Hosea 6:1-9:17 ~ 3 John 1:1-15 ~ Psalm 126:1-6 ~ Proverbs 29:12-14
Today is the 7th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. This is day 3 of jet lag recovery. Things are going well. I just have a number of people on different time zones in my house right now which is a little weird. It is like somebody is awake no matter what and little Ezekiel, he doesn’t seem to care whether it is day or night. He just knows when he’s awake and when it is time to play, so that is fun. But enough about me. How are you doing? How are you all doing all over the world? Some of you enjoying winter weather, white snow, the Christmas holidays upon us? Some of you are in warm climates and enjoying that. Here in the rolling hills of Tennessee we’re enjoying wet and rain and low clouds and falling leaves. All together it makes the beautiful tapestry of this beautiful earth that God has given us to live on. I hope wherever you are, it is a great day and that as we move into the time of scripture, that it washes over you and resets whatever is going on.
So let’s dive in. We’re reading from The Message this week and picking up in the story in the book of Hosea and when we get to the New Testament, believe it or not, we are moving rapidly and we enter 3 John and we really are rounding the corner. After 3 John comes Jude and then comes the book of Revelation which is the final book of the Bible, so we will move through 3 John and Jude rather quickly because they are short and then kind of settle in with the book of Revelation as we continue through the minor prophets in the Old Testament. So let’s take that next step forward. Hosea chapter 6 verse 1 through chapter 9 verse 17 today.
Introduction of a New Book (New Testament)
The third letter of the apostle John, also known as 3 John was probably written right along with the second letter that John wrote that we read yesterday or just shortly thereafter. It is a little different than John’s first and second letters in that this is a personal letter to a man named Gaius. The letter was probably written from Ephesus where John was spending the latter years of his life. Gaius was an upstanding Christian man who was a member of one of the nearby churches and he was passionate about assisting those who were traveling in ministry, missionaries in the area, and were furthering the gospel of Jesus.
So this is a snapshot, this letter. It is a fascinating picture of church politics. So there is this man name Diotrephes and he inserts himself into the equation because he doesn’t like the way Gaius is doing his missionary assistance, so John writes this letter to Gaius personally to affirm him in what he is doing and to let him know he’ll deal with the issue. This letter helps us see lines of spiritual authority. It also helps us see that some of the issues that we hear about or see around us today, these were even struggles for those in the early church. So we begin 3 John.
Prayer
Father, that is our prayer from the psalm today which is such a beautiful psalm. We have seen you at work. We have felt your presence in our lives. We see life bursting forth wherever we look for it. And we pray with the psalm and now God, do it again. Bring rains to our drought-stricken lives so those who planted their crops in despair will shout in joy at the harvest, so those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing with armloads of blessing. Father, we ask that you make that true in our lives while at the same time acknowledging the need for our own participation in it, that we heed what we learn from the scriptures yesterday, that it is not enough to know we’re supposed to love one another, that we actually have to do it. To put ourselves in line with the way we were created and the way this psalm could wash over our lives and be true. So come, Holy Spirt. We ask in Jesus’ name, with all your power. We open ourselves fully to you. Fall upon us we ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website and that is home base for all of us. If we can remember that we can always find our way back to where we find out what is going on in this community. Of course, the Prayer Wall is there and all the resources are there. So that is home base.
What is going on right now, a few things. One, for the next week we’re preparing for our Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas, this little virtual Christmas party that we have. We get to hear each other’s voices and it’s a great time. So all you have to do to participate is call the prayer line, (877) 942-4253, and leave your holiday wishes to the community here. It is obviously the prayer line, so the only rule about this, besides time and all that is don’t combine a holiday wishes call with a prayer request call. Then neither one of those will make it through. We just don’t have the capacity to edit all that out. So yeah, if you have a Christmas greeting, then call that in. If you have a prayer request, call that in separate. So we’ll compile these over the next about a week and then we’ll put our Family Christmas Party together and it’s great. It’s great. We do it every year. It’s always been great. It’s never not brought me to tears just to hear everyone’s voices. I love it. So yeah, call in your Christmas greeting now – (877) 942-4253.
