Good weekend my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you think about HOPE I wonder what your greatest HOPE is for the future? Good health well into your old age? Or maybe hope that neither your children nor grandchildren will ‘go off the rails’? Or perhaps hope that those who already have will come back? Now here’s a more important question: Upon what do you build your most important hopes?
We’re with the apostle Paul as he is writing another letter to his Christian friends in the crazy, wild city of Corinth in the mid first century. Hope was in short supply for almost every one of every generation in those days. So today let’s look at one of Paul’s strongly confident HOPE statements, because it might be something you will hold tightly too as you age and as the world around you becomes more turbulent and unpredictable. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 4 “We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, 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 Cor. 4:16-18)
You’ve probably heard these powerful words before, maybe you’ve even claimed them for yourself as you were seeking HOPE when facing difficult or frightening medical news. The truth is, with every passing day our human bodies age. You and I are growing old, even if we won’t admit it. Just this week after my annual eye exam, my eye doctor said, “you and I need to talk about Glaucoma”!
I’ve known for many years that I have Macular, as my legally blind 99-year-old Dad does, and Dad’s been warning me that very likely Glaucoma will be coming. So here it is, now what? Well, in part I’m going to claim the powerful truth of these words from Paul. “I will NOT lose heart though outwardly I am wasting away, inwardly I am being renewed day by day”. And for that I thank the Holy Spirit of God who refreshes me each day in many different ways! Some of YOU are part of the refreshing that I receive from God daily, did you know that? Now what about you my friends?
Are you confident you have an ‘eternal glory’ awaiting you, as Paul said? Of course that glory is not built on anything WE have done, but rather it’s entirely the glorious inheritance Jesus has earned in His death and resurrection, but it also the work the Holy Spirit is doing IN us, nurturing us, developing us more and more into the image of Christ, preparing us for heaven, right? The apostle Peter was also fascinated with this glory, and he described it like this: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into a glorious inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Of course, we notice that Paul gives us a key to this hopeful future, did you see it? “So, 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 Cor. 4:18) Now that sounds nice, but HOW do you do this my friends? How do we divert the focus of our minds and hearts away from the glitz and glamor, the appeal and applause, the wonder and the wow; but also, the tragedies and despair; the corruption and darkness of our world and keep our focus on Jesus and unseen eternal things? THAT is not easy to do, let’s be very honest about that.
I have found there are two particular times when it’s very important that we exercise this spiritual skill of looking beyond the visible to focus on what we KNOW but cannot see! What two times?
First… Bad news times. We naturally scramble looking for solutions to the problems, right? Probably the speed dial numbers on your phone include those people you lean on in tough times. The specialist business cards in your desk drawer are people you might turn to for specialty help. But if you have found God’s power reliable in your past crisis, very likely you will get on your knees and open your Bible and cry out with confidence that your heavenly Father understands your situation, right! Psalm 9:9,10, Isaiah 41:10,13 and Nehemiah 8:10 are three verses I turn to quickly when I hear BAD news. Those verses, and many others, draw my mind and heart to Jesus. I know HE sees my situation far more clearly than I do and He will guide me through the storm if I keep my eyes, my heart and my mind fixed on Jesus!
Second… have you found that really GOOD news can also be a time when you need to find a proper focus? An unexpected financial windfall; or a remarkably extravagant gift given to you; or the arrival of something long hoped for. Outrageously wonderful news can put us into a tailspin where it could be very dangerous to make any major decisions or promises. This ‘euphoric place’ can also be dangerous because it might insulate us from reality and cloud our discernment of what’s really happening around us.
The Holy Spirit led Moses to write Deuteronomy 8 which is a particularly appropriate warning for such ‘good times’: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God… Be careful, for when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God…” (Deut. 8:10-14)
Oh my, do you see how important it is in the bounty to discipline yourself to look beyond the visible, whether it’s tragedy or triumph, and learn to do what Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “So 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.”
Let’s pause right here to consider the importance of Paul’s word and the self discipline required to actually live in this reality every day. The ‘lessons learned’ study notes will help you probe more deeply into this and the worship song I’ve included should draw your heart to a proper perspective. Have a great Jesus focused weekend, my friends, and I’ll be here, ready for you, on Monday.
Today’s Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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