04/06/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20 ~ Luke 11:37-12:7 ~ Psalm 78:1-31 ~ Proverbs 12:19-20

Today is April 6th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian. Greetings to you from the mountains of North Georgia where later on today the More Gathering for Women will begin. So the team, we are here and speedily preparing for their arrival.  We’ll talk about that in a little bit, but we’re here for the word of God which washes into our lives no matter where we are and no matter what we’re doing.  So from the New International Version, Deuteronomy chapter 29, verse 1 through 30, verse 20 and, man, just a few days and we will finish this book of Deuteronomy, these final words of Moses.  Let’s press in.  Let’s press into what he is saying before he leaves the children of Israel and they move forward toward the Jordan River.  

Commentary

Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy for the last week and a half since we’ve begun this book, couple weeks, has been saying the last things that he is going to say and he has been kind of reaffirming the law that was given and its customs and rituals and celebrations, all the things that are woven into the culture to remind them of who they are.  And he has been talking about the covenants that God has made with the people and so we’ve been kind of moving through the blessings and the cursings, the advantages and disadvantages of obeying that covenant and what life will look like based on the choices that are made in that.  

We can look at it and go, “Okay, that was then.  This is now, Jesus has come,” but Jesus’ coming has ratified a new covenant that also has blessings and cursings.  Maybe they don’t look exactly like that or are enacted just like this, but all we have to do is look at our own lives.  When we are walking with God in an intimate covenant with him, that does not mean challenge or hardship or difficulty or obstacle doesn’t come our way.  It means that we have a horizon and we’re never lost in where we’re going.  We have a North Star.  We’re moving through, not being stuck in any wilderness.  So the words from Moses’ lips today ring true all the way across these thousands of years into our own ears and hearts.  

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you[TR1]  life and death, blessings and curses.   Now choose life so that you and your children may live, that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him, for the Lord is your life.”

That is no less true this very minute than it was when Moses spoke it. So may we invite the Holy Spirit to come and examine our lives.  What are the paths that we are walking down and where are they going, toward blessing or toward the fact that we can curse ourselves with the choices that we make by choosing to walk away from God in any situation?  The cumulative effect will either be blessing or cursing, life or death.  The choice, however, with the children of Israel and with us, is ours.  May we choose life.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we invite you into that, because the truth of our lives is that we choose both.  We choose both often.  We may be choosing life in this area and cursing in another.  We may be walking down the narrow path that leads to life in certain areas, while in others not so much.  And here you are saying, “But don’t you want abundant life?  Don’t you want life to the full?  Aren’t you tired of settling for a half life when I’ve come to make you whole?”  And we hear you.  We hear you and it rings true because it is true.  So come, Holy Spirit.  We ask in the name of Jesus, by whose authority we can even come into your presence, we ask that you show us what it looks like to fully, completely, with heart, mind and will, with all of our heart, all of our strength, all of our mind walk with you and choose abundant life.  Come Jesus, we pray in your mighty name.  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 yeah, what is going on around here is the More Gathering for Women.  This afternoon some buses will arrive from the airport and people who are driving in will arrive and registration will happen, dinner together and then we’ll launch.  We’ll launch into this year’s More Gathering.  So we covet your prayers and ask for them.  We need them continually over this camp.  That’s the beauty of this community, that we can know there will always be someone praying.  There will always be many praying along with our intercessors that are here and will be constantly praying.  So we ask that we join together over and for the hearts of those who have come, these women who have been brave and taken a chance and got on a plane or got in a car and packed some bags and will be arriving in the beauty of the mountains here. So thank you for your prayers over all of this.  

Then the other thing that is on the radar right now is Israel 2018.  We’ll be going back to the land of the Bible in February, February 19 through March 4.  It is a lovely time of the year there and it is going to be great.  We have some great things planned.  So if that is on your bucket list or you’ve just been waiting for someone to tell you when it is going to be, it is now.  These pilgrimages to the land of the Bible have a capacity so I would say register sooner than later.  But you can register now.  Go to www.DailyAudioBible.com and just look for the icon, Israel 2018, and you’ll get all the details.  Or you can just go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and find out what you want to know. Begin to pray if this is your year, if this is your time and we’ll look forward to it very, very much.  It is always…  I was going to say meaningful, but it’s kind of more than that.  It sort of settles into the fabric of life.  It changes some things.  It’s hard to see the Bible the same ever again really at all because you encounter these people and these stories and you can say ‘I’ve walked that ground.  I know what that looks like.  I know what that feels like.  I’ve put myself in that position.  I know what we’re talking about.’  It just touches a lot of things in life.  So we’ll look forward to that.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can’t thank you enough. What we do as a community here at the Daily Audio Bible we do together.  We’ve only ever done this together, and so I thank you for your part in helping the Daily Audio Bible to go on tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day so that we’re always here, we’re always fresh, it’s always happening.  We’re always in community no matter where we go.  No matter where we wander, it’s always here.  So thank you.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App and, speaking of the app, I know some of you have been experiencing issues since the last update.  That is getting fixed.  We’ve been working with the developers on this thing.  They made some changes that affected us in particular and so that is being worked on.  If you’re clicking a day and it starts playing a different day, just shut the app down and restart it and it should refresh and all will be well.  That’s kind of the work-around, but we’re working on the permanent fix.  But anyway, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner and 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 call.  

