11/30/2016 DAB Transcript

Daniel 7:1-28 ~ 1 John 1:1-10 ~ Psalm 119:153-176 ~ Proverbs 28:23-24

Today is the 30th day of November.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian and greetings from the holy city of Jerusalem.  We haven’t gotten to really explore anything yet.  We got in after dark after a nice long day that had some traveling miles involved to get us here, which we’ll talk about in a little bit. We have arrived in Jerusalem and we’ll be exploring the center part of this land for the remainder of the time that we are here in the land of the Bible.  Like I said, we’ll talk about that in a little bit.  Let us do what we’ve come to do and center ourselves in God’s word and orient ourselves to him and allow him to speak to us through his word.

On this last day of the month of November, gasp!  Can you believe that?  We are continuing our journey through the scriptures and we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.  We will continue forward with our journey through the book of Daniel and then when we get to the New Testament we’ll begin a new letter.  We’ll talk about that when we get there.  Daniel chapter 7 verses 1-28.  

Introduction of a New Book (New Testament)

We have arrived at the first letter of John the Evangelist, the Beloved Disciple.  As church tradition holds, he is the author of this letter.  Although John does not specifically claim authorship, copies of this letter were all over the early church and it was quoted and referred to in the early church writings.  When the canon of the New Testament was being ratified, 1 John had no problem being authenticated as a true writing of John and true scripture.

John is writing this letter probably as a rotating or circular letter, giving us clues to how the New Testament church worked early on.  It is probably written to the same people that Peter wrote his two letters to later in his life and that Paul wrote letters to. These letters were meant to be circulated throughout the churches so that they had many apostolic voices pouring the truth of the gospel into the church.

John probably was writing this letter from Ephesus very late in his life, somewhere around AD 92 to AD 100, maybe as late as 110.  He is writing specifically to combat false teachings and heresies that have sprouted up in the early church.  These are the earliest forms of Gnosticism and John has a unique perspective because he was actually there.  When an early gnostic teacher like Cerinthus began teaching that the Spirit of Christ came into Jesus’ body at baptism but before that he was just a normal man and then the Spirit departed from him just prior to crucifixion, John as an authority can refute it.  This is very helpful for us today because there has been plenty of false teaching over the last couple of thousand years and there is no shortage of it now and we are very fortunate to have an eyewitness disciple who walked with Jesus to speak clearly of how things were and how things are.  

So we begin 1 John chapter 1.  

Prayer

Father, once again we thank you for your word and as we continue to make the journey through your word, well, the end is within sight as we begin to prepare our hearts tomorrow to turn the corner into the last month.  So we have had enough time to easily look back and see the difference the rhythm of life centered around your word makes and we thank you.  But we also look forward with great anticipation to what comes next and so we center ourselves where we are right now and ask you to plant this into our hearts, into our lives, and may it yield a bountiful, abundant crop of the fruit of the Spirit within us that we might actually be your hands and feet in this world, very aware and focused by your leading.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.  

Announcements

Okay, so yesterday we left Galilee which feels like several days ago, but we left the Sea of Galilee behind us which is always…I mean, it’s exciting to move forward in the pilgrimage knowing that there is much left to see and do and contemplate and till into the soil of our lives or sow into the fabric of our hearts or whatever other metaphors we might use, but it is always a little bit of a, you know, goodbye to an old friend, the Sea of Galilee, and just knowing that we’re not leaving Jesus’ story, but we’re definitely leaving behind the place he spent most of his time in ministry.  

So, yeah, we did that and made our way over to Acre which is right on the coast near the city of Haifa.  It is an old crusader…well, the ruins there are probably the best preserved of the crusader era here. We didn’t really go there to do a bunch of biblical things. It is just as we’re passing on our way we stopped in to see some of that and spent just a little time in the markets and enjoyed that part of the country before moving up Mount Carmel.

Mount Carmel is where, of course, a great showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal took place.  God demonstrated his power by raining down fire on the sacrifice which in the end didn’t turn out so well for the prophets of Baal and they met their end fairly swiftly after that.  So we opened the scriptures, moved into that story, considered the implications in our own lives.  From Mount Carmel we could look down into the Valley of Megiddo also known as the Valley of Armageddon which definitely leaves some things to contemplate as well. So we spent some time there and then moved back to the coast, moving our way southward to Caesarea Maritima.    

Caesarea Maritima is epic in terms of its preservation of the Roman Era, the Herodian Roman Era.  The city was built to be a jewel, a port city second to none, one that would put the Roman province of Syria on the map as a destination place.  It did do that.  But there is definitely biblical history there. This is where the apostle Paul was taken after having been arrested in Jerusalem and he spent a couple of years imprisoned in Caesarea Maritima and he was able to share the gospel with dignitaries, kings, governors, people he would have never gotten an audience with any other way.  He was able to share the gospel, but it was from here that he appealed to Caesar his case and it was from Caesarea Maritima that he sailed for Rome where he would eventually lose his life as a martyr.  So we certainly, of course, moved into that story before departing for the journey up to Jerusalem.  

Caesarea Maritima is right on the coast, the Mediterranean Coast so it is at sea level.  From any point in Israel you can only go up to Jerusalem, so that is what we did.  We climbed up to Jerusalem where we landed for the night and just kind of unpacked.  Now our hearts are ready.  Even though our bodies may be a bit fatigued, our hearts are ready to enter into this part of the journey, this part of the story and we covet your prayers.  We do.  We covet your prayers because our prayers are that we till all of this into the soil of our lives and take it back because it has changed us so profoundly, that it is more than just the story of that one time that we went to Israel and saw all those things but that it impacted us in a way that right now we can’t articulate.  There is just too much, but we can feel things have shifted and continue to shift. We want that to stick so that it influences our spheres of influence in profound and unexpected and delightful ways as we are changed by it.  So we certainly thank you for your prayers over travel, over stamina, over health, over technology, over all of it and we feel your prayers.  Thank you profoundly for that.  

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  That is home base.  It is where you find out what is going on around here.  The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is high on the list right now. We’ve packed it full of resources that have been created for our community here and there is stuff in there you’re going to probably want to give away for Christmas and there is stuff in there you’re going to want to keep.  

The Promised Land Films, the double DVD set containing four hours of content, including every place that we’re talking about here on the Daily Audio Bible, every place that we’re visiting now has been filmed meticulously and unpacked scripturally so that you can kind of see it, it is in there.  

Let’s see, Bible Stories About Jesus is in there, the double CD project that we made for children using age-appropriate translations.  That is in there.  

The Family Christmas Album is in there.  Jill’s album that was released a little earlier in the year is in there and that is fantastic.  If you haven’t heard it yet, it’s fantastic.

My latest book Reframe is in there and the films that go along with the book, Reframe – From the God We’ve Made to God With Us – they are in there in DVD form.  This is the last time those will be available so if you haven’t had a chance to see those yet, they’re impactful and they’re challenging and they’re helpful.  So that is in there.

Your choice of either the Windfarm house blend of coffee or our Windfarm English Breakfast Tea, one of those, your choice is included as well as a pack of 20 of our 2016 Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards and the annual Daily Audio Bible Christmas Bulb that we’ve done for several years now.  I’ve got one for each year that we’ve done this on my tree at home.  I love that because not only does it remind me of the many different revolutions through the scriptures that we’ve taken together, but it reminds me of you and I love having that on my Christmas tree.  All of the years of God’s faithfulness and all of the scripture, all of the journeys we’ve taken through the scripture together.  So the annual Christmas Bulb is in there and it has our word for the year – healthy – imprinted on it as well.  So that is in the Christmas Box.  

Some things that you’ll want to keep, some things that you may want to give away.  Check it out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.  We always sell out of them, so grab it sooner than later so that it gets to you on time.  Those of you who are international and want the Christmas Box in time for Christmas definitely need to jump onboard there.  To get it to you we need to allot ourselves three weeks from an international perspective because of some arrangements we have for shipping.  We can ship at a very economical rate, but it just takes longer. So definitely, if you’re international, but, like I said, we sell out of them, so no matter where you are, jump onboard. Check it out at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link.  It is on the home page and it lives there.  Thank you for everyone who has clicked that link, especially here at the end of the year.  Your partnership is what is making it possible for the Daily Audio Bible to show up every day.  So thank you for your partnership.  If you use the Daily Audio Bible App, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner and, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, of course, we are a community and a part of being a community is that we shoulder burdens together.  We pray for each other and we’ve done that well.  We do that well.  If you’re carrying a burden, especially moving into the holiday season, a burden of the blues or depression or loss or any other kind of challenge, we pray for each other.  We love each other.  It is one of the ways we realize we’re not alone.  So if have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that is it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Quinette from Southern California.  I’ve been listening for four years.  This is my first time calling in.  I love Daily Audio Bible and I am encouraged by the prayers and testimonies of people who call in.  I’m asking for prayer support as God is transforming my character and giving me a desire to do and stay in his will and also pray and love the people he has put into my life. I’m a radiation therapist and I live and work in Temecula, CA.  Please pray for the doctors and staff as we work together as a team to help people with cancer.  Many here do not know the Lord.  There have been struggles here and I have been tempted to give up, but I feel that the Lord is telling me to stay and pray, to slow down, to be quiet and listen, and that hope is a choice.  Please support me in prayer as God works this place into my heart, that I will not shrink back from the battle.  I’m trusting and hopeful that God is doing a good work here.  Please pray also for my husband and son, that God will provide work close to home.  I would like to leave you with two quotes from a popular Bible teacher that have helped me.  When you’re tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner and courage is fear that has said its prayers and decided to go forward. Thank you Daily Audio Bible.  I love you and I look forward to calling in again with praise reports.  Thank you and have a blessed holiday season.  

