Month: October 2017

Jeremiah 49:23-50:46; Titus 1:1-16; Psalms 97:1-98:9; Proverbs 26:13-16

Today is the 26th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and, as is the case every day, it’s great to be here with you as we take the next step forward on the adventure through the Bible this year. And that adventure will take us back into the book of Jeremiah today and then we will be beginning Paul’s letter to Titus when we get to the New Testament. So, from the Names of God Bible this week, Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 23 through 50 verse 46 today.

Okay. Yesterday, we finished Paul’s second letter to Timothy, which is thought to be the final writings, the final writing, the final communication from Paul before he was martyred, before he was executed. And, so, that brings us to Paul’s epistle, or his letter to Titus. And this is the third of three of what we know of as the pastoral letters, which are first and second Timothy and Titus. And they are called this because Paul is writing to his sons in the faith, directly, like as a personal letter, rather than to a church, and is addressing their personal needs and instructing them directly as leaders, as pastors. So, he’s writing as a pastoral figure to his sons in the faith, who are now also pastors. And Titus was an early convert and followed Jesus at the witness of the apostle Paul and was able to accompany Barnabas and Paul to Jerusalem. So, like to the Jerusalem Council, where circumcision, right, this issue that has cropped up and all of Paul’s writings. This Gentile…ya know…how Gentiles grafted in to this story…all of that in those decisions. Titus got to see a lot of that stuff, a lot of the things that happened to form the early church. And Titus was definitely on Paul’s third missionary journey. And Paul often sent Titus as a messenger to different churches to offer pastoral care and to send and bring messages and to let Paul know how things were going as we see in his letters. This letter, this personal letter to Titus, was written probably around A.D. 63. So, the year 63, right around the same time Paul wrote the first letter to Timothy. So, Paul writes to his son in the faith Timothy and then he writes to a son in the faith Titus around the same time and then the letter was sent to Crete, where Titus was the pastor of the churches there, whereas the letters to Timothy were, obviously, sent to Ephesus, where Timothy was the pastor. And, so, one of the motivations for Paul to write a personal letter to Titus was to encourage him, to encourage Titus to finish the work that had begun there, and also to bestow apostolic authority to Titus from Paul so that Titus would have this letter if anyone came and questioned whether or not he had any right to be there leading anything. Right? If they questioned his spiritual authority in the church he would have this personal letter from Paul. And it also set down in writing the things that Paul had instructed Titus to do as the churches were being built up. So, it serves as reinforcement to things that Paul had spoken to Titus. So, Titus is a personal letter, like we talked about. And, so, having it gives us an intimate look at the instructions that were given from Paul, the spiritual father to Titus, the spiritual son who had been raised up in the faith into leadership. And these letters, the letters to Timothy and Titus, are very helpful for anyone in authority or leadership today. They deal with the kinds of things leaders still face and they still bring a great amount of instruction and encouragement, even today. And, so, we begin. Paul’s letter to Titus, chapter 1.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we begin this letter to Titus from Paul that will only take us a few days to move our way through, we immediately recognize some of the features in Titus as similar to what Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy, and these include characteristics that need to be present in a person’s life if they seek to lead God’s people. So, we can see that Paul had taught this to Titus and to Timothy but then reiterated it in writing to them, not only to remind them, but also to give them the backup. So, when someone’s going through this ordination process and maybe some people dispute some of these things, then these guys, Timothy and Titus, have these personal letters from the apostle Paul to show, this is what the apostle Paul has taught us to do, this is what is right to do, these are the criteria necessary to move forward in spiritual leadership. And then Paul writes to Titus, specifically to the place that he’s in, like in the circumstances that he’s in, which are different than Timothy’s. So, Titus is on an island that is south of Greece out in the middle of the Mediterranean ocean, which is quite different than Ephesus, which is on the mainland, now a part of modern-day Turkey, which is where Timothy was. So, these are far enough apart that they have different cultures and a different way of life and a lot of Jewish people lived on Crete. And, so, we see Cretans first mentioned in the book of Acts as some of the people who first heard the apostles on the day of Pentecost, like, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them and then they began to minister, and Peter gives this message that is compelling, and thousands of people begin to follow Jesus. So, Cretans are among those people, which is probably how the gospel of Jesus first found its way onto the island, through the stories of what they had witnessed in Jerusalem. So, there’s a thriving Jewish community on Crete, and even though there was this Jerusalem Council that would welcome Gentiles into the family of God through Jesus, we’ve seen the tension, we’ve seen it all along, between people who grew up Jewish who wanted to follow this Rabbi, Jesus, but couldn’t get their heads around the fact that God might be welcoming the whole world to come back to him through Jesus. And, so, there’s all this tension over all the traditions. Right? Circumcision is the one that boils to the top the most but religious tradition is definitely a point of contention in this new movement. And, so, Paul says directly to Titus, there are many believers, especially converts from Judaism who are rebellious and they speak nonsense and deceive people and they need to be quieted because they’re ruining whole families by teaching things that that they shouldn’t be teaching. So, Paul tells Titus, listen, you’ve got to instruct the people that they shouldn’t pay attention to Jewish myths or commands given by people who are always rejecting the truth. Because we have to remember, a lot of things were forming around what Jesus represented. A lot of conversation as this faith grew up was had. And the Jewish people, they have an ancient history, and it had and has many sects to it, entire mystical ways of looking at the world. So, it’s not surprising that Jesus would can fall into some of these categories as people consider what it really all means. And, so, Paul, in his pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus, address these kinds of things by just saying, look, the truth has been revealed, we’ve been teaching it from day one, we’ve been moving around and sharing this good news all along, and now people are trying to do all these add-ons. Stay true to the simple gospel message that you were taught and make sure that you teach it truly and hold true and keep the faith, which is what Paul is telling Titus to do today.

