One of the greaest encouagement to the Chrisitan!

        When I was first depressed at age  twenty nine years old; I was going to see a psychiatrist,who was the medical director of a Christian psychiatric hospital. One of the first things he said to me was; "you are one of the cky ones, you have a mental illness that is not severe, and is very treatable. "He then quoted the Scripture below

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:16-18, NASB).

     I was shocked that he had such a lack of  compassion. Over the years, I have realized what this passage was saying. It was not saying that a child of God would not have afflictions, trials, denials, and disappointments . But  what it does say is that you must view your sufferings  in the light of eternity., I have a  serious disease. bipolar 2 disorder. I am sixty three now, and I can see and feel what the apostle Paul said, " though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Yes, we are  wasting away (decaying in he NASB). But one day we will be resurrected and get a new body. Again the Apostle states, 

 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself Philippians( 3:20,21 NASB).

        As William How said in his hymn, "For all the Saints";we feebly struggle, they in glory shine." 

 Our great hope as believers is to realize that we are co-regents with Christ. This means that      we like Him will suffer But it does not stop there. Scripture says, "We should not lose heart. The  Greek root transliterated is egkainizo.It means to renew, to do renew, again,.We know from Romans 12:2:that the opposite of losing heart is to be renewed.  Romans tells us that part of our daily walk is to renew our minds.  This is done by the Holy Spirit using the word of God. This is considered part of f our salvation. is known as justification. It is a reasonable service.