OUR DAILY BREAD : TO BE OR NOT TO BE

[cimi]

March 13
Friday


TO BE
OR NOT TO BE

READ:
2 corinthians 1:3-11
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We were burdened
beyond measure,...
so that we despaired
even of life.
__2 Corinthians 1;8
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When I was a child, kids on the playground jokingly quoted Shakespeare's famous line: "To be or not to be--that is the question!" But we really didn't understand what it meant. Later I learned that Shakespeare's character Hamlet, who speaks these lines, is a melancholy prince who learns that his uncle has killed his father and married his mother. The horror of this realization is so disturbing that he contemplates suicide. The question for him was: "to be" (to go on living) or "not to be" (to take his own life).

At times, life's pain can become so overwhelming that we are tempted to despair. The apostle Paul told the church at Corinth that his persecution in Asia was so intense he "despaired even of life" (2 Cor. 1:8). Yet by shifting his focus to his life-sustaining God, he became resilient instead of overwhelmed, and learned "that we should not trust in ourselves but in God" (v.9).

Trials can make life seem not worth living. Focusing on ourselves can lead to despair. But putting our trust in God gives us an entirely different perspective. As long as we live in this world, we can be certain that our all-sufficient God will sustain us. And as His followers, we will always have a divine purpose "to be." __dennis Fisher
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````````````````Lord, give us grace to trust You when``````````````
````````````````Life's burdens seem too much to bear;`````````````
`````````````````Dispel the darkness with new hope```````````````
````````````````And help us rise above despair. __Sper````````````
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Trials make us think; thinking makes us wise;
wisdom makes life profitable.

*************Today's Bible Reading _- 2 Corinthians 1:3-11*********

3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus
christ, the Father of
mercies and God of all
comfort, 4 who comforts us
in all our tribulation, that
we may be able to comfort
those who are in any
trouble, with the comfort
with which we ourselves
are comforted by God. 5 For
as the sufferings of christ
abound in us, so our
consolation also abounds
through Christ. 6 Now if we
are afflicted, it is for your
consolation and salvation,
which is effective for
enduring the same
sufferings which we also
suffer. Or if we are
comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation.

7 And our hope for you is
steadfast, because we know
that as you are partakers of
the sufferings, so also you
will partake of the
consolation.

8 For we do not want you
to be ignorant, brethren, of
our trouble which came to
us in Asia: that we were
burdened beyond measure,
above strength, so that we
despaired even of life. 9 Yes,
we had the sentence of
death in ourselves, that we
should not trust in ourselves
but in God who delivered us
from so great a death, and
does deliver us; in whom
we trust that He will still
deliver us, 11 you also
helping together in prayer
for us, that thanks may be
given by many persons on
our behalf for the gift
granted to us through many.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The Greek word translated "hope" in verse 7 of today's Bible
reading means "favorable and confident expectation." It has to do
with the unseen and the future (Rom 8:24-25). Despite personal
circumstance, our hope is based on the character and promises of
God. __Dennis Fisher