"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV)
Each quarter as I read 2 Corinthians 4, it is new, more and more refreshing, ".....We do not lose heart....For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake....But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are... struck down, but not destroyed-- that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh....I believed and therefore I spoke,..knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up in Jesus, and will present us with you....Therefore...while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen....The things which are not seen are eternal."
50 years ago this month when Sarah and I were married, the world was a lot different. I could still run the 100 in the 10s, lift heavy weights, run up stairs, taking three at a time, etc. But now? Well, "outwardly we are wasting away." In June of 1964, the Viet Nam War had not started. Three civil rights workers had been brutally murdered not quite three days before our wedding. My Parents and all but one Grandparent were still living. I was pastoring four small congregations just south of Punxsutawney, PA. Gas was 25 cents a gallon. My Volkswagen bug cost $1800.00 and got 34 miles to a gallon. Sarah and I would go out for dinner on Sundays; a complete meal, including drink, was $1.00! Of course, we were only making $330.00 per month. And can you believe it; we had no television. It all seems like another epoch.
The world, however, has not improved. It has sunk deeper and deeper into what verse 4 says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." I was in the university at the time, and saw this passage walked out all around me. I would later see it in grad school, and can say that over the past 50 years I have seen no change for the better, rather a continual downward spiral of humanity. The Bible tells us, "....evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
But, "....we do not lose heart." For while those of the world, "are wasting away," outwardly and inwardly, for you and me, "inwardly we are being renewed day by day," by day by day by day. Every since you and I first surrendered our lives to Jesus, "....inwardly we are being renewed day by day," no matter what people may think are "dry" times or seasons. 50, 70, 100 years in Jesus, the truth still stands, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank you for, "achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." Amen.
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Blog: jhs58.blogspot.com
Each quarter as I read 2 Corinthians 4, it is new, more and more refreshing, ".....We do not lose heart....For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake....But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are... struck down, but not destroyed-- that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh....I believed and therefore I spoke,..knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up in Jesus, and will present us with you....Therefore...while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen....The things which are not seen are eternal."
50 years ago this month when Sarah and I were married, the world was a lot different. I could still run the 100 in the 10s, lift heavy weights, run up stairs, taking three at a time, etc. But now? Well, "outwardly we are wasting away." In June of 1964, the Viet Nam War had not started. Three civil rights workers had been brutally murdered not quite three days before our wedding. My Parents and all but one Grandparent were still living. I was pastoring four small congregations just south of Punxsutawney, PA. Gas was 25 cents a gallon. My Volkswagen bug cost $1800.00 and got 34 miles to a gallon. Sarah and I would go out for dinner on Sundays; a complete meal, including drink, was $1.00! Of course, we were only making $330.00 per month. And can you believe it; we had no television. It all seems like another epoch.
The world, however, has not improved. It has sunk deeper and deeper into what verse 4 says, "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." I was in the university at the time, and saw this passage walked out all around me. I would later see it in grad school, and can say that over the past 50 years I have seen no change for the better, rather a continual downward spiral of humanity. The Bible tells us, "....evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
But, "....we do not lose heart." For while those of the world, "are wasting away," outwardly and inwardly, for you and me, "inwardly we are being renewed day by day," by day by day by day. Every since you and I first surrendered our lives to Jesus, "....inwardly we are being renewed day by day," no matter what people may think are "dry" times or seasons. 50, 70, 100 years in Jesus, the truth still stands, "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank you for, "achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." Amen.
********************
Blog: jhs58.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