Prayer:

Father there is no shortage of mystical thought about You in the world today. There has never really been a time that we haven’t been trying to figure You out. And, we confess, that we can’t even figure our own selves out. So, how would we figure You out, other than the simple faith of understanding that You indwell us and that we are being changed into your likeness through the process of sanctification. Each and every day, we are being set apart and made holy and invited to live from that place, that true essential place, each and every day. And, so, we continue to invite Your Holy Spirit to instruct us in the way that we should go, the path that we should walk, the things that we should pick up, the things that we should consider, the things that we should reject. All leading us on the narrow path that leads to life, because You have promised to lead us into all truth. And, so, we defer, we surrender and invite You to lead and guide us. Come, Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And a couple of days ago we released this little fireside chat, discussing the Global Campfire Initiative – an initiative to continue to build all of the infrastructure that it is going to take to move us forward and face outward. And one of the key components of that is the brand-new daily app that we will be releasing, in a big risk, as a free app so that there are zero barriers to a person being able to come in and hear the spoken word of God every day. But it’s a step that we need to take together. And, so, we have inaugurated something that’s been internal, the Global Campfire Initiative, just bringing it to the community, inviting you to participate. And we printed 500 patch show prints here in the rolling hills of Tennessee using letterpress, ancient - old, not ancient - technology to create these beautiful posters that are just printed very, very old-school. Each one’s a little bit different and they’re completely frameable. They say Global Campfire on them and the Daily Audio Bible and the rolling hills of Tennessee. You can see all that at dailyaudiobible.com, you can see what they look like. We’re inviting you to participate in the Global Campfire Initiative. And so, for those who are able to contribute $200 or more toward this, and again I unpacked it all, that’s why I made this specific fireside chat program, because I wanted to be able to tell the whole story. And, so, if you haven’t had a chance to listen to that, go back and listen to that and it will all make complete sense. But we printed 500 of these posters for 500 people who can contribute in this way so that we can just knock this out and move this development forward. And I expect that we will run out of those posters within the next few days. So, check out that program. If you had a chance to listen to it yet, that will give you all of the details. And then, you can find the Global Campfire Initiative and contribute to it at dailyaudiobible.com. Just scroll down to the initiatives section and you’ll find it, or there’s a banner for it at the Daily Audio Bible shop as well. Easy to find. So, check that out and help us to do exactly what I said, face outward, and to continue to build that the platform that will allow us to dream and move forward together. If you have contributed to the Global Campfire Initiative and when we’re sending you one of these posters, we will also be inviting you to experience the new Daily Audio Bible app early and we’ll be sending out those invitations around November 1st. So, you can experience it, and a lot of the new features that are included, and it’s a complete…I mean from the ground up…it’s a completely rethought app, and the first of its kind for our community. And, so, you’ll be able to experience that early, give us some feedback, and help us to squash any bugs that might still exist before it’s released into the wild. And this is just the beginning, just the beginning of the…finally…having the technology to really connect things, the way that we have dreamed about for several years. So, thank you. Thank you for your partnership on the Global Campfire Initiative.

If you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number that you can call because that’s one of the things that are distinctly beautiful about this community, is our love for one another and willingness to be the body of Christ in this world. And part of that is to hold each other up in prayer and rejoice with each other when we are rejoicing and weep with each other when we are weeping. We’ve done that well. And as we begin this initiative, this Global Campfire Initiative, over time, we’re going to have many, many more ways to do it well. So, your prayers over all of that are coveted and necessary and I thank you deeply.

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:

Hello everyone. This is Jay calling from New Jersey.  I just wanted to take a moment to just thank every single person. You know, two minutes just isn’t enough time to express and convey how I feel and say every name and thank every person…and just…ah…I’m just overwhelmed by the amount of love this community showing me. And…I just…you know…God works in mysterious ways and we, in our lives, are faced with decisions that we ourselves have to make…and there’s consequences to every decision that we make. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad. But God is always there. And as far as I’m concerned, DAB family, you’ve always been there for me. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I thank you now. I praise You and I glorify You for the wonderful, amazing, loving, spiritual, prayerful family that I have in the Daily Audio Bible. In the name of Jesus, Christ I pray. Amen.

Thank you so much. My name is Thomas K. I’m from West Point, Mississippi. I’m requesting prayer, especially for tomorrow, Monday, which will be the 23^rd of October. I have an operation on my throat. I’m asking all saints of God to please pray for me as I pray for you and your family. Thank God and bless all of you. In Jesus’ name, we do say, Amen.

Good morning DAB community. This is Richard stronginhisgrace@gmail.com. Today is Monday the 23rd of October. I haven’t been listening to the DAB readings for quite a while…and now I’m back. It’s good to allow the word of God to wash over you and submit to his word in your life. I know, at times, I’ve been disobedient and rebellious and have tried to go my own way but when I come back to the word it’s always reassuring, that God is washing me with His word, as I listen. And as I listen, the enemy wants to fight against me paying attention. He’ll put in little thoughts, thoughts of sin. The enemy puts in thoughts of just anything to distract you from letting the word of God wash over those things. And I want to encourage you today, community, to just let the word of God do its work in the washing of the water of the word. Let it build your faith and keep you is submission to the Holy Spirit. That’s what I have to say today family.

Hi DAB family. It’s ____ from Carlisle. I just had to call in and make sure that all of my brothers and sister in the DAB family are sharing the app for this because many, many people are going to have hard times being in and out of churches, but this is a way to stay planted in the word of God, no matter what. And I had to walk away. And I haven’t been able to find a church for a long time and I don’t know what I would’ve done if I wouldn’t have been able to still stay rooted in some type of real God growing. And, so, I’m not one of those real big tech people, people that like to go out and ah…you know…be in all that kind of stuff…I’m just one of those bookworm people. But, truthfully, this app has changed my life and I don’t know what I would do without it. So, I say that to all of you guys. Make sure you’re sharing it with your friends and your family because you have no idea how much they need it. I love all of you guys and may God bless you all, especially Brian and the soldiers that come on here and pray. You know who you are, we all know who you are, and we thank God every time we hear your voice. So, may God just bless you all. Amen.

Jeremiah 48:1-49:22; 2 Timothy 4:1-22; Psalms 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 26:9-12

Today is the 25th day of October. Welcome to the daily audio Bible. I am Brian and is great to be here with you today for the next step forward in the scriptures this year. And it’s a special day because we will conclude Paul’s second letter to Timothy in today’s reading and, as we mentioned when we began this letter, this is the final writings of the apostle Paul’s life. So, we will come to the final word written by the apostle Paul in today’s reading. But first, reading from the names of God Bible, Jeremiah chapter 48 verse 1 through 49 verse 22.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we concluded Paul’s second letter to Timothy, which is also the final writings of the apostle Paul’s life. And, you know, these are the final things that he has to say to Timothy. Obviously, it’s full of melancholy because Paul knows he’s going to die and he’s hoping to see Timothy again and Paul is sending Tychicus to represent him at the church in Ephesus, to give Timothy the opportunity to come, if possible. And he’s even asking Timothy to bring the warm coat that he left with Carpus in the city of Troas. Right? So, winter’s coming and he’s in a dungeon and his execution is eminent. And ya, so, there’s just a lot of melancholy in all that. And it’s within that that we have the famous quotation, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race’. And, so, Paul’s, kind of, final instructions to Timothy are, listen, things aren’t always going to be good. People will abandon you. People are going to say all kinds of things and teach all kinds of things and you need to be patient and just continue to teach the truth even when people, you know, even when people shop around looking for someone to tell them what they want to hear. You need to just patiently continue to teach the truth and you’re going to have to endure some suffering. It may get rocky out here. Consider yourself a missionary and devote yourself to this work and keep your head clear. And then Paul says, my life is coming to an end and it’s now time for me to be poured out as a sacrifice to God. I have fought the good fight, I have completed the race, I have kept the faith. That verse has always flattened me ever since I really began to understand the context of this letter. When I began to understand that it had come down to abandonment, that this great apostle, Paul, who we revere and who is responsible for so much of the New Testament that we read, that it all came down to a dungeon with winter coming on and pretty much everyone gone. And Paul warns Timothy and he talks about these kinds of things in his other letters, that this is not an unopposed life, that even though the good news of the gospel is the hope of the human species and the integration of God and people can once again happen and this world could begin to flourish, most people are going to ignore this and some are going to be hostile. And Jesus warned the same thing. And, so, Paul’s words are humbling and give us a lot to contemplate. Because this is a guy that is going to be executed, who was able to say, I did what I came to do, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. And the way that I did that wasn’t through grand spectacles, it was that I kept the faith until the very end. I want that to be true of my life. Don’t you? Like, at the essence, at the core, no matter what happens, I want that to be true. And it’s pretty clear that Paul wanted that to be true in his life and he wanted to transfer that conviction to Timothy so that it might be true of him. And that as this letter spread around that it might be true of all. And, so, here are the final words of the apostle Paul and may they be spoken over us each. The Lord be with you. His is goodwill be with all of you.

