2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27 ~ Romans 13:1-14 ~ Psalm 23:1-6 ~ Proverbs 20:11
Today is the 30th of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you at the threshold of a shiny, sparkly new week that we are going to a walk into together. And this week or going to read from the Names of God Bible, which I enjoy because it’s all English. But when we come to a name of God then it then it’s the Hebrew name, the original name, in the original language. And we will be making a lot of transition this week. We will transition out of the month of July and into the month of August. We will transition out of the books of Chronicles and we will also complete and transition out of the letter to the Romans. So, a lot in front of us this week. So, let’s dive in. Second Chronicles chapter 26 verse 1 through 28 verse 27 today.
Commentary:
OK. So Paul is continuing to, sort of, lay out this…I wouldn’t call it a grid…but sort of an overview of what life can look like, should look like, in this faith. And we went over some of that yesterday and he continues today. By coming to the same conclusion that Jesus came to and that has been in the world forever. It all comes down to love - loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Because if you can do that then you are obeying God. For example - and he uses the 10 commandments - never commit adultery. Well, if you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you’ll be fulfilling that. You won’t commit adultery. Never murder. If you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you’re not going to murder. Never steal. If you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you’ll never steal. So, on and on it goes. And comes down to love. We are all in this together. We are all part of a body. We each have a unique position in this. We need to be in that to its fullest…fullest…and not be looking around at what other parts of the body are doing, so that we can try to not be who we are, so that we can try to be but somebody else is. We are all in this together and we must love one another. The thing is, if we would do that…seriously…if we would do that, things will change all around us. If everyone would do that in the world, the world would change overnight – dramatically, radically, overwhelmingly. But if we would just do this, then our world would change dramatically. The temperature in our homes would be different. The posture of heart that we have toward each other would be different. It’s pretty simple and pretty difficult to live into. And impossible to live into without union with God, without walking with God, without relationship with God, without God being intertwined in that story. It’s not possible. But Paul breaks it down in today’s reading by basically summarizing everything that we’ve been talking about when we went through the book of Acts and everything that we’ve been talking about as we’ve gone through the book of Romans. What does a person who is Christ-like do? What does that person look like? What does this really mean? Paul says, look, you know the times that we’re living in and it is time for you to wake up. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first started this. The night is almost over and the day is near. So, we should get rid of the things that belong to the dark and take up the weapons that belong to the light because that’s what we’re bringing into this world friend - light and good news. That’s what this is about. So, Paul says we should live decently, as people who live in the light of day. This other crazy stuff - the drunkenness, the wild parties, the sexual immorality, the promiscuity - we know all of those things. Right? Those are all on the A list. But also on Paul’s A list is rivalry and jealousy. Those are all included in some of the other stuff that has traditionally been so bad. Rivalry and jealousy are just as bad as wild parties and immorality. So, think about that for a minute. Those things belong to the dark. They need to be gone. We live in the light of the day. Paul says, instead of those things, live like Jesus. Or in other words, be Christ-like and forget about satisfying the desires of your corrupt nature. That was then. This is now. You are not that person anymore. That person died and you have been raised up anew, a new creation in Christ, Jesus. Wow! It’s so clear. And we all get a taste of it. It wells up inside of us and we can see it. But then we just assume that we don’t have to cultivate this lifestyle. So, we will rush off into this overjoyed that we have finally seen it only to find out the second it gets opposed we’re just going to slide backward. What Paul is doing is giving us a description of where we should be heading. And we should never stop heading in that direction. We have to be vigilant every single day. We have to move in this direction in a straight line for a long time in order to succeed, which ultimately brings us face-to-face with whether or not we really want this, whether or not we really want this life. Because it really is a different kind of life. It really is an invitation to be in the world in a different way - to be in it but not of it.
Prayer:
Father, we want to be in the world but not of it. We want to be here because you made us human beings to be here. But the constructs that we’ve made all over the world, that we would know as culture, it’s been a mixture for a long time and you’ve invited us to live higher, to live truer. That the culture is based on so many…thousands and thousands of little lies…that we tell all of the time, trying to craft ourselves in our own image, in our own perfect image, and then try to display that into the world, when you’ve invited us to wipe that clean and reflect your glory, to be fully present here, to be in this world, but to be reflecting heaven into it. On earth as it is in heaven. And that’s really what we do want. We can surrender ourselves but it really does come down to: how much do we really want this? Because we try to blend, we try to mix that all in all of the time. We want to find our identity in something other than You. And this is constant. And, so, right now, we surrender that identity and invite your Holy Spirit to live through us in this world, which isn’t to say that we’re passengers along for the ride. This is an invitation to a collaboration in this world - a deep intertwining with you - an awareness that it’s not possible for us to be alone in this world no matter what we’re going through. Most of the things that were going through we got ourselves into. What would it look like just followed you? Oh, the joys of thoughts like that. And they’re all available and it’s all possible because nothing is impossible with You. So, come, Holy Spirit, we pray. We surrender our will and our ways and our identity and our agenda to You. Come, Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayers and Praise Reports:
Hi. I’m Sharron from California. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for five years. I’m a first-time caller. I’ve suffered from major depression most of my life. I’m an older woman and I’m giving up because I don’t see no light at the end of the tunnel. I feel miserable every day and my family doesn’t understand. I’ve turned to God…but God…I don’t know what his plan is for me. I just can’t live in this misery anymore and I don’t know who to turn to besides God. But I feel He doesn’t want to help me. Please pray for me because I don’t know how much more I can take. What…sad…empty…lonely feeling of… Thank you and God bless you all.
