January 30: PATIENCE
“You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore, settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.” Luke 21:12b-15
In preparing us for His return, Jesus makes perfect sense to the disciple who is totally yielded to Him. But for the one who is holding back, these instructions appear unreasonable. This is partly because we are planners. This is not a sin unless the planning is not submitted to Him. But, more than this, there are things which He has already shown us that we have not obeyed, which is sin (John 9:41, 15:22, James 4:17). If you are anxious about what to say when occasion for testimony comes, check for aspects in your life that are out of alignment with His word.
You have the promise of the Holy Spirit to point out what to patiently pursue and what to “kick out of your life”. Just ask, and He will do it! But be ready to obey with your whole heart. Callused hearts are the inevitable result of disobedience to the Lord, who went on to say, “By your patience possess your souls.” (Luke 21:19)
It is a mistake to understand patience as passivity or inaction. An accurate view of this word includes the attribute of alert focus upon the One who is identified as the Word of God (John1:1, Revelation 19:13). Do you believe Him? If so, you believe His word. To be wholly yielded to Him readies you to accept the divine aid that is essential if you are to stand the trials and tests that are ahead. While He walked upon the earth in the likeness of sinful human flesh, Jesus experienced temptation just as we do. His way of honoring us was to keep Himself pure, in order that He would go on to be the spotless Passover Lamb who would efficaciously die the death that you and I deserve. Let us honor Him with speech and actions according to His word.
In contrast to the multitude of end-time mouths from which a profusion of counterfeit messages and deceptions flow (Revelation 9:17; 12:15; 16:13), may we, by His grace, speak only truth. Stand firm upon the Rock. Be supernaturally enabled to glorify Him through your witness on a moment’s notice, for He has promised, “I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.”
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12