Today's devotional: the long hard wait for Easter
We're well into Lent, but Easter remains several weeks away. Does it ever feel like Easter...
Today's Devotional: Our Patient God and the Golden Rule
At the heart of the Golden Rule is reciprocity: when we do good, others will do good back to us....
Today's devotional: can you exhaust God's patience?
Is it possible to exhaust God's patience? What would it take to make God wash his hands of us...
Wait! Responding wisely to setbacks
Earlier this week, Chris wrote about his reaction to a major disappointment in his personal life....
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The Desires of the Flesh and What They Do! - Welcome to Discipleshiptools.org
Fruit of the Spirit, Part VIII
Just before the great passage in Galatians that expounds the Fruit of the Spirit comes a warning and a list of the opposites of the good Fruit, the destroyers of churches, relationships, and self!
http://discipleshiptools.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=61406&columnid=4166
It Ain't Over! - #2581
You can't tell what God is going to do for a wonderful finish to this game. God has a way of hitting a bases loaded, grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs - if you don't give up before that harvest comes! I just hope you don't miss that grand finish because you gave up on the game too soon!
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/it-aint-over-2581
Blooming Too Soon - #3612
Whether it's a relationship, or finances, or a ministry goal, or getting justice, or meeting a need - wherever you're tempted to try to make it happen - don't. Just remember those blossoms whose instincts told them it was time when it wasn't. If it's blooming too soon, it probably won't make it. But in God's time - which is probably later than yours - in His time, it will be beautiful.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/blooming-too-soon-3612
"Wait on the Lord" in the Bible: Psalm 27:14
God's timing is different than ours--He operates on a completely different scale than we do. It can thus sometimes seem like He is slow to act or to intervene where He's needed. But we are encouraged here to be patient, confident that the Lord will act in His good timing.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2027:14&version=NIV
The Sweet and Sour Strategy - #5898
Maybe you're naturally good at dropping the truth-bomb - the part that feels sour to the recipient. Or maybe you're good at the encouraging part - the sweet part. But one without the other is only half the story, and it leaves people either confronted but destroyed, or comforted but unchanged. Maybe you need the Lord to help you add some sweet to your sour - or some of the tough side to your sweet.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-mission/the-sweet-and-sour-strategy-5898
Beauty in Out-of-the-Way Places - #5789
Think about Hannah in the Old Testament. She was a childless woman who kept on trusting the Lord. She was beauty that no one saw except God. And He made her the mother of Samuel, the greatest spiritual leader of his time. And then there's Mary, the little known girl from a ridiculed, backwater village called Nazareth, but God knew all about her and He looked to her when it came time to find a mother to carry and to raise His Son. God seems to have special rewards for quiet, unnoticed faithfulness.
http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/beauty-in-out-of...
"Patient" in the Bible: Proverbs 14:29
In one of many instances in Proverbs where a virtue is contrasted with a vice, patience here is praised, while rash and quick-tempered behavior is condemned.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2014:29&version=NIV
"Perish" in the Bible: 2 Peter 3:9-10
It's not God's will that anyone perish. In fact, according to this passage, the apparently delay before Jesus returns is due to God's patience with us: He is waiting to make sure that everyone has a chance to be saved. If you find yourself impatient with God, consider it is actually God who is being patient with us.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Pet.3.9-10&version=NIV
"Wait" in the Bible: Psalm 27:13-14
God exists and operates on a different scale than we do. That means that what seems like an eternity to us is just a moment to God. When it seems like God is being slow to act, we're called to wait patiently for God to act in His own time.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2027.13-Psalm%2027.14&version=NIV
Repentance in the Bible: 2 Peter 3:9
It's natural to wonder why God seems, from our human perspective, to be so slow to act on some of His promises. Here, we're assured that it's not a matter of God being slow, but God being patient--He wants everyone to have ample time to repent and turn to Him before it's too late.
http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Pet.3.9&version=NIV