Prayer:

Father, we come into that. It is a baseline heart cry - that we can fight the good fight, that we can finish the race, that we can keep the faith. And we have to also acknowledge that so many times we’ve measured that by how much we feel You are blessing us, like, that has become our measure, when we see that that is isn’t the measure at all, when we look at the apostle Paul and we look at your life Jesus. That isn’t the measure at all. This isn’t a fight for how much exterior blessing we can have. It is a fight for our heart and soul. And, so, as battered as we might be, with the circumstances that swirl around us, we regroup and center ourselves in you once again. We stand up once again and start fighting the good fight and we will finish this race and we will keep this faith by the power of your Holy Spirit, and by no other power is it possible. So, come, Holy Spirit, and help us to move forward as we honor those who have gone before us and finished the race, those who have finished the race by giving their lives so that we might have this treasure. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And what’s going on around here for the next few days is the global campfire initiative. And if you haven’t had chance to listen the fireside chat, the little community meeting that we put out yesterday, then please do. The global campfire initiative is just some of the growth that is happening inside of this community and some of the ways that God is asking us to face outward so that what we do here every day, this rhythm of the scripture in our life, in community, in the beauty of the community that we share together, is more available. So, be sure to check that out. You can participate in the global campfire initiative at dailyaudiobible.com. If you just scroll down a little bit to initiatives, you’ll see it. Or if you’re in the Daily Bible shop you’ll see a banner for it as well. It’s easy enough to get to. Thank you for participating in the next steps forward for us together as a community.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, obviously you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link right on the homepage. Thank you for your partnership. 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

If it’s the global campfire initiative that you’re looking for than just find that in the initiatives section or in the Daily Audio Bible shop.

If you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number that you can dial, if you’re in the Americas. If you’re in the UK or Europe you can call 44-20-3608-8078 and if you are in Australia or the lands down under you can dial 61-3-8820-5459. Of course, you dial any of those numbers from anywhere, but we’ve tried to give some localization the best we can. So, there you go.

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:

Hello my Daily Audio Bible family. My name is Rayna here in California, Los Angeles area. I’ve called before. I listen daily. I don’t call in often but I do pray and listen and pray along with all of you. Today, I have to reach out. Again, I’ve called before. I’ve gotten really sick with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and other ailments in my body due to severe stress that I’ve ensured over the years and especially this one long year. It’s now taken its toll on me. The fibromyalgia pains are just extreme to the point where I can’t even think and work right. I draw blood for a lab. So, I have to be steady. I have to be focused. And I’ve found it very difficult to go to work lately. And it’s just been really hard to focus and feel like I’m worth anything. I don’t like to hear questions like, what’s wrong with you? Because it makes me feel like I’m not good enough anymore. So, I’m just asking God to just take this away from me completely. I’ve been liberated from it before but it’s just come back with full force and…I just…sometimes I wonder why I am still here. I struggle with also being alone in the house. I just want to go to work. I really love my job and ask you to please pray for me. I’m beginning to feel worthless. That God would just give me a new body and reinvigorate me and give me health again. Thank you, my Daily Audio Bible family, for just being there.

Oh God, I thank You for our churches and our church community. Thank You Lord so much for what they are doing and Father God thank You so much for the work you’ve laid upon their hearts to do. Father God I pray especially now for the children’s relief work of our church communities of our Christian communities Lord. Whether it be part of the DAB or DAB Kids or DAB teens or whatever or whether or it be the midweek Friday clubs or Tuesday clubs evening clubs or the Sunday morning clubs that people can learn, get to learn about You Lord. Thank You so much for what you are doing. Thank you for people who you’ve laid on their hearts to be a children’s worker or relief worker in their spare time to volunteer Lord. Father God, I pray that you’d be leading those people that you be leading those churches, giving them wisdom on how best to help children find you, how best help them grow, how best to disciple them. Please be blessed in these works Lord. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Hey family. This is Melissa again. I have a prayer request. My oldest daughter, her name is Darion, we call her Pudding. She would kill me if she knew I told ya’ll this. She will be going to China for a year to work. So, I need you all to pray for her. Me and her dad are, kind of, ya know, iffy about this, but this is something she wants to do. She’s 28 years old. She’s a good girl and I need to ya’ll to please keep her lifted up in prayer. Joselyn, you called in and were talking to a lady about her kid being sexually abused, and you said you didn’t let your kids spend the night, go to sleep over. I’m so glad you called in and said that because I don’t let Gabby spend the night with people and it’s just cause of things that happened to me. Allot of times when ya’ll call in to talk to other people and encourage them you don’t realize you’re encouraging other people too. So, thanks for so much for that. I love ya’ll. Ya’ll have a great day. Bye-bye.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible you make this family such a big, big lovely family. Brian, I just want to say thank you. For the last 5 years five years that I’ve listened to the Daily Audio Bible I love the fact that you get to this point in Jeremiah 29:11 and to take a pause and expand and expound and just tell us how great it is to have context. Yes, that’s one of my favorite versus as for many I know it is. It is great to understand context. In the bible, it will give us a big picture of what God is trying to tell and teaching us. So, I just wanted to say thank you Brian. And it’s great to know God has plans for us but whatever situation He has placed us, whether we like it or not, He is going to use that. So, we should try our very best to praise God, to flourish in all those moments. I am very happy that I am a member of this very wonderful family. Each one of you are loved by God. I really mean that. God loves us. And if God never did anything else for any one off us more than he has already done, the death of His son, Jesus Christ on the cross is good enough. It is the best gift anyone of us could ever receive - the gift of salvation, the gift of His undying love. Her pursued…

Jeremiah 44:24-47:7; 2 Timothy 3:1-17; Psalms 94:1-23; Proverbs 26:6-8

Today is the 24th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and fantastic that we can take the next step forward into and through the adventure that are the scriptures in a year, in community. And, so, let’s get to that to a reading from the Names of God Bible this week. And we will continue forward in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 44 verse 24 through 47 verse 7 before taking the next step forward in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. But first Jeremiah chapter 44.

