Experience the power of personal testimony and the Word of God through the lens of over three decades of daily Bible journaling. Explore stories of love, divine guidance, and the unexpected birth of the AdBible app, designed to place the Word of God directly into the ears of listeners. Discover how consistent engagement with Scripture can inspire innovation and deepen one’s faith journey.
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.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today we begin the book of 1 Timothy. I usually refer to my English Standard Version Study Bible book introductions when I start to introduce a new book to us, so I will do so again today. And I’ve learned that 1 Timothy was written by Paul in the mid-60s AD, possibly after his first imprisonment in Rome at the close of the book of Acts. Tradition states that Paul may have been released after a few years, did further mission work, and was imprisoned a second time. He was executed under Nero in 68 AD. Paul wrote 1 Timothy to advise Timothy about issues arising at the church of Ephesus. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus, so he wrote him some instructions about how Christians should behave. False teachers are the primary problem Paul addresses, but he also grounds Christian behavior in the gospel. The theme of 1 Timothy is that the gospel leads to practical, visible change in the lives of those who believe it. While we’re in 1 Timothy, we could listen for things like the most explicit teaching in the Bible that there is one God, one mediator between him and men, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. We’ll see that in chapter 2. We could also find a list of qualifications for church leadership in chapter 3 and how to live a blameless life, chapter 6. After our completion of 1 Timothy, we’ll move on to 2 Timothy, and we have a guest reader for both books, and that’s my good friend Larry Geeling. We have been friends since our firstborn sons were in first grade over three decades ago. Larry has much to do with the beginning of the Ezra Project. He invited me to speak to his church men’s retreat in the mid-90s. I declined, never having done something like that before. But he persisted. I prayed, Lord, what can I say to a group of men? And he asked me, what would be the most important thing in your life that you could share with them? So I created a message that became the precursor of the Ezra Project messages. I shared the power of God’s Word and the value of daily Bible reading. I offered journals to the men at the end of the retreat if they committed to daily Bible reading. Nearly all took one. Seven years went by, but the Ezra Project was eventually born. Thank you, Larry Geeling, for not letting me off the hook. It’s an honor to listen to Larry Reed on behalf of the Ezra Project and AdBible. So let’s listen to our guest reader, Larry Geeling, as he opens 1 Timothy 1 with the 20 verses of this chapter.
SPEAKER 02 :
1 Timothy 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, my true child in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away in vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith in a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
SPEAKER 03 :
I have shared before on these AdBible podcasts that I’m not a preacher. I’m not a pastor. I’m just a guy who reads his Bible every day and wants to see what God has to say to me. So I will share with you some of the journals that I have written over the years. I’ve journaled my daily Bible reading for over 30 years. And for 1st and 2nd Timothy, I’ve chosen a journal from 1992, a journal from 2002, and a journal from 2012. So there’ll be 10 years apart, 92, 2002, and 2012. I learned about journal and English class in my high school years, and I didn’t really do much of it until 1983 when I started journaling my time in God’s Word, and I’ve done so pretty much ever since. What I share is what I wrote down after I’ve read a passage of Scripture and what I’ve received from the Lord. And that’s what I’m going to share now with you concerning 1 Timothy chapter 1. In 1992, after reading 1 Timothy chapter 1, I wrote in my journal, goal of instruction, quoting verse 5, love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith. And then I wrote, thanks for putting me into service. And that was a reference to verse 12. And then a reference to verse 14, grace of God, more than abundant. Thank you for listening to AdBible today. You know, some people say the Bible is an old, dusty book, not relevant to life today at all. Well, I disagree, and I’m going to share a few specific examples. Early in my life as a Christian, I was dating a girl named Terry in high school. I really liked her, but I would not use the word love with her because the word was overused and I didn’t understand it. You know, you could say, I love chocolate, I love baseball, and I love you. So it didn’t mean much to me. So what is the love chapter in the Bible? It’s 1 Corinthians chapter 13. But in college, one day I read the other love chapter. I encourage you to look at 1 John chapter 4, verses 7 through 19, where I learned about love. I’m not going to read the whole passage, but I’m just going to take some excerpts from those verses 7 through 19. Those verses tell us love is of God. For God is love. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear. And we love because he first loved us. So after I understood God was love, and he first loved us, and I could love someone else because he first loved us, I called that young lady named Terry and for the first time told her I loved her. And I asked her to marry me. So it must have worked out pretty good for us because we’re coming up on our golden 50-year anniversary. So I believe biblical love works, and I believe it will work for you too. Example number two. After 14 years of the Ezra Project, I sensed it was time to consider how to have greater impact. We went on a fasting and praying campaign for three months. I had focus groups with pastors, met with American Bible Society, Back to the Bible, International Bible Society, and did all I could to hear from the Lord. And I got nothing. I was supposed to bring this new idea of how we were going to have greater impact to our board meeting scheduled on April 1st of that year. Well, I didn’t have anything to bring. But in my daily quiet time that morning, I started the book of Jeremiah. And here’s what I read. Jeremiah 1, 4 through 13. Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Then I said, Ah, Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, Do not say I am only a youth, for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond branch. Then the Lord said to me, You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? Okay, after I finished that passage, I got up and I was ready to go about my day. But the Lord wasn’t finished with me yet. He said, Stand up, read that passage again, and put your name where Jeremiah’s name was. So I did. I began to read the passage again, and where it came to, Alan, what do you see? I waited. And I saw a vision of things waving back and forth like grain. I said, Lord, what does that mean? And he said, you’re going to do some things you’ve done, but you’re also going to do some new things. And then I waited again as I read in between that he watches over his word to perform it. The second time, Alan, what do you see? And I waited. And as I waited, I saw earbuds coming down the cheeks of people’s faces. I said, Lord, what does this mean? He said, I want you to put my word in the ears of people. I said, how? He said, create an app. Okay, I’m not a technical guy, and I don’t know much about apps, but God was instructing me the day I needed a new vision of what to do with the Ezra Project to reach more people. He was telling me that very morning in my quiet time in the Scriptures to create an app. So, I went to the board that day, and I shared what God had given me that morning. And everybody got excited as we ventured forth on a new way to connect God’s people to God’s Word by creating an app so we could put the Word of God in people’s ears. So now it was August, that was April, and now it was August, and I was scheduled to do the first recording. And I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what to say. I had prepared a studio in my basement with a microphone and a table, but it seemed like a long way to go down that staircase to go into that studio and record something on the Bible. I didn’t know what to do, and I was intimidated. So in my normal daily quiet time that day, I was reading Ezekiel chapter 3. And I read, But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said, Go, shut yourself within your house. That’s amazing, isn’t it? My studio was in my house. Go shut yourself within your house, but when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God. He who will hear, let him hear, and he who refuses to hear, let him refuse. Wow, God could not have texted me more clearly that moment. He empowered me in my daily quiet time to do the very task I needed to do that day. I bounded down those steps and began to record AdBible, these recordings you’re listening to now. So those are some specific examples of how the Word of God can touch your daily activity if you’re in the Word of God daily. And I encourage you to spend each and every day in God’s Word. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
