Thank you for your post,very good questions,and we will look into the Word of GOD Almighty for the answers.
Sisygirl asks:
If you were to explain the following two questions to a 5year old, how will you go about it?
* The combination of love (that is often expressed as something nice) and longsuffering? (Why would something nice be associated with paint?
GNWS:
First i believe you had meant to say(Why would something nice be associated with paint?) PAIN not paint.
There could be some pain painting,as i had been a painter for a few years,and there was a lot of pain from painting 18 foot cathedral ceilings
using a 25 foot extension pole,hahahaha.
We need to find what the word 'longsuffering' means,and where in the Scriptures will we find what 'longsuffering' looks like.
English- longsuffering
Greek-makrothume�
Strong's Concordance
makrothume�: to persevere, to be patient
Original Word: μακροθυμέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: makrothume�
Phonetic Spelling: (mak-roth-oo-meh'-o)
Short Definition: I suffer long, have patience, am forbearing
Definition: I suffer long, have patience, am forbearing, perseverance.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 3114 makrothym�ō � properly, long-tempered (to defer anger), refusing to retaliate with anger, because of human reasoning.
[The literal sense if the term is "extending a long time (way)."]
3114 /makrothym�ō ("showing divinely-directed patience") is "longsuffering" because it only expresses anger as the Lord directs (i.e. is the opposite of being "quick-tempered"). See 3115 (makrothymia).
Original Word: μακροθυμία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: makrothumia
Phonetic Spelling: (mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah)
Short Definition: patience, forbearance
Definition: patience, forbearance, longsuffering.
HELPS Word-studies
3115 makrothym�a (from 3117 /makr�s, "long" and 2372 /thym�s, "passion, anger") � properly, long-passion, i.e. waiting sufficient time before expressing anger. This avoids the premature use of force (retribution) that rises out of improper anger (a personal reaction).
3115 /makrothym�a ("divinely-regulated patience") is used of God Himself (see 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:15). Indeed, only the Lord produces 3115 /makrothym�a ("true patience, longsuffering") in us and hence is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
"3115 (makrothym�a) embraces steadfastness and staying-power. If in English we had an adjective 'long-tempered' as a counterpart to 'short-tempered,' then makrothymia could be called the quality of being 'long-tempered'. . . . which is a quality of God (LXX, Ex 34:6)" (F. F. Bruce, Commentary on Galatians, 253).
Original Word: μακροθύμως
Part of Speech: Adverb
Transliteration: makrothum�s
Phonetic Spelling: (mak-roth-oo-moce')
Short Definition: patiently
Definition: with longsuffering, patiently.
HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 3116 makrothymṓs (an adverb) � patiently; literally, showing passion that is under control (used only in Ac 26:3). See 3115 (makrothymia).
5281 hypomonḗ (from 5259 /hyp�, "under" and 3306 /m�nō, "remain, endure") � properly, remaining under, endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to "remain (endure) under" the challenges He allots in life.
NAS: perseverance, and in [your] perseverance, godliness,
KJV: and to patience godliness;
INT: moreover the endurance the godliness
Now that we have a good definition of longsuffering,we find in the Word of GOD that longsuffering does not necessarily constitute having to have
physical pai;
There may be more anguish mentally then anything else.
Sisygirl:
* How does one obtain a transformed/renewed mind or what is a renewed mind at all?
GNWS:
Again,let us look into the Word of GOD Almighty to find what ABBA says about be 'renewed' in ones mind.
Sisygirl,please be mindful that there are some which teach and believe that a person does not need to be using their ' mind' when studying the Scriptres
English- transformed / renewed
Greek-metamorpho
Strong's Concordance
metamorpho�: to transform
Original Word: μεταμορφόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: metamorpho�
Phonetic Spelling: (met-am-or-fo'-o)
Short Definition: I change the form, transform
Definition: I transform, transfigure.
HELPS Word-studies
3339 metamorph�ō (from 3326 /met�, "change after being with" and 3445 /morph�ō, "changing form in keeping with inner reality") � properly, transformed after being with; transfigured.
[3339 (metamorph�ō) is the root of the English terms "metamorphosis" and "metamorphize."]
