* Patience Places A Demand

In your patience possess ye your souls.

Luke 21:19

Patience is a learned experience; for some it comes more easily than it does for others.  God has much to say in his word regarding patience. It takes an attitude of faith in God to be able to wait patiently for that which He has ordained for us.  It is wonderful to know that God is always thinking of us as He tells us in his word.  God knows just what He is doing.  He tells us He has it all planned out—plans to take care of us, not abandon us, plans to give us the future hoped for.  His word lets us know His thoughts toward us:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Jeremiah 29:11

It is a truth that when earnest expectation couples with faith, a demand is placed on the Holy Spirit. We access the power of God through grace by waiting on Him.  Grace and truth comes by Jesus Christ . . .

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  John 1:17

. . . who having tasted death for every man:

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.    Hebrews 2:9

Jesus made the purifying grace of God available to everyone, but we must access that powerful grace by going to God to receive his teachings, convictions, and powerful removal of sin from our hearts.  Salvation, which is to be freed from all sin, comes to those who wait on Him.

Without the power of God working in you, there is no victory, there is no overcoming. There are three sources to the power of God being released to purify us:

→  power in the true hope and gospel,

→ power in the inward cross of self denial, and

→ power in the name of Jesus

This power of God works in us, and keeps us through faith to salvation, which is to be delivered from sin. A Christian walk without the cross of Christ, without the true hope, and without the power of God, is only a form (hollow shell) of the power promised to us through Jesus Christ.

Without the new life granted us through Jesus, without holiness, we are wallowing in sin, boasting of our imperfection, perishing - whose end is destruction. For without the power of God released to change us, our hearts remain unrepentant; full of sin and unacceptable to God, no matter what our lips may say in the form of worship. The power of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the inward cross of self-denial, begins by waiting on the Lord, with the hope of the gospel which is freedom from sin, allowing us entrance into the kingdom of God while on earth, and union with God through Jesus. 

In your patience possess ye your souls.  Luke 21:19 

To wait on God is to consistently sit in humble silence, listening for His voice and His words, watching for His revelations, hearing his commands, and then obeying Him. Waiting on God is referenced throughout the Bible, both in the Old Testament and New Testament. Waiting on God is the way those in the early church realized the promises of the true gospel which is  to be released from the bondage of sin, to enter the kingdom of God, and to be in right-standing with God.

Below are a few of the many scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments that speak to the benefit of waiting:

Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Psalms 33:22

Wait on the LORD! Be of good courage and let your heart be confident! Wait, I say, on the LORD! Psalms 27:14

But those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. Isaiah 40:31

Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gate, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me, finds life; and he shall obtain favor of the LORD. Proverbs 8:34-35

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:9

Truly my soul silently waits upon God; from him comes my salvation.  Psalms 62:1

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.   Psalms 27:14

Therefore return to your God; keep mercy and justice and wait on your God continually. Hosea 12:6

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. Lamentation 3:5

To wait for Him is to seek him. Reading the Bible and going to church services, although excellent practices, are not seeking God.

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God beside you, who acts for the one who waits for him. Isaiah 64:4

Apostle Paul also quotes the above scripture: 

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."   1 Corinthians 2:9

The key difference: Isaiah reads 'waits', 1 Cor. 2:9 reads 'love'. So to love God is to wait on Him: we wait on Him to hear His words that teach us, convict us, encourage us, and guide us — that is loving God.

To those who persistently and patiently wait for him he will appear the second time, not to bear sin, but to bring full salvation. Hebrews 9:28

Consistent and patient waiting is witnessing Jesus which in turn brings us our salvation. What you hear you must heed and obey to obtain salvation:

being made perfect (or mature in Christ), he [Jesus] became the author and source of eternal salvation to all those who heed and obey him. Hebrews 5:9

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  Titus 2:11-14

So, finally, be patient with an attitude of faith that God will bring about that which He said He would. Believe that all things are working together in your life for the good.  Believe what the bible says about allowing patience to work in you:

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  James 1:4

Allow your patience along with your faith combined with your earnest expectation put a demand on the Holy Spirit!

Peace and blessings to you!

(Biblical Studies)

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