Have you ever wondered about the power of God’s Word in renewing your spirit daily? In this episode, we’ll explore personal stories and reflections that highlight the transformative impact of scripture reading on the inner self. From a life-threatening car accident to a global mission for the Gideons International, you’ll hear why 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 holds a special place in our hearts and how its teachings guide us in leading a purpose-driven life. Tune in for inspiration to make daily Bible reading a cornerstone of your spiritual journey.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan 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 04 :
Today we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. This is one of my favorite chapters of Scripture, and I will be able to tell you why after you hear the reading of 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the 18 verses from Faith Comes by Hearing.
SPEAKER 03 :
2 Corinthians 4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
SPEAKER 02 :
For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
SPEAKER 03 :
We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed and so I spoke. We also believe and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.
SPEAKER 03 :
For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
SPEAKER 04 :
In 1994, when I read 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I wrote this. Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. Then I wrote, And then I quoted verse 7. We have this treasure in earthen vessels. And then referred to verse 16. Therefore, we do not lose heart. My inner man is renewed day by day by spending time in the word and prayer. I believe the Bible ministers to the inner man as this verse indicates. Look at things that cannot be seen rather than things that those seen are temporal. That was my journal entry in 1994. This passage took on a whole new light in 1998. In 1998, I was asked to go on my first international scripture blitz overseas for the Gideon’s International, and I went to Thailand. I spent two weeks in Thailand, one week in Bangkok and one week in Chiang Mai. And the first seven verses of this chapter were our theme during that international scripture blitz. That’s why this passage has become so important to me, so valuable to me. Not only was it the theme of my first international scripture blitz as a Gideon, but it has been a theme for me ever since. So many times when I share about the Gideon ministry, I use this text to share about the Gideons. So let’s go through these first seven verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. I absolutely believe that I have this ministry from the Lord, the ministry of the Gideons International, of which I’ve been a volunteer in for some 37 years. Obviously, if I’ve done this for 37 years, I have not lost heart. The next verse in my ESV Bible says, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word. In the New King James, it says something more like, we don’t handle the word of God deceitfully. As a member of the Gideons International, we have the privilege to handle the Word of God. I remember very specifically one time doing a large Marriott hotel right here in Denver. We were checking room after room after room, hundreds of rooms, and we were looking at the Bibles, making sure they were okay, and putting them back in the drawers. I was going room to room, and God stopped me. As I was holding a Bible in my hand, He said to me, You are handling my Word. What a privilege to be able to place the Word of God in the hands of someone else here or around the world. But verse 3 says, If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. It’s so true. I’ve been all over the world and I’ve seen the God of this world blind the eyes of those who are perishing. they cannot or will not see the light of the gospel. But verse 5 goes on to say, For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. So it’s true, although I go as a member of the Gideons International, we don’t proclaim ourselves. We hand out the Word of God that teaches people and leads people to Jesus. And then verse 6 says, So though the God of this age has blinded those around the world, they can’t see the light of the gospel. He has given us the privilege to take the gospel around the world and let light shine in the darkness, just as it has shown in my dark heart at one point in my life. So many times when I’ve used this passage as a message in a church, I’ve called it shining the light in the darkness. And then verse 7 says, but we have this treasure in jars of clay or earthen vessels to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not of us. So we have this treasure. We have the gospel within us and we get to take it around the world. What a privilege. What an honor to be able to serve in this way in my life. I remember sharing this very passage in the People’s Republic of China just a few years ago. Imagine that. Those people, by the billions, have been led by this God of this world into blindness. But there we were, shining the light in the darkness in the People’s Republic of China. Praise the Lord. So now you have a pretty good understanding of why this particular chapter in Scripture, this particular set of verses, means so much to me. Before we leave 2 Corinthians chapter 4, let’s just highlight a couple of more thoughts. Verse 14 says, Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus. We thank the Lord for a guaranteed resurrection from the dead. And in verse 16, Paul says, So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Oh, can you say the same thing? Can you say that your inner self is being renewed day by day? We can be sure that that will happen day by day as we spend time in God’s presence, time in His Word, and time with Him in prayer. I need to be renewed day by day. That’s why I don’t skip a day in God’s Word. Each and every day, I spend a little bit of time with the scriptures and with the Lord in prayer. I hope you do too. I hope you make it a habit to renew your inner self day by day. Lord, I thank you for the hope that I find in this chapter of scripture. Though the gospel is veiled by the God of this world to so many, we have the chance to shine the light into the darkness of their hearts and their lives. You have given us this treasure, this message in earthen vessels ourselves so that we can share it with someone else. Thank you that you shine the light in our dark heart so that we now can share it with someone else. And because we have that light shining in our own hearts, Lord, we do not lose heart, but we renew our inner self day by day with you in your word and in prayer. Oh, God, thank you that you’re never too busy for us, though we seem to be sometimes too busy for you. Forgive us, Lord. And when we do carve out that time to be with you, renew our inner spirit each and every day. And we’ll give you the praise and thank you for it. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to Add Bible Today. You might wonder how I became a daily Bible reader. When I was 15 years old, a buddy and me stole his father’s car. We could steal his father’s car because his father was in Vietnam, serving in the war, so he was never home. So we took the car that day, neither one of us with a driver’s license, and we took off out east of Colorado Springs on a dirt road. We were flying down this dirt road at 60 miles an hour, and he lost control of the car. We began to spin, and we were going down the road, fishtailing, and he spun the wheel of the car 60 miles an hour. The car tumbled, crushed the top, tucked the wheels under, totaled the car. I was on a dirt road. I don’t know if I was thrown out of the car or crawled out of the car, but I looked at that car, and I thought, am I even alive? Am I broken? Am I bleeding everywhere? And I began to pat myself down, and I felt like I was okay. So I stood up, and I was uninjured, amazingly. The sheriff came to draw up the accident. He said, it’s a miracle you guys are alive. I got home that night, went down into my bedroom. My mother came to me and said, you ought to thank God you’re alive. I was laying on my bed, and I was thinking about the day’s activities. And I just thought, wow, I could have been dead today. I wasn’t the driver. I was the passenger. I wasn’t in control. But God was. At that moment, I figured out at 15 years old, God could take my life any time. He could have that day. So as I laid there, I thought, okay, you could take my life any day. So you saved my life today for a reason. For whatever reason that is, I’m going to live for you and that reason. As I said that, I heard a voice say to me, there’s a Bible on your bookshelf. Get it down and read it. I must have heard something, because I got up, I went over to the bookshelf, and I pulled down a Bible. I opened it to the first page, just like I would any other book, and I began to read God’s Word. I read Genesis chapter 1. The next day I read Genesis chapter 2. The next day I read Genesis chapter 3. And a chapter a day, I began to read God’s Word at 15 years old. If you do that, by the way, it’ll take you about three and a half years to finish reading the Bible a chapter a day. And that’s a good plan. So that’s how I became a daily Bible reader. And when I finished going through the Bible the first time at 18 years or so, I just started over because I thought that’s what Christians did was read their Bibles every day. So that’s how I became a daily Bible reader.
Have you ever wondered about the power of God’s Word in renewing your spirit daily? In this episode, we’ll explore personal stories and reflections that highlight the transformative impact of scripture reading on the inner self. From a life-threatening car accident to a global mission for the Gideons International, you’ll hear why 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 holds a special place in our hearts and how its teachings guide us in leading a purpose-driven life. Tune in for inspiration to make daily Bible reading a cornerstone of your spiritual journey.