Hello family.  This is Candace from Oregon.  Let’s pray. Lord, we lift before you Krista from Saskatchewan and thank you that she has reached out to all of us who lift her in prayer as she is in a terrible struggle with depression.  Lord, tell her the secrets and her doctor, but tell her the secrets of how to dig out from this, how to come to full health.  And we just rebuke, we rebuke any and all thoughts that come against the love of Jesus Christ and the grace that belongs to Krista. And we claim this full healing in Jesus for her.  Lord, we pray for our sister, the burning bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our God and King.  Thank you for the testimony of her brother, his healing from I think it was bone cancer, a miraculous healing, Lord, and this is so glorious and beautiful and true to who you are.  You can do anything and we claim that same healing power over her mother who has been diagnosed with colon cancer.  O Lord, come now.  Come now by your Spirit, touch her mother and bring her back to full health and healing, in Jesus’ name.  Lord, thank you for Blind Tony and his testimony to all of us, that even if you slay me, yet will I believe, yet will I trust in you, Lord.  Thank you for that testimony.  Please bless Tony today, in Jesus’ name.  

Hi, it’s Candy from Northern California.  Haven’t called in a while but I want to just reach out to a few people. Tony, Blind Tony, we’re praying for your physical problems and so uplifted by your testimony that though he will slay me, yet he is my God.  Yes, as we say yes and pray for your healing.  Carol from the UK with kids and grandkids who have drifted away from the faith, welcome to the clan of those of us who are lifting up our children and grandchildren.  We’ll put you on the list and pray for yours too.  Marian in Illinois, your dad has a feeding tube.  As a health professional for many, many years, I can ask you at the age of 85 is this really something he wants to continue or do you?  These are really important questions.  You need to have that conversation with him.  And Krista from Saskatchewan, depressed.  You know, the best weapon we have when we are depressed or anytime that we feel we’re attacked by Satan is to praise God. That is what the psalmist called the sacrifice of praise.  You don’t have to do it alone.  Put on the praise music and start singing with it and you just battle the depression with the promises of God.  Praise him, praise him, praise him and Satan will flee.  He can’t stand it.  And thank you, Brian, for your updates on the trip.  We wish you travel mercies and God’s speed, bring you home safe.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Hi, my name is Lynn and I desperately need prayer.  I lost my mother about eight weeks ago and I’m so sad and I’m just so very, very broken.  I lived with her for 17 years and I miss her so much and it’s just so very, very lonely for me now when I come home without her being there.  I would ask you to pray for peace and for comfort.  Even though I do have Christian friends, they are all married and they are all into their own thing which is certainly understandable.  I pray that a friend, a good Christian friend would come into my life, someone to share with.  Thank you all so much.  Love your podcast.  Bye.  

Let’s pray family against addiction.  Father, we come to you, Lord.  We submit ourselves fully to you.  We ask, Father, that, Lord, as a family, Lord, that this prayer would honor you, Father. I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would invade our space right now, our mind, our body, our soul, our spirit, Father God.  That we will pray in spirit and in truth, Father God.  I ask, Lord, that you would just unleash love, Father, and by love alone, Lord, shall we break addiction, Lord.  It is that love that will unleash its power against selfishness and against the ills, Lord, that are at the heart of addiction, Father God.  Come Lord Jesus.  Bring the healing, Lord.  Bring the healing in your name, Jesus, we ask, Father.  I pray forgiveness in all areas, that nothing would hinder your work, Father, and I place your whole armor upon this family, Lord, as we pray in the Spirit, Father, against the spiritual principalities, Lord, that are at play here, Father.  We ask, Lord, be our Savior, Father.  We love you, Father.  We honor you. In Jesus’ name.  Thank you everyone.  This is Delta Alpha Foxtrot calling from the Southern Texas Front.  

Hi, this is Victorious Soldier.  Just calling tonight for prayer.  I want to pray for Arjen.  I want to pray for Jordan from Michigan.  I want to pray for Blind Tony.  I definitely want to pray for you, Blind Tony.  I pray on that back surgery, what would God have you to do.  Whether God wants to heal you or whether he wants you to have the surgery, we’re going to believe God for healing.  Thank you to the Burning Bush.  I’m thankful to hear from you Burning Bush and definitely praying with you. Sorry to hear about the colon cancer with your mom and everything you’re going through.  Definitely praying with you and I’ll continue to pray with you, my sister. Carol from the UK, I want to pray for you, you and your family.  We definitely want to believe him for the victory in Jesus Christ.  I’m praying for Marian from Illinois and I’m going to pray for Krista, my sister who is going through depression and anxiety.  O God, in the name of Jesus, I just ask you to touch Krista today, Lord. O Lord, you touch Krista, Lord, and let her know that you are with her, Lord.  Touch her. Let her see you and know of your presence, Lord.  O Lord, encourage her heart, Lord, and let her know to hold on, that victory is near. My sister, hold on.  O Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, you touch Blind Tony and you touch his back, Lord.  You touch the challenges he’s going through, Lord.  Let him know that the Lord is with him, that God has something great for him.  O Lord, you touch our other sisters and brothers, the ones with cancer and the one with colon cancer, Lord.  We know that you are a doctor that never lost a case, Lord.  We just ask you to stretch out your hands and touch their bodies and heal them, Lord.  In the name of Jesus, encourage them, Lord.  Encourage them on every hand and let them know that you love them and that you’re with them.  

11/29/2016 DAB Transcript

Daniel 6:1-28 ~ 2 Peter 3:1-18 ~ Psalm 119:129-152 ~ Proverbs 28:21-22

Today is the 29th day of November.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to be coming to you for the last time this time from the Sea of Galilee.  We’ll be leaving here today and moving our way throughout the day and ending up in the holy city of Jerusalem.  But that is a story for another time because we are not there yet and we’ve got a full day in front of us, not that any of these other days aren’t full.  They are.  I told everyone it’s like drinking from a fire hose and I’m pretty sure everyone now knows what I’m talking about and believes me fully.  I’m sure there were a few who were like yeah, yeah, yeah. No big deal.  It’s like drinking from a fire hose.  So another fire hose day in front of us that will end us up in Jerusalem tonight.  We can talk about all that in a little while, but let’s get into the scriptures for today. Alright, we’ll continue our journey through the book of Daniel today and we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.  Daniel chapter 6 verse 1 through verse 28.  

Commentary

In the book of Daniel we come to one of the most famous stories in all the Bible, Daniel in the lion’s den, and in it we see some of the political intrigue of the time and the place.  The same kind of stuff was going on in the book of Esther when we read of Haman and Mordecai.  The king is counseled really against his own interests and issues a law that is designed to affirm the king and his power and authority and even his god-like attributes. That appeals to these kings and they issue these decrees but they haven’t really understood what the domino effect is going to be.  

In this case, Daniel is going to be thrown to the lions and he is.  Of course, the lion, the king of the jungle, the dominant beast of the field, the feared and revered animal throughout human history has been used to describe the evil one – that he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for whom he may devour.  It is also described in terms of Jesus – the lion of Judah.  So lions are throughout the scriptures as something regal, noble, also something cunning and to be feared.  I suppose if you’re in a society that throws people into lion’s dens so they could be devoured alive, that would build even more fear throughout the culture.  

Certainly we can make this immediate to our lives by just considering the things that we have been facing or are facing and we can look at them as we’re facing the lions, but in order to really get at what is going on in our lives, we have to be willing to own our lives enough to ask ourselves how did I get in this den in the first place?  This is kind of the first step.  Am I here facing this because of my own choices systematically and my own stupidity or my own rebellion?  Or am I in here because of my righteousness?  

Being honest with ourselves about the predicament that we may find ourselves in is important because we have a tendency to put ourselves in the lion’s den and then blame God for it, which is not the story of Daniel.  Even if we find that we are really in the den with the lions because of our own stupidity, that does not mean there isn’t rescue.  That does not mean that there isn’t mercy.  It just means that we own the fact that we kind of got ourselves into this den and we can’t blame everyone else, the world and God for everything that we do.  A lot of times we find ourselves facing lions that we never had to face in the first place.

Daniel had to face lions and he didn’t deserve it at all.  He was thrown to the lions because of his righteousness, his faith and trust in God that was unmovable and irreversible, to the point of death.  So Daniel goes into the lion’s den and God rescues him.  

We see wonderful pictures of God’s mercy in many lives throughout the scriptures. King David is a great example.  He has this affair with Bathsheba.  We were talking about this not too long ago.  He kills her husband in battle on purpose and her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was one of his top 30 men, most trusted.  An unbelievable betrayal by David.  And although there are consequences, David is rescued.  David does this census.  There is this choice put before David, sort of a lion that he is facing and he throws himself on God’s mercy.  We see this play out in the psalms where he owns what he’s done.  “I and I alone have done this.”  And he asks for mercy.  

It is a totally different story when we find ourselves facing the hardship or challenge or a metaphorical lion and trying to make it everyone else’s fault and then try to make it God’s fault.  That completely changes the posture of our heart.  So often we end up getting devoured in the process and then blame God for that.  

So rather than going into a big long thing, because I certainly want to talk about all the stuff that is going on here in the land of Israel, the things that we’re seeing and experiencing, let’s at least take some time to analyze the situations in our lives that feel like a lion’s den, like we’re in an impossible situation and understand that we got there somehow, but we have a Father who does not want to see us devoured by lions.  But when our posture of heart is to turn to assumption and blame and begin inventing stories about our righteousness that isn’t real in a situation, then we are only isolating ourselves and estranging ourselves and isolation will get us killed.  If you want to talk about lions, just watch them in the wild.  Watch them storm a herd and kill the one that gets isolated.