Commentary:

Okay. So, this week we’re reading from the Names of God translation, which, like I said yesterday, preserves any reference to God in its original language. And, so, most of the words used for God, we kind of recognize, we’ve heard them around. But the names of God Bible puts them in some context, like using them in sentences, like, so we can see, like, how they’re actually used. And, so, yesterday we looked at, what is it mean when the Bible says I am Yahweh, Tsebaoth, Elohim of Israel, which means I am Yahweh, the Lord of armies or the leader of the heavenly hosts, the God of Israel, and we talked about, in the New Testament, when we see Yeshua we’re just pronouncing Jesus name in its original tongue. So, we come to a couple of other words today. Let’s just point them out so that will always know going forward when we hear these names pronounced or in song or, you know, spoken somewhere, we know what they mean. So, we come across as Adonay Yahweh lives. So, Adonay, you probably have mostly heard it Adonai. This translation phonetically writes it out, Adonay, because that is actually more proper Hebrew. Adon – Adonay. And we pronounce it Adonai. But this means the Lord, like the highest, like, the top Lord. And of course, we talked about Yahweh yesterday as being, like, a personal name, a personal name ascribed to God. And, so, we can be, like, so, this is God’s name? Like, this is his first name, like, Yahweh is the name? Like haven’t they called…like Jehovah…like what are all these names? Well, in terms of Yahweh, when God speaks through Jeremiah, but it’s not just Jeremiah, but we’re in particular talking about Jeremiah because we’re reading through Jeremiah as we’re reading this translation. This is what God calls himself, Yahweh. So, for God to say, as Adonay Yahweh lives, He’s essentially saying, as the highest God lives. So, like, as the highest Lord of all, who is God, and whose name is Yahweh lives. That’s what where talking about when we’re talking about Adonay Yahweh. And when God refers to himself as Yahweh Elohim, He is a saying, I am the God whose name is Yahweh. Okay, let’s look at another one. As I live, declares they Melek whose name is Yahweh Tsebaoth. Well, we’ve already talked about Yahweh Tsebaoth. What is Melek? Melek is the king. So, as I live declares the king whose name is Yahweh, the Lord of armies. Okay, and then we get to the Psalms and we encounter the word El. Which is just root of Elohim, and it just means God, like the highest, the mightiest God, El. And we also encounter, arise oh Shophet of the earth. So, Shophet is one who governs. So, like, the judge, like, arise oh judge of the earth. Okay, so, there’s our Hebrew for the day.

So, let’s talk about second Timothy. So, in this letter, Paul, as he often does, is making some contrasts but we have to understand the context or at least remember, remind ourselves of the context. This is a personal letter from Paul to Timothy. Timothy has been raised up in the faith since youth and has been a protégé and a son in the faith of Paul. So, Paul has mentored Timothy up in ministry and has placed him as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. So, Paul is writing to somebody that he knows well and he’s writing to somebody that he trusts and who trusts him and he’s writing in the context of a personal letter to a pastor, to someone leading God’s people. And when that context becomes apparent, like, what we are actually talking about here, it really opens up. So, Paul tells Timothy, you’ve got to understand, in the last days there are going to be violent periods of time and people will be selfish and they will love money and they’ll brag and they’ll be arrogant and they’ll be abusive with their language and they’ll curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, they’ll lack the normal affection that you find in families, and they won’t be willing to make peace with anyone. Like, these are the people that have to be right, even if they’re wrong. They have to be right. They’ll be slanderous, they won’t have any self-control, they can be brutal, and they can have no love for what is good. They’ll be traders, they’ll be reckless and conceited, and it will be pleasure that they’re after more than seeking God. They’ll look good, like, on paper. They’ll appear to have a godly life but they will not let the Holy Spirit change them by His power. You need to avoid those kinds of people. So, we can read that as instructions just for our daily lives, for those kinds of people who are like black holes, sucking the life out of every room they walk into or, you know, people who are two-faced, who are really just playing a game. So, we can take that and go, alright, I know some of those kind of people. But when you bring into the context of a pastor or priest, you begin to understand that this is a dangerous kind of person within a faith community. All kinds of dissension and division, and any number of things can happen. Paul even goes on to talk about how some of these people, these guys, they go into, you know, “minister” to women and the ministry may be a little bit different than studying scripture. It may be more ministry done in the bedroom. And Paul’s just saying, like, none of this is good and none of this will build up the community and you’ve got to understand what you’re dealing with here and avoid it, shut it down. And you know, like, those of you are pastors, you’ve got this crystal clear. You know exactly what Paul is talking about, which is interesting, that Paul’s talking about this a couple of thousand years ago in the early church. And these kinds of things continue to go on. And these kinds of behaviors are so destructive inside of the community. And these kinds of people, who are not willing, as Paul would say, to allow God’s power to change them. And these are the kinds of people that go from place to place, to place, to place causing harm - the kind of people that have a desire for community but are so broken that they want the whole thing formed around them. Everything centers around their orbit and they can’t be wrong. So, Paul is essentially saying, like, this is not healthy, this behavior is not healthy. And when it’s habitual and a person isn’t pressing in any way, like, isn’t looking for transformation, doesn’t even see that they’re doing anything wrong, and will not be corrected, will fight even when they know they’re wrong, there’s a nonstarter here. There’s no way this to move forward and it’s got to be avoided. And, so, Paul then contrasts that kind of behavior with his own because what he’s telling Timothy is, look, this kind of stuff is going to show up from time to time and you just need to be able to spot it early and understand completely what’s going on here. And so, when you do spot this kind of stuff you also have a couple of reference points for how things should be. You have my example. So, Paul is saying, you have my example, you have walked with me and lived with me and ministered with me. You have what you’ve seen and you have the Scriptures. So, let’s start with a contrast of Paul. Paul’s saying, look, you know my teachings. You know how I live my life. You know what burns inside me as purpose. You have witnessed my faith. You have seen my patients. You have seen my love and you have seen me endure things. And you know about the persecutions and sufferings that happened to me. You were there in Antioch and Iconium and Lystra when things were not going so well and I was getting stoned and thrown out of places. So, you’ve seen what I’ve gone through and I endured those things and you watched God rescue me, which is a direct contrast to the kind of behavior that I’m telling you to avoid in your personal life and in the faith community of Ephesus. So, you know that. And you know that I have lived true. And you have also watched me face persecution. You have watched me face opposition. So, you’ve got to know that this kind of comes with the territory. And, so, he sums this thought up by saying, listen, continue in what you have learned and what you have found to be true. You know who your teachers were. So, stick to that and don’t listen everything that’s going on, all of the discussion that’s going on, stuff that we were talking about yesterday. From infancy, Paul says, Timothy, from your infancy you’ve known the holy scriptures and they have the power to give you wisdom so that you can navigate all this and so that you be saved through faith in Jesus. Which brings us to Paul’s declaration on the value of Scripture, which also happens to be, like, a formative Scripture for what we do here every day, for the Daily Audio Bible for the community that we are. Paul succinctly names why it is that we do what we’re doing together every single day as we journey through the scriptures in a year. Every scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God’s approval. They equip God’s servants so that they are completely prepared to do good things. This is why we’re here. This is why we do what we do, which creates a natural and nice segue into just mentioning, you will have received an additional program in your feed in the app or wherever you’re listening to Daily Audio Bible today. And it’s a little fireside chat about this community, about the global campfire that we share every day, and how we got here, and where were going together. So, it’s sort of like an all community meeting about how we do what we do and how we need to do it going forward. So, by all means, if possible, don’t miss that.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for Your word. We thank You for the richness in it and like we were talking about yesterday, just the adventure of discovery. It’s endless - the contexts, the words, the way that they speak to us and go inside of us and transform us as we continue to expand and mature and grow up and You. And, so, we do believe that every scripture passage is inspired by God. And we do believe all of them are useful for teaching and pointing out errors in correcting people and training them for a life that has Your approval. This is what happens to us every day, so, we can bear this out in our own lives, that, yes, Your word has done those things in our lives and You have equipped us so that we’re prepared to do good things. We’re prepared. We may choose otherwise but You have prepared us and continue to transform us through Your word. So, come Holy Spirit. We invite You to continue that work that You have begun in us at the beginning of this year and to see it through all the way to the end of this year as we continue to speak Your word, every single word in the Scriptures this year. Come, Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And it’s the fireside chat is what’s going on around here, what I just mentioned, so make sure to check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. Thank you for your partnership. 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 PO Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

