February 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

2 Corinthians 5:1-10:

¹For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
²For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
³If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
⁴For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
⁵Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
⁶Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
⁸We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
⁹Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Devotional

Faith is nothing uncertain. By faith we know. "Faith is the substance (ground, or confidence) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." The apostle says, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." We do not see this house with our physical eyes, but by faith we know it is there. We have not seen Jesus Christ, yet we love him; "in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Thomas wanted to see and to touch before he would believe; but Jesus said to him: "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." Paul writes to the Romans: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it;" wait for it, till we see face to face, and know even as also we are known.

Prayer

O Lord, Thou art wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Often we cannot understand Thy ways with us. We cannot see Thy plan for us. Endue us with strength from on high, that even at such times we may continue to walk by faith; to believe, though we cannot see. May the invisible things, the eternal things, which Thou hast promised us in Thy Word be very real to us. May we with the eye of faith behold Jesus Christ, and rejoice in him. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Heb. 11:1f.; 2 Cor. 4:18; 5:1; 1 Pet. 1:8; John 30:29; Rom. 8:24f.; I Cor. 13:12.

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