Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20, Luke 11:37-12:7, Psalms 78:1-25, Proverbs 12:19-20
Today is the 6th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you. Sorry about that. You caught me mid sip, you caught me mid sip of coffee but were all set now for the next step forward into the Scriptures this year. Continuing through the book of Deuteronomy for the next few days as we listen to the final things that Moses has to say to the children of Israel before he steps into the background and Joshua takes center stage. Deuteronomy chapter 29 and 30 today.
Commentary:
Alright. So, we reach a pinnacle moment in the book of Deuteronomy and really a pinnacle moment in everything Moses ever had to say to his people. And it’s very, very poignant for our own lives, but to put ourselves in the context we have to remember, all that we have done as we have journeyed with Moses through this story up until today, right? This little baby that was put in a wicker basket that was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, like, his whole life has been lived and he‘s seen unbelievable things - the redemption of a people brought out of slavery in Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the desert, and Moses has endured long and love this people. And they have been incredibly frustrating people to lead. Not just because they’re a stubborn or stiff necked by nature, but because they needed to be changed completely at the identity level. All they had ever known was slavery and now they have a society of their own, governed by laws given by God. The only thing they lack is a homeland and they are on the cusp of it. This is not unlike our own lives. We find ourselves stubborn and stiff necked and going our own way and complaining and grumbling and considering the good old days. And anything and everything we’ve talked about is with gone on this journey together. And, so, we are at the end of Moses life, and he’s pleading with the people before he recedes into history, before he takes his own last breath. He tells them what they need to hear most and we need to hear this just as much. Moses said, for this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you. Neither is it far off. It’s not in heaven, right? That someone will be able to say, who can go to heaven and get it for us so that we can hear and do it? It’s not on the other side of the sea that someone will say, who’s going to go over there and get it and bring it so we can hear and do it? But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it. So, let’s not just read this as words spoken by an ancient prophet in ancient times. Let’s listen to this. I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life in length of days. It feels just as immediate now as it would’ve felt to the children of Israel out on the other side of the Jordan River listening to Moses. This has always been the choice. And can we point out something that’s, like, obvious and sitting right in front of us? It’s a choice. It’s not a threat. It’s a choice. It’s an invitation. It’s an invitation into a collaboration with God. He’s given us his word. He’s given us the counsel of His Holy Spirit. He’s given us the life and sacrifice of His son. What else could God do to lay it out for the children of Israel and to lay it out for us? As we move through the Scriptures we can see very, very clearly that God is unwilling to surrender people to the darkness, that He is unwilling to abandon us, that He is unwilling to be left out of the story because he loves us. And now the choice is ours. It’s like He laid it all out and said here you go. It’s all yours. It’s all free. It’s a gift. It’s your choice. So, all we have to do is begin to examine our own lives because the shape that our lives are in and the shape that our life is taking is completely made up of the choices that we have made. And it’s not too hard for us. And it’s not up in heaven or across the ocean that we can’t know it. It’s right here. The word is very near you, Moses said. It’s in your mouth and your heart so that you can do it. Can we say that again? You can do it. Can we say that again? You can do it. Right? Altogether now, I can do it. I can choose life, but I have to choose and that is a choice that is made year by year, month by month, week by week, day by day, minute by minute, second by second. It’s not a one-off thing. It’s the continual choices that we make, the kind of choices that we make in a relationship. So, we can look at the rules and say, like, these are a lot of rules and I don’t know if I can keep all these rules or we can understand, when you fall in love with somebody you follow the rules. You come to a point where you are unwilling to break the heart of the one that you love because the relationship is bringing life and your better off together than you ever could be part. You come to the point where you realize this. And you’re not consulting rules anymore. Everything becomes apparent because of love. So, Moses in ancient times is speaking this over the people. And we’ll get to see the kind of choices that they will make and where those roads lead but all we have to do is review our own lives. Review the last year. Review the last five years and we’ll see that we are, right now, where we are because of the choices that we have made. The counsel of the Scripture is you can do it. Choose life.
Prayer:
Father, we welcome You into this thought. We invite Your Holy Spirit to begin to speak to us, revealing ways that we’ve chosen anything but life and blamed you for it. We’re sorry about that. We’ve apologized about this before. We’re inviting you into this because it’s so starkly stated, this is not too hard. It is a choice and we choose life. And that will require that we walk the narrow path that leads to life. And we will only ever find and navigate that path through the power of Your Holy Spirit. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit to come. In all of the things that we have to choose and do today we ask that You bring to mind the question, am I choosing life in this? Come, Holy Spirit. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.
So, we’re kind of getting into the weekend. And this weekend, this Sunday, I will be in Washington state, a long way from home in the Tri-Cities at Columbia Community Church and very much looking forward to seeing our friends in the part of the world. Looking forward to being with you. So if you are in the area you can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Events section. I will see you Sunday.
Then on the 12th of April, which is what, six days from now? The More Gathering for women begins in Georgia. And as a community we’ve been praying over that for a while now and we want to continue to pray over the hearts of all of the women, over all of the travel, over all of the weather, over all of the technology, over everything, the entire camp, the entire event. So, as the Holy Spirit brings that to mind and you remember it, thank you for your prayers of intercession over it. As I’ve said many times, that makes all of the difference. So, that’s coming up pretty quick and we want to continue to pray over that.