NAS: of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
KJV: of the Lord, are changed into the same
INT: same image are being transformed from glory
4 Occurrences
Metamorphoo is what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
The caterpillar does not become a butterfly overnight,this takes some time
called a process.
During the process of becoming a butterfly,the caterpillar is not beautiful,nor is it graceful in its moving about by crawling.
The caterpillar is destructive in its eating leaves from trees in order to grow.
Yet when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly we tend to forget that it was once a caterpillar.
To be transformed/ renewed in ones mind takes time,the first thing absolutely necessary is for a person to be a believer in Yeshua / Jesus.
A person needs to be taught how to read,study,understand,and translate the Word of GOD.
A person needs to pray with the Word of GOD Almighty.
One needs to meditate upon the Word pf GOD Almighty daily.
We need to discern the Word and will of GOD Almighty when we interact with others.
Share the Gospel with others,and fellowship with like minded believers.
These are just a few ways a person will be transformed in their mind.
Let us not forget that as a person s being transformed in their mind,that their heart will also be transformed,for As a man thinks in his / her heart so they are.
May the Lord bless you for rescuing me on this through your knowledge of answers to these questions.
Hi sisygirl, another way you might try is google search your question, such as "how do I explain longsuffering to a child"
I found one site called (Bible fun for kids) that had some cool teaching tools you may like to teach or explain some kids questions about the bible in a meaningful way ... there may be many others too but just be careful and use your good discretion with what info you find and plan to use, pray and ask those you trust for suggestions if there is doubt ;)
Being a single guy I really dislike the word nice, so I will replace it with the word kind.
And yes true love is both kind and longsuffering. The Best example of this is that God the Father loved us so much that in His Kindness and His Son's along with the Holy Spirit's we see the truest form of Love. After all that humankind did to rebel again the Trinity, the Godhead came up with a plan that cost us nothing, but had a high price to all Three Members of the Godhead.
For even Jesus tells us of His Love for us:
Greater love hath no man than this that a Man should lay down His life for His friends.
John 15:13
Paul stated it this way:
But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Christ Jesus Who as the Second Member of the Godhead, became poor for us that we might be made rich (spiritually) thru His poverty, II Corinthians 8:9.
This is truly longsuffering being totally righteousness as Christ Jesus was, but for His Greatest Kindness to us He took upon Himself our sins that we might be righteous, as the Apostle Paul states:
For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
II Corinthians 5:21
Christ Jesus was so kind that He was willing to suffer wrongfully for us all that He might bring us to His Father.
We even see the Apostle John calling the believers to this kind of love, I John 3:16-18.
* The combination of love (that is often expressed as something nice) and longsuffering? (Why would something nice be associated with pain?)
There is pain in the world as a side effect of love. Being free to really love someone enables the opposite effect of being really free to hate something. God tried to give us an environment of love, trust, and freedom. We messed it up. Because God loves us, He's trying to get our trust back instead of simply erasing us. That includes letting us live and see the results of our choices. But make no mistake, God loves us and is actively pursuing us. He subjected Himself to human suffering, even unto death on the cross. He has not remained distant, He personally knows your pain, and justice will be done.
* How does one obtain a transformed/renewed mind or what is a renewed mind at all?
I believe a renewed mind is one that is "Self-aware". You hear about the quest for computers to become self-aware, it might surprise you that most humans are slaves to their bodies like a computer is a slave to it's circuitry. In order to be "born again" and have a renewed mind, we must crucify the flesh and it's lusts. We do that by seeing what Christ has done for us. If we look at Christ, understand who He was, and understand what a glorious sacrifice our Creator made for us in giving His Son and taking our punishment on Himself...it can only make us reflect on just how terrible we really are. We can't even love the ones we love, we continually hurt them, how can we love everyone like God does? If we can see that we are terrible people, and that God is offering us a return to a better way, it usually inspires us to be freed from sin and stop causing pain to everyone. We see the fruit of sin for what it is, it might be a temporary pride or pleasure at the expense of others, but the end of sin is always fear, vanity, and death. We see the fruit of what God wants for us, life, love, joy, peace, filled to overflowing. If we choose to deny the flesh and choose life from God, then we have started on the path of self-awareness, we've been born again, we have a new heart, we've been renewed, we've been saved from the clutches of sin by the sacrifice of Christ.