The other thing with the holidays is the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box and that is available. They are going faster than we had anticipated. I mean, we always sell out of them so grab yours while you can. It’s chockful of all of the resources of the Daily Audio Bible, things in there that you’ll want to keep, things in there that you will want to give away. It’s perfect for that.
It’s got the Promised Land Films in it. It’s got Bible Stories About Jesus, the double CD project that we released a couple months ago in there. Family Christmas is in there. My wife Jill’s latest project that we released back in the summer, and it’s awesome. If you haven’t heard it yet, it is so deeply encouraging on so many levels. That is in there. My latest book Reframe, From the God We’ve Made to God With Us is included as well as the corresponding films to the book on DVD and this is the last time those will be available so take advantage of that. Your choice of our Windfarm house blend coffee or our English Breakfast tea, if you’re a tea drinker, and some of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards as well as the Daily Audio Bible 2016 Christmas Bulb is included. The bulb, the only place you can get it is the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box. I’ve got these on my tree for the last several years and I love that. I love that. So that is the Christmas Box. It is available at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.
Also, preregistration, advance registration for the More Gathering coming up this April is available now through the end of the year. It makes for a very unique, one-of-a-kind Christmas present for the woman in your life. It is a life-changing thing without a doubt and so we try to make this available for the holiday season as a gift idea that has profound impact because it is a beyond a thing. It is just the offer of time away with God to reset, to reconsider life and move in new directions. So check it out. You can find out everything you would want to know about the More Gathering at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Initiatives or the Events section. Just click through and you can read all the details.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. Thank you humbly, deeply, sincerely for allowing the Daily Audio Bible to be here. We’ve done this together and it has only ever been something that we’ve done together. It’s really remarkable, this community. It is really truly unique and one-of-a-kind. I’m always reminded of that. So what we’ve done we’ve done together. Thank you for your partnership in allowing it to continue forward. There is a link on the home page of www.DailyAudioBible.com. If you use the app, 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 or right now a holiday greeting, (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
Hi. This is Victorious Soldier just calling tonight to pray for Tricia from Nevada and Katie from Annapolis where they’re having the challenges in their marriage. I’m just praying to give them an opportunity to let God direct them on what they can do in order to put about some positive changes and some positive blessings in that marriage. Gracious Father, we come before your throne of grace once again. Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we just thank you today for these two young women. O Lord, that they made the commitment to be married to someone, Lord, to trust you, Lord, being in the middle of that marriage, Lord. O Lord, we ask you to touch the spouses. O Lord, we ask you to touch the man first, Lord. O Lord, teach him how to win control in his marriage through the love, Lord. O Lord, in the name of Jesus. O Lord, you touch those __________, Lord. You touch that husband to be the husband that you are calling him to be. O Father, you control that anger, Lord. O, you were angry. You were for me with everything. You were angry but you sinned not. You were angry but you cast them out but you didn’t do anything evil. You knew how to do it and you knew how to do it right. Lord, you touch the hearts that need to be written in. The only way to __________ him is he has to be under control and you are the Holy Spirit. You can do anything. Lord, you touch those marriages. You be in the midst, Lord. You touch those husbands and you bring them together and bless that house, that it be a house that you are calling it to be. You bless those young women.
Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Janaya from Indiana and I’ve been a listener since 2011. And this is my first time calling in. I just wanted to say I’m praying for all of you, for everyone that has the __________ to call in. I just heard Tricia from Nevada and Katie from Annapolis and I’m praying for you both and anyone that is going through abusive relationships, particularly marriage. I just left my husband of two years of marriage and we have three kids. I have twin boys and a baby girl and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but my prayer to God was that he show me what was going on. I didn’t even realize it was an abusive relationship and situation. I prayed for God’s peace and his joy and his will and he answered my prayer. He will answer yours. Just continue to pray. If you all want to reach out to me and talk and pray together, you can reach me at my email: DABJanaya@gmail.com.
