With His Patience

They say "patience is a virtue", but I think most of us are probably wondering why it seemed to skip over us at birth. Not much is required to set us off these days. Aren't you thankful that God hasn't dealt with you the way you deal with people who test your patience? It really is astounding to think about how gracious and slow to anger the Lord is with us. We may live in rebellion for years, yet God is still waiting for us to turn to Him. If you're reading this right now, you know that God has been patient with you because you are not destroyed. Psalm 103 reminds us that God "does not treat us as our sins deserve". What a powerful statement! We all know that one day we will stand before the Judge of all judges and even though our deeds will pronounce us "guilty", God will pronounce us free because the due penalty has already been paid by the blood of Jesus. But patience takes it a step further. God is patient with even those still rejecting that blood of Jesus; He warns us of disaster and waits for us to repent, because He does not want us to be destroyed. This week at Friendship, we'll talk about how we can FORTIFY ourselves with God's patience, knowing we can turn to Him even after we have rebelled for a long time. We should remember, however, that His patience is NOT forever, and we must not take it for granted. If you have been going astray and feeling distant from God, this is the week to turn back around, and we hope you'll come out for this very important message.