We have to own what is true.  Only through owning what is true and what truly happened can we then rely and utterly depend on God’s mercy and kindness and his great strength and love on our behalf. Because believe me, our Father is far more ferocious than any lion and he is coming to rescue those he loves.  So may we own our lives and understand that sometimes we face things unexpectedly and completely out of our control, but more often than not we have laid a significant if not the significant role in navigating ourselves into the situation.  So may we own that and trust in the Father’s goodness and grace to send his Holy Spirit to navigate and advance before us the way out.  

Prayer

Father, your kindness is beyond description.  Your patience is beyond any words that we could string together in some sort of sentence to articulate.  You are supporting the world.  You are supporting our very lives.  You are deeply invested in our maturity.  So help us, Father, to grow up and own the truth.  Come, Holy Spirit.  We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.  

Announcements

So man, recapping yesterday.  Yesterday was a day that we began at the Sea of Galilee but we’re moving away from the Sea of Galilee, out of the lowest fresh water lake one earth, which is the Sea of Galilee, and then up onto what is known as the Golan Heights with several stops along the way, beginning with the ancient stronghold of Hatzor, which is an amazing place.  It’s a world heritage site.  There were excavations that have uncovered 21 different civilizations there, different time periods of occupation there, but it finds its way into the story of the Bible during the conquest as Joshua is leading the people across the Jordan and into the promised land and it’s settling.  I mean, if you put it into context, you have to think about the city you live in being destroyed.  If the city you lived in were destroyed it would probably make the news, especially if you live in a large city.  And Jericho was the first city to be conquered and the walls fell down.  So that just didn’t happen in a vacuum and no one else knew about it.  That happened and it spread throughout all of the land and made its way north to Hatzor which was the strongest city of the area.  The king of Hatzor was sort of the most powerful king of the area and he got with other kings of other cities and they decided they needed to form a common army to push these invaders out but, as we know, it didn’t work.  

So Hatzor finds its way into the biblical narrative.  It’s a beautiful location.  The preservation of everything from the palace to the water system which is incredibly intriguing, you look at it and go how did they do that?  That happens a lot of times.  It’s just a beautiful, serene place to start the day. Beautiful views of Mount Hermon. It was a little bit hazy here, but it began our day.

Then we moved up to the ancient city of Dan and accomplished from Dan to Beersheba so the span from north to south of the promised land.  It is also an amazing place where after the kingdom divided into northern and southern kingdoms, King Jeroboam erected temples with golden calves for his people to worship in the north and in the south of his kingdom.  So we explored that a little bit and talked about those alters and in particular the story where God asks, commands a prophet to leave Judah and enter into Bethel where the duplicate of the alter we were looking at in Dan was and he was to curse it and then leave and not go by the way he came back home.  Straight in.  Straight out.  But he didn’t do that.  Another prophet had come and did the ‘God told me to tell you this’ thing that eventually got the prophet killed.  So we just considered that we have to own our own relationship with God.  We have to.  Yes, community is very valuable for finding the will of God, especially in the gray areas, but without an underlying conversational relationship with God to begin with, all we’re doing is running around looking for an oracle and that, like I say often, is just not how it works.  So we considered that.

Then also near ancient Dan, within walking distance on our way out we were able to see the ancient Canaanite Gate, one of two of the oldest gates in Israel. It dates all the way back to the book of Genesis, all the way back to Abram before he became Abraham.  That is mind-blowing in and of itself.  It is worth going there just for that.  So we did that, had some lunch.  That was nice.  

And then we went into Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked his disciples “what is everyone saying about me?” and ends with really probably the most important question of all, “who do you say that I am?”  We just contextualized Caesarea Philippi with the geography that Jesus was describing when he said the gates of hell will not prevail against this church.

And then we moved all the way as far north as we could go, right to the border of Syria, accomplishing as far north as you can go, as far south as you can go, as far east as you can go, and as far west as you can go in this land. We’ll be spending today kind of moving our way to Jerusalem but then the interior for the rest of this trip.  

We gazed into Syria and just contemplated the fact that brothers and sisters…  It’s just so hard to be confronted face-to-face with this, not on the news, but to be confronted face-to-face where you’re looking across a border and realizing the chasm is so great that you’re looking into a country that although you can’t see it from there has been in civil war for a long time.  The uprising of things like Isis is there and just knowing that we have brothers and sisters that are dying for their faith, that is just tough but necessary.  So we prayed a prayer of intercession for them.  May that stick.  May that stick for this entire community.  We have brothers and sisters around the world that are exhibiting a faith that we are rarely challenged with, that we aren’t faced with the fact that we’re being hunted like animals or that we’re being killed.  So we prayed.  We asked God for his mercy over them before beginning the journey back to the Galilee.  

A powerful day it was indeed.  So you can continue to follow this journey that we are on, this pilgrimage that we are on where every day feels like a good four days, if not a week. It just feels like we’re just drinking it in so quickly, sucking it up so fast and our hearts are open and they are being carried in the wave.  I mean, yesterday morning I completely spaced, but we began the day on the Sea of Galilee in a boat worshipping Jesus.  It was such a powerful thing.  So many different kinds of experiences, all telling the same story from different angles, making this composite, making the Bible a living thing, making it the living thing that it is while giving us history and context and meditation and reflection.  So it’s been good.  We thank you for your continued prayers.  There is not a moment we don’t need your covering and we thank you for it.  

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It is where you find out what is going on around here.  Of course, other than the fact that we’re on this pilgrimage and doing it as a community, whether in person or whether virtually, I guess the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is the thing that we’re talking about right now. That is available and chockful of the resources that we have at Daily Audio Bible that are for this community, for our family here.  So check it out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.  You’ll find that there are things in there you’ll want to keep for yourself and there are things in there that you want to give away.  Yeah, so check it out and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link on the home page.  Thank you here as we move toward the end of the year.  Thank you for your partnership and allowing the Daily Audio Bible to exist at all.  Thank you. If you use the Daily Audio Bible App, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.  

And that is it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi family.  This is Salvation is Mine.  It is Thanksgiving, November 24th in the United States.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  I hope you had a great day.  I’m calling in tonight for my nightly prayer and this is for prisoners. Dear Heavenly Father, gracious Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit our comforter, we come before you right now lifting up those who are in prison all over this world tonight.  We especially lift up those who are innocent, Lord.  We lift them up to you that you will give them strength, that you will come and give them comfort, that you will give them peace, that this is just a season in their lives and that things will work out for the good of them in you in whatever the outcome is supposed to be. For those who are in prison tonight, Lord, who are guilty, we ask you to forgive their sins.  We pray that they have bowed before you and asked sincerely for forgiveness and have made atonement to those they have wronged. Dear Lord, there is so much hurt and there is so much crowding in prisons.  We just ask you to just send the Comforter in there and let there be peace in the prisons.  There are so many gangs and racial strife, Lord God.  We just ask that those who are there will have safety as well as the guards and the ones, that they will do their jobs properly and not abuse their authority.  We just ask, Lord God, that the families who visit these people in prisons will find some peace as well.  Lord God, we love you and we know you are the ruler of all and take care of all.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.  Thank you family.  Have a blessed night.  Bye-bye.

Hi.  This is Victorious Soldier.  I was calling to pray for Amatha.  I think that was her name.  She sounded like she was so down.  I really wanted to pray for you, my sister, and lift you up because your blessing is right there.  Do not give up.  I just want to encourage you.  Do not give up.  I’m talking to Biola and her sister, Chante from Detroit.  Hi Chante.  Good to hear from you.  Blind Tony, good to hear from you.  Wayne from Maine, good to hear from you.  Definitely want to shout-out and continue to pray for you, my brothers and sisters.  O Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, you touch Amatha.  She sounded like she was already to give up, Lord.  And her blessing is right there, Lord.  O Lord, the joy of the Lord is her strength.  Lord, you give her the joy.  Lord, you touch her right now with your Holy Spirit.  O Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, you touch her, Lord, and you lift her up, Lord.  O Father, in the name of Jesus, I magnify you Lord that she may be lifted up, Lord.  O Lord, in the name of Jesus, you touch my sister, Lord, and let her know that you love her and that you are right there, that she doesn’t have to look but you are closer than she ever thought you could be.  You may even be carrying her, Lord.  O Lord, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you for touching the Dabbers who call today. We thank you for touching Brian and Jill and little Ezekiel, Lord.  We thank you, Lord, for touching Pastor Gene, Lord.  O Lord, continue to see the miracle in the good in her challenges. In the name of Jesus, Lord, we just praise you.  We give you the glory.  We thank you for this Thanksgiving Day.  We thank you, Lord.  We give you thanks and glory, O Father, in the name of Jesus.  

Family, Biola from Maryland.  How are you all doing?  Brian, thank God for journeying mercies and a safe trip to Israel.  I pray in the name of Jesus that everything will fall into place while you’re there, God protects each one of you.  I cancel and reject every plan of the devil concerning you, Jill, the family, and every single person that is there with you, in the name of Jesus.  Tito, good to hear from you, brother.  I’m praying that God would give the doctors wisdom so they can properly diagnose your son. And most importantly, I pray that Jesus, the Son of Righteousness, will arise with healing in his wings over your son and heal him according to Malachi 4:2, in the name of Jesus.  Scott, I’m praying for healing for your son, that God would touch his spirit, mind and body. I pray for his healthcare team, that God would give them wisdom and they will know how to properly care for him, in the name of Jesus.  Lucas, I’m praying for sweet Joy.  I join my faith with yours, that God would touch her body and heal her from that throat cancer, that everything that the devil is trying to steal from her, her joy and her voice, in the name of Jesus, I neutralize every effect in Jesus’ name and I pray that God would open her voice and she will sing again, in the name of Jesus.  And I pray that everything that is bothering her right now, God would give her peace and calm, in the name of Jesus.  Blind Tony, shout-out to you.  I hope you’re doing much better.  I’m still praying for you.  Victorious Soldier, my dear sister, God bless you.  I pray that God would continue to strengthen you and fulfill your heart’s desire according to God’s will, in the name of Jesus.  Family, I’m praying for everyone who is struggling with one kind of illness, addiction or the other.  I pray that Jesus, the Son of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings over you and your loved ones during this Thanksgiving period in the US. Every day is a day of thanks for a child of God and I just pray that God would heal you all, in the name of Jesus. Jenny my friend, I’m praying for you and your job situation.  God bless you.  

