2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19, Romans 8:9-23 , Psalms 18:16-34, Proverbs 19:26
Today is the 23rd day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s wonderful to be here with you as we step into this new work week and continue to take steps forward through our lives, through the Scriptures and through this year. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and we’ll pick up where we left off. 2 Chronicles 8:11-10-19 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, as we’ve been following the letter to the Romans written by the Apostle Paul, we’ve obviously been following his argument for Jesus and the good news and the announcement of what it means to humanity. Today, man, today… it’s worth going back and reading again. Because the implications, like what it actually means to our lives for those of us who believe and have put our faith in this, it’s astounding. So, Paul said today, the Spirit of God. Alright, let’s stop there. Can we even comprehend what we’re talking about? The Spirit, right? The animating life force of the God of all, the Almighty, the Lord of heaven’s armies, that spirit. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, that spirit lives in you. If I had a mic that wasn’t attached to a stand, I would drop it. I mean, what else is there to say? That reality can be contemplated the rest of our lives. So, taking a moment and separating that from a theological concept or some kind of metaphor and actually considering it as a reality. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in me. What if we actually embrace that reality? Which we are supposed to do. What would that change? How would today change if that is how we walked around and that is what you believed? The Spirit of the living God, the one who raised Christ from the dead, lives in me. And that changes everything, right? We can never rightfully walk around on this earth and say, God has abandoned me, I don’t know where he went, I don’t know. The Spirit of the living God is within you. How can he abandon you? He’s wherever you are. He’s within you. So, Paul drops that bomb. And right on the heels of it, immediately following that he said, You have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do, right? In other words, this is a choice. You don’t have any obligation to do what you know is wrong. For if you live that way, you’re going to die. But through the power of the Spirit, the same one that raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit of the living God, the Holy Spirit. If by that spirit we put to death the deeds of our sinful nature, we will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. And that’s just another bombshell that was dropped today. Another mic drop. But there’s more. Since we are his children, we are his heirs. Can you think about that for a second? An heir of God? I mean, how would you even articulate what you are set up to inherit if you are an heir of God? According to Paul, we’re joint heirs with Jesus which makes us heirs of God’s glory. I mean, holy cow! It’s like so good and so big and so vast, there’s no way for us to even get our mind around it. But, according to Paul, if we’re going to share in his glory than we also must endure and share in his suffering. And Paul’s speaking directly to a people who are under oppression. They are being persecuted. They are opposed. They are marginalized. So, it’s a word of encouragement, of endurance. And he goes on to actually unpack that. What we’re suffering now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. So, you can apply that to your own life. What you’re going through right now may indeed be very, very difficult. Listen, I mean, I get it. There are all kinds of circumstances that are difficult to navigate through, you know? This is perfecting us. And we need to grow in strength and loyalty if we’re to grow into what’s said here. I mean, come on. If Amazon shows up at your door today with a big box that’s full of God’s glory, which obviously I know that can’t happen, but would you be ready to receive that gift? How would that look on you? We can say God’s glory would look great on me, but God’s glory is an all consuming fire. Are we ready for this? And what would our lives look like if we walked around in that kind of humble authority, navigating this life, above it all, looking at life’s circumstances through the glory of the Lord, understanding exactly what was really going on, and being the hands and feet of Jesus in this world? Navigating as he did. Becoming Christ-like, in other words. This is all available. So, we’ve reached this point in Romans and it’s like, if this is all true, than we are living so much less than is available to us. It’s…it’s not even funny. It’s actually sad. Because if the church of Jesus Christ lived into what the Scriptures are saying to us, we could change the world. No joke. We could change the world. So, consider this today. Maybe spend some more time in Romans 8 today. Contemplate this today. Look at the ways in which you’re living less. It is important that we rise up and become the more and live into the more and take and learn to wield the authority that is given to us by God through Jesus. So, imagine what beginning to live into this fully will look like for you and invite the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, the one that lives in you, to lead you and guide you forward to the next set of decisions.
