We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed...
2 Corinthians 5:1

Destroying the tent is a description of death. The tent will be taken down. One day, God Himself will slacken the ropes, pull out the pegs, and the house God has given you will be destroyed.

Paul says, “If the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed…” Why does he say ‘if’? Because there was always the possibility that the Lord Jesus might return in glory while he was still alive.

Christ may come before your tent is taken down. But that does not keep Paul from facing the reality that has been the experience of every Christian believer for 2,000 years. At some point, the tent gets taken down.

If you start out in the Christian life thinking, it is going to be heaven on earth, you will not follow Jesus Christ for long. You will go round in circles wondering, Why am I suffering? Why is there so much evil in the world? Why is my life so hard?

Jesus described the Christian life like this: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). He did not say, “Follow me and I will give you everything you ever wanted.”

It is really hard to be a Christian if you get following Jesus confused with a life of comfort and success. People who do that live in perpetual disappointment. They are always losing heart.

Does the Christian life seem harder? Easier? Or about what you expected?

While we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened.
2 Corinthians 5:4

Maybe you are an enthusiastic camper. Forget the fancy hotel or renting a motorhome; your idea of a good time is to put up your tent, build a fire, and roast some marshmallows. Paul was a tentmaker, which is likely why God brought this image to mind.

There is a great deal of joy in camping. But you are probably not doing it all year round. If you did, you would soon be groaning. The difficulties of life in the body are part of the Christian life, and becoming more godly does not take away our groaning.

Perhaps you know what it’s like to groan because of a frailty of the body. Or maybe you groan because of the circumstances of your life and all that’s happened to you. Maybe you even wonder, if I prayed more, would it be like this? If I had more faith, would I be in this position?

Not many people have prayed more, believed more, or lived godlier lives than the apostle Paul did, so if he groaned in his tent, then none of us should be surprised when we find ourselves groaning in ours. If you think living a better Christian life will prevent pain or difficulty with your body, then you will be tempted to lose heart when these troubles inevitably come.

You need to know that there will be seasons in all of our lives when we groan because of our bodies. All Christians groan under some frailty that arises from the body. We carry that burden.

Do you ever wonder, “If I prayed more (or had more faith), would I have less pain and difficulty with my body?”

We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God.
2 Corinthians 5:1

When the apostle Paul talks about “the tent that is our earthly home,” he is talking about your body. Notice, Paul does not say that your body is like a fort, or a castle, or a battleship. He says it is like a tent with canvas, ropes, and pegs. It is a fragile structure, adequate housing for the time being, but never intended to be your final home.

Think about your body: It’s made of strong ropes; it has tough canvas. It can endure some heavy weather, but it’s only canvas. The ropes can fray; they have a breaking point. Your nerves are like ropes that can fray; there are limits to what your body can take. The delicate chemical balance in your brain is like a canvas that can very easily tear. Your central nervous system can carry a certain load, but the ropes have a breaking point.

Once you see this, it will not surprise you that sometimes the children of godly parents struggle with unimaginable conditions and disorders. Their bodies are only tents. And it will not surprise you to discover that a missionary is on antidepressants, or that a respected Christian leader has to step back from ministry because of the strain that has come on his family.

It is easy to lose heart if we’ve imagined that, since we’re Christians, we must be like forts or battleships. But Paul says, “No, your body is like a tent.”

Are you being realistic about your body? Or are you telling yourself that it is indestructible, like a castle or a battleship?

We do not lose heart.
2 Corinthians 4:16

You might read these words and think, Really? How am I supposed to live in a world like this and not lose heart? How can I face the pressures all around me and not be discouraged?

The answer is previewed for us at the end of chapter 4 and delivered in full in chapter 5. The apostle Paul’s headline is delivered in three contrasts:

1. Paul speaks about the outer self and the inner self: “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (4:16).
2. Paul talks about present affliction and eternal glory: “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (4:17).
3. Paul contrasts what is seen, which is passing, with what is unseen and lasts forever: “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (4:18).

