2 Kings 22:4-23:30, Acts 21:37-22:16, Psalms 1:1-6, Proverbs 18:11-12
Today is July 3rd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great, as it always is, to come together around this global campfire and spend some time together, allowing God’s word to wash over us and wash into our lives and form us and to do it together in community. It’s great to be here today and every day. And so today we will take the next step forward, picking up where we left off. We’re reading from the Voice translation this week. 2 Kings 22:3-23:30 today.
Commentary:
Alright. So, in 2 Kings, we read the story of Josiah, who was a king who’s perhaps the greatest reformer. Definitely one of the greatest reformers in ancient Israel’s history. And we saw what he did. He went on a rampage for God as it were when he discovered the book of the law that was in the temple. It had become obscure. And it was read and he realized just how far from the path that they had wandered. He spent the remainder of his time as king setting thing as right as he could. And as the Bible said, there was no one else like him ever. So, we read of his life and events and times and legacy and we left the Old Testament reading today with his son taking his place on the throne. And we’ll have to see where that story goes tomorrow.
Then in the book of Acts yesterday, we saw a mob form, we saw Paul being beaten to death until he was rescued by Roman soldiers. And he was taken into custody. And we begin to see the counter intuitive ways of what’s happening because of Paul’s incarceration, even today. Because the mob is following Paul, screaming, trying to get at him. The soldiers have to pick Paul up to get through the crowd and to try to save Paul, though it’s a pretty tense situation. But Paul reveals himself as a Roman citizen to the Roman guards. They had mistaken him for someone else, but now they’re holding in custody a Roman citizen which changes everything. And Paul asks for permission to speak to the mob. So, the people who were going to and would have killed Paul by beating him to death are now his captive audience. And under guard of the Roman soldiers, under their protection, he is speaking the gospel to the very people who were trying to kill him. And that will become Paul’s story going forward in all of his travels. Paul could have never shared the gospel story, his own testimony, to that mob. They would have killed him. But he was able to share the gospel story with the very mob that wanted to kill him because he got arrested. So, we will witness the counter intuitive ways of the Lord through the Apostle Paul as we continue forward through the book of Acts and then into his letters.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your ways. Your ways are higher than our ways and Your ways are often counter intuitive to us. But Your ways are always good and righteous and right. And so we ask, Holy Spirit, come. Reveal Your ways to us. Show us what this day is supposed to look like for us and give us clarity and wisdom and awareness. And help us to slow down enough to walk with You so that we might know and follow Your ways. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.
And the one thing that’s going on around here right now is what’s coming up this Saturday. I mean, there’s other things going on around here. Tomorrow is a big national holiday for those of us who live in the United States. It also happens to be my wife’s birthday. So, there are other things going on around here. But what’s going on in the community happens on the 7th of July. We have our little holiday, our own little tradition. It’s called the Daily Audio Bible Long Walk. And it’s simple as can be. Doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you can participate. Just mark the day off. Take that day and give it to God. Go for a long walk. And let this be one of those times where you had all the time you needed to say everything you needed to say. Just to talk through everything that’s going on in all of your relationships, your work environment and in your ambitions and in your hopes and in your dreams. Just take the time to talk about it all. And take the time to listen. And it’s a great thing to go somewhere beautiful. Go out into nature where there is some stillness, where you can disrupt the normal flow of your busy life and just breathe and see the rhythms of nature that God has created. And allow that to speak because it does. It’s all created by God and it all bares his glory and speaks of his glory. And so, we go out into nature and just disrupt ourselves. It can be very, very (meaningful). So, that’s what’s happening and thousands of us will be doing it all over the world. What makes it a community experience is that when we’re on our long walk, we know that someone else is too. And just take a picture, shoot a video wherever you go, whether it’s across the street or across the country. Take a picture, shoot a little video or something. Keep that as a commemorative of your long walk. But you can also post it up to the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page. Just go to facebook.com, search for Daily Audio Bible. Or facebook.com/dailyauiobible will get you there. And we get to watch the windows open into each other’s lives as we experience each other’s pictures from their long walks and maybe some things that God spoke or just how you were feeling or what the day was like for you. So, make plans for that this Saturday, the 7th of July.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we’re doing together as a community is bringing life to you and bringing transformation to you, than thank you for your partnership so that we can continue to move forward. There is a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re 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. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi. I want to praise God for his love, mercy, and grace. I am a pastor’s wife and I’d like prayer for my two adult children, one son who recently married whose marriage is in deep trouble and a daughter who has been away from the Lord since her teenage years and now serving in the United States Army but not serving the Lord’s army. Thank you so much for remembering those two children who are a great burden to my heart. Thanks and God bless you all. Have a great, wonderful time serving the Lord.
