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The Bible Breakdown: Daily Bible Reading
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Welcome to "The Bible Breakdown," where we break down God’s Word so we can know God better. I'm your host, Brandon Cannon, and I'm here to guide you through the pages of the Bible, one day at a time.
Each day, we'll read through a section of the Bible and explore key themes, motifs, and teachings. Whether you're new to the Bible or a seasoned veteran, I guarantee you'll find something insightful or inspiring. My hope is to encourage you to dive deeper and deeper.
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Remember, as we journey through the pages of the Bible together, we're not just reading a book, we're unlocking the secrets to eternal life. The more we dig, the more we find! Let's get started!
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The Bible Breakdown: Daily Bible Reading
2 Corinthians 4: Clay Jars Holding Gold
The "Las Vegas" of first century Rome has been on a long journey. The Apostle Paul is encouraging them to forgive one another, know who they are in Christ, keep their lives holy, and stay unified.
Strength in weakness. Jesus is the God of All Comfort! This is the central message of 2 Corinthians. Throughout the letter Paul turns upside down our natural expectations of the way life works. Contrary to the way the world and our own human hearts naturally function, God takes what is low, despised, and weak to accomplish his purposes.
Key Verse:
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everybody, and welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host Pastor Brandon Today.
Speaker 2:2 Corinthians, chapter 4, and if I could give this one a title, it would be Clay Jars Holding Gold Clay Jars Holding Gold, and it's the idea that you don't always realize what's in something until you look inside of it. We're going to talk about that in just a moment, but, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe on the YouTube channel. We are on the road to 1,000 subscribers and we are getting there, man, one step at a time. So if you could subscribe to this channel, it'd really help us out a lot. Be sure to leave us a comment in the comment section. It really helps create that community. Also, on the podcast, I love you guys so much. Thank you for leaving us the five star reviews, and we're seeing a lot more growth in the google play store as well as on the um ah, lord, apple, apple, apple podcast. Sorry about that, so make sure that you are leaving us those five star reviews. It really helps get in the search engines more. And then also where we all gather, at the Bible Breakdown Podcast. It's such a wonderful team doing great work over there. So thank you so much for everyone who serves so faithfully.
Speaker 2:Well, if you have your Bibles and you want to open them up with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4,. What we've been talking about is if we could give this an overall theme. The theme would be the God of all comfort. The Apostle Paul has written to the church at Corinth a total of three times already. This is his fourth one and we really see the Apostle Paul is just bringing a lot more love, a lot more comfort to these people that say that it comes from the Lord and they're reminding them what God is doing in them and that sometimes what God is doing in us is so much different than what it looks like on the outside.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of this young man who was telling me that or not telling me, but he was telling a story of he was getting ready to go off to college and he's getting ready to go off to college. His grandmother gave him a Bible and she said now I want you to read this every day, do you promise me? Yes, ma'am, I will. And he said I had no intention of reading that Bible every day, but he promised I would. So he said I was there and I was trying to make things happen and I was just running short on money. I didn't matter how many jobs I worked, I couldn't make enough money. So I would write her a letter and I would ask her for more money.
Speaker 2:You can tell how long ago this was. He was writing letters, you know. And she would say well, did you read your Bible? Yes, ma'am, I read my Bible. He hadn't touched that thing, it was still in one of the boxes he took. She said, okay, well, you read your Bible and then you let me know and I'll send you some money if I need to. Well, he just kind of went on and said well, that ain't going to work.
Speaker 2:And so he went somewhere else and then a couple months later he's like I just need some money. So he went back to his grandma hey, grandma, listen, I am so sorry, I'm struggling. Can you help me? What did you read your Bible? Yes, ma'am, I read it every and you tell me what that Bible says. He's just so frustrated At this point he's not a Christian, he doesn't know the Lord he gets so frustrated. Well, about four months later he's still struggling. So he asks her again Grandma, I really need some money. And she said I am not going to help you until you go read that Bible. I am reading that Bible every day. And she said, son, I don't believe you so I'm not going to help you.
Speaker 2:At that point it was a phone call and she just hung up on him and you could tell that he had really hurt her feelings. So, feeling bad, he goes to the box. He finds the Bible. He's like I don't even know what to read. Well, he just opens the Bible. It's like flips open. He opens the Bible.
Speaker 2:Right in the middle of that Bible was a check, not just one check, but 12 checks, and each check was written for the amount of money for his rent every month. And in there she had put a note that said son, I know you got a lot of things you're going to do and I know you don't like this Bible. It looks boring, it looks old and it looks like it's not going to apply to your life. But if you'll just open up this Bible you'll find there's a lot more treasure in here than you realize. And she had put in there a check to pay his rent every month for that first year. But he had been struggling because he didn't look on the inside to see the gold that was really there.
