2 Corinthians 4 Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

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Max Lucado:

Christ – The Hope of Glory

The wasted years of life.  The poor choices of life.  God answers the mess of life with one word:  grace! We talk as though we understand the term.  But do we really understand it? Here’s my hunch:  we’ve settled for wimpy grace. It politely occupies a phrase in a hymn, fits nicely on a church sign.  Never causes trouble or demands a response.  When asked, “Do you believe in grace?”—who could say no?

Ah, but grace is huge!  Grace is the voice that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off.  When grace happens, it’s not a nice compliment from God we receive but a new heart. Give your heart to Christ, and he returns the favor. When grace happens, Christ enters.  “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27?

From GRACE

2 Corinthians 4
New International Version (NIV)
Present Weakness and Resurrection Life

4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[b] Since we have that same spirit of[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: Philippians 2:1-11

Christ's Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[b] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Getting Along

January 3, 2013 — by Joe Stowell

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love. —Philippians 2:2

I love being with people . . . most of the time. There is a special joy that resonates in our hearts when we are with people we enjoy. But unfortunately we are not always with those we like to be around. Sometimes people can be prickly, which may be why someone has said, “The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog!” When we don’t find joy in a relationship, we tend to blame the other person; then we excuse ourselves as we exit to be with people we like.

The apostle Paul asks us to lovingly engage with our brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, he calls all of us to be “of one accord,” to look out “for the interests of others,” and to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:2-5). Think about it. Jesus gave up His own prerogatives and privileges for us; He chose to live as a servant and paid the ultimate sacrifice that He might bring us into a joy-filled relationship with Him (see Heb. 12:2). And He did all that in spite of our prickliness (see Rom. 5:8).

So next time you are with someone who is not easy to get along with, ask Jesus to help you find a way to extend His love. In time, you might be surprised by how God can change your attitude about people.

Lord, thank You that while I was still offensive to You,
You saved me with Your sacrificial love. Give me the
same courage and grace to extend to others the love
that You have so graciously extended to me.
The key to getting along with others
is having the mind of Christ.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
January 3, 2013

Clouds and Darkness

louds and darkness surround Him . . . —Psalm 97:2

A person who has not been born again by the Spirit of God will tell you that the teachings of Jesus are simple. But when he is baptized by the Holy Spirit, he finds that “clouds and darkness surround Him . . . .” When we come into close contact with the teachings of Jesus Christ we have our first realization of this. The only possible way to have full understanding of the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside us. If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.

Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

An Eye For Opportunity - #6779

Thursday, January 3, 2013

It's pretty exciting to travel with my wife - well, just that alone is - but with my wife and her camera. She sees things that I don't see. Oh, I know sometimes I have to stop the car for what appears to be no reason because she goes, "Stop! Quick!" And when I see the pictures, I realize why we had to stop.

Oh, sometimes it was a little sign that later told a powerful story, or she'd seen one face in the middle of a hundred faces, and that one face captured on film some very poignant human emotion. Or we all got to see that glorious sunset, or that bird she saw in flight, or some very interesting scene that she saw and I missed.

I'm not a photographer; she is. She's got an eye for it. Oh, we experience the same setting, but we don't see the same thing. She sees the possibilities that I can't see. And there's one difference between us that is even more amazing.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Eye For Opportunity."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 4:3. It's actually part of a prayer. Paul says, "Pray for us that God will open a door for our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ." Notice that phrase there "open a door"? Kind of reminds me of a photographer looking for photo opportunities. As believers we should be like that looking for opportunities - open doors - to talk about the difference Jesus is making in our life.

See, my wife and I could be in the same photographic setting, but she's looking for kind of like - you might call them open doors - opportunities. I don't see them. It's like that spiritually. If you're not looking for them, you'll miss them. If you're looking for them, they're all around. That looking makes the difference.

I pulled up to my favorite neighborhood restaurant, and I said, "Lord, I've been having a crummy day so far. Give me an opportunity to speak some word about You to Joe, the owner." Wouldn't you know it, in the middle of gulping down my lunch, he comes up and says, "You know, they don't make movies like they used to." And we talked about an epic film, which, by the way, has a lot of Christians in it. And I said, "Well, did you ever see The Robe? That old movie about Jesus?" I don't know why that came into my mind, but it did. He said, "Oh, I don't like that. I'm really tired of all those stories. I had those growing up, and I'm sick of all that stuff. I've heard it all." Then I said to him, "You know, when I see one of those movies, I think about what Jesus did for us. He paid an awful high price for you and me just because He loves us so much."

See, it's an ongoing battle in a relationship like that to break through, but I had my opportunity. I asked the Lord for it, and He gave me an opportunity to get him thinking about Jesus and the cross. If you don't know how to get started talking about Jesus, God will open a door if you'll ask Him. An open door is a natural, God-given opportunity to bring up Jesus. It might be something going on in their life, your life, the world. Maybe you've been looking for that opening. Well, when it comes, He will give you the boldness to go through that open door. Just like a photographer, when you look for opportunities, they'll be there.

When you're talking about someone's eternity, you can't miss an opportunity to talk about our Savior, their only hope of an eternity in heaven. Ask Him; He'll give you that opportunity.

Paul said in Colossians 4:5 that follows our word for today from the Word of God, "Make the most of every opportunity." They're all around you. You know what happens when you begin to pray the three-open prayer on a regular basis? Man, you suddenly are positioned by God to make an eternal difference. "Lord, open a door." That natural opportunity. "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready. And "Lord, open my mouth." Give me the courage, give me the words, give me the approach. And you know what's going to happen if you pray that every day? Your every day won't be everyday any more. Because suddenly you will find that eternity will be all over your every day.