Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

If this world is all there is, there is no reason to endure any amount of chronic suffering, particularly if we don’t have any reasonable expectation that it will end. That’s what we established the first time we examined these words. If this world is all there is, a great deal of what we do becomes meaningless. In fact, all of it does, but the hard stuff in particular. If this world is not all there is, however, everything changes. 

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Morning Musing: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As I write this, my youngest son has strep throat. He threw up at school yesterday just before it was time to go home. We were able to get him in to see the doc before they closed for the weekend. He threw up again there. And again in the car on the way home. And again before bed. And he fought us to take his medicine. Oh, did he fight us. And then he got us up at 2:30 the following morning for the day. It was a miserable few days. If you are a parent, you likely know exactly what I’m describing. Our bodies are weak things. Some days it feels like they are falling apart faster than others. 

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Breaking Free

In this final part of our series, Gravity: Overcoming the Weight of Our Stuff, we talk about one last, powerful way to break free from the pull our stuff otherwise naturally has on our lives.  Along the way, I offer a three step process for how to begin building the practice of sacrificial generosity into our lives, an example of what generosity can do, and a chance to respond.  Thanks for reading and blessings as you make your plan to break free from the gravity of your stuff.

Breaking Free

Have you noticed that one of Disney’s goals lately seems to be to make live-action remakes of all their classic animated films?  We’ve so far seen Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Maleficent, Pete’s Dragon, and Christopher Robin, with films like Dumbo, Mulan, the Lion King, and Aladdin on the near horizon.  A bit of research allowed me to discover that there are also tentative plans to redo other classic films such as Snow White, Robinhood, The Sword in the Stone, and Pinocchio. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 2:14

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

We recently purchased a new house–our first.  We are pretty excited about it still.  Before we could move in, there was quite a bit of work to do including taming the jungle the previous couple of owners had allowed to grow up in the backyard.  With some excellent and most appreciated help from several of the men in our church, we got that and whole lot of other work finished. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 1:5

“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here’s an important principle that radiates from the pages of the New Testament: If we do what Jesus did, we will experience what Jesus did.  Put another way: If we walk the path Jesus did, we will receive what Jesus did.  This is at one and the same time incredibly challenging and also incredibly encouraging. Read the rest…