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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. This is Judy in Salt Lake City. I’m calling to ask for prayer. My husband Steve had a stroke yesterday. We didn’t know that that’s what it was. He got really super, super sick and he was vomiting and everything and he wouldn’t go to the hospital and finally I got him to go and they did tests and couldn’t figure out what was wrong and finally they did an MRI and found out that he had a stroke in his cerebellum, it’s in the back of the head. They are monitoring him now and treating him to keep the swelling down to try to avoid having to have surgery and take a piece of his skull out and allow the brain to swell if it’s needed. So, please pray that that surgery isn’t necessary and that he pulls through okay. I don’t know what I will do. Well, I guess I don’t have to explain. You guys all understand I’m feeling right now and I appreciate all your prayers. We pray along with you guys every single day. So, thank you. Thank you, thank you for praying. And God bless each and every one of you. Love you.
Monica in Kentucky, prayer for your friend. Steve, thank you for your calls. We truly love you. I just love hearing the sound of your voice. Scott in Houston, your father passed away. Just want to let you know that I’m praying for you and lifting you up. Amy S., and that she can’t sleep and that she turns fully to the Lord and also for your coworker daughter whose name is Sophie. Shantay, thank you for your praise report, that nothing happened to you and your family. God was truly providing a hedge of protection over you and your home. Jeff your call about your wife Margo with ovarian cancer, it was so poignant and so beautiful. Please let her know that she is being coveted by hundreds of thousands of people. John16, I think that’s what your name is, you called and mimicking our prayers. I love it. It was hilarious. If there’s one thing that this community does, we know there are times for laughter and we know there are times for prayer and sorrow and I appreciated so much your message. Pelham, I just want to let you know that you are being coveted by the blood of Jesus, you and Molly, thanking God for all he’s doing in your lives. Blind Tony praying for you. Wayne in Maine. I want you to know that I am still praying for you and your family as you mourn your nephew, I think his name was Nicholas. I just can’t imagine what they’re going through but know that God is there. Victoria S. Just thank you so much thank you. Thank you for your healing. Your voice sounds like it’s back to normal. And just to everyone in the community, I love you. This community is so blessed. We are so blessed to have Brian and Jill Hardin and all the people behind the scenes that make the DAB happen. For all of you who don’t hear you names being called, please know you are being lifted up. You are being prayed over. God knows what we all need. I thank you all for your prayers for me and my family regarding a second Baby G and we’ll be moving to our new home soon. I love you all. Cheers. Asia in Munich.
Hey DAB family this is Byron out in Florida. A shout out to Rebecca in Michigan. Rebecca, I was leaving my house this morning. When I go to work, it’s before dawn. It’s dark outside. And I was trying through my neighborhood. And it’s kind of tough because there’s all this due and missed on my windshield that I just can’t seem to get off. So, I can’t really see very clearly, but clearly enough just to drive through. I’m going through my neighborhood and I see this piece of trash in the middle-of-the-road, which is not unusual, and I’m just going to drive over it but something just called up to me to just slow down. And I slowed down and stopped in front of it. And sure enough, there are two little bunny ears poking up, and a little bunny. And I’ve never seen a bunny in my neighborhood. So, the little bunny just stands there for a minute and he goes hopping off and away. And that reminded me of your call that I heard the other day about the forest creatures getting in the way of your drive. And, so, I just sent up a little prayer for you that the Lord will watch over you and protect you. I love you very much for the Rebecca. I love you too. God bless you all. Talk to you later.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible community. This is Diane O. B. from Newburgh Indiana and it is 5:38 on April the 3rd, 2018. I’m calling into pray for a lady. I’m pretty sure she was on the March 27th program about her husband and her daughter and a son. And the daughter has been addicted to drugs but had to be out of the house. And the daughter has bipolar. So, my husband is here and he is a very strong Christian and he’s agreeing with me for this mother and for her child. I have particular concern because I’m bipolar. I’m 68. I have a son who is 37, a daughter who’s 38, and a daughter who’s 40. And the son, we had to kick him out. He’s not bipolar but I am. And this woman just touched my heart. And, honey, I don’t know what your name is but my husband and I are praying for you and your daughter. And we will pray. We will mention her in our prayers and you and your whole family because I know what you’ve been through. He’s now in rehab, has been in rehab for over a month and many tears we cried. We had to let him go…
Hey good morning DAB family. This is Brandon from South Carolina. Hey, just wanted to call in this morning and let you know Sophie from Oregon, that I was listening to the prayers and the requests and I heard you cry. And just so you know sister, you are not alone. You are being prayed for. You touched my heart. And just as Brian says at the beginning of the call in line, you do not have to carry this on your own. You are being prayed for. You’re being lifted up. So, I wanted to let you know that and encourage you in that way. I’m praying for you today as well as all the others who call in and that putt themselves out there, you are being prayed for. I wanted to add a special request for my dear sister down in Houston Texas who’s going through a really rough season. She just lost her home back in the hurricane season down in Houston to hurricane Harvey. She’s still not back in her home from that water damage and being destroyed. And the month after that she found out that she has a rare form of liver cancer and her mother got diagnosed with the same cancer. They had a disease in their liver they knew could potentially lead to this but it has formed into cancer. Her mother just passed away from it and the doctors are not giving her a good outlook. So, really just a little rough time. I do ask for all of my DAB family to lift up Micah from Houston in your prayers. And just pray for her, that God touch her. The doctors are telling her that the only hope that she has is that they can find a liver for her now, a liver transplant. So were praying for that, praying that God can heal her and lifting her up. And I know we need all the…