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Noel Merrick

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PatienceWeaknesses: Lack of tolerance for mistakes by others.Angry when I have to wait for busses or people or whatever.Easily annoyed. Lack of self-control. Outline:What is patience?English definitionsThe quality of bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain without complaint, loss of temper, irritation or the like.An ability to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.Quiet, steady perseveranceGood natured tolerance of delay or incompetenceGreek words usedhupomeno – Means to abide under or endure. This word is used for the proper Christian attitude towards trials, chastisement, or wrong treatment from others ()Makrothumia – This word is used quite often in the NT and denotes the idea of longsuffering. This is the “quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger and is associated with mercy, and is used of God. Patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial, it is the opposite of despondency and is associated with hope.”Why should we be patient?We should be patient because God is patient. See: The Lord is patient with the world and unbelievers so that everyone can come to repentance. God is patient with the whole world to give people time to repent.. It is the Lord’s patience and kindness that leads us to repentance. This patience isn’t only to the world as a whole, but was shown to each of us believers. God is holy and endured thousands of sins committed by each of us before and after we trusted in Him. But He didn’t just wipe us out as He could have done and we deserved. He continued to pull us to Himself. Some of us required a lot of pulling before we ever believed. From we know that God will continue this work He began in us. Just as a potter making a pot needs a lot of patience so God forming and molding is patient. . Remember also God’s patience with the Israelites. They sinned against Him again and again, rebelling against His commands and rule. Yet each time He was ready to forgive and save them. Our lives are sometimes like this as well. , the prodigal son, is also a good example of God’s patience. As you can see many times patience is closely related to forgiveness. Jesus demonstrated His patience with Paul, who was the chief of sinners yet ultimately saved. God has been so patient with us we should be patient with others just like He has forgiven us so much we should forgive others and He has loved us so much we should love others.Jesus is patient. Jesus was God in the flesh. He experienced the annoyances of sinners and mistakes firsthand. Time and again His disciples argued about who was the greatest. Time and again they couldn’t understand the simple teachings Jesus taught them. Time and again they forgot His miracles and power that He had just shown. Time and again they asked silly questions. Time and again they failed in many ways, but for more than three years Jesus’ patiently endured their ineptitude. He didn’t lash out at them. Neither did He ignore their problems. But He gently and kindly corrected their problems and continued to teach and train them. .Patience for God’s promisesHebrews 6:12James 5:7-8What are some Biblical examples of people who showed amazing patience?David waiting to be king. David was anointed king years before he actually assumed the throne. He could have justified going to take the kingdom himself. He had plenty of opportunities. Yet He waited for the Lord. He waited for God’s timing and God did bring it about.Simeon waiting for the Messiah. . In this case Simeon waited almost his entire life for God’s promise to be fulfilled to him.Jericho. . In this case God promised they could conquer the city, but He made them walk around the city a total of 13 times first. I can imagine many of the Israelites were questioning why God would do that. They were wondering why God wouldn’t just knock down the walls and get it over with. After all, it was the same result either way. Why waste a week doing what could be done in minutes?

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Longsuffering - Patience

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Waiting by the Pool

by Linda Sue Pochodzay Edwards Text Version

Molly was growing more and more impatient as the minutes seemed to drag on. "How much longer is this going to take?" she whined. "I'm getting really tired of waiting. I just want to go home!"

