Joshua 7:16-9:2, Luke 16:1-18, Psalms 82:1-8, Proverbs 13:2-3
Today is the 13th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s wonderful to be here with you today. Coming to you from the More Gathering in the mountains of Georgia where things are off and running and we’re excited about the day ahead. But before we talk about any of that, let’s center ourselves in what we’ve come to do, which is to take the next step forward, a step that we take every single day, one step forward as we move our way through the Scriptures. And we’ve been using the Good News translation for our steps this week. And our next step takes us back into the book of Joshua, where the first city in the Promised Land named Jericho was conquered and the second city named Ai handed Israel its first defeat in battle. And Ai was a much smaller city than Jericho. So, this has thrown everyone into confusion, not the least of which being Joshua, the leader of Israel. And he’s got a lot of anxieties percolating because he feels like, you know, the reputation of God went before Israel into the land of Canaan when they crossed the Jordan. And Jericho fell, which was a very powerful city . So, things are moving in the right direction there, but then there handed this defeat and he feels like when the word gets out all of the different kings of all the different regions will rise up against them and destroy them. But as it turns out the Lord has instructed Joshua that someone has stolen, essentially someone has taken plunder from Jericho against God’s command. And we can think, what’s the big deal, but the children of Israel have been working their way toward the Promised Land for almost the entire time we’ve been in the Bible. And now the first time they face an enemy in the Promised Land there’s rebellion. So, it’s kind of a big deal. And that’s where we find ourselves. Joshua chapter 7 verse 16 through 9:2 today.
Commentary:
Okay, so, in the book of Joshua, the defeat of AI left the children of Israel searching for answers and they were confused about how they were defeated and they were found. And incidentally, little side note, little sidebar having nothing to do with this, Ai, the city, Some people pronounce it “A” “I” and I pronounced it that way for a long time because that’s what I was told; however, I’ve been there and the place is being excavated now. It’s really interesting because it’s kind of almost in a residential place off the side of a road and not a ton has been excavated. It’s being excavated but archaeologists and scholars both call it Ai. So, that’s what we’ll do. So, anyway, back to the story. So, Aikin, this man had stolen plunder from Jericho when God had commanded before they ever across the Jordan River, I mean this was all very clear, God commanded that everything was to be destroyed. And, so Aikin’s story is a story of a man who broke covenant with God and he ended up meeting with an unpleasant end, but Aiken allowed this lust to enter his heart for these possessions and he wasn’t confused about what he was doing. He willfully, specifically broke covenant with God and did exactly what he knew was wrong in rebellion to what he was commanded. I mean, man, anything in our lives that we exult above God or that interferes with our relationship with God is an idol, it’s idolatry. And, so, that’s what happened here. And nothing good can come from that. It’s going to only lead us further from God, which is what Jesus was talking about in the gospel of Luke, right? No one can serve two masters. You will hate one and you love the other. You will be devoted to one and you’ll despise the other. So, in both old and new Testaments we see the themes of obedience and faithfulness emerging as qualities that are irreplaceable on the path toward wholeness. And we can’t underestimate this like Aiken did. I mean, like, all the time we’re asking God to give us what we want or need, but we often want to increase without having to be faithful, right, without having to be obedient. And God doesn’t seem to work like that and it has nothing to do with God’s desire to be a control freak. He’s not going to give us the things that are going to get control over us that will eventually replace His sovereignty in our lives and become an idol that we give ourselves in worship to. And this has nothing to do with God’s insecurities. He’s not going to do that because he’s not going to let those things destroy us. And if, you know, those of us who are parents, we should be able to, very clearly, see this idea, this concept. So, as were asking God to intervene in our lives in some sort of way we have to consider the implications of Him actually doing what we’re asking. Are we being faithful to God? Is what we’re asking for something we can actually handle? Does it have the possibility of seducing us away? Are we being faithful with what we’ve already been given? Because Jesus said, be faithful in little things be faithful in large ones. If you’re dishonest in little things you’re not going to be honest with greater responsibilities. So, we see the importance of faithfulness and obedience in our reading today. And if we’re frustrated that we can get over a certain hurdle in our lives and we keep asking God to bring us an increase so that we can move forward in whatever way that might mean to us, we have to ask ourselves, am I being faithful now?
