Month: April 2017

Joshua 5:1-7:15 ~ Luke 15:1-32 ~ Psalm 81:1-16 ~ Proverbs 13:1

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  Today is the 12^th day of April.  I’m Brian.  It is my pleasure and joy to be in your company today.  Thanks for letting me and I’m glad that we can be in one another’s company today as a community and, man, the Holy Spirit is here with all of us no matter where we might be and we are never alone.  So we’ll take the next step forward in the journey that we are on this year through the scriptures and we have just gotten to the other side of the Jordan River.  We have finally, finally come into the promised land.  Joshua chapter 4, verse 1 through 7:15.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for another day in your word, another day in community. We thank you for your presence in, through and among each of us this day and may each of us this day bring your kingdom into every situation, every thought, word and deed, for we all know that the story that Jesus told is a true one, that we have each been sheep that have gone astray and you came for us and you have rejoiced over us and you continue to rejoice over us.  May we in turn have a heart of rejoicing each and every day for those who have been found, for those who have been rescued and come into your kingdom, and may we be agents of your kingdom in bringing that to be.  Come, Holy Spirit.  Show us how to live well with margin enough to even pay attention to these things. Help us know that everything that we do is a seed planted for your kingdom or a seed planted that will grow up to be weeds in our lives and in those within our sphere of influence. Help us to understand this day that it all matters.  Come, Jesus, we pray.  In your name we ask, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.  Let’s see, the pilgrimage that we’ll be taking back to this land of the Bible is on the radar.  We’ll be going the 19^th of February all the way through the 4^th of March back to these places like this city of Jericho where this first battle was fought.  So you can find out about that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for Israel 2018 on the home page and that will get you the information that you need.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then I can’t thank you enough.  I’m humbled every day that we get to be here.  Every day is like a gift that we can be here and that we have been here, well, this is 12 years.  This is our 12^th year.  Every day is nothing short of a miracle and nothing short of astounding to me and that a vast community of people who are from every stripe, I mean every denominational or nondenominational affiliation, from every culture, from every continent, from every kind of life story we can imagine and we hear so many of those nuances and complexions in a year inside this community.  It’s quite amazing to have a community like this that is so loving, so compassionate, so kind.  I imagine it looks remarkably like God’s kingdom and so that is remarkable. If that has been life-giving, then thank you for helping it to continue forward.  There is a link on the home page of www.DailyAudioBible.com.  You can get there if you use the app by pressing 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, we are community and so if you’re carrying some things that are better not to be carried alone, lots and lots of people will pray along with you, shouldering the burdens, and it is remarkable to know that you’re not alone. That alone is such a gift and God has done some amazing things in this community over the years.  So we have several numbers set up depending on where you are in the world.  If you are in the Americas, you can call (877) 942-4253.   If you’re in the UK or Europe, 44, 2036-088-078.  And if you are in Australia or that part of the world, 61, 3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.  

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Father God, thank you so much for Easter and thank you, Lord, so much for Palm Sunday and Good Friday and Easter Sunday, all these chances we have to celebrate you and celebrate you as a community, as various churches, and then also publicly in our cities, Lord.  Thank you, Lord, so much for all of those processions that happen today and those processions that will happen this week and those passion plays happening in cities, Lord.  Father God, I pray that you would help us be shining lights where we are.  I pray that you would give us opportunities to share our faith and share the Easter story with our work colleagues, with our neighbors, and with our family, Lord.  Thank you for those Easter Sunday meals we’ll be sharing with family members, family members who don’t know you.  I pray, Lord, that you would be working in their hearts so that they would finally grasp what it is about and they would seek to know you, Lord.  Thank you, Lord, so much for Palm Sunday and how you entered Jerusalem on a donkey, that you showed us what true humility is.  And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to think of ourselves less and think of you more and think of others more.  Father God, I lift up our friends and people who are selling their houses.  I’m thinking especially of my friend Mike, but I know there are other people in this community who are seeking to sell a house or they are seeking something to happen and it has not happened yet and we’re seeing other people get these things. Lord, I pray that you would just be a comfort in these situations and peace, that they would be able to trust you to get it done, Lord.  And we pray that you would be at work in these things and it would happen.  Father God, we also pray for healing, Lord, for those with bad backs and other things like that.  I pray especially for Mike again.  Lord, you know that situation.  Thank you, Lord.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hi DAB family.  This is Tamika from Carlisle, PA.  I am calling because I am reaching out to you guys because I feel like since I moved away it’s the closest thing I have to a church and at first I was very ashamed to say that, and now I’m kind of proud about it because I feel like some of you guys, especially Sojourner, I feel like you guys are my family.  So I come to you and I reach out for your help. This isn’t about fails or money, but I’m a single mom of four.  I had to leave hair due to medical issues and I’m in the cosmetic business and I have been since 2003.  I stand there about to start a brand new promotion.  I used all my tax money to pay off old debts and to make sure I didn’t let other men into my household.  I wanted to do this alone.  I want the next man to be in my home to help me and my four kids run toward God and I realize now that is a serious order.  So only for those reasons, please, please pray that God will bless this promotion so that I will have enough money for me and my kids.  I don’t want anything that God doesn’t want me to have and I’ve never really wanted the goals and the sales like I do right now.  I don’t want them for any reason bad, so will you please help me?  Thank you so much.  Bye.  

Hi, this is Alicia from Kansa and I’m calling on behalf of my daughter, Keagan, in Colorado.  Keagan has recently been diagnosed as bipolar and she recently has been sleep deprived for four days and she is psychotic right now and I cannot get to Colorado and they can’t get her meds right and her father won’t take her back to the hospital because she is afraid they are going to kill her there.  She is afraid of the medications and I’m a psych nurse and I understand her fears, but her fears are to the point due to the psychosis but a lot __________ making sense.  This girl has been normal all of her life and just has recently experienced two psychotic breaks and I’m at a loss.  I’ve been crying out to the Lord.  Somebody actually implied that my prayers aren’t being heard because I’m not righteous, but I know that is a lie and it’s wrong.  Please pray for my daughter, Keagan.  Pray for guidance for the doctors, for the right medication, for her father to take her to the hospital __________.  I thank you.  I’m so grateful that I can come here and just be myself and know that people are praying. Thank you all so much.  Bye.  