Hi, this is Bonnie from Virginia reaching out for prayer.  As I have feared before, my son is in jail since May 18th of this year.  He just had turned 18 on May 3rd.  He wanted to participate in a RISE program for alcoholism and drug-addicted people. Although he was not addicted to drugs or alcohol, he did try to take marijuana sometimes.  He got kicked out from that program because the petty officer found him sleeping during his 15 minute break.  Always someone is scheduled for courtesy call.  That is what my son said, so he thought he could hear him and wake himself up to go to the next session, but the guy did not call for a courtesy call.  He only had two weeks to complete this program.  I don’t know whether this will affect his hearing, but he wanted to participate in this program to look good on his hearing.  December 21st is his sentencing hearing date.  I am continuously praying to God, but things do not seem like going right way.  I think I have started questioning on faith, even though I know one I believe is to God. I cannot accept any other faith, Hindu faith, because that faith had abandoned me when I was an infant child. I cannot think of any other faith because my heart does not want to accept it.

__________ calling from Honolulu, HI.  I’m a first-time caller and I heard Teri from Missouri call in whose sister is battling stage IV cancer.  First off, Teri, I just want to lift you up in prayer to the Lord.  And Matthew 11:28 came to mind where the Lord says “come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.  You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Teri, I pray that you just take that verse to heart and go to the Lord with your problems for he can take them. And I pray over you.  I’ve gone through cancer in my daughter this year, that the Lord would be your comfort in this with your family.  I’m so grateful that we have a God that we can serve who is defender of the weak and loves us more than we can ever know and who will deliver us by the blood of his Son.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  Today is Friday, November 26th and I just want to pray specifically today for my dear sister Alleah who I just love.  I love hearing your voice, Alleah.  I’m sorry you weren’t feeling good and you weren’t feeling strong.  I just want to pray over you.  Father God, I present Alleah  to you.  Father God, I present her mind, her spirit.  Father God, cause her to be filled with your Holy Spirit.  Father God, help her to walk in your power and your spirit, Father God.  I just want to say a little prayer too for all of us.  I pray for Brian.  I pray for everyone who is listening, everyone who calls in for requests, everyone who did not call in for requests.  I just lift everyone up, Father God, all of my Daily Audio Bible brothers and sisters and their families and their requests, Father God.  Guide us in the right way.  This day is our pilgrimage, Father God.  When we are daunted by the day’s tasks, give us strength.  When we are weary by the same path, help us to see you in all things.  When forgiving is an uphill struggle, Father God, grant us your help.  When we are overwhelmed by obstacles, Father God, lift us up. When the load we carry is heavy, come to us and give us rest, Father God. When we are fearful of unexpected twists and turns, assure us that you are here.  Assure us of your presence.  When we are worried about which path to take, guide us in the right way, Father God. And at the end of the journey, at the end of this day, Father God, may our hearts be burning with your knowledge that we have walked with you and that you have walked with us.  In Jesus’ mighty and precious name I pray. Amen.  

11/28/2016 DAB Transcript

Daniel 5:1-31 ~ 2 Peter 2:1-22 ~ Psalm 119:113-128 ~ Proverbs 28:19-20

Today is the 28th day of November.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today and once again coming to you from the Sea of Galilee and all of the rolling hills that surround it.  We had a really, really good day yesterday all around this area and a really, really good today planned.  We’re heading north, all the way north, as far as we can go north in Israel up on the Golan Heights and we’ll talk about that stuff later, but for now let’s just center ourselves, take a deep breath, exhale, step away from all of the cares of life, all of the things that continually come and go, and center ourselves in the scriptures.  

So we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and picking up in the drama and intrigue of the book of Daniel.  We’ll read chapter 5 verses 1:31 today before moving into 2 Peter. First, the book of Daniel.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for the gift of your word.  Oh, the gift, the rescue, constantly speaking into our lives, we welcome it.  Father, even as we continue to travel about the land where you revealed this word, both virtually all over the world and for those of us who are here, we ask that you plant it deep within our lives.  It is sharper than any 2-edged sword, piercing to where soul and spirit divide.  This is the very essence of our identity.  We ask you to plant your word there, speaking truth and crowding out lies at the very place of our identity.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Announcements

So yesterday we spent the day here in the Galilee, all around the Sea of Galilee, really just focusing on the places that Jesus did most of his ministry in. You know, it’s a very, very small area that had global impact for thousands of years and has caused waves around the world that continue until today obviously.  That is why we are here.  But we got to visit these places, kind of stand in these places, consider some of the things that happened there, but also give ourselves some space to process this because it is not really just enough to see ancient ruins and think it is really cool and then connect it to our spirituality, it has to be something that we bring back with us inside of our hearts in a way that really does cause change because that is the point of a spiritual pilgrimage.  But it is also our duty of love because God going into all of the world isn’t just all around the world, it is the world inside of our hearts, inside of our heads, inside of our families, inside of our communities and churches and workplaces and cities and states and zip codes and everything we would consider our sphere of influence.

So we began our morning yesterday at the Mount of Beatitudes which is serene, beautiful, peaceful, really amazing, and it is where Jesus gave a message that astonished those who heard it that has become known as the Sermon on the Mount now.  Rather than really trying to do commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, we just immersed ourselves in it fully and sat where those who heard it heard it and listened to the words from the gospels that Jesus spoke in its entirety and then gave ourselves the chance to process that a little bit as if we were there.  To just hear the whole Sermon on the Mount where the Sermon on the Mount was spoken is a powerful thing.

Then we began visiting the cities where Jesus did so much of his ministry in. There are three in particular.  Corazon, Capernaum, and Bethsaida and we approached them from different perspectives.  Historically, what does this mean to us?  What is it that we are to do with this Jesus and this Jesus message and how is it supposed to change things all around us?  And then how do we really get ourselves in the landscape? How do we get ourselves immersed in the things that Jesus saw?

So we went to Corazon and looked at what is there.  What is there are ruins.  Jesus said it would be this way.  And then we moved down back toward the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum which I guess is the epicenter, the last zone, the place where everything went off. This is where Jesus had his ministry base.  This is where he lived as an adult and that is quite a thing to behold.  Quite an emotional and mental overload for a second. I’m standing here.  This is it.  Jesus lived here.  The village knew him and the synagogue is where he gave messages.  It’s riveting really.  

Then we moved from there into lunch, took a little time to relax, fellowship, eat, do a little shopping.  At the place we go to have that lunch there is an ancient boat, the frame of an ancient boat that was found from the first century so we were able to see the size and scale of what the disciples fished in.  And that’s cool.  

Then from there to a place that is now known as Peter’s Primacy.  This is the place Jesus cooked breakfast for his friends after his resurrection and really went after Peter’s heart by asking him three different times “do you love me?”  And “feed my sheep.”  It’s truly a beautiful location because you can get right down to the water.  There is a nice chapel there.

Then we ended our day in Bethsaida where we had some time to just walk around and get the history of the place, some of us did, and others of us just kind of went on a meditative walk.  I love that place.  I love that place!  I don’t expect everyone else in the world to love that place, but I do because for me it is not a well-traveled place.  We were the only ones there so we had the whole place to ourselves.  There are a lot of us here but we had the whole place to ourselves.  For me, finally getting to be there for the first time many years ago, it was like I can see it now.  I can see what the trails look like.  I can see what the gospels are talking about when they speak of Bethsaida and these other towns. I can see how this was and I had an overwhelming spiritual experience there one time just walking around by myself, walking this trail feeling like, wow, it wouldn’t be surprising to pass other travelers including Jesus with his band of brothers moving to the city or moving away from the city.  I love it. It is so pastoral in its setting and so spread out and so, I don’t know, peaceful.  I told the group the best way I can describe it is it feels haunted with the presence of Jesus to me.  So I love it when we can visit there.  

We got there for sunset, actually saw (and I’ve never seen this before) the sun actually go down behind the Galilean hills and it was beautiful.  It was a really fitting ending to a day where we were really chasing Jesus around these places.  So it was good.  Like I said, today we’ll be heading up into the Golan Heights and we’ll talk about that tomorrow.  

Thank you for your continued prayers.  There is never going to be a time when we don’t need your intercession and your prayers.  You can continue kind of following along with the journey, both here on the Daily Audio Bible, but on the Daily Audio Bible Facebook Page where we’re Facebook Live-ing wherever we get stable enough Internet and a few extra minutes to do it. You can find that at www.Facebook.com/DailyAudioBible.  

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  Obviously you know that.  I say it every day.  It is where you find out what is going on around here.  I’ve been mentioning the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box that is now available, chockful of the best of what we’ve created over the years as resources for this community.  This is no exception.  In fact, this is the best one we’ve ever had.  We continue to try to create resources for this community and they are in the Daily Audio Bible Box.  So you can check that out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.  There are things in there that you’ll want to keep and certainly things in there that you may want to give away as well.  So check that out.  We always sell out of them, so check it out sooner than later if it’s of interest to you.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here at the end of the year, I cannot possibly thank you enough.  The Daily Audio Bible is a family affair.  It is something that we’ve only ever done together.  Thank you for your partnership.  That is as easy as going to www.DailyAudioBible.com and there is a link on the home page that is easy to find.  It is always there.  It can be found also if you use the Daily Audio Bible App by pushing the More button in the lower right-hand corner or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

And being the community of prayer that we are, if you’re shouldering things that you don’t want to carry by yourself, there is a number you can call – (877) 942-4253.

