Take this day to catch up on your reading, pray, and rest in the presence of the Lord.
For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.
—2 Corinthians 4:11
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55 thoughts on "Grace Day"
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Amen
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For He LIVES. AMEN
Lord Jesus, may Your life always be reflected in mine.
@SEARCHING…First, Thank you for your sweet prayers for me. It means so much to me to have an army that was praying. Secondly…THANK YOU for helping us (me) this verse! Love that you wrote: (Speaking of Paul) – First, look how weak and close to death he is for the sake of Christ. Second, look how powerful Christ must be to keep a weak body like that going and delivering the gospel to more and more people. Wow…thank you again SEARCHING for digging deeper for us.
Yes, I second, and the way you put it is good!
GOOD morning sweet She’s and Happy Saturday! Sweet Tina I read your comment from early this morning. I wouldn’t tatoo it on my arm either (too chicken OUCH), plus I don’t really want “add” to my already “squishy” skin (Haha) Okay…back to the verse! I’m glad I’m NOT the only one trying to understand this verse!! Going to keep reading some of your comments to gain understanding. This afternoon I will be attending a “Celebration of Life” for my sister’s mother-in-law. She was such a BEAUTIFUL lady. During all these years of knowing her, I’m not too sure where she stood in her faith, BUT GOD….my sister called on a friend of ours who became a priest (my sister went to the prom with him), to give this sweet lady her last rites and anoint her. I heard she told him (very sweetly) she had a lot to say. I’m believing in my heart she came to faith in JESUS as this friend of ours (the priest) was part of youth group growing up when we all came to faith in Jesus!
11 For we who live are always being given over to deathi for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. NLT
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From JOHN MACARTHUR NKJV STUDY BIBLE:
[delivered to death.
Refers to the transferring of a prisoner to the executioner. It was used to refer to Christ’s being delivered to those who crucified Him (Matt. 27:2). In this case, it refers to the potential physical death constantly faced by those who represented Christ. our mortal flesh. Another term for Paul’s humanness—his physical body
(cf. v. 10; 5:3).]
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***This is the most clarifyng phrase for me:
“the potential physical death constantly faced by those who represented Christ.”
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This is just a beautifully expressed takeaway from
WIERSBE NKJV STUDY BIBLE (v. 7-13):
[From the glory of the new creation, Paul moved to the humility of the clay jar. The believer is simply an “earthen vessel”; it is the treasure within the vessel that gives the vessel its value. The image of the vessel is a recurring one in Scripture, and from it we can learn many lessons.
First, we must focus on the treasure and not on the vessel. Paul was not afraid of suffering or trial, because he knew that God would guard the vessel so long as Paul was guarding the treasure (see 1 Tim. 1:11; 6:20). Also, we must remember that God permits trials, God controls trials, and God uses trials for His own glory. We can take heart that God is glorified through weak vessels.]
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Last note from NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible:
This verse was referenced in one note from
2 Corinthians 1:5-
“For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
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My thought on that:
“THROUGH CHRIST OUR COMFORT OVERFLOWS”- The beatitudes in one short sentence!
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SONG SHARE:
Through It All – Hillsong Worship (New song to me)
Lyrics:
Verse:
You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
Chorus:
I’ll sing to You Lord
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
I’m carried in everlasting arms
You’ll never let me go
Through it all
Bridge:
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
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Love, hugs, and prayers! ❤
“Also, we must remember that God permits trials, God controls trials, and God uses trials for His own glory. We can take heart that God is glorified through weak vessels.”
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My dark valley (trial) continues. I cannot for the life of me figure out how this is going to lead to glorifying God, but I guess that’s at the heart of the phrase “God works in mysterious ways”. I ask for your prayers and am grateful for them. ❤️
B, I’m praying for peace while in the valley. And for strength to walk through it to the mountaintop on the other side.
Thank you so much ❤️
B, ageeing with Tetesa in that prayer for peace in this valley! I also agree with your view re: mysterious ways and I have spent many hours pondering that! We are here for you, sister! ❤
Many thanks❤️
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Thank you for the insights, Cee Gee. So helpful
Henry Alford (“The Greek New Testament”, commentary) wrote the best line for this verse:
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“God exhibits DEATH in the living, that He may exhibit LIFE in the dying.”
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This, for me, says it all. It’s the power of Yahweh in us. It’s the key, identifying difference between the way of the world and the way of God. It’s the seed of hope that grows and blooms despite all circumstances. In fact, I feel like God prefers the gravely, darker circumstances for that seed because it demonstrates the glorious absurdity of his power even more. :)
Happy Saturday :)
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That’s a really good quote.