And of course, 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 Prayers and Praise Reports:

Singing – The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. We fear You Lord and we trust in Your unfailing love. The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. The fear of the Lord is ____ inside. It means friendship with God and eternal life. The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him. We share You O god ___. We find healing within Your forgiving love.

Hello everyone. This is Jay from New Jersey calling, freshly discharged from the hospital as of Tuesday. As a result of just the guilt of everything that I’ve done I had some thoughts of wanting to take my life. So, I went into the hospital there and admitted myself. So, I’m out now and I’m going to catch up on the DAB. I got an email from Mark S. saying that everybody is sending me out love, so, thank you in advance. And let’s just pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the DAB family that just loves me so much and Father I pray that their prayers, as I hear them, will just encourage me and assure me that I’m wanted and I’m needed and I’m loved and that Your will be done in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All right. Talk you soon. Love you guys.

Hi family. I haven’t called in a while. This is Kim from California. I do need to ask for your prayers. First, I’d like everyone to pray for everyone that is in California that has had any kind of loss with all the fires. California is on fire right now, as I’m sure everybody knows. Things are getting a little bit better. Some of the fires are contained but a lot of people have lost their homes. They’ve lost loved ones. They’ve lost everything. And a lot of those people are workers in the Napa area and Sonoma area. There’s a lot of workers out there that people…everybody thinks that there’s ten million dollar homes out there…well there are but those people have insurance and the people that don’t have insurance, they’ve lost everything. So, I am going to ask for your prayers. And it is supposed to rain tomorrow…a little bit. ____. We live in the woods. We are surrounded by woods. There’s a lot of forest out here. So, I also ask for my own personal prayers for my husband and my family and all our neighbors in our little town and everyone that is involved in these fires. We are preparing in case we do have to evacuate. But I just want to ask for your prayers for everyone in California. I pray for rain. Thank you so much for your prayers. I do pray for you all the time. Thank you so much Brian and Jill. Thank you so much for this wonderful forum. God bless you all. Kim from California.

Hi Brian. This is Terry from Alabama. I love this community. I’ve been part of this community since your second year of doing this. I met you with John Eldritch and I need some help. I need prayer. I’m in love with a beautiful woman and I have been addicted to pornography for a long time. I’m in counseling for it and I’m working towards with a prayerful life of getting rid of it. But I need more prayer because of that addiction has resulted in lies that have caused pain to my girlfriend and I want her to have some healing and I want our relationship to have healing. So, please pray out for me and pray for my addiction and  pray for my girlfriend and I love you all and I need your prayers. Thank you.

Jeremiah 42:1-44:23; 2 Timothy 2:1-26; Psalms 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 26:3-5

Today is the 23rd day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you. Back in the rolling hills of Tennessee. Little tired from travel, but we had a great time in Utah yesterday, a great time in Sandy with our new friends at the Fellowship church. So, thanks for having us out and thanks for all of you came in. And was good to be with you. And it’s good to be with you all today as we take the next step forward through the adventure that were on together, through the Bible. So, we’re reading from the names of God Bible this week and by the time we reach the end of this week we will have completed the book of Jeremiah and moved forward and we will also have completed the letter, Paul’s second letter to Timothy, that were reading and moved forward into the letter to Titus. So, that’s kind of the lay of the land for the week. But let’s dive in. Jeremiah chapter 42 verse 1 through 44 verse 23 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so let’s look at some context today, mostly in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. But a brief little bit in Jeremiah. And what I’m going to say about Jeremiah has less to do with context and more to do with words. So, we’re reading from the Names of God Bible this week, which retains the original language reference when God is spoken of. So, a number of times today we read Yahweh, Tsebaoth, Elohim of Israel and we kind of piece it together enough to follow along with the story. But what are these words? So, Yahweh is a name of God. Like, if I were to say, I am Brian, well, we read in the Bible, I am Yahweh. So, in other words, God is referring to himself as God but Yahweh is the name being used, as in like a personal name. Tsebaoth is a word that refers to, like, a military commander. And Elohim, that refers to the Divine, that refers to God as the All-Powerful, as we would understand God to be. So, Yahweh, Tsebaoth, Elohim of Israel is usually translated something like, the Lord of Heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, or when the personal reference, Yahweh, is preserved, I am Yahweh, the Commander of Heavenly Forces, your God, the God of Israel. And, of course, in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as Yeshua, which is how his name would’ve been pronounced by his mother and his family and everyone who knew him when he was walking upon the earth.

