In this episode, we revisit personal journal reflections spanning over years of Bible reading, exploring the recurring themes of support and encouragement found in Romans 15. Discover the impactful message of striving for Christian unity, the significance of spreading the gospel, and the heartfelt appeal for communal prayers. Dive into the dialogue that emphasizes a deeper connection to God’s Word as the ultimate guiding light and source of hope in our lives.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in the second to the last chapter of the book of Romans. We’ll listen in to our guest reader, Craig Warner, executive director of the Gideons International, as he reads the 33 verses of Romans chapter 15.
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Romans chapter 15. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus. that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name. And again it is said, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him. And again Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles. In him will the Gentiles hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another. But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given to me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience. By word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Elycrium, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.” not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on somebody else’s foundation, but as it is written, Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you, But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints, for Macedonia and Archaea have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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In 1994, you might remember we were in Maui, Hawaii, and I wrote this in my journal as we were getting ready to leave. I wrote, walked with Terry one more time around the coast because we were leaving that day. I think that was our first trip to Hawaii, and Hawaii is a hard place to leave. But it’s always good to come home, isn’t it? I read Romans 15 and I wrote, please your neighbor. Then I also wrote, be of the same mind with one another, accept one another. And lastly, in 1994, I wrote, the Romans were good. Paul’s priority was to preach in new areas. He wanted to spread the gospel. In 2001, when I read Romans 15, I had some similar thoughts as 1994. I wrote, help others above our selfish needs. Easy to say, hard to live. Paul’s purpose was to preach, not where Christ was named, but to those who had not heard. In 2013, after reading Romans 15, I wrote, Strong Christians have an obligation to help the weak by teaching them, setting examples for them, like Jesus did. Strong and weak accept and help each other. Jesus came through the Jews, but the Gentiles were always part of the family. And then I wrote, Paul knew his calling. Do I? He also succeeded in his calling. Do I? I wrote, I hope I can say this as I begin traveling again for the Gideons. And I quoted verse 29. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. I want to begin in Romans 15 by looking at verse 4. Verse 4 says, For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. These podcasts are being brought to you by The Ezra Project, which was started in 2002 with one purpose, and that was to connect God’s people to God’s Word. It’s my sincere belief that this is one of the greatest needs in the Christian church today, is for Christians to come back to the daily habit of being in the scriptures. And this verse reminds us why. It says, Living in a secular world today, we need godly instruction. And where do we get it? We get it in the scriptures. And we also need encouragement. And we need hope. And this verse tells us we also get that in the scriptures. But look at that little phrase in the middle. It says, Which means to me, we must keep on. We must stay in the Scriptures. We must keep going. We need to make it a habit to stay in God’s Word on a daily basis. That is my encouragement to you. Endure. Stay in the Scriptures. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. And then verse 13 says, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. So if you need some hope today, find it in the Word of God. And when you do, you will experience joy and peace in believing and have the power of the Holy Spirit within you. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you that it does give us instruction. It does give us encouragement and it does give us hope. Holy Spirit, we ask you to keep us in your word because we need instruction. We need encouragement and we need hope. And as we stay in your word, Holy Spirit, grant us your peace and your joy. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. As we close out today’s podcast, may I encourage you to visit EzraProject.net. There you can find out all about the Ezra Project, connecting God’s people to God’s Word. You can find Bible reading resources like Bible reading journals and Bible reading schedules. And there you can also join Club 365. Club 365 members receive additional benefits from these podcasts, like the transcripts and time management tips that will help you carve out time in your busy day for the Lord. So visit EzraProject.net and learn more about the Ezra Project. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes we need a plumb line, a true north, a solid basis of truth to live life. We’re not going to find it in the media or in social media or Google or your friends, but it is available right at your fingertips. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18 38, what is truth? The chapter before, Jesus had answered the question in his prayer to God for his disciples. In the 17th verse, Jesus pleads with the Father, Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. So what would it be like if everyone, everywhere, read the Bible every day? Wow, it might be heaven on earth. What would it be like if every Christian read the Bible every day? Would we be better ambassadors for Christ? What would it be like if everyone in your community read the Bible every day? Would we have greater impact in our communities? And what would it be like if you personally read the Bible every day? Could you use a closer walk with Jesus? Could you use a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet to walk through this life? Could you use a spiritual power surge in your life? Matthew 22, 29, Jesus speaking to the Sadducees said, You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures or the power of God. Yes, the Scriptures can give us power to live this life. So I’m going to give you three easy action steps to make the Bible worth your time each and every day. Number one, commit to daily Bible reading. Commit to seek God and His Word daily, every day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. Change your belief about God’s Word to behavior in God’s Word. Use any of our Ezra Project resources to help you. Visit EzraProject.net to get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal or one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. Commit today and visit EzraProject.net for easy-to-use resources for your daily time in God’s Word. Number two, be intentional. Decide what you want out of your Bible reading. I got to visit the headquarters of Back to the Bible once in Lincoln, Nebraska. And in one hallway down one side, they had scribbled all the reasons people say they don’t read the Bible. On the other side were all the reasons people do read the Bible. And I want to give you some of those to encourage you. On that wall, it said, God wants me to. Yes, God wants you to read the Bible. Do you want to meet with him daily? Because he’ll meet with you every day through his word. Number two, it changes me. Where could you be in one year with more Bible reading in your life? Number three, it improves my outlook on life. Yeah, turn out the bad news and saturate yourself with good news from the Word of God. Number four, it keeps me grounded. Yes, when the storms of life come, and they will, can you stand? Yes, you’ll stand better and more solid because you’re in the Word of God. Next, it keeps my heart soft. Yeah, Nehemiah 8, when people heard the word, they wept and they worshipped. You will do the same as the word softens your heart. Lastly, on the wall it said, it keeps my daily focus on God. Yeah, that’s a great reason to read the Bible. You’ll gain the spiritual power to live life in our secular world. And then thirdly and lastly, feed your soul. Let God minister to your soul. Hebrews 4.12 says, the word of God pierces between your soul and your spirit, between joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. Nothing else goes that deep. I don’t know where the place is between my soul and my spirit, but I want to put the Word of God there each and every day of my life. I hope you do too. God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