Hi beautiful family.  Hello, this is Pastor Gene and I am calling almost against my will.  The Lord has been putting this very heavily in my heart and the advantage of being behind is I’m always listening three weeks __________. This is not directed to any recent phone call and I hope that it is received in the spirit in which it has been offered because I felt extremely prompted by God now for a few days to share this, and that is that when we call this line, family, my exhortation and I believe this is from God humbly is that we insure that our exhortation is grounded in the word of God and not on our opinions or thoughts.  We know about Job’s friends and how they spoke a lot of wise words, but none of them were aligned with what God was thinking about Job and his situation.  I’ve heard over and over again in podcasts that go back three weeks to a month ago that some of us are encouraging our brothers and sisters not to pray constantly for the same thing, and yet the word says pray without ceasing.  Do not be anxious for anything but may all your petitions be brought to God in supplication and prayer.  The Bible says about our Savior that he constantly withdrew to lonely places and petitioned to God with cries and screams, but the Lord even makes an example of a widow that was appealing to an unfair judge and the judge was a judge that actually heard her request because of her insistence.  And so, family…gosh, I’m going to have to finish this later.  Love you. Bye.  

And this is part 2 of my exhortation.  I hope it gets played.  So this is Pastor Gene again.  And so over and over again the Bible encourages to pray without ceasing, encourages to pray repeatedly, encourages to not give up and I think the only time the Bible actually places a limit on prayers is when the apostle Paul tells us that he prayed three times for the same thing but God spoke to him and told him no, my power is made perfect in the midst of your weakness.  So when he stopped praying, it wasn’t because God was granting his request or because he was believing God had granted it by him just praying once.  It was because God told him, “Don’t pray about it anymore because my answer is no.” So family, this is a prayer line and if you have enough faith to pray for something once and never pray about it again because you thought that God has granted it in the spiritual realm with just your first time, then God bless you.  Maybe that truly is God’s __________ for your life, but I don’t think we should generalize it, particularly we are brothers and sisters __________ is just a very powerful outlet.  I encourage all of us, including myself, to really pursue God before we place a call, before we try to exhort, because sometimes we have a lot of passion but we don’t have a lot of compassion and we can come across as telling people stop calling already, we’ve heard you and God’s already heard you, so stop asking for the same thing over and over again and I don’t think that is anywhere in the Bible.  I really struggled to place this call, guys.  I love you dearly and you know when I call I just pray, but I felt God was asking me to place this call and to exhort all of us and so I’m trying to be obedient.  I love you guys with all of my heart.  This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL. Bye.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible.  Wow, my voice is already starting to crack.  I’m thankful for this community.  This is Ken from Southern California and I’ve called before.  Have been in a relationship that has been difficult for me, for her, because I haven’t been able to let go.  So now I’m in a place where I’m letting go and letting God.  We always hear about giving it to God, letting him take our cares, don’t have anxiety, Philippians 4.  The peace of God that passes all understanding.  All this stuff that tells us that we need to let go and trust God. I don’t know how to do that.  I don’t know how to do that.  But I want to know how to do that.  I want to give it to God and want to give up trying to control things.  I always have anxiety over work, over money, over love, over this relationship.  That love is what I’m talking about.  So please pray for me, family.  Ken from Southern California, Orange County. Thank you.  

Joshua 3:1-4:24 ~ Luke 14:7-35 ~ Psalm 80:1-19 ~ Proverbs 12:27-28

Today is April 11^th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today to take the next step forward and, yeah, we turned the page yesterday, ending the story of Moses and the children of Israel and moving into the story of Joshua and the actual crossing of the Jordan into the promised land.  So we’ll pick up where we left off.  We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week, Joshua chapter 3, verse 1 through 4, verse 24.  

Commentary

In the book of Luke today Jesus unpacks what being a follower is, what being one of his disciples actually has to look like.  He says, “You have to love me more than you love anyone and you have to pick up your cross and follow me.  You have to love me with all your heart and you have to go where I’m going.”

This isn’t new.  This is the great commandment – love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength.  And then he illustrates this with a couple of stories, both to illustrate the fact that you have to understand this and you have to count the cost of it and decide whether it is a cost you are willing to pay because it is all of you, all that you have, all that you will ever be forever.  That is the cost of being a disciple of the Savior.  And Jesus is basically saying if you’re not ready to do that, then you’re not ready for this.  

He goes on to say, “You cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.”  So does that mean you just randomly tomorrow find the first person that crosses your path and give your house to them?  No, it is that you understand that it is not your house to give away.  You already gave it away.  It belongs to God.  Everything you are, everything you own you have given to God, understanding that now you are a steward of his resources.  Your source is God.  Your source of life, your source of provision, your hopes for the future, everything is wrapped up in God and everything you steward is part of God’s kingdom.  

We could say that is semantics, but it is quite a bit more than semantics because when you’re living from that place you live differently.  You’re not trying to hoard things unto yourself. You’re trying to steward things on behalf of the king and his kingdom.  And this is what it looks like to be a believer.  This is what it looks like to be a disciple.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we invite you to well up within.  Spirit of Christ within, show us the places that we’ve kind of walled off from you, we’ve segregated from you and said ‘this is ours and not yours and you can’t have this, this is mine.’  Show us the places that we’ve counted the cost and turned back.  Show us the places that we haven’t counted the cost at all.  Show us what it means to love you with all of our hearts.  Jesus, the truth is our hearts have been broken many times and we have fragments of history that can be haunting.  Only by the power of your Holy Spirit can our hearts be full, can we love you with all of our heart, so we need you to be able to even do this.  So come into those places and heal us.  We know that our only hope is in you and our hope is in you.  Show us day by day through this process of sanctification, this process of being set apart as holy to you every day more and more how to do that today.  Come, Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s the website.  It’s where you find out what’s up and, man, in the book of Joshua, right?  We are in the promised land.  We have crossed the Jordan River after all of this time.  I mean, almost since the beginning of the year we have been moving toward this day and we’ve gotten to cross over and our feet are now in the promised land and that is where we’ll spend the majority, not all, but the majority of the rest of the Bible.  I’ve been mentioning that we’ll be taking another pilgrimage there. You can plant your own feet on the soil of the promised land and watch these stories come to life before your very eyes as you have the ability to just turn in a circle, see this 360-degree view of how these stories and their geography took place.  We’ll be going back February 19^th through March 4^th of 2018 and you can find out all the details at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for Israel 2018 and you’ll find out what you need to know.  You can also just go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and that will take you there as well.  So consider coming along.  We’ll look forward to seeing you in the promised land.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link on the home page as well.  Thank you for clicking that link.  If you use 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi, this is Eric from Minnesota.  This is my first time calling and could use some prayer for our family. My wife recently lost her wedding ring and it was…  Kind of a back story, the last few years have been pretty tough.  I had a business partner that cheated me over and we lost everything, lost our house, car, most of what we owned and the wedding ring was one of the few nice things that we had left over from that and pretty much is irreplaceable.  She has been very depressed, also not sleeping because of our little daughter who hasn’t been feeling well, but the lack of sleep along with the loss of the wedding ring has really gotten her down and I just reach out to you guys for some prayer that it would be found, that God would give us a little miracle and we would find it somewhere.  It would really mean the world to her.  God bless.