And, so, now that were in the New Testament let’s talk about second Timothy for second because we see something really fascinating in today’s reading that’s kind of mind blowing because we never think about it. So, this New Testament, that begins with the gospel of Matthew and ends with the book of Revelation, these writings weren’t just dropped out of the sky in a bound, gilded book that said New Testament on the front of it. And, you know, the apostles didn’t just find this left in the upper room in a corner somewhere and realize…oh…well…here’s what we need to believe and here’s what we need to do. Right? So, Timothy, for example, he couldn’t have gotten the first letter that Paul sent him, known as first Timothy, and read and thought, you know I need to cross reference that with second Timothy to see if it corresponds because he hadn’t gotten the second letter from Paul yet, the one that were reading now. So, he didn’t have it to base any doctrine or have any encouragement or any reminders of things that he needed to pay attention. Right? Paul didn’t sit down and write all of his letters, all at one time, all from one place and then distribute them around so that they all landed at the same time. And even if he had done that, you know, like, if he wrote a letter at the same time to the Galatians as he did to the Ephesians and he sent them out, well the church at Galatia doesn’t know what the letter to the Ephesians says, and vice a versa. So, it’s not all part of the New Testament at this point. In the 27 books of the New Testament that we have, as the New Testament, although that had kind of been settled and these were the books that had been used, this wasn’t, like, affirmed by the church at large until like the late fourth century. And there were other things being written and other things being said along the way. And, you know, that’s where this term Gnosticism comes in but not everything was Gnostic. Some things were just newer. Some things just had in incongruences. And that most scholars would agree. In, like, the books and letters that we have in the New Testament these are the oldest writings. So, there’s this period that is centuries. So, like, if Jesus died in the 30s - and I don’t mean like the 1830s or 1730s, I mean, like the 0030…like the 30s - then there is this period of development where God begins to reveal the New Testament through his people. And like in the case of Paul’s letters they are written one at a time to different people in different places for different reasons but even Paul suggests, you know, to share these things, pass them around. And, so, that’s what began to happen, the letters began to be copied and passed around. So, if you are in Ephesus and you have letters from Paul that were written to the Ephesians to the church at Ephesus, well, then you may eventually get a copy of letters written to the Galatians and you may share copies. And then copies of letters from Philippi come in. And these letters begin to be shared around and they begin to be read in the churches and be used for instruction and doctrine in the churches and they become very, very valuable, irreplaceable, to the common life of faith that these churches share. But there was a point in this story were nothing was written yet. So, if we were to consider the book of Acts, which was penned by Luke, by the author of the Gospel of Luke. So, Luke and Acts are this two-volume set. And Acts begins to show us all of the things that happened in the development of the church. And these things all had to happen before they could be written down, before an accounting of those happenings could be written down. So, there is a period where a lot of stuff is going on and theology and understanding and doctrine is being formed and then becoming commonly understood and accepted before it can ever be written down. So, we see that through the power of the Holy Spirit, first, the message, the good news, the gospel of Jesus, was spoken aloud and over time doctrinal statements or creeds were formed - things that people would recite and memorize and say together as a statement of faith as an agreed-upon thing, like, this is what we believe. And sometimes these things would be sung with a melody, sung together. Kind of like how we have songs that we sing in church and we sing them but they are making statements about what we believe, even as we give our hearts in worship. They are also making statements about what we believe to be true or they could just be statements that were spoken, recited together, like ancient liturgy. And, so, people would say certain confessions of faith and declarations before they were baptized, knowing that their declaration, along with their immersion in water, could be a death sentence for them. And, so, these statements were important and weighty and valued. And they weren’t just for baptism, they were for common life. They were statements that held people together in common that they would memorize and recite and understand and ponder the mystery. And we encounter these at different points in the New Testament. And their older than the letter or whatever is being written. The statements embedded or the creeds that are preserved, they are older than the writing. So, they give us a glimpse back into that formation period.

Okay, are you with me? Because it can be tedious. So, the apostle Paul doesn’t have the writings of the apostle Paul as he’s planting these churches. He writes the letters later to the churches to remind them of the statements, right, the creeds and stuff that he has taught them that the things that they can have tangible and hold in common and recite together when they come together for worship, so that they can retell the story of what they believe. And these are earlier things than these letters. So, why am I telling you all this? Because we encounter such statements in Paul’s letter to Timothy, to second Timothy that were going through today. And we remember that this is a personal letter, a personal letter from Paul to Timothy, who is a son in the faith and is also the pastor at Ephesus. And, essentially, Paul is encouraging Timothy to be strong, be true, be faithful, be loyal, and to not get distracted by you every nuanced argument out there. So, he’s referring to the fact that people are saying different things, maybe even writing down different things, and that it’s not a good use of his time to try to argue out every new thought. And in addressing that, he’s like, this is a statement that can be trusted. Right? So, this this is one of these early statements that people have the memorizing and reciting - if we have died with Him we will live with Him, if we endure we will rule with Him, if we disown Him He will disown us, if we are unfaithful He remains faithful because he cannot be untrue to Himself. Right? So, Paul is reminding Timothy of this declaration. And he’s also reminding Timothy to remind others to continue to teach this forward. And, so, Paul is saying, remember these things that you were taught. Remember these things that you have memorized. Don’t let anyone else in the church forget these are the core essentials, these declarations, this is essential. And he’s saying and reminding Timothy to do that because of all this other thought swirling around. Because Paul’s discussion here with Timothy is to not get distracted in every kind of argument that can be thought up. I mean, Paul even names, Hymenaeus and Philetus, like people who are doing this. So, like people who are in and around the church who are, you know, having these esoteric conversations because they heard somebody who heard somebody say something who heard somebody say something. And it’s a distraction, Paul’s saying. And he’s going back and saying, you have these core statements, right, because Timothy couldn’t get up and say, let’s turn to the book of first Timothy. He could certainly say, I got a letter from our father in the faith, Paul who’s in prison and this is what he has to say, this is kind what he told me. But the framework of the way that we interact with the New Testament, they didn’t have that framework. So, these statements we find in Paul’s letters or letters from other apostles or from gospel writers, things that kind of look like poems in the middle of a story, which is kind of how the statement that were talking about today is second Timothy looks, this is where we get clues to what was going on in the formation of the church before there was a New Testament that sought to solidify the theological understanding of the good news. These statements are some of the earliest statements, earliest understandings of what God was doing in the world that we have. And we should recognize and treasure them because they are probably some of the oldest statements of faith in Jesus that we have. And, so there’s a couple more statements like this in today’s reading that we have. So, Paul names Hymenaeus and Philetus as people that are kind of stirring up all this weird stuff, these useless arguments and misleading debates. And, so, he calls them out and he says they’ve abandoned the truth and then he explains what they’re doing -  their destroying the faith of others by saying that people who have died have already come back to life. So, they either reason this out themselves or they heard this somewhere and Paul’s saying that’s the kind of stuff were avoiding. So, Paul says, like, in spite of what they’re doing, in spite of all that, God’s people have a solid foundation. These words are engraved on it. And then we have a couple of these statements - the Lord knows those who belong to him, and, whoever worships the Lord must give up doing wrong. So, although we can find these themes in lots of places in the Scriptures, we get a little glimpse at how these things came to be. And when we begin, over time, to understand the context of things the Bible really, really opens up to us.

