Genesis 37:1-38:30, Matthew 12:22-45, Psalms 16:1-11, Proverbs 3:27-32
Today is January 18th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a pleasure to be here with you for the next step forward in our week, in our month, in our year, in the Bible. And to take that next step, we will continue doing what we’ve been doing this week, we will read from the New Living Translation and we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday. Today we will read Genesis chapter 37 and chapter 38 in our Old Testament reading.
Commentary:
Okay. So, Jesus is having another confrontation with the religious leaders, ironically, because he offered healing to someone. He set a person who was oppressed by demonic activity free and the people who witnessed this, they’re seeing it for what it is, a move of God, and they’re asking themselves, could Jesus be the one? But somehow this is not the question that the Pharisees, the religious leaders, are asking at all. And when they find out about it they say, no wonder He can cast out demons, He gets His power from Satan, the prince of demons. And part of Jesus response is that every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. So, I grew up in a pastor’s home. So, I’ve been around the Bible my whole life and I had heard this Scripture as a kid and this particular scripture was terrifying to me because this is the unpardonable sin, as it was called, at least until his days. But I could never really understand what blasphemy was and especially blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Like, how could I, as a little kid, know whether that had happened, but if it had happened, well then, I was doomed. So, it’s one of the Scriptures that had me down at the altar a lot. Thankfully, it’s not quite as confusing as I had made it as a kid. However, what Jesus is saying is cautionary indeed, and we may find that we been way closer to this than would be comfortable. So, Jesus healed a person who was oppressed by demonic activity. He set this person free. And in response the Pharisees do not give glory to God for this freedom or for the good that is happening in the world that is following Jesus wherever He goes. Instead, they’re saying, His authority and His power comes from Satan. So, Jesus basically just feeds the logic back to them, any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he’s divided in fighting against himself, his own kingdom won’t survive. And if I’m empowered by Satan, what about the stuff you’re doing? You’re doing this too. So, none of what you’re saying is making any sense. A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good, but if the tree is bad its fruit will be bad. So, He’s basically saying, a person just got set free here, free from the torment of the devil, and yet you are telling me that by the devil I have participated in this. And that is blasphemy. You’ve labeled the work of God as the work of the devil. And as long as you’re believing and saying that, it’s an unforgivable thing. You’re denying the power of God. You’re denying God and attributing this to the devil. Okay, so now that we’ve got that clear, how does that come close to our own lives? Well let’s think about our own faith journey. We believe what we believe. And then we surround ourselves with people who believe the same way that we do. And, overtime, we can lock ourselves in saying, God only works this way, and we are the only ones who actually have it right. Everybody else, maybe not so much to varying degrees. But what happens when God starts to move outside of our box? What happens when God starts to use someone who doesn’t think the same way that we do, maybe doesn’t believe quite the same way that we do? Well, as Jesus said, any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. So, if we find ourselves condemning someone for doing God’s work, and the fruit bears out, but they just happened to see things a bit different than we do, then we’re taking on the role of the Pharisee in the story. And if we want to serve ourselves best and God’s kingdom best, then we would we would do well to tread lightly, understanding that we don’t have a say in the matter. Nothing is going to make us the judge. And when we elevate ourselves above God in the matter, that’s blasphemy. And when we call what God is doing, no matter who he chooses to do it through or how he chooses to do it, and we call it of the devil, that’s blasphemy. And, unfortunately, there’s a lot of that flying around all of the time. It’s backward to what Jesus is teaching us, which is, that our primary sense of identity isn’t found in anyone else or any set of beliefs or any traditions or any rituals. It’s found in a direct relationship with God through Jesus. And if we are walking with God, intimately, then we won’t find ourselves judging everyone and everything that doesn’t line up with our box. If our agenda is to bring light and life and good news into this world and to be true and to endure until the end, whenever and however that is, then we will be able to recognize what God is doing around us, even if it’s completely counterintuitive to what we think we know, or as Jesus said, if a tree is good its fruit will be good. So, we have an invitation here to climb down off of our soapboxes and walk a little bit more humbly among each other, because we don’t want to be calling what God is doing something of the devil as the Pharisees were doing to Jesus.
Prayer:
Father, we enter into that. We realize that there is much room for humility and grace and we acknowledge that the grace that You have offered to us is beyond our capacity to offer to anyone else. And, so, the least that we can do is imitate You, our Father, and offer mercy and grace everywhere, and to re-center ourselves in You and You alone. So, come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.
So, from a calendar perspective, looking forward to February 7th. I’ll be speaking in Bakersfield California at New Life Church and us. So, that’s a Wednesday evening. And I’m looking forward to it very much. If you are in the area, hopefully you come out and say hello. You can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Events section.
