THE LAST ADDRESS CHANGE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For 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 Corinthians 5:1

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

No one likes to move.

As adults, we like stability and we don’t handle change well for the most part.

I’ve had the privilege to work with a lot of elderly people in my lifetime and see the challenges that aging brings. There are many instances when an older man or woman can’t safely live on their own either for safety reasons or because their bodies are failing them and they no longer can care for themselves without assistance. The latter pushes a senior toward assisted living and this more than often means they are leaving their permanent home for one they will stay at until they die and we all know death is inevitable, no matter our age.

This inevitable truth, that death is coming for every single person, brings a certain additional angst as it reminds us that our present residing address could be our last one but God has provided us all a promise that offsets the surety of death. For He has given us a better surety, a guarantee that the end of this worldly life isn’t the end but rather the advent of a new beginning. The Apostle Paul affirms this truth as he writes these words in the opening verse of 2 Corinthians, chapter 5:

For 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 Corinthians 5:1

Here, our bodies are the earthly tents Paul mentions, earthly tents that won’t last forever for a day is coming when our earthly tents will be destroyed, a day when we will stop breathing and our heart will cease to beat. Many people today would see this as the end but because of God’s saving work through Jesus, anyone who believes in Him as Savior will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). They will lose their earthly tent but gain an eternal house in Heaven built by God Himself. Jesus explained it this way:

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3

After His resurrection, Jesus ascended to sit at God’s right hand, placed in authority over all things in heaven and on earth. He went to also prepare a place for all those who placed their faith and trust in Him, those who He will return for to bring them to Heaven to abide with Him and God forever. It will be the last address change ever for Christians and one we should all gladly welcome as we enter into the glory of God’s kingdom forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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NEVER LOSING HEART

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I’m not getting any younger. Every day that I look at myself in the mirror or get up to move from one place to another, I am reminded of this.

Aging is one of those inevitable realities, right? As sure as we are born and out of our mother’s womb, we begin this march, day after day, toward getting older and older and older. We move from having parents to being parents and then most of the time becoming grandparents and if we’re really fortunate, great grandparents before the time comes when this life ends and it will end for death is as much an inevitable reality as aging. It could be very depressing and cause a person to lose heart if there wasn’t something ahead that was even better than this worldly life. Thank goodness there is something, something that brings a wellspring of sure hope.

Christians have this assured hope in the promise of salvation through Jesus and the eternal life gained by believing in Him as Savior. It’s the hope we find Paul writing about in the closing verses of 2 Corinthians, chapter 4. Look again at his words here:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Here we find Paul talking about hope in the midst of aging and death’s inevitability. He and his fellow missionaries refused to lose heart although they were outwardly “wasting away”. For although their outer appearance looked as if they were in decline, the Lord continued to renew their inner spirits through His Holy Spirit “day by day”. And although they had momentary problems in life, “an eternal glory” awaited them, one that outweighed any of the difficulties they were going through. So they fixed their eyes and inclined their hearts toward the future everlasting life in store for them, that which was unseen, that which reminded them that the world was not really their home.

Friends, Christians today have this same hope. They, like Paul and his associates, just need to make that hope their focus so to not lose heart. Although Christian believers today may be wasting away, they are still being renewed inwardly every day by the Holy Spirit. We are all works in progress spiritually as the Lord continues to make us the people He wants us to be.

In the end translation, the unseen that lies ahead, the promise of eternal life through Jesus, is far more appealing than that which we can see, that which can often leave us discouraged. When you feel like you’re getting down, turn your eyes to the heavens, fix your eyes on Jesus, and remember that the best is yet to come because of all He did to save you. I guarantee that your spirit will be lifted up and joy will replace your inner sadness.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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SPEAKING OUT OF FAITH

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 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 to Himself. 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.

2 Corinthians 4:13-15

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

People speak words every second of every minute of every hour of every day. There is never a moment where there is absolute silence if you think about it and we couldn’t count the number of things spoken even if we wanted to. It’s an impossibility to account for all things said.

So given this, we see that talking is as frequent as heartbeats and breaths. As sure as we have life, we possess the ability to communicate with others.

But here are some questions to ponder.

How many words do we speak really matter?

Are we judicious with the words we speak, careful to ensure every word has value?

And when we speak words to others, especially when we are making points, how sure are we that what we say is truth?