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into all of that because it brings up a lot. It gives us plenty to think about and meditate upon today. And, so, we give this day to that, invite Your Holy Spirit to continue to bring up things in our lives. We may have some work to do. Come, Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.
And what is going on around here is that, well, the More Gathering for women has begun. It began yesterday afternoon as everyone arrived in camp and got settled in and for the first dinner together, the first session together last night. So off to a great start and in for a big day today. And every year I actually mention this because Friday, this day at this conference, is a day where quite a bit heavy lifting gets done spiritually. Plenty of things to consider. A lot of things to just sit with. And there’s plenty of time for that and it’s a beautiful place to do that. But some of the things are challenging to just kind of sit with certain things and invite the Holy Spirit to bring up things out of our history and our stories. It can be a difficult thing because we like to run and we have a society that’s really made it easy to just be distracted all of the time. But today is a day where we invite the Holy Spirit into a lot of different things. And, so, this is a day as a community that we pray over all of that, that we pray that the Holy Spirit’s clarity will hover and that our hearts will be open to all that He wants to say. And, so, as a community we continue to pray over this event because this is…I mean…whether you’re here in person…great…but most of us aren’t here in person…but this is us, this is our community, this is what we’re doing together. And, so, whether we’re here in person or here in spirit, we pray over all that God wants to do today. We pray over stamina. We pray over health. We pray over technology. We pray over everything. And of course, we have intercessors here praying continually as this event takes place but as a community we continue to soak and bathe this entire event in prayers. So, thank you for your continued prayers over the event.
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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 Karen from Pennsylvania and I am just reaching out because I need prayer for my son Jacob. Jacob is 18 and for the last two weeks he’s been having numbness in his legs and pain in his head. And I took him to the doctor repeatedly here and then went to Erie and they think he may have MS but he’s suffering. He’s going through so much right now. I just don’t know, I don’t know what to do. I know our Father is with us and I know Jacob belongs to Him. I don’t want to be, but I’m afraid. And I’m trying not to be. I can’t help but wonder is this, is it because, you know, we did things? Is it because of something I did or didn’t do. I just don’t know what to think. I mean, I have, I have, I have fallen in love with somebody that’s not a believer and I want to grow there and I want to be with this person and marry this person. So, I wanted Jake to go with me, but I don’t know, I don’t know. Yeah, we go all over the map trying to understand, is something I did? Am I tempting the Lord? So, I just want to be vulnerable. I want to just ask for your prayers for Jacob, for me. I want to just…
Hi there Brian and Jill __ for all you guys too. God bless you. And DAB family, I am honored to hang out with you by the campfire. Don’t mind if I sit down and throw a log on the fire as I just want to call in with some encouragement for some DABbers today. Victoria S., Blind Tony, His Little Sharee, Pastor Gene, Drew, Daniel J. Jr., and so many others. You all bring such amazing favor to this community and I love that we all are here in oneness for the glory of our God and Savior. Jordan, your call was bitter sweet as it was so good to hear from you but really sad that you are hurting in one of the worst ways, matters of the heart. I am praying for a good resolution my brother. Mark S. I’m praying that your mom is doing better and I haven’t heard from you in a few days but I hope that you are doing well. Praying for you my brother. Walking by faith, no that I am praying for God’s grace for April the 11th, that you will hold onto God’s unchanging hand and that, you know, he will administrator to you in a very special way. Hang in there my sister. Rumbie, you are continually in my prayers. Keep your eyes on Jesus my sister. He loves you. Asia, it was so good to hear from you. Praying that the Lord will look favorably upon your family and grant your desires. Candace, I remember my promise to try and sing the remainder of the 23rd Psalm for you, but I will have to call back as I’m running out of time. Finally, for today, Lisa the Encourager. Thank you for your kind words. As usual, you are so very encouraging. You’re anointed my sister and this community is blessed to have you. I pray that the Lord will continue to use you for His glory. And that’s it for today. I will talk to you guys soon. God, bless.
