Life can be tough! How are we to overcome these difficulties? Living in a “make-up” culture we tend to cover up our problems either due to fear of what others may think or because we have believed the lie that we should just hide as to not bother those around us. God’s word has given us direction and encouragement that will help us endure the difficulties of life. Listen and discover how hope can rise up even in the midst of the storms of life.

^5ÂFor what we preach is not ourselves,Â but Jesus Christ as Lord,Â and ourselves as your servantsÂ for Jesusâ€™ sake.Â ^6ÂFor God, who said, â€œLet light shine out of darkness,â€^[a]Â made his light shine in our heartsÂ to give us the light of the knowledge of Godâ€™s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

^7ÂBut we have this treasure in jars of clayÂ to show that this all-surpassing power is from GodÂ and not from us.Â ^8ÂWe are hard pressed on every side,but not crushed; perplexed,Â but not in despair;Â ^9Âpersecuted,Â but not abandoned;Â struck down, but not destroyed.Â ^10ÂWe always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,Â so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.Â ^11ÂFor we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesusâ€™ sake,Â so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.Â ^12ÂSo then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

^13ÂIt is written: â€œI believed; therefore I have spoken.â€^[b]Â Since we have that same spirit of^[c]Â faith,Â we also believe and therefore speak,^14Âbecause we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the deadÂ will also raise us with JesusÂ and present us with you to himself.^15ÂAll this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgivingÂ to overflow to the glory of God.

^16ÂTherefore we do not lose heart.Â Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardlyÂ we are being renewedÂ day by day.Â ^17ÂFor our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.Â ^18ÂSo we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,Â since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:5-18

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Hope Rising

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Hope Rising Part 3

Hope Rising – Part 2

Hope Rising – Part 1