Second Corinthians 4 and 5

Monday, April 27                                                                     2 Corinthians 4:1-4

“We do not loseheart”

     Any of us who try to serve God in any wayoften have reasons for being discouraged. The awareness of our human limitations and imperfections take a toll onour self-confidence.  Then, too, theindifference of people to whom we try to witness and share the gospel makes uswonder sometimes if it’s really such good news. It is easy to feel dejected when we see the aggressiveness of evil inour world.  And the disunity and lack oflove among so many Christians certainly takes the edge off of our witness.

     But when we read the Scriptures and thestory of the lives of the early Christians, we discover that it has always beenthis way.  Paul experienced this and yetwrote to his friends that in spite of everything, “we do not lose heart.”  First, he says that our ministry is from Godwho gives each of us a specific ministry – something we can do and that Godwants done.  Second, he points out thatthe gospel message we have to share with others is God’s Word of truth, andthat it can be shared honestly without having to resort to trickery,distortion, or deception.

I praise you, Lord, for you have openedmy eyes to your spiritual truth.  Amen.

Tuesday, April 28                                                                    2 Corinthians 4:5-10

“Clay jars”

     Paul continues to give reasons for why heis not discouraged by the negative responses of some to his ministry.  First, Paul knew that the real treasure wasChrist and that he, Paul, was merely the vessel that carried it.  The fact that the perfect Christ has come toreside in imperfect me simply shows that whatever I may accomplish for Christis not because of me but because of the One who is in me.  The treasure we bear is not diminished by thevessel we are; rather, the vessel we are is made valuable by the treasure itcontains.

     Second, Paul was encouraged because lifehad not thrown more at him than he could handle.  When we read verses 7-10 it is easy toconcentrate on the bad things that had happened to him, but we also need topick up on the other end of each phrase. Then, we will see that even though life had knocked him down, it had notknocked him out; he was still ministering for the Lord.  As God’s people, we are a lot tougher than wesometimes think, and it’s encouraging for us to realize that we can cope with agreat deal with the strength that Christ gives.

Thelight of your Son, Lord, shines in our hearts so we can know you.  Amen.

Wednesday, April 29                                                           2 Corinthians 4:11-15

“We also believe and therefore speak”

     The first reason for Paul to persevere inhis ministry of preaching the gospel and teaching those who have turned toChrist, in spite of and in the midst of the adversity that engulfs him, is hisknowledge that the God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raisePaul with Jesus, together with all who will likewise stand resurrected in God’spresence.  If the cross of Christexplains why Paul suffers rejection, it is the resurrection of Christ thatgives him the confident hope needed to continue while being opposed.

     The second reason for Paul to persevere inhis ministry is his assurance of its present impact.  He keeps on ministering, no matter what,because he knows that what he believes and speaks about is having an effect inthe lives of others.  He tells hisreaders that the purpose of his ministry is to display God’s glory through thethanksgiving that has increased among many as a result of his ministry.  The more people who experience God’s grace,the greater the thanksgiving they offer to God for that grace.

Your Spirit, Lord, empowers me to believe and tospeak what I believe.  Amen.

Thursday, April 30                                                              2 Corinthians 4:16-18 

“We do not lose heart” 

     Paul repeatedwhat he stated in the first verse of the chapter: “We do not lose heart.”  The reason he gave for this affirmation herein verse 16 was God’s ability to renew his spirit when circumstances got himdown.  Though he was confronted by boththe aging process and the possibility of death, he could still affirm thatwhile his body was dying, his spirit was being encouraged daily.  This helped him to face life now and gave himhope even about death.

     Paul also drewstrength from setting what he was doing into the larger context of things.  In verses 17 and 18 he put the “moment” inthe context of “eternity” and the “visible” in the context of the “invisible.”  Often when we get discouraged about what weare accomplishing, it helps to step back and look at it from a different pointof view.  We have become too spirituallynearsighted, and living in a world of “instant everything” has robbed us of theperspective of time.  Eternity has a wayof telling us what was valuable and what was permanent, and exposing that whichwas temporary and useless.

When I feeldiscouraged, Lord, I turn to you and you restore me.  Amen.

  Friday, May 1                                                                          2 Corinthians 5:1-5

“We long to puton our heavenly bodies”

     Paul knows that whatever this life maybring in terms of suffering and destruction, the life that is to come will justas surely be filled with the glory of God. Paul’s confidence in God’s future provision causes him, like allbelievers, to “groan” in the midst of his present suffering.  This groaning of anticipation is itselfevidence that God has promised believers more to come than the moaning ofsuffering and death.  If God had notplanted this seed of hope in his heart, his current suffering would be all thathe could expect.

     Paul longs to be clothed with his heavenlybody because he knows that when he dies he will not be found naked (like Adamand Eve after they had sinned), that is, that he will not be found guilty byGod in the final judgment.  In Christ, hehas been justified (found “not guilty”), and in Christ he will be, like Christ,raised to new life.  In this way, hismortal life which is housed in his mortal body will be swallowed up by immortallife which will be housed in an immortal body. How can he be sure of this?  TheHoly Spirit, God’s gift living in us, guarantees it.

We live and eventually die in this world,Lord, but it is not our home.  Amen.

Saturday, May 2                                                                      2 Corinthians 5:6-10

 “We live by faith, not by sight”

     Paul, like allbelievers, lives by faith and not by sight. Paul’s lack of “sight” refers to what is now being experienced in thisearthly life.  In the present, it isimpossible to see the fullness of the resurrection glory still to come.  Nevertheless, he trusts in God’s promises asthe ultimate reality and lives accordingly; he does not live as if his presentsufferings were the sum of life.  It isPaul’s confidence in God’s future that determines how he lives in the present.  In other words, the apostle fixes his gaze onwhat cannot be seen - his inner glory, not his outer affliction; his inwardrenewal, not his external decay; the new age, not the old; resurrection life,not present dying; the weighty, not the trifling; the eternal, not thetemporal; the heavenly, not the earthly.

     Paul’s desire isto please his Lord, and he knows that he does so when he walks by faith and notby sight.  Such desire requires living bythe courage of one’s conviction of the resurrection and the confidence of one’s awareness of the universal judgment tocome in which those who have walked by faith will join God forever in heaven.

Dimthe things of earth, Lord, as I turn my eyes upon you.  Amen.

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Second Corinthians 5 - 7

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Second Corinthians 2 and 3