Numbers 21:1-22:20, Luke 1:26-56, Psalms 57:1-11, Proverbs 11:9-11
Today is the 14th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you, of course, for the next step. That’s what we do every day. We take a step forward. And then we end up reading the whole Bible. And look how far we have come. We get to this point in the year just about every year and go, What? Wasn’t it just new year’s? And we have travelled some serious distance in the Scriptures over a great deal of time, learning about so many people. And, so, we’ll take the next step. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Numbers chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Numbers, things are heating up for the children of Israel. There’s nowhere for them to go basically. They’ve been out in the deep desert then they’ve kind of come into the desert just south of the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey, sent spies in. It didn’t work out. And so back out into the desert they go, but they’re just moving around and no one will let them pass through so they’re kind of stuck. Until finally they’ve sufficiently freaked out the nations around them. There’s this massive horde of people, probably a million strong moving around. That would freak anybody out. If that could even happen in this day and age, that would freak whoever’s near them out. And the Lord’s reputation is among these people, so people are unsettled. And we see in today’s reading a couple of different kings come out to confront them. Of course, that forces Israel into battle and Israel defeats them. And, so, now they don’t have their homeland, but they kind of have a place to be. We see that the Moabites, King Balak sends for this guy named Balaam to come and curse God’s people, but God isn’t letting him do it. And that story will unfold before us as we go forward tomorrow.
We’re just getting going on the gospel of Luke as well. And, so, we find ourselves squarely in the Christmas sorry. The Advent. The arrival of Jesus. And talk about unsettling. You have to imagine this early teenage girl, Mary, getting this angelic visitation in which she’s told she’s about to be pregnant even though she has never had sex. And this is really, really good news because the baby that’s going to be born will be the Son of God and his kingdom will rule and reign forever. It’s like, yes, when we read the story, it’s a story of great rejoicing. But Mary…Mary had to be unsettled to say the least.
And we have to acknowledge in both these stories, God’s ways are often unsettling. And the only way we will be settled in them is if we learn the lesson that the children of Israel are being taught in the wilderness. Utter and complete devotion, allegiance and dependence on God.
And then we get to the book of Proverbs today and we have some challenges. With his mouth, the ungodly destroys his neighbor. A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked. It’s words that do the damage before any other damage even is conceived of. It’s words that can destroy relationships before anything else happens. We are creating the reality in which we live by the words that we speak. And there’s reason. We’re created in the image of God and He speaks things into existence and so do we. And we may not be able to create something out of nothing. We’re not God. But we certainly create things with our words like our Father does. And we should take that to heart and consider throughout this day, what am I creating here? Because my words can be used to destroy or my words can be used to restore wholeness.
Prayer:
So, Father, we bring that to You, confessing that we don’t always listen to Your Holy Spirit. We rush in and say things that shouldn’t be said or we say them at the wrong time or we just create mayhem for no reason. We confess that. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to bring so present into our minds and hearts today the awareness that we’re creating things when we speak. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name. Amen.
Announcements:
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A couple of dates that are on the calendar that I’ve mentioned a few times. The 25th of March. So, yeah, about a week and a half from now I’ll be speaking in Louisville, Kentucky at New Song Christian Fellowship Louisville. And you can get the details and times and phone numbers and websites and all that kind of stuff at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section.
Then on the 8th of April I’ll be speaking in Washington State in the Tri cities area - Columbia Christian Church. Again, you get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section.
And the 11th of April is when the More Gathering for Women begins. And that will take place about an hour outside of Atlanta up in the mountains of north Georgia. Beautiful, beautiful setting. And you can still register for that, ladies, if that is something that’s kind of been on your minds, you feel like you should be at, come. You can find out all about it, all of your questions will be answered at moregathering.com. You can check that out.
