Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26, Luke 10:38-11:13, Psalms 76:1-12, Proverbs 12:15-17
Today is the 4th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you from the rolling hills of Tennessee where spring is springing. And it’s lovely if wet time of year. And we have had a wet winter here in the south. And if you’re in (the) north, Spring is coming. I promise it’s coming. I’m seeing it. And I realize those of you down under are moving into autumn. So being a global community that we are, we’re just kind of all over the map literally and figuratively. But it’s great to be here with you today and I digress on the weather. So, we’re going to take the next steps forward, which means we’ll be taking the next steps forward in the book of Deuteronomy. And we have less than a week before we’ll finish the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible. And as we’ve been saying as we move through Deuteronomy, these are the last things Moses has to say. Today Deuteronomy chapter 26 and 27. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week.
Commentary:
A couple of things that we should look at from the book of Luke. Because they’re pretty big and they apply directly to our lives. Like they actually could affect our lives today right now. The first is this story that we encountered of Martha and Mary. And these are a couple of sisters and it’s a short story but a pretty famous one. Martha welcomed Jesus into her house and her sister Mary sat at Jesus feet listening to his teaching. Martha was not able to do that. She was really busy serving everybody, right? Making the food, sweeping the floor taking care of the needs of everyone who’s in the house. And the fact that Mary was sitting at Jesus feet and listening to his teaching kind of aggravated Martha because here she is doing all of the work and Mary’s just sitting there listening to Jesus and so she gets exasperated. Exasperated enough to go to the rabbi, to go to Jesus and tell Mary to get up off her butt and start helping. I mean, that alone is kind of funny because you don’t normally do that with your house guest, right? So, these are two sisters and so it’s like Martha’s coming to Jesus and asking him to be the dad in the situation and telling Mary to get up and help and do her part. So, when we look at this story and we look at Jesus response, we realize that the whole thing is about Martha and not so much about Mary. When Martha, exasperated and flustered and feeling like she’s doing all of the work, comes to Jesus and says these things, Jesus says to her, Martha, Martha. Okay, now listen. You put your name in there. Jane. Tom. Tim. Courtney. Sarah. Brad. You put your name in there. Jesus says, Martha, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things. See, I can even put my name in there because I find myself in that category often enough. We probably all do. You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Okay, so what is that one thing then? If we’re anxious and troubled about many things, what is the one thing that is necessary in those times? It’s what Mary was doing. She was sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to his teaching. Okay, she wasn’t just listening to his teaching, she was in his presence sitting at his feet and listening to his teaching. So, in other words, Martha is anxious and troubled about many things and she’s filling her life with activity, even good activity. Running and running and spinning and spinning. And she’s so busy doing this that she’s missing the fact that the presence of God has entered her home in person. And that is pretty intense because that is a mirror. That is our story. I mean, how many times have you come home after a long stressful day that is just a part of a stressful month that is just a part of a stressful year? And you’re wound up and running, lashing out, saying things like, am I the only one that does anything around here? And being completely unaware that the Lord’s presence is available and it is the one thing that is necessary. Can I get an amen? Because aren’t we getting hit between the eyes on this? We may indeed be anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. And that kind of boils it all down, right? Because we expend a good portion of our energy and time and resources trying to deal with the problems of life that seem to keep mounting up. And so we’re spinning and spinning and spinning to the point that we say that one thing that’s necessary is the one thing I don’t have time for. But maybe there’s no time and we’re anxious and troubled and spinning in circles because we’re not doing the one thing that is necessary. Sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to his teaching. Listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit. Closing down the world around us and allowing God to speak into the situation. Allowing God to speak to what our next steps are. This is pretty strong stuff. This could change the way we live our lives today and every day. This could reorient us to what is true today and every day.