Hi DABbers this is His little Sheree from Canada. A few days ago, I called to make a public declaration of love confessing that I’ve officially given my heart to this beautiful community. And since then, the Lord is like, so, you love the DAB Sheree? Yup? Going to put a ring on it? And, of course I knew exactly what He meant. So, I’ve signed up to make a monthly donation to the Daily Audio Bible and it just feels right. I have been listening to this Podcast since the beginning of the year and I’m glad that it’s free to anyone willing to listen. That’s the way it should be, I think. But I’m just not content anymore to date this ministry - you know, hold hands and snuggle up to the campfire and then kiss goodnight and go home…no big deal. There’s a time to commit. You know? There’s a time to put a ring on it. And I think that’s for someone out there listening today. So, that’s it for now. Love you DABbers. This is His little Sheree from Canada. God bless you today.
Hi everybody. This is Lisa the Encourager. Hope you guys are having and will have the most encouraging day today. I’m calling tonight because I heard you - I heard you David from Kansas - on July 24th calling out to God: “God please help me”. And I heard you. So, I have just a few verses for you David and then I’m going to pray for you. So, the first one I have is Psalm 9:17 - May the favor of the Lord our God rest on you David, establish the work of our hands for us, yes, establish the work of our hands. Philippians 4:13 - David you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Colossians 3:24 – David, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward, it is the Lord, Christ, you are serving. Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, David, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you David and not to harm you David, plans to give you hope and a future David. Proverbs 16:3 – Commit to the Lord whatever you do David and He will establish your plans. Dear Lord, I pray tonight for David from Kansas, God, as he is struggling and he needs You. He’s calling out to God and I know You hear him. And we all hear you David. All of your Daily Audio Bible friends hear you and we love you and we are thinking about you and we are praying for you and we want you to be able to be successful and to be happy again and we want you to know you’re loved. Dear Lord, please…please…
Hi family. Drew from the bay area. Listen, I was calling in, mainly to…actually to…to prayer / fast for Edgar…especially if you could skip a meal. Praise report is he had at least four good days after I called in about him and he’s been having the police come. He’s been very upset. This is the young man I was telling you about that is in a wheelchair and is causing major disturbances for his family and his neighbors. So, if you would pray for him, especially on the 28th, just maybe fast, skip a meal. That would be great. Also, I want to give a shout out to Salvation is Mine from San Leandro but you know I’m praying for you. Mark S. from down under, praying for you in Australia. Praying for revival here in the United States. Want you also to pray for a Muslim family I gave Sneezing Jesus to. I think millions of Muslims come to faith once they feel the presence of Jesus. And pray for a new roommate for me. I’ve got to find a roommate that’s going to be a great fit. I’m moving into a new place and I would appreciate your prayers. I love you guys. Bye.
Hello DAB family. This is Joyful Noise from Southern California. I have a praise report - a couple of them actually - and I also want to lift up Kayla in prayer again. And I think it’s Kayla, although it might be Caleb? It’s girl’s voice. So, I’m just going to say Kayla from Kansas - I think it was – who struggles with depression. I prayed for her earlier this week but I just felt compelled to call back in and let you know, Kayla, if you are listening to this that we don’t stop praying if you don’t hear from us. And I just want to encourage you, and I don’t know why God compelled me to do this, but I just want to encourage you that prayer doesn’t stop after you hear our voices. That we continue to pray. And I know that there are many that are continuing to pray for my son on the call. And I called in…oh…it must have been…gosh…several weeks ago now…almost a month ago. I just know that people continue to pray for him. So, please know we don’t stop praying for you. And that we’re to go to God, as the widow to the wicked judge. Right? Over and over and over again. And how much of a great Father He is and what a great wise and righteous judge He is. But still He wants us, really, to go to Him over and over again, bringing everything to Him through prayer and supplication – make it be known to the Lord. And I promise you that I’m going to continue to do that Kayla. Also, I have a praise report. I shared with a friend that’s struggling a little bit with some relational stuff and her family. I shared the Daily Audio Bible and she started listening and loves it. So, yay. Thank you, Lord. And thank you Brian and Jill for all that you do. Also, another praise report. I was reading into the Sneezing Jesus book and my son, who some of you have been praying for, and he does love the Lord and he is just such a light in a dark world when he’s not all caught up in the stress of never sleeping. Gosh. You know, the enemies been at him for over a decade but it’s slowly going…you know…getting better and…