(Olga scroll down for Russian version)
2 Corinthians 4 Treasure in Perishable Containers
1 And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful and underhanded methods. We do not try to trick anyone, and we do not distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know that.
3 If the Good News we preach is veiled from anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. 4 Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
5 We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. 6 For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10 Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so (if that is is then..) that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, and so I speak." 14 We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15 All of these things are for your benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. New Living Translation (NLT)
Scroll down to end to see "Lena’s Comments"
For Olga -Russian Synodal Version (RSV)
2-е Коринфянам 4
1 Посему, имея по милости [Божией] такое служение, мы не унываем;
2 но, отвергнув скрытные постыдные [дела], не прибегая к хитрости и не искажая слова Божия, а открывая истину, представляем себя совести всякого человека пред Богом.
3 Если же и закрыто благовествование наше, то закрыто для погибающих,
4 для неверующих, у которых бог века сего ослепил умы, чтобы для них не воссиял свет б лаговествования о славе Христа, Который есть образ Бога невидимого.
5 Ибо мы не себя проповедуем, но Христа Иисуса, Господа; а мы--рабы ваши для Иисуса,
6 потому что Бог, повелевший из тьмы воссиять свету, озарил наши сердца, дабы просветить [нас] познанием славы Божией в лице Иисуса Христа.
7 Но сокровище сие мы носим в глиняных сосудах, чтобы преизбыточная сила была [приписываема] Богу, а не нам.
8 Мы отовсюду притесняемы, но не стеснены; мы в отчаянных обстоятельствах, но не отчаиваемся;
9 мы гонимы, но не оставлены; низлагаемы, но не погибаем.
10 Всегда носим в теле мертвость Господа Иисуса, чтобы и жизнь Иисусова открылась в теле на шем.
11 Ибо мы живые непрестанно предаемся на смерть ради Иисуса, чтобы и жизнь Иисусова открылась в смертной плоти нашей,
12 так что смерть действует в нас, а жизнь в вас.
13 Но, имея тот же дух веры, как написано: я веровал и потому говорил, и мы веруем, потому и говорим,
14 зная, что Воскресивший Господа Иисуса воскресит через Иисуса и нас и поставит перед [Собою] с вами.
15 Ибо всё для вас, дабы обилие благодати тем большую во многих произвело благодарность во славу Божию.
16 Посему мы не унываем; но если внешний наш человек и тлеет, то внутренний со дня на день обновляется.
17 Ибо кратковременное легкое страдание наше производит в безмерном преизбытке вечную славу,
18 когда мы смотрим не на видимое, но на невидимое: ибо видимое временно, а невидимое вечно.
Russian Synodal Version (RSV)
Public Domain
1 And so, since God in his mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful and underhanded methods. We do not try to trick anyone, and we do not distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know that.
3 If the Good News we preach is veiled from anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. 4 Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
5 We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. 6 For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But this precious treasure--this light and power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. 9 We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. 10 Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so (if that is is then..) that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you.
13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, "I believed in God, and so I speak." 14 We know that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself along with you. 15 All of these things are for your benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. New Living Translation (NLT)
Scroll down to end to see "Lena’s Comments"
For Olga -Russian Synodal Version (RSV)
2-е Коринфянам 4
1 Посему, имея по милости [Божией] такое служение, мы не унываем;
2 но, отвергнув скрытные постыдные [дела], не прибегая к хитрости и не искажая слова Божия, а открывая истину, представляем себя совести всякого человека пред Богом.
3 Если же и закрыто благовествование наше, то закрыто для погибающих,
4 для неверующих, у которых бог века сего ослепил умы, чтобы для них не воссиял свет б лаговествования о славе Христа, Который есть образ Бога невидимого.
5 Ибо мы не себя проповедуем, но Христа Иисуса, Господа; а мы--рабы ваши для Иисуса,
6 потому что Бог, повелевший из тьмы воссиять свету, озарил наши сердца, дабы просветить [нас] познанием славы Божией в лице Иисуса Христа.
7 Но сокровище сие мы носим в глиняных сосудах, чтобы преизбыточная сила была [приписываема] Богу, а не нам.
8 Мы отовсюду притесняемы, но не стеснены; мы в отчаянных обстоятельствах, но не отчаиваемся;
9 мы гонимы, но не оставлены; низлагаемы, но не погибаем.
