Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and the founder of the De Pree Center’s Flourishing in the Third Third of Life Initiative. Previously, Mark was the Executive Director of the De Pree Center, the lead pastor of a church in Southern California, and the Senior Director of Laity Lodge in Texas. He has written eight books, dozens of articles, and over 2,500 devotions that help people discover the difference God makes in their daily life and leadership. With a Ph.D. in New Testament from Harvard, Mark teaches at Fuller Seminary, most recently in his D.Min. cohort on “Faith, Work, Economics, and Vocation.” Mark is married to Linda, a marriage and family counselor, spiritual director, and executive coach. Their two grown children are educators on the high school and college level.
How Can I See the Unseen?
Thinking about the age to come does not make us less concerned for the world of this age. If anything, the more we reflect on the future, the more we pray for God to grant us a bit more of the future today. Plus, we can be more attentive to moments in which God’s grace is seen in the kindness of strangers. We can be more appreciative of times when God’s people seek the justice of God’s kingdom. We can be more grateful than ever for moments when God’s love penetrates our yearning hearts.
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The Weight of Glory
2 Corinthians 4:17 presents a striking contrast between the affliction of mortal life and the glory we will experience in God’s future. In comparison to the weightiness of our future glory, our current suffering is light. It is also temporary, whereas the glory of the future will never end. The hope of glory does not cause us to be unduly focused upon ourselves, however, because we will see our neighbors as people of glory. Thus we’ll be committed even more to treat them with justice and love.
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Being Renewed as Your Body Wears Out
I don’t believe there are “seven secrets to renewing your soul.” There isn’t a magic list of things you can do for this to happen. The Holy Spirit works in each of us in distinctive and unique ways. But the example of Paul in 2 Corinthians encourages us to not lose heart as even as our bodies diminish. We turn to the Lord for help, embracing the promise of our inner nature being renewed day by day.
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The Significance of Your Resurrection
Your labor is not in vain if you work for God’s purposes and glory. The work you do, whether at your office, your studio, your store, your warehouse, or your kitchen is not meaningless if it’s done for the Lord. Moreover, somehow, in the mystery of God’s providence, what you’re doing now will matter in God’s future. Of this you can have confidence because of the resurrection—the resurrection of Jesus and your own resurrection.
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Living in the Tension Between Life and Death
The Christian life involves living in the tension between death and life. While we experience hard things in this life, and while suffering is very real, we also have the life of Jesus within us. This life enables us to be resilient when hard things threaten to tear us down. Suffering helps us draw near to Jesus. It beckons us to trust God even more than we have in the past. As we do, the life of Jesus comes alive within us.
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Your Treasure Hunt
God has placed treasure within you. Though you may be an ordinary “clay jar,” God has chosen to give you the knowledge of divine glory in Christ. God has placed extraordinary power in you through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In a way, your life is a different kind of treasure hunt. You know what the treasure is and where it is located. Now you get to discover all that this treasure means for you and how to experience it each day.
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God Shines in Our Hearts
In 2 Corinthians 4-5, the Apostle Paul puts the spotlight on our mortality. But he begins by focusing, not on our frailty, nor on the darkness in our world, but rather on the light of God shining within us. In the season of Lent, as we acknowledge the darkness, we also remember the light of God and ask God to brighten our hearts with love, grace, and truth.
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Treasure in Clay Jars
Today we begin a new Life for Leaders series called “Treasure in Clay Jars.” We’ll be focusing on 2 Corinthians 4-5, chapters that are perfect for the season of Lent. We’ll be reminded of our mortality. And we’ll be reassured of the hope of God’s glorious future. We are like clay jars, fragile, earthly, impermanent. But God’s treasure – glorious and eternal – lives within us.
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No More Weeping
Revelation 21 gives us a glimpse of the age to come in which God wipes away every tear. In that age, there will be no more sorrow or weeping. Yet we will not be isolated on some heavenly cloud for all eternity. Rather, we will experience community with God and people in an altogether new way. We won’t even be inclined to “do it alone” because we will be free to flourish in and through our relationships with God and others.
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Weeping Together
Romans 12:15 urges us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” This verse encourages us to share all of life with our sisters and brothers in Christ. When wonderful things happen in our lives, we need to let others know. And when sad things come upon us, we need to share them as well. As we do, we will experience the extraordinary unity we have in Christ, a unity that is not just theologically essential, but also experientially heartfelt and transformational.
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Workday Prayers: Turn My Heart to You and Your Ways
We all face temptations at work that threaten to turn our heart away from God. So we ask the Lord to keep our hearts pointed in the right direction. We know that true life is found as we walk in God’s ways.
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Rejoicing Together
As we experience genuine community with our sisters and brothers in Christ, we’ll share with them in the best times and the worst times. Thus it says in Romans, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” If we’re going to rejoice with others, we need to focus on them, not ourselves. When we have walked with someone through hard times, the joy we feel when good things happen to them is even stronger.
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The Danger of Idealizing Christian Community
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once observed that idealism about church can actually hurt real churches. When we value our ideal of Christian community more than Christian community itself, we can miss the gift God wants to give to us. The New Testament reveals many times how hard it can be to get along with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, God intends for us to live the Christian life in a genuine, committed relationship with others. Often this takes work!
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Third Third Longings
My Fuller friend and colleague, Dr. Scott Cormode, has suggested that one of the best ways we can help people flourish in life is…
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Not Doing It Alone Isn’t Easy
Being part of a gracious, loving Christian community is wonderful. But sometimes it’s also hard to be in relationship with others, even as it’s hard for them to be in relationship with me. We need God’s grace to be patient, to put up with each other, and, when we are wronged, to forgive.
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