Setting the Mind on Heavenly Things Then I want to bring these wonderful verses which often speaks to me, though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day, yes this outer man, this outer shell that I showed you about, that outer shell which is our human body, that's decaying because God said you are made of dust and to the dust you will return, that's going to decay, but the inner man, that valuable part of us is not going to decay, but instead is going to be renewed day by day, praise God, inner man is going to be renewed, we must have faith to see that, Lord let this, let me feel weak or sick or tired or whatever sickness I have, allergies, headaches, whatever it is, that's a sign that our outer man is is decaying, but Lord I commit my inner man to you, I want that to be renewed day by day, and then see the wonderful verse in verse 17, he says this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison, what is the affliction that we go through, it says it's momentary, one month, two months, a year, two years maybe, but the word of God says it's momentary, it's just momentary compared to eternity, compared to eternity, eternity for momentary affliction is so light, we think that these things which are going through, that momentary is so light in the, in God's balance, it's so light, it goes up, but the weight of glory is so heavy, so heavy, so heavy, it goes down, this goes up, but the other one goes down and down and down, that's the weight of glory, what's the glory, not that we are anything, but the glory of Jesus, and it says here far beyond all comparison, I said Lord is beyond all comparison, that's the glory, that's my hope, thank you that these days I can think of that, and then here we read verse 18, wonderful verse, we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, the things which are seen, it goes further to say, the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, what we see now, all these viruses, all these sicknesses, they're all temporal, but the things which we don't see are eternal, praise God, God can open our eyes a little bit to see, there is something eternal, no doubt, one day I'm going to see it, and I'm going to experience, and I'm not going to lose heart, I'm not going to lose my faith, because my faith is in that eternal hope, and so the inner man is being renewed day by day, and the affliction that we face is so light, now I have some examples which come to my mind, one is, you know many times, Zack, my husband has said about the rubber band, if you have listened to his messages, he often refers to our life being like as fixed to two points, where we are fixed should be in the heavenly places, Paul says, set your mind on heavenly things, so that's where we are fixed, and then the rubber band goes down to earthly things for a little while, where we take care of earthly things, our cooking, our work, our jobs, our children, everything, our children, very important, because they're going to join us in the heavenly realm, we have to do more for that, but then once we are free, once that is done, our mind goes back to that heavenly thing, if you, I'll urge you to listen to those messages, and also in another message, about this passage, Zack has spoken about the jar being compared to Gideon's jar, where the, when the jar is broken, the light comes out, now I'm not going to do a bible study, but when you get time, if you try and find that message, listen to that, you'll learn, and listen, and read these verses again and again, and each time I read it, it's like I'm getting a new treasure, each time I get, I get a hope that I'm not going to be like that, things are going to be better in my spiritual life, and that hope keeps me going, and, and I also want to think of another beautiful illustration, I like illustrations, like I said about this geode, that often comes to my mind, because I think of that, the happiness and the glee my grandchildren had, when they broke open this geode, and saw those little particles, that those shining things, and we all, ladies, we like these kind of shiny things, and these treasures, another picture, which comes to my mind, is some of our children have books, not ordinary books, but special books, and each page has a picture, and, and in each page, there's a mosaic pattern, and different colors, and all that, and you turn another pattern, different colors, and so you look at one page, and all that you can see at first is just a bizarre pattern, and some colors, and all that, and then you look closely at that, and you see something else in that picture, I don't know if you, you can understand what I mean, I think they're called eye teasers, or something, you look, look intently at that page, and you see right inside that, there's a picture of a beautiful angel, and another page, there's a picture of a castle, or another page, there's a, the, what comes out is a crown, all shining, but when you just look at, looked at it first, you could only see the multi -colored page, you look at closely, you see is, is something more beautiful, that's what I think is far beyond, what we look at temporal things, is like that page, which you first see, and you look more intently, more closely, come closer to the Lord, and look right into, meditate, and think of heavenly things, especially from his word, and you see a different thing altogether, beautiful things we can see in God's word, and that comes living to us, I can't describe it, many, many things which we can learn, and that's a, just an example, it's just a small example, and things are more beautiful for that, another example is, I can think of is, if you have seen this pictures of the pilgrims progress, there are some books, and some slides, which we, I've seen about the pilgrim walk, and towards the end of the pilgrim days, Christian and his friend hopeful, almost the end of the journey, and they almost reached celestial city, just a few more days, and they'll reach the celestial city, so they come to the mountains, where there are king shepherds, are taking care of his sheep, and those are the pastors, represents God's servants, who are taking care, so pilgrim, Christian and his, his friend, the shepherds told them, if you come in the