That Is Why We Never Give Up. Though Our Bodies Are Dying, Our Spirits Are Being Renewed Every Day.

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That Is Why We Never Give Up.

Though Our Bodies Are Dying,

Our Spirits Are Being Renewed Every Day.

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.

17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 5

1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 

2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 

3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.

4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 

5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

Observation

A few days ago I shared in my blog about a man who I visited in the hospital had just found out that the cancer that he had in his throat had now also had entered his lungs and the doctors said that there was not much that they could do for him. Well at around 4:30 this morning I was called back to the hospital to pray with the family because this man had passed away.

I will never understand the why of human suffering. As I sat with this man's wife and talked with her I didn't have any really great answers to give her. I shared and reminded her that God is good and He is just. And I shared with her that we just have to trust Him when we don't understand the whys of life.

I left the hospital after talking and praying with her with yet another reminder to myself of just how short and just how precious life is!

Application

I know that this “earthly tent” that I am living in is not going to last forever. I need to make the most of each and every moment.

How about you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. I pray for the wife of this young man. Help her to draw close to You. Help her find a church family and a support group to help her as she grieves.

I pray for those who are sick. Give them strength. I pray for healing. I pray that they will place all of their faith and trust in You as they go through this difficult time. Give me the boldness to share my faith and give me the compassion to hurt with those who are hurting. You are a good, good, Father.

2 Corinthians 5:19-20

19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 

20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 3,4,5,6

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And God Will Wipe Every Tear From Their Eyes.

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And

God Will Wipe

Every Tear From Their Eyes.

Scripture

Revelation 7

17 For the Lamb on the throne
    will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
    And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 21:4

4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Observation

Suffering is unavoidable in life. Some of it we bring on ourselves by the decisions we make. Some of it we suffer by the decisions other people make … decisions that in turn hurt us. I could give a million examples and so could you … like ... Someone getting behind the wheel of a car drunk and hitting us or even worse hitting and injuring or killing one of our loved ones or a maybe a business venture where promises were made but then those promises were not kept.

All of us have suffered like this.

And then there are other times when we suffer and it just comes out of the blue with no rhyme or reason. We just get clobbered. We find out that we have cancer … or we experience a heart attack … or we suddenly find out that we have some other life threatening illness or one of these terrible things happens to one of our loved ones.

So what do we do when this happens? And yes, it is going to happen!

For the suffering brought on ourselves by our own bad choices we need to repent and ask the Lord to forgive us.

For the suffering brought on us by others we need to forgive them quickly and we need to let God take care of getting even with them.

God has a million ways to bless us if we will only let it go and let God handle it. He is more than capable of setting things right with those who have wronged us. Plus, we need to remember that we have also wronged other people – we are not perfect either!

Romans 12:19

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

For the suffering we experience that has no rhyme or reason, like an unexpected illness or an unexpected death, or other tragedy, we just need to pray and trust in the only One who can bring healing and comfort.

Application

One day soon God will wipe every tear from my eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone forever. Revelation 21:4 Personalized!

How about you? Are you suffering right now?

Psalm 30:5

His anger lasts only a moment, but his kindness lasts for a lifetime. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me keep my sins confessed as I commit them. Help me to forgive quickly those who wrong me. Help me go to You and trust You when things happen in my life that seem to have no rhyme or reason. You are my Defender. You are my Advocate. You will take care of my enemies. You will wipe away every tear from my eyes. You are the God of all compassion and all comfort. You will take care of me.

Take care of my friends and family who are going through a difficult time right now. Encourage them, Lord.

Daily Bible Reading: Ezekiel 17,18,19; Revelation 7

> I have made it a habit to pray for those who read this blog! I enjoy lifting you and your family up to the Lord in prayer.

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