Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25, Luke 7:11-35, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31
Today is the 26th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure to be here with you today as we launch into our work week. We had a great time in Kentucky yesterday in Louisville at New Song Christian Fellowship. Thank you all for coming out and saying hi. And it’s good to be back in the rolling hills of Tennessee. I mean, the rolling hills of Kentucky aren’t that far from the rolling hills of Tennessee, so it was good to be in this area. And now, by way of modern technology, it’s great to be wherever it is that we are. And then move our way through the Scriptures. So, today we’ll read from Deuteronomy chapter 5 and chapter 6. And Moses has moved to his second discourse and we’re reviewing still some of the law. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.
Commentary:
Alright. So, on a number of occasions we have talked about apocalyptic worldviews. And by way of reminder, an apocalyptic worldview is sort of the understanding that the world is headed somewhere. And that somewhere will probably be catastrophic. But out of that difficulty and catastrophe something new will be reborn. Some people will laterally look at this that the world is gonna end. Like the world is going to come to a close but something new will be reborn out of that. And some people get it now spiritually like difficulty. Spiritual darkness will cover this earth, but something new will be reborn. Most people just kind of combine the two, like the world is headed somewhere. But to get to where it’s going, there will be some difficulties in the meantime. Like Jesus would say it’s like childbirth. It’s like the labor pains to give new life. And I keep bringing this up from time to time because we keep running into it. And understanding that we generally hold this view and this view was the common view in the time of Jesus. And John the Baptist helps us understand Jesus ministry. So, when we’re reading in the gospel of Luke, John has been put in prison. He’s expecting something to happen because his message of repentance had an apocalyptic nature to it. And along with that worldview, along with that understanding, along with that message comes expectations. The one or the anointed one or the Messiah brought certain expectations along with it. So, when John preaches the kingdom of God is at hand, we see that he has certain expectations. When Jesus preaches the same message, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he’s speaking into this, but he’s speaking of something different than what everyone is expecting. So, John sends his disciples to come to Jesus to simply ask, are you the guy, right? Are you the one who was coming? Can you confirm this for us or is it someone else that we should be waiting for? Why ask a question like that if you don’t have expectations? And those expectations included amassing a covert revolt that would have a snowball effect and raise up the many to revolt and throw off the oppression that they felt and restore the land to Go,d that would have a snowball effect in the world to bring about the end and the beginning. So, understanding that backdrop helps us understand Jesus response. Jesus tells John’s disciples to go back to John and tell him what they’ve seen and what they’ve heard. What’s been going on. Those who are blind are able to see, those who are crippled can walk, people with skin diseases are cleansed, those who are deaf can hear, those who were dead are raised up, the good news is preached to the poor. When Jesus began his ministry, he opened up the scroll from the book of Isaiah and declared that he was fulfilling prophecy. The prophecy was, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are bruised. So, Jesus is effectively telling John’s disciples, I’m doing exactly what I came to do and what I’m doing is bringing God’s kingdom. This isn’t about fighting against the Roman empire. This is about destroying evil in the world and replacing it with light and life and good news. And I’m doing that among the people who need it most. The irony is that this is what eventually gets Jesus killed. The people who were against Jesus in the end, they’re looking for things. They’re looking for ways. They’re plotting against him, they’re watching. They can’t find what they need to be able to put him to death and so eventually they accuse him of blasphemy, which is enough to get him killed under Mosaic law but not under Roman law. And, so, then they accuse him of insurrection, right? Claiming to be the king of the Jews, which would be an act of uprising against Rome. And when we read the passion narrative, we see that it’s pretty murky at best because that’s exactly what Jesus isn’t doing. That’s actually completely twisted. They’re looking for someone to raise up an insurrection. Jesus has all of the identifiers and he’s gaining more and more momentum among the people, but they cannot co-opt him into doing these things so then they accuse him of those things in order to get him executed. And what Jesus was saying all along is the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is among you. It is within you. It is happening. It is happening now. And it happens every time light replaces darkness. And so once again, we get the opportunity to look at our own lives and say, are we waiting for the same thing? Are we waiting for Jesus to return and raise up a banner that fights against evil and he does this with a big sword and a white horse and all kinds of stuff goes on that’s very bloody and difficult? Or can we realize what Jesus has been saying all along that we are a part of this. And this battle is a bigger battle than swinging a sword or shooting a gun. It’s a battle between darkness and light. And every time we step into the breach and bring light into the darkness, the kingdom is coming. The kingdom is shining through. Something to think about today as we go back to work, as we get busy into our week. As we have this shiny sparkly week that we’re headed into. Are we going to bring the kingdom? Are we going to live in the kingdom? Are we going to participate in bringing light and life and good news everywhere that we plant our feet? Or will we be perpetuating the darkness? And to cut to the chase on that, how we live into this week will speak whether we are for or against the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is talking about. We will declare this with every thought, word and deed of our lives. May we bring the kingdom this week.