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And that’s it for today. I am Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Hello DAB family this is Joyful Noise from Southern California. I got up super early this morning feeling very energized because I was able to catch up on a few readings. Thank you so much Brian and Jill…Jill for your readings…oh my gosh. You guys do so much for us and…crown in heaven…I know crown in heaven over all this. So, encouraged by your faithfulness to be there even when… So, I’m out hiking. I’m out enjoying God’s beautiful creation and I’m listening to the community prayer hotline as well as again, catching up with some other days that I have missed and I want to share my heart with Greg from Missouri. Greg, I’m just so thankful for your prayer request for your mom. I know you’ve already heard from several DABbers, so I’m sharing with you that they have had similar situations in their family, that their mom also struggled or maybe one of their parents struggled with some of blank. And I just want to share with you as a mom, from a mom’s perspective. You know, mom’s, we have a very tough gig. And to have a son, a grown son say on the other side of perhaps a very difficult upbringing, could you pray for my mom. That is amazing and I want to tell you that that’s such an encouragement to me as a mother because, you know, we’re not perfect. We make mistakes all of the time. Can I get a witness? And we drop the ball and it seems like so much. It like weighs on us. And, of course, that’s a lie. it’s Jesus that, you know, that ultimately will help our kids when we drop the ball. He is there with us through it. But I will tell you that it is one of the…it is the hardest job I’ve ever done. It’s constant, it comes at you like a freight train. And they tell you, they tell you it’s going to be hard, but oh no, not until you’re in it do you get it, how hard it is and then it changes so often…
[singing] The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. [singing stops] Good day Daily Audio Bible family. This is Sherry calling from British Columbia Canada. This call is for Candace in Oregon. Candace, it is March 11th. It’s the one-year anniversary of the passing of your husband as I’m sure you’re well aware. And I just wanted you to know that you’ve been in my thoughts and my prayers all this week and especially today. And, so, I wanted to, in honor of your husband Brad, read Psalm 23 for you. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for my namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod in your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Candace, please know that you are in my prayers you in my family. I’m praying that the Lord will give you comfort and give you peace at this time. I love you sister. And I love you all DAB family. I hope you have a good evening. Bye-bye.
[singing] After all You are constant. After all You were only good. Not for a moment will you forsake me. Not for a moment will you forsake me Lord. [singing stops]. So, heavenly Father, Lord Almighty, we thank you that Brian is back with us and for Jill’s leadership while he got some well needed rest. We ask for Your continued blessing on the Hardin family and on the support teams and their families. We pray for Dr. John and the Alpha program that he is running and ask that You superintend all details of the program so that through it many will come to know You Lord. We pray also for Your continued blessing on his marriage to Andrea and thank You Lord for the 27 years they have so far. We’re also lifting up Salvation is Mine to you and ask that You stabilize her emotional, financial, and physical health. Let her feel Your presence Lord and know that You will never leave her. We think of Brooks mom, Perry, who had surgery on January 16th and I ask for complete healing for her. For sister Soul who lost her job a few weeks back and had an end of year closing date for her house. We pray that You give her clarity as she maneuvers through these situations and ask that You provide for her and her family. And finally Lord we thank You for bringing Nora to this community and ask that You take her hand as she charts through the puddles to get to clear waters. Be with us as we stand in the gap with her. We pray that You are glorified in all these things Lord and ask for Your mercies in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Diane O. B, his little Sherri, and Asia, hope you’re all doing well. You’re in my prayers. This is Bay from Canada. Thanks for praying with me family.
Good day DAB family I pray that everyone who is on the Israel trip is safe and sound and rested back home. Blind Tony, thank you so much for the shout out. I truly, truly am blessed and especially that you said baby G. And just to give everyone a quick update, I covet your prayers, and I’m thanking God in advance for His blessing of a second baby G. Me and my husband are in the process of trying for second baby G and we just covered all your prayers. I wanted to give an update on Bill B. Blind Tony and a couple of other people have called in asking how he’s doing. I don’t know for whatever reason, I’m assuming he does not have access maybe to a telephone, but I am in contact with Bill quite often on Facebook. So, any time I write him a message he does write me back. I think he is still in a facility. He’s not quite his old self but that’s understandable with everything he’s been going through but I do let him know that we are praying for him and that we love. You can find him on Facebook Bill B. So, I also just want us say Brian and to the rest of the DAB family, I love you, I thank you all for your support. I am praying a hedge of protection over all of you. Jay in New Jersey, Mel in Maryland, I want to let you know you are so loved. You are so loved. You know, being a Christian, none of us are perfect. And it’s oh so sad that in church people who claim to be Christians are the ones who judge us the most. And I just want you to know that I am sending a hedge of protection over you as you now venture off to a new life in Maryland. Stay the course my brother. None of us are perfect. We all sin but no one is as bold as you as to confess the sins as you have done. And I just want to let you know you inspire me. And whatever happens, just know that you are not alone. I love you DAB family. Cheers. Asia in Munich
Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Kim from the Yukon. I called in about a week or so ago for my husband Devin and asking for prayer so that he can come to know the Lord. It’s not much of a step but it is one. A couple nights ago we were talking and he says, well, actually I started to think about it again. I don’t know why. I still don’t think it’s for me, but I am thinking about it again. And it was such a leap for me. I was just so happy that I started crying. Because it’s showing me that prayers can work and it’s got his mind on it again. His name is Devin. Please can you guys keep praying for him as I am? And a prayer request is my father is very ill. He has a blood clot in his stomach and he’s now on borrowed time so they are now making him comfortable. His name is Harvey. And strength for my mom. They know that Dad’s on borrowed time now and it’s getting harder. And I hope all of you are well. I listen to all your prayers as much as I can and try to prayer along with you guys. Thank you, Brian for giving this podcast to us. I listen to it every morning before I go to work. You all have a blessed day.