Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!
2 Corinthians 3; 2 Corinthians 4; 2 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 6
That Is Why We Never Give Up.
Our Physical Body Is Becoming Older And Weaker,
But Our Spirit Inside Us Is Made New Every Day.
Scripture
2 Corinthians 4 – Easy To Read Version & The Message
Version
16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. (Message)
Observation
Having the right perspective is huge! It will get you
through difficult times.
While we were traveling a few weeks ago we went to
Maryville, Tennessee to visit some very close missionary friends of ours. Kathy
and I had the opportunity to have lunch with retired missionary and great
friend Edith Kennedy and her sister-in-law Reba.
Both of these ladies have gone
through incredible health issues and they both have mighty testimonies of how
our God has worked and is continuing to work in their lives.
Edith underwent a 14-hour plus surgery to remove a benign
brain tumor a little over a year ago. It was a super dangerous surgery that
could have had all kinds of bad side effects and death was just one of them.
She is doing great today!
Reba shared with
us that over the past 7 years has encountered breast cancer, lung cancer and I
believe bone cancer. She has had multiple surgeries and has dealt and lived
with tremendous pain. They have removed sections of one of her lungs during
different surgeries and they have removed several ribs during other surgeries.
Besides all of the previously mentioned problems Reba has also had Crohn’s
disease that she had to deal with even before all of the cancer.
Sitting with both of these ladies and looking at them you
would have never known all that they had gone through. As we talked and as we
swapped our God stories my story seemed to shrink in significance as they
shared what God had done in their lives.
My wife Kathy
shared at the table that day all that God had done in her life as she went
through her experience of having a husband (me) at the point of death and how
so many people came and surrounded her and how God showed up to answer their
prayers. My part of that story is just
small potatoes compared to what God has allowed these ladies to experience and
what God has allowed them to learn! I have definitely been on the receiving end
of the goodness of God.
God got a lot of glory that day! These two ladies, Kathy
and myself are all testimonies to the goodness and the power of God. He is
Healer. As I walked out of that restaurant I felt like I was on holy ground!
Let me add one more twist to this story.
While Edith was recovering from this brain tumor surgery
her husband and my very good friend Don had previous prostate cancer return and
pay him a visit. So he had to begin treatment for prostate cancer! Don is doing
well today also. He was in Mexico on a mission trip when we went to visit them
in October. We talked to him at his house via Skype while he was in Puebla,
Mexico.
God is so good!
Application
I will visit someone today who is going through difficult
health problems.
Prayer
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