And that is it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi, this is Judy in Salt Lake.  I’m just calling because I just heard Alleah call in.  Oh Alleah, honey, oh, I wish I could just jump through the phone lines or whatever and give you a big hug and just let you know I’m praying for you and I’m so glad you’re calling back.  We missed you.  And I miss you, Treasured Possession.  Where are you? And Arjen, I just hate to hear that you’re feeling badly because you have such wisdom when you call and help and your prayers for others.  So hang in there, people.  This is a tough time of year.  I understand what you’re going through.  I’m going through some changes of my own.  But I love you all and I’m praying for traveling mercies for everybody that is traveling, for Brian and the team and everybody on the trip with him.  And my husband is on a trip as well so I just want to just say Happy Thanksgiving and let you guys know I don’t call in very often but I miss you.  So thank you and God bless you and know I’m praying for everybody.  

Happy Thanksgiving, Daily Audio Bible family.  Jill, Brian Hardin and family and for all of you traveling in Israel, I’m thanking God for your safe travels, your safe arrival, combatting jet lag, for perfect health and restoration for anything that Satan is trying to bring upon you.  I’m so blessed to be able to take this voyage virtually and I pray that one day I’ll be able to take it in the flesh.  I thank you all.  Part of this Thanksgiving Day, I’m just thinking of how blessed I am to have my husband, Matias, and my son Aiden, the Daily Audio Bible family, Munich Christian Fellowship Church where Pastor Kenneth Blake and his wife Marilyn have spoken so many things into my life.  I’m thankful so much to be part of that church.  I’m thankful for my extended family.  I’m thankful that God has just brought me through a lot of trials this year.  It has been not easy being a first time mom at 43 years old of age and working part-time and just trying to balance being a wife and a mom, a sister, daughter, an aunt, daughter-in-law, all those things.  But I’m just so thankful.  I’m thankful that the DAB is here to support me.  I love you, Annette A.  One day we’re going to share a plate of grits, girlfriend!  And Victorious Soldier, thank you so much for your prayers, for calling in.  I’m praying a hedge of protection over all of you this Thanksgiving season and just remember that we need to start thanking God when we ask our prayer requests.  I’m about to get on a plane to go to East France where I have my last event of this year.  Thanking you all for a hedge of protection for safe travels and that God will show up in ways that only he can and that I’ll be able to bless somebody. Thank you.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Cheers!  Asia from Munich.

Yeah, this is Lee from Tennessee.  I just want to thank you for providing a venue for us to call in and pray and offer helpful hints to those out there that need us and need God.  Thank you so much for the Bible verses.  Thank you for providing an opportunity to hear other people’s problems and so we can provide a way, for us to pray a way for them. Lord, I would like to thank you, God, for revealing yourself to me, for if you would have not reached out to me, I don’t think I would believe in you.  It’s so hard to explain all the things that we go through in life and all the suffering we endure.  Father, thank you for allowing that suffering so we can be helpful to others in the future. I would like to reach out to Blind Tony and thank him for those awesome poems that he reads and thank you again for the Daily Audio Bible who allows us to hear scripture every day.  I would like to pray for all those that are out there that are in need, that are suffering, that have lost loved ones.  Thank you, Jesus, most of all for dying on the cross for us.  If you don’t believe in God, reach out to him and he will reveal himself to you.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.  

Hi, this is Candace from Oregon.  Greetings to all my brothers and sisters far and wide.  God bless your holiday season and may you each one grow closer and closer to him at this time.  Brian, thank you so much.  I’m praying, of course, as you all continue and will soon be coming home from your trip. Thank you so much, though, for just this whole situation that we all get to be a part of.  God, thank you for your word.  Please be especially close to our sister Alleah from Waxahachie and give her special encouragement at this time.  It’s a dark time of year.  At least here where I live.  For Alleah it’s dark for other reasons and I pray that you just come in and shine light and warmth and even joy into her life, her heart and just make her able to be a light even in such a difficult situation, Lord.  Lift her up.  Encourage her.  Thank you that we can pray for each other like this.  In Jesus’ name.  I went to the doctor finally and got a prescription that has really helped.  At least I can sleep better at night and I can breathe through my nose.  So I’m thankful for that and so many, many other things.  God bless you, each one.

Hi everybody.  This is Alicia from Kansas.  Today is Thanksgiving in the United States and I just wanted to reach out and by the time this is played, Thanksgiving will have passed.  I pray that everybody had a joy-filled Thanksgiving even if we’re alone, if we’re struggling with our children, our marriages, our jobs, whatever it is.  We have something so far greater than this world has to offer and for that I’m giving thanks today.  I lift you all up for all of your needs, all the prayer requests.  I pray that the Lord will comfort you and give you everything that you need.  Not always do we get what we desire.  I’m understanding that more and more, but the joy is found within in my relationship with Christ and in your relationship with Christ.  I pray for the holiday season over all my brothers and sisters and I pray for safety for all those who are visiting Israel at this time.  Lord Father, I just thank you and I praise you and I lift this up to you, in Jesus’ name.  Amen. Take care everybody.  I hope your day was blessed.  Bye-bye.

Hello.  This is Anthony from Florida.  And I’m calling, I want to say first I really love what you’re doing and I love the people in this community who are praying for each other.  I have seen __________ work for families and I remember that Christ said whenever two or more are gathered in my name I am there among them, as I recall it.  But the reason I’m calling is I am having a lot of difficulty with sleep.  I’m coming off a medication that one of the things is sleep disturbance.  The problem is when you become reliant on it sleep is slow to return.  So often I will jerk awake and not able to get a full night sleep.  And I’ve tried everything so far I can find among doctors and holistics, things like yoga, but it is not working and it makes it very difficult.  It is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do, to function without sleep.  So if God could please just heal me and help me to be a better man for my family and for others because I don’t think I can get through this alone.  It feels like it is getting more difficult not better. But if the Daily Audio Bible community prayed for me, I have a hope.  So I appreciate your prayers.  And thank you.  And I’ll pray for you all as well.  Again, my name is Anthony.  Thank you. Thank you.  Goodbye.  

11/27/2016 DAB Transcript

Daniel 4:1-37 ~ 2 Peter 1:1-21 ~ Psalm 119:97-112 ~ Proverbs 28:17-18

Today is the 27th day of November.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today from the Sea of Galilee, from the Galilee region where we’re kind of camping out for a few and just immersing ourselves in the stories of Jesus that mark and have marked this location, this region really permanently and forever. So it is a joy to bring us all together right here in the center, the epicenter of the story and we’ll talk about what we’re doing and kind of what we’re seeing in a little bit.  

Today is the first Sunday in Advent and many of you know that.  If that is a new idea to you, Advent is a season on the Christian calendar that leads us in a beautiful way toward Christmas Day for a specific reason.  Just like when we were moving our way toward Easter, we spent the season understanding the weight of sin and what it actually cost to bring salvation to us, Advent puts us in a couple of positions.  One, it leads us through the process of waiting for the arrival.  So as the people waited for the Savior to come, we kind of put ourselves in that position, waiting for the arrival and understanding and giving the gravity and weightiness that Christmas actually deserves, understanding how it would have been for the people waiting and longing for a savior, but it also reminds us that we are waiting for Christ’s second advent. Advent means arrival, so we use this season certainly for celebration and all the things that go with Christmas, but underneath all that, to give ourselves some space to long and to consider and deeply contemplate the arrival of the Son of God, that God would leave perfection and infinity and step into the fray.  It makes Christmas rich and true.  The Savior has come.  

SONG played on today’s DAB:  "Gloria" MissionSong - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/advent-god-with-us/id1175769853

So it’s a brand new week and we will read from the New Living Translation this week. And, of course, picking up where we left off yesterday with Daniel and his interaction with King Nebuchadnezzar, and then when we get to the New Testament reading, we will begin Peter’s second letter also known as 2 Peter.  But first, Daniel chapter 4 verses 1-37.  

Introduction of a New Book (New Testament)

So like I was saying at the beginning, we finished 1 Peter yesterday, which brings us to the second letter of the apostle Peter.  This is the final writing of the old saint.  Over the years some scholars have believed this text to be pseudepigraphical or a text that is written in the name of someone who has already died, but if we’re to accept 2 Peter as the inspired Word of God, then we have to at least accept that Peter claims authorship of the text in the text.  And if this is the case, it was probably written in the late 60s AD, just prior to Peter’s martyrdom where he was crucified upside down.  Church tradition tells us that the apostle Paul had been arrested for the second time and somewhere around this same time Peter was killed.  

He does not say explicitly who he is writing to in this letter.  He just says that “this is my second letter to you,” so we can assume that he is writing to the same people that he was writing to in his first letter and that would be the Gentile Christians who had been scattered throughout the Roman province of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor and Bithynia. All of these are in modern day Turkey and he is writing to remind Christians to strengthen their faith that has been born in hope and to guard what they had learned and not be swept away or carried away by everybody with a new idea, every false teacher that comes along. So rather than just blowing by this, it’s important to know that Peter knows that he is about to die.  He says as much.  

