Treasures in Jars of Clay

"Jars of Clay"
by Virginia Quarrier, 1984

"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body...  

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

2 Corinthians 4:6-10, 16-19

I hope you are encouraged by these verses.  They are ones that I need to meditate on every day since they are so keenly rooted in both reality and faith.

[Note on the painting: I painted this as a gift for my husband-to-be in fall 1984 while I was a senior in college; we married a year later.  The black water jug and the pink cloth are from a mission trip to Israel in 1981.  All three ceramic pieces are long gone,  but the cloth is in my living room right now.  Unfortunately, I don't paint in oils anymore, but you can see some of my other art in various media here: My Artwork.]

Grace, 

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com