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If we looked only at the circumstances around us we could easily be thrown into despair . There are no guarantees that things will get better . The world is a difficult place in which to live . It gives us pain and heartbreak beyond our worst nightmares . But Christians don ' t have to be caught in the vicious circle of fear and despair . We can look in the Bible and know how the world will end . It is in the Bible that we see that Christ will come and bring peace , joy and sanity to this world again . So while others fall apart in the Last Days , Christians can have a calm , confident hope that Christ will return and things will get much , much better . It is clear from Scripture that the realization of eternity in heaven gives our pained lives perspective and hope for today . Ihe Bible talks about this in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 —
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2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ( TLB ) l 16 ) " That is why we never give up . Though our bodies are dying , our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day . 17 ) These troubles and sufferings of ours are , after all , quite small and won ' t last very long ; Yet this short time of distress will result in God ' s richest blessing upon us forever and ever _! 78 ) So we do not look at what we can see right now , the troubles all around us , but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen . The troubles will soon be over , but the joys to come will last forever . "
In 2 Corinthians 4:17 the Apostle Paul describes three things about our sufferings on this present earth . What are they ?
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