Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10 (NIV)
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 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.
Awaiting the New Body
5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Choose one or two key verses from the Scripture reading in 2 Corinthians today and do at least one of the following for your chosen verse(s).
A – Ask questions of the text (Who, what, why, where, when)
E – Emphasize certain words as you read the text over & over
I – In your own words (paraphrase one or more verses)
O – Other verses in the Bible that say the same or opposite
U – Use it; apply the truth from the text in your life
Lord, as the years pass, it is becoming increasingly evident that the golden years are not going to be what I had imagined. Help me to continue to focus on you and not on my aches and pains. Help me choose joy instead of bitterness and love instead of selfishness. Help me trust that you are always walking with me, taking me by the hand, guiding me and patiently waiting for me as it takes me longer to maneuver my way. Give me the peace and the hope to know that You are preparing a place for me, where You will make all things new, and I will dwell in Your house forever pain-free, worry-free, and sin free as I praise and worship You for eternity. Amen.