(by pastor Jean)
“Faith and patience inherit the promise” (Heb 6:12; NKJV). The Greek word for patience in this verse is makrothumia and it means: forbearance, fortitude, patient endurance and longsuffering. It is a fruit of the Spirit. You may have heard it said that faith and patience are the power twins. James tells us to, “Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith develops patience” (James 1:2-4; MEV). People often forget the importance of patience when they pray the “prayer of faith” (James 5:15). If your prayer does not get answered right away this is where patience comes in because we have to stay in faith and patience if we are to receive the answer. Notice that the writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “So after Abraham had patiently endured, he received the promise” (Heb 6:15; MEV). That was the promise of producing an heir and scholars tell us it took about 25 years of faith and patience! When we have prayed the prayer of faith what should we do while we wait? We need to thank and praise God in advance that the prayer is answered, for example Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:25-26). We also need to keep speaking the word of God over our situation and we must make sure we don’t allow words of doubt and fear come out of our mouths. We also need to keep developing our faith because, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17; MEV). Next time you are believing for something and are tempted to give up, remember to put patience into action and keep on believing!
(by pastor Jean)
“The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will be watered himself” (Prov 11:25; MEV). God obviously wants us to be generous; He has much to say about giving. In Proverbs 19:16 we are told that when we give to the poor we are actually lending to the Lord and He will pay us back! Proverbs 11:24 encourages us to, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything” (NLT). (See also Prov 22:9, 28:27). Moses gave instructions to the children of Israel that they should be generous to any poor person among them and adds that God would bless them for that (Deut 15:7-11). We also learn that the “godly are generous givers” in Ps 37:21. When we give, we are following God’s example. In John 3:16 God gave out of love and that should be the motivation for our giving too. In order to become a giver, we must become aware of the needs of others and then obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit (James 2:15,16 and Matt 25:31-45). When we are generous, we know that God will take care of our needs (Phil 4:19) and give us even more than enough (2 Cor 9:8). Notice in all the above scriptures that we have to give first and then God responds (See also Luke 6:38, 2 Cor 9:6 and Eccl 11:1). When feeding the multitudes it wasn’t until someone gave the small amount of bread and fish that God set about to multiply it (John 6:5-13, MK 6:35-44). Finally, don’t forget that “God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or do without) a cheerful (joyous, prompt to do it) giver (whose heart is in his giving) (2 Cor 9:7; AMPC). Let’s be that person today!