Friday

Related Verses
2 Cor. 4:16-18
16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
17 For our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory,
18 Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Rom. 6:4
4 We have been buried therefore with Him through baptism into His death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.

Rom. 7:6
6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.

Psa. 91:1
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Luke 1:78-79
78 Because of the merciful compassions of our God, in which the rising sun will visit us from on high,
79 To shine upon those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Prov. 4:18
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, Which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Judg. 5:31
31 May all Your enemies so perish, O Jehovah. But may those who love Him be like the sun When it rises in its might. And the land had rest forty years.

Related Reading
In God’s design all of us who are His chosen people have to go through sufferings. There is no exception to this because…He wants us to be transferred from the realm of the old creation into the realm of the new creation. This transfer is a process of suffering. You may think that you made a mistake in your choice of a partner in marriage, but regardless of how much wisdom you exercised in choosing a spouse, eventually your choice was a “mistake.” After hearing this fellowship, some who are not married may feel that it is better not to marry, but not to marry will bring us more sufferings. Then what shall we do? We have to be inwardly happy in our sufferings. The apostle Paul says that he rejoiced in his sufferings (Col. 1:24) because he realized that all sufferings are the process to make us new. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” p. 348) 

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In 1 Thessalonians 3:3 [Paul says], “That no one would be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed for this.” Footnote 2 on this verse…says, “God has destined, appointed, that we should pass through afflictions. Hence, afflictions are God’s allotted portion to us, and He has set us, located us, in a situation of afflictions.” We have been appointed to sufferings…The reason I am calm in the midst of sufferings is that I realize that the real blessing is not outward peace and joy but the actual renewing in our Christian life. 

In Matthew 13:43 the overcomers are likened to the sun shining forth in the kingdom of their Father. The sun rises afresh every morning. If we are to be the overcomers, the sun, we must also rise up every morning to be revived by the Lord…We should follow the sun to be revived and to have a new start every morning. Our path is like the dawning light that shines more and more until the full day [Prov. 4:18]. I like Paul’s expression in 2 Corinthians 4:16—“day by day.”…We are being renewed day by day. This means that day after day we have to be revived by the Lord. Yesterday morning we may have had a revival, but this morning we need another one, and tomorrow we need another one. Every year we need three hundred sixty-five revivals to be renewed day by day. 

God has the best provisions to help us to receive the renewing. The first provision is the cross, the putting to death of Jesus. According to 2 Corinthians 4, Paul was always under the killing of the cross, the Lord’s death. The cross is the greatest help to accomplish the renewing for us. 

The second provision is the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5 speaks of the “renewing of the Holy Spirit.” We have the Holy Spirit within us. His main work is first to regenerate us and then to renew us every day. We are receiving the new supply of the Spirit daily to renew us metabolically…The third provision God gave us is our mingled spirit, our human spirit mingled with the divine Spirit. In our human spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells, works, and renews us. Ephesians 4:23 says that we need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Our spirit is the place where we receive the renewing. Our mingled spirit spreads into our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind. It is in such a spirit that we are renewed for our transformation. 

Many times when we are suffering, we are questioning, “Why am I suffering? What is the reason?”…While we are in the midst of suffering, we need to receive the renewing. Otherwise, the suffering we pass through means nothing to us. Within us there is a refuge. This refuge is our spirit. We need to turn from our mind to our spirit. Then we are safeguarded, hidden, and concealed from any attacks. It is in our spirit that we will be renewed. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” pp. 350-352) 

Further Reading: CWWL, 1989, vol. 2, “Being Renewed Day by Day,” chs. 1—2