I know the
plans that I have for you
plans not to harm but to prosper you
behold I am making all things new
return to me and I’ll return to you
what an awesome promise from our Lord
that I, even I could be restored
sins forgiven, past ignored
blessings in and on me pour
God I’m so glad that You’re not like men
because You’re more patient with me than my most patient patient friend
because I return to You again and again
and again and again I return to my sin
and not just in some mistaken airing way
but blatantly disobedient day after day
forgive me Father please forgive me now
because I do want to serve You please show me how
I read your word I fast I pray
and I still fall short every single day
that’s why I thank You for your mercy and your grace
and for Your open arms and your smiling face
and You let me know even though I fail
victory is mine I will prevail
and I thank You for telling me every day Father the battle is not yours
because I still need help staying out of those revolving doors
because even though I’m out of Egypt Egypt is still in me
and even though there are no bars walls or chains I know I’m still not free
Father give me more of your Holy Spirit
I love Your voice and I long to hear it
and one more thing Father grant me please
an open broken heart on bended knees
blindtony1016@gmail.com. Blessed Like
Me and Show Me God’s Love In This life, I hope you’re both still hanging in
there. Haven’t heard from you in a while. Know you’re still loved and prayed
for every day. And 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 family this is his little Sharif in Canada. It’s a July 1st today. Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians. Last month I called and shared with you prayer plans as a creative way to pray and this month I’d like to tell you about mosquito bite prayers. Mosquito bites are one of the most effective triggers for prayer that I’ve ever discovered. And I call them trigger prayers. They’re just prayers that are triggered by something. For instance, you can decide that every time you hear a certain song on the radio you’ll pray for a certain situation or every time you see a chickadee at your birdfeeder you’ll pray for a certain person, etc. etc. Well, recently, after I spent today in the country I came home with a bunch of mosquito bites and I was scratching like crazy but then I thought, maybe I can turn these bites into prayer somehow. So, I decided that every time they itched, which seemed like every 60 seconds, instead of scratching I’d pray for people I knew who were battling addiction. And, so, that’s what I did. And I found myself praying all day for people like Terry the truck driver and other DABbers fighting addictions, that God would deliver them and give them supernatural strength to resist temptation. So, maybe that’s something that you’d like to try this summer. Mosquito bite prayers, another creative way to pray from the banqueting table of prayer. God bless you family. Bye for now.
Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family. This is Akeem from Edmonton Alberta Canada. I just wanted to say hello and God bless you all in 2018. Today is July 1st. Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends and family. Anyway, I just wanted to check in. I haven’t called in for a while. I just wanted to let you know guys, I’m listening and I’m praying with you all. And 2018 has been amazing. God has been working wonders in my life and with my family and I hope He’s been doing great for you as well. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to Brian and Jill and the family for this wonderful podcast. And I’m just checking on my sister, Nora. She’s from Canada I believe and she hasn’t called for a while. And she’s got an Islamic background. Family, so I hope God is great with you and you are keeping good with Jesus and He’s just working in your life. Take care everybody. Thanks. Bye.