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we have no way of doing that on our own without Your collaboration, without Your participation. And, so, first and foremost, we surrender ourselves to You. And we listen to the words of Moses and we seek to love You with all of our heart, mind and strength, acknowledging that we can’t even do that without Your help. So, we surrender. That’s what we do. We surrender, saying we’re not capable of doing this on our own. We can’t just be good little boys and girls. We need Your power. We need Your anointing. We need Your help. You’ve invited us into a mighty cosmic battle between good and evil. And without Your power, without Your presence, we can’t do this. But Your power and Your presence are available all of the time. So, come, Holy Spirit. Make us aware that we are in a mighty struggle but we are in a beautiful collaboration. 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 is going on around here.
Next thing on the calendar is the 8th of April in Washington state. I’ll be speaking out there in the Tri Cities. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section.
And then we are all praying and raising a canopy of prayer over the More Gathering that begins the 12th of April. And we want to pray as a community in advance all the way through and after the event over the souls and hearts of the team and of the women who will be there. So, thank you for your prayers on that.
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And that’s it for today. I am Brian I love you I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
To God be the glory for this community and thank you Brian, Jill and team for all you do. God bless you. Family let’s pray. Father God, you reign supreme over all and we acknowledge you as our source of life and everything good that life has to offer. We bring before your throne of grace Lord children who do not know the love of a biological father and ask that you provide father mentors and father figures who will draw them to your Lord. We pray that you would provide to them in a way that would glorify and draw others to you. We pray that you help us in this community to be salt and light to those children around us and to continue lifting them up to You Father our protector, our uncle, our papa. We pray for children among us who are having health challenges; Madison, Emmanuel, Kingston, AJ, Ezra, McKenzie, and so many others Lord who __ will not allow me to name but You know them Father. You heard the prayer request and know the heart cries of the parents, relatives, and friends who call in. And we know Lord, that you have a plan for each situation. We ask that you help us to fully trust you for the care of these children and help us to be your hands and feet to make life safe and protected for these children. Please be with Lydia’s 22-year-old daughter who’s having tough life struggles and needs to foster healthy relationships. Also, be with Rob’s granddaughter who was separated from her dad. We pray for safety and protection and the best resolution for that situation. Father, we surrender each case to You and ask for your mercy in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. It’s Nicole from Orlando. It’s March 23rd and I also called to call in today because I really do feel like your family already and I have only been listening for a few short months. I found the DAB at the end of January this year through a business podcast of all places and I immediately started listening because one of my biggest intentions for this year is to reconnect with my spirituality and my faith. And glory to God for like all the tools I needed right where I could find them. It’s been amazing. I absolutely love the Daily Audio Bible and its format listening to God’s word every day is exactly what I needed. And Brian I can hear God speaking to your fatherly voice and thank you so very much for what you do for us every day. And your interpretations afterwards are such a gift. And I really can’t forget about all the callers. You all make me weep with joy and grief all the time and it feels so cleansing to my soul to shed those tears for all of you. And in some way, I feel that all my tears are offered to you is prayers to God for each and every one of you in the joyful times and the sorrowful times. I’m not a new believer but I’ve never really walked in my faith and given it the consistent daily practice that a relationship with God deserves. So, just this past Sunday I rededicated my life to Christ at Calvary Chapel. But all year, since I’ve been seeking a closer relationship with God, God has been healing the broken place in my heart I have felt miracles work deep within me and the Calvary experience is just one of those miracles. I feel this synchronicity with the Lord and with the universe and with all that is tangible right now and I’m in absolute awe. Synchronicity is what I believe God gives us when we start to give up control and lean on Him. And that’s been my word for this whole year, synchronicity. And it’s what lead me to actually register for the More Gathering in April. It’s crazy because I’ve been thinking about a retreat for years and then God put this opportunity right in front of me and pulled me and without fear and am so excited and I can’t wait to meet all the lovely ladies.