What can we learn from all of these things? God’s way is very often not the fastest way. God cares about the process, not only the result. In this world we are very results oriented. We want everything convenient and immediate. The world is at our fingertips with the internet. Stores make packaged meals to just stick in the microwave and warm up for dinner. Every corner has fang bian mian. We’ve got airplanes and rockets and cars. People take elevators to the 2nd floor and escalators to the gym. When God makes promises He will keep them, but He often doesn’t fulfill them immediately. Why does He make us wait? The process of waiting builds our faith and reliance on Him. It strengthens our character in innumerable ways. . It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search it out. On a practical level, God will give you just the perfect job for you. Be diligent to look for it, but don’t just jump in and take the first one if you aren’t sure it’s the right one. If God wants you to get married, He will provide the perfect one at the perfect time. Become the right kind of guy. Don’t just jump in and “get one” yourself because God hasn’t yet given you one. The result of not waiting for God will be disastrous. If God wants you to get a hamburger, He will provide one after you wait in line. Don’t just jump in and cut in front of everyone else! Remember that God has His perfect timing and look at the disastrous results of Abraham’s and Sarah’s impatience.Patience when facing problems. Good natured tolerance when faced with delay. Quiet and steady, persevering. We need to be patient not only for God’s promises, but also when we face problems. In this life things will not always go smoothly. We all face problems. Problems with our computers, cell-phones, finances. Problems with our jobs. Delays waiting for the bus, paperwork errors at the office, and so on. The list goes on and on. These aren’t necessarily anyone’s fault. The world just isn’t a perfect place. How do we respond when we face those problems? For me, I often get irritated and upset. I get exasperated. Sometimes I start complaining. Sometimes I start blaming others and getting upset with people. I may start thinking how I ALWAYS have to wait a long time for the bus or how I HATE the Guangzhou traffic, etc. That is likely how all of us respond often. But how should we respond? Read and discuss the following verses.-21Proverbs 14:29-30Proverbs 16:32In each of these cases self-control is encouraged. As believers we cannot allow the old man to reign over us in any area. We cannot let our sinful flesh to take control and rage in anger. We must rule our spirit. We need to have calm and quiet hearts. Remember that when God appeared to Elijah, He didn’t appear in the fire or earthquake or great wind, but with a still, quiet voice. Patience doesn’t mean that we have no will or desire. But it does require controlling it. Power under control. Robert Chapman said, “It is better to lose your purse than your temper.” Losing our temper does us no benefit. It will not fix our computer faster or make the bus get here any quicker. It only makes us miserable and the people around us miserable and if anything will slow us down from correcting the problem that we face.Patience when persecuted. Now we will look at perhaps the most difficult kind of patience. This is basically longsuffering. This is showing patience towards other people, perhaps people who don’t have our good at heart. Someone might say it is easy to be patient for God because God loves us and has a good reason for us to wait. They may say too that it is easy to be patient when faced with problems because no one is at fault. But how about when there is some really annoying person next to us? How about when someone is annoying us on purpose? How about when someone’s silly mistakes cost us money or time? How do we respond? Unfortunately I am not a very patient person. Sometimes I have zero tolerance for mistakes. My natural reaction is to get angry and blame someone when they make a mistake. Sometimes when Zach annoyed me too much I would chase him and wrestle him to the ground to make him stop. Now I see God let Zach annoy me a lot to teach me patience. Also I can’t use that strategy with Christy o What things will make you impatient with other people? First we are going to look over some verses encouraging us to be patient or extolling this quality and then we will look at some specific things we can do when others annoy us. Discuss each one individually. – Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. – Love is patient. “It is easy finding reasons why other folks should be patient.” George Eliot2 Timothy 2:24 – The servant of the Lord must be patient when wronged (not if wronged, but when wronged.) – Be patient with everyone.Peter 2:20 – It is nothing to be patient when we deserve the “bad” that is happening to us, but it is real patience when we are patient in the midst of others’ maltreatment. – Patience involves showing tolerance for one another in love.Stephen is a good example of this. “The best testimony that Stephen bore was his last: not when preaching and working miracles, but when he pleaded for his persecutors; for then he most resembled the Lord Jesus in patience, forgiveness and love.” Chapman. How about any other examples of believers who showed this kind of patience? How about negative examples? Look below at a couple of ways we can respond when others annoy us. – It is the glory of man to look over a transgression. – Don’t return evil for evil, but give a blessing instead.Applications: When others make mistakes and I am tempted to be impatient I will try to remember all of the mistakes that I have made that God has forgiven.When I have to wait for the bus or other things I will try to remember how blessed I am to be able to ride a bus instead of walk.When others annoy me I will try to remember to give a blessing and respond gently.

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At that very moment, her older sister, Carrie, came bursting through the double doors of the school building and climbed into the back seat of the car. "Hey, Mom! Guess what?" Carrie exclaimed excitedly. "We are going on a field trip to the zoo next week!"

During the entire ride home, Carrie continued chattering about her upcoming field trip. She was just as excited about seeing the elephants as she was about seeing the sharks in the aquarium tank and the colorful parrots in the tropical exhibit.

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Molly, however, was not a bit interested. "I'm tired of riding in this old car. How much longer until we get home?" she whined again.

"Molly, just look out the window," her mother said quietly. "I think you will recognize our house."

When the car was safely parked in the garage, Molly unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of the car. "Finally!" she shouted to no one in particular. "Finally, I am home and I don't have to wait anymore!"

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Molly ran to the family room and slumped on the couch. She picked up the remote control and started flipping through the channels. Finding nothing she wanted to watch on TV, she started whining yet again. "It's just not fair! My favorite show is not on yet, and I have to wait AGAIN! I always have to wait for everything! I HATE waiting!"

