Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2020 16:04:52 GMT -5
Eternal Eyes By: Estera Pirosca Escobar
Click on this link for the audio message
We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
2 Corinthians 4:18
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Corinthians 4:7–18
Eternal eyes, that’s what my friend Madeline prays her children and grandchildren would have. Her family has gone through a tumultuous season that ended with the death of her daughter. As the family grieves from this horrific loss, Madeline longs for them to be less and less nearsighted—consumed by the pain of this world. And to be more and more farsighted—filled with hope in our loving God.
The apostle Paul and his co-workers experienced great suffering at the hands of persecutors and even from believers who tried to discredit them. Yet, they had their eyes fixed on eternity. Paul boldly acknowledged that “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Although they were doing God’s work, they lived with the reality of being “hard pressed on every side,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down” (vv. 8–9). Shouldn’t God have delivered them from these troubles? But instead of being disappointed, Paul built his hope on the “eternal glory” that supersedes momentary troubles (v. 17). He knew God’s power was at work in him and had complete assurance that “the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus” (v. 14).
When our world around us feels shaky, may we turn our eyes to God—the eternal Rock that will never be destroyed.
Reflect & Pray
In what do you choose to hope in spite of your difficulties? How have you experienced God’s faithfulness?
I lift my eyes to You today, O God. Give me a glimpse of the security I have in You.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul was qualified to talk about struggle and hardship. He endured many things—blindness, slander, beatings, stoning, shipwreck, imprisonment, and ultimately execution for the sake of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Paul uses four pairs of ideas—each linked by the phrase “but not”—to express both the difficulty we may experience when we choose to follow Jesus but also the hope of our faith. “Hard pressed . . . but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Even though we may experience difficulty or persecution, nothing can touch the eternal hope we have in Christ. J.R. Hudberg
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
King James Version
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
Click on this link for the audio message
We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
2 Corinthians 4:18
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Corinthians 4:7–18
Eternal eyes, that’s what my friend Madeline prays her children and grandchildren would have. Her family has gone through a tumultuous season that ended with the death of her daughter. As the family grieves from this horrific loss, Madeline longs for them to be less and less nearsighted—consumed by the pain of this world. And to be more and more farsighted—filled with hope in our loving God.
The apostle Paul and his co-workers experienced great suffering at the hands of persecutors and even from believers who tried to discredit them. Yet, they had their eyes fixed on eternity. Paul boldly acknowledged that “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Although they were doing God’s work, they lived with the reality of being “hard pressed on every side,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down” (vv. 8–9). Shouldn’t God have delivered them from these troubles? But instead of being disappointed, Paul built his hope on the “eternal glory” that supersedes momentary troubles (v. 17). He knew God’s power was at work in him and had complete assurance that “the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus” (v. 14).
When our world around us feels shaky, may we turn our eyes to God—the eternal Rock that will never be destroyed.
Reflect & Pray
In what do you choose to hope in spite of your difficulties? How have you experienced God’s faithfulness?
I lift my eyes to You today, O God. Give me a glimpse of the security I have in You.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Paul was qualified to talk about struggle and hardship. He endured many things—blindness, slander, beatings, stoning, shipwreck, imprisonment, and ultimately execution for the sake of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Paul uses four pairs of ideas—each linked by the phrase “but not”—to express both the difficulty we may experience when we choose to follow Jesus but also the hope of our faith. “Hard pressed . . . but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Even though we may experience difficulty or persecution, nothing can touch the eternal hope we have in Christ. J.R. Hudberg
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
King James Version
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.