June 13, 2018 Wednesday

“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do 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. 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.” (2Cointhians 4:13-5:1 NKJV)

            The mark of the Christian is to have a spirit of faith knowing Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and we too shall be raised from the dead! And that God has done all this for you so you will share this grace with those around you!

            We are called to respond to this love by offering our thanks to God and by sharing God’s glory with those around us. It is important we remember the gospel which is presented to us has flowed through a river of people who shared God’s glory with us.

            When we see our bodies slowly breaking down and the people we care about dying we realize it is so hard to hold onto the promise of resurrection. When we lose sight of the resurrection it is very easy for us to lose heart and to lose God in the process.

            Paul calls for us to realize it is only our body that is weakening and in the process of dying. We are called also to realize our soul is eternal and through God we are renewed every day! If we strengthen our relationship with God we become aware that what we see here is temporary but there is the great unseen which is eternal.

            As a tent maker Paul uses the illustration for our bodies as a tent which even though it will be destroyed God will give us a new building. Paul describes this new building as a gift from God which was not made by hands and will be eternal in the heavens.

            Israel had a very temporary Tabernacle and then a temporary Temple which could and would be destroyed. The Temple and the tabernacle were made by “hands”. Because they were the seen they were temporary while by faith we can trust in the unseen which is eternal.

            Where do you call home? Are you so caught up in the seen that you are not aware of the unseen? Do you seek to have a relationship with God and to grow in it?