Galations 5:22&23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

Colossians 1:10-11
"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"

Ephesians 4:1-3
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

It's hard to be patient with some people, isn't it? I've often been guilty of saying, "I have all kinds of patients with children, animals and senior citizens but no patients at all with incompetent, middle-aged adults. But if I am to bear the fruits of the Spirit, I must be longsuffering, even with these people who often drive me nuts. The people who leave their carts in the middle of the asile at Wal Mart and just walk off. The people who let their children play in the food at the salad bar. And even telemarketers who call me at dinner time and ask me how I know I don't need any more life insurance. (I'm sure you can tell this is one I have had to work on over the years!)

Luke 9:51-56 "And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village."

2 Kings 1:13-15 "And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king."

In the scripture above, the Samaritans would not receive Christ into their city because He was on His way to Jerusalem to the temple. They were totally against the Jews at Jerusalem and thought He should worship at the temple in Samaria. James and John were so indignant at their Master's treatment, they wanted Him to let them command fire to come down from heaven and comsume the city, just as Elijah had done in the Old Testament. But, Jesus rebuked them instead! He told them they didn't know what manner of spirit they were of. He said He had not come to earth to destroy lives but to save them! Then, look what they did. They went on to another village. Jesus was always longsuffering with the unbelievers around Him. We can't force our beliefs on others. All we can do is tell them how they can attain salvation. We can show them the way but if they won't accept God, that's their decision and there is nothing we can do about it. We can live a Christian life before them and pray for them, but other than that, it is out of our hands. The world is full of other villages.

Esther 3:1 "After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. 2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence."

Esther 6:1 "On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour."

Esther 7:10 "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified."

Esther is one of my favorite books. It tells the story of a young woman who, even though a Jew, became a Queen. Haman, although the most powerful man in the kingdom after the King, was so consumed with hatred because of Esther's cousin, Mordedai, he couldn't rest. Haman hated the Jews and Mordecai was a Jew. Haman hated the Jews so much he had made a decree to have all the Jews killed and they were not allowed to even defend themselves. In the scripture above, the King couldn't sleep one night and had the records of the Chronicles read to him. He then heard read that Mordecai had at one time discovered a plot against him and, thus, saved his life. He asked what had been done for the man and found that nothing had. He had Haman brought in and asked him what he thought should be done for someone the King wished to honor. Haman, thinking the King meant him, said the King's royal apparal should be put on him, the King's crown should be placed on his head and he should be placed on the King's horse and led through the street of the city by one of the princes. But, of course, this is what he wished for himself. This pleased the King so he ordered Haman to to do all this for Mordecai. I would love to have seen that!

I'm sure Mordecai wondered why he was not honored when he first saved the King's life. If someone uncovered a plot against our President today, his picture would be on the front of every newspaper in the country. God has a time and a plan for our lives if we will just be patient. Later on, we see that Haman built a gallows, intending to have Mordecai hanged on it. But God had other plans for that as well. We find in verse ten that Haman was hanged on his own gallows! The decree was altered and the Jews were allowed to defend themselves. There was a great slaughter, but it wasn't of the Jews! Patience pays!