Joel 1:1-3:21 ~ Revelation 1:1-20 ~ Psalm 128:1-6 ~ Proverbs 29:18
Today is the 9th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you. Wow! So like we’re almost a third of the way through the final month of the year. It’s hard to believe. We have one of the rare opportunities today to begin two different books on the same day, so in both the Old and the New Testaments we’ll begin new books. Of course, in the New Testament we’ll be beginning the final book. But before we get there, let’s talk about where we’re going in the Old Testament.
Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)
The book of Joel – Joel was a prophet who wrote his book of prophecy more than likely in the mid-800s BC so a long time ago. He writes of a vast horde of locusts that have invaded the land and obliterated the crops and everything else, causing great famine. And as is true with most of the Bible, this brings them to a fork in the road where a choice must be made. They can return to God and enjoy his blessings and restoration, or they can continue to reject God and face what Joel calls the day of the Lord, the day of God’s judgment. And, of course, we’ve spent enough time in the Bible to understand the heart of God. It’s not God’s will that his people suffer these terrible repercussions. So he is constantly calling them back as he continues to do today. We see this through some of the most beautiful promises of restoration and hope in the entire Bible that are spoken through the prophet Joel.
So we begin Joel chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 21. We’re reading from The Message this week.
Introduction of a New Book (New Testament)
This brings us in the New Testament to the gateway of the final book of the New Testament which is the final book of the Bible. The book of Revelation is, well, the thing about it is it is not really a book at all. It is a letter written by the apostle John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. Patmos is an island southwest of Ephesus that the Romans used to banish people to who had committed crimes against Rome. So John would have been a very old man at this point and he wrote this letter to churches that had been established during the time of Paul’s missionary journey some 50 years earlier. So this letter is written to established churches.
Revelation is one of the more controversial or misunderstood books of the Bible, but no matter which school of interpretation you adhere to, when you distill it all down, it’s a call to repentance and spiritual renewal. It is a letter to encourage Christians and bolster their faith in the face of tribulation and trial and it is a letter of great hope because once again it shows that our Lord and Savior, Jesus is in fact all-powerful and in the end he remains victorious and we remain victorious along with him.
So we begin Revelation chapter 1.
Prayer
Father, as we turn the page and enter the final book of the Bible in the New Testament, we invite you to speak to us through it as you have every other word. And as we continue to move forward in the Old Testament through the minor prophets, we invite you to speak to us as you have every other day through your word. As we’re here, I guess, about a third of the way through the last month, we invite you, Jesus. This can become a very, very, very disruptive, busy time and we can get completely lost in why and we can find ourselves coming out the other side of this in complete disarray in a lot of places of our lives, but we’re choosing ahead now to stay lockstep with you and lockstep with your word. So come, Holy Spirit. Be the guiding force in this season as we seek to finish well the race of the year, the year through the Bible. Come Jesus, we pray. In your mighty name, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home. It’s the website. It is where you find out what is going on around here and three primary things are going on around here right now.
1. It is time to call in your holiday greetings. For the next several days we’ll take those and then we’ll be compiling our Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas that we do every year. It’s one of the most beautiful times of just sharing with each other and sharing in the story, so be sure to get your call in. You just use the prayer line: (877) 942-4253 and the only thing about this is that you don’t combine your Christmas call, your holiday wishes with a prayer request call. That will kind of disqualify them both. If you have a Christmas wish, call that in, and then if you actually have something else going on, then call that in separate. That will keep everything tidy and neat for me as we try to put it together. So that is the deal on that.
2. The second thing is the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is available. It will sell out. We can tell that for sure, but there are still some left. Grab yours while you can. We have packed it full of resources from the Daily Audio Bible, things that you’ll want to keep, things that you’ll want to give away, so check that out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.
