A VICTORIOUS VIEW OF LIFE

October 21, 2020

Remember the story of the twin boys? One was an incurable pessimist, the other an optimist. The parents, seeking to balance the two, gave the pessimist a new bike for Christmas and the optimist a bag of horse manure.

Christmas morning came. The parents asked the pessimist, "Do you like your new bike?" He replied, "It's okay, but it will probably rust, and I'll have a wreck and cut myself and probably have to have a tetanus shot...."

Then they said, "Where's your brother?" To which he replied, "Oh, he got all excited and went outside saying something about trying to find his new horse!"

Everybody looks at life from the up or down side. Part of this is personality, but part is FAITH (one of the reasons we need each other.) Paul was a man of incredible faith. As he describes his ministry in 2 Corinthians 4:8-18, he could have taken just one side of the equation, which is what some people do to their great detriment.

I am...

Afflicted in every way
Perplexed
Persecuted
Struck down
Always dying
Constantly being delivered over to death
Death is working in me
Outer man is decaying
Momentary, light affliction

Others view their lives from an eternal, heavenly perspective and say this about their situation.

I am...

Not crushed
Not despairing
Not forsaken
Not destroyed
Life is manifested in my body
Life is coming to others.
Inner man is being renewed day by day

STRIKING THE BALANCE

The best possible way to view life as a child of God is to join the two, just as Paul did. This acknowledges the reality of my current condition, but also the reality of God's abundant grace to "overwhelmingly conquer" through Jesus Christ our Lord!

I am...

Afflicted, but not crushed
Perplexed, but not despairing
Persecuted, but not forsaken
Struck down, but not destroyed
Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
So death works in us, but life in you!
Outer man is dying; inner man is being renewed day by day.
Momentary, light affliction, is producing an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

So how do we get there? How do we maintain a witness of great victory in the midst of the brokenness of the world and the press of ministry? The key is, as always to LOOK UP!

"For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we LOOK not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

If your vision is not aerated by heaven's reality you will be overwhelmed and discouraged. The authentic man of faith is a realist—but in both directions. He recognizes the problems, but also the solutions. A realistic view of both earth and heaven makes for a robust faith and gives hope in any situation to everyone who observes us.

Father, thank You for giving us what we need. Thank You that there is no problem that I have that is too big for You—nothing for which You do not have a solution. You work all things together for good to those who are loving You. Help me give a FULL and accurate testimony of my circumstances to bring hope to those around me.

Also in Graceful Truth

A NEAR SIX-DECADE TESTIMONY OF THE VALUE AND JOY OF SIMPLY READING THE BIBLE EVERY DAY

January 01, 2025

So this morning, January 1, 2025, I rise early once again. I will enter into the throne room before the Father, because the Son has made a way for me to come into this “grace in which I now stand.” I will open the Word God has written and preserved for me so I could have it in my hands. I will ask the precious Holy Spirit to teach me, showing me things which “eye has not seen and ear has not heard” that have been prepared for me. And I will have the glorious privilege, once again, of communing with God.