"Therefore,..we do not lose heart....We have...the...manifestation of the truth..., the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God....For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord....For it is the God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ....We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested...in our mortal flesh....He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus....Therefore we not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (A Summation of 2 Corinthians 4, from my reading of a few days ago)
In the 57 years since my first "official" preaching experience, this chapter has always been a "favorite" preaching text. It is almost as if one could say, Do you want to know what "it's all about"? Read this.
Neither I nor anyone else on this planet can speak greater words of comfort, empowerment, and life sustenance than the Words of today's text. I would challenge any hurting heart, any discouraged personage, anyone looking for light in the darkness of this present evil age to find anything and anyone which can lift the human soul out of the pit of despair as can our Lord Jesus Christ and These, His Words.
Even though your pain today may not seem as such, "The Word of God," tells us that it is, "light," and, "but for a moment." This is difficult for a suffering soul, weighed down by life, to hear and receive. Yet when one does yield to Jesus and His, "breathed," Words, we find that there is a power beyond any other.
When I started serving Jesus and His Church, I was farther away from the end of this sojourn than I was from the beginning. Now it is the reverse. As I watch Sarah's Mom approach the "crossing of Jordan," I realize more and more just how, "for a moment," is this life. We are all heading in this direction. "Depressing," some will say. Not for any who believe and live by, "For the things which are seen are temporary, but the thing which are not seen are eternal."
I close with that which follows today's text: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens."
,
Father, in Jesus' Name, What glorious "Gospel." Amen.
***************************************
We really hope and pray that you will pray with us about the October 28-November 15 Mission in Germany. Things are really "heating up" in that land.
In the 57 years since my first "official" preaching experience, this chapter has always been a "favorite" preaching text. It is almost as if one could say, Do you want to know what "it's all about"? Read this.
Neither I nor anyone else on this planet can speak greater words of comfort, empowerment, and life sustenance than the Words of today's text. I would challenge any hurting heart, any discouraged personage, anyone looking for light in the darkness of this present evil age to find anything and anyone which can lift the human soul out of the pit of despair as can our Lord Jesus Christ and These, His Words.
Even though your pain today may not seem as such, "The Word of God," tells us that it is, "light," and, "but for a moment." This is difficult for a suffering soul, weighed down by life, to hear and receive. Yet when one does yield to Jesus and His, "breathed," Words, we find that there is a power beyond any other.
When I started serving Jesus and His Church, I was farther away from the end of this sojourn than I was from the beginning. Now it is the reverse. As I watch Sarah's Mom approach the "crossing of Jordan," I realize more and more just how, "for a moment," is this life. We are all heading in this direction. "Depressing," some will say. Not for any who believe and live by, "For the things which are seen are temporary, but the thing which are not seen are eternal."
I close with that which follows today's text: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens."
,
Father, in Jesus' Name, What glorious "Gospel." Amen.
***************************************
We really hope and pray that you will pray with us about the October 28-November 15 Mission in Germany. Things are really "heating up" in that land.
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.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
