Patience

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

 faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

 Galatians 5:22-23

Patience. What does it mean and what does the Bible have to say about it?

Definition: calm endurance without complaining; steadfastness in the face of trouble;

forbearance; the opposite of hastiness.

Calm endurance without complaining....do you ever struggle with that? I know I do!

Being patient is hard so hard because in our fallen, human nature we are selfish. We want to please ourselves over everyone else. As Christians, God had given us a new nature so we don't have to listen to our selfish desires anymore.

We who are strong ought to bear with the fallings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

Romans 15:1

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

Proverbs 16:32

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

Colossians 1:9-14 

God wants us to be patient because HE is patient. Pray. Ask God for patience. Don't just ask for patience though; seek God and dig deeper into His Word. Fill yourself with the Lord and patience will also fill you. You cannot be content and have patience if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Future Post Ideas

In my last post I asked if anyone had any ideas for different posts they would like to see

and my new friend here in the world of blogger, Lauralea, gave me several good ideas! 

I have decided that I am going to start doing at least three posts a week for now (or more if I can).

I would like one of the days to be a devotion about different character traits, a What I Wore day

and maybe a craft (?..still deciding on that one LOL). I want to try to do movie and book reviews and

at least one guest post/interview every month.

Sound like a good plan? :)

Have a wonderful day!!
Ria

Happy New Year!!

I cannot believe that 2012 is over already!! It, as usual, went by WAY too fast!

There have been so many ups and downs, bad times and even more good ones....

I have accomplished SO many goals and set many new ones and learned a lot along the way too.

I feel God has showed me a lot this year, brought me closer to Him, and taught me what it mean to 

be patient and WAIT on His timing. God is good, isn't He??!! :)

I have set a few new goals for 2013.

- Have better time management
-Try to read at least one book a month (two if I can!!)
-Start college full-time
-Do more crafts! I want to try to complete at least one a month
-Exercise more. My goal is to be able to run/jog at least

   3 to 4 miles by the end of 2013!
-Blog more often. If you have any ideas or things you would like to
 read more of please let me know! Your input is much appreciated :) 
-Pray and read my Bible more. Yes, I read my Bible often, but I feel
like sometimes I let my busy schedule get in the way of my devotions.

Do you have any goals for 2013?

Before I go, I would like to share a poem I found some time ago called

The Difference Prayer Makes

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into my day; 
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn't take time to pray.

Problems just tumbled around me, 
And heavier became each task;
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wonder
He answered, "Because you didn't ask."

I waned to see joy and beauty-
But the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn't show me,
He answered, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence,
I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided;
"My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering my day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

-Author Unknown

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!!!

Ria
 

12.25.12

Merry Christmas!!

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful 

Christmas and a Happy New Year!! 

 

~Ria~  

This Is Christmas by Kutless

This is my new favorite Christmas song for sure!!! 

giving your struggles to the LORD......

I will give him...the land and set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly. {Deuteronomy 1:36}

Every difficult task that comes across your path--every one that you would rather not do, that will take the most effort, cause the most pain, and be the greatest struggle--brings a blessing with it. And refusing to do it regardless of the personal cost is to miss the blessing.
Every difficult stretch of road on which you see the Master's footprints and along which He calls you to follow Him leads unquestionably to blessings. And they are blessings you will never receive unless you travel the steep and thorny path.
Every battlefield you encounter, where you are required to draw your sword and fight the enemy, has the possibility of victory that will prove to be a rich blessing to your life. And every heavy burden you are called upon to lift hides within itself a miraculous secret of strength. J.R. Miller

I cannot do it alone;
The waves surge fast and high.
And the fogs close around,
the light goes out in the sky;
But I know that we two
Will win in the end,
Jesus and I.

Cowardly, wayward, and weak.
I change with the changing sky;
Today so eager and bright,
Tomorrow too weak to try;
But He never gives in.
So we two will win,
Jesus and I.

I could not guide it myself,
My boat on life's wild sea;
There's One who sits by my side,
Who pulls and steers with me.
And I know that we two,
Will safe enter port,
Jesus and I.


The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me. ~Psalm 138:8
When a person who suffers reaches a point where he can be calm and carefree, inwardly smiling at his own suffering and no longer asking God to be delivered from it, then the suffering has accomplished its blessed ministry, perseverance has "finish[ed] its work" (James 1:4), and the pain of the Crucifixion has begun to weave itself into a crown.

The promise comes by FAITH, so that it may be GUARANTEED. ~Romans 4:16Faith is the only way to obtain God's blessings.
There may be a great work occurring in your life when things seem the darkest. You may see NO evidence YET, but GOD IS at work. Are you reading this from a place in your life where everything seems dark? Do you have faith to see but are still not seeing? Are you lacking continual victory in your spiritual growth? Is your daily, quiet communion gone, and there is nothing but darkness all around? God works through the night until the morning light dawns. You may not see it yet, but through the night of your life, as you trust Him, He works. C.H.P.

You must trust when all else fails!! Great faith must first endure great trials.

All of this devotion was taken from various daily devotions from Streams in the Desert for Graduates by L.B. Cowman

one thousand gifts devotional giveaway

There is a giveaway over at Meditations of His Love blog. 

The giveaway is for

One Thousand Gifts { The Devotional } by Ann Voskamp.

 The giveaway ends soon, so go HERE to enter.