Join Alan J. Huth as he reflects on his personal Bible journals from 1994, 2004, and 2015. Discover the importance of being commended by the Lord rather than seeking self-praise. Explore your unique area of influence in God’s kingdom, inspired by Paul’s letters and Alan’s stories. We discuss the critical nature of daily Bible reading to reinforce our faith and align our lives with God’s word. This episode serves as a guide to understanding your spiritual calling and the transformational power of Scripture.
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 2 Corinthians chapter 10. We will listen to our guest reader, Dr. Michael Elliott, the first chairman of the board of the Ezra Project and pastor at Regency Christian Center in Parker, Colorado, as he reads the 18 verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
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2 Corinthians chapter 10. I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold towards you when I’m away. I beg of you that when I am present, I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters, for they say his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account. Let such a person understand what we say by letter when absent, we do when present.” Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. but we will not boast beyond limits, but we’ll boast only with regard to the area of influence God has assigned to us to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others, but our hope is that your faith increases. Our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, for it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
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In 1994, in my journal, I wrote concerning this chapter, Need to be commended by the Lord, not by self. And sometimes I, you know, write my prayers in there too. And I wrote that day for attitude. So needing to be commended by the Lord and not myself, I prayed for my own attitude. In 2004, when I was reading the Bible chronologically, I read chapters 10 through 13 on one day and closed out 2 Corinthians. So let me read some verses concerning chapter 10. I wrote, I am so weak. Lord, strengthen me. Continue to grow me up in the faith. Help my thoughts become obedient. Help me boast only in you. And in 2015, I’m still in Australia. And so in Australia, I read 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and 11. And my entries in my journal concerning chapter 10 were this. Lord, give me weapons of divine power to destroy strongholds. There seem to be more and more strongholds, and we are not winning. Take my thoughts captive for you. Paul may not have been gifted physically or verbally. And there I was referring to verse 10. Then I continued. We don’t compare ourselves with others, only in service to the calling God has placed on my life. I have a certain area of influence God assigned, and no more. Like Paul, my prayers are area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged. May I not boast, but be commended by you. After handling many of the issues facing the Corinthian church in the first nine chapters of this book, Paul now turns in the next few chapters to defending himself Paul first reminds the Corinthian church that the battle between them and him is not in the flesh. It’s in the spirit. Let’s look at verse 4. “…for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” That is such an important principle, isn’t it? If you’re in a battle, whether it’s in a relationship, your job, within a church, within a ministry, the battle is not flesh to flesh. It’s a spiritual battle. In such battles, we need divine power. We need to be sure that our thoughts are captive in Christ. Certainly, it’s hard to put aside our own agendas, to put aside what we think about in the flesh, but we must because it’s a spiritual battle. Paul says it clearly in verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. Have you ever wondered what Paul was really like? Well, we might get a glimpse into that here in verse 10. He writes, From that verse, I don’t think Paul was an imposing figure. Maybe he came physically with that thorn in his side, weakening him physically. And it says here his speech was of no account, which is amazing. You’d think he would be a great orator. But from that verse, it doesn’t sound like he was a spellbound speaker. But what he needed, he had. He had the power of the Holy Spirit within him and the ability to profess truth wherever he went. Look what he says in verse 13. I love that. I love what that verse implies. It says to me in ministry that I am only to deal with the area of influence God has assigned to me. And I do believe that God has assigned to me a few areas of influence for him. What about you? What area of influence has God assigned to you? Do you have an area of ministry in your life? You don’t have to be full-time. You don’t have to be a pastor. But I believe God has assigned all of us an area of ministry, an area of influence. What has God called you to do? What does God want you to do? What is the area of influence God wants you to minister in? If you know it, minister in it. If you don’t know it after this podcast, take some time to think about it. Let’s go back to that verse 13. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us. What is your area of assignment? Ask the Lord, pray about it, seek it out, and then be bold enough to do it. Paul concludes the chapter with this thought, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. So yes, maybe we do have an area of influence, something that God has given us to do, but we don’t boast in ourselves. We understand as we started this chapter that it’s not a battle between our flesh. Whatever we’re asked to do is a spiritual assignment. So how could we boast? We can just be thankful that God has given us some area of influence in his kingdom. And then we can hope that we can do all we can to be obedient and and that he will be well pleased, that he is the one that will commend us. Lord, help me find my area of influence. Help me find what you have placed me on this earth to do. Help me find the place where you want me to serve in your kingdom. And Lord, help me understand it’s not from my flesh, but it’s a spiritual battle. Therefore, I need your help. Lord, help me realize I might be like Paul. I might not have much bodily stature. I might not even be able to speak eloquently. But like you used Paul, you can use me because you’re the one who has assigned me this area of influence. Lord, I pray that you find me faithful. I pray that when it’s all over, you will have commended me for that which you’ve assigned me to do. And we will give you the glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. 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.
