**Daily Devotional** **December 7** *10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. - James 5:10-11 (KJV)* James is telling Christians that we should study how the prophets, of the Old Testament, had the patience to make it through all their afflictions and persecutions. As Paul wrote, the Old Testament scriptures were given for us to learn from (1 Corinthians 10:11). James has been teaching that our patience, over a period of time, will make us perfect (James 1:4). Patience is just having faith over a period of time, and faith is what pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). James has just been comparing our faith with that of a farmer, and how they have to patiently wait for the right time to harvest their crops, so they will reap the greatest harvest, and us having patience will make us reap the biggest rewards in God’s Kingdom. Our happiness comes from having patience to endure through any trials, and only God can give us enough patience to do so. All Christians, who are truly born again, have longsuffering as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and that is patience, so we have the capability to be patient, if we will just draw on our gift of the fruit of the Spirit. Job was used as an example of patience, as he continued to worship God through all his trials, and ended up being rewarded with twice as much as he had to begin with (Job 42:10). Sad to say, it would appear that a lot of Christians do not exhibit much patience, and that is not pleasing to God. Draw on the fruit of the Spirit, and let your light shine (Matthew 5:16) in this dark world – praise God. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com