This is the man who walked with Jesus along the Sea of Galilee, something that those of us who are here now can see and understand and relate to.  He saw Jesus Christ perform miracles.  He laughed with him.  He cried with him.  He lived with him.  He ate his last supper with him.  He denied him and then he overcame the regret of that mistake and he watched Jesus being nailed through the hands and feet to a cross.  He watched his friend die.  Then he saw him raised back to life.  Peter was there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came with tongues of fire and transformed him.  He preached that first sermon when 3000 people came to know Jesus.  He was an early church father and devoted his life to the Savior.  These words that we’re about to read, these are the final living words of the apostle Peter.  They should carry some weight in our lives.  So we begin 2 Peter chapter 1.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word.  Here we are in the land of the Bible greeting a brand new week and, Jesus, we invite you not only for us who are experiencing this here, but for our entire community that is virtually along, that are taking this journey as we take this journey in the land that the Bible takes place but also in our journey through the scriptures this year.  We invite you into this new week because before this week is out we will be entering the final stretch, the last month of the year.  You have been so faithful, so good, so holy and righteous and you have changed us so irreversibly.  So we welcome you into this new week, into this transition of a week and a month.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray.  In the name of Jesus we ask, a men.  

Announcements

Okay, so big doings here in the land of Galilee and I realized we all, our whole group, were so tired by the time we got to Galilee and I was trying to remember all of the things we did and talk about them and I forgot maybe the one most important thing yesterday.  So let me tell you about that.  

While we were out near Jericho we went to the Jordan River and baptized a number of the people on this trip in the Jordan River, which is always a highlight for me personally because it is one of the things I appreciate and enjoy most, just to be included in that intimate moment with Jesus, to be a witness there for it and to kind of guide that process.  A pastor friend of ours who is on this trip, Darren, assisted and helped me.  It is just so moving.  For everyone who is here and was baptized yesterday, thank you for letting me be a part of that story, your journey with Jesus.  That is amazing.  

The Jordan River, it usually isn’t what people think.  There are lots of places along the Jordan River.  It is a long river, but in search of the place where Jesus was baptized, the gospels tell us that John the Baptist was baptizing out in the Judean wilderness outside of Jericho.  So that is where we went.  There is a place that we could do it there.  The Jordan River would have looked like where we were somewhere along those little shores, that little stretch.  That is where it happened.  It is narrow, maybe 50 feet, maybe 40 feet across and on the other side of the Jordan is the country of Jordan so you’re really looking immediately into it. There is church on that side too where believers can be baptized as well.  That is beautiful.  To see our common faith with our brothers and sisters who may be a world away culturally or a world away politically or geographically is amazing.  

I’ve never been to the Jordan River in November.  I’ve only come in February all these years.  The Jordan River has been cold and I wondered if it might be a little warmer since it’s just kind of coming out of the summer, but no. No, it’s not.  It’s jolting.  It’s cold enough to take your breath away.  You kind of come under the water and there is something to be said about that because it’s striking.  It’s shocking.  That is a good thing when you’re doing something that is supposed to be memorable for the rest of your life.  

So each person would come down the stairs and I could just watch.  The cold, I had already experienced it.  We had already gotten into the water.  And we just watched everyone go, “wow, this is cold!” as they came down into the water and professed faith in Christ, leaving behind in the waters everything that ever existed without Christ, to be born anew in the waters of baptism.  It’s amazing. So we did that and there was some video of that on Facebook.  And yeah, so I completely spaced on that.  

So yesterday, waking up in the Galilee, finally in the light as the sun is rising and shining down, we got our first glimpses of the Sea of Galilee. It’s so completely different than the wilderness.  So drastically different.  It was kind of a reset.  We left the wilderness.  We wandered. It’s been hard.  It’s been hard travel.  It’s been a lot of moving around and to settle in here now, moving into this story, this part of the story is really beautiful.  

We went over to Cana.  Cana, of course, is the place where Jesus’ first miracle took place, the changing of the water into wine.  That happened at a wedding feast and so we went to the spot and so many of the couples representing centuries of marriage, some couples celebrating 40 years of marriage renewed their vows.  To be part of that story as well is such a deep and abiding honor with me.  So we did that.  It was a joyous occasion just to have friends and family around and celebrating the moment and just contemplating Jesus changing the water into wine.  Beautiful. Beautiful.

And then we moved from there to an ancient city called Beth Shein.  Very old.  Pre Old Testament old.  An ancient Canaanite city that became an Israelite city and then became a Philistine city.  It was fought for its large confluence of pathways and roads.  It is a large, large ruin that is so deeply intact from especially the Roman and Byzantine era.  The ancient tell that was ancient Israel and Philistine is also there and it is the place where King Saul, after having been killed in battle, his body was recovered by the Philistines and taken and hung from the walls of Beth Shein according to the Bible. So that is morbid but it is a piece of biblical history.  And then just kind of looking into how things were.  It is a Decapolis city, one of the big self-governing city states that was around this area during the time of Jesus.  So this is one of the cities of the Decapolis.  We took some time to kind of wander around.  It really is pretty remarkable to see with the large amphitheater and the columned roads and just all of the stuff that is there.  

We spent some time there and then moved back along the shores of the Sea of Galilee on the eastern side to a place called Kursi.  This is the place where Jesus cast the demons, the legion of demons into the swine, setting a person free.  We entered into that story and just kind of looked around.  There is so much to think about there.  Putting ourselves in the story and contemplating who we would be in that story, there is a bunch to think about.  It is a very serene place to be.  

Then to end the day, we went up onto the Golan Heights overlooking another Decapolis city called Hippos-Sussita.  That is one that is not easy to get to.  This is a place where you can look down and see it, see what is going on, get the lay of the land around the Sea of Galilee because you can really see it up there, and it is also another that no one goes.  There are other places to look down upon the Sea of Galilee, but this is one that is just a little more remote, a little less traveled. Getting up there just to kind of enjoy the end of the day and the sun going down, a beautiful, beautiful end to the day.  

And then back to where we’re staying for dinner and then last night’s Facebook Live.  We all got together as a community just to kind of debrief.  After so many days, every day feels kind of like five.  That is no joke.  It feels like it is multiple days.  It feels like we’ve been here for a long, long, long time.  So to just kind of all come together and enjoy each other’s fellowship, share some stories, it is really, really rich and kind of binds the community together in one heart, one mind as we continue the pilgrimage forward.

Looking forward to another great day today and looking forward to reporting back on all of that tomorrow.  We thank you, of course, for your continued prayers.  There is never going to be a time that we don’t need you interceding for us. We feel it.  We thank you so profoundly that we can do this together and use technology to bring us all closer.  So thank you for your prayers.  

Okay, www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  Of course.  Of course, maybe a little Hebrew rubbing off on me.  Of course.  And that is where you find out what is going on around here.  It is the holiday season now so the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is available now.  We always sell out of these, so jump in if it is something you’re interested in.  We pack all the resources that we can into one box and make it as economical as we possibly can.  So there are things in there that you’ll want to keep.  There are things in there that you’ll want to give as gifts.  It is a great box.  Every year we try to outdo ourselves the best we can.  

This year’s Christmas Box has the Promised Land films which is a two DVD set, four hours of content.  It is just an immersive experience of this land, where we are right now.  All of the places that I’m talking about and sharing about that we are going to, they are all included in the Promised Land as well as just a number of other places, places that we’ve worked hard, like had to have four-wheel drive vehicles or hiked to get to, places that we could never take buses.  Just really encompassing the land of the Bible, the Promised Land and so you can get a good look for yourself.  That is included.  The Bible Stories About Jesus double CD set, age-appropriate reading of the book of Mark, introducing the story of Jesus for kids is included.  The Family Christmas CD that is out now is available in the Christmas Box.  Jill, my wife’s newest CD is in there.  My latest book, Reframe, is in there and the Reframe – From the God We’ve Made to God With Us Films that we made as a companion to the Reframe book, they are included as well.  And this will be the last time they are available on DVD, so they are in the box. Get them while you can.  When they’re gone, they’re gone.  Your choice of Windfarm Coffee or Windfarm Tea is available so that, our house blend of coffee is one of the choices or our English Breakfast Tea is another choice if you’re a tea drinker.  The Daily Audio Bible Annual Christmas Bulb that is only available in the Christmas Box is in there.  It is beautiful this year.  A beautiful royal blue color.  I’ve got all of the years hanging from my tree because we put it up just before we left because we knew when we got back from this trip the holiday season would be well underway.  And so it has Daily Audio Bible 2016 and the word for the year, healthy, on it.  So that is in there as well as a pack of 20 of the Daily Audio Bible 2016 Christmas cards.  It’s a great, great box.  You can check it out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop and it is available now.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link on the home page.  Thank you here in this final stretch of the year for your partnership in helping us finish the year strong.  Thank you for being a part of this community.  It is remarkable.  This has only ever been a community affair.  It is just a family that we have here at the Daily Audio Bible and we center ourselves on this rhythm of the scriptures every day.  Thank you for helping that to be here every day by clicking that link.  If you use the Daily Audio Bible App, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner.  Or if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

That’s it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hey family.  Its Arjen from Florida again.  It’s the 23rd, the day before Thanksgiving.  You guys will probably hear this afterwards.  I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers, like from the bottom of my heart and let you know how sincerely I mean this.  Just hearing my name being spoken by you guys, it’s beautifully humbling.  I can’t tell you how much it means to me and how much it actually has had a positive effect. I so very much want you guys to know that hearing your prayers and seeing them, it’s very evident that they’re working, so thank you guys.  Praise God. I wish I took down all the names. Irma from Alberta, Eric from Indiana, I thank you both.  And I’m praying for you.  I also just wanted to extend prayers for Jordan from Michigan.  I know we’re all praying, but I just wanted to cast my lot in there.  Bro, I’m praying for you too.  I am right there with you.  We all know, I think, what it feels like to feel discouraged.  What it feels like when the enemy makes us question whether we are actually in our calling or not.  I just want you to know, brother, yes, we are in a war, but no, we’re not fighting it alone.  I’m throwing my weapons in there and I’m joining you with my armor and I’m fighting this battle with you, bro.  My email address is AlexIyer12@gmail.com.  To all of you, please feel free to email me individually and just contact on that level. I love getting to know you guys by listening.  