Good day Daily Audio Bible family. This is Sherry calling from British Columbia Canada. I just wanted to take a step away today from my idolatry calls and I just wanted to say thank you to Sean 316 for your shout out that you gave me on the April 7th community prayer. I just wanted to tell you that call came at the right time for me because our pastor today was talking about how we need to be transparent and I usually am a pretty happy, joyful person, but I was having a really bad day yesterday and I was feeling guilty about why I was sad because, you know, I don’t really have a reason to be sad, but I was. And so, normally when that happens, I think I’ve told you guys, I go through my 101 blessings, I count my blessings, I have them written down. And, so, I got to about blessing number 27 before I started to ball and I was crying and I just felt so guilty that, with all of the things that God has blessed me with, you know, why am I sad? But then I got to realize that it’s okay for me to be sad because when I let God know that I’m sad and others know that I’m sad that it’s not the earthly things, like my husband trying to make me lunch and give me a back rub that’s going to help, it’s God right? When we let God know how we are feeling and we let Him come into that sadness and then He’s the one that gives us the joy. We don’t bring it upon ourselves. And, so, being thankful for everything that God has given me just reminded me that our joy is from the Lord. So, all that to say, Sean, thank you so much for your call because that really lifted my spirits and today was a much better day. So, thank you for your call. Love you DAB family. Have a great day.
Family, this is Viola from Maryland and I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been a while. God bless you all. Brian and Jill God bless you. Father, I’m praying for the More Conference. It’s almost here. Father Lord, I pray for every single person Oh God that will be participating. Those behind the scenes oh God. __ Brian’s son…I’m trying to think of his name right now…and also China, Jill, Brian and his team. I’m praying your grace upon them oh God, Your anointing in the name of Jesus. And am praying for every woman that will be going oh God. Holy Spirit go ahead of them. I pray in the name of Jesus Lord that You will deliver, You will save oh God, You will restore oh God Lord in the name of Jesus. And ladies, I just want to encourage you to take full advantage of all those quiet times built into the program, they’re so powerful. So, use them to stay in the presence of God. God bless you. Salvation is Mine, you’ve been on my mind. I’m praying for you. I hope things are better for you and I’m praying healing for vision for you in the name of Jesus. And I’m praying that everything __ that__ you, I put a stop to them right now and bind them in the name of Jesus. __ From Florida, I have a feeling that you’ve probably gone to court right now for defending your lawsuit. I’m praying for you brother, that God will step into your situation and have mercy. You have a great heart about this and I pray that God will honor that in the name of Jesus. Teresa, I’m praising God for your marriage. I’m praying that your husband will come to know the Lord and he will have breakthrough regarding his job and God will give you both wisdom in the name of Jesus. And my brethren, I wanted to lift up the whole __ family. Your prayers pastor Vivian J., the wife of Bishop Jackson went to be with the Lord on April 2nd. So, just pray for that family and pray that God will just comfort them and wrap His arms around them. God bless you.
Good morning, good evening, good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family. Stanley from Maryland calling. I want to pray for the women of the More Gathering today. Father, I thank You for the More Gathering, I thank You for all of the women who are going to be attending. I thank You for all of the staff and workers doing things behind the scenes. I just want to be an extra person to pray for our women and pray for the heart of our women Father. I pray for an encounter with You, Jesus, and I thank You for always being willing to come into our lives and to change us. Thank You for the relationships that are going to be formed at the More Gathering. Thank You for the people that are going to see each other again, the women that are going to see each other again. And thank You for the prayer warriors praying behind the scenes for these women. We love You and we thank You so much for this opportunity and we thank You for this community and this program that brings so many people closer to you. All right Father. I love you community. Later.