Thursday, October 24,
2013, 6:30 a.m. – When I sat down to have my quiet time alone with the Lord
Jesus this morning, he put the song “Oh,
To Be Like Thee” in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Corinthians 4 (NIV).
Set Forth Truth
Plainly
Therefore,
since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather,
we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we
distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we
commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age
has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we
preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your
servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of
God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
This is an awesome passage of scripture, and so encouraging,
too! Thank you Jesus!
Paul, who was once called Saul, was a Pharisee and a
persecutor of followers of Jesus Christ when the Lord Jesus called him to his
service. Then, the Lord called a man named Ananias to go place his hands on
Saul so that Saul could receive his sight. Jesus said: “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the
Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much
he must suffer for my name.” And, suffer for the name of Jesus and for the
sake of the gospel he did. He suffered because Jesus had given him the divine commission
to open spiritually blinded eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan to God, so that they could receive forgiveness of sins and a
place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (See Ac.
26:16-18); and because Satan does not give up without a fight.
Paul, and perhaps the other apostles, too, had evidently
been accused falsely of being deceitful and manipulative, so Paul refuted these
apparently hateful charges against him. He countered all false accusations with
the truth that he and his fellow workers for the gospel of Christ had renounced
secretive and shameful ways; they did not use deception, nor did they distort
the word of truth. Instead, they set forth the truth plainly. I can identify.
Paul continued by stating that if the gospel was being covered-up, hidden or
distorted in the minds of people that it was not the doing of the apostles, but
it was because Satan, the god of this age, had blinded the minds of unbelievers
so that they could not see the light of the gospel. Lies, deception and
distortions of truth are some of Satan’s greatest weapons against people,
including against those who profess Christ Jesus as Lord and as Savior. This is
why we have to seek out the truth, so that we know the truth, so that when Satan
throws his fiery darts against us that we can refute his lies with the truth.
Jars of Clay
But
we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that
the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are
always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be
revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at
work in you.
A jar of clay is an earthen vessel. A vessel can be merely a
container of some sort, or it can be a ship on water or in the sky or on land
that is used to transport something or someone from one place to another, or
that distributes or conveys something, such as Christ’s servants and witnesses
carrying within them and communicating to others Christ and his gospel of
salvation. It can also be “somebody seen as the recipient or embodiment of a
quality” (Encarta), such as believers in Jesus Christ as the recipients of God’s
divine grace, or of us as the body of Christ, his temple - Christ living within
us. A vessel can also be an instrument of some sort used for a specific
purpose, such as Paul was called to be Christ’s instrument in proclaiming Jesus
Christ and his gospel to the Gentiles, their kings and to the people of Israel.
So, what we learn from this is that we are all chosen instruments of God’s
divine grace to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world
around us.
The vessel is made of clay, i.e. it is of this earth. In
other words, we are fragile, weak and easily broken. We get hurt. We bleed. We
fall down, but we get back up. We get tired. We have finite minds, which are
limited. We cry. We run out of energy. We, in ourselves, lack the wisdom,
knowledge, understanding, strength, endurance, patience and perseverance to
keep going sometimes. Yet, that is the beauty of it all! It is not us doing it,
but Christ living within us. Amen! I can attest to you that Christ in me is the
only thing that keeps me going many days! Why? - Because I am an earthen
vessel.
When I am hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted and struck
down, it is hard to get back up. I don’t just naturally, in my earthenness,
bounce right back. I must rely daily upon the strength and wisdom of the Lord
Jesus within me, living out his life through me, in order to keep doing what I
do each day. Yet this is to show that the power of the Spirit of God within me,
which keeps me going, and which keeps me doing what I do each day, is not from
me, but is only from God! Praise Jesus! Because of HIM and his mercy and grace
to me, I am not crushed, I am not in despair, I am not completely abandoned,
and I am not destroyed, because my hope is not in the flesh of humans but in
Christ alone! Hallelujah! So, even though I am daily being given over to death
for Jesus’ sake, it is so that his life may also be revealed in me, i.e. in
this earthen vessel. In other words, suffering produces good stuff!
It
is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same
spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the
one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and
present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace
that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the
glory of God.
Therefore
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.
I love this, don’t you?! It is all so hopeful and
encouraging! Thank you Jesus!
So, even though we get sick and tired, we are weak and
frail, we hurt and we cry, we bleed, and we go through times of distress,
heartache, false accusations, rejection, and abandonment, inwardly Jesus Christ
is renewing us day by day, if we will let him. We hold on to the hope that we know
is ours in Christ Jesus, and we believe one day we will see the fruit of it
all, as we daily see the fruit of Christ’s inward renewals in our own lives.
So, although we may not always see, in this life, what God
is doing, and what we do see may be disheartening to our earthen vessels, we
purposefully choose to not focus on the things that are of this world and that
are temporary, but we fix our eyes on what is unseen, i.e. on the hope we know
we have in him and on his many promises to us. The trials of this life are here
only for a short period of time. What God produces in us and through us into
other people’s lives, as we allow him to change our hearts and to make us more
like Jesus, and as we willingly submit ourselves to his plans and purposes for
our lives in being his chosen instruments in carrying the gospel to the ends of
the earth, is eternal. The eternal rewards thus far outweigh whatever trials we
may have to go through in this life. Amen!
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Thomas O. Chisholm /
W. J. Kirkpatrick
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s
treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of
compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the
fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! Lord, I am coming
Now to receive anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing,
Lord, from this moment all shall be
Thine.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy
love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like
Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy
fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
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