Give the Gift of Patience

What is love?

That’s the question the apostle Paul tackled in 1 Corinthians 13. Near the top of the list, you’ll find this:  “Love is patient” (1 Corinthians 13:4).   Being patient shows a willingness to:

* cut people slack, even when they may not deserve it;  

* withhold judgment when people mess up;  

* give people time to grow. 

Patience allows us to look past people’s rough exteriors to see what’s inside. Patience allows us to accept people as they are—and to resist the urge to change them. 

To give someone the gift of your patience is to lay the groundwork for a deeper relationship with that person. If you have trouble giving the gift of patience to others, remind yourself that your loved ones the people who are closest to you—give you the gift of their patience every day. 

Weekly Bookgiveaway

WEEKLY DRAWING 8/31-9/6

This week I'm giving away a copy of the KJV STUDY BIBLE (WOMEN'S EDITION) which my team helped develop Barbour Publishing.

This is pretty useful resource for reading God's word. It contains 6,500 study notes written by pastors and teachers, beautiful binding, dictionary, concordance, profiles of Bible women, promises for Bible women and a host of other features designed especially for women.

We're giving away 4 copies this week (2 on Facebook and 2 on Twitter). You want to sign up? Here's how:

SIGN UP INSTRUCTIONS FOR  TWITTER:
Follow @ReadEngageApply and RT the following:
Want a free study Bible? Follow @ReadEngageApply & RT to enter. Two winners! You could be one! http://tweetsw.in/2497/ 

Twitter giveaway is being run through TweetsWin. See the contest page here.

SIGN UP INSTRUCTIONS FOR  FACEBOOK:
Sign up at Facebook by pressing LIKE or commenting on this photo.

REQUIREMENTS Sorry, must be 18+ years old to win and have a US shipping address. Need more legal stuff?

CLICK HERE FOR RULES, Terms, and Conditions.

Leadership is Lonely

Exodus 17:4: "Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”   

The price of leadership is often loneliness. 
     In leadership, a dark shadowy valley often follows a mountaintop experience.
 

     We see this pattern with God’s leaders. Moses soared from the heights of leading his people out of Egyptian bondage and landed in the depths of near depression and death threats.
 

     The great Moses led people who didn’t trust him. They grumbled. They complained. They second-guessed. They disobeyed. Each time, Moses turned in frustration to God. At one point, Moses cried out, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Exodus 17:4).
  
     Moses illustrates a simple truth of leadership: Loneliness frequently follows situations that become “us” against “them,” or the leader standing alone against groups of people who have formed pockets of resistance, gossip and more. 
     Throughout the life of his leadership, Moses endured the Israelites’ complaints and rebellion (see Exodus 15–17; Numbers 14; 16). In the face of ensuing isolation and loneliness that Moses must have experienced, he continued serving faithfully by appointing priests and judges, creating a place of worship, delivering God’s law, writing the first five books of the Bible and interceding on behalf of the people.
  
     We learn from Moses’ life that the price of leadership is often loneliness. During the difficult times of leading the people through the wilderness, Moses faced opposition from those who should have been his closest allies.
  
     Leadership is difficult and lonely work. What leaders need to experience your support?
  
     What can you do to help leaders at work or church implement tough changes they are trying to make?



* Source of base image: http://www.edinboro.edu/dotAsset/123074.jpg

Fight Darkness

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8) 

Paul uses the complete contrast between light and darkness to help us understand the complete contrast between who we were before we knew God and who we are in God.

Most children are scared of the dark when they are little. You may remember a time when you felt lost or trapped in the dark. You may also remember the joy, relief and love that you felt when your mom or dad arrived on the scene and flipped a light on.

This is a small example of the joy, relief and love that we experience when we invite God into our darkness to rescue us. And when we do, we become children of light.

This means that we don’t go back into the darkness. Instead, we work to fight the darkness. We work to love God, to love others and to not sin. We are no longer in darkness. We have been rescued.

Dear God, thank you for rescuing us. Please help us to live like children of light. Amen.

This devotion was written for Once a Day: At the Table Family Devotional. This is a family-oriented devotional book written by my writing team & me. Reprinted with permission.