Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20 ~ Luke 7:36-8:3 ~ Psalm 69:1-18 ~ Proverbs 12:1
Today is March 27th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you. Man, we are rounding the corner on another month, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here we are, the 27th day of the third month of the year and almost since the beginning we’ve been chasing this story of a land of promise and been trying to get there and we are on the banks of the Jordan. It’s not time to go into the promised land now. We’re listening to the final words of Moses as he speaks from his heart and with a weightiness that is necessary to these people, because he is going to disappear from the story when he is done talking. So, back out to the banks of the Jordan River. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 1 through 8, verse 20 today. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.
Commentary
We are on the eastern side of the Jordan River in what would be modern day Jordan, the ancient land of Moab, across from Jericho. Moses has the children of Israel assembled. Like we’ve been saying, he is saying the last things he has to say. This is the parting shot. He has been encouraging them in all kinds of areas, basically reviewing the law, basically saying, “Look, if you’ll do this stuff right here, it is going to be perfect. It is going to be exactly like what God wants. If you don’t, it’s going to be everything but that.”
He encourages them today. “When you go into the land, you have to be careful about these other gods that they are worshipping and not fall for it. You’re not going to go in and take care of all this business in one day. You’re not going to invade this land and it is going to be yours in one day. It is going to take time. It is going to be a little by little thing, a bit by bit thing. Because if you went in and just wiped everything out, you’re not equipped to take possession right now of all this promise anyway. We’d be giving the land to the wild animals who would become a nuisance for you, and so it is going to be a little by little thing.”
That is important. It is important to this story, but it is also important to our lives because a lot of times we’ll get a promise, we’ll get an understanding, we’ll get some clarity about where the Lord is leading us and we’ll start filling in the blanks about what that is going to look like, and then we rush across the proverbial Jordan River into the promised land and boom! It is a little more complicated than we thought. Then we’re discouraged and we’re like, “Where are you going before me? I thought I was just going to be able to waltz into this thing.”
No, we have to contend for things in this world. And that is what gives them value. Think about it. The things that you have had to contend for, that you have had to stand for, that you have had to fight for, the things that you’ve had to press into, the things that you have had to work through, those are the things that you treasure, right? Those are the things that have built your character.
So the children of Israel are being admonished that this is how it is going to be when they go into the promised land. It is going to be systematic, but it is going to be a bit at a time. We need to remember that. We need to remember that this is a process. Life is a process. It is something that is building one thing upon the next upon the next. So wherever it is that we are in our lives, if we are following the Lord, then we are on the right path. The momentary circumstances that would oppose that, that is normal. That happens. We will be victorious. That part is done. So we must stay true and content, little by little until the promise is fulfilled.
Prayer
Father, impatience is something that is all through this species of humanity, especially in this day and age, because our cultures, they try to sell us instant gratification continually, that if we just have enough money we can buy whatever we want. And that may be true, but it does not build character and it is not something that we’ve contended for. It is not something that we’ve stood for. It’s not something that has been carefully crafted. So as we move through our lives, may we treat them like the treasure that you do and may we pour into them good things as we stand true and firm and walk with you little by little, step by step, bit by bit, day by day. Come Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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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. It’s Brian from Costa Mesa. It’s March 23rd and I just finished listening to the prayer requests. This goes out to Scott from Southern California. You just had thousands of people around the world hear your plea for prayer. What you described is heartbreaking and I’m sure we can only understand a small portion of what you’re going through, but first let me just say that you cannot sin more than God is willing to forgive and you have a good hold on who God is and who you are. Trust in that faith. Let this body of Christ surround you and lift you up in prayer. Stay strong. Stay in the faith and be open and honest. I don’t know where it will lead, but I know that the Lord is going to restore you. We pray for you. We pray for your wife. We pray for your kids. We pray for everything surrounding your life. Just know that you have a family here that is standing strong with you. Keep checking in, let us know how it is going.
Good morning family. This is Mary from Melbourne, FL. I would like to pray. Precious Father, I pray for the upcoming More Gathering and all of our precious women who will be attending. I pray that you would draw close to each one in a very special way and reveal yourself to them. Bring them lots of laughter and lots of tears of joy as they are renewed by your Spirit. Meet them all right where they are, Father, and fill them with your Holy Spirit. We pray for Jill and Brian, Father, that you would minister to the people through them. Give them the words to speak and, Father, I pray that you would get them all safely there and safely home and bless them to overflowing. We know you have so many great things for them, Father, so we just ask you to be with them. Give them a joy that they will never forget and we praise you and glorify you in Christ’s precious name. Brian and Jill, we love you so much and we thank you for what you’re doing. We know that this is going to be a blessing to our women and we lift them all up knowing that God is really going to bless them. He is going to surprise them with the things that he has for them, so thank you so much for all the work that you’ve done to go behind the scenes and in front of everyone to prepare these women for a wonderful, wonderful blessing from God. We cannot thank you enough. Hallelujah. God bless you all and I just want you to know that we’re praying for all of you women, that you will come back excited and renewed by the Spirit of the Lord. God bless every single one of you. We love you and we know that this will be a wonderful, wonderful weekend for all of you women. God bless you. Goodbye.