Hey everybody. This is Pelham in Birmingham from the Morris clan who is going through some things right now. And I’m calling to thank Afia from Delaware who prayed for me. And I have several other people to thank. And the list is long. And I’ve been told that it’s time to thank. So, Afia, your prayer that came on the 20th that was played in the 20th played at a specific time that became one of the most amazing miracles I’ve ever been a part of my life. It put me on the floor on my face and in total fear of God and in complete knowledge that He was with me and was teaching me something. And your voice and the words you said were a direct conduit from the Holy Spirit to me. Cherry Pie, your prayer that played, not for me, it was for David in Florida, your prayer was so powerful about our community and I want to welcome all the new people to the global campfire. It’s different than anything that’s ever existed in the history of mankind. Welcome. It is the tip of the iceberg of the coming kingdom of God. His networked community of love where we can powerfully lead God, direct, teach, help, and encourage each other. Man, Afia I think I’m saying it right. In my language your name sounds like I’m saying ‘a fire’ but I’m saying it well I dance Afia. You make me laugh my brother. Everybody, I love you. Goodbye.
Hi DABbers this is joyful noise from Southern California. I’m calling in responding to a prompt from God about three or four weeks ago. So, dang, I dropped the ball again darn it. Thank goodness His mercies are renewed each day. This is a letter that I wrote to men. It was like an open letter because I was coming to some realization in how my husband, who God made him to be, and who I was expecting him to be. And who he couldn’t really be for me because, God bless our husbands, they can’t be all things to us. We need girlfriends and we need mentors and we need many other people in our lives. And, so, this is an open letter to husbands. I hope I can get through it quickly. Dear men, we women marvel at you. Yes, we do. We marvel at your innate ability to rush headlong into danger while being laid low by a mere head cold. We marvel at your ability to stay on task with an intensely complicated project at work or forgetting the kids at soccer practice is and always has been Monday night. We are perplexed by your seemingly impervious nature when it comes to personal pain while you struggle immensely when a loved one suffers. In a nutshell, we don’t get you. Your wife’s, your sisters, your daughters, we don’t get you. And we know you don’t get us. And the great mystery of God’s design is, we don’t need too. You see, our Creator’s blueprint for life is not to get one another but to complement one another. As much as our differences frustrate one another, if we become like you or you like us, we wouldn’t need one another. So, for family, we are man and woman to very __ complementing one another. What you don’t see we will and vice versa. To illustrate this I’m going to ask you to do something. Take your left hand and place it on your left side just over your ribs. This is where your wife comes from and this is where she belongs, at your side to be a companion, helping advisor. For God said in Genesis 2:18, it is not good that a man should be alone I will make him a helper fit for him. We appreciate helping and though we almost always have a different perspective, we appreciate being heard. Finally, we appreciate that you appreciate us. And we women we don’t say it very often but we appreciate you…