Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen. —2 Corinthians 4:18 (CEV)
Jesus tells us… In Me, you have everything. In Me, you are whole and complete. It is not possible for you to have a need that I cannot meet. After all, I created you. I created this world and everything in it. Everything is under my control—even when it doesn’t look like it. Sometimes it seems that the bad guys win; that good people suffer for no reason; that evil is the easier way, maybe even the better way. But that is just what the devil wants you to think. He is the great trickster.
Jesus concludes. Don’t let him trick you. The things you see are of this world, but they only last for a while. The things you don’t see—faith, hope, and love—are the most important things, and they last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:18; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Ephesians 3:20 Study Notes
Footnotes 2 Corinthians 4:18, (NIV Life Study Bible) – Our ultimate hope when we are experiencing terrible illness, persecution, or pain is the realization that this life is not all there is—there is life after death! Knowing that we will live forever with God in a place without sin and suffering can help us live above the pain that we face in this life.
Passage 1 Corinthians 13:13 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul wrote that love endures forever. In morally corrupt Corinth, love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today, people are still confused about love. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God himself (1 John 4:8). Love involves unselfish service to others. Faith is the foundation and content of God’s message; hope is the attitude and focus; love is action. When faith and hope are in line, you are free to love completely because you understand how God loves. Does your faith fully express itself in loving others?
Passage; Ephesians 3:20 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Footnotes Ephesians 3:20-21; This doxology—prayer of praise to God—ends part one of Ephesians. In the first section, Paul described the timeless role of the church. In part two (chapters 4–6), he will explain how church members should live in order to bring about the unity God wants. As in most of his books, Paul first lays a doctrinal foundation and then makes practical applications of the truths he has presented.
THE WORLD…we see history
JOHN PETER GABRIEL MUHLENBERG 1746-1807
American Clergyman, Continental Army Soldier During the
American Revolutionary War and Political Figure
Peter Muhlenberg
The Fighting Parson (Anglican pastor) of the Revolution
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was a political figure in the newly independent United States. A Lutheran minister, he served in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate from Pennsylvania. Wikipedia
This story is about a man with three biblical names—John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1746 and began pastoring a Lutheran church in Woodstock, Virginia, in 1772. The news of the Battle of Bunker Hill cut into Muhlenberg’s heart like a sword, and on January 21, 1776, he preached a dramatic sermon with a surprise ending. His text was Ecclesiastes 3:1–8: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
In Ecclesiastes 3:1–8: “The Bible tells us there is a time for all things,” the preacher said, “and there is a time to preach and a time to pray; but for me the time to preach has passed away.” Raising his voice like a trumpet, he called out, “And there is a time to fight, and that time has now come.”
The Bible is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; when it burns low, our culture grows dark. The best way to keep America strong is to know her history, to honor her roots, to preserve her legacy, and to cherish the eternal God who, in His providence, placed this continent between two shimmering seas, and who, in His goodness, provided a Book that became her moral and intellectual foundation: the Holy Bible.