Patience is such a hard one. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit, and I don’t know about you, but it is probably the one that I struggle with the most. We have heard, “patience is a virtue.” How true. And, “Lord give me patience and give it to me now!” Of course that is jokingly, but we don’t like to go through the trials and challenges that will lead to patient. We are (or at least I am) impatient people. We’ve heard that we live in a microwave society. We are just too uptight. We don’t like to wait. I imagine maybe this is less so in other countries? Anyways, then there is longsuffering. What is the difference? They seem to be interchangeable.
Continue reading “Patience and Longsuffering”Tag: wrath
Zephaniah: The Day of the Lord
Several prophets talked about the Day of the Lord. What is it? It is a day of reckoning. It is a day of judgement. In the end, it will be a time of joy for those who trust in the Lord, but a time of sorrow for the unrighteous. Zephaniah talks about a Day of the Lord for Israel and Judah. When God would discipline His chosen people and punish the wicked, especially the leaders who should be guiding God’s people to the Lord, not to foreign false gods and idols. It is something we should take note today. There is one God. And He does not approve of our “acceptance” and “tolerance” of false religions, of lifestyles that go against His will, of putting other things before Him, beside Him, or in place of him. There is one way to God and that is through Jesus only.
Continue reading “Zephaniah: The Day of the Lord”The Fire of God
“Fire represents life”, they say in ‘Survivor.’ I am a bit of a Survivor junky. But, in scripture fire is used in a completely different context. It’s not a game; it’s much bigger than that. In the next two posts we will discuss how fire is used in the scriptures. Fire is used many times throughout the Bible to represent different things. It is often used literally as well. Sometimes, God uses fire to represent the opposite of what it represents on ‘reality’ TV. It represents death. Hades. Hell. Sometimes it represents God’s wrath, while other times, God literally showed His wrath with fire. He also used it to show His power and glory. Fire is also used for purification. Sometimes, fire is used to describe God Himself, but He can also be that “still, small voice.” Continue reading “The Fire of God”