I got very frustrated yesterday!  It seemed like everything I started out to do that should have been very easy, ended up being very difficult!  As the day drove on I found a growing tension in my neck and shoulders, and my attitude felt like it might just explode at any minute.  When I sat down to look at the Scripture this morning, I got to thinking about why I was so messed up about being messed up and I realized the biggest problem for me was my impatience!

Sometimes I am not a very patient person.  I don’t want to lose my cool, but I often do and while I try very hard to not lose it in front of other people, the truth is:  I still lose it, even if it is in private!

If I am going to accomplish God’s will for my life, then I must learn to practice patient endurance.  Hebrews 10:36 says: “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” As I learn to endure life’s difficulties without becoming anxious or annoyed, I become more patient and as I become more patient, the peace of God is able to flow into and through me and the will of God is accomplished in my life!

My being patient is a badge that shows that I trust God.  This is a form of faith and as my faith grows, so does my relationship with my Creator.  As my relationship with my Creator grows, then so does my relationships with others!

Some say that we should never pray for patience, but the truth is:  “We have not because we ask not!”

Lord, help me to grow in my patience!  Help me to endure life’s difficulties!  Help me to grow strong and dependent upon You, rather than weak and frustrated in my independence.  I know that You will bring me opportunities for Your Holy Spirit to grow and perfect this area in my heart and life, help me to recognize and take advantage of these opportunities!  When the frustrating circumstances of life come my way, help me to react with calm assurance, quiet strength and faithful trust that You are at work!

There is so much noise in my life!  The phone is always making a sound alerting me to a call, email or incoming message!  Television and radio are often blasting useless information!  And there is talk, talk, talk all around me!  All of this noise and if I am not careful, I can miss the still, small voice of my Creator!

I want to cut it all off, take a moment in the silence to hear the sound of praise for the One Who made me!  I want to cut it all off and take a moment to bask in the amazing wonder of the awesome things that He has done, is doing and will do!  I want to have more of those awesome, inspiring and incredible moments where God shows up, shows out and blows my mind!

I confess today, that I often miss these moments because I am so busy that I fail to take the time to sit still in His presence.  I need His help to discipline myself to cut it all off and leave it off, so that I might hear, see, feel and experience Him!

Lord, help me today to build a few moments into this day, where I can be in the still quietness with You!  Help me to be open to Who You are and what You are up to in me and around me.  Show me just enough of Your awesome plan, that I will be able to walk in obedient surrender and always be ready for Your will to be accomplished in my life.

In the stillness of this moment, I ask for Your help and look forward to what we get to do together today!

It does not matter who you are, where you come from or what mistakes you might have made, you are loved!  You are loved by the One Who created you and His name is God!

That very popular verse of Scripture that almost everyone can quote by heart – John 3:16 says:  “For God so loved the world (that’s you) that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him (that’s how you receive His love) shall not perish but have eternal life  (that’s what you get when your receive His love)!”

God loves you!  You are special to Him!  So special that He gave His Son.  Why?  So that we might be able to have relationship with Him.  God does not love you because you are a good person.  God does not love you because you do everything right.  God loves you because God is love.  Love is not what God does, love is what God is!

God’s love can never be earned or deserved, but it can be received by faith!  You can’t give to anyone else what you do not have for yourself.  If you want to give love, then you must receive love.  God loves you!  Open up your heart and receive the gift of His love today and begin to share that love with everyone in every way that you can!