Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22, Luke 8:4-21, Psalms 69:19-36, Proverbs 12:2-3
Today is the 28th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today for what we do every day. Another step. Another step forward as we move our way through the Scriptures. This week we’ve been reading from the Common English Bible and we’re in the book of Deuteronomy, which is Moses final sayings, final review. Just getting all of the people together and reminding them of everything that has happened during his leadership, all that God has spoken, all that God has commanded, how it is that they’re to set their hearts as they prepare to move toward the Promise Land because Moses won’t be accompanying them. And, so, that’s where we find ourselves. Deuteronomy chapter 9 and 10 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, as we’ve said several times, is giving his final instructions, discourse, blessing, words to the children of Israel who were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. But he’s not going along with them. So, he has plenty to say and he’s saying it with urgency because these are the last things he’s going to say to them. And he’s telling them why the time is now and why it is that they get to go into the land and it picks at some of the sensibilities and postures of heart that we have even today. So, first of all, he’s telling them, yeah, when you get there, the cities are going to have walls up to the sky and there are giants that like…you can’t do this on your own. But God is an all-consuming fire. He will do this. So, this certainly evokes confidence. And we love this kind of stuff because our God is a powerful, strong, sovereign Lord who is out in front of us. So, all those things are true, but they’re not Moses point. Moses point is, you will not be able to do this in your own strength, on your own. You will not be able to do this without God. God will have to do this for you. And then he clarifies his point. Once you get there, don’t think to yourself, it’s because I’m righteous that the Lord brought me in to possess this land. In other words, I deserve this. I’ve earned this. This is mine by, right? Moses has said head on, you aren’t entering and taking possession of their land because you are righteous or because your heart is especially virtuous. Rather, it’s because these nations are wicked. That’s why the Lord your God is removing them from before you. And because He wishes to establish the promise He made to your ancestors. In other words, you aren’t getting this because of your good behavior. You are inheriting something that was promised long ago and the wickedness of the people in the land continues to grow and grow in the wrong direction and time’s up. In other words, it’s not about you. And in fact, Moses goes on to explain how it’s not about them. How stubborn they are, how much they have rebelled, how much they don’t actually deserve this, but can only receive it as a gift. So, we can see clearly the story of redemption in this story. But when we put the Scriptures up as a mirror in front of our faces we see that we’ll find ourselves doing the same thing. If I can just get my act together, if I can just modify my behavior. If I can just stop that and start this. If I can just stay on this path and do that instead of this other thing. If I can stop falling down, then God will pay attention to me, then God will bless me. If I could just keep nice and shiny and clean for Jesus, then he’ll notice me and then he’ll give me nice gifts. What we can see from ancient times, all the way back in the book of Deuteronomy, all the way through the gospels and the story of our salvation through Christ is that there’s no way to earn this. We can only accept it as a gift. But this isn’t just our salvation, this is our lives, all of the issues of our lives. Walking the narrow path that the Lord puts before us, the one that leads to life will do exactly that. If we will walk that path, it will lead us to life. But not because we deserve anything. We don’t deserve anything at all. We’re no different from the people Moses was talking to. We’re stubborn, rebellious people who are easily seduced. Which shows us just how patient, just how kind, just how longsuffering, just how good God is. How His love transcends things that we would never get past. He loves us beyond it all. So, rather than thinking we can work ourselves into His good graces, thereby diminishing just how full of grace He is, we should be continually humbled by the gifts that He bestows upon us that we could never deserve. Again, I mean, we’re in this week where we’re headed toward Easter. We’re reaching the conclusion of the season of Lent, a season where we sit with the fact that it cost something very precious to offer us this gift. And when we think somehow we deserve this, we’re missing the point. We don’t. It is God’s profound, unspeakable love for us, as people and as individuals, that offers us the gift of true relationship with God for ever and ever. We don’t deserve it. We can only accept it. And how humbling is that? When we come face to face with that reality, there’s nothing I could ever do to deserve this, and yet it is given to me freely. That’s the kind of stuff that can melt a heart of stone. That’s the kind of stuff that can dissolve rebellion and stubbornness. That’s the kind of stuff that will lead us on the narrow path that leads to life.
