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
Even if we could master and overcome the taunting of the devil and the world, still our own flesh taunts us. As we struggle through the daily dying of the old person and rising of the new person in us, our outer nature—infected as it is by that first sin—strikes at our attempts to be faithful to God's will and word. But the Spirit ,who seals us in baptism, leads us again and again to our cross, so that we might see that the will of the flesh, too, is a slight momentary affliction. The Spirit leads us to our cross so that we might not be punished, but renewed.
Prayer
Blessed Spirit, lead us to the new life you give us in Jesus, and give us faith to carry our cross as we follow you, who cannot be seen. Amen.