1 Chronicles 28:1-29:30, Romans 5:3-21 , Psalms 15:1-5, Proverbs 19:18-19
Today is the 19th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you from the steamy rolling hills of Tennessee but the lush green and alive, rolling hills of Tennessee is well. It’s a pleasure and an honor to take the next step forward as we move through the Scriptures together. And this week we’ve been reading from the Christian standard Bible, which is what we’ll continue to do. First Chronicles chapter 28 and 29 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, as we continue to take this journey through the book of Romans, a letter of Paul, we began our reading with really an encapsulation of the life we are living all in one sentence. For while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. And we can just…I mean…we can just stop there because it’s not just a description of our salvation, it’s also the context for our lives. And the implications of this rescue the Paul’s talking about our astounding. And that’s what Paul’s focused on today by telling us that God invited us into relationship with Him even while we were completely estranged. So, in Paul’s own words. If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. And then Paul explained that the law was a means to reveal how far away we actually had drifted from God and how deeply the separation really was. Without the law there was no way to gauge how bad things and gotten. Right? Because there’s no benchmark. But with the law we could finally see that we were helpless to achieve perfection on our own. So, the law’s purpose, according to Paul, was to show us our desperate need for God. And Jesus revealed God’s passionate desire to meet that need. So, as theologically driven as Romans is, when we press through to the underlying reality it should humble us. God didn’t need to do any of this. Like, you and I, right now sitting here around the global camp fire, reading the Bible, basking in the glory of the Lord, and of our salvation, God was not required to do any of this. And we’ve made and we continue to make choices that, if they run their logical course, will lead to our destruction. We cannot be our own God. As much as we try, it’s just not possible. The law was given so that we might understand our trajectory and be awakened and become aware of our plight. Seeing that we’re hopeless to rectify the situation, helpless to do anything about it, we can see how overwhelming God’s love really is. So profound, which is the whole point of our reading today. That even while we were alienated, while we were enemies of God, God still would not surrender us to the darkness, which leads us back to where we started. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time so that, according to Paul, and I’m quoting him here, “just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Prayer:
Father, we enter into that. We take time to just consider how massive Your rescue is and how loving and kind, like, even as we were Your enemies, You still came for us. This changes everything. Its’ not only an invitation for our personal lives, it’s an invitation for humanity. So, come Holy Spirit. Plant these words deep in our lives, these fundamental truths of our faith. Make them alive. Awaken us. Make us aware of them. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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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. My name is Mandy. This is my first time calling. My friend Marie is in hospice. She’s dying from cancer in the next few days we think. And I just want to reach out for prayer for her, you know, to love her, especially her husband, Dennis. She’s the one who helped me learn about Jesus and become a believer and also my family and she’s my dearest friend and I just love her so much. I want her to have God’s peace and know she’ll be in the arms of Jesus soon. But, this is just a hard transition for everyone. And just asking for God’s peace in this situation. Thanks so much everyone. Bye.
Hello Daily Audio Bible. I would like to just give God all the praise for all the people who leave their prayer requests and let you know that I am praying as well. I got a chance to go on the long walk and it was really great. It also taught me that I need more help at just being quiet with the Lord. So, I’m working on that. I am stuck in a besetting sin and I cannot seem to get out of it. I’m a devout Christian but I am in over my head. So, my name is Tammy. Please pray for me. I suffer with addiction and I do ask for divine intervention as well as your prayers. I know that I can overcome this and walk away from it for good but I need help. Thanks.
Good morning DAB family this is Walking by Faith from New York City. I wanted to just thank you all for your continued prayer for my son and for my brother for his __ and your prayers for him. He lives in Orlando. I would like to leave you my email so maybe we can communicate. I’m not good at Facebook. So that’s why I won’t leave Facebook. My email is angelflyer819@gmail.com. I am planning to go to Orlando sometime in October. I wish I could actually go tomorrow. I’m just so lonely and so desperate. The latest thing is that she’s not wearing her wedding bands and going out every weekend with friends and whatnot. And she’s just despondent. And my son is also going through some anger issues, dealing with the situation with the ex-girlfriend. He feels like she’s getting away with everything. Honestly, sometimes so do I. I did hear from the internal affairs Bureau office and they’re not going to pursue this case. And the way the officer spoke to me, it was like he just cut me off. And I’m getting the suspicion that, you know, she knows people that…it’s just not good but you know, I stand on the Lord of God, that he vindicates that he fights our battles. I am praying for all of you…
I’m calling in today to encourage you, to encourage you to let you know that, regardless of the problem that you’re having, regardless of the issue that you’re dealing with, regardless of the struggle that is holding you, God is in control. Jesus is enough and the Holy Spirit will comfort you. Over the past 16 years I’ve struggled with anxiety, depression, suicidal attempts, being in and out of psychiatric facilities, on-and-off depression medication, married twice, divorced twice. Hearts been broken. I’ve broken hearts. Been arrested. Struggled with many different sins. I’ve been an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, a practicing homosexual. Regardless of all of that, when I finally, in my heart, decided to turn it over to Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit released control of my life to him, October this year will be one solid year where none of those things have had an influence in my life. I will not say that there hasn’t been a temptation. I will not say that I have not wanted to do those things but what I will say is when those temptations have come along, I’ve always turn to Christ. Had I always wanted to turn to Christ? No. But I knew that if I didn’t I would get the same result. So, I encourage you my brothers and sisters in Christ. I love you.