2 Corinthians 4:5-10

Rachel Workman: ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.^[b] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

I like how Paul said we are like fragile clay jars. Life is fragile and no one can know their last day. Paul said it best in verses 8-10. We are pressed on every side, knocked down and driven to despair in this life. But God in his infinite mercy gives us exactly what we need at exactly the right time. I trust him for that.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Pat Bell: With God in my heart no troubles can destroy me. Though we may suffer, we are also comforted. He comforts me daily. Thank you Jesus.

____________________________________________________________________________________

John Burnett:  ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^[a] 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.  We are given knowledge that unbelievers cannot understand.  That is why the Holy Spirit has to open their eyes so that they can see and understand the gospel.

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.

The life of a believer is not an easy one like many televangelist would like for you to believe.  The joy of knowing Him and spending eternity in His presence is worth any hardship we may face because he already faced the ultimate hardship, the wrath of Almighty God poured out on Him instead of us.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Mike Grimm:  ⁵ You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. Serving people requires a sacrifice of time and personal desires. Being Christ’s follower means serving others, even when they do not measure up to our expectations. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

⁷ We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. If we try to make it on our own, we will, like the fragile clay jars, will crash and burn. We must rely and depend on God for our strength and guidance.

⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. Paul reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope, we are never at the end of hope. Our perishable bodies are subject to sin and suffering, but God will never abandon us. Because Christ has won the victory over death, we have eternal life. All our risks, humiliations, and trials are opportunities for Christ to demonstrate his power and presence in and through us.

I’ve heard it said that the worst thing a person can do to us is to kill us. If we are truly saved I fail to see where this is a bad thing. We read in 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"

____________________________________________________________________________________

Tomorrow's reading for 2 Corinthians 4:11-18

¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ¹² So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
¹³ But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”^{[c] 14} We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus,^[d] will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. ¹⁵ All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
¹⁶ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are^[e] being renewed every day. ¹⁷ For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! ¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.