QT 5/21/2025 2 Cor 4:12-18, The Word of God is critical to inner renewal

2 Corinthians 4:12–18 (ESV) —

12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

 

NOTE: Life can be very painful and are bodies are decaying. We are never what we were. And as we get older, there is little even the rich can do to hide the truth about these decaying bodies. The sad part is that the real life is missed by many. Real life is not the outer self, but the inner self. Unlike the outer, the inner is renewed every day. There is a glory that is accumulating in our inner self that is the result of renewal. How do we renew? Obedience to God's command and washing our minds with the word of God. As we grow in our knowledge of God through the scriptures, our mind is cleansed. It cannot be done without the scriptures. I cannot be done only through prayer and thinking on God's creation. The word of God is critical, and if you are not in the word of God daily, you are deceiving yourself. You are not being changed. You are in danger of Jesus saying, "I never knew you," since you show no interest in what you think is the new birth. Stop playing games with yourself and God. Seek him first, and seek him in his Word!

 

PONDER:

1. Are you experiencing the new birth?
2. Do you believe the inner self is more important than the outer self? If true, how is that reflective in your life, your activities, your secret time?

 

PRAYER: Father, I can't see my inner self, but I believe from what I've seen spill over into my outer self that there is a growing glory that continues to change my life. Thank you. I trust you for what you are doing in my life. I cast my worries on you and trust that you will take care of all me needs according to your wisdom and plan.