Since we all communicate and do so with such incredible frequency, I think all of these questions and more like them should be considered for if we are going to speak and be effective and efficient in our work for the Lord, we should be mindful of what we say and when. Even more, we should allow the Lord to dictate our words for it’s only then that we can be sure we are always saying the right things at the right time, His perfect time.

As we turn to our scripture verses for today from 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, we find the Apostle Paul address the matter of the spoken word as it pertained to a believer’s faith. In verse 13, we find him borrowing words from the psalmist who was afflicted and called out to the Lord because he trusted God would answer his plea. He spoke out to the only One He believed could rescue and heal him from his afflictions.

Paul likens his words and the words of other Christian believers like him to the words of the psalmist, words spoken out of the “same spirit of faith”. Paul practiced speaking out of faith and in doing so sought to show other Jesus followers how to do likewise, followers like his readers in the church of Corinth as well as us today.

How could Paul speak out of faith with such fervent assurance and confidence?

Because like the psalmist, he placed his hope in God, “the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead”, the One who would raise anyone who placed their belief in Jesus as Savior. Paul knew that He and all other Christ believers were counted in that number and this produced a boldness in the words the apostle spoke.

As he finishes his faith-grounded speech, Paul shows the Corinthian Christians, as well as us, the benefit that comes from speaking words out of faith. For when we follow the lead of the psalmist and Paul, completely trusting God in every way no matter our circumstances, then we find ourselves living in a spirit of thanksgiving which overflows to the glory of God the Father.

Friends, living in faith leads us to speak words that are anchored in that faith and truth, and when we live and speak in faith and truth, we can’t help but see our hearts fill up to excess with the thanksgiving we feel toward our God. This thanksgiving will be evident in the words we use as we let others know how very blessed we are to have God with us and for us, a God who was not willing to allow us to perish and therefore made the way to save us through His Son.

Thanks be to God, now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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SHARING JESUS

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

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. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

2 Corinthians 4:10-12 (NLT)

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus suffered immensely to bring salvation to all mankind, Jew and Gentile in His day. The way Jesus saw it, the needs of the many outweighed His own and as we continue to study His life over and over again, we can’t help but be left more and more of His complete selflessness and willingness to carry out His Father’s will, no matter the cost.

This need for complete selflessness and willingness to be fully obedient to God’s will is transferred to anyone who chooses to accept Jesus as Savior, those we refer to as Christians. Christ commissioned all His followers to go and make disciples, baptizing them in His name as well as the name of His Father and the Holy Spirit. He also added that we are to teach others to obey all He commanded and the best way we can do this is by example, ensuring we are first living in compliance with what Jesus called us to do so others can have role models to follow. It’s one way that we can share Jesus with others.

Jesus also calls for us to share in His life and that includes the things He experienced, good and bad. The Apostle Paul knew all too well that following Jesus, amenable to accepting all that came with that following, was not for the faint of heart. Paul and other missionaries who worked with and for him were often mistreated badly, consistently persecuted and threatened with death. Through this constant threat and the suffering it brought, Paul knew that he and the other Gospel workers were sharing in the death of Jesus, undergoing the same afflictions that eventually led to His demise but they also were allowing others to see the life of Jesus through their own lives. In other words, they were sharing Jesus with others through their own life experiences.

What was the hoped end goal of doing this?

We see that it was helping others, in this case the Corinthian believers, find their way to eternal life and this is always the goal of the Gospel, to help others get saved, no matter the cost.

Sharing Jesus with others is always done with the hope that they will accept Jesus as Savior and find salvation through Him. As we do this, we need to understand and accept that carrying out the Great Commission won’t be any easier for us than it was for Jesus. He never promised it would be simple but He did promise to walk alongside us every step of the way (Matthew 28:20b).

I don’t know about you but I haven’t received any greater honor that to get to share Jesus with others, despite the risks involved. For any suffering I undergo will pale in comparison to the suffering my Lord Jesus suffered to bring salvation to me and anyone else who simply believes in Him. I (we) need to always remember that we will get to share in one other major experience in our Savior’s life when He returns and we ascend to heaven to live with Him and God, the Father, forever.

This life might be challenging and filled with peril as we carry out the call of Christ but through Him, our eternal future is set. Life and bring whatever it wants in the here and now but our future is set and it’s the best we could ever hope for.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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