Prayer:
Spirit of God, Holy Spirit, we invite You to come. This is some big stuff. I mean, these are famous passages in the Scriptures and we can just blow through them, but the implications are overwhelming. They’re really bigger than we can comprehend, that we know how to comprehend. So come Holy Spirit we pray. Plant these words in our lives and make them more than words, make them realities. Show us how to fully live into this, 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:
Yeah hi. This is Matthew from Sydney Australia. I’d just like to ask you guys for prayer because I just went to the eye doctor and need to get a new pair of glasses and it cost me $500, Australian dollars at this. And, basically, I don’t have the money for it at the moment. I’m having to save up and pay for it but hopefully God will provide for that. Also pray for me because I started at a new church and I want to know if God really wants me there. I think he does. But, yeah. So just…just pray for these things. And, yeah, I just started listening to the Daily Audio Bible about three days ago and I love it. I think it’s a blessing for anybody who here’s it. So, keep up the good work guys. And yeah. Cheerio for now.
Hello my beautiful Daily Audio Bible family. This is Tolou calling from Canada and I just had to call in this morning. As I listened to your voices I prayed with you, laughed with you, and cried with you. And I realized this year that I do want to do life more with you. So, that’s my calling. I just want to read words from Psalms 121 and I pray that for everyone out there, whatever you may be going to that the word of God will bring you comfort and will bring you strength. And it says, I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And these words came back to me today as I was driving in. It’s just before 9 AM here. It’s a very cloudy day and there’s so much haze in the sky. Usually I can see the Canadian Rocky Mountains as I drive into work but today I can’t because it’s all obscured by clouds. And I realize that even though I can see those mountains in their majesty as I normally do, it doesn’t change the fact that they are there. They are still there, I just can’t see them right now because it’s a cloudy day. And I just want to encourage you, if you are going through a cloudy day, please just remember that our Lord, our heavenly Father is there. Even though you can’t see him and even though things you do may not really remind you but He is ever present with you. He is the maker of the mountains, the maker of heaven and earth and He is the one our help comes from. So be encouraged today. We live by faith and not by sight. A wonderful, wonderful day. I love you. God bless you. Tolou from Canada.
Hi everyone. My name is Tara. I’m from the District of Columbia. I’m a first-time listener and a new Christian. I was diagnosed one month ago with multiple sclerosis and I could really use your prayers and encouragement. I want to just share a verse that’s helped me through the past four weeks. It’s Psalm 41 verse 1-3. Blessed are those who have regard for the week our Lord delivers them in times of trouble. The Lord protects and preserves them. They are counted among the blessed in the land. He does not hand them over to the desire of their foes. The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. Thanks everyone. I’ll be thinking of all of you and God bless.
Hey Daily Audio Bible. This is Jeff, formerly from Massachusetts, formerly from Virginia Tech. I’ve graduated and I am moving on to a new life in Jesus. I’m currently living in a community of men who do youth ministry. And, so, I live with a few priests, a few consecrated men, and the rest are lay people like myself. So, I’d ask that you to pray for us, pray for our community, pray for those who we outreach to. I graduated with a degree in philosophy and discerning the priesthood, discerning consecrated life, discerning, you know, what my next steps are. And I’d ask you to pray for my vocation and for all young men and women who are discerning their vocation. Please pray for all my friends who I go to school with. Please pray for them in their walk with our Lord as they continue to grow in faith and love. Please, keep in your heart all those who are ensnared by the devil, all those who practice Satanism or any form of witchcraft or anything like that. These pray for those who are under the devil’s possession and that they might be released from that. I ask you to pray for all of those who suffering from mental or physical illness, those with depression, anxiety, drug addiction, alcoholism. I ask that you pray for my family, my brother as he is about to be married and he is currently engaged. And please pray for my mom and dad who I love. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.