December 4th, __________ Rose from the Chicago area. Father God, I lift up the woman who is calling about her son and has called many times. He is in jail and I believe struggling with addiction problems. Father God, it appears that she doesn’t really know you and that she was raised Hindu and it didn’t work for her. Holy God, I pray for this mother and for her son. I pray for them individually and together, Father, that you would work, that you would show them that you are God, that you would bring someone in this young man’s life to bring him strength and peace, Father God, and you would strengthen this mother and her mother’s heart. Mend her entire life by your Spirit, Father God. She calls into this line, Lord. She hurts and she is desperate for her son and she is crying out and you would wish that no one would be lost, Father. I pray for their strength and their individual understanding of you, Father, that you would move, that you would bring courage, that you would bring light in this difficult, dark situation. Father God, there was a woman who called in. She lived with her mother and I don’t think she has anybody else and her mother died about eight weeks ago. Holy God, I can understand for I purchased an apartment of my mother’s house and she is elderly, Father God. I pray, Lord, that you would work in the loneliness, the aloneness, Father God, in the sorrow, in the grieving, in the loss, Father God. That you would strengthen her. If there are words from around her who kind of say, well, your mother was old anyway, you knew it was going to happen, Father, that you would break the pain of that, of that sorrow. Amen.
Hey everyone. It’s Arjen from Florida. First, I just wanted to say, you know, when I say that I love you guys, that I really do mean that from the bottom of my heart just because I find the genuineness here that is just lacking in the world. I just want to encourage all of you guys that it means a lot to me and I’m sure many other people. I love you guys. I don’t really have any prepared thing to say about that. I just wanted to say that. But I also wanted to extend a prayer for physical, spiritual and emotional weariness and feelings of loneliness. So Jesus, Father, Friend, I lift up all of us in this community who whether it be due to the holidays or because of life or whatever, they just feel spiritually tapped out, physically exhausted, alone, feeling like we’re isolated from you and the community. Jesus, I pray for your encouragement, Lord, that we realize that your word is a foundation. It is not an extra component to our lives that we can just add on. No Lord, we ask you to help us realize how foundational and how true it is, God. And we ask you to help us, to give us revelations that each of the promises is absolutely true, even when it doesn’t seem like it, even when it doesn’t feel like it. Father, reinforce in our heart that yes, your word, but you, Lord, you, God, Jehovah, Yahweh, that you are more real and you are…
Hi DAB family. I am a survivor of a very damaging family situation. My ex-husband was very angry all the time and I stayed there for 23 years because I thought that was the right thing to do. I have two children that are now in their 20s that are damaged from this situation. So my prayer is for every woman that has called in that has these kinds of situations, these abusive situations, know that this is abuse. Know that you need to separate. I’m not telling you to divorce. Get your children out of the situations because yes, God says if you are with an angry person, get away from that angry person lest you become one. One of your children is becoming one. I am praying for you diligently. I have no prayer request for myself right now. I am praying for you. I love you DAB family. I love you all. God bless you.
Hi everyone. It’s Christy from Kentucky, a cold Kentucky morning on my way to church. I just wanted to ask for a few prayer requests for someone that has called me. I met this young lady in a doctor’s office and she has been calling me requesting prayer requests. This is the second one I’m sending in for her and what a blessing it is. She asked me to please put this on the international prayer chain. So here we go. Little Autumn is 13 or possibly 14 years old, was in a very bad car accident and she was on her way to the hospital when Dianna called me and so I’m asking, if you would, to please pray for Autumn, praying that her injuries are not critical and praying that she will be home even now as we speak. Also wanted to pray for Casey. Casey is in her 40s and she has been going in to have routine polyps removed but this time they found a tumor and they told her it was cancer. So if you would just pray for Casey and we know God’s healing hand is on her life and we just praise God for that. And also for a young man named Scott. Scott has cancer as well. They thought they had it under control, but it looks like it has come back. But God. Amen? But God. And we just praise God for his healing, healing power. I miss you all. I am so far behind but I want you to know that I think of you all all the time and I love you. I pray that everyone is well. I want to give a shout-out to Blind Tony. I understand that you’ve been battling. You know that God’s hand is on your life, Pastor Tony. Pastor Tony, did you hear what I just called you? Prophetically, I feel sure. Alright guys, I love you. Have a blessed day.