Prayer:
And, so, Father, we accept this with humility. We commit to considering this today, how much we’re trying to earn that we could never earn, how much we’re throwing Your promises in Your face, saying You gotta do this, You promised, I deserve this, I’ve earned this - when it’s not true. We could never earn anything. We don’t deserve a nanosecond of Your presence, and yet You offer us Your presence continuously. And rather than pressing into that and devoting our entire lives to walking that path, the one that leads to You, the one that walks with You through life in collaboration, we so often are found looking for what we can get out of the deal. We are sorry. We humbly repent of such arrogance. Forgive us, Lord. We humble ourselves before You. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
I was standing in my own strength when suddenly I fell. My enemies surrounded me and began to rejoice in my demise. The waters of diversity rose higher than my head and I found myself drowning in a sea of internal despair. The ones you had given me began losing their faith and the one I esteemed above all of others simply wandered away. All my love, life, and love of music were all gone away. And even the light of my own smile was extinguished as I started to doubt within. In fact, the only good thing left within was a faint flicker of hope that came from Your word planted deep inside a long time ago but was still very much alive. And it began to exert its own power, groanings that I couldn’t comprehend or even understand. And I began to feel and hear faint whispers of your love which gave love rise to renewed hope and faith started to grow once again. My life was passing before my eyes as I watched in fear as my enemies encircled me like vultures surrounding the carcass of a falling dear. And just as they begin to move into the kill I cried out to the Lord for the depths of my heart. The one who had been appointed to defend me, my lawyer, my advocate, my deliverer was nowhere to be found. And those who had given me were having problems of their own and could only hope and pray in faith for the best. And the one whom I esteemed above all others decided it was time to start seeing somebody else. And my children, the fruit of my own loins couldn’t care less as to what happened to me because I had never really been a part of their lives anyway. And just as I was about to close my eyes in quiet acceptance of my fate, You stepped in and answered my prayer in such a spectacular display of Your power that not only were my enemies scattered and confounded, You turned my accusers into advocates for my defense. And praise the Lord, once again, there is no way my thanksgiving could ever appropriately match your deliverance but the life you gave back to me, I now give back to you.
Hi family. It’s Shannon from Texas and I was just sitting here getting ready listening to the community prayer and I heard the woman that called in. I don’t think you left your name but you said that you were praying for me and you were also praying for somebody that was…the woman that called about a son Brian. And as you are speaking…at the very moment that you are speaking…I was texting my mom…we were texting back and forth. I thought it was interesting that it was kind of at the same time and I was saying to her…that Amen-ed to what she was telling me, that I had canceled every negative and anti-Christ spirit in the holy name of Jesus Christ and that no enemy would prevail against us, no darkness shall overtake us, mercy shall encompass us, and love shall uphold us, and that we are delivered, and we are healed, and that we shall have dominion over all the earth. And I just want to thank everyone for praying for me. You know, I have my moments of relapse into despair but I have to make sure that I don’t stay in that place because I believe that we have the power of life and death and the words that say. So, I have to call and kind of cancel that out and just know that the enemy of course wants to take me out and wants me to say that I’m, you know, distraught and in despair and, oh my God. __ know why you want me to stop and focus on darkness and despair because of going into a very oppressed place and praying for every person in there. And, of course, the enemy doesn’t want that to happen but you lose and I win and we shall prevail. And I love all of you guys. I love you guys. I’m praying for all of you.
Glory be to the Lord. Thank you everyone for being here. Thank you for having this platform. I say thank you to Brian and Jill and God and all of the Daily Audio Bible team. I would like to say a prayer for a young lady, I don’t know how old she is, but she sounded like she was young. And I really didn’t catch her name but she called in saying that she was going to fly in to see her mom who has cancer and that she had been in the cold, kind of, separation between herself and her mother for years and that this cancer, kind of, is bringing her back to her mom. So, I just want to tell you that you really stirred my heart up and I felt like I really had to pray for you. So, Lord Jesus please hear my imperfect voice. Lord God, please, Father, bless this family, bless this woman and her mother, that they may be healed and feel love overflowing between them and all the people who they touch, and that through this love, this lady’s mama’s cancer will be gone completely. And that if there’s any forgiveness that needs to be done or dealt with, that they both may have the forgiveness in their heart, one for each other, to forgive whatever their…
Hello. My name is Bob. I’m a first-time caller. This is my fourth time with the DAB and first time, obviously, with DAB C. So, fourth time through the Bible with you guys. Just wanted to call in for praise report. I put a prayer out there on the prayer all the other day for my daughter’s pregnancy, which was fine throughout most of it and at the very end turned into a high risk, yet turned out just fine. So, baby and mom are just great. And, so, I appreciate prayers answered there. I also appreciate Brian and family coming to Louisville today. Good to see you there. Thanks again for coming. It’s great to see you guys face-to-face. And, obviously, thanks to everybody who I’ve been listening to for years, Blind Tony and Slave of Jesus and too many people to mention. While that’s probably all I need to say for today. So, thanks again for prayers answered. Bob from Kentucky. Bye.