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hey, y’all.  This is Nette from Oklahoma City.  Oh, two days and I’ll wake up to the More Conference.  I can’t wait to see you guys.  Hey, Mike from Colorado who was driving down to Boulder considering the pointlessness and meaningless of life, my brother, I understand you completely. I have felt that way for a long time until I read and meditated on the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon’s book of wisdom.  My brother, your answer is in the book of Ecclesiastes.  I don’t want to spoil it for you.  Read the book.  You will find out that you are not the first person, you won’t be the last who has felt just like this.  I understand because we have to sit here and go through these trials and tribulations for what seems like no pointless reason whatsoever and why can’t God just come on down here and just take care of this business and, you know, let’s just get this party started.  I understand exactly how you feel, exactly.  I understand.  But also keep in mind that, brother, we’re here for a mission and that is to spread the word of God and save as many people and take them all with us as quickly as possible. We got to fill up our bus with nonbelievers and convert them to believers.  So, brother, you do have a point and a mission and that is to spread God’s word.  Go out and be fruitful, right?  And multiply. That doesn’t mean just children either. That means bringing in nonbelievers and telling them about the Lord.  So, brother, you have a mission.  Even though it feels pointless, you gotta look beyond that.  So read Ecclesiastes, my brother, and I think that you’re going to find exactly what you are looking for and also be a mission man. Be a mission man.  Tell folks what you found, alright?  I love you…

Dear Lord, I pray for unity in your church.  Your church, not our church.  God, I pray that we would understand one another, understand differences, that we would be forgiving of one another when we don’t understand and when others hurt us horribly.  Lord, sometimes when it lasts for years and the pain just won’t go away, help us to see these people who hurt us through your eyes, Lord Jesus.  Help us to remember that we were totally dead in our sins and it was by your grace that we were saved, not through our works.  God, help us to see people through your eyes, to understand one another.  Just take away the hurt.  Help us to forgive one another, be kind to one another the way you have been so forgiving of us.  I pray that you would mend the things that have hurt for years among the listeners, for those who have been betrayed by brothers and sisters in the church, by clergy, by people who they thought they trusted.  And God, just bring healing for your glory, Lord.  Let us live for you and not ourselves.  We love you, Lord, and we praise you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hi Dabbers.  This is God’s Girl, Kathy in Nacogdoches, TX.  I just listened to Daily Audio Bible on Monday.  Today is April 3rd.  A lady’s recording came on.  I didn’t catch her name, but she is going through a divorce and the brokenness in her voice and in her heart really touched me because I used to be married to a minister and we went through a horrific divorce.  I can honestly say I know what it is like to hurt.  I didn’t want to get divorced but it was a very abusive situation that I was in and I look back now and I see the hand of God on my life and my children’s lives.  I’m the mom whose got the son that has had the seven brain surgeries. So I’m calling to encourage you, my sister.  You keep your head up.  God promised he would never leave us nor forsake us.  He loves us more than we can even imagine.  And as much as I love my children, God loves them even more than I do and he loves me more than my mom and my dad with me.  That’s just a lot to comprehend, isn’t it?  But I just wanted to say greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world and though your heart is breaking right now, God is the mender and the healer and it will get better in the mighty name of Jesus.  Just know I’m praying for all of you.  The Lord bless each of you.  There are so many that call in that need healing in so many besetting circumstances, but our God reigns.  I love you all.  Keep your chins up.  Stay on your knees.  Keep praying and believing in Jesus’ holy name.  Goodnight.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, friends, people.  This is Blessed Like Me.  I have been just so elated today.  I did a children’s sermon on Sunday.  I did a sermon on forgiveness.  I read from Matthew 6, I believe, where Jesus tells us how to pray and right after that prayer, right after that whole prayer, Jesus said forgive those that have done you wrong.  No, he says forgive because you have been forgiven and if you do not forgive, you won’t be forgiven.  Then I got to thinking and I read Colossians 3:12 which says you will need compassion, kindness, and a couple of more characteristics that have to do with the things that you need to be as we’re forgiven.  But anyway, on my children’s sermon I had two brothers stand up.  I had one brother slightly push the other brother just as an illustration on forgiveness.  The one brother pushed the other brother a little bit.  I said, “Do you forgive him?”  And just unscripted, I had not planned with these boys or anything, but the one boy said, “No, I don’t forgive him.”  And I told that one boy that didn’t forgive him, I said, “You’re standing in unforgiveness right now.  Right now your prayers cannot be answered.  Your prayers are hindered.”  I asked him, “Do you pray for your parents?”  He said, “Yes.”  I said, “Well, right now you can’t pray for your parents because you’re standing in unforgiveness.”  You should have seen his eyes just dim.  His eyes changed because he turned to forgiveness.  Anyway, forgiveness is key.  You can almost stop your redemption.  If he says your sins can’t be forgiven, then wow.  Love you Daily Audio Bible family.  

Hello Dabbers.  This is Ruth from California.  This is my first call since I started listening two years ago.  I love to hear your stories and your testimonies and, Brian, I thank you so much for your commitment to the word and the love you share with each of us.  I pray for each one of you as you share the burden you carry and I remember it was Scott, I believe, in Southern California who was a believer but has turned away from Jesus and has a heavy heart as far as his position in Christ.  Scott, he loves you and that has not changed.  I would like to ask you if you would not only pray but fast for my grandson, Isaac.  When he was 4 he had a grand mal seizure.  He’s continued to have seizures and has been every day to prevent them  without success.  Isaac is now 22 years of age and is scheduled for brain surgery beginning April 18th at the University of Seattle.  He’s an amazing young man who loves the Lord with all his heart. We believe our healer is the Lord Jesus and we look to him for success with surgery.  The doctors have only given us a 50/50 chance, but we believe with Jesus all things are possible.  Thank you and I cherish your prayers for Isaac.  [singing]  I love you, Lord, and I lift my…