He Waits for You, 1 Chronicles 16:34amp
[34] O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness endures forever.
[18] For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. [19] For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. [20] But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me.
[2] Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits; [3] Who forgives all your sins, Who heals all your diseases; [4] Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy;
We open this morning with 1 Chronicles 16:34. Why? Because of the one word in this verse: lovingkindness. Another way to say this is: patience. Numerous times I believe we seem to forget that this is just as important as His grace and mercy. We wouldn’t have the grace and mercy if it weren’t for His patience. It is His patience that has stayed His hand for generations. It was His patience that gave David numerous chances to do things right and to come to Him for forgiveness. It was His patience that allowed the prodigal son to come back home. He could have written him off but He did not. He waited for his return, just as He always does with us whenever we stray away from Him. Whenever He has to watch us struggle, it is His patience that allows us to return to Him. All of the years that I ran, He waited on my return, too and He will wait for you! Our God is beyond patient. He is eternally patient with us because He knows we are human. He knows we will struggle and may fall many times in our struggles. However, He is always there waiting for us to come to Him. His patience endures forever. Which is why you must always hold on to Ps. 103:1-4 even though we experience Romans 7:18-20. God will always forgive all of your sins and heal all of your diseases and He will always redeem your life due to all of His benefits, one of those being patience. In all your struggles and trials continue to bless and affectionately praise the Lord.
#prodigalpastor #patience #God #Lord #struggle #trials #devotional #grace #mercy
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