Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19 ~ Luke 10:13-37 ~ Psalm 75:1-10 ~ Proverbs 12:12-14
Today is the 3rd day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, like every day. It’s good to be here with you today as we take the next step forward on our journey through the scriptures this month that we’re just getting going on and, of course, this year. Believe it or not, this is our 93rd day of this year, so we’ll take our 93rd step forward. Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 1 through 25, verse 19, and we’re reading from the New International Version this week.
Commentary
Jesus is really happy today because what is happening in the world is so monumental. We began our reading from the gospel of Luke today with Jesus speaking words of woe over three cities, three cities that he had spent the majority of his time of ministry in – Corazon, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, which was his hometown, because they were seeing what he was doing but not believing. They were hearing the message of the good news of the kingdom but not grasping, not believing and that is very interesting, because when Jesus goes out and performs some sort of miraculous thing, whether it be healing or otherwise, it is belief, right? I mean, what does Jesus say? “Your faith has made you well. Go in peace. All things are possible to those who believe.”
And he had done so much of his ministry in these three cities. All still exist until today. All are in ruins exactly like he said. They did not believe. What we believe, what we place our faith in does matter. Our belief is like the container for our faith. We put our faith in what we believe. And Bethsaida, Corazon and Capernaum did not believe. So after that, the 72 people that he had sent out with his authority to go and do the things that he was doing returned and said, “It works! Even demons submit to us in your name.”
And Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” which is like this goose bump moment, this awareness it is working. It has begun, the transformation of this species, the restoration of this planet. Satan is being cast down and Jesus says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.”
Then it’s like Jesus downplays all that gain. So like anytime we come into contact with the miraculous, very often Jesus is saying ‘don’t tell anybody about this, keep it on a down low, go somewhere else,’ and he does something similar, even though he’s rejoicing about what is happening. “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Do not rejoice that you can do these things that are supposed to be normal for you. Rejoice because of why you can.
And then Jesus is joyous in worship. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and reveal them to the little children. This is what you were pleased to do. You were pleased to come into this world and begin reclaiming it, not among the high and lofty and learned. Not in ways that people could figure out, but by the power of your Holy Spirit, among those whose faith is like that of a little child.”
For a long time, this was a little bit of a cryptic passage, but when you look at it in context, you understand that this is a very big deal. Something very, very huge has begun to happen on planet earth. Faith is rising up and when people rise up in their authority as image-bearers of their creator, the evil one falls like lightning from the sky. May we understand that we have that authority, the authority of the Risen Christ, the Victorious One. It is his spirit that is within us and nothing is impossible except for when we believe that it is impossible and put our faith in that impossibility.
Prayer
Father, like the father of a daughter so long ago, we declare we do believe, help our unbelief. We want to fully experience intimacy with you in every way and we want to fully touch this world as your hands and feet, changing things everywhere we go in whatever way that you would lead us into. We believe you. Our faith is in you. So Holy Spirit, come and lead us into all the things you would have us participate in. Come Jesus, we pray. In your authority and by your beautiful name we ask, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what is going on around here, and it’s just a couple days until the More Gathering for Women. That begins on the 6th, and so here is a call to the entire community to just pray over all the travel, all the women’s hearts that will be coming, all the equipment, all the technology, everything. Everything about it we ask for your intercession and your covering and your prayer because we feel those prayers without a doubt. So thank you for praying over this.
And then I have announced Israel 2018. So we’ll be going back to the land of the Bible February 19th through March 4th and it is going to be amazing and you are invited. So if you’ve been waiting for me to talk about this, now is your chance. I suggest that if you intend to go, register early. There is a capacity for this trip. Go to www.DailyAudioBible.com and just look for Israel 2018 and you’ll find it in the Initiatives. Or go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and you’ll get the details there.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. There is a link. It’s on the home page. Thank you for those of you who have clicked that link. That is how we stay here every day. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press 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
Good morning dear family and good morning Brian. This is Stan from Maryland. It’s Friday morning, the 31st of March and I’m calling because I was just deeply moved as I read through and prayed through the Daily Prayer with you, Brian, and I just am calling this morning with thanks and praise at how God has used you and Jill and all my brothers and sisters throughout this entire international network of believers in Jesus Christ. Daily Audio Bible has been a Christ-line to me as I have journeyed through some challenges over the past two years and the book you wrote about, Reframe, has shifted my perspective. As we’ve been reading through the Old Testament I have just seen myself over and over, how I have excluded myself from the mistakes as I’ve looked at the Israelites’ mistakes. I’ve said, “Well, I’d never do that.” That was the actions of the enemy covering my eyes that I could not see. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I’m just so grateful and I’m thankful for you, Brian. For you, Jill, and for everyone that is going to hear this message because you’ve touched me deeply, whether you realize that or not. Thank you for being part of this, everyone. God loves you. Bye-bye.