morning, we'll show you the celestial city, so they went up to those mountains, and they said, if you look right there, straight ahead, you'll see the celestial city, and they looked and looked, and it was all misty, you know, far away from the mountains, you know, how it is in the mountains, everything covered by mist, and suddenly the mist parted, and they saw a glimpse of that celestial city, and Christian says, oh, that glimpse of that celestial city was so wonderful, far more than what I could describe, just a glimpse, and then it went away, and he said, that glimpse was enough to keep me going, and say, Lord, I must reach that city, I'm seeing it from a distance, and that itself is so glorious, when I reach there, how much more glorious, because you're there, the person who I'm imagining and seeing by faith, I'm actually seeing that, seeing you there, and your presence, and your glory will be all over there, how much more beautiful, when I actually reach that celestial city, so that, that picture always comes to my mind, I said, Lord, I'm right now in my human body, my human frailties, I cannot comprehend God, because if with my human eyes, I see God, I die, I cannot bear with my sinful nature, with my sinful frailties, if I see God, it's too much for me, but when I'm after, left this earth, and I'm with you, and I have that spiritual body, then I can bear to see you, Lord, if with my limitations, let me have that little bit of that glimpse, just a little bit of that glimpse of that glory, that's enough to keep me going, that's what Christian said, just a glimpse, so in these days of trial, Lord, everybody, everyone in the world is talking unbelief, and fear, but deep down in my heart, I know, there's a hope, just like if I can get a glimmer of that hope, of that hope, which I have, in that being with you, that's enough, and I can keep going for the rest of my days, let more trials come, let more viruses come, whatever may come, losses, anything, but I have seen that glimpse, just a glimpse, just a tiny transient glimpse of that, that will keep me going, that's what I often come, and I thank God for these days, these days and moments that we have, dear sisters, don't waste these days, you know, we are in the middle of our work, we have more work, because we have children, now it's a vacation for children, we have more work, but yet, there's a purpose for this, things which are happening, even if you go to the shower, and you get a few minutes, say Lord, let me have a glimpse of what is ahead of me, then I'll never be tempted to go back, that's what I want to challenge you with, I think in closing, I've taken a long time, but in closing, I want, I have a poem here, but I, you know, how it is with poetry, if you read poetry, you get, and especially my pronunciation may not be clear for you, but if you get a chance, look up in the internet for this song, show me thy face, one transient gleam of loveliness divine, I'll read the first two lines again, show me thy face, thy face, one transient gleam of loveliness divine, the, there are four verses of that song, and both those, all the verses begin with show me thy face, show me thy face, and I'll summarize some of the things, if I see your face, Lord, just a transient gleam, I know if I really see your face, how it is, I cannot bear it, I'll faint, I'll collapse, but just a glimpse, just a transient glimpse, Lord, if I can see of that loveliness divine, then it says, I won't think of any love but thine, the first verse says, every, all the lesser lights on earth will be dark because of your glorious light, and the most beautiful on earth will never seem beautiful again, if I see just a glimpse of your face, second verses, Lord, show me your face, then my faith and my love will be fixed on you, nothing can move that calmness, if I just have a glimpse of that glorious face, and life will be so, will be like a trance, will be like a dream, only you will be reality, if I see your face, the third verse says, Lord, show me your face, because if I see your face, I'll forget all the weary days, and all the fretting, and the regrets I had about the past, they will not haunt me anymore, if I have just a glimpse of your face, and also the doubts and fears about my future, they won't haunt me at all, if I have a glimpse of your face, instead, there'll be calm trust in you, Lord, the last verse says, Lord, show me your face, because then even the heaviest burden, heaviest cross will be light for me to bear, every loss will be a gain for me, Lord, every care will be peace, and life itself will be so brief, we think it's long, but life itself will be so brief, but will be a blessed life, yes, dear sisters, now we see darkly as through a glass, but one day we'll see, everything will come clear to us, and we'll see clearly, that's why I want to urge you, read God's word, especially the verses which I said, and many more, take every opportunity, and say, Lord, fix my heart, every song that I sing, fix my heart to you, that I'll never be tempted to go back, never be tempted to complain, or compare my lot with anything, anything that you don't like, Lord, just burn it away, like the fire burns, and refine me, make me a better person, God bless you, shall we close in prayer, our Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you, that you're our loving Father, and just like you love Jesus, you love us, and you sent your beloved son to this earth, Lord, this earth, where we, there's so much suffering, you sent him to die for us, Lord, and to live on this earth, to show us how we can live, and how we can conquer, and we can have the life of Christ in our hearts, Lord, and in our lives, that triumphant life, so that we can be worthy of your great love, Lord, worthy of that blood, which you shed for us, Lord, we know that we can do nothing to repay, but help us in the coming days to live lives that are pleasing to you, and our lives will be transformed, and that treasure will be so valuable, thank you, Lord, that you can look deep into our hearts, and see what's happening there, we want you to be happy, when you look into our hearts, we want to please you, Lord Jesus, because we ask in your precious and beloved name, Lord Jesus, Amen.