask God to 442 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:21,800 strengthen this particular fruits of the spirits in us. 443 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:28,000 As we make it a point to trust God's timing and promises and 444 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,160 further strengthen ourselves in the spiritual disciplines, our 445 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,120 eyes will be opened to see God's working. 446 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:45,280 When our eyes are opened, then gratitude pours into our hearts 447 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,040 and and it starts to shift our focus from what is lacking. 448 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,600 When our focus is on what is lacking in our lives, this is 449 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,720 often a source of impatience, wanting something to come into 450 00:35:58,720 --> 00:36:01,720 our lives that we're anxious for, we're ready for, or 451 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,920 impatient for. So we shift from that. 452 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:13,040 When we have an attitude of gratitude, we shift to seeing 453 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:20,200 what God has already done and what God has already provided. 454 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:28,440 So now we come to the end. So what? 455 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,920 Why does it matter if I'm patient or if I'm impatient? 456 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:41,480 Well, there's some benefits to being patients. 457 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:47,280 The first reward that we see is strengthened character. 458 00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:55,200 Strengthened character. Romans 5 tells us suffering 459 00:36:55,200 --> 00:37:00,840 produces endurance or patience, and patience in turn leads to 460 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,920 character developments. When we're faced with 461 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,280 difficulties, a person who patiently endures is 462 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:12,880 strengthened and molded into a more resilient and virtuous 463 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:17,400 individual. Growth in patience is a 464 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:22,080 demonstration of God working in us to bring about higher 465 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:27,960 character. Think about it like this. 466 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:37,080 Patience isn't comfortable. It demands something of us. 467 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:41,960 It might require us to hold our tongues when when we'd like to 468 00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:47,160 speak. It may mean standing still with 469 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,560 the decision when we'd like to rush on ahead. 470 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:58,360 Or perhaps we'd like to to know the unknown, We'd like to have 471 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:02,360 all the answers to our problems and trials and so we can 472 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,280 understand what is going on in our life. 473 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:18,080 However, through the discomforts of patience, God works to to to 474 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,440 grow us, to grow our faith, to produce character and and to 475 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:26,800 show us what true trust in Him looks like. 476 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,120 Character strengthened by patience has the long game in 477 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:40,720 mind. When we grow in patience, we are 478 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:46,480 able to love others well even when we don't feel loved. 479 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,480 We love others in the midst of the waiting, showing grace and 480 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,360 offering chance after chance to those who don't personally know 481 00:38:54,360 --> 00:39:02,200 God yet. These moments, they allow us to 482 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:10,640 extend the same grace that God has extended to us. 483 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:19,400 We then take and extend to others when we grow in patience. 484 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:28,520 Another reward for patience is increased hope, increased hope 485 00:39:28,520 --> 00:39:31,880 in God's promises and future blessings. 486 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,080 I referenced this verse a moment ago when talking about 487 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,480 character. Romans 5, three through 4. 488 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,240 You see it there on the screen. It says not only that, but we 489 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:46,680 rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces 490 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:52,240 endurance, endurance produces character, and character 491 00:39:52,440 --> 00:40:00,080 produces hope. As we see God's faithfulness and 492 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:05,400 overcoming challenges, our hope and His promises and future 493 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:11,600 blessings grows. Patience isn't simply tolerating 494 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,400 something unpleasant, but rather it's a defiant perseverance in 495 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:21,920 the face of adversity. Defiant perseverance in the face 496 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:25,440 of adversity, it says. I can see the struggles of life, 497 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:32,360 but my hope is in God and because of that I will persevere 498 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:39,440 in patience. The rewards we've seen so far 499 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:44,800 strengthened character and increased hope, and now we have 500 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:50,560 the ultimate reward, eternal significance. 501 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:56,600 This is the ultimate reward. The trials in this life aren't 502 00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:00,960 aren't for nothing. God is using them to work in US 503 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:06,200 and to transform us. But there's a special reward for 504 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:11,080 those who face particularly insidious trials or persecution. 505 00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:18,000 Earlier in chapter 1, verse 12, James said blessed is the man 506 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,600 who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the 507 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:26,560 test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised 508 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,040 to those who love him. The crown of life is a specific 509 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,160 reward for those who patiently endure trials. 510 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:38,160 The person who endures these trials is first of all blessed. 511 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,520 They receive joy. Joy is reminder. 512 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:46,040 It's an inner contentment regardless of the circumstances. 513 00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:50,560 They receive this joy in the midst of the trial, but then 514 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,760 that blessedness is increased as they look forward to their 515 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:57,880 ultimate reward in heaven at the bima or judgment seat of Christ. 516 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,520 Will you and I have opportunities to face such 517 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,920 trials here in the United States? 518 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:20,400 Honestly, I don't know, but what I do know is that I want to grow 519 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:24,880 in patient endurance to the point that were I to face 520 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:29,200 extreme difficulties, my faith would be shown to be have deep 521 00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:36,000 roots and be centered in Christ unwavering. 522 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:43,320 When we demonstrate patience, we show a world around us. 523 00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:49,400 We're not easily moved by the goings on of life. 524 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,800 Our character has been formed in the fire of trials. 525 00:42:55,960 --> 00:43:01,240 Our hope is in God, and our eyes are set on God's timing and 526 00:43:01,240 --> 00:43:04,040 promises as we grow to be more like him. 527 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,880 As God grows our character, we're able to endure difficult 528 00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:16,760 people and difficult situations without giving in to anger or 529 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:23,440 giving up hope. That is patience. 530 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:27,200 Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. 531 00:43:36,450 --> 00:43:43,410 Father God, we thank you for Your word, Your word that tells 532 00:43:43,410 --> 00:43:51,930 us how to live, that inspires us to press into You so that we can 533 00:43:51,930 --> 00:43:57,360 grow in our godly character and we can increase our hope, our 534 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:02,560 hope and your promises and future blessings, and possibly 535 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:07,560 looking forward to the ultimate reward of perhaps a crown of 536 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:12,920 life someday when we arrive in your presence. 537 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:28,280 God, would you cause us to submit our lives under your 538 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:45,050 authority that we would say God, work your will in me, make me 539 00:44:45,050 --> 00:44:47,930 into the person that you want me to be. 540 00:44:53,410 --> 00:44:59,010 Give me Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 541 00:44:59,010 --> 00:45:01,290 faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 542 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:06,800 Form your fruits in me as I submit to you. 543 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:10,640 It's in Jesus name we pray these things. 544 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:10,800 Amen.