• Here are some tools to help you with the devotionals:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A Chart to help articulate feelings

Bible Text: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (ESV)

⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 

¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Reflection & Application   

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

• Reflect on the words Apostle Paul uses to describe his life: “afflicted in every way,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down,” but ultimately not “crushed,” “driven to despair,” “forsaken,” or “destroyed.”  What is the link between Apostle Paul’s paradoxical experience—“struck down, but not destroyed”—and Jesus’ life?
• What is the relationship between my frailty (“jars of clay”) and revealing God’s “surpassing power” through my life?  Think about the things that cause me to feel “afflicted,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” or “struck down.”  What should be my response to these things?
• What can I learn about the path of deep fellowship with Jesus from these verses? 
• What kind of character and life would end up effectively commending itself to people according to vv. 7-12?  Have I experienced something of what these verses describe  in my effort to show forth the “treasure” of the gospel through my life?