And after this scene in the book of Luke, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray and we encounter the Lord’s prayer and it’s an abbreviated version of the Lord’s prayer in the gospel of Luke. We normally can quote from memory the Lord’s prayer from the book of Matthew. But immediately after Jesus teaching the Lord’s prayer, he talks about a man who has some guests and who needs some food and goes to his neighbor and knocks on the door. It’s late at night. The neighbor doesn’t want to get up. And Jesus is telling them that because he kept knocking and wouldn’t leave the guy alone, that’s why he got what he needed. And then Jesus says, ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Again, super famous passage of Scripture without a doubt. But what Jesus is saying is you have to be involved in this. There’s a collaboration here. You have to ask if you want to receive. You have to seek if you want to find. You have to knock if you want it to be opened to you. And Jesus said that on the heels of what he just said about this person who needed something from his neighbor. So, this is a relentless pursuit, a vigilant, continual, constant thing. We don’t just ask, we don’t just seek for a minute and then move on into the cares of this life. This is something that we’re continually doing, right? I will seek until I find no matter how long that takes. That’s the sentiment. I will knock until this door opens or until my hand falls off. I am after God and I will seek until I find. I will ask until I receive. I will knock until it’s opened. I will vigilantly, continually, non-stop pursue this. And usually we transfer all of that kind of Scripture into what it is that we are facing as an obstacle right now. But when we mash these two stories together, which find themselves back to back in the gospel of Luke, we can ask, we can seek, we can knock about the cares of this life and that just allows us to continue to spin and spin and spin when only one thing is necessary. And if that one thing, the presence of God, the voice of the Holy Spirit to teach us in this life is the thing that we’re asking for relentlessly, is the thing that we are seeking with all of our heart, is the thing that we will pound on that door until it gets opened, we will get what we are looking for. What Jesus is inviting us to do is go many layers deeper. And the surface cares of this life that are constant, there is no end for things for us to care about. Life requires constant maintenance. And when we don’t maintain one area of our lives, then it’s gonna get broken and then that’s gonna cause one more thing to fix. But the one thing that we need, the one thing that we must ask, seek and knock over is God’s presence. It’s the one thing we’ve got to fight for because life pulls us in all kinds of directions and all of those directions are away from sitting at Jesus feet and listening to his teachings. So we’ve got some things to think about today. How are we ordering our lives? If it’s misdirected and misordered then it’s not going to work and all we have to do is look to see that it’s not working. The one thing that is necessary is the presence of God in all of it.
Prayer:
Jesus, we recognize what’s going on here. We recognize the layers that are being peeled back in our lives through your word today. And we can see clearly how we got things backward and upside down and how we’re running in circles. And yes, we are anxious and troubled about many things because we have avoided the one thing that is necessary. And, so, we come asking. We are asking that we become aware that You are with us right now. You are here right now. You have never left. We’ve just got caught up in the cares and troubles and anxieties that never stop swirling and will never go away until we learn this one necessary thing. That we must be aware and in collaboration with your presence in and among us. And, so, we ask that we become aware. We are seeking You. And we will not stop seeking because You said if we seek we will find. And we are knocking. We certainly need your help. And we’re not knocking on the door so You will come out and beat up the bad guys and make life good for us. We are knocking so that the door will be opened and that we can walk into your presence. For in your presence, we hear the voice of your Holy Spirit who can help us navigate every situation. And these situations are not as big of a deal as we are making them even though they may look that way. What we need, the one necessary thing, is You. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus name we ask, we seek and we knock. Amen.
Announcements:
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A couple things coming up pretty quickly. This coming Sunday, which is the 8th of April, I will be a long way from here in the rolling hills of Tennessee up in the Pacific Northwest in the state of Washington in the Tri cities area at Columbia Community Church. And looking forward to being back with our friends out there. Come say hello if you are in the area. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section.
And then the 12th of April, so that’s coming up pretty quick, the More Gathering for Women begins in the mountains of Georgia, the other direction from Washington state. So, there’s some travel involved and we have been raising a canopy of prayer and intercession over the women’s conference for all of the hearts of all of the women, all of the hearts of all of the team, for all of the technology that’s involved, for all of the travel, for all of the health, for all of the stamina. For all of it. And as a community, we pray over that. And I invite you to keep that on your prayer list. Invite you to keep that on your mind. It makes all the difference in the world every year. It makes all of the difference in the world to know that the community stands. That we are in this together. That we are praying over this by the tens of thousands. That makes all the difference, so thank you for your prayers.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we do as a community reorients you and brings you life, then thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t do this together. And that’s just a fact and it’s always been a fact. So, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage of Dailyaudiobible.com that you can click. If you are 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 P.O. 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. Don’t forget. Don’t forget the one thing that is necessary today is that you be in the presence of God. Ask, seek, knock. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi beautiful family this is Pastor Gene. God Bless You all. Please join me in prayer. Father we thank You for You are good. We thank You that You rose up from the dead. We thank You that we believe You and that because we believe that You to call us Your friend. Father we pray for the daughter of our sister Melissa from Alabama and her skin issues. There are no health issues that are bigger or greater then You so we pray on her behalf for full healing. We pray for the full restoration of our beautiful sister little Sharee. Oh Father, restore her fully to health. We pray as well for the restoration of our sister Joyful Noise. Father, they both are joyful givers. Heal them, hush them, and return the joy of their salvation so they can continue being an instrument in Your hand. Father, John, help him for a terrible loss. He’s a recent listener. Father, he’s examining his heart __. It is so easy to look outward, to blame others for where we are, but he’s broken inside. Father just like You did for King David, help our brother, strengthen our brother, cleanse our brother, and give them a fresh start. Father I pray for our sister XYZ and her abusive husband. Father I pray in the name of Jesus on her behalf and I pray for her safety, for her comfort. I pray for the hands and feet of Jesus that would help our sister find a safe place away from the abuse and I pray for Your miraculous intervention in the heart of her husband oh God. Father, I thank You for me sister of Julie from Ohio. Father, I pray against her husband’s __, against his depression, and I pray oh God that You will continue helping them to pass every __. I would also like my __ to join them Lord, to call You, to call You in Your name for this husband, for these men that are losing their way from You oh Gog. And finally Father I pray for my sister Deborah from Michigan and that accident that left her with broken bones and brain injuries, heal her our sister. We pray in Jesus’ mighty name. I love You family. Pastor Jenny from Bradenton Florida. Bye.