10 Всегда носим в теле мертвость Господа Иисуса, чтобы и жизнь Иисусова открылась в теле на шем.
11 Ибо мы живые непрестанно предаемся на смерть ради Иисуса, чтобы и жизнь Иисусова открылась в смертной плоти нашей,
12 так что смерть действует в нас, а жизнь в вас.
13 Но, имея тот же дух веры, как написано: я веровал и потому говорил, и мы веруем, потому и говорим,
14 зная, что Воскресивший Господа Иисуса воскресит через Иисуса и нас и поставит перед [Собою] с вами.
15 Ибо всё для вас, дабы обилие благодати тем большую во многих произвело благодарность во славу Божию.
16 Посему мы не унываем; но если внешний наш человек и тлеет, то внутренний со дня на день обновляется.
17 Ибо кратковременное легкое страдание наше производит в безмерном преизбытке вечную славу,
18 когда мы смотрим не на видимое, но на невидимое: ибо видимое временно, а невидимое вечно.
Russian Synodal Version (RSV)
Public Domain
~ Lena's Comments~
The scriptures above speak for themselves. They are so good, so full of direction for the way a Christian should be being changed in their thinking.
My weakness is an opportunity to prove Christ is alive inside of me! The dead feeling I experience here is an opportunity to prove His resurrection power is at work in me. Etc. Let’s prove that Christ is alive in us. Let’s take the opportunities given to us in the stresses of each day to prove God.
During a day FULL of stress beyond my own measure this week. I was about to break mentally and I was working on my computer at "work" and I had random songs playing all day long. All of a sudden I was stopped in what I was doing as this song began to play. I’ve heard it many, many times on the radio. I even have it as a ring on my cell phone. I did not know what the words were saying, but I began to cry. The desk was transformed into an altar. I wept before the Lord at how weak I was being and how much of His strength I needed to even make it past my thoughts for the day. I was sad at what I saw in my heart- anger, self pity etc… The song is playing and I still can’t understand the words. So I clicked on Internet Explorer and got the words!!! I’ve copied them below. BOY oh BOY do they say what needed to be said to me that day. Here it goes.
"Listen" to this song:
The scriptures above speak for themselves. They are so good, so full of direction for the way a Christian should be being changed in their thinking.
My weakness is an opportunity to prove Christ is alive inside of me! The dead feeling I experience here is an opportunity to prove His resurrection power is at work in me. Etc. Let’s prove that Christ is alive in us. Let’s take the opportunities given to us in the stresses of each day to prove God.
During a day FULL of stress beyond my own measure this week. I was about to break mentally and I was working on my computer at "work" and I had random songs playing all day long. All of a sudden I was stopped in what I was doing as this song began to play. I’ve heard it many, many times on the radio. I even have it as a ring on my cell phone. I did not know what the words were saying, but I began to cry. The desk was transformed into an altar. I wept before the Lord at how weak I was being and how much of His strength I needed to even make it past my thoughts for the day. I was sad at what I saw in my heart- anger, self pity etc… The song is playing and I still can’t understand the words. So I clicked on Internet Explorer and got the words!!! I’ve copied them below. BOY oh BOY do they say what needed to be said to me that day. Here it goes.
"Listen" to this song:
Welcome to the planet, Welcome to existence. Everyone's here, Everyone's here.Everybody's watching you now. Everybody's waiting for you now.What happens next, What happens next? I dare you to move, I DARE you to move. I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor ! I dare you to move, I DARE you to move, Like today never happened, Today never happened –before.Welcome to the fallout, Welcome to resistance. The tension is here, the tension is here. Between who you are and who you could be. Between how it is and how it should be. I dare you to move, I DARE you to move. I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor. I dare you to move, I DARE you to move, Like today never happened, Today never happened. Maybe redemption has stories to tell. Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.Where can you run to escape from yourself? Where ya gonna go, Where ya gonna go? Salvation is HERE! I dare you to move, I DARE you to move. I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor.I dare you to move, I DARE you to move, Like today never happened, Today never happened. I dare you to move, I DARE you to move. I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor.I dare you to move, I DARE you to move. Like today never happened, Today never happened before.
