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    Ideas to Discovering Patience
        1. Accept Christ as your Lord and Savior; 2 cor. 5:17
            In order to find true patience, we must begin by admitting we can't do it on our own.
            God  promises to make a change in our life when we surrender to Christ as our Lord and
             Savior, and then the Holy Spirit will come into our lives and begin to teach us patience.
             It's only through the presence of the Holy Spirit that we can hope to increase the Fruit of
             the Spirit.
        2. Pray
        3. Regularly Detach Yourself from the Flow of the World (Ps. 37:7)
        4. Plan some margin in your Life (Matthew 24:9-11)
        5. Establish lines of accountability (Phil. 1:6)

    Even though waiting can feel like the least procative things to do, God promises in Isaiah 40:31 "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." As you begin to seek patience in your life, know that choosing to be patient and choosing to trust God will never be a bad choice.


        

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The Aspostle Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter to the Philippians. He had no freedom, rare bathroom priviledges, limited visitation, and failing health. However, it was here that Paul penned these words: "Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). From an earthly perspective Paul should have been the last person on earth to have joy. Yet, Paul wrote these words while chained to a guard. We may find joy to be elusive when we face times of despair. So we must learn to gain a perscpective like that of the Apostle Paul, who found joy in all occasions because of Christ.

1. Keep An Eternal Perscpective (Phillippians 4:5)
2. Express Thanks and Stop Worrying (Phillippians 4:6-7)
3. Dwell on the Positive Instead of the Negative (Phillippians 4:8)
4. Rely on Christ in Spite of your Circumstances ( Phillippians 4:11b-14)

Keep your eyes on the Cross and keep praying for one another.

Download | Duration: 00:43:53

    This week we take a look at the first Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 - "love". Most of us think of ourselves as loving people. We may even find it easy to love those who love us in return. But do you love when you are around a demanding boss or when you are at home with your forgetful husband? In order to see growth in the Fruit of the Spirit we must love others even when it's not deserved.

In I Corinthians, Paul gives us a list of "weeds" that can inhabit our ability to love. These are "weeds" of envy, self -promotion, rudeness, anger, revenge and worldliness and they strange the growth of love in our lives. What week is inhabiting the growth of love in your life? Or is there a week that has a tendency to creep back into your garden, once in awhile.

The power to remove these "weeds" comes through Christ and His accomplishments and through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

As you go out in the world or accross the street remember that God paid it all and that through Him he can take those weeds and make something beautiful.

Download | Duration: 00:50:20

    We often want the fruit of the Spirit to develop in our lives, but we neglect spiritual preparation for producing such fruit. In Galatians 5, Paul challenges us to first pull the weeds of the sinful nature. However, whether you want to grow fruit or you need to pull weeds, know that the power to do so is found through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God not only grows the fruit in our lives, but He also gives us the power to kill the weeds.

    We would not expect a garden to flourish until after all the weeds are pulled and the soil is clear. The same is true of our lives: before we can expect the fruit of the Holy Spirit to increase in us, we first need to remove, and therefore extinguish, the weeds of the sinful nature. Colossians 3:5 says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your sinful desire." When we die to ourselves, we make room for the Holy Spirit to fill us up and to produce fruit.

Live by the Spirit and let Him be your gardener!