Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
James 5 ... 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts:for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Establish your hearts ...
As we grow older, wisdom shows us that this present world should be less important to us for soon we will leave it.
I know I am considerably different now than I was 30 years ago.
My contractor called me this week and is ready to begin some repair work at the house. I was happy for him to do as much work as he wanted to do ... or as little work as he wanted to do.
He found some severe damage to windows and needs to replace the frames on 5 windows and do some repair to the other windows, and seal all windows against weather. He examined the damage caused to the outside of house by egg throwing vandals. He also noticed the work done a few years ago where there had been other vandals and said painter used the wrong kind of material to fill the cracks. I was not surprised. But I did commit it to God, not wanting any seeds of evil against painter to grow in my heart. (God will judge painter.)
When contractor left my house yesterday, I told him how happy I am. I am happier now at this age (77) than I've ever been in my entire life. I told him we make too much over these things on this earth. Most things don't really matter.
The inside of my house is dry and secure. I have plenty of food. I don't want clothing since I don't go anywhere but grocery store and dental appointments and eye doctor appointments.
The changes inside me took place so slowly over the years that I didn't even notice they were happening.
How did they come about?
I believe they come as we are confronted with problems and choose the way of God in the problem rather than our own way. We are changed (established) from the inside out.
Incorrect goals can lead us the wrong way.
For example: On the recent egg damage, I wanted to get the house repainted before I die so Pam wouldn't have to deal with this. (Sounds like a noble goal but is it the best way to go?) So I asked contractor if he would like to paint the house and repair the egg damage. He said he would like to have this job. That was in January. I heard nothing more from him. Three months passed. The pressure to get this done began to build inside me. Then God brought me the following concept. After I am dead, Pam can put house on real estate market. The realtor can get the repair work done. (This is something realtors are accustomed to doing. They will know repair people to get the job done.) Or they can sell the house "as is" at special price and the new owners can take care of the work. Either would work. These plans removed all pressure from me so I no longer would have to put pressure on contractor through phone calls and such. It wouldn't matter if the contractor didn't show up to do the work. I didn't have to harass the contractor with phone calls. We could all continue life in a way of peace.
So my approach to all this changed. Contractor could do all the work. He could do part of the work. He could choose to do none of the work. It made no real difference to me.
Then on his own (3 months after I asked him), contractor showed up, ready to work.
==========
Other ways God changes us ... When we read the Bible we become more established. We read the stories of Abraham, Joseph, David, Peter, Paul and others. We see God working. We know everything is under control of God even when it doesn't look like it. We become more settled, more patient when we read examples daily and let these scriptural examples go down into our hearts. It is like planting a good garden inside us.
And when we act on something from Bible by faith in God, the seed in us grows and bears fruit in us.
When I felt a man defrauded me on a TV set, and I was struggling to try to adjust the picture, I heard these words: "You don't have to put up with that." I stopped and considered what I had just heard. The TV was only a year old. It was expensive. I had never considered replacing the TV until I heard those words. I had the money to replace the TV. God changed my direction completely. I chose to go in a direction which would have been very foolish in the eyes of man but was wise in the eyes of God. I simply bought a new TV and had the installers carry the old TV away as if it were a dead body being removed from my house.
My soul is important to me.
Faith comes through acting on that which we believe we have heard from God. (Faith without works is dead ... James 2:26)
Our actions show we believe what God has said and we choose to go in a way appropriate to that which we believe we have heard from God.
James 3 ...But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
And as we go in the way of God, we learn to dispense kindness even to those who do wrong, not rewarding them for their evil, knowing God will sort it all out in a just way.
Romans 12 ... 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath:for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
We really know in our hearts that God will sort it out in a completely just way. We just choose to do what is right in the sight of God allowing HIM to deal with the matter. And strange as it sounds, bearing no malice in our hearts for the perceived wrong, knowing God will repay both the evil doer and the just. We prefer our paying come from God rather than from ourselves.
And learning to live the following scriptures help us greatly:
Col. 3 ... 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:6 For which things 'sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any:even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
All this comes through taking each trouble of this life to God in prayer and by doing that which you are persuaded you have heard from God in the matter. The multiple problems enable us to be formed like a tree, established by God and by what HE tells us rather than by our own ideas.
We are like Psalm 1 when we do these things, trouble by trouble.
1 Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
==========
In the meantime, surround your mind by the word of God, by the many examples given in the Bible of the great working of God in the midst of problems. The Old Testament is filled with such.
People often think of the past. This would be good if the past we thought of had to do with the examples of Abraham, Joseph and such.
That can be the past we think on if we choose to do it.
And we will even find ourselves being kind to people who are unthankful and evil ... this is called "mercy".
Don't worry ... God will sort it out and bring HIS justice ...
When I think of "justice", I really wouldn't know what to do with them anyway ... but God does!