DIG for Monday the 29th of February…..are our current afflictions really that bad…..2 Corinthians 4 v 17

When I think that life is a bit hard or when things seem to be getting on top if me I like to look at the life of Paul.

Paul was persecuted; he was stoned and left for dead, he was beaten and whipped, he was run out of town and he was shipwrecked (more than once).

Yet Paul calls these things a light affliction (2 Corinthians 4 v 17).

He talks about the problems in his life (afflictions) being easy and light.

Easy and light!

Yes, that is what Paul says.

He says this as he looks on the eternal outlook and not just on the current physical situation.

Paul knew that Jesus loved him, knew what Jesus had done for him and knew what he had as a gift of grace through faith.

If we could have an outlook similar to that of Paul the problems of life would seem a lot smaller than we sometimes make them out to be.

If you are anything like me you can blow all things out of proportion, yet if we could look on things like Paul this would not happen.

We have been forgiven and reconciled, been saved and made righteous and have a place in eternity with Jesus.

When we focus on those truths any problem we have should shrink in size!

Focussing on Jesus and not our problems, focussing on the spiritual instead of the physical is great advice for all of us.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you for the finished work of Jesus Christ and thank you for all that I have as a gift of grace through faith”.

2 Corinthians 4 v 17…..For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

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DIG for Tuesday the 27th of May…..be of good cheer; Jesus expects this of us…..Matthew 14 v 27

There are times when I allow myself to get down and a bit low, like today for example when I had to go back to work after a ten-day holiday.

I was not very cheerful as I went out the door this morning, and I was thinking about that this evening as I was reading the Word.

I was taken back to part of the teaching at the weekend and reminded about the times that Jesus said to be of good cheer.

He told this to a man who was sick of the palsy (Matthew 9 v 2), to His disciples as they were in a sinking boat in a storm (Matthew 14 v 27), and also to His disciples on the night before He would be crucified (John 16 v 33).

These were three horrendous situations or predicaments, much worse than having to sit at a desk in a nice comfortable office for eight hours earning a decent wage!

These events show us that, as believers, we also should be of good cheer.

Jesus expected an ill man and men who thought they were about to die to be of good cheer.

I think Jesus expects this of us also.

Paul was also a man who was of good cheer, even in a ship where all hope was lost and death looked a certainty (Acts 27 v 25 and 36).

This is one of those life events that Paul called a light affliction (2 Corinthians 4 v 17); other light afflictions included being stoned, whipped, shipwrecked and jailed.

If the man with the palsy, the disciples on the brink of death and Paul could be of good cheer then we can too.

To be of good cheer is not a feeling, it is a choice and it is a choice we have to make for ourselves.

We can choose to be of good cheer or we can choose to be down, low and depressed.

We choose!

What will you choose today?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the many, many things that I can be thankful for today, and thank you that I can choose to be of good cheer”.

Matthew 14 v 27…..But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid

DIG for Wednesday the 26th of February…..Paul spoke of his light afflictions; mine must be really, really light then…..2 Corinthians 4 v 17 and 18

Paul was an amazing man of God, a wonderful evangelist and apostle, spreading the Word of God across the known world.

He was persecuted, arrested, beaten, stoned and left for dead; he had to escape from cities and was shipwrecked a number of times; he was thrown in jail and whipped; he was despised and rejected by his own people.

Paul did not have it easy; he had great difficulties and issues that brought many difficulties.

How did he react to this; did he throw up his hands and say “I give up” or “it’s not fair” or “I can’t go on”; did he weep and wail and moan?

No, he called all these issues and circumstances his “light affliction”; yes, you read that correctly, he said they were a “light affliction” (2 Corinthians 4 v 17).

My friends, Paul is just the same as we are now, he was a bring again believer who trusted Jesus as His Lord and Saviour.

You are the same as Paul, so you can live with the same attitude as Paul.

How can we live like that; how can we look on the circumstances and difficulties of this earthly life as light afflictions?

We can be like Paul and look to the things of the Lord and the Kingdom (things which are not see) rather than our current difficulties and issues (things which are seen) (2 Corinthians 4 v 18).

We can, like Paul, choose to focus on the positive truths of the Lord and His Kingdom, instead of worrying and focusing on the negativity of our earthly condition.

What did Paul do when he was stuck in the deepest and darkest part of jail in Philippi? (Acts 16 v 22 to 24)

He prayed and sang songs of praise; he worshiped and he rejoiced (Acts 16 v 25).

What an example; even in the worst of conditions Paul was able to rejoice; he prayed and sang songs of praise.

This is what the Lord wants us to do as well, He wants us to rejoice, and rejoice in all circumstances (Philippians 4 v 4 and 2 Thessalonians 5 v 16).

Now don’t get upset and say “you don’t know what I am going through”, even though that of course is true.

But the Lord does know and He asks you to rejoice.

And Paul went through, with all respect to your situation, a lot worse than you or I are going through, and he managed to rejoice.

I agree that this is not also easy; I have to be honest and say that I am writing this DIG to me as much to anyone else; I can and do let the things of this earth weigh me down.

But when I look to Him, read and meditate on His Word, pray and sing songs of worship, or go for a walk and ponder on His wonderful creation, things always, and I mean always, look better.

When we focus on Him (things we cannot see) instead of ourselves and our problems (things we can see) life gets a whole lot better.

Look to Him tonight, look to the things unseen.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that things of this earth are nothing compared to what is to come; thank you for my eternal life, provided as a gift of grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ”.

2 Corinthians 4 v 17 and 18…..For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal