OUR DAILY BREAD             Tuesday, April 18, 1995
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READ:   2 Corinthians 5:1-10

                 HOW ARE YOU TODAY?

    "Even though our outward man is perishing,
  yet the inward man is being renewed day by day."

                           - 2 Cor. 4:16

Wilfred Yoder is one of the most enthusiastic
Christians I know, even though he has suffered
with the pain of arthritis for many years.  When
people greet him and inquire, "How are you today?"
he cheerfully answers, "Just fine!"

Those who know of his pain sometimes question his
sincerity.  "How can you say you're fine when
you're in so much pain?"  Wilfred's standard
response is: "How I feel has very little to do
with how I am.  You see, the part of me that hurts
is just a shell, not the real me, and the real me
is just fine!"

What Wilfred calls a shell, Paul called a tent
(2 Cor. 5:1).  And the "real me" that Wilfred
refers to, the apostle called the inward man (4:16).

Although Wilfred's earthly tent is painful and
perishing, he realizes that it is after all just
a temporary housing for the inward man.  One day
he will exchange it for his permanent home awaiting
him in heaven.  That is his confidence.  But until
then, the inward Wilfred is conscious of being
renewed daily.

How are you today?  Is your tent drooping?  Remember,
if Christ is your Savior and Lord, a perfect body
awaits you one day.  But until then, no matter
what's on the outside, on the inside we can say,
"I'm just fine!"
                                -- Joanie E. Yoder

        Just a few more days left for  toiling,
        Just a few more nights, dark and  cold,
        Then our tents will be folded forever--
        We shall trade them for mansions of gold.

                                -- Meadows

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             THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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        Although our body is perishing,
        our spirit can be flourishing.
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 14-16

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Thanks to Larry Holder (lholder@utm.edu) for the email transcript of 
Our Daily Bread, having originated from his distribution to the 
Conservative Christian Discussion List. This copy was written permission 
from RBC.

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