I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

Often our heart and motivation to do something can be wrong.

A lot of times we can be motivated by our fear and desires, rather than our motivation to serve others and God. When we are motivated by our fear or our desires to do something the result often leads to control, anger, and frustration. We may even lose the trust of those around us. But what else can we expect when we ourselves do not trust in god?

Being a wife and mother takes a lot of faith. So often we feel the call to be perfect, but God never asked us to be perfect. In Ephesians 4:2 it tells us that in order to have the right motivation when it comes to answering our call we need to keep a humble heart. In other words it’s OK you’re not perfect, that’s the whole point!

Recently I have been noticing where I am weak. Often I like cling to my successes and forget my failures. But now I see where I fail God succeeds. If we are ever going to live a life where we are being led by the Holy Spirit we need to embrace the truth, and the truth is we are weak. However the good news is that when we are weak we are also humble, and the Holy Spirit is able to work in our lives. Then we are motivated to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Sometimes our motivation isn’t always right, but humility comes when we are able to confess that our motivation is wrong. Humility doesn’t try to make things better or perfect, humility surrenders their weaknesses to God. Humility opens our heart to be motivated every day by the Holy Spirit…

Prayer:

Dear God, Thank you for bringing me to a place where I can recognize my weaknesses and surrender them to you. Even though I know bringing me to this point is never easy. Lord I will continue to seek You so that truth will always be revealed to me. Sometimes all I have is my love for You that brings me to the point of seeking Your truth, and I am thankful for You always being by my side, teaching me, and guiding me. Lord be my strength where I am weak. I pray this in Jesus’ name. – AMEN!

Copyright © 2011 Heather Bixler, All Rights Reserved

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“Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.”  Psalm 126:5-6

Only God knows the number of tears I have cried over my children.  The tears flowed a river each time they were wheeled away into surgery.  I’ve cried on my knees to God and poured out to him my parenting struggles.  And I’ve cried tears of joy when they asked Jesus to be their Savior.

As one who struggles with depression, tears are my constant companion.  I often struggle with the weight of them and ask God to take them away.  When I search God’s word for answers, I always end up in the Psalms.  And it’s in Psalm 126 He is using to teach me that while the pain that accompanies the tears is difficult, it is not without purpose.

These verses refer to a time in Israel’s history when they returned from exile.  The pain and sorrow they experienced as captives finally came to an end.  Our sorrow and tears too will not last forever, there will be an end.  In Psalms 30, we learn that “weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Spurgeon said of this passage, “Hence, present distress must not be viewed as if it would last for ever; it is not the end, by any means, but only a means to the end. Sorrow is our sowing, rejoicing shall be our reaping. If there were no sowing in tears there would be no reaping in joy. ” But this end to the tears is not just for any and everyone who cries, the ending of tears only comes to those “who sow with tears.”

We must sow our tears.  We must not just let them fall anywhere, they must fall in a place where they can be planted and nourished.  Our tears are not for us alone but are to be used for God’s glory.  In planting our tears, we are promised that they will produce a harvest of joy.

Jesus knew sorrow well for he was “a man of sorrows.”  He came to earth to walk among us and experienced the same pain and suffering we all battle.  He wasn’t just here as a tourist, to merely observe what it was like to be human in a fallen world.  He entered the grief and pain of the people and experienced it for himself.  But he knew that “joy comes in the morning” and sowed his tears as he hung on the cross.  Scripture tells us in Hebrews 12:2 that he did this “for the joy set before him.”  And what was that joy?  Our salvation and restoration of our relationship with God.

How can we sow our tears?  First, we must always bring our tears to Jesus.  We need to lament in prayer before Him as He catches each tear in a bottle.  Our faith and love in Him will strengthen as we trust in Him to use those captured tears for His glory.  In prayer, we’ll plant our tears for the salvation of loved ones, for those hurting, for our own sin and for growth in our faith.  We also need to consider how we can use our tears to encourage others with the same encouragement He has given us. Our tears will reap a harvest for the kingdom when we reach out to others in the name of Jesus.  Matthew Henry wrote “there are tears which are themselves the seed that we must sow, tears of sorrow for sin, our own and others, tears of sympathy with the afflicted church, and the tears of tenderness in prayer and under the word. These are precious seed, such as the husbandman sows when corn is dear and he has but little for his family, and therefore weeps to part with it, yet buries it under ground, in expectation of receiving it again with advantage.”

We may experience times in this life where we see firsthand the harvest of our sorrows as did Joseph and Job.  Even if we don’t witness it here, we are promised unending joy in eternity with our Savior where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”(Rev. 21:4)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4

For further study:  Psalm 116:8, Hebrews 5:7-9, Isaiah 35:10

Copyright © Christina Fox, All Rights Reserved

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I have been brought back to this over and over again. Especially recently. I am really struggling right now and am going through some looooooooong suffering. Sometimes it feels like it will never end. I hope this devotional encourages you…

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. KJV

LONGSUFFERING

The original Greek word for longsuffering is makrothumia (mak-roth-oo-mee’-ah) and means, forbearance, fortitude, patience, patiently

I want to look at the dictionary meanings for the following…

Patience ~ The bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain with out complaint, loss of temper, or anger. Quiet steady perseverance; even tempered.

Forbearance ~ Patient endurance, self control. An obstaining from the enforcement of a right.

Fortitude ~ Mental and emotional strength in facing adversity, danger, or temptation.

I don’t know about you, but patience is not my strong point. However, God gives us the ability to have these things. We can have patience when we ask for it. The problem is that we don’t realize that our answer requires us to “be” patient.

Let me explain…We ask for patience. God gives us children. After we get them we look up to Heaven and beg God to give us patience with these children. We don’t realize that the children are the answer. Children are one way that God uses to teach us patience. We cannot get patience without the lessons. We must learn patience. Once we embrace that we will see progress in the area of patience in our lives.

Another way that God gives us lessons in patience is through trials and adversity. The way to pass these lessons is to go through them without complaint. We must train ourselves to go through the storms not fight them.

You must understand that we all already have the fruits of the spirit available to us. In order to see them manifested In our lives we must submit to God. In the case of longsuffering (patience) we must embrace our difficulties and go through them without complaint. We must understand that they will only last a season and we will make it to the other side. It will go MUCH quicker if we go through it with patient endurance.

Remember something…the Israelites took 40 years to take an 11 day trip!

Why?

Murmuring and complaining.

Let’s Pray,

Daddy God, thank You for Your Word of Truth. Thank You that You have given me the strength to endure. I pray that You help me to recognize opportunities to be quiet and endure. Help me to see and understand when You are trying to teach me the very thing I beg for. Help me to stay strong and not lose faith and hope. Help me, Daddy. Please. I love You, Lord. I want my life to shine for You. Thank You so much for choosing me to be Your very own. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

In His Love and Service,

Lara

Copyright © Lara Velez, All Rights Reserved

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