Good morning. This morning I woke up thinking about some of the people in my prayer list and was hoping to get an update— gosh, this sounds clinical, and it’s not meant to be. Just care about how they are doing.
JANE: Any updates on your nephew David’s diagnosis? I remember you said he was undergoing some tests to determine if it had spread.
LISA K: Hope your brother’s heart surgery went well.
ERIN: How is your mom doing?
MICHELLE: How is you friend Tammi’s daughter doing?
CRYSTAL C: How is your sister-in-law as she’s dealing with her cancer diagnosis?
Praying over these requests
Thanks for checking in and for your prayers, Maria. Praying for you and your husband too. Mom is pretty tired. And sadly everything is moving very slowly with her medical team. Needs two more biopsies: spine and a lymph node. Finally has an oncology appt on Wednesday. Likely stage 3 aggressive bladder cancer. How are things going for your hubby?
Continued prayers for her (and you as well), Erin. Sending much love.
I had to Google this verse-
Christians, particularly those serving God, endure constant suffering and dangers, mirroring Jesus’ sacrifice. This “daily death” allows Christ’s resurrection power to shine through their weak human bodies.
Core Meaning & Context
Constant Sacrifice: Paul and his companions faced continuous risks, persecutions, and pressures, akin to being “delivered over to death”.
The Paradox of Life through Death: The more human strength is exhausted or broken, the more divine power is displayed.
Purpose: The suffering is not pointless; it serves to demonstrate the indwelling, living presence of Jesus within weak mortal bodies.
Context: It follows the analogy of “jars of clay” (v. 7), highlighting that fragile human beings hold the treasure of the Gospel, showing the power belongs to God, not them.
Usage Examples & Interpretations
Suffering for Ministry: Used to describe the hardships, slander, or persecution missionaries and believers face while doing God’s work.
Dying to Self: Interpreted as a daily spiritual act of setting aside selfish ambition and personal comfort, allowing Christ to control life’s actions.
Strength in Weakness: Often cited to encourage believers to trust in God’s grace during physical illness or intense hardships, as these situations often reveal divine strength.
Hoping ya’ll have a great Wkd. I had a migraine yesterday and still this morning :/ I love James and looking forward to doing that. I love knowing that James was Jesus’ brother, and thought he was crazy proclaiming he was the Messiah. But after all that happened, he knew! Sometimes it is the same with us, we know who Jesus was, but sometimes it all makes sense in an instant.
Thanks, Rhonda! From a FORMER migraine sufferer: may this be the last few hours of suffering this time. I was always glad for the 2nd day since that usually meant the end was in sight. Hold on! ☺❤
Thanks for the helpful insights and information Rhonda.
Hopefully you’re on the other side of that migraine.
Thanks, Rhonda.
Thank you guys for praying for my family and I lately. God definitely came to the rescue yesterday and gave me some relief. Things I were expecting to be hard yesterday at work went really easy. We had really bad storms in the Midwest yesterday afternoon and evening, and although we lost a big tree, our house was protected. People had power out all around us, but we still had power. My mom’s doctors finally listened to her and put her on a new medication and she was already feeling more like herself by yesterday afternoon. We had a tornado headed our way last night and it blew right over us. I just feel very grateful right now. My pleas (which were a bit whiney) were heard by the Lord and he came through. For those of you in the Midwest, hoping you guys are safe and had minimal storm damage. Have a blessed Saturday!
Thanks for sharing your answers to prayer!
Praising alongside of you!
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Thank you Jesus for answered prayer. ❤️
God is sooo good!!! Thank God for His answered prayers!!! ❤️
Glad you had a better day! You were not whiny just sharing your struggles! We are here to pray for each other. Continuing to pray for you!
Kim, I attempted a reply 2 times earlier and now I see the 2nd attempt failed, too. :(
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I replied that your comment is so powerful and that I had a HIGH PRAISE day yesterday as well! Thanks for sharing how God has blessed you! {Hands raised emoji} ☺
Hope this posts! ❤
Thank you for the praise report! Good to be reminded that God does indeed hear our prayers.
Grateful for God’s protection/provision for you and for CeeGee’s high praise day yesterday!!
Amen
Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This verse came to mine while reading today’s verse. My pastor did a series of sermons on that verse.
This verse reminds me of what Paul says in Philippians 1:21 – For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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Happy Saturday She’s.
As we abide in Jesus, may His eternal, life-giving light be displayed in our dark, sinful bodies, pointing others to His great salvation.
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Praying for your requests!