What are we dealing with? All the pressures that are part of life in this body (our outer self), and all the circumstances of life that bring pressure to bear on us (our present afflictions). We’re also facing the discouragement of the world in conflict and the church in compromise (what is seen).

Put all that together and it’s not surprising that so many get discouraged. But Paul says, “We do not lose heart”! How? We endure by fixing our eyes on the renewal of our inner self, and the eternal weight of glory that will far outweigh all that can be seen.

What are your eyes fixed on today?

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Acts 16:31

We have been talking about how to avoid a plunge to disaster. Here is a true story from the awful Titanic disaster back in April of 1912.

There was a pastor on the Titanic by the name of John Harper. He was pastor of a church in Glasgow, which is now called the Harper Memorial Church. Harper was travelling on the Titanic to come and speak at Moody Church in Chicago.

When the Titanic went down, Harper spent his last moments in those icy waters urging people to put their trust in Jesus Christ. At one point he found himself clinging to a board alongside another man. Harper asked the man, “Are you saved?”

The man said, “No.”

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

Harper managed to swim toward others, and he spoke to them in the same way. He came back to the man. “Are you trusting Jesus Christ?”

“No,” the man said.

“Others are turning to Him and being saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

A few moments later, Harper’s strength was exhausted, and the icy waters took his life. How do we know this story?

Sometime later a man stood up in a church in Canada and told his story. “I am John Harper’s last convert,” he said.

Can you put your hope in Christ right now? This is God’s desire for you!

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34

Maybe you are struggling to live with the guilt of what you have done. You cannot forgive yourself. You do not see how God could forgive you either. That’s where Judas was.

Come to the cross. Jesus has a crown of thorns pressed into His head. His hands and feet are nailed to the wooden beams. And as that cross is lifted up, He says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (23:34).

There is hope in Jesus Christ. If you want to avoid a plunge to disaster, never give up hope. The cross is big enough to cover your sin. The blood of Jesus is rich enough to cleanse your guilt. The love of Jesus is strong enough to reach out to you, to embrace you in your darkness, and to bring you into a new life. Believe Him, come to Him, and put your hope in Him.

The enemy of your soul says, “What you have done is too bad to be forgiven. It’s too late to do anything about it.” That’s what Judas thought. Jesus will be crucified. My chance is gone. Maybe you are reading this in a hospital bed. You have lived sixty, seventy, eighty years without God and without Christ, and you are thinking, It’s too late for me to come to Christ.

Come to the cross. Jesus is dying, and next to Him there is a thief, who is in the last hour of his life. He sees his own need, he believes in Jesus, and he asks God to save him. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (23:42–43).

Never give up hope. The Lord Jesus Christ died to save you! He stands ready to welcome you. He calls you to believe in Him. He invites you to trust in His death. He offers you everlasting life. Believe Him. Trust Him. Turn to Him. In this moment ask Him to save you.

What are you waiting for?

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:10

While Peter was standing outside the house of the high priest, someone identified him as a follower of Jesus. Peter must have been terrified that he would also be arrested and tortured.

He denied Jesus three times, and then “he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man’” (Mat. 26:74). Then Peter went out and wept bitterly.

On the day that Jesus died, there were two men surrounded by darkness—Judas who betrayed Him, and Peter who denied Him. But there was a great difference between them. Judas was filled with remorse, while Peter was filled with repentance.

Remorse looks inside and says, “I wasted my life.” Repentance looks to Christ and says, “I give You my life.” Judas was sorry, but he was not repentant. Repentance is more than being sorry. It is more than wishing you could go and undo what you did.

Repentance is turning to Jesus Christ. “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret” (2 Cor. 7:10). Peter repented, and two days later Jesus rose from the dead. He was reconciled with Jesus. Judas despaired, and he took his own life. He was only two days away from hope, but he never lived to see it.

