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Weekly Wisdom Winnows
by Lisa Mendenhall
Love is longsuffering...I was looking up scriptures on the "God kind of love" the other day. I had decided that I had let my love walk slip and wanted to tighten my belt, so to speak. So I started with the great love chapter. I am sure you all are aware of which one I speak of...1 Corinthians 13...As I read down to verse 4 the New King James says Love suffers long, and the words LOVE SUFFERS jumped off the page at me! Well duh! I have read this scripture in my life time I know many times, but the light bulb went off. Love suffers!
This was an answer to a question that had been bugging me. Why God Why? Now I am not saying that this is the answer to every question we have for God. But it sure explained some things to me. If we are born again then we have God's nature in us. God's nature is LOVE. He is LOVE. So we have the capability and capacity of loving like He loves. His love suffers. I think about all the times He was long suffering towards me. Times when I got off into blatant sin. Times I was selfish, conceited and arrogant. The times I was full of pride and thought I knew more than others. Even the times I was cruel and mean spirited in my attitude toward others. He was always long suffering towards me. He was long suffering towards me when I didn't give Him the time of day. When what I had to do was more important than spending a few minutes with my loving Father. When I had gotten so busy I just forgot to put Him first. People, the more I think about it, the more grateful and thankful I am for His longsuffering. So with this in mind, lets look at what longsuffering really is and how WE can apply it to our lives. Now this next part is only for those of you who are serious about wanting to be like Jesus - because I promise you - love suffers l-o-n-g!
Longsuffering is an action word. It is not passive. Longsuffering has long patience towards trials, adversities, persecutions, malice and accusations; it suffers others weaknesses, ignorance, errors, infirmities, wickedness, and all assorted evils of this world and even from the children of God. It suffers without murmuring or complaining and is long suffering towards those who annoy us, who hurt us, who just plain get on our nerves! Another note on longsuffering is this - The preacher John Chrysostem said this is a word used of the man who is wronged and who easily has the power to avenge himself, but will not do it out of mercy and patience. Doesn't this sound like our savior Jesus? Did He not endure horrible things and spoke not a word in His defense? Did he not take physical punishment that was not due Him for you and me and didn't retaliate? So if we are to be like Him, (and if you are a true Christian that is your hearts desire), what was His secret? How did he walk in longsuffering, even towards the ungodly?
I believe part of His success came from the garden of Gethsemane. He went there and stayed in that place of prayer in agony and in great distress until he rose up ready to face His destiny. One place states that He knew what was coming. So I believe He went into that garden to prepare Himself so that He could be longsuffering and not fall in the hour of trial and temptation. You can read more on this in these verses;
Matthew href="http://members.liveasif.org/desk/?query=mt+26:36-50">Matthew 26:36-50; Mark href="http://members.liveasif.org/desk/?query=mr+14:32-46">Mark 14:32-46; Luke href="http://members.liveasif.org/desk/?query=lu+22:39-49">Luke 22:39-49; John href="http://members.liveasif.org/desk/?query=joh+18:1,2">John 18:1,2
We know that an angel came and strengthened Him, we know that He prayed 3 different times, we know He sweated great drops of blood, we know He was in great heavy sorrow, agony of heart and mind, and a lot of other things you can get out of these verses. We also know when He rose up there the last time, He rose up in victory, ready to face what was to come, in the power of God. This tells me that if our Master suffered in prayer to be able to suffer in His flesh, mind and spirit, we are no greater than He. So how much time have you spent in prayer lately? How much time have you spent in deep heart-wrenching prayer?
There is so much more that could be said about longsuffering, our examples of it and how to do it. One note I would like to add is this. You may not feel like longsuffering but you can, from your heart be a doer of it. I pray that this will give you a glimpse and insight into beginning to walk in it. I will end with this; In 2 Peter 3:9 it shows the heart of God when He says, "the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." If God is this longsuffering toward us, shouldn't we be even half that longsuffering toward others?
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'To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air. To rid of undesirable parts. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic. ...separate grain from chaff...separate the good from the bad...examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift...' (www.dictionary.com) 'This study gave me direction and focus for my teaching. God had placed a longing in my heart to teach the body of Christ how to separate from carnal thinking and rid themselves of old ways that hinder their Spiritual growth. I desire to see them live victoriously, by the 'higher ways' of God's wisdom.'
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