❤️ SANDI & TINA ❤️
Somewhat perplexing verse – here are a couple of things I found that seemed to clarify (though not advocating for either site)
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From Bible Ref:
[Paul restates here something similar to what he wrote in the previous verse. Believers, especially those who carry the gospel of Jesus to others as Paul and his co-workers did, exist in a kind of truthful paradox. On the one hand, they are fragile human beings always existing on the edge of death, targeted for death by those opposed to the gospel. On the other hand, the fact that they keep going, that they refuse to lose hope (2 Corinthians 4:1), is powerful, physical evidence that Christ is alive and at work in the world today.
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Some in Corinth seem to have pointed to Paul’s suffering as evidence that he must not have been much of an apostle. After all, wouldn’t God intervene to spare a close servant of His from all that pain? This is a common assumption in many false religions: that the true servants of a god are protected from any harm. Even today, this lie persists in those who claim that any Christian who suffers does so because they lack faith.
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Paul has said the opposite is true. God has put his body on display for the world to see two things: First, look how weak and close to death he is for the sake of Christ. Second, look how powerful Christ must be to keep a weak body like that going and delivering the gospel to more and more people.]
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From ChristianityPath:
[This verse speaks volumes about the Christian life and our commitment to Jesus. When we think about what it means to live for Him, we often picture joy, peace, and love. But there is a deeper truth wrapped in this scripture. It tells us that living for Christ often means enduring hardship and suffering. Paul, the writer of 2 Corinthians, explains that despite the struggles and trials we face, they are not in vain. Rather, they allow the life of Jesus to shine through us.
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As we go through tough times, we can feel like we are constantly giving ourselves over to challenges and difficulties. This process is somewhat like being delivered to death. The death mentioned in this verse is not physical only; it refers to dying to our desires, ambitions, and even our comfort zone. We are called to live in a way where we place Jesus’ mission above our desires, and this can be incredibly challenging.
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The beauty in this scripture is that while through suffering we may face a kind of death, it enables the life of Jesus to be displayed through our actions and words. It encourages us that our struggles serve a greater purpose than we often realize. When we continue to show love and hope even in tough situations, we reflect the character of Jesus. Our struggles can help us express the love and grace we all need. And just like that, our problems can lead to stunning displays of faith and resilience. ]
thankyou
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Thank you for these thoughts/insights Searching
Greetings Tina and. everyone!
I’ll try my best to take a stab at breaking this down.
If you look at the context of this verse, it’s in the middle of Paul talking about the persecution that he and the other disciples are facing. Here, he is encouraging the church, saying that though they are constantly facing the threat of death to their mortal, temporary, and weak bodies (like Christ was), through this process of suffering, they draw nearer to Christ not only in experience, but also by His presence. This presence and power are not only comforts, but transformative, life-giving, and empowering, allowing Christ’s glory and resurrected life to be on display in the persecuted believers, even–or especially–when they are facing physical suffering and death for the gospel.
Thank you. That really helps explain this verse.
Great wording! ❤
Thank you!
does this mean persecution for the cause of Christ?
Okay, I am not understanding this!
I have read the CBS,version, the GNT, and The MESSAGE, still not clear.. any insight, please..?
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Happy Saturday my dears, much love, ❤️
I was just going to the comments to get insight haha! I was contemplating and meditating on it
I had to go to BibleRef.com to understand. They give a pretty good explanation.
That is a good explanation. Thanks for the new commentary. I’ve used the Enduring Word Bible Commentary before. I read their reference and it was not as clear as BibleRef.com so I am glad to have more than one to use now.
Thanks for this!! I too was trying to figure out what this verse was saying. This helped!
This was a little confusing to me to.
This is from Bible Ref – hope it’s helpful…
“Paul restates here something similar to what he wrote in the previous verse. Believers, especially those who carry the gospel of Jesus to others as Paul and his co-workers did, exist in a kind of truthful paradox. On the one hand, they are fragile human beings always existing on the edge of death, targeted for death by those opposed to the gospel. On the other hand, the fact that they keep going, that they refuse to lose hope (2 Corinthians 4:1), is powerful, physical evidence that Christ is alive and at work in the world today.”
“Some in Corinth seem to have pointed to Paul’s suffering as evidence that he must not have been much of an apostle. After all, wouldn’t God intervene to spare a close servant of His from all that pain? This is a common assumption in many false religions: that the true servants of a god are protected from any harm. Even today, this lie persists in those who claim that any Christian who suffers does so because they lack faith.
Paul has said the opposite is true. God has put his body on display for the world to see two things: First, look how weak and close to death he is for the sake of Christ. Second, look how powerful Christ must be to keep a weak body like that going and delivering the gospel to more and more people.”
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