EPISODE EXPANSION
Patience takes us into partnership with God’s presence. It makes us only vulnerable to His goodness and allows us to enjoy all that He is for us right now, in this present moment. When connected with faith, patience resists the negatives and produces a confident expectation in the promises of God.
Through faith and patience, we inherit the promises.
And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:11- 15)
Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)
At the heart of all God’s dealings with us, is the issue of our inheritance in Christ. We are the Beloved of the Father, the Bride of Christ, people of the Spirit. We are called to inherit. It is what we demonstrate to the Earth. We are people of promise. We have hope, an inheritance, and a language in which we communicate our confidence in the Father.
Faith confidently expects for the present. Patience calmly expects things to come.
To inherit, we need two priceless things which we receive from God in the process of our circumstances. These are faith and patience. This is a wonderful contrast that is only learned through process, which is a series of steps designed to achieve a particular goal or learning objective.
Faith speaks about immediacy and patience refers to eventuality. Most Christians want the magic Midas touch of instantaneous receiving from the Lord. Faith is a gift to be received, but also a confidence that must be learned. We cannot go through life always requiring a gift of faith. God gives those as He wills. He wants us to learn how to grow faith, increase in it, and walk by it. For this to occur, we must attach patience to our faith so that we walk on the path that God has provided.
Faith and patience are anchored in the nature of God.
The promise is secure. God does not lie. The issue is always process. The path of God is always about increasing our confidence, enlarging our expectation, learning to stand in peace, being stretched in faith, and being schooled in how to see God and hold onto Him. His word is the anchor point.
Faith is confident expectation. Patience is calmness and composure. The two combined produce fortitude and consistency. There is a serene persistence that allows us to keep God in our sights and rejoice in Him. This is anathema to doubt, fear, and unbelief.
God is unchanging and trustworthy. So is His word. When promising Abraham a son, the Father took an oath in His own name. The oath and God’s name are the same. God’s name and His nature are equally the same. Because of Who He is, our confident expectation (our hope) is anchored in His personality.
Want to learn more? Tune in to today’s podcast as we explore the beautiful partnership of patience and faith.
As always, thanks for listening!
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