Bible Devotion - 6/13/2021

June 14th, 2021

Living the Christian Life Day by Day (Vol6)

The Christian life has often been compared to a race and it is a race in which we take one mile at a time. To be more precise, it is a race that is run one day at a time.

Someone has said:

Yard by yard, life is hard,

Inch by inch, life's a cinch.

In the final devotion in the series "Day by Day," I want us to learn the truth from 2 Corinthians 4:16 that although life may batter us, it does not have to beat us. Each day we can become stronger in spite of what is going on around us.

2 Corinthians 4:16 "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

This verse reminds me that….
1. THERE ARE DAILY BURDENS WE ALL ENDURE

In verse 16 Paul spoke of the reality that our outward man is perishing. It should remind us that we are all living in bodies that are deteriorating and dying.

When Paul spoke of the "outward man" he was referring to our body. It is what he called in verse 7 an "earthen vessel." He is speaking of the body in which we live. It is that part of us that relates to the physical world by the senses of touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. It is that part of us that people see and by which we are identified.

Day by day we are getting older, and as our body's age, we become more and more aware of this deteriorating process. Our eyesight grows dim, hands become unsteady, limbs become weak, memory becomes faulty, hair turns gray, and in some cases turns loose. Our skin wrinkles and our supply of energy becomes less and less. It is what Paul meant when he spoke of the outward man perishing.

You often hear people say, "I can't do what I used to do," or "I can't go like I used to go." As we get older there grows the awareness that we live in a body that is deteriorating and dying. Because we live in a body that is deteriorating and dying, we are often burdened by sickness, disease, pain, suffering, and limitations and handicaps. This process of deteriorating and dying is a daily reality -- a daily reality that burdens us.

On the other hand, we find that Paul also tells us that….
2. THERE IS A DAILY RENEWAL THAT BUILDS US UP

Paul declares that our outward man is perishing, "yet the inward man is renewed day by day." When he spoke of the "outward man" he was referring to the physical. When he spoke of the "inward man" he was referring to the spiritual.

The word "renewed" simply means "restored, strengthened." When the Bible speaks of the "inward man" being "renewed" it is stating that even while the body is growing weaker, the Christian is becoming stronger and stronger.

The bible speaks of spiritual enlargement and enablement. In Ephesians 6:10 Paul says…

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

This daily renewal speaks of how one is growing stronger in the Lord. There may be a physical decline, but there is spiritual development. One's physical eyesight may not be what it used to be, but spiritually one is seeing things clearer than they have ever before. This is what Bro Bob Gillespie spoke of tonight when he talked about “A Biblical World View”. We see things differently than the unbeliever does.

As Christians we are to be growing spiritually. With each passing year and each passing day, although our bodies are wearing out, our spirit should be rising to heights hitherto never reached. As we get older, we should know the Lord better than we have ever known Him. We should be closer to the Lord and more like Jesus than we have ever been.

In the context of verse 16, Paul describes many of the perplexing happenings of his life. In verses 8-9, he speaks of being troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down. Yet, he says that although he was troubled, he was not distressed. Even though he was perplexed, he was not in despair. He was persecuted, but he was not forsaken. He was cast down but not destroyed.

I love what Moses said to the children of Asher: "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; And as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25).

Shoes of iron and brass spoke of a difficult journey, but they received the promise that each day of that journey they would be given strength they needed.

In a closing thought, Paul tells us that….
3. THERE IS A DAILY REALIZATION THAT BLESSES US

Part of this daily renewal is a realization of certain blessed and strengthening truths. As we look at the context of what Paul said in verse 16, he reminds us that there are things that are working for us and things that are waiting on us.

Paul says in verse 17 Paul says, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

He speaks of the trials of life as a "light affliction" and only briefly experienced when viewed in light of the total picture. He explains that all that happens is working for us and not against us. This is often difficult to see in some of the things that happen in life, but nonetheless, it is true.

When we look at the happenings of life through our affliction, what happens may seem to have no rhyme or purpose. But when viewed through the eternal they are seen as always having a purpose and are measured by its glory.

Then he says in verse 18, "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."

In short, Paul was saying, "This life is not all there is. THERE'S A BETTER DAY COMING!"

With each passing day we are strengthened with the blessed thought that there is a better day coming for the believer. Yes, the outward man is perishing, but the inward man is being renewed DAY BY DAY!

I pray these devotions have been a blessing to you. Even so “Come Lord Jesus”!

Bro. Jeff