3. Then the third thing is advance registration for the More Gathering for Women that is coming this April in the beautiful southern Appalachian Mountains located in North Georgia just outside of Atlanta about an hour. It is a spectacular place and so we have advance registration through the end of the year and it covers the holiday season because it makes for a unique, one-of-a-kind, spectacular gift for the woman in your life, to send her away with no obligation, with no responsibilities and none of the weight of life crashing in around here and just allow her to reset in her heart with God. It’s the gift that keeps on giving without a doubt. So you can check that out at www.DailyAudioBible.com as well in the Initiatives area. Everything that you would want to know, you will find there so check it out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here as we approach the end of the year, then thank you truly and humbly. If Daily Audio Bible has been life-giving to you, then thank you for being life-giving back. This is how we do the dance that is the Daily Audio Bible every day. We do it together as a community. Thank you for your partnership. There is a link. It is on the home page of the website. 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 and, of course, right now, if you have a holiday greeting, you can use that line as well. Then there are a couple of other numbers around the world. If you are in the UK or Europe, 44, 20-3608-8078 would be the number to call. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under, 61, 3-8820-5459 is the number to call.
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
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Nick B., originally from California, here in the country of Belize. I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to say that a lot of times people do not hear their names being mentioned about specific requests that they give, but know that Jesus does hear our prayer and that is the most important thing that we need to consider, that he hears our prayer, our prayer of sincerity, so when you don’t hear your name mentioned, don’t think that the prayer warriors associated with the Daily Audio Bible family are not praying for you. Sister Victorious Soldier, I want to thank you for lifting me up and many others that have mentioned me. I thank you and I covet your prayers. Please continue to pray for me. I want to thank the Hardin family and those behind the scenes that play such an integral part in our community. Pray that you would just continue to embrace God’s promises as we are in this season. I’m away from my family. Just continue to pray for me that I may continue to allow God to use me in the way that he chooses. I thank you. God bless your name. Biola, Blind Tony, all the faithful out there, Sue from Seattle, the quadriplegic, and many others, just know that God is good all the time. All the time God is good. Amen.
This is Anne in Charlotte, NC and we do pray for requests even though we may not call in and say so. I want to assure people of that. I pray today for the children of Aleppo and many, many children, especially unborn children who just need to have the right to be born alive. I wanted to ask for some prayer because I am really having a lot of sadness and grieving as the holidays are here and I miss my estranged children. I was listening to Brian’s commentary today on Hosea and I never thought of it in the light of any estrangement, any rejection. I’ve always thought of it as the marital relationship, but the unnatural rejection of my children that I gave birth to and love so much is just a daily grief and pain that most days I do okay but some days I just have a heavy sadness. My fourth daughter, who was married a little over a year ago is in California and expecting a baby and she has been very sick with the pregnancy. I’ve talked to her once but she doesn’t answer my calls or respond to my texts except very rarely. She doesn’t want me in her life hardly at all. And Noran, the child, my new grandbaby who I love and has a Christian grandmother that loves them, it just hurts so much and in the past few days I’ve just felt like I can’t bear it, Lord. The grief is so heavy.
Hey guys. It’s Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL. Good morning. It’s December 5th. I’m on my way back to work, to the place where I thought would never have to go back to, but that God has asked that I go back to with him and with him I go, a little stressed out, but trusting my Father. As you know, these people have tried to fire me as early as three weeks ago and had it not been for my knowledge of the law and threats of suing them, I probably would not have a job anymore. I have tried like crazy to find another job but it has not happened. This is all in God’s hands. I praise him. I worship him. I’m declaring __________. Unlike like me, he has the whole picture, so I am trusting him with all of my heart. Jen from Southern California, I just want to let you know that I have been praying incessantly for you for the loss of your stepmother and __________ for your daughter Abbie. Kevin, I wanted to let you know that I have been praying for you, your legal case, and that the Lord will open doors for you to see your babies again. And finally, Keepers of the Earth, I was overjoyed to hear of the positive __________ of your case and that you are finally going to be able to see your child. We have been praying with you for so long and we’re rejoicing what God is doing. Family, I cherish your prayers and I continue to pray with every one of you every single day. All my love to each one of you, have a great day. Bye.