If you want to avoid a plunge to disaster, never give up hope. Maybe that’s your battle right now. You feel surrounded by darkness. You’re loaded down with failure and guilt. You cannot see any way out of the situation you’re in.

Are you going to be like Peter or like Judas? They were two days away from the miracle of the resurrection. Two days! No matter how great the darkness, there is always hope in Jesus Christ.

If you believe there is even a spark of hope for you, don’t panic. Ask God to help you do what Peter did.

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.
Matthew 27:1-3

Some people would say Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was the greatest sin ever committed. How could anything be worse than that? Well, there is something worse than that. After he betrayed Jesus, Judas gave up hope, and that was his greatest plunge to disaster.

After he betrayed Jesus, Judas made this remarkable confession: “I have sinned,” he said, “by betraying innocent blood” (27:4). You can’t get a more direct confession than that. There are no excuses. This is a full confession. He was saying, in effect, “I’m guilty.”

Notice that Judas says he has betrayed “innocent” blood. He believes Jesus is innocent, and he wants to save Him. Judas hopes that if he returns the money, and testifies to Jesus’ innocence, maybe he can put things right.

But the chief priests aren’t interested. “What is that to us?” they replied. “See to it yourself” (27:4). “Too late, Judas,” they say. “The deed is done. You made your choice, now you have to live with it. There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

Despair comes in on this desperate man. Judas knows he has committed a terrible crime, and he cannot live with himself, so “throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself” (27:5). This is Judas’ greatest plunge to disaster. Not that he betrayed Jesus, not even that he took his own life, but that in his darkness he gave up hope.

Are you in a desperate place? Do you feel like giving up? Read tomorrow’s reflection. You will find real help.

“One of you will betray me.”
John 13:21

It could not have been easy for Judas to come to the Last Supper. He had already taken the 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus! Then Jesus started washing the feet of the disciples. It was a beautiful expression of how Christ humbled Himself and took the form of a servant.

What was Judas thinking while Jesus washed his feet? He felt the love of Christ reaching out to him, and he had to steel himself to resist it.

Then the disciples gathered at the table. We know that John was sitting on Jesus’ right, but who was sitting on His left? It would very likely have been Judas. Otherwise, the others would have heard what Jesus said to Judas, and it is plain that they did not.

Jesus began reaching out to Judas again: “One of you will betray me” (13:21). The disciples just stared at each other. They didn’t have the slightest idea what he meant. Judas was the only one who knew. They all began to say, “Is it me, Lord?”

Then John asked Jesus who would betray Him, and Jesus said it would be the one to whom He gave the bread. So He handed it to Judas, and Judas took it!

Then we read again that “Satan entered into him” (13:27). There is a clear pattern here. Judas opens a door and Satan goes through it. The devil only goes through doors that are open. Judas chose to betray Jesus. He opened a door, and the devil came in.

Have you opened any doors to Satan in your life? How can you shut them today?

He was a thief.
John 12:6

A great deal has been written about why Judas betrayed Jesus. But the Bible only identifies one issue, and that was money. Judas was gripped by the power of money.

Six days before the Passover, a dinner was given in honour of Jesus. Judas was there along with the other disciples. We are told that Mary took a pint of pure nard, a very expensive perfume, and poured it over Jesus, wiping His feet with her hair. It was a lavish gift and a beautiful expression of love.

But Judas was frustrated. “Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:4-6).

The money that was managed by Judas was used for two purposes—first, to sustain Jesus and the disciples, and second, to give to the poor. But Judas was stealing money from the bag, and of course, the more money in the bag, the more opportunity he would have to siphon some off for himself. So, Judas wanted the giving to grow.

When Judas said that the money should have been sold and given to the poor, what he meant was that the money should have been placed in the bag that he managed. Since that was his mindset, he must have been very frustrated at what he saw as “missed opportunities.”

Do you see anything in your words, attitudes, or actions that might be a red light, indicating that greed is starting to get a grip on your life?