Hi family, this is Salvation is Mine in San Leandro, CA.  Today is Saturday, April 8, 2017.  I wanted to call in and pray with Karen from St. Louis who called in on April 1^st about being single and alone.  Oh my dear sister, I so feel your pain.  I have been praying and asking God for someone in my life for several decades and it still hasn’t happened.  I had boyfriends or men friends or whatever you want to call them, but the situations have not worked out for several different reasons, so I do understand your pain.  So right now, family, can we please pray for Karen and the like for being single, not just women, but men who have been praying to the Lord for a companion, a spouse, a friend even?  So family, let’s pray.  Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you right now thanking you for everything that you’ve given us.  In our hearts, Lord God, there is a piece missing and that is a companion, a friend, a husband, a wife.  Lord God, you did not make us to be alone because you made the first man and woman as a couple, so we know you did not make us to be alone.  Dear Father God, we get so broken and we get so tired of being alone and we don’t understand why.  Please open our hearts and our minds and our eyes to see what it is that you want us to fix in ourselves to be ready for the spouse or the companion or the friend that you are going to send us.  Help us to be mindful of you first and foremost and give you honor, glory and praise and thank you for what you’re about to do in our lives.  God bless you all.  God love you.  God keep you. Amen.  Bye-bye.  

Hi family.  This is Biola from Maryland calling from The More Conference.  I have with me Annette A. and Bold River, (I’m a virgin).  This sister has never called into the DAB. She couldn’t.  She just prays and prays.  Anyway, family, I am so happy that we are all here.  We’ve having an awesome time in the Lord.  Annette, my crazy Nettie right here beside me.  You know when Nette goes on and on, you know. And Jill, thank you so much for such a wonderful __________.  Brian, you are awesome.  Every single husband that sends their wives here, God bless you.  You rock!  And I just met Mern from Norway.  Oh my God! Brother, God bless you for sending your wife all this way.  Oh hallelujah!  Hallelujah. God is good.  Yes he is.  Alright guys. Love you.  Bye.  Love you all. __________.  

Hello.  I’m Connie A. here in Sydney.  I would like to lift up someone today or two people particularly.  It’s April the 9^th and I heard a message for a little boy called Lester from his great-grandmother’s sister called Sherry in California.  Lester has leukemia and he is really, really young.  And also Kathy who is the sister-in-law of Sandy from Texas.  I would like to pray for those __________ or anyone whose really suffering a lot and struggling to overcome serious illness. Father God, may both these people, Lester and Kathy, or anybody who is struggling right now just to be alive be healed as your living streams of water flows through them.  By the power to death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ who heals us through his own stripes that he suffered so much on our behalf, Holy Spirit, bring rest, peace and a ceasing of struggle to their bodies so that the blood of Jesus can heal miracles in their bodies.  I pray and ask you, Father, that you will intercede for them through your beloved son, Jesus, who heals and who responds to all who asks in his name.  I pray that the enemy has no hold over any accusation made against them through their bloodline, that they be cleansed from carrying anything they unknowingly are holding onto that does not belong to them.  Thank you, Father.  We praise you and thank you.  Thank you, Father, for being a good, good merciful father to all of us whose hearts are asking for healing.  In Jesus’ name, bless Lester and Kathy.  Strengthen them and anyone else who has childlike faith and trusts in your power to heal them.  God bless.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Stanley from Maryland.  I would like to say hello and this call is specifically for Drew in Texas. Drew in Texas and the others that have been praying for me as I continue this adventure as a teacher in Washington, D.C., first year, I want to thank you guys so much.  Drew, I want to thank you personally for your prayer.  And also for just calling in for the first time. It’s awesome.  You are much appreciated and I just want to bless you, brother, and I thank you so much for reaching out.  Your words of encouragement and your heart I just truly adore.  And so I pray for you and I bless you.  I’m looking forward to what God has in store for me and how he is working through me.  So I’m looking forward to calling back with a praise report and God is showing me that he loves me and he has a plan and a purpose for my life.  I just want to thank you again.  Thank you, Brian, and thank you, everyone else, for all you contribute to this wonderful community.  God bless.

The man had lain there for 38 years by a pool he believed held relief.  An angel would trouble the water sometimes and that was a common belief.  The pool was known as Bethesda and history has verified it was there.  It had five porches called porticos and two pools that the porches would share.  Thirty-eight long, unproductive years that man had lain on his back waiting for someone to give him a hand, but his thinking was on the wrong track.  Waiting for someone outside of himself to take him to a place that had power, wallowing in self-pity, alone on a mat, those 38 years made him sour.  Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?  Well, take up your mat and just put in to action the things that you want. Your desire shouldn’t only be talk.” In like fashion I’ve lain on my back for many long years, waiting for help instead of challenging my fears.  Every time the angel troubles the water, someone gets there ahead of me.  It’s comfortable being a victim for everyone to see.  Life is unfair, the problem is too much.  You can see I was dealt a bad hand.  Take up your mat.  Life isn’t fair, but stand up and walk like a man.  It isn’t the water contained in the pool.  Superstition is never the way.  It’s the power of God contained in his Son, all things to him must obey.  Attitudes truly can cripple and self-pity will bring a man down.  Alone on a mat, flat on your back, Jesus is always around.  Behold, he stands at the door and he knocks.  If you want to be healed, let him in.  God will always have pity on you.  His Son is our ultimate friend.  BlindTony1016@gmail.com.  It was so nice hearing your voice again, brother David F. from the Western Front.

Joshua 3:1-4:24 ~ Luke 14:7-35 ~ Psalm 80:1-19 ~ Proverbs 12:27-28

Today is April 11^th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today to take the next step forward and, yeah, we turned the page yesterday, ending the story of Moses and the children of Israel and moving into the story of Joshua and the actual crossing of the Jordan into the promised land.  So we’ll pick up where we left off.  We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week, Joshua chapter 3, verse 1 through 4, verse 24.  

Commentary

In the book of Luke today Jesus unpacks what being a follower is, what being one of his disciples actually has to look like.  He says, “You have to love me more than you love anyone and you have to pick up your cross and follow me.  You have to love me with all your heart and you have to go where I’m going.”