Yeah, this is Blind Tony, y’all.  I’m not calling with a poem this time, but I’m calling with a request for prayer and a praise report at the same time because I had the attack on me that left me blind __________, then I had the cancer hit me, then I had the problem recently with my back, the sciatic nerve.  Anyway, I got the results back from the MRI and the doctor consulted me and he said there is so much damage to the disk in my back that he doesn’t think that physical therapy or chiropractic would benefit me.  So they want to do back surgery and I’m not really with that at this point.  On top of all that, it seems like something so small could create so much problem.  I got a piece of dust or dirt in my eye and it was so annoying.  I tried to blink it out, cry it out.  Anyway, it wouldn’t come out for two days.  I ended up going to the urgent care center and they flushed it out.  We thought we got it out, but it was still there and the next day I had to go back which was yesterday.  They tried and tried and tried and couldn’t get it out. They ended up sending me to an eye specialist.  Eventually we got it out but now my eye is so swollen up, the epitheliums are torn and my eye has been traumatized once again.  Anyway, you know in the Bible you had Jacob.  And he said that when he was fleeing from his brother he said that “if you bring me back, God, I’ll serve you.”  Then you have Job who said “even if you slay me, yet will I trust you.” Well, I’ve got a faith like Job’s at this point.  Even if he slays me, yet will I trust in him because you know what?  We’ve come this far by faith and God has been good to me. If this is the best that Satan can do with all these physical attacks on my body, he’s got another thing coming. It aint gonna work.  He’ll have to come from a different angle because even if he slays me, yet will I trust in God.  

Good morning DAB family.  I am a burning bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our God and King.  We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of his testimony, and God’s testimony is seen in our lives every single day when we overcome.  I want to praise God today for my brother-in-law Solomon who is celebrating almost a year of miraculous healing from bone marrow cancer and I pray that his testimony will be sown out there as a power to overcome.  While I say this, I would like to ask the group to pray with me for my mother.  It has not been six months since my father passed away, inside of nine months.  I lose count.  And now my mother has been diagnosed with colon cancer.  So I ask that you join me in prayer for her.  I believe there is nothing impossible for God. I also want to pray for our sisters, Irma and Alma.  I heard your requests today, November 23rd.  I pray for healing over Alma’s body right now, in the name of Jesus, Father.  I pray that you would reach into her body and her soul, Lord, and just inject your healing, your holiness, O God, that will bring forth healing.  I pray your blood over the top of her head to the soles of her feet.  I also pray for our sister, Alma, who is coming to you, Father God, and surrendering all to you, God.  Her urges and desires, O God, in her heart.  Lord, I pray you create in her a clean heart.  Richard, our brother from Canada, we love you so much and I praise God for your testimony.  We pray that your ex-wife will find a job.  We thank you, God.  Thank you, God, for his love and just for restoring that relationship.  We thank you.  Oh, I love you guys and I’m out.  In these I pray, in Jesus’ name.  Love you guys.  Bye.  

Good afternoon DAB family.  It’s the 23rd of November.  I’m Carol from the UK and first time caller.  I would appreciate your prayers for my family.  My husband is now in his mid-80s and is a believer, but he believes that Jesus is the son of God and was that crucified for our sins and rose again, but as yet has not made that commitment.  And also for my daughter who has had two failed relationships.  Please pray that she can meet someone who can make her happy and content.  She really deserves it.  And for my son who is an atheist and just doesn’t believe in God but does respect me as a Christian believer.  And for my grandson who made a commitment when he was 10 years old and was baptized in my church, but when my son moved 200 miles away to Wales with his new wife and took my grandson with him,  he just didn’t get the nurturing and necessary help that he required and __________. But I think he still believes in God. He is now 26 and has met a beautiful girl, is getting married next year.  Please pray that he will make a recommitment and know Jesus again.  And finally for myself, I’m being greedy here, I know, as I don’t enjoy the best of health but know that God is taking care of me. Thank you, Brian, for bringing the Bible to life to me every day.  God bless you all.  Bye now.

Hi Daily Audio Bible.  This is Marian in Illinois and I am just reaching out to lift up in prayer the team that is in Israel, for Brian and all the people there who are supporting him, for the people who are on this amazing trip, and I just pray for safety and sleep and just attentiveness to what God has for all of you there, for the technology, issues don’t become overwhelming if they should go awry.  But anyway, just God’s blessings on all of you.  I wanted to give a quick update on my dad.  He had a feeding tube placed three weeks ago and it was going fairly well until recently and now it has to be removed and redone.  Complications there that I don’t need to go into the details, but just pray for him. He gets really discouraged.  He’s 85.  It’s just not easy.  Anyway, he’s seen a little too much of the medical community recently and it is hard. And also pray for my daughter. She is 16.  She has been really challenging.  You know, I just don’t know what is going on with her sometimes. Maybe there is some food anxiety/eating disorders.  I’m not sure. So just pray for wisdom for my husband and myself, for our family.  Thank you everyone.  I appreciate your prayers.  I am lifting up everybody daily as I listen to your prayers.  God bless you all.  Bye-bye.

Hey there, my name is Krista from Saskatchewan, Canada, and I’m just calling to ask for prayer from you guys for myself.  I’m going through a deep valley of my body has just kind of succumbed to anxiety and depression to the point where I’m not eating much, like very little, nauseous for a majority of the day, unable to sleep without sleeping aids, and I just am at my wits end here.  I’m on a medication but my doctor thinks maybe we should switch it and therefore that causes me to be anxious as well because I don’t know if I’ll have withdrawal symptoms.  I just really need your prayers mostly I think to actually feel God’s nearness in this. I’m feeling really alone and I just ask for you guys to pray for me.  I need to get out of this valley and your support means a lot to me.  Thank you very much for praying for me.  

11/26/2016 DAB Transcript

Daniel 2:24-3:30 ~ 1 Peter 4:7-5:14 ~ Psalm 119:81-96 ~ Proverbs 28:15-16

Today is the 26th day of November.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible and I love it when I get to say this – from the shores of the Sea of Galilee, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  Ahhhhh!  Out of the wilderness and into the promised land and I can’t wait to share that with you, but we have come here for a larger purpose and that is to center ourselves today in God’s word.  So as we end this week, we’ve been reading from the New International Version, which is what we’ll do today, and read from a new translation beginning tomorrow, but we’ll pick up where we left off, just kind of getting going in the book of Daniel. Chapter 2 verse 24 through 3 verse 30 today.  Daniel has a tall order.  His life depends upon it.  King Nebuchadnezzar has asked for the interpretation of a dream, but he won’t tell any of his wise people what the dream was.  So they not only have to tell the king what he dreamed, but what the dream means.  Everyone is freaked out because the king has essentially said “all of you are frauds” and he is going to do away with them all.  Daniel has gone into seclusion where he is before God and God is speaking to him.  So that is where we pick up today.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for another week in your word.  And even here, as we’re in the land of the Bible on the Sabbath day, we take it to heart and we take to heart the words of the apostle Peter and humble ourselves under your mighty hand.  We ask you to help us with this, for we easily slide into pride and arrogance.  We ask, Holy Spirit, that you help us become aware and humble ourselves, that in due season you will lift us up.  You are holy. You are good.  You are all powerful and all knowing.  You are God of gods and the only creator and we humble ourselves before you fully so that the life that you have offered us can be the life that we live with the Risen Christ inside us.  You continually sanctify us, making us holy and set apart. We are humbled.  We are grateful.  We are in awe of you and we worship you.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.  

Announcements

So a long day yesterday to get us here to Galilee.  It feels like we’ve been wandering in the wilderness for maybe 40 years.  That would be an exaggeration but like maybe four months.  It doesn’t seem like we’ve just been out in the wilderness and on our journey for just three days but that’s true.  They each have had their own moments that are just really rich and memorable and all sorts of adjectives like that.  

We began the day yesterday at the Dead Sea.  Gosh, that seems like a while ago, but it wasn’t.  There are some wildfires burning in the north and there was and is a sandstorm that had blown in, so it was kind of covering the landscape and obscuring the mountains of Jordan or Biblical Moab and everything was kind of socked in.  By the end of the day my throat was getting a little scratchy.  I wasn’t alone.  I had asked a few people and they were feeling it too.  But it was a great day.

We left the Dead Sea and our first stop was the oasis of Ein Gedi which is spoken of in the Song of Solomon.  It is spoken of in the book of Ecclesiastes.  It has a rich heritage with King David because this is where a couple of psalms were written.  The caves near there and all throughout that region, because there are caves all throughout those mountains, were the places that David had to keep moving around on the run away from the assassins of King Saul.  You can see them.  You can see them very clearly.  So we were just kind of pondering how they got up there.  How did this happen?  We contemplated how David and his men had to keep him moving around, just living on the run, and how that was never what he was looking for.  He killed a giant and became a national hero and then had to run for his life for so long that you begin to understand the temperament in the psalms where he was like “Man, this isn’t fair!  I didn’t do this.  Help!” All that stuff becomes so apparent where you realize what it was he had to actually go through.  

So we had some good time to contemplate that and enjoy the waterfall at the oasis, consider some of the stories in the Bible, especially the story of King Jehoshaphat and the horde of armies that came across the Dead Sea and up the oasis of Ein Gedi to attack Jerusalem and just the helpless feeling that the king had because they were outnumbered and outgunned completely. And how the people threw themselves on the mercy of God and how God really set an ambush and the armies that had the intention of destroying Israel ended up destroying themselves and just the implications of the hordes that we may be facing in our own lives and how stillness and trust and obedience and utterly depending on God is the posture that changes so much.  So that was great.  