Morning DAB. This is Loralee from Boynton Beach, FL. For the new people, glad you’re here. I’m a 10-year listener and I wanted to read something for Candace in Oregon and for Bill B. It’s from The Valley of Vision with a few words changed. Sovereign Lord, I am a tree of the vineyard you have planted. Grant me not to be barren with worthless leaves and wild grapes. I’m a voyager across life’s ocean, safe in heaven’s ark. May I pass through a troubled world into a harbor of eternal rest. Prune me of useless branches. Water me with dews of blessing. I am part of the Lamb’s bride, the church. Help me to be true, faithful, loving, pure, devoted. Let no strong affection with the world draw me away. By grace may I live high above a love of things temporal, sanctified, cleansed, unblemished and holy. Your love my fullness, your glory my joy, your precepts my path, your cross my resting place. My heart is not always a flame of adoring love but, resting in your Son’s redemption, I look forward to the days of heaven where no apathy shall oppress, no iniquities bite, no cloud of unbelief dim the eye, and no zeal ever tires. Father, these thoughts are the comfort of my soul. In Jesus’ name, amen. You have a blessed day. We’re thinking of you and praying for you.
Hi lovely family. This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL. Here are a few words that gripped my heart as I was listening to the word of God in Numbers. God saying this about his people: How much longer will they reject me? Why won’t they trust me after all they have seen? How much longer will they complain about me? Father, these words pierce my heart as I recognize myself in them. How many times have I said why did you bring me into this world? How many times have I said why did you place me in this situation? Please forgive me and forgive us when we declare that we don’t appreciate the gifts that you’ve given us, when we doubt you after you have brought us through so many situations. Forgive us, O Lord, and help us to love you. Help us to trust you. As __________ from you in the word says, we believe. God, help our unbelief. Father, we come before you asking that you will fill our brother Dean with hope. That you will let him know how much you love him. That you will let him know you are not going to quit on him. Please bless our brother Dean __________ and let him know how much you love him and how much he __________ this community. Father, I pray for our brother Pastor Tom from the UK who is currently in hospice battling terminal cancer. We believe that just as you have brought him through for the last two and a half years, you’re able to touch his body with the power of your Son’s resurrection and heal him completely. And Father, we are believing and expecting a miracle. And finally, Lord, I pray for all the victims of the terrorist attack in London, whether they are from the UK or whether they are from a different country and were visiting. O God, have mercy. Touch them. Lift them up and deter the evil that has overcome us. In Jesus’ name I pray. This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL. Bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Dee from Virginia. I’m a new listener since November 2016 and a first-time caller. I just want to say I appreciate Daily Audio Bible greatly and thank you. I also want to let you know that I’m agreeing in prayer with the prayers that are being lifted up daily on behalf of those calling in and I’m just praising and thanking God for answering in the way that he knows is best. Please join me in praying for Stanley who called in around the 18th or 19th. Isaiah 40:31 says they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And Galatians 6:9 says so don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. Father, thank you for your word and how it will reassure Stanley in his role as an educator. Thank you for giving him the wisdom, the understanding and knowledge he needs for the opportunity you have given him. Help him to seek your face for guidance and direction. May he be encouraged and know, Lord God, that you love him and you care about the things that are concerning him. Please, Father, give him courage, confidence, strength, and peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Jay calling from New Jersey. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, God, we praise you and we bless the mighty name of Jesus Christ this morning. Father, we thank you for life. We thank you for health. And we thank you for the strength that you give us every day. Father, we confess now of any sins that we’ve committed in our hearts, with our flesh, with our minds. We repent, Father. We turn away from it. Father, we come to you because we’re dealing with so much that we need to lean on you, God. Father, we’re dealing with anxiety. God, we’re dealing with depression. Jesus, we’re dealing with isolation from friends and family. Father, we’re dealing with financial issues that just seem to be too much. God, we’re dealing with pornography. Father, we’re struggling with our flesh. God, we’re dealing with alcoholism and drug abuse. Father, we’re dealing with emotional and physical abuse. God, some of us have been raped. Some of us have been mugged and robbed and stolen from and lied on and cheated on. So God, we’re coming to you. Jesus, we need you. Holy Spirit, come now. Comfort us in our time of need. We thank you, Father, for your word that says that you give us the peace which passes all understanding. We pray for that peace now, God, as we go to your word each and every day. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.