Prayer:

Father, once again, we thank You for Your word and the treasure that it is and our ability to dive deep and swim and drink deeply and understand what a treasure hunt this is, to engage with Your word, and invite Your Holy Spirit to speak through it. What a guide it is. What an adventure it is. And we thank You for that. And, so, with Saints of old, we say what has been said for so long - if we have died with You we will live with You, if we endure we will rule with You, if we disown You if we walk away You let us You will disown us, if we are unfaithful You are faithful because You can’t be unfaithful to yourself. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to plant this ancient declaration deep in our hearts. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And here is what’s going on around here. Tomorrow, along with the Daily Audio Bible, there will be an additional program, a fireside chat, a little community discussion around the global campfire that, for those of you who haven’t been around all that long, gives a little bit of a glimpse into the story of how the Daily Audio Bible came to be and how we’ve grown up together and where were headed together. So, it’s like a little all community meeting and I hope you will listen to that. I think it’s important for us to be on the same page as we go forward. So, watch for that tomorrow

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then there’s a link that lives on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com and I thank you profoundly for your partnership. 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill TN 37174.

And of course, 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 Prayers and Praise Reports:

God bless you Daily Audio Bible. Hey this is Scott calling from Houston and I wanted to call in and offer some encouragement to Darrell from___. Darrell, I heard your call about the prayer for your business so that you can pay your employees. I want you to know that I’ve heard you many times Darrell and I’ve appreciated your encouragement. So, Lord, I pray for Darrel right now, that You will help things to come together for him. Please break down strongholds that would prevent him from being able to move forward for his business. I pray for you Darrell and I’ll keep praying for you. And Jay from New Jersey, I wanted to call and tell you that I’ve really appreciated your calls over the years and don’t let the enemy accuse you of being false because we all feel that time to time. And the best thing you can do is to offer your sincerity back to the Lord Jesus that He will…He will defend your heart for you. And also I wanted to remind you that sometimes when we fall and we give in to temptations and addictions. We have to realize that the enemy is not just trying to annoy us and make our life difficult and a struggle, although he wants to do that. He wants to ultimately just take our faith and completely destroy it. So, he doesn’t care what he has to do. If he can get us to doubt our connection to the Holy Spirit he’ll will do whatever he’s got to do. He’s just using us. But God’s grace will never fail you. He is always there. Within our own doubt He is stronger than the evil one, who is just trying to destroy us and he’s getting…he’s trying to get us to destroy ourselves. So, God bless you my friend. I will keep praying for you. Love you all. Bye now.

Hey guys. This is Sharron calling. I’ve called in a couple of times before and I just wanted to reach out to everyone who’s kind of having a lot of trouble with depression and mood and anxiety and such. Mostly, specifically to Sharron in California. I just want to say that I know exactly what is going on. I was there just only a few months ago and the only two words that ever came were I can’t. I just felt heavy. I felt alone. I was constantly crying out, why God, why? But then I got a verse. And I don’t know if this will help you. It really helped me. It’s Song of Solomon, Chapter 2 verse 6. And it simply states that, His left hand cradles my head and His right arm encircles my waste. And I know that we all feel very alone at times but also know that He is right there. He is holding us. And it took me so long to get help. And I just hope that you can take a step out and ask for that helper. Find someone that can help you get that help, whether it be a doctor or a counselor or what have you. But please, reach out just a little bit further than asking for prayer because it just might be that God’s answering your prayer by putting someone in front of you. So, I just hope that that will help. And I would…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Ron from upstate New York. I’m calling with a prayer request for my granddaughter Shay. She’s going through some depression and anxieties and stuff like that. And she’s also searching for God. And if you would pray for her to find God, I believe once she does that much of her anxieties will subside. Love you family. Amen.

Wow. What a DAB day. It’s Thursday, October 19^th and this is Blessed Beyond Measure from New Jersey. Now. Could all of these spirit led moments be captured in a single podcast? Well, the answer is yes when we will let God be in control. Today’s highlight started with our reading of Jeremiah 33 and then Brian’s reiteration of the Lord’s redemption plan, then and today. Next, Blind Tony, one of everyone’s favorite DAB family members, speaks words of truth that makes you want to will love the Lord more and more. Then we move to precious Gigi, who reminds us how we are going to be endure our days on earth as believers in Christ as we are waiting to enter God’s perfect place for us. She, in my opinion, is living Luke 18:17 – I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. In conclusion, Asia from Munich rings it on home by thanking others in our family for their courage to publicly confess their sins and being open to receive love and prayers that will follow. Also, we spoke about those who have lost all hope and are met by those who are prayer warriors, picking up the burden and calling on our heavenly Father to fill those calls with a hope only He can give. Brian and DAB staff, you’ve totally yielded to the Holy Spirit, to weave to today’s readings and calls into a single message for our Lord and Savior. I’m Blessed Beyond Measure from New Jersey.

Jeremiah 39:1-41:18; 2 Timothy 1:1-18; Psalms 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 26:1-2

Today is the 22nd day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible and greetings from the state of Utah. Excited to be out here and getting ready to share the Sneezing Jesus message. And we can talk about that a little bit later. Here we are at the threshold of a shiny, sparkly new week that we get to walk through and into together. We’ll read from the Names of God Bible this week, which is fun and important for us to encounter once in a while. Basically, what the Names of God Bible translation does is any time God is referred to, its original utterance - so, in its original language that is retained even though this is an English translation and everything else is kept in English, when God is referred to - it is retained in its original language. So, we’ll will take the next step from the book of Jeremiah, of course. But we concluded Paul’s first letter to Timothy, and so will begin Second Timothy today when we get to the New Testament reading. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, Jeremiah chapter 39 verse 1 through 41 verse 18.