And then we moved from there just a little bit further north to Kumaran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  Of course, they were found in caves as well, for all we know caves that David would have hid in.  There is no way to know.  There are caves that just kind of dot the landscape there.  We know he had to keep on the move.  But we definitely know the scrolls were found there and so we just kind of looked at that piece of biblical history.  I mean, it was such a find that some of the most ancient manuscripts of the scriptures were found.  So rich in heritage.  

So we got to see those caves and see how the Essene people lived out in the desert before heading to the ancient city of Jericho and interacting with a different culture and a different kind of way of life and different food, different everything.  Great, great time.  Lunch, shopping a little bit, interacting with the people a little bit and then seeing some of the ancient ruins of the ancient city of Jericho.  Jericho is thought to be the oldest continuous civilization in the entire world.  So we looked at some of that and considered the biblical narrative.  Of course, Jericho was the very first city conquered when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. So that is obviously very biblical and goes back to early times.

We also got to see one of King Herod’s palaces from a little bit of a distance and then also look into the Valley of the Shadow of death, literally the valley that inspired King David to write Psalm 23 as well as the exact same valley that inspired the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told.  Yeah, that is pretty powerful stuff too.

And then it was time to leave the desert behind and a couple hour drive up here to Galilee and we’ll be looking forward to a great, great day today.  So, like I’ve been saying, thank you for your prayer support and cover.  We feel it. We continue to covet it.  We love you for it.  We know that you’re interceding for us in health and technology and travel and everything that goes into all the little moving parts.  Thank you so much.  

Okay, www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  Obviously, that is the place where you find out what is going on around here.  Yesterday we launched the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for 2016.  That is now available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, so check it out.  There is a bunch of stuff in there that you’ll want to keep.  A bunch of stuff that you’ll want to give away.  We filled it as full as we can fill the box this year. So the Promised Land double DVD is in there.  All the places that we’re visiting in person right now are in that DVD set so you can see all the places we’ve been talking about.  Then there is also Bible Stories About Jesus, the age-appropriate reading of the book of Mark that we released a couple months ago.  It’s a beautiful double CD set.  Great.  Great for the car.  Great for the kids.  Just a beautiful rendition of the story of Jesus, so that is in there.  The Family Christmas CD project is in there.  Jill’s album that was released this year on CD is in there.  My latest book, Reframe, is included and then the Reframe – From the God We’ve Made to God With Us DVD, the films that we created are in there.  This will be the last time those are available on DVD, so that is included.  The choice of Windfarm Coffee or Windfarm Tea, one of those is in there.  The Christmas Bulb that we have each year, and it is only ever available in the Christmas Box, is in there.  So for 2016 it has the word healthy on it for the word for our year as well as a pack of 20 of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2016.  So it’s chockful, an absolutely beautiful package this year.  So check that out.  We always sell out of them.  Wonderful things.  Wonderful resources to give away.  Wonderful resources to keep for yourself and they are available at the Daily Audio Bible Shop right now.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  I cannot possibly thank you enough.  Without us doing this together as a community, there is no way for this to even be here.  So thank you for your partnership as a community to do this.  I mean, really, I don’t have the right words.  Thank you profoundly, humbly, beyond my ability to say. Thank you.  There is a link on the home page.  It lives there.  Thank you for clicking it.  If you use the Daily Audio Bible App, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner.  Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Blessed Like Me.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I have a prayer inside of my spirit, inside of my soul.  We all do but sometimes we hold those prayers in and those prayers are just like the wind that blows.  Those prayers just go away.  Right now I’m going to release this prayer.  God, we thank you, we love you, and we bless your holy name today, Lord. We bless you for everything that you have done in our lives.  We thank you for bringing us in out of the darkness and into your marvelous light. You’re such a great God.  You’re a great God and you’re worthy of all of our praise.  You’re worthy of all of our worship and you’re worthy of all of our attention.  So right now, God, we ask you to help us to be the people that you would have us to be.  Help us to be your arms and feet.  Help us reach out to those that are in need.  Help us see who we need to be and who needs your help.  Right now, for the DAB family, God, I ask you to give us a blessing.  Give us an anointing.  Give everyone that is within this prayer earshot a blessing of the anointing, Lord, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Lord.  Let us grow that anointing by learning more of you, by feeding on your word. We love you and we thank you, God, for who you are in our lives.  It’s the blessing that keeps on coming.  It’s a blessing that helps us every day.  We love you and it is you who we thank and love.  It is in Jesus, Jesus, Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.  Love you, Brian and Jill.  Thank you for this ministry.  Blessed Like Me signing off.  

Hello, this is Candace from Oregon.  I want to pray for Brian and all that is taking place in the trip to the Holy Land.  I want to pray for Jim from Central Coast of California and your son, Alexander, who, like my son, struggles with addiction to alcohol.  And I want to pray for Jen and Abbie and also Jim’s daughter Cassandra. Lord, we come before you actually with so many of us who have grown children that are in really serious struggles and we lay them before your throne, Lord.  Thank you that even though my cold continues to reach on, it sounds like Brian’s has completely subsided. Thank you that he sounds so good. And I pray that you keep him in top health.  I pray that you bless this entire trip, Lord.  Thank you for Thanksgiving.  Thank you for a national holiday where we can all just stop and remember all the benefits you load us with every day.  Thank you for your word.  Thank you for your Holy Spirit.  Thank you, Lord, for being so near to every one of us.  Thank you that when we’re really struggling with anything, that is when you really come near and that you have done everything to secure an eternity together with you.  Thank you that we have all this to look forward to.  In Jesus’ name.  

Hi my DAB family.  This is Samantha calling from New Jersey.  God bless everyone.  I just wanted to call and wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed time with your families and your friends as you gather together to give thanks to God for all that he has done for us.  I wanted to pray over Brian and family and everyone that is traveling to Israel and have a blessed and safe trip.  And if everyone could just keep me in prayer as me and my family travel to India over these holidays.  You could just pray for protection and safety and peace and that God’s will be done.  As my friend, Annette A. says, sometimes we think we’re going somewhere for one reason, but God has another plan.  So may his will be done.  And Annette, I just want to thank you for being such a source of a smile on my face.  I can be having a very rough day and as soon as I hear your voice that smile just comes right on me.  So thank you, Sister, for always being a source of encouragement.  I love you guys and have a great day and I’ll keep in touch and let you know how India goes.  Be blessed.  

Hey DAB brothers and sisters.  This is Byron out in Florida.  I just wanted to give a big thank you to Drew in the Bay Area for your encouragement, man.  It’s always good to hear your voice.  And Joe the Protector, thank you, man.  Alicia in Kansas, thank you for that beautiful prayer that you led us through.  That was really, really awesome.  I wanted to take this chance to tell you guys about what God did.  I am driving now in my Prius, which is fixed.  It was broken down last I called and now it is fixed.  The problem was with the hybrid battery in it which was looking to be about a $2500 deal which was absolutely the worst thing that could happen given my financial situation.  But God is awesome.  He moved in the hearts of people to help me find favor with them, that gave me instruction on things that I can do, gave me tools and I found instruction and after hours of watching You Tube videos and __________, I was able to turn a $2500 problem into a $25 solution.  God is always good.  He is worthy of the glory in any situation.  So thank you guys so much for your continued prayers.  God is really, really awesome. There is gentleman that called. His name was Sam from New Hampshire. What you’re going through sounded really similar to what I’m going through.  I’m praying for you, man.  Hang in there.  God is faithful.  Awesome that you’re putting through the tithe.  He will honor that.  Obviously, he is doing it for me.  Love you guys and talk to you later.  Bye.  

Hey.  Blessings Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Cliff, aka in some places Brother Simon.  I am just so blessed by this community, the connectivity.  The opportunity to connect like this around the world is just awesome.  I love praying with many of you, my family, our family in the body of Christ and the DAB family.  I have a request here.  I work with young people and there is a mother that I’ve known for many years, one of the mothers of the young people that I work with that I have known a little bit of her story.  I know that she has just had a rough life just to put it lightly and directly. Just sitting down with her and the family, I heard a little bit more of the story, but it provided the opportunity to share the gospel, just to connect with her and to share the good news of Jesus Christ and the gospel.  I think she was receptive.  There is a lot going on.  There is a lot going on in her heart and a lot going on with her, but she was receptive enough.  Also she is very open to things I send, videos I send.  There is a video I made a couple of years ago called Jesus Saves, __________ powerful testimony.  I sent that to her.  She watched that.  She is very receptive to watch things I send so yeah, just praying that the Lord will use all that to draw her.  I do believe she will be powerful and be used greatly in the kingdom.  I believe, yes, she needs a powerful encounter with love and the love of God so please remember her.  Her name is Nicole.  God bless.

My name is Teri.  I’m calling from the Heartland of Missouri.  I’m a first-time caller and I find so much strength in listening to the word and to this community every single day.  I come today to my DAB family to ask for support and prayer as my baby sister battles a recent diagnosis.  She was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.  Needless to say, we’re devastated.  I’m the oldest of three girls and we led a turbulent childhood with an alcoholic father who abused our mother.  We witnessed many things children should never see.  Our mother was a strong person and held us together and provided for us and brought us to adulthood.  I know it wasn’t easy for her.  My baby sister has continued a turbulent life that included rape, being robbed at gunpoint, a gambling addiction, severe anxiety and an abusive marriage as well as having a daughter with cerebral palsy who is now 17 and a son with an anxiety disorder and an eating disorder who is only 13.  She recently was becoming a stronger person.  She left the abusive relationship after 20 years.  She quit smoking and was turning her life around when we received the horrible news of cancer invading our family.  My whole family is turned upside down.  My mother who is 74 is having such a horrible time of this.  We’re all suffering this domino effect.  We’re broken and we need lifted up.  I know God knows what our future holds and I need prayer for us to handle this with grace and strength and love.  Thank you for your prayers.  I love you, DAB family.