In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says that you cannot serve both God and mammon (material wealth and possessions. Then He proceeds with the assumption that you have enough sense to serve God and tells you how, without any consideration given to serving mammon. Similarly, worldly faith and patience will not be considered here.

Faith is the unquestioning belief that the Word of God is true, that the outcome of any given situation will be as he promised. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Patience is the ability to endure, to stand firm in your convictions, to persist against seemingly adverse conditions. How much patience a person has is directly proportional to the amount of faith that has been acquired. Patience and faith are inseparable, one cannot exist without the other. Since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, it follows that patience is also acquired the same way.

The testing of a person's belief in the Word of God necessitates the using of the ability to endure and persist until the desired result is obtained. To exercise patience is to demonstrate one's faith with the end result being the manifestation of that person's faith in the sense realm.

When we are drawn away from God's Word and enticed is the beginning of a test. Then we are required to make a choice. If we act on the enticement, sin is the result. If we hold fast to our convictions, then we shall overcome.

I will show you my faith by my works because I let my patience have it's perfect work. Allowing patience to have it's perfect work will increase your desire to acquire more faith with patience through God's Word. God occasionally "primes the pump" with signs and wonders.

We are to count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations because it occasions for us a chance to prove to the world that the Word of God will deliver us, because God is faithful and will not allow us to be tested beyond that which we are able to withstand. When a person sins it is the result of a choice. Believe God and He will deliver you.

Lyle C. Hildebrand