II Corinthians 4

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair."  II Corinthians 4:6-8

"Therefore we do not lose heart---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.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  II Corinthians 4:16-18

Do you ever feel discouraged?  Do you ever feel like everything is falling apart, and you do not know where to turn next?  This is actually a good place to be, because it is then that the Lord can begin to do His work in you.  The Lord is our great strength giver.  He has called us to be His servants, and He will give us the strength to live for Him day by day and moment by moment!

We need never be discouraged; because the Lord in His mercy has redeemed us from sin, chosen us to be His child and servant, and is busy about the task of transforming us into His likeness! Those who are not believers and do not belong to the Lord truly do not understand the joy that we have in the Lord.  The devil has blinded their minds, so they cannot see the Lord's glory.  They cannot see that Jesus is the very Son of God!  We need to be eternally thankful to the Lord for choosing us as His children and for being our Lord and Savior.

II Corinthians 4:6b tells us that He "made  His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."  What a priceless treasure!  What a priceless treasure we have in our salvation!  What a priceless treasure we have in belonging to the Lord! What a priceless treasure we have in the Lord Jesus Christ living in our hearts and lives!  Praise His name!

ll Corinthians 4:7 says, "we have this treasure in jars of clay."  In Bible times it was customary to hid treasures and valuable items in clay jars which had very little value or beauty in themselves.Thus attention was not attracted to the jars; and the valuable contents were protected.  We have the Lord's treasure in us who are unworthy and frail humans, so that His glory will be shown in us. Through our insufficiency the Lord chooses to reveal His all-sufficiency, grander, power, and greatness!  We are nothing in ourselves, but He chooses to fill us with His all-surpassing power! The more we realize that we are nothing in ourselves, the more He can infuse us with His power.

We need to reflect the Lord Jesus and His beauty in our lives.  We must ask the Lord to break us of self, self-will, and self-reliance; so that His light and power and glory shines forth in our lives. This is the road to the Lord's best for you and me!  It is the road to joy and spiritual prosperity!

ll Corinthians 4:8 tells us that in life's trials and troubles we often feel "hard pressed on every side" and "perplexed."  As His children, however, we are never "crushed." because the Lord is with us all the way.  We will never be abandoned by Him!  The frailty of our humanness makes us more dependent on His strength and thus reveals His life in us in a greater way!  We can believe with absolute certainty that the Lord will lead us through this life and through death and to eternity! Any difficulties you or I may experience in this life are nothing compared to the glories that we will experience with the Lord in His presence.  We must fix our eyes not on the things we see, namely life's difficulties or material things, but  on the Lord Jesus and on eternal realities!