In this episode, Alan J. Huth shares his reflections from over thirty-five years of journaling, focusing on 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Discover the concept of being the ‘aroma of Christ’ as we navigate how criticism, sometimes painful, can stem from a place of love, leading to healing and reconciliation. Learn how the Bible can be a guiding light in mending relationships and improving our daily walk with God.
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 2. There are 17 verses and Dr. Elliot, pastor of Regency Christian Center in Parker, Colorado, our guest reader, will read 2 Corinthians chapter 2.
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2 Corinthians 2. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did so that when I came, I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice. For I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but to some measure, not to put too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excess sorrow.” So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.” When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us to triumph in our procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance of death to death and to the other a fragrance of life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like so many peddlers of God’s Word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
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In 1994, on 2 Corinthians 2, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, Criticism comes from love not to make people sorrowful. We want to make people happy, but sometimes we need to say the tough things. We then need to be forgiving. Am I an aroma? A sweet fragrance? Then I finished with who is adequate for these things. Ten years later, in 2004, I read 2 Corinthians 1 through 4 all in the same day, and I didn’t write any notes on this chapter. In 2015, on this day, I wrote in my journal over the Pacific. So I was flying that day when I read, when it probably crossed the date line, so I didn’t know which day it was, the day before or the day after. But anyway, I read on the plane on my way to Australia for a Gideon assignment. And I read 2 Corinthians chapters 2 and 3 together on that day. Related to chapter 2, I wrote, Express abundant love. We must be careful not to be outwitted by Satan. We are not ignorant of his ways. We face him in ministry, but we must not succumb to his ways. Then I wrote, We smell. Christians smell an aroma to those interested in being saved, a stench of death to those who won’t listen. Have you ever caused someone pain? Have you been the cause of their pain? In chapter 2 here, Paul takes the blame for causing the Corinthian church the pain that he’s heard about. An important point here is that whether Paul is guilty or not of actually causing the pain, he takes the blame. That may be the case in the relationship that you are facing right now. Whether it’s your fault or not, do you need to take the blame for causing the pain? I can remember a few instances in my life when this was certainly the case. Relationships sometimes get strained between parents and children, sometimes between bosses and employees. and sometimes between, again, parents and children. The first instance I’m talking about is when I was the child and had a strained relationship with my mother. The second instance is when I worked for a Christian company and ended up having a strained relationship with the boss. And the third is my own relationship as a parent with one of my children. In each instance, there was plenty of blame to go around. But in each instance, the Lord eventually led me to seek forgiveness from each of them. In one instance, it took a drive from Denver to Colorado Springs to go and face the person and just ask for forgiveness. In the other two instances, it was actually to write a letter seeking their forgiveness. And in each case, I was forgiven. And in each case, you would have hoped that they would have also asked for forgiveness. But that doesn’t always happen. It did happen in one instance, and it was very, very refreshing. Paul says it this way in verse 4, For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. So maybe this podcast has brought to mind a restrained relationship that you may be in right now. I can’t tell you what to do. I can only share how the Word of God touches my life and how I try to respond from time to time and then try to obey what I believe I’m hearing from the Word and from the Lord. And that’s why we read the scriptures, right? It’s not just for knowledge sake. It’s to impact how we live our lives. So again, maybe this recording, this Add Bible podcast, has caused you to think about a strained relationship. I don’t know what God will lead you to do. But again, he led me in one instance to take a 60-mile drive and sit with that person and ask for forgiveness. And then the other two instances to write a note. Maybe he’ll lead you to do something similar. And as he does, though it may be difficult, I encourage you to follow his lead. Because remember, I wrote in my journal in one of those passages I shared, as Christians, we smell. Verse 15 said, For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Will you be a sweet aroma to the one you’re in a strained relationship with? Will you go the extra Christian mile? Will you turn the other cheek to be able to remedy that strained relationship? Can we do it in our own strength? Probably not. Let’s continue with how Paul finishes this chapter. He wrote, who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ. You may feel insufficient to remedy the situation. We all do. But as Christians of sincerity, commissioned by God, we speak in Christ. As Paul did, and in a way as I did, may you go and do likewise. Father, we come before you. We pray, Lord, that if we have caused pain in someone else’s life, that you would remind us of that today, that you would bring to mind any strained relationships that we may have. And, Lord, regardless of whose fault it is, may we be the ones to go and try to remedy the situation. First, Lord, will you put the desire in our heart to do so? Secondly, will you put the words in our mouth or in our pens or in our keyboards to type or write exactly what you want us to say? May we be sincere Christians who desire to speak as you would speak to those that we have caused pain or have some affliction with. And thirdly, Lord, would you go before us to those people? And as we go to them, would you have us well-received? May they hear the sincerity of our hearts and receive our request for forgiveness. And then lastly, Lord, though we sort of expect a return, please forgive me too, we may not get that. Please, Lord, help us to get through that in a patient, enduring way so that we don’t get more hurt because we went and asked forgiveness and they didn’t. As Christians, as representatives of you, help us as we go try to remedy strained relationships. Go with us, go before us. 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 worshiped. 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.