Hi DAB family. My name is Wendy and I live in California. I’m calling with a heavy heart. Me and my husband have been having really difficult times and it has a lot to do with him being bipolar. He was diagnosed when he was a kid and he absolutely refuses to seek any kind of assistance, so I’m just praying that God opens his mind. He has been playing games with my emotions and he’s been saying things that he knows are my triggers, are my insecurities, and I’m struggling. I’m struggling. I’m struggling because I love him. I mean, we’ve been together 12 years and then we got married. Two years into the marriage, two and half years, so it’s been a long journey. I’ve been around with him for most of the time that he was in foster care and things like that, and I just am struggling. We struggle in our finances. We struggle with having a baby. We’ve had two miscarriages, and this has been a very difficult season for us. He seems to have a mood swing usually around the holidays because of the times he had when he was a kid. So just asking for your prayer. If you’d like to reach out to me, my email is WJMiles0112@gmail.com. Thanks so much for your prayers.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. It’s April 1st and Brian, I just want to say first and foremost that you absolutely fooled me. I laughed so loud as you started to read this morning. What a great April Fool’s joke. You know, I should have known from a couple years ago before I walked away from the Daily Audio Bible that you did that because I remember you had done that before, but I had forgotten and you got me and it was so funny. I know that you revere the word of God. Thank you, Brian, for your ministry. This is John from Bethlehem. Thank you and thank Jill. And I just wanted to thank all the folks in the Daily Audio Bible community. I’ll be calling in again and frequently. I want to let you know that I’m thinking of you all and praying for you all. I hear your prayer requests and your praise reports and I’m lifting all of you in need of prayer up in prayer all the time. I’m going to call back and name you by name as well. And for those of you that have called in with a praise report, I think that is phenomenal. I’ve never asked for prayer from the community before and that is because I’m probably just a little bit, I don’t know. I pray to God but I’ve never asked you guys. I’m growing. I’m changing. I’m working on it. I’m a work in process. I need your prayer. If you would pray for my family, to watch over them, that God might make them stronger, especially for my wife Andrea and I as a couple. We’re going on 26 years of marriage this coming Friday, that would be April 7th, and there is something that is attacking our relationship. We’re together. We’re working through things and we’re not doing it on our own. We’re in God’s word, but I could really use your help with that. Thank you. I love you all and I’ll talk to you soon.
Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is a new listener calling in. I’ve been listening since January and I’m calling because I need some help with something that is a heavy burden on my heart and has been for a while. The man that is in my life who I love very dearly and he’s a big support to me in every way, he does not desire to have a personal relationship with God. It is one of those things where I know that I have gotten myself into this mess by not having margin in my life before, so now I’m just trying to ask for God’s intervention in his life, that he may open his heart and may seek him to have a relationship with him and it is something I’ve been praying about for a while and it’s getting difficult to carry by myself. And so I’m just praying that the Lord will let his will be done and the Lord will reveal himself to him and that can be a part of our relationship. So anyway, that is my prayer, that I would be asking help from you guys. I thank you so much for this community. It really has been wonderful to hear everybody and reach out. You guys have made me a prayer warrior listening to you guys and praying for you guys. And so, God bless all of you and thank you. Bye.
This call is for a couple people. One of them, Annette A. __________ sister, I’m praying for you and your whole family. Thanks for calling. Keep calling. And also the lady who just called, was in tears about I believe it was her husband who was drinking really heavily. I just want you to know I’m praying for you. You’re not alone. And then also I wanted to pray for a sister’s son that called in. I can’t remember your name. Your son’s name was Turner. Lord, I just want to pray for Turner and I want to pray for everyone who has addiction issues, no matter what it is, big or small. Jesus, help us give it to you, Lord, and turn towards you and live for you. I want to pray for Turner especially, help him with this last stint here in the rehab. Help him find you and may you be glorified in his life and in all of our lives, Lord. We thank you for you and all you’ve done and your presence. Help us live for you, Lord, and help us overcome our unbelief. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
I’m speaking here on behalf of Anna, __________, and __________. We’re on the Sunshine Coast in sunny Queensland, Australia and we just want to give a shout-out to the Daily Audio Bible family and the true blessing that the DAB family is upon the world and our connectedness and the hope and the richness that we bring to God’s glory upon this earth. We just pray into all your lives, that you may see the full glory and might of God and all his majesty fall upon you in his grace and his mercy and his love and that you be bestowed with such light in your lives. And we want to wish you all a beautiful Easter, that we may celebrate it together and celebrate our commonalities, overcome our differences. In Jesus’ name we just pray this. Amen.