Latest / The Daily Word / April 4 – Don’t Lose Heart
Transcript
- Brandon Dirmann: Well, welcome once again to another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. My name is Brandon and so thrilled to have you with us today as we are taking time every single day to little by little allow God to change and transform our life through the reading of the scripture and allowing the Holy Spirit to take that scripture, speak to us and illuminate how we can little by little become more like Jesus. In case you don't know, we're following the Life Journal reading plan. It's the reading plan that our church uses. It's not the only reading plan or necessarily the best reading plan, but it's just the one that we use as a church community to stay unified together in what we're reading every day. And here on this podcast, the Daily Word podcast, we're using the New Testament reading or the New Testament portion from that reading plan. And every day just taking time to grab something out of the New Testament. Number one, to encourage and strengthen you in whatever you're facing today, praying that God's using it in that way, but also as a way of reminding you that God wants to spend time with you every day, daily and deeply. And so that's my prayer today. Really every day that we're doing this podcast, our prayer is that you're encouraged and strengthened, but also you're reminded and encouraged to go dig into the scripture for yourself and allow God to speak to you. That being said, today is April the 4th. And our New Testament reading out of the Life Journal reading plan is 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And I want to share with you today from 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 14. Nope, sorry, that was wrong. Verses 16 all the way through 18. I guess that's a good problem to have when there's so many highlights in your Bible that you can't always make out the numbers. I thought it was 14. It is not. It is 16. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 16 through Verse number 18, here's what it says. The apostle Paul is writing, he says, therefore, we do not lose heart. There's a key term for you to just hone in on. He says, therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is but for a moment. is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." And as I am looking at this scripture for today, a couple of things just jump off the page at me and they're reminders to me that encourage me, but also some things that really challenge me. And I think that they might do the same for you. First of all, Here's what encourages me that no matter what you're facing and no matter the direction it's moving, let's put it that way, no matter what you're facing and the direction it's moving, whether it's getting better or it's getting worse, whether it's getting easier or it's getting harder, that we have the potential, there's the possibility that we don't lose heart. That's encouraging to me because in the culture that we live in, maybe a lot of it just has to do with our own flesh and the humanity of our life, we can often live like, hey, if things don't get better, if things don't change, I'm not gonna be okay. I'm not gonna be encouraged. I'm not gonna be positive. I'm not gonna be optimistic. Life is glass half empty. Things are the worst. This is inconceivable, to quote a great movie. And I just, I'm not gonna be encouraged. But what I see here is in spite of... or no matter the circumstance, I can actually live with a perspective and a heart that's not losing heart but gaining encouragement. I think about Philippians chapter four where the apostle Paul says, all things, through prayer and supplication, be anxious for nothing but in everything through prayer and supplication, let your request be made known to God so that the peace of God which doesn't make human sense can guard your heart and mind. Well, Paul's reminding me in this passage that's possible. The thing that challenges me though is here's what challenges me is that he says in order for that to happen, he was, I'm not losing heart. Even though my outward man is perishing, things aren't getting better. They're getting worse. I'm not losing heart encouraging, but here's the challenge. He says the way that this is possible is that number one, my inward man is being renewed day by day. And number two, I'm weighing what I'm going through today with the hope I have eternally. Those are the two challenging thoughts that I'm seeing here. So I can be encouraged that no matter what the circumstances, I can have a hope field encouraging, a glass half full perspective. But the challenging part is I have to do some things. And the first thing I have to do, he says, I have to be renewed day by day. And so it's possible for me to stay encouraged, but am I being renewed? Am I every single day coming back to the scripture? Am I renewing my mind to the Word of God? Am I coming back and practicing gratitude, being thankful, entering into God's presence with thanksgiving and praise and reminding myself of what God has done and what I do have? Am I being renewed and freshly filled with the Holy Spirit? ⁓ Am I being renewed? That's a great question because a lot of times if we're honest, we're not. In fact, the harder life is and the more difficult circumstances are, we just stop renewing ourselves. It's like, I don't really want to pray. I don't really want to read the Bible. I don't really want to go to church. I don't really want to have good conversations. I don't really want to get filled with the space. I don't want to do those things because I'm having a hard time. Well, Paul goes, hold on for a second. Even though you're having a hard time, it's possible. You're living full of hope and encouragement if you will be renewed day by day. And secondly, he says, that you have to have an eternal perspective. Let me read it to you. He says, our light affliction, it's for a moment. It's passing. And it's working for us in more exceeding an eternal weight of glory. Listen to this. We're not looking at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. ⁓ So part of me having a glass half full. strengthened, encouraged, perspective, living life from this posture, it's me fixing my eyes on eternity. By the way, it's the whole reason we gave our life to Jesus. The apostle Paul would write this in Romans chapter six, believe it is. ⁓ He says something to the effect of, we didn't get saved in the hope of a better today, we got saved in the hope of eternity. In other words, our whole faith is postured from this position. Jesus is coming back. We will be with him forever. And no matter what I'm facing today, it's a light affliction. It's a temporary season that is working for me. If I will follow and be obedient to God and eternal weight of glory, therefore my eyes are not focused on today, but my eyes are focused on eternity. That's challenging because again, when we get in hard seasons and hard circumstances, What do we do? We focus on right now. We focus on what we're going through. We focus on how hard it is, how much, we focus on the temporary. And so again, I'm encouraged by this reality. ⁓ no matter what I'm facing, I can be glass half full. I can be encouraged. I can actually be renewed and be hope filled. I don't have to lose heart challenge though. I have to be renewed day by day. And I have to put my eyes on Jesus and that which is eternal. My prayer today is that that would encourage you and challenge you in the same way that's encouraging challenging me. That whatever you're walking through today, you would be reminded you don't have to settle for blah. You don't have to settle for glass half empty. You don't have to settle for this frustrated, ⁓ absent of peace, aggravated, e or mentat. No, you don't have to do that. God can give you peace that's beyond understanding. God can fill you with joy. You can be light in your spirit. You can be in a good mood and smile today, but you must be renewed. You renew yourself in the things of God and let God wash and clean and encourage you again. And you have to keep your eyes focused, not on what you're going through, but on Jesus and on what he's promised eternally. My prayer is that's encouraging to you today and you're able to take that, apply it to your life, and start living a more hope-filled, positive, encourage life. Not because things are getting better. By the way, I pray, I hope things are getting better. But it's not the reason we can live hope-filled and encouraged. We can live hope-filled and encouraged because we have an eternal promise that is guaranteed to us. One that is so much greater than we can even realize and God can renew us and strengthen us day by day. Hope that's blessing you today and I hope it's an encouragement. Lord Jesus, help us to take these things and apply them to our life. We love you so much. need you. We're dependent on you today in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Hey, once again, thank you for joining us on another episode of the Daily Word Podcast. Can't wait to see you tomorrow for another episode. We'll see you then.