Speaker 2:And what we're going to see that Paul's talking about is he's talking about that as we live through this life. He calls our bodies jars of clay, clay jars, and that's what we are. At the end of the day, we're made out of the dust of the ground. Bible says the dust. We're going to return, but it's what God does on the inside of us. That's so very important. And so we're going to talk about this and how the God of all comfort is doing so much more on the inside of us than we can imagine and because of that, anything is possible. So if you're ready with me, let's jump into 2 Corinthians 4, looking at verse 1. Here we go, verse 1.
Speaker 2:Therefore, since God, in his mercy, has given us this new way, we never give up. We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don't try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
Speaker 2:If the good news we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. Who is the God of this world? Has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of this good news. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
Speaker 2:You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus is Lord and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake, for God, it is God who said let there be light in the darkness, and he has made this light shine in our hearts so that we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have I love this we now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God and not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but we are not driven to despair. We are hunted down but never abandoned. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed Through suffering. Our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
Speaker 2:But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said I believe in God, so I spoke. We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to Himself together with you, also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit, and as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day, for our present troubles are small and won't last very long yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs all of them and will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles that we can see now. Rather, we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen, for the things that we can see now will soon be.
Speaker 2:It was so beautiful, I couldn't help but just read the whole thing, because what Paul is saying is this great thing that God has done in us is on the inside, that if you were to see us walking around, you know, as a Christian, we're like no different than anybody else. We're the same as the person beside us. It's the hope we have on the inside that really does the amazing work. So we are all jars of clay containing something more precious than gold. That's why Paul says you know, we are on trouble on every side, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not given to despair. We are hunted down but not abandoned. And I love this. We get knocked down but we get up again. You know, I almost said that zong lyric instead, but he's saying it's not because of what we have done or because of who we are, but it's because of who lives in us.
Speaker 2:And I love how he says this. He says this, and it's almost like you want to kick back on it because he says this. He says for our present troubles are small and won't last very long. I'm going to be like well, paul, have you been around my family? Have you heard of what my kids are going through? Have you learned about my friend over here? Paul, how in the world can you say, I mean, think about it. I mean, okay, look, I won't put this on you, I'm just going to put this on me. How many of you would say like me? Well, I'll just say it. Like me.
Speaker 2:When I hear him say for our present troubles are small and won't last very long, it offends me a little bit, because if somebody were to tell me that I'd be like well, then you don't know my problems. But then when you read the context and you realize Paul is saying I got 99 problems, it's just that Jesus ain't one. And when I realize the goodness of God and I realize that because of what God has done in me and because the gold on the inside of me, which is the glory of God, it helps me realize I don't live for tomorrow, I live an eternal perspective because I have eternity to look forward to. So then I can go. These present troubles they're small and won't last very long, because they produce for us a glory that outlasts all of them and lasts forever. So what Paul is saying is is when we have an eternal perspective, god is the God of all comfort. We are comforted when we realize that everything we're going through is not going to last forever. The job you're going through, that you hate, is not going to last forever. The season your kids are in is not going to last forever. The fact that you don't have kids and you want them that season it's going to seem like forever, but it's really not season it's going to seem like forever, but it's really not.
Speaker 2:At the end of the day, the worst news for non-Christians is that one day what they have to look forward to is that one day they're going to die. That's horrible news if you're not a Christian, but if you're a Christ follower, if you've been united with Christ, you're living for him every day. The best news in the world is that one day you're going to die. Now that doesn't mean don't get me wrong we are not looking forward to death. We're not hurrying it up. None of that. Don't hear any of that.
Speaker 2:What I'm saying is we live this life. We live this life to its fullest, we live life completely, and the best news is is that one day, when we pass from this life to the next, we still have eternity to look forward to a relationship with Jesus. Now, once again, hear me say this, don't email me. I'm not saying that we should ever look to die a second before God is ready for us, right? I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that, as a non-Christian, the day of our death is the scariest day ever. But for a Christian, it is an amazing moment when we pass from this life to the next, and so when we do that, all of our problems in the light of eternity seem small and that they won't last very long. Because in this life we have trouble, but in eternity we have Jesus, and my hope for you is that brings you some comfort.
Speaker 2:Today.
Speaker 2:Let's pray together.
Speaker 2:Father, thank you so much for your goodness, your kindness, your mercy.
Speaker 2:Thank you, god, that you are with us and that you are for us in all things. Lord, we never want to wish away this life, never want to wish a moment of this life to go any faster than it should. But I pray, god, you'll fill your people with comfort to realize that, because we are yours, we don't just live for this moment, we live in the light of eternity and that makes all of our problems. It doesn't mean they go away, but it helps us to put them in perspective, to realize that you're for us more than we can imagine. Thank you for loving us the way you do. In Jesus' name, we pray amen, amen. Loving us the way you do, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Don't forget. God's word says in 2 Corinthians 1,. God is the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. I want to ask you this question today, in the light of eternity what area of your life has God comforted you and who can you comfort today with what you have?
Speaker 3:no-transcript.
