Meet my new friend, Patience…..
I’ve known of Patience for years but I never really got to know her. To be honest she can come across as a bit of a loner…..someone standing on the sidelines…..almost waiting for others to beckon her into their lives; their relationships……..but never forcing herself upon anyone……
She holds herself together with a certain poise and calmness and I used to imagine that if she were embraced as a significant presence in one’s life, her subtle serenity could easily be absorbed…….if only any of us would give her that time…….
So I did…….
It was quite accidental too! It wasn’t that I felt I particularly needed Patience in my life……..as at the time, I was in a daily place of utter peace……recovering from spine surgery and writing another book; so I was home most days and my routine was, for the first time in many years, extremely relaxed…….a time and place of rest…….in Him…… and a spiritual place of sweet acceptance of what had been…….and what may be next……knowing God had me and mine in the palm of His mighty hand!
But it was as I was writing and praying that God spoke to me…….and it was a morning of HUGE revelation! I love when God speaks……and you aren’t expecting it! There I was…..praying……AND NOT EXPECTING IT!! WHAT? Who am I kidding?! God always speaks……but that morning was so…….well, startling!! Because it was so obvious and I’m almost embarrassed by the fact that I had even questioned, albeit completely unawares, the beautiful sound of the subtlest and purest of revelations…….
“Ellie……….anything I give to My children is good…..nothing is ever bad……it can’t be…..because I AM all good…..The FRUIT of my Spirit is ALL GOOD………There isn’t ANY bad fruit………so ALL the fruits of My Spirit are good for you……And Ellie……I want you to get to know Patience…….because she is ALL GOOD…….and she is your friend…….Patience is your friend…….write about Patience……because I want ALL my children to really know her”
Now I didn’t mention this earlier, but that precise morning I had decided to make a cup of tea and go back to bed to read and pray………so after this revelation…….I had to jump up and down on my bed!! But bear in mind I’m still having to be very careful I don’t do anything to pressurise my spine and also…….my bed is under a slanted roof and skylight! It was DIFFICULT! But I needed to rejoice! AND GUESS WHAT?? I DID!!!!
It’s not just the revelation……..it’s the privilege of hearing from God……He LOVES to converse with us…….Praise His Mighty Name!
God only blesses us with good fruit………lets make sure WE don’t allow it to go bad…..
I want my fruit to ripen…..I want God to look at me and see MY fruit, plump, juicy and prime! I often get so engrossed in something in my Bible, that I want to eat it! I know, I know…….but I do! I could eat the words! And now, I want to eat ALL of that GOOD fruit that the Lord has given me……..
I will clasp the hand of my new friend, Patience. I will envelop her in love and talk to her; we’ll pray together; analyse together ( she may be able to change this need I have to analyse everything 🙂 )……
And if anybody ever articulates distaste whan I say to them ‘Pray for Patience’ I’ll invite them to get to know her…….
Because she is one GOOD friend……and I cherish our friendship!
Love Ellie 🙂
http://www.elliepalmacass.com
Fruit of the Spirit
HOW FRUITY ARE YOU?!
I’m writing a new book at the moment. A 40 day devotional. It’s called ‘Feeling Fruity’.
I’m ALWAYS feeling fruity…….because I’m ALWAYS aiming to amplify each of the following Holy Spirit fruits……..”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)
So….the LOVE thing? It’s a walk around the block for me 🙂 I can love, love, love! I can love you even when I don’t particularly like you! I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, my heart is one big squishy mass of LOVE!
JOY? I feel it bubbling up…..pretty much all the time……It’s mainly because I find joy in the simplest of things…..and it’s also because over the years as a Christian I have, like Paul, learned that joy is to be activated in ourselves, whatever the circumstances!
FORBEARANCE? Uh-oh………here we go! AKA as ENDURANCE, PATIENCE, RESTRAINT, TOLERANCE………At this detail, I’d like to move on quickly…….but I’d be losing self-control! Let me be clear on this 🙂 Jesus has shown a MAGNITUDE of FORBEARANCE when it’s come to me! I am thankful beyond worship for the opportunities God has given me to learn about this particular, and very important, fruit! The lessons can be tough…..but the outcome is to be rejoiced over! How will we ever grow and become more Christ-like if we don’t go through the trials which make us better people……not just for ourselves, but for others to see. It’s only through situations and circumstances that affect us that we will ever learn about these fruits…….God knows what plans He has for you and these plans aren’t all about you! They’re all about Him and His glory! God wants others to see you stay the course so that they believe they can stay the course too! God didn’t choose any of us so that He could throw us to one side after we receive salvation…….No, there’s a huge plan……there’s LOTS to do……there’s a Kingdom to unite, a Kingdom to protect, a Kingdom to fight for! YOU are like gold to God…..YOU are the apple of His eye! He has a plan to make you into the BEST you that YOU could possibly be!! So…….pray for His strength and guidance and enjoy this fruit…..I promise you…..it can happen……be faithful…….If it couldn’t happen, our Mighty God wouldn’t have ‘spoken’ it to be!
KINDNESS……What do you see as kindness? I always feel that wherever kindness is, God is. I can almost see Him smiling as He moves amongst the kindness people show each other. I remember a car sticker I used to see that said ‘Commit Random Acts of Kindness’ and I got excited because I love to do that. An unexpected kindness shown to someone can make a huge difference to their day and I do believe that if we pray, God will also lead us to give a blessing of kindness to a person who is longing in their heart to receive one.
I absolutely love Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers! I’ve always loved Stevie Nicks (hence my beautiful daughter is called Rhiannon after a song written by her 🙂 ) and it was through Stevie Nicks partnering on some stuff with Tom Petty that I discovered him and first heard the song ‘Free Fallin’. I might just have to play it now! The first verse is “She’s a good girl, loves her mama, loves Jesus and America too; She’s a good girl, crazy ’bout Elvis, loves horses and her boyfriend too”. So…….this girl ‘loves’ and it seems that is what classes her as a GOOD girl! But is GOODNESS…….easy? Well, goodness is the opposite of ‘badness’, the opposite of ‘evil’ and I would always consider myself as a ‘good girl’! I feel that GOODNESS, in God’s eyes is also a willingness to do the right thing, not necessarily in a worldly way, but in the Biblical sense. We have choices to make…..…..to do good or to do bad.
And whether we have to keep working on our characters……becoming more GENTLE, more FAITHFUL and yes (!) aspiring to have more SELF-CONTROL, we have to realise that every good gift that comes from God is for our pleasure, our abundance, our prosperity and advancement.
We surely cannot handle the GIFTS that come from God until we learn how to access and achieve every fruit from the Holy Spirit! But if you have an eagerness and hunger to live a life full of Holy Spirit fruit……well……you too are FEELING FRUITY!!!!
I want to pray for you right now as you’re reading this…………:-)
I pray that as you join your life to Christ’s, that you perceive His abundant love for you, that you learn to experience His love more and more, and that as you emulate the love of Christ, you are ‘seen’ by all that need to SEE His love and salvation. In Jesus’ precious Name!
Love Ellie
internationellie 