Okay, like I mentioned at the beginning, we concluded Paul’s first letter to his protégé, to his son in the faith, Timothy, whom was serving as the pastor at the church of Ephesus, which brings us to Second Timothy, the second letter, Paul wrote to Timothy. And it came in a very short period of time - the first and second letters. This particular letter has kind of a special place in the New Testament and should hold a gravity and a sobriety for us because this is the apostle Paul’s final writing of his life. So, the apostle Paul whom we’ve journeyed with and traveled with and watched do so many things - so much ministry in so many places on so many travels - and who has poured out his life while he was alive, is about to lose his life. Paul is back in prison in chains in a dungeon. Winter is coming and this is probably somewhere in the vicinity of the year 67. And it’s become absolutely against the law to be known as a Christian. And just about everyone has deserted Paul. The only one who has stayed with him in Rome is Luke the physician, who authored the Luke and Acts. Paul knows it’s just a matter of time and he will likely be executed. And he deeply wants to see his son in the faith, Timothy, face-to-face one last time. But the way the narrative reads in this letter, he’s trying to tell Timothy some of the things that he would prefer to tell him in person but he’s writing them down just in case it’s too late. It’s in this letter that he says, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race’. But before he says this, he gives Timothy’s parting words. And this is a man, the apostle Paul, this is a man who is given his life to the cause of Christ and has suffered at every turn. And now he knows there’s one more bit of suffering and it will be his execution and he will die and his death is imminent. And he tells his son in the faith important words of counsel - keep your head, be vigilant about your faith no matter what happens, no matter what Timothy, stay true. So, Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy is a passionate plea for the faith. And when we can understand that this is being written from a condemned man and one of the most influential people in all of the faith, the impact on us should be and can be the same as it was when it was originally read. And, so, we begin. Second Timothy, Chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for your word. And as we take the journey through Paul’s final writings, we ask that Your Holy Spirit make us see it soberly as a deep encouragement from a saint who is about to die. May we listen with that gravity in honoring that but in also applying it to our lives. And as we move into this this new week we consecrate ourselves to You, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to You in the tradition of St. Paul. Come, Holy Spirit, and lead us forward. Lead us with assurance. Lead us with stability and hope. Come Jesus. We pray in your name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

So, like I mentioned at the beginning. We’re out here in Utah, in sandy Utah, to bring the Sneezing Jesus message today at the Fellowship Church. So, looking forward to seeing you, those of you who are coming.

And then I have also been mentioning the global campfire, the little fireside chat, the little community meeting that is coming up this Tuesday. You don’t have to do anything to attend this meeting, but simply watch your feed. It’ll show up along with the Daily Audio Bible and I’m encouraging everyone to listen to this because it is a bit of, you know, where we’ve come from and where we are going together. So, watch for that to show up in your feed on Tuesday morning. And that will be great.

And then looking a little bit further down the calendar into the month of November. November 19^th, we will be in the Shreveport Louisiana area, Bossier City, Louisiana at River Valley Church. And, so, put that on your calendar. If you are in the area we would love to see you.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link it’s on the homepage. Thank you, humbly, and profoundly for clicking that link. 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And of course, 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 Prayers and Praise Reports:

My name is Marcus. I’m calling from Cincinnati. I’m reaching out to Sharon who called on October 14^th with sincere prayers. My heart goes out to you and I pray for your life to come together for your family to heal. I also pray for the grandfather who prayed for Brett, his grandson suffering from depression. And I reach out to Jay. There is redemption on the other side. Brian, thank you for your ministry. And I continue to pray for everyone. Jesus, in Your name, please grant peace to this entire team.

Good morning guys. This is Jenn in SoCal, AKA Prayer Warrior Princess. I have some prayer requests for you please. Number one, my nephew Dillon is 21 and he was one of the people that was shot in Vegas. He was shot in the shoulder and he has shrapnel that, apparently, they are going to leave it there because it’s safer than trying to remove it all. So, prayers please, for his recovery, not just physically but from the posttraumatic stress that has resulted for my brother’s whole family. Not only was Dillon shot but my sister in laws family is in Puerto Rico and they’re still without electricity and suffering over there. So, there’s that. And this week is the anniversary of my stepmom, Nancy’s death. And, so, my dear family is kind of going through the ringer right now. And, so, not only my dad is grieving his wife but my uncle also passed away in the last six months. So, my dad, my brother, my sister in law and their two kids could really use your prayers. And they don’t yet know the Lord. So…that would…I keep saying so. I’m totally nervous. I’, not sure why. I love you guys. Why be nervous? Anyways…and another side thing. One of my instructors, I asked them last night, when I asked her if there was anything else I could do, she said, I need a miracle. And I’m assuming she meant in order to get everything accomplished last night. Regardless, can you guys pray for a miracle for my teacher for whatever she was looking for however the Lord wants to minister to her. That would be awesome. Thanks you guys. Love you. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Amberly calling. I wanted to call and request prayer today. I had emergency surgery and had to be care flighted to Salt Lake City four weeks ago. And, anyway, I go to the doctor tomorrow to see if it’s okay for me to go back to my job as a first-grade teacher this next week. And I’m hoping I will be able to. But the reason for the surgery is because the hysterectomy that I had this summer came completely undone after ten weeks, at ten weeks post op. And I had a significant prolapse of my bowel and other stuff. And, so, it was pretty horrifying, actually. And I struggled a little bit but I was not completely healed on the inside from what the surgeon said that go in and redo everything. And, so, I’ve had a little bit of trepidation. And, so, I covet you guys prayers as far as healing all the way around goes and if I’m not healed completely that they would be able to see that. And if I needed to still stay home and continue to heal rather than go back and hang out with my littlest that that would be abundantly clear. I just ask God’s blessing over my body and complete healing and that my spirits would stay up and my focus would be on the Lord and not, you know, kind of feeling sorry for myself and having a little pity party. So, I’m sure some of you have been there and done that. So, anyway, thank you so much for your prayers. I love all of you. Bye.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. It’s Adam calling. Today is the 18^th of October. I’m calling in just to say, one thing that’s on my mind is to share this: Proverbs chapter 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Now, I’ve seen this happen over and over and I’ve just seen God. He is faithful. He always clears the way. So, the message for today is just to trust in Him. Trust in Him and see where that takes you because you’ll be surprised. God is faithful and he will deliver you from anything and everything. Now, make it a good day guys. Bye.

Hello every one ____, that’s ____Indonesian for good morning. This is Jubilant Perseverance calling and I just wanted to pray and ask God to go before us in the upcoming days. Heavenly Father, thank You for life and for a beautiful new day that we have to live by Your hand. It is because of Your control and Your authority that our world continues to spin, that our sun continues to give us warmth and heat, and we continue to see the beauty around us in nature. I ask first, on that note, for  ____ all of the believers that are in California and Oregon near the wild fires or with homes in neighborhoods that have been consumed by them, I ask that You will please comfort them and give them wisdom about next steps and enable them to take one step at a time to move forward with their lives. I pray for those who have been victims of all of the natural disasters that have been going on recently – mudslides, earthquakes, hurricanes, wild fires – all of these things that are signs that we are not in control and signs that there is more going on beyond humanity. I pray that it will open the eyes of the unbelievers who don’t believe that You are powerful who don’t believe that You are in control that they will see that everything that you’ve created is Yours and everything…