Carrie had heard enough of Molly's whining and complaining. She walked into the family room and sat on the couch beside her little sister. "Molly," she began. "You are not the only person who has to wait. Everybody has to wait for things. I have to wait a whole week to go to the zoo, and it isn't easy. I am so excited. I think I just can't wait any longer, and I want to go NOW, but I know the time will come and it will be so much fun when the waiting is finally over. It will be much better if you learn to have patience."

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"PATIENCE means waiting without whining or complaining. Just try thinking of something good while you are waiting, or try singing a song. It will make the waiting time easier and you will be happier," Carrie explained.

Molly wasn't convinced that Carrie's suggestion would work, but she agreed to try it the next time she had to wait for something.

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As Jesus was going to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate a holiday with his family and friends, he decided to visit the pool. This pool was not an ordinary pool like you and I know. This was a very special pool and the people had given it a name. This special pool was called BETHESDA.

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The Pool of Bethesda was where people of the community could come to get the water they needed. It was a very busy place. It was built with five porches around it so there was plenty of room for people to chat and catch up with the local news while they were filling their water jugs. It was also a place where many sick people gathered, hoping that someone would feel sorry for them and give them food to eat, or give them money so they could visit a doctor. But the most important reason the sick people came to the pool was because at certain times, an ANGEL would come to the pool and stir up the water. The very first person to get into the pool when the water was stirred by the angel would be healed of whatever sickness they had and would leave totally well.

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Sick people came from miles around, hoping to see the angel and hoping to be the first person in the pool when the angel touched the water. Some people brought their mats and blankets and stayed near the pool all day and even slept there at night. They did not want to leave and risk the possibility of being away when the angel came.

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While Jesus was at the pool, a certain man caught his attention. The man was lying on a dirty, raggedy sleeping bag, and it was obvious that he had been there a very long time. Jesus walked over to speak with him.

"Do you want to be well?" Jesus asked the man.

"Well, yes. I do," the man answered. "I have been sick for 38 years and, of course, I want to be well. I have...

waited...

and waited...

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The problem is, I have no one to help me get into the water when the angel comes. I try so hard to get into the water, but someone always gets into the pool before I do. It is so discouraging! Then I just lie back down on my old sleeping bag and keep waiting... and keep hoping that the next time maybe someone will be kind enough to help me."

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Jesus felt sad that the man had been sick and had waited for so long, and he wanted to help. Jesus looked at him with compassion and gently said, "Stand up. Roll up your sleeping bag, and walk!"

The man did exactly what Jesus told him to do. Miraculously, he stood up on his feet that he hadn't been able to use for 38 years! He rolled up his sleeping bag, and he began to walk. He could hardly believe it! He was instantly healed!

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Immediately, there was a buzz of excitement rumbling through the crowd around the pool.

"Did you see that?" one person asked in wonder.

"Yes!" exclaimed another. "That man was healed and the angel wasn't even here!"

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Another person shouted out, "I know that man! He's been here longer than I can remember. We have seen a real miracle!"

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There were some people though, who were not very happy about the miracle. The man had been healed on the SABBATH DAY. The Sabbath Day was a special day for resting, and no work was supposed to be done on that day. The leaders of the temple saw the man and confronted him. "Why are you carrying your sleeping bag?" they asked. "Don't you know that is work and you should not be working on the Sabbath Day?"

The man couldn't believe that they were angry at him. After all, a great and wonderful thing had just happened to him, and he expected everyone to be as happy as he was. He tried to explain, "I have been sick for 38 years and I have just been healed. The man that healed me told me to pick up my bed and walk, and so I did."

"And just who is the man that healed you?" the temple leaders asked with a scowl.

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"I don't know who he is and I don't know where he went," the man replied, as he walked to the temple to worship God.

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When he went inside the temple, he was surprised to see Jesus. Jesus saw him and took a moment to speak to the him saying, "Now that you are well, make sure you do not sin."

The man nodded and left, then told the temple leaders that he knew who it was that had healed him and pointed toward Jesus. After waiting so long for the angel to come stir the water in the pool, Jesus had healed him simply by speaking to him!

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THINK!

What was the name of the pool? Why was the sick man waiting by the pool? How long had the sick man been waiting? Who healed the sick man? Which Fruit of the Spirit did we learn about in this story?

REMEMBER:

It is hard to patient, but in the end, God will reward you.

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A VERSE TO LEARN

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" ().

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ALTERNATE VERSE TO LEARN

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry" ().

LET'S PRAY

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**************************************************** Dear Jesus, thank You for the stories that are teaching us to be more like You. Help me learn to be patient by waiting calmly for the good things You have for me. In Your Name I pray. Amen. ****************************************************

CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?

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