WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Today, we're going to take a posture of peace 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:07.140 by letting patience have its full effect. 3 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.680 Posture is a short, audible fist bump 4 00:00:10.680 --> 00:00:13.560 to remind you God is with you in everything. 5 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:15.560 Together, we're going to be emboldened 6 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:18.080 to take a daily posture of perfect peace. 7 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:25.000 What I shared in yesterday's episode 8 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.140 has me thinking a lot about patience. 9 00:00:29.180 --> 00:00:33.580 I'm taking time right now to really explore its depths. 10 00:00:33.580 --> 00:00:37.400 And the Lord, he often takes me on these treasure hunts, 11 00:00:37.400 --> 00:00:39.420 you know, focusing on a kingdom truth, 12 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:41.060 discovering a kingdom truth. 13 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:43.260 And you know, it is so much like finding treasure 14 00:00:43.260 --> 00:00:44.700 because think about this. 15 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:49.260 If you were to find a treasure chest full of gold today, 16 00:00:49.260 --> 00:00:52.340 that would most definitely upgrade your lifestyle. 17 00:00:52.340 --> 00:00:55.420 Like you would start living differently after that. 18 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:58.740 And it's the same when I discover these kingdom truths, 19 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:00.900 I'm never the same after that. 20 00:01:00.900 --> 00:01:05.900 My lifestyle is totally upgraded and I live differently. 21 00:01:06.260 --> 00:01:08.740 And I have to admit, like, as we've been focusing 22 00:01:08.740 --> 00:01:11.300 on the fruit of the spirit as a posture community, 23 00:01:11.300 --> 00:01:14.380 I wasn't actually expecting patience 24 00:01:14.380 --> 00:01:17.500 to be a fruit that captured my heart like it has. 25 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:19.740 And I think that's because patience, 26 00:01:19.740 --> 00:01:23.180 much like self-control, often gets a bad rep. 27 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:26.020 Like for me, practicing patience 28 00:01:26.020 --> 00:01:28.420 always seemed like something to dread, 29 00:01:29.100 --> 00:01:31.300 not something to delight in. 30 00:01:31.300 --> 00:01:33.500 Maybe you've experienced this, 31 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:36.620 you come into a frustrating season 32 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.420 or you happen upon a frustrating person 33 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:40.920 and you find yourself saying, 34 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:44.400 the Lord must be teaching me patience. 35 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:45.940 I've said that a lot. 36 00:01:45.940 --> 00:01:50.740 And honestly, what I was saying was just a half-hearted 37 00:01:50.740 --> 00:01:54.700 attempt of trying to absorb frustration. 38 00:01:54.700 --> 00:01:56.420 But let me tell you from experience, 39 00:01:56.420 --> 00:01:59.180 what happens when you absorb frustration 40 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:03.260 is eventually you explode with frustration. 41 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:05.620 Patience is so much more than that. 42 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:11.540 When we give the power of definition over to the world, 43 00:02:11.540 --> 00:02:15.560 it distorts and diminishes the truth 44 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.380 in our own hearts and minds. 45 00:02:17.380 --> 00:02:21.220 So that is what happened to me with patience. 46 00:02:21.220 --> 00:02:25.460 And it's time for me to renew my mind, 47 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:27.380 to think about patience differently, 48 00:02:27.380 --> 00:02:30.340 and to practice patience like a person 49 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:33.720 who is in this world, but not of it. 50 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:37.660 Like a person belonging to God's kingdom. 51 00:02:37.660 --> 00:02:39.460 Remember, the fruit of the Spirit 52 00:02:39.460 --> 00:02:42.780 is not some holy to-do list of virtues 53 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:44.860 we have to go achieve by ourselves. 54 00:02:44.860 --> 00:02:48.380 It is the very nature of God. 55 00:02:48.380 --> 00:02:52.180 And everything God is, He is relentlessly. 56 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.340 He has no limit. 57 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:58.380 This means patience is not a limited resource. 58 00:02:58.380 --> 00:03:00.420 It's not some personality trait. 59 00:03:00.420 --> 00:03:03.220 It is Spirit empowerment. 60 00:03:03.220 --> 00:03:05.980 That is good news because it means 61 00:03:05.980 --> 00:03:08.220 you're not running out of it. 62 00:03:08.220 --> 00:03:12.060 You are never in short supply of patience. 63 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:14.980 You don't have to go get patience from somewhere 64 00:03:14.980 --> 00:03:19.540 or something or someone because you already possess it. 65 00:03:19.540 --> 00:03:23.620 Because the empowering presence of God is in you. 66 00:03:23.660 --> 00:03:28.660 And like the Bible says, as He is, so are we in this world. 67 00:03:29.220 --> 00:03:31.900 Frustrating people, frustrating circumstances, 68 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:34.340 trials, tribulations, sufferings, 69 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:37.620 they are not teaching you how to be patient. 70 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:42.620 Patience is teaching you how to be in frustration 71 00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:46.460 when things are hard, when there's suffering occurring. 72 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:49.160 Patience is empowering you in the middle 73 00:03:49.160 --> 00:03:51.480 of those trials and tribulations, 74 00:03:51.480 --> 00:03:54.960 not to be overcome, but to overcome. 75 00:03:56.600 --> 00:04:00.640 It doesn't absorb negativity, it converts it. 76 00:04:00.640 --> 00:04:02.840 Patience knows this. 77 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:07.840 Tribulation is actually an upgrade disguised as a problem. 78 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.840 Whenever tribulation reveals itself, 79 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.720 patience is already present to release a power 80 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:19.360 that enables you to prosper and rise up 81 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:21.399 in your true identity. 82 00:04:22.260 --> 00:04:24.920 James chapter one, verses two through four, 83 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:27.480 I'm sure you're very familiar with this scripture. 84 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:29.520 Count it all joy. 85 00:04:29.520 --> 00:04:31.920 When you fall into various trials, 86 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.840 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 87 00:04:36.840 --> 00:04:39.600 And when you let patience have its full effect, 88 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:41.940 you become perfect and complete, 89 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:45.940 fully mature, lacking nothing. 90 00:04:45.940 --> 00:04:50.780 I have read this scripture a lot, like hundreds of times, 91 00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:55.780 but I never considered the full effect of patience on me, 92 00:04:56.860 --> 00:04:59.980 that it makes me perfect and complete. 93 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.480 lacking in nothing. Letting it take full effect means letting it do its job. 94 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:12.880 Letting patience rise up in you to convert any negative reaction into a 95 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:22.280 godly response filled with hope. And remember Romans 5, our hope, which is an 96 00:05:22.280 --> 00:05:28.600 expectation of good, that expectation will not put us to shame because the 97 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:33.560 endless love of God has been poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who 98 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:43.120 lives in us. This is such good news. So today here's what you can expect, God's 99 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:52.720 goodness, that you will not be overcome but you will overcome. The promise of 100 00:05:52.720 --> 00:06:00.000 perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3. In Hebrew it is shalom shalom, meaning 101 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:06.720 complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in 102 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:14.080 Jesus because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. With 103 00:06:14.080 --> 00:06:19.320 every step you take today you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's 104 00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:22.800 defeat on replay.