Are You Giving Up

2 Corinthians 4:7-18
7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best!

13-15We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16-18 So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.(MSG)

So my last blog talking about if you are glowing yet? Tonight at OASIS Wednesday Night we talked a little about if after you spend your time with God do you glow, can others tell that you have spent with Jesus. Tonight looking at 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, we can notice that the first few words say "you might well miss our brightness," saying that in our ordinary lives its not about drawing attention to ourselves, but giving all the attention to the cause we have been called to, that is to Proclaim the Message of Jesus Christ. Sometimes that means we have to go through some hard times, when you said yes to Jesus, God never said that it was going to be this easy breezy way of life. I can tell you there will be hard times in your life, its not always the way we want it to go. Sorry to give you a dose of harsh reality if you never realized that before. God says He is with you and He will not let you down(Deut. 31:6 MSG). As you read verses 16-18, I want to challenge you to do what the verses say, to not give up. When everything around us seems to not be going our way or our worlds seem to be falling or crumbling apart, Jesus is THERE always reminding us that on the inside of us He is making "new life". So where are you going to turn when things are not like we want them? Look to Jesus who is our hope, anchor onto Him. You will not regret it I promise.

Pastor Lance