Also want to remind you of the Daily Audio Bible shop that’s at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a number of resources available there that can help equip you as you take this journey through the year - journals and writing utensils that we found to be perfect for this journey. The Promised Land films that we talked about a couple days ago that allow you to come kind of fly in and look around at the places where the Scriptures happened, and a number of other resources. So, check out the Daily Audio Bible shop if you haven’t had a chance.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then a humble heart of gratitude is extended your way. We do what we do because we’ve done it together all along. So, thank you. There’s a link on the homepage. If using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 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 and Praise:
Hi family. Happy new year. This is Viola from Maryland. I hope you are doing well. __ God bless you. It’s a brand-new year as well. The Lord is working wonders. Family I want to pray for the brother that said he was struggling with opioids. Brother, I heard your prayer request and I know I haven’t called in a while but every time I listen and I hear prayer requests I pray fervently. And I pray that our God this year will deliver you in the name of Jesus. That you will no longer have any desire even to put any of those prescription medications, you will be like oil and water. You will no longer mix, in the name of Jesus. Brother, be strong and know that God is there for you. Now, Marilyn from Houston I’m praying that our God will touch you and give you an overhaul, __ , __ , I pray for healing for you in the name of Jesus. Not because the God of our God because __. And, so I’m praying for you sister that God would just touch your body, will give you the overhaul that you need, will give you wisdom, whether you should go for surgery or not in the name of Jesus. Suzanne from Albuquerque, I’m praying for your nephew and for your niece in law. I pray in the name of Jesus that both of them will come to know the Lord in Jesus name. And that whoever is clouding their minds right now, Father I pull down in the name of Jesus every blinder that the devil has over their hearts their eyes I pulled down in the name of Jesus. Father I pray that you will set them free from the clutches of the evil one in Jesus name. Sister, I continue pray for your loved ones. Family, I want to encourage you to go and sign up for the More conference. It’s an awesome conference. And I can tell you that life has changed every time I go to that conference. So, I’m going to encourage you to go sign up. Go sign up for the More conference. And then I need a prayer request family. The contract I was working on ended. So, I am looking for a new job, but I am not looking for just any job. I’m praying that God will provide the job that He wants for me. In the name of Jesus.
Hi this is Gloria in New York City. It’s Saturday the 13th. I was listening to the podcast and just got to listen to that thank you poem that someone was reading and then Vicki your message came on about your son taking his life. And I just want to pray for you Vicki. I can’t imagine anything worse. So, I know that so many of us, whether we’re parents are not, our hearts are just with you and your sons little girl. So, Lord God, thank You for all the brothers and sisters out there who are tied, whose hearts are tied in with Vicki’s through You Lord Jesus. Father God we together as a family lift up our sister and we ask You God just to be with her and us in a very strong, clear way, Lord God. Give her comfort that we know no one else can give her this time Father God. Lord God just bring her peace that that rises above all understanding. Lord, I lift up that little girl to You and I pray Lord that you would break any curse that the enemy has over that family Lord, that it would not touch this child, that it would not touch future generations. Lord, our hearts just go out as we ask You to just surround this woman and this whole family Lord in this time of mourning. You tell us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn. Lord God we mourn with our sister and entrust her into Your hands. In Jesus name. Amen.
Pray with me family. Our God we come to You to pray for Bayer our brother over in the north-western front. We ask Lord that Your piece, Your clarity, and Your love of family Lord would come into his life, holy and truly Lord. That he would abound in joy in the goodness of who You are father. I pray Your love in the hearts of all his family Father, that You would come and reconcile all things unto that love Father for the glory of Your kingdom. It is true that love indeed conquers all. Slave of Jesus, shout out, and Ed in Oklahoma, Blind Tony, Mark and Mike J. in Australia, and to all my 2010 and 2012 Wild at Heart event brothers, you warriors, you __ to __. Shout out. Love you guys. Brian, family, love you, great work. China, you’re doing a great work with Chronological. Really enjoying it. Just…sorry Just I haven’t called as much. This is Delta Alpha Foxtrot calling from the southern Texas front. God bless you all.
This is and from Charlotte North Carolina. I wanted to call about generosity and encourage myself and all of us in the community to be courageously generous in the coming year, not to be frightened about being generous, but to test God, to believe God’s promises, which are so overflowing, about generosity. He promises that if we test Him that He will open the windows of heaven and if we water we ourselves will be water. He says not to rob Him. There are so many promises with generosity and we can out give God. I’m reminding myself and all of us of this. I want to encourage all of us of be sure to give to our local church, which is just the foundation of our community, and to give something to the Daily Audio Bible. And others have called and said, and I want to echo that, $5, $10, $2, as much as you can, do something, even the cost of a cup of coffee every month, because it costs just to keep the equipment rolling. We don’t think of those behind the scene things, keeping the lights on, keeping the equipment going. My husband is a musician and I know people don’t realize the cost of just him keeping his equipment going to bless people with his music. So, may we all overflow with generosity in new and courageous ways and see God do amazing things for us. We ask Him for that in Jesus name. Amen.
Good morning DABbers. This is Kristin from San Antonio Texas and on the first-time caller. I’ve been listening on and off for about two years now and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to listen all the way through, while taking Brian’s advice, and journaling my day-to-day thoughts and experiences. I can tell you so far that God is definitely on fire and moving in my life in so many ways. I want to thank Brian and his family for this resource and just following God’s plan and bringing about, you know, the Daily Audio Bible app to so many people out there. It truly been such a blessing. I deftly believe in the power of prayer and I want to ask for all of you to just pray for my company, KFW engineers, that God will open doors and opportunities for our company, its leaders, and employees to just witness a change in KFW’s culture as a whole. And that it may not be a playground for the enemy to play in. I pray for more opportunities to just share my faith without fear and lead more people to Christ. I also want to ask for prayer for myself and that they may be steadfast in my relationship with our Father and that my alcohol dependency be completely relieved. I am so thankful for this community and I thank God for each and every one of you out there listening. May He bless you and draw you closer to His plan for Your life each and every day. Thanks everyone. I love you guys. Bye. Have a great day.