We Do Not Lose Heart

We Do Not Lose Heart

Tents are ok for vacation fun.

But it won’t work for my permanent dwelling.

April 19, 2009, in Toledo was a warm sunny day,

something we have not seen in months.

Buds were popping on the trees

and the flowers were blooming.

It was a sign of hope that summer would come.

But for the Self family,

that day brought sorrow and tears

 as we buried our Mother.

Those of you who have lost a mother

or close loved one,

knows the feeling.

I have always said the greatest honor

you can give another person is a tear.

The tear shows that person meant something to you.

You never get over the loss of a loved one

and you don’t want to.

But God’s grace over time

helps you deal with the loss.

Paul the Apostle gives a very good reason not to lose heart

when we see the physical body of the believer fail.

 Paul reminds us that the things we see around us are temporary.

Our earthy bodies are a temporary dwelling for our spirit

until we receive our heavenly dwelling place.

Our mother knew that her earthy body was failing.

The more she was failing outwardly

the more her thoughts focused on what it would be like

to see Jesus face to face.

The things we see around us can be very nice

but when they begin to fail,

we need a greater hope.

So when we begin to miss those things that are temporary,

we should be reminded that God has a more

permanent dwelling in store for us.

So to lose this temporary body,

is like living like a worm one day

and the next, like a butterfly.

When we see pain, decay and destruction,

we do not lose heart

because we know we are getting closer

to our permanent dwelling.

Who knows,

maybe our new bodies will be like Christ

who in His glorified body enjoyed:

 Eating and speaking to others,

locked doors did not stop Him;

He had the freedom to go anywhere,

even walked through sold walls.

So when it seems to get bad,

get ready

because it is about to get a lot better.

Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 4:7-5:21 NIV

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay

to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;

perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake,

so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 It is written:

"I believed; therefore I have spoken."

With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

14 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 in his presence.

15 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.

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.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:1-21 NIV

5:1 Now 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 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 with our heavenly dwelling,

so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose

and 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 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,

that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,

whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.

What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.

12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,

but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,

so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen

rather than in what is in the heart.

13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God;

if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

14 For Christ's love compels us,

because we are convinced that one died for all,

and therefore all died.

15 And he died for all,

that those who live should no longer live for themselves

but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!

18 All this is from God,

who reconciled us to himself through Christ

and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

not counting men's sins against them.

And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors,

as though God were making his appeal through us.

We implore you on Christ's behalf:

Be reconciled to God.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.