Good morning. This is Shirley from southeastern Washington. It is Monday, December 5th. I just got through listening to the DAB. Thank you Jill and Brian for this venue that we come together and listen and read God’s word and to pray for each other. I’m calling because I heard a request for prayer for Paul in Barcelona. Just want to let you know, Paul, that we are praying for the children in Aleppo and please don’t leave the group. That is what Satan would want you to do. So just know that the family of God and probably many, many others that you don’t know about are praying for them. So don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. We all need to stand together and pray together. Just letting you know we’re here, we’re listening, and we’re praying. So just letting you know that. Also want to pray for Margaret. Margaret, I’m going to be praying that you get a job and that it is a job that is right for you and that you’ll be able to handle it. I just want to thank everybody for calling in and for those who are praying. Even though you don’t hear your name or you don’t hear your prayer requests, know that God knows and that there are people praying. God is an awesome God. He knows everything and he directs his prayer warriors even in the middle of the night. I know it has happened to me. At times I’ll wake up and I know I’m awake because I need to pray for someone. So just want to thank you all. Love you all. Have a blessed Merry Christmas Season and remember that the reason for the season is Jesus because God loved us so much that he sent his only son for us.
Hello Daily Audio Bible community. This is Cheryl in Arizona, trying to move quickly toward my two reasons for calling. I listened to the December 4th podcast this morning and I’ve got the 5th to listen to yet. I love it. I love all of you. Thank you Brian and Jill and this beautiful community. I heard two in particular this morning, prayer requests that really touched my heart and hit close to home definitely. So for Tricia who called in about her marriage of seven years that has been suffering since about three months in when you were involved in an accident and for Katie who also called in regarding her marriage with the two little boys, I think you said ages 1 and 4. Those suffering in your marriages, and then Katie mentioned there have been several times that she hasn’t felt safe, just want to pray for the two of you. The Holy Spirit really touched my heart because again I have definitely been in situations that are similar to what you described. So right now, in the name of Jesus, Lord, I lift up Tricia and Katie, God, these two beautiful women of God before you, Lord, and I just pray for your protection. And Lord, you say in your word that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God and that God will provide that wisdom. Lord, may the answer be there. May the comfort be there. May the safety be there. I just pray that you would give your angels charge over these and all the situations like it, for the ones that did not call in who are in similar situations. God, I pray for your protection, your wisdom, and your clarity, strength, comfort, all that is needed.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible. This is Nettie in New Jersey. Today I want to lift up Mark and I want to lift up Carol. Lord Jesus, please fill their house, of Mark and of Carol, and my own house and the house of all our Daily Audio Bible brothers and sisters. Father God, fill our bodies, our souls, and our spirits. Father God, get us in divine alignment. Rise up within us. Holy Spirit, cover our actions, our thoughts. Cover our deeds, Father God. Cover our words. Cover our prayers. We want our prayers strong, Father God. We want our minds sound. We want to be able to sleep. We want to be able to look at healthy things. Father God, keep the word healthy in our hearts. Father God, Holy Spirit, we can’t do it on our own. We need you, so we surrender right here, right now, Father God. Carol and Mark and Mark’s children, Father God, and my own sons and husband. Father God, I lift up Nick. He is being bullied at school by a young lady who is calling him things that are really provoking and he is struggling with defending himself because sometimes it is hard to just take it. So Father God, I just pray for the Holy Spirit to cover his thoughts and his tongue, Father God, and to just put a hand of protection over him and over Carol and over Mark and his son and his daughter. Father God, put a hand of protection over us. Holy Spirit, when you knock on our door, let us open up wide and just let you come in and take over in our life because we can’t do it on our own, Father God. Let us just surrender and be obedient and you will take care of all things. You take care of the sparrow. You told us that you would feed anybody, anybody who asks, anybody can have the living water, Father God, and we need you, Holy Spirit, to just carry us through the day so we’re not in our own flesh. In Jesus’ mighty, mighty and precious name I pray, amen.