Month: August 2018

Job 1:1-3:26 , 1 Corinthians 14:1-17 , Psalms 37:12-29 , Proverbs 21:25-26

Today is the 21^st day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it’s a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we continue forward into this week. And we concluded the book of Esther yesterday and we talked about. Today we’re moving into some new territory.

Introduction to the book of Job:

For the next little season here were going to be exploring the deeper recesses of our hearts and we’ll be looking at it through the lens of suffering and of meaning and purpose. And, so, that brings us to the threshold of the book that we’re about to step into, the book of Job, which poetically deals with the problem of evil and human suffering and just begs the question, why? Why me? And then rustling for that answer. Funny thing about Job is its origins are disputed because it's…just…there’s like no historical context in the Bible. There’s no historical figures. I mean there are people in the Bible, obviously, but none of them can be cross-referenced and located in history, which leads to a lot of conjecture. In spite of this, it’s widely accepted that Job may very well be one of the most ancient books in the world and perhaps the most ancient book in the Bible. But even Jewish tradition has varied opinions. Some scholars believe that because of the archaic Hebrew used in the original manuscripts and the uniqueness of words found in the book - Job uses a lot of Hebrew words not found anywhere else in the Bible - that Job was maybe contemporary with Abraham, or Jacob. Others believe that it was written by a scribe returning from exile whose native tongue wasn’t Hebrew. And others follow tradition that Job was written or collected by Mosses, so there’s conjecture around this. And if it was written by Moses, it’s unknown whether he was writing down oral traditions that had been passed down for…for who knows how long or weather he was writing a bit of a theological treatise dealing with suffering and pain as a parable. These are only a few of the many varying explanations for Job’s existence. But regardless, it’s beautiful. It’s a beautifully written work and it’s among the most riveting literature in all the world to help us deal with suffering. So, as we move through the book of Job we’ll deal with these questions, the  questions of unwarranted suffering and the council of friends who are attempting to help Job find the answer. Often what we’re going to find is that Job’s friends giving advice sound very, very similar to the kind of advice we might give and totally valid, only to find out that they didn’t know at all what they were talking. And we’ll discover that as we demand answers for our suffering or our hardship or our struggles and then…and then we contrast that with the glory of God. And we become speechless because God’s glory is infinite and far beyond whatever we might be going through at the moment. His power and his strength are so vast that their unknowable, right? They can’t be quantified. It's…it’s beyond our comprehension. His beauty is indescribable. It is God and only God who can sustain our lives, but often when were we’re suffering were asking why, are you letting this happen. And there’s not always this immediate answer that we’re looking for, no matter how much we stamp our feet and shake our fists and make demands. And the more that we demand, the more you become aware that we’re putting ourselves, we’re elevating ourselves into a position of highest judge, even to the point of making a judgment against God, which is a scary thing indeed. So, ultimately we can spend our lives looking for an answer or we can trust God. And this may sound like it’s trite but it’s bedrock. All of our lives boil down to this core awareness. Our very existence itself boils down to this awareness. There are always parts of our story that are incomplete. There’s always more going on than we ever know, but our suffering, our hardship, our struggle is a continual invitation to leave behind our knowledge of good and evil and fall helplessly and hopelessly into God. I mean the struggles that we face are continually inviting us to answer one simple question, is God good or not. And we can answer, of course, yes, then even in the face of hardship we know we’re on the right path. And, so, with that, let’s dive in to this new season, and this new book. Job chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 26. And we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve worked our way through three chapters of Job, and…I men…this is one of the most riveting points in the Bible to me. Every year we pass this territory, it’s the same thing for me…this…this image of how a man systematically lost everything that he cherished. I mean to the point that all of his joy, all of the hope that he had was crushed to the point that he wanted to be lying in the grave. And, I mean, we can we can see why. Everything, everything that he had that mattered was taken away. The thing that is most riveting about that, the posture that is portrayed here is…it is just riveting to me because it’s usually not what we do, right? If we have a season like Job and, come on, let’s be honest, none of us have had a season like Job. We may that we’re suffering like Job, but we just read what happened to Job. So…so as not to make a blanket statement, let me just say that it’s unlikely that any of us have suffered like Job, probably none of us have had a bad day like the one Job had when servants couldn’t finish what they were saying and what they were saying was destruction of one of the aspects of Job’s life, they couldn’t finish even saying it before the next one came up with more bad news. Job’s response should silence and humble us because so often, you know, if we were to encounter say 1%, 2% of what Job is facing, we’re shaken our fists at the sky. Job’s response is certainly to acknowledge what he’s going through, right? As was the custom, he tore his clothes to show that something is torn inside of him and he put sackcloth on and he sat in ashes and put ashes on himself. He’s clearly demonstrating and acknowledging the pain and suffering. But what he did was he fell to his knees and worshiped God. It’s such a vivid picture and such a contrast with the way that we deal with these kinds of things, usually. Job’s posture is just different than that, right? He’s not saying all kinds of affirmations and, you know, trying to find mantras that he can repeat to keep his courage up…like he’s acknowledging completely what is going on. It’s just that he’s responding to it differently than most people do. He fell to his knees and began to worship God. I mean there’s thousands of us going through thousands of different things, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Like, every one of us have a story to tell and at one point or another we’re going through patches that we don’t want to be going through, we’re walking through things that we’d rather not be, we’re suffering in ways that would rather not be. If we could remember this picture, though it would orient us correctly. As we’ll see, this isn’t going to take everything away just because Job fell to his knees and worshiped God. But the posture of heart is clear. No matter what happens, Job has committed himself to trusting in the sovereign God and in Him alone. And as this develops in the story it will be even more riveting.

Prayer:

Father, we come into Your presence, first confessing that…I mean…this…this is normally not our posture. I mean…we might worship and praise You…hoping that You’ll make things better…quickly…as soon as possible, but…but we haven’t faced with Job has faced and he fell to his knees and worshiped You. And this humbles us. And, so, we worship You, to begin with today. Lord, we worship You. You are the sovereign God. The fact that we are breathing oxygen. The fact that we have a consciousness and