THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
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Once, Bertha R. Smith, wrote the following little story which was printed in Readers Digest's "Humor in Uniform."
"A few months after Tom and I were married during WWII, he was shipped off to Pearl Harbor. In one of his first letters, he wrote, "I'm going to have a Navy battleship tattooed on my chest."
Instead of pleading, I answered simply, "Send me a picture of your tattoo, and I'll have a duplicate put on my chest."
We have been married for 51 years. Neither of us has a tattoo."
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James 1:2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
KJV
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Some of you may wonder why I didn't send a devotion yesterday. Well, let's just say that God was helping me learn to deal with adversity! He was also teaching me patience -- "look carefully before leaping."
Yesterday morning, after I had done my Bible Study and had prayer, I opened the e-mail to begin writing a devotion. A familiar name came up with a new message. It had a "fwd" on it, so I opened it. Uh Oh!! Shoulda looked at the e-mail address first!
Someone had used a familiar name, but it had a different e-mail address. They sent me 244 Beagle Worms and 11 Trojans. And the worms weren't to be used for fishing! It took me almost 5 hours to clean the computer up!
LESSON: When opening "fwds," be sure to take time and check that it came from a reliable source first!
In order to use us, God must shape us to His satisfaction. When we face adversity, we call out to Him for help. Soon we learn that our only source of strength is in God - certainly not ourselves. And when we are totally dependent upon God, then "patience" has worked "her perfect work."
Love ya,
Bruce
mcge3582@bellsouth.net
http://www.linktojesus.org
When you pray for patience, be ready for an experience!