Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
II Cor. 4 ... 1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus (THE WORD) the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (THE WORD).
7But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
You may think you are not persecuted but if you try to live godly in Christ Jesus others will mock you or shun you or make fun of you and despise you therefore you are persecuted by those around you just as Paul and all the people of God before us were persecuted for the word's sake.
10Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,... (for we who are of God are dead to sin not doing nor approving those sins as we once did) ... that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, (constantly in this life, we who believe the Word are delivered before those who do not believe the Word therefore we suffer death of the cross continually on this earth) that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
12So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
13 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;
14Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. (Though we face death continually as we "visit" with unbelievers, we are restored from our death, grief, by God through the Holy Spirit as HE comforts us in death and raises our soul up from them who do not believe.)
15For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 16For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18While 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.
Our outward man is only a shell that we live in while we are on this earth. It perishes. Nothing can stop it from perishing, though man tries to stop it.
But the inward man, the soul inside us is renewed by God by HIS Spirit day by day. Every day God helps us by giving us exactly what we need to be able to endure and to continue in hope in spite of the unbelief that is around us.
And we, who are of God, do suffer. We see the sins around us and we grieve over those sins because we are of God and have the Holy Spirit in us. Therefore we know the way of God because the Spirit of God searches the heart of God to reveal to us the will of God. When we see people going against the will of God we grieve. But we also rejoice knowing our grief is because the Holy Spirit is in us. Without the Spirit of God we would not see the sin of the world. So even in our affliction, there is joy because it shows us we belong to God and not to the world.
And all this is temporary ... Those things we see with our natural eyes are only temporary ... It will end.