2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 (NRSV)
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Verse 13But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture-"I believed, and so I spoke" -we also believe, and so we speak, Verse 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Verse 15Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. Verse 16So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. Verse 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, Verse 18because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
Chapter 5For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Devotion
In today’s reading, the Apostle Paul recognizes the fallibility of our human existence. He acknowledges that our human nature is temporary and is wasting away. Yet even in the midst of the hardships and shipwrecks of life, Paul finds hope. When this life is wasting away and this earthly tent we live in is being destroyed, we have hope knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us into God’s presence. God’s promise is of a new house. This frail tent will give way to a building that is a new gift from God, a house not made with hands, an abode eternal in the heavens.
Prayer
Lord God, when life brings turmoil down upon us, give us hope. In God is our hope, for we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also and will bring us into God’s presence. Amen.
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