Good morning family. Happy resurrection day. This is Brenda in Maryland. My heart is just so overwhelmed with joy because He lives and therefore the we live to. I love you all so much. Hey Jill and Brian and family. God bless you all. And just keep on doing God’s wonderful work. And we know that one day soon we’re going to meet our Lord and our Savior. Hallelujah. And we have a great celebration awaiting us. God bless you all. I love you. See you soon. Bye-bye.
Sometimes
I win and sometimes I lose
But always I try and I never refuse
Cause of nothing is ventured then nothing is to be gained
It is only through work that anything’s obtained
Some people can never seem to do what they’re told
While others can’t do things without being told
There’s often security clinging tight to the trunk
But the fruits out of the limb so one must debunk
And learn to take risk to capture your goal
If you bury your talent that nothing will ever unfold
Talents may vary and sometimes you’ll fall
But just as God to help you He gives hope to all
blindtony1016@gmail.com. Joe the Protector.
You’ve been on my mind, you and your daughter. Know you’re in my prayers and my
thoughts. Once again, Brian, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s
Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flown’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.
Hi DAB family. This is Caroline and Nashville. It is actually about 1:30 in the morning on Monday, April 2nd. I’m calling because…I’ve actually been meeting to call in several times about this and I keep getting…I don’t know…stuck…or not in a good place to call, but asking for prayer for my dad. His name is Larry. He has a disease called myelodysplastic syndrome. And it’s a form of leukemia that does not have a cure. And he is in his last weeks. I’m not sure it’s months yet. But it’s pretty bad and is going downhill fast and it’s really hard to watch as a family. And he’s currently inpatient. He hasn’t a been sent home yet. He gets stable and then has to come back to the hospital and then he gets stable and gets to go home and then it starts all over again. But I’m calling at 1:30 in the morning because he isn’t right, something’s just is not right. And my stepmother called and said that he asked that me and my sister come in. So, you know, I guess we never know if this is the moment, if this is it, when our loved ones steps to the other side. I don’t know, but I’m asking for prayers family that we’re comforted the matter what happens, that today is the day or if he continues to stay with us for a while, but he’s at peace, that we’re all at peace and that he is comfortable and that we all work together as a family. So, I really appreciate any prayers you can send. I love you all very much. I listen every day. I pray with you. I rejoice with you and I cry with you. And I’m one of those people who pray on the outside but don’t really call in. I’ve called them before but it’s been a while. So, thank you family. I appreciate it.
Hi everybody it’s Margo from Australia and I just heard the call from Sharon the Victorious and I wanted to say a couple of things that really helped me and for anyone suffering depression and anxiety. These are valuable strategies. The first one is, consistently quote Bible verses that speak to your situation. For example, I am always quoting out loud 2 Timothy 1:7 - God has not given me a spirit of fear but a spirit of love power and of a sound mind. You get the slightest twinge of depression or anxiety and you just start saying that verse out loud. It is spiritual warfare. You need to do it consistently. It’s not a magical cure that works instantly. The second thing is, praise. When I regularly spend time just praising Jesus it brings me a lot closer to Him and I feel His presence in my life more and then I feel His joy and His peace much more and it has made a really big difference to my mental health. Put praise songs on and sing along or just talk to Him. Tell Him how much you love Him and how beautiful He is. And thirdly, always, always, confess good things with your mouth. Don’t say that you’re not victorious anymore Sharon. Keep saying that you are victorious. Keep saying that you are whole. Keep saying that you are being delivered from depression. I do want to emphasize that doing these things has made a huge difference in my life, but I have had to do it consistently and keep at it. You can’t just quote one Scripture and sing one praise song and all of a sudden you’re better. It has to become a lifestyle and believe me it will make a big difference in your life. I’m praying right now for those DABbers suffering from depression and anxiety, for His supernatural peace in our hearts today. That’ll be all. Bye for now.