Today, we're going to take a posture of peace
by letting patience have its full effect.
Posture is a short, audible fist bump
to remind you God is with you in everything.
Together, we're going to be emboldened
to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
What I shared in yesterday's episode
has me thinking a lot about patience.
I'm taking time right now to really explore its depths.
And the Lord, he often takes me on these treasure hunts,
you know, focusing on a kingdom truth,
discovering a kingdom truth.
And you know, it is so much like finding treasure
because think about this.
If you were to find a treasure chest full of gold today,
that would most definitely upgrade your lifestyle.
Like you would start living differently after that.
And it's the same when I discover these kingdom truths,
I'm never the same after that.
My lifestyle is totally upgraded and I live differently.
And I have to admit, like, as we've been focusing
on the fruit of the spirit as a posture community,
I wasn't actually expecting patience
to be a fruit that captured my heart like it has.
And I think that's because patience,
much like self-control, often gets a bad rep.
Like for me, practicing patience
always seemed like something to dread,
not something to delight in.
Maybe you've experienced this,
you come into a frustrating season
or you happen upon a frustrating person
and you find yourself saying,
the Lord must be teaching me patience.
I've said that a lot.
And honestly, what I was saying was just a half-hearted
attempt of trying to absorb frustration.
But let me tell you from experience,
what happens when you absorb frustration
is eventually you explode with frustration.
Patience is so much more than that.
When we give the power of definition over to the world,
it distorts and diminishes the truth
in our own hearts and minds.
So that is what happened to me with patience.
And it's time for me to renew my mind,
to think about patience differently,
and to practice patience like a person
who is in this world, but not of it.
Like a person belonging to God's kingdom.
Remember, the fruit of the Spirit
is not some holy to-do list of virtues
we have to go achieve by ourselves.
It is the very nature of God.
And everything God is, He is relentlessly.
He has no limit.
This means patience is not a limited resource.
It's not some personality trait.
It is Spirit empowerment.
That is good news because it means
you're not running out of it.
You are never in short supply of patience.
You don't have to go get patience from somewhere
or something or someone because you already possess it.
Because the empowering presence of God is in you.
And like the Bible says, as He is, so are we in this world.
Frustrating people, frustrating circumstances,
trials, tribulations, sufferings,
they are not teaching you how to be patient.
Patience is teaching you how to be in frustration
when things are hard, when there's suffering occurring.
Patience is empowering you in the middle
of those trials and tribulations,
not to be overcome, but to overcome.
It doesn't absorb negativity, it converts it.
Patience knows this.
Tribulation is actually an upgrade disguised as a problem.
Whenever tribulation reveals itself,
patience is already present to release a power
that enables you to prosper and rise up
in your true identity.
James chapter one, verses two through four,
I'm sure you're very familiar with this scripture.
Count it all joy.
When you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
And when you let patience have its full effect,
you become perfect and complete,
fully mature, lacking nothing.
I have read this scripture a lot, like hundreds of times,
but I never considered the full effect of patience on me,
that it makes me perfect and complete.
lacking in nothing. Letting it take full effect means letting it do its job.
Letting patience rise up in you to convert any negative reaction into a
godly response filled with hope. And remember Romans 5, our hope, which is an
expectation of good, that expectation will not put us to shame because the
endless love of God has been poured in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
lives in us. This is such good news. So today here's what you can expect, God's
goodness, that you will not be overcome but you will overcome. The promise of
perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3. In Hebrew it is shalom shalom, meaning
complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in
Jesus because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. With
every step you take today you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's
defeat on replay.