This isn’t new.  This is the great commandment – love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength.  And then he illustrates this with a couple of stories, both to illustrate the fact that you have to understand this and you have to count the cost of it and decide whether it is a cost you are willing to pay because it is all of you, all that you have, all that you will ever be forever.  That is the cost of being a disciple of the Savior.  And Jesus is basically saying if you’re not ready to do that, then you’re not ready for this.  

He goes on to say, “You cannot be my disciple unless you give away everything you own.”  So does that mean you just randomly tomorrow find the first person that crosses your path and give your house to them?  No, it is that you understand that it is not your house to give away.  You already gave it away.  It belongs to God.  Everything you are, everything you own you have given to God, understanding that now you are a steward of his resources.  Your source is God.  Your source of life, your source of provision, your hopes for the future, everything is wrapped up in God and everything you steward is part of God’s kingdom.  

We could say that is semantics, but it is quite a bit more than semantics because when you’re living from that place you live differently.  You’re not trying to hoard things unto yourself. You’re trying to steward things on behalf of the king and his kingdom.  And this is what it looks like to be a believer.  This is what it looks like to be a disciple.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we invite you to well up within.  Spirit of Christ within, show us the places that we’ve kind of walled off from you, we’ve segregated from you and said ‘this is ours and not yours and you can’t have this, this is mine.’  Show us the places that we’ve counted the cost and turned back.  Show us the places that we haven’t counted the cost at all.  Show us what it means to love you with all of our hearts.  Jesus, the truth is our hearts have been broken many times and we have fragments of history that can be haunting.  Only by the power of your Holy Spirit can our hearts be full, can we love you with all of our heart, so we need you to be able to even do this.  So come into those places and heal us.  We know that our only hope is in you and our hope is in you.  Show us day by day through this process of sanctification, this process of being set apart as holy to you every day more and more how to do that today.  Come, Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s the website.  It’s where you find out what’s up and, man, in the book of Joshua, right?  We are in the promised land.  We have crossed the Jordan River after all of this time.  I mean, almost since the beginning of the year we have been moving toward this day and we’ve gotten to cross over and our feet are now in the promised land and that is where we’ll spend the majority, not all, but the majority of the rest of the Bible.  I’ve been mentioning that we’ll be taking another pilgrimage there. You can plant your own feet on the soil of the promised land and watch these stories come to life before your very eyes as you have the ability to just turn in a circle, see this 360-degree view of how these stories and their geography took place.  We’ll be going back February 19^th through March 4^th of 2018 and you can find out all the details at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for Israel 2018 and you’ll find out what you need to know.  You can also just go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and that will take you there as well.  So consider coming along.  We’ll look forward to seeing you in the promised land.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link on the home page as well.  Thank you for clicking that link.  If you use 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi, this is Eric from Minnesota.  This is my first time calling and could use some prayer for our family. My wife recently lost her wedding ring and it was…  Kind of a back story, the last few years have been pretty tough.  I had a business partner that cheated me over and we lost everything, lost our house, car, most of what we owned and the wedding ring was one of the few nice things that we had left over from that and pretty much is irreplaceable.  She has been very depressed, also not sleeping because of our little daughter who hasn’t been feeling well, but the lack of sleep along with the loss of the wedding ring has really gotten her down and I just reach out to you guys for some prayer that it would be found, that God would give us a little miracle and we would find it somewhere.  It would really mean the world to her.  God bless.

Hi family, this is Salvation is Mine in San Leandro, CA.  Today is Saturday, April 8, 2017.  I wanted to call in and pray with Karen from St. Louis who called in on April 1^st about being single and alone.  Oh my dear sister, I so feel your pain.  I have been praying and asking God for someone in my life for several decades and it still hasn’t happened.  I had boyfriends or men friends or whatever you want to call them, but the situations have not worked out for several different reasons, so I do understand your pain.  So right now, family, can we please pray for Karen and the like for being single, not just women, but men who have been praying to the Lord for a companion, a spouse, a friend even?  So family, let’s pray.  Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you right now thanking you for everything that you’ve given us.  In our hearts, Lord God, there is a piece missing and that is a companion, a friend, a husband, a wife.  Lord God, you did not make us to be alone because you made the first man and woman as a couple, so we know you did not make us to be alone.  Dear Father God, we get so broken and we get so tired of being alone and we don’t understand why.  Please open our hearts and our minds and our eyes to see what it is that you want us to fix in ourselves to be ready for the spouse or the companion or the friend that you are going to send us.  Help us to be mindful of you first and foremost and give you honor, glory and praise and thank you for what you’re about to do in our lives.  God bless you all.  God love you.  God keep you. Amen.  Bye-bye.  

Hi family.  This is Biola from Maryland calling from The More Conference.  I have with me Annette A. and Bold River, (I’m a virgin).  This sister has never called into the DAB. She couldn’t.  She just prays and prays.  Anyway, family, I am so happy that we are all here.  We’ve having an awesome time in the Lord.  Annette, my crazy Nettie right here beside me.  You know when Nette goes on and on, you know. And Jill, thank you so much for such a wonderful __________.  Brian, you are awesome.  Every single husband that sends their wives here, God bless you.  You rock!  And I just met Mern from Norway.  Oh my God! Brother, God bless you for sending your wife all this way.  Oh hallelujah!  Hallelujah. God is good.  Yes he is.  Alright guys. Love you.  Bye.  Love you all. __________.  

Hello.  I’m Connie A. here in Sydney.  I would like to lift up someone today or two people particularly.  It’s April the 9^th and I heard a message for a little boy called Lester from his great-grandmother’s sister called Sherry in California.  Lester has leukemia and he is really, really young.  And also Kathy who is the sister-in-law of Sandy from Texas.  I would like to pray for those __________ or anyone whose really suffering a lot and struggling to overcome serious illness. Father God, may both these people, Lester and Kathy, or anybody who is struggling right now just to be alive be healed as your living streams of water flows through them.  By the power to death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ who heals us through his own stripes that he suffered so much on our behalf, Holy Spirit, bring rest, peace and a ceasing of struggle to their bodies so that the blood of Jesus can heal miracles in their bodies.  I pray and ask you, Father, that you will intercede for them through your beloved son, Jesus, who heals and who responds to all who asks in his name.  I pray that the enemy has no hold over any accusation made against them through their bloodline, that they be cleansed from carrying anything they unknowingly are holding onto that does not belong to them.  Thank you, Father.  We praise you and thank you.  Thank you, Father, for being a good, good merciful father to all of us whose hearts are asking for healing.  In Jesus’ name, bless Lester and Kathy.  Strengthen them and anyone else who has childlike faith and trusts in your power to heal them.  God bless.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Stanley from Maryland.  I would like to say hello and this call is specifically for Drew in Texas. Drew in Texas and the others that have been praying for me as I continue this adventure as a teacher in Washington, D.C., first year, I want to thank you guys so much.  Drew, I want to thank you personally for your prayer.  And also for just calling in for the first time. It’s awesome.  You are much appreciated and I just want to bless you, brother, and I thank you so much for reaching out.  Your words of encouragement and your heart I just truly adore.  And so I pray for you and I bless you.  I’m looking forward to what God has in store for me and how he is working through me.  So I’m looking forward to calling back with a praise report and God is showing me that he loves me and he has a plan and a purpose for my life.  I just want to thank you again.  Thank you, Brian, and thank you, everyone else, for all you contribute to this wonderful community.  God bless.

