Death in me...Life in You!

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. for we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." 2 Corinthians 4: 10-12

If you read my last blog, you know we talked about 2 Corinthians 4. I would ask you go back and read the blog from Jan 7 if you haven't already.

I don't know about you, but when God wants me to see something, He puts it in front of me over and over until I get it. Right after I was led to this chapter and wrote that blog, I went to my Precept for Life podcast and guess what Kay was preaching....you guessed it 2 Corinthians 4. Oh how I love those "God Moments".

I know now God wanted me to fully understand the lesson I was trying to convey. This chapter is about our ministry. As Christians, we are all called the minister the Gospel. We are called to show the conduct of God, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are the bond servants of God. It is not about us, it is about Jesus and we are to preach that to everyone.

We are to open our lives to examination by those who are still living in this world. We are to show them that even when we face trials, we have died with Christ but also been raised with Christ. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

We are to speak the Gospel of Jesus, for all things are for the sake of others, to bring them to Christ. "All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God." (2 Corinthians 4:13-15)

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31 "I die every day - I mean that, brothers - just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord."

In all of this, we are not to lose heart. We are fulfilling the ministry of God, living so the Gospel can be seen, we are bond servants of Christ, death works in us so life can work in others. Through our momentary afflictions, others see the glory of God, and we all get to live forever in the presence of Almighty God.

What an awesome charge and what a mighty reward. We are all charged with the duty of ministry. We are to live with the light of the spirit so others can see the light and come out of darkness. And though our work will be hard and we will have trials, we will be delivered to eternity with God.

I invite you to watch Kay's teachings on this awesome chapter, ss she is much more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. It is well worth the time you will invest.

You can find them at ligthsource.com Precepts for Life - NWC #5 and NWC #6 : Death in us Life in others Parts 1 and 2 (January 6 and 7, 2010) http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/precepts/20100107/

You can also find them on Itunes....Precepts for Life on Lightsource.com.

Also, visit www.prects.org for awesome Inductive Bible Study courses.