15)
For all things are for
your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God.
16)
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet
the inward man is renewed day by day.
17)
For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18)
While we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which
are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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we all too well know, Man has a tendency to focus on the natural. Because of
this, it is difficult to teach him what the Lord wants him to know. Sadly, we
seem to be very "shallow" individuals, with the majority of out time
spent on the things which pertain to this world. As hard as the Lord
"works," we pay very little attention to what really matters (that
is, our spiritual lives) and more attention to that which lasts no longer than
a "vapor."
One
who has "...(laid) up (his) treasure in
heaven" understands that the only lasting things are spiritual things. For
all of us, the Lord has gone out of His way to get us not to look at fleshly
things. Some of us have had to lose all that we ever accumulated; others of us
have suffered continual emotional turmoil, all for insisting upon building on
the foundation of the natural life.
The
progression of too many lives involves consenting to the infilling of the Holy
Ghost, joining a church and then proceeding to sin in that church and rather
than grow, going no further in salvation. What we do, too often, is to return
to the mind that we had as a natural man. That man is one who knows nothing but
the natural world-Jesus is not a factor. Therefore, for the man who would walk
in spirituality, focusing upon the Lord is essential to pleasing Him. Doing
this is the only way that we will ever become like Him.
It
is possible and necessary that we "police" ourselves. How, then do we
measure our spirituality? By using the "litmus test" of what we find
occupying the majority of our attention. One cannot focus on both the natural
and spiritual any more than he can be part of both worlds at one time.
You
know, we become so used to "using" the Lord that we convince
ourselves that whatever we do is alright by Him. Actually, none of what we do
is "alright by Him" unless what we are doing is what He requires. You
see, by not allowing Him the right to "nurture" us, we waste His time,
for He is powerless to get us to "produce" for Him until He has our
full attention.
There
is no acceptable excuse for us to give to the Lord when we choose to allow the
world to "captivate" us. If we were without "help," it
would be one thing, but since the Lord is the Help, He knows what has been put
within us and it is His right to expect us to live up to it. Someone must be
successful in this life that others might see its value and desire the God of
our salvation.
There
is no way out of that which God identifies as being necessary for us to make
it to the kingdom. It is going to come, so our only choice is whether we yield
to the "molding"—or not. Whatever faces us, we are going to have
to master. Why shouldn't we have to do something for the Lord? After all,
don't we feel free to ask Him to do all manners of things for us? All that
He asks is that we be saved and live for Him. Considering that we have been
granted all the power in the world to do so and that in doing so, our lives
will be nothing but the "best," is it really too much to ask?