The man had lain there for 38 years by a pool he believed held relief.  An angel would trouble the water sometimes and that was a common belief.  The pool was known as Bethesda and history has verified it was there.  It had five porches called porticos and two pools that the porches would share.  Thirty-eight long, unproductive years that man had lain on his back waiting for someone to give him a hand, but his thinking was on the wrong track.  Waiting for someone outside of himself to take him to a place that had power, wallowing in self-pity, alone on a mat, those 38 years made him sour.  Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?  Well, take up your mat and just put in to action the things that you want. Your desire shouldn’t only be talk.” In like fashion I’ve lain on my back for many long years, waiting for help instead of challenging my fears.  Every time the angel troubles the water, someone gets there ahead of me.  It’s comfortable being a victim for everyone to see.  Life is unfair, the problem is too much.  You can see I was dealt a bad hand.  Take up your mat.  Life isn’t fair, but stand up and walk like a man.  It isn’t the water contained in the pool.  Superstition is never the way.  It’s the power of God contained in his Son, all things to him must obey.  Attitudes truly can cripple and self-pity will bring a man down.  Alone on a mat, flat on your back, Jesus is always around.  Behold, he stands at the door and he knocks.  If you want to be healed, let him in.  God will always have pity on you.  His Son is our ultimate friend.  BlindTony1016@gmail.com.  It was so nice hearing your voice again, brother David F. from the Western Front.

Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24 ~ Luke 13:22-14:6 ~ Psalm 79:1-13 ~ Proverbs 12:26

Today is the 10^th day of April.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today.  Exhausting day, just post More Gathering for Women, so first chance to just kind of catch some breath and maybe an extra hour of sleep, but a full heart.  So, well done, ladies!  Well done.  We’re thankful that you made it or are making it home safely and now the journey begins. But we’ll turn our attention to the journey that is already underway through the scriptures this year and today is kind of a big day.  We’re finishing the book of Deuteronomy.  We’re finishing what is known as the Pentateuch or the Torah today as we complete this book and move into the book of Joshua, which we’ll talk about when we get there.  But first, Deuteronomy chapter 34, verses 1 through the end of the book.  

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

We’re about to move into the next book, and at the turn of the page we’re moving into a completely new chapter in this story.  The book of Joshua is an exhilarating book because almost from the very beginning of the Bible we’ve been hearing about the promised land, this almost mythic land that was promised in advance to Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob and Joseph.  It remains a whisper of hope all through the children of Israel’s captivity and the exodus into their freedom and the establishment of a new culture. Everything that we’ve gone through so far has been toward the promised land and here we are, about to cross over the Jordan River into it.

This is the second time that the children of Israel have been right at the precipice.  The first time they were thwarted and had 40 more years wandering in the desert, an entire generation lost because of their disobedience and their lack of trust in God. Now, as we just read, Moses has died, having seen the promised land but not entering it.  Joshua has stepped up as leader of Israel, tall shoes to fill to fill the place of Moses.  

Joshua translated into English means savior.  If you go back to the original Hebrew, Joshua is Yeshuah, Joshua, which is also Jesus.  

We’ll see that God has prepared this land for his people, has promised it for generations, but they are not just going to just march in and take it. They have to contend for it.  They are on a great mission with God and to accomplish it they will have to partner with God against all odds to take the land. In this conquest we’ll notice God asking them to do very unconventional things.  God continually confounds conventional wisdom with almost bizarre instructions that sometimes would make illogical sense to the human mind.  This is true of our lives today.  This is why we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. This is why we must be people of prayer; otherwise, we sort of bulldoze our way through life, hoping for the best decisions, when we actually have our Creator to guide us and his very kingdom to advance.  In a very real way, for all of these years, the children of Israel have been learning to obey the Lord and now they must go into the land with full faith that God will show up and full faith in the promise that he gave their ancestors, that this land was the promised land.  

We’re going to see one of the most glorious moments in the Bible, one of the most glorious times in the lives of the children of Israel.  Even though we see stumbles along the way, they are fully engaged as a people and it gives us a glimpse of a what a unified church could look like.  Of course, that is not the end of their story and we’ll get to that soon enough because they do fall away and return and fall away and return for the next several hundred years.  But right now we’re at this glorious time, a new generation, a new leader, the taking of the promised land.

The first five chapters of the book of Joshua documents their preparation for battle and their first battles.  And then the next seven chapters recounts the main battles and the actual taking of their inheritance, the promised land.  Then the remainder of the book is the division and settling of this land of promise.  Everything in the story of the patriarchs comes to these great moments.  This is the promised land, the giving, the taking, the settling of the promised land.  Everything that has been promised is about to be fulfilled.  And so we begin, Joshua chapter 1.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word and even as the seasons are changing in the world, we see that the seasons are changing in the Bible.  So as we leave the Pentateuch, the Torah behind and move into the book of Joshua and what comes next for your children of Israel. We see these similarities in our own lives and so we welcome this.  Come, Holy Spirit, because you are always inviting us forward.  So as we take the next step forward in the Bible, we take the next step forward in our lives.  And like the children of Israel, we would be so foolish to take the next step without you.  So there is not another step that we will ever take that we want to take without you and we need your Holy Spirit’s guidance, correction, comfort, even rebuke if necessary.  We align ourselves with you, your will, your ways in this world and your purpose for our lives.  Come Jesus, we ask in your precious 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.  So check it out.  I’ve been mentioning for the last, I guess, week about the next time that we’ll take this pilgrimage to the land of the Bible that will take place in 2018, February 19^th through March 4^th.  (I think I got that right.  I don’t have it in front of me today, but I think I’m right).  We’ll be going back.  Like I’ve been saying, some of these places that we’re reading about we will see and all the regions that we’re reading about we will most definitely see.  

