I sometimes get a bit down with my physical self. I'll complain inwardly about my poor eyesight, bad hearing, and desire to consume things that are bad for me.


Hmmm. That reminds me of an old Alan Jackson song called "Everything I Love"...

Anyway, I digress...

We are told in Scripture that our bodies are special temples where God dwells - His presence in and through us is powerful. It's crazy to think about. Listen to the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 4:7ff (NT Wright's New Testament for Everyone translation):

But we have this treasure in earthenware pots, so that the extraordinary quality of the power may belong to God, not to us. 8 We are under all kinds of pressure, but we are not crushed completely; we are at a loss, but not at our wits’ end; 9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are cast down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus about in the body, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body.

AND...

16 For this reason we don’t lose heart. Even if our outer humanity is decaying, our inner humanity is being renewed day by day. 17 This slight momentary trouble of ours is working to produce a weight of glory, passing and surpassing everything, lasting forever; 18 for we don’t look at the things that can be seen, but at the things that can’t be seen. After all, the things you can see are here today and gone tomorrow; but the things you can’t see are everlasting.

Wow. Treasure in earthenware pots...renewed inwardly while the outward is decaying...producing a 'weight of glory'...everlasting!

We know there will be struggles inward and outward as we follow Messiah Jesus, but that's not the end of OR the complete story!

I'll close with Paul David Tripp's devotion I read today:

"The trials in our lives exist not because He has forgotten us, but because He remembers us and is changing us by His grace. When you remember that, you can have joy in the middle of what is uncomfortable."


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