So God takes Moses up to the top of Mount Nebo where he will die, but he gets to see into the promised land and so he gets to see up into the north country to the city of Dan.  We’ll go there.  Its ruins exist.  It is a real place.  

Or Jericho, we’ll go there.  

Or the Jordan River, we’ll go down to the banks where they crossed over. And incidentally, the whole area where they crossed over, that is where John the Baptist was baptizing.  That is where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, so those who desire can be baptized there in the Jordan River near where the children of Israel crossed over and Jesus was baptized.  

These are for real places, not like imaginary mythic things.  They are real places and so much more.  So if that brings something up in you and you’re like, ‘I do want to go.  I’m going to do this,’ then you can find out more information at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for Israel 2018 in the initiatives section.  Or you can visit www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com.  It will take you to the same place and we’ll look forward to it.    

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly.  Honestly, thank you for your partnership.  If you have found the Daily Audio Bible to be a life-giving source to you, then thank you for being a life-giving source back into the community.  So there is a link on the home page at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Good morning everybody.  This is Alicia from Kansas.  Today is the 7^th of April and I’ve been kind of in a place where, you know, I listen to the Daily Audio Bible every morning and pray along and call in when I need prayer.  I know sometimes people have called in and said they didn’t hear their name or anybody praying for them.  I just believe that is just a lie of the enemy just to deceive us into not listening and to get into self-pity and I was kind of getting in that place.  And then David from Kansas, my sweet, sweet brother, called.  I heard his call today and I have been praying for you, David.  I have missed you and I just want you to know not to lose heart, that everything that you’ve been doing, you calling in has given me hope and has just been a blessing to me.  If you read the psalms, even King David had his setbacks and I want you to know, brother, that while you were gone and away I kept thinking how much I missed you and your calls and your prayers and kept praying for you.  Thank you so much for calling because it encouraged me to call and not to listen to this craziness in my head, you know, this world cage.  So blessings to you, brother.  I continue to pray for you and for all of those, when your names aren’t mentioned, know that people are stilling praying for you.  God bless you all.  I love you all.  Bye-bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Shondra calling from Maryland.  I want to read this and I am prayerfully going to try to because it is the lyrics for Great is Thy Faithfulness.  However, every time I try to read it, I just want to cry.  Great is they faithfulness, O God, my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not.  Thou compassions, they fail not.  As thou has been, thou forever will be.  Great is thy faithfulness.  Great is thy faithfulness.  Morning by morning, new mercies I see.  All I have needed, thou hast provided.  Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.  Summer and winter and springtime and harvest.  Sun, moon and stars in their course above, join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness.  Great is thy faithfulness.  Morning by morning, new mercies I see.  All I have needed thine hands have provided.  Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.  I want to thank you guys whether or not you have called in with a praise report or for a prayer or for a song or poetry.  I thank everyone who has summed up the courage to just call and, you know, just present everything to us.  It is so much appreciation for that.  Brian, …

Hi family.  This is Francine from Tennessee and I’m calling to ask prayer again for my mom who is 81.  We’re caring for her and she is getting weaker.  Her name is Gloria.  But I was going to tell you that as I care for her, we listen daily to the Bible being read and then the prayer requests.  She is praying for you all, sitting in a chair unable to get up and stand hardly at all and caring for each of you herself.  We had some terrible storms.  This is the 7^th and it’s on Friday.  So on Monday and Wednesday of this week we had some terrible storms in Dallas, GA where we are and it seemed so hard to hear the announcement to take cover and to look at someone who can’t get up.  There were times that I cried out, “Lord Jesus, please say ‘peace be still,’” but the very last storm that we had on Wednesday there was hail in it and it was tapping on the windows of our little farmhouse and really beginning to be violent and I just cried out again, “Lord Jesus, please say ‘peace be still.’”  And in a moment the hail stopped and it just kept raining, but momma said the most profound thing.  She said, “You know, it seems like the worst storm was the last one we had to go through.” And I said, “Yeah, that’s the way it is spiritually too, isn’t it?”  And then today I hear about the Darkhorse 3^rd battalion Marines and I’m praying for their families that have lost these loved ones in this battle in Afghanistan and also Candace in Oregon and the song that the lady sang for you and Annette in Oklahoma, your son, praying for you, but most of all, I was thinking about the prayer warriors that we’ve had and Blind Tony with the poems and Pastor Gene and David in Kansas called.  I feel your battle, brother.  I’ve been praying for you and I get it, too.  Since I’ve retired, I’ve been unable to exercise and seemed like maybe I have gained some of the weight back too, but the last battle must be the hardest.

Hey Dabbers.  This is Slave of Jesus in North Carolina.  Alright, Holy Spirit, let’s roll!  John from Bethel, welcome back, brother.  We are definitely praying for your marriage.  Lord, give John the wisdom (that’s what you need) and patience in his marriage and I ask that in Jesus’ name.  Talk about coming back.  Delta Alpha Foxtrot, great to hear from you.  It’s been a while.  Hey, check out this song.  It’s called Burn from Ryan Weaver.  I think you will like it a lot.  Lord, I ask you to watch over Stan from Maryland.  Great you talking about The Daily Prayer.  So if you go to the Media tab, click on The Daily Prayer.  So I’m going to kind of give my testimony about The Daily Prayer.  I started saying that.  I just wanted to get myself oriented.  Jesus said you don’t have to do a lot to pray.  You can do The Lord’s Prayer and that’s it, but he also said to die daily and I don’t know how to die daily to God.  So I started saying The Daily Prayer along with Brian.  I’d plug it in the car, I’d get it all queued up, and it takes about 10-11 minutes.  It’s actually from Ransomed Heart as well.  There is a version there.  But I say it every single day.  My first couple years there were about two days I didn’t do it.  It’s not a perfect formula, but those two days I got in an argument with my wife.  Like the only two days for two years and both days I didn’t say that prayer in the morning. So for me I gotta do it first thing in the morning.  Everyone’s got their routines at night.  I’ve been saying that daily prayer every morning and it has just completely changed my life.  It orients me.  It is my way of saying, “Okay, God, I’m going to look to you first.  There is the world.  There is the news.  There is coffee.  There is whatever else, but I’m going to get focused, sacrifice this time for whatever…” And I’m driving, so I’m kind of doing two things at once usually, but even if I’m not driving, on the weekends I go out and walk with the dog.  It’s gotta be one of the first things I do.  So check it out if you want to take your experience with God to the next level. Highly recommend it, saying The Daily Prayer.  It’s great to hear Brian’s voice.  We’re already used to it.  Just go to the tab, download it so even if you’re offline, you can…

David from Kansas, my brother, this is Blessed by the Beach and my heart leapt when I heard your voice and then my heart ached after I heard your message. I literally stopped the podcast and picked up the phone to call to let you know that I will be dedicated and heartfelt in praying for you.  We’re so glad to hear your voice.  And we’re so grateful for all the prayers you lifted up for so many of us that we’re all going to be returning the favor tenfold, a hundredfold, so I’m going to ask everybody to join me in prayer right now for you.  Father God, we lift up our brother David.  We lift up his struggles right now.  We lift up his physical pain and his frustration and his fear.  We ask that you restore him 100%, you restore his body, you remove the pain, you restore his soul and his spirit so that he finds joy and hope.  May you restore his encouragement to get back on the path to wholeness and health and you restore him emotionally so he can be a light on a hill like he was to us before. And, Lord, we’re just so thankful for David.  We’re thankful for hearing from him and we’re thankful for him himself.  He’s perfectly and wonderfully made and we just lift him up in love to you, Lord.  Please heal him.  Amen. David, keep calling.  Keep us updated.  Know that you’ll be in our prayers.  Hang in there, brother.  

Deuteronomy 33:1-29 ~ Luke 13:1-21 ~ Psalm 78:65-72 ~ Proverbs 12:25

Today is April 9^th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian. It’s good to be here with you today. We’re coming to you from the mountains of Georgia at the More Gathering for Women where we will wrap things up today around lunchtime and everyone will begin their journey back toward wherever it is that they call home.  We’ll talk about that in a little bit, but it has been epic and beautiful, as always.  We’re turn our attention now to something that is far more epic and beautiful and that is the word of God.  

So here we are, brand new shiny week before us, all waiting for the story of our lives to be written on.  We’ll read from the Contemporary English Version this week and we’re about done with the book of Deuteronomy.  We will complete it tomorrow, but today, Deuteronomy chapter 33 verses 1 through 29.  

Commentary

This passage that we read in the book of Luke chapter 13 today is really fascinating because it gives us a glimpse into what people were talking about at this particular time in Jesus’ ministry and in history.  It looks remarkable because it is not that different than today.  

There were these two incidents that had happened, one where Pilate had sent soldiers onto the Temple grounds, into the Temple complex basically to put down a potential rebellion so, in terms of Rome, it was simply the authorities trying to apprehend or kill people they thought were fugitives, while on the Hebrew side of the equation a great injustice had been done.  The thing that we have to understand is that the Galilee region was known for insurrection, a lot of zealotry coming from that area. We don’t know if the guys that were killed in the Temple were bad guys or not, but what made this particularly shameful to the Jewish people was that the Roman guards entered the Temple.  The Gentiles entered the Temple and then killed people, spilled blood on the grounds.  It was a big deal so it had people talking, people talking in Jerusalem, which then spread as people moved in and out of the city with the story, and so everyone was talking about it.  There wasn’t the news.  They couldn’t just turn on cable news and find out the story or they couldn’t just go to social media and see people who had posted about it.  Word of mouth was how things spread, but you see that this has spread to the point that people are talking about it, even to the point that Jesus himself is commenting on it.

And there was another situation where a tower, its construction had gotten weak and it fell and it killed people, which would definitely make the news. That is something that people would pay attention to, so this story of that was spreading around and people were talking about that.  Obviously when there is a bit of news that is catastrophic or that is disruptive, people do talk and people around the water cooler weigh in on their opinions about what happened.  So people are filling in the blanks with assumptions and making the story larger than it is, which can happen today so easily.  We just have a way of doing that.  

Jesus just kind of cut through it all, as he does.  He just kind of cuts through all of the noise.  So his response to these things was do you think that the people that were killed on the Temple grounds were worse sinners than everyone else in the Galilee because of what happened to them?  This must have been one of the theories.  But Jesus says no, not at all.  But if we want to get to the heart of the matter, you can be sure that if you don’t turn back to God, you will also be killed.  Or the 18 people who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse than everyone else in Jerusalem? That is apparently what people were saying, but Jesus said not at all, but you can be sure that if you don’t turn back to God, every one of you will also die.  

So it is interesting because Jesus changes the conversation.  He cuts through the news of the day and says rather than obsessing about what may or may not have happened in these situations, you need to take some personal responsibility for yourself because if you don’t, your fate will end up the same.  The path you are walking will lead you to death if you do not turn back from that path and turn back to God.  

This is a wonderful reminder for us because content is everywhere. Finding out what is going on in the world in all of its nuances, it’s coming flying at us beyond what we can even ingest.  We can get wrapped up in every issue, looking at everything that we have convictions about and have plenty of opinions, but at the end of it all, we still are left inside of our own skin and our choices and actions matter to our lives.  Our little piece of the story of humanity matters. What we do matters.  We can get pretty wrapped up in looking at the news of the day and getting all hot about what we may disagree with and then forming an identity out of what we’re not rather than what we are and completely forget that we have a life story to tell, an important story to tell, important people in our lives that we love to care for, and personal responsibility for a relationship with the Creator.  Jesus, as he always does, helps turn the conversation to where it actually matters.

Prayer

Jesus, we certainly thank you for that from the scriptures today and we invite you into that.  We have plenty of things flying at us on any given day, but you cut through that and show us that it is about turning back to God, it is about staying in fellowship with you and walking with you that is the fundamental and foundationally important thing.  So we invite you, Holy Spirit, to come.  We choose to walk with you and listen to you and be guided by your steps this day and every day.  We ask for your assistance and your counsel, your rebuke, your comfort, your leadership and guidance today.  In Jesus’ 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.  So we’ll finish the More Gathering for Women for 2017 today.  It has been a beautiful thing.  We want to continue to pray over all of the hearts of the women and all of the hearts of the team as everyone begins to migrate back to their homes and share their stories.  So we pray for the protection of their hearts, that nothing will be stolen, that the peace of the Holy Spirit will hover and continue to do the work that he has begun in each heart.  We pray for safe travel.  So we just ask this community, the Daily Audio Bible community to continue to pray over all that is yet to be done because the More Gathering is really the beginning of the story.  

Then the other thing that we are talking about right now is that we’ll be going back to the land of the Bible.  For example, this whole incident that we were talking about today, that Jesus was speaking of, that happened on the Temple grounds.  The Temple is no longer there, but its foundations, the Temple Mount is.  The grounds upon which this happened is and we’ll visit there.  It is so easy to be in these places and recall the stories every time you come through them in the Bible again and say I know that spot.  I know what that looks like.  It changes the experience of the Bible forever, for the rest of your life.  

If it is something that is kind of on your list that you want to experience for yourself, we’ll be going back February 19 through March 4, 2018.  Like I’ve said a couple of times, there is a capacity to this.  We have a fairly aggressive schedule because we are trying to show as much as we possibly can to immerse you in every region of the land of the Bible because lots of things happened in lots of places.  So over the years we’ve really fine-tuned how to do that, but it requires us to go lots of places that no one else really does.  There is a general loop that you can take that hits the highlights and makes for a very, very comfortable holiday.  This is a little different.  I mean, it is all that.  We stay in killer places and the food is exquisite and everything is wonderful, but we look at this as more of a pilgrimage than a holiday, something that spiritually enriches your life and expands the Bible far beyond imagination and, in turn, changes the way that you look at the world and you look at the scriptures.  

So, yeah, we travel to a lot of places so there is only so many people we can take and make that schedule.  If you want to come, you can find out all about it at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for Israel 2018, click the link, there will be the information for you. Or you can go to www.DailyAudioBibleIsrael.com and that will take you to the same place and we’ll look forward to seeing you on the other side of the ocean, depending on where you live in the world; for me, on the other side of the Atlantic ocean and at the other side of the Mediterranean Sea is where modern day Israel is.  We’ll see you 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 profoundly, profoundly for your support in allowing the Daily Audio Bible to exist.  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

Hello.  This is Sherry in Placentia, CA and I’m calling in for a prayer request for my sister and her great-grandson.  Her great-grandson is in the hospital.  He’s been in the hospital for six months with leukemia and finally came home for a week and then they found tumors throughout his body that are cancerous and he’s back in the hospital now.  We’ve been praying and I’m asking you to please pray.  I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for three years now. This is my first call.  We need a miracle.  He is down to zero immunity right now and they found red around his port that goes into his stomach or chest, I’m not sure, but if you would please pray for him, that he would come home well and whole.  This poor little boy.  He’s one day younger than my great-grandson who is lively and active and the joy of my life.  His name is Lester.  Please pray for Lester, that the Lord totally heals him.  We need a miracle.  Thank you so much.  

Hi, my name is Jan and I’m calling from Northern B.C., Canada.  I’m really thankful for this program and for this community.  I just want to reach out to prayer.  The program today is talking about abundant life.  I just know that I haven’t even been living for so long.  I’ve been struggling with health issues and I believe the Lord is telling me that it is issues of bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness, but I don’t know where those come from.  I can see the fruit, but I can’t understand what the root is, so I am praying and I ask you to please pray with me for the Lord to show me where this root is so I can uproot it and have an abundant life to pass to my children, break the cycle that came down from my mother and from her mother’s mother.  So if you would just pray with me, family, I would really appreciate it.  Thank you.  

Hi, my name is Sandy from Round Rock, TX.  This is my first time calling.  I’ve only been listening for a couple of months and I absolutely love this group of people.  I pray for you guys daily and I have a prayer request for my sister-in-law.  She is battling cancer again.  She had ovarian cancer three years ago and it is a really rare cancer and the doctors gave her five years to live.  She is now coming up on the three year mark and we thought everything was fine, but they did an MRI last week and found something, so they are going to have to do a PET scan tomorrow.  Her name is Kathy.  If you could please pray for her, that everything will come out okay.  We love her and to see her have to battle this a second time is really disheartening, but she is so strong and faithful and I would just love it if you guys could pray for her because I know that there is power in numbers.  I try to tell my kids it’s like when you have one kid who yells “mom” and you don’t hear it, but if all 10 of them yell “mom,” you’re going to turn your head in that direction and know something needs your attention.  I feel the same goes with God.  If we all scream at the same time, we can get his attention.  And I ask this of you and I thank you so much for praying for her in advance.  I hope you all have a great day and I love you all very much.  Thank you.  

Hello my beautiful brothers and sisters.  This is Dawn calling from New York with what I hope will be a little bit of encouragement for those of us who are trying to work margin into our lives this year.  On New Year’s Day I sat down with my journal to kind of talk to God and reflect about the word margin which I was really excited about, and it occurred to me maybe I could try to write a poem like our brother Blind Tony.  I only have one poem.  This is it. But Tony, I’m thinking about you and you inspired me to try to write a little poem about this margin word.  You know, rhyming poem is really hard to do.  I don’t know how you keep putting all of them out there to us.  So anyway, this is what I hope is a little encouragement with gratitude to our brother Tony.  So here we go.  This word margin is kind of soaking through me this year, so here’s my little poem to all of you.  Margin. Let’s build margin in our lives for 2017.  Clear a path for God to move.  Put some space in between.  Make room for God’s surprises.  They come to us each day.  As he guides us in our choices, we’ll be glad we made a way.  Make a way for what is important, clear the clutter out.  Loosen too tight spaces, free up time, turn about.  Let’s build margin in our lives in 2017, clear a path for God to move, put some space in between.  God bless everybody working margin in their lives and my shout-out to you, Tony.  Thanks for all the ways you encourage us.  Bye-bye.

[singing] When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.  When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast.  I could never keep my hold through life’s fearful path for my love is often cold.  He must hold me fast.  He will hold me fast.  He will hold me fast.  For my Savior loves me so, he will hold me fast.  [singing ends]  __________ Gloucester, UK and I’ve had that song in my heart the past week or so which __________ despite what we’re going through, he will hold us fast through all of it.  I think I might start __________.  Yes, it’s April 7^th today and I just heard David’s phone call.  David, it is so good to hear from you and find out how you’re getting on.  I just wanted to say what a blessing your calls were last year.  It was you calling in every day praying for those who need healing that gave me the confidence to then call in every day __________, so thank you so much for that.  Without you I don’t think that would have happened.  So thank you very much.  I’m praying for you, mate.  __________. Bye.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Alphaio calling from Delaware.  What a beautiful day it is.  I have encouragement for you guys today and I hope that it blesses your day.  May you lift your chin today and look up to the one who will never fail you.  Instead of being derailed by your disappointments, may you sense the divine invitation here to believe the story is far from over.  He who began a good work will be faithful to bring it to completion.  Don’t give up hope.  Don’t let go of the promise.  Refuse to rehash your losses.  Instead look to the one who goes before you.  He’ll consume your enemy.  He will bring beauty out of the ashes of your pain.  He will do that just for you.  Trust him wholeheartedly today and keep marching forward.  You’re a brave soul even when you don’t feel like one.  This is Alphaio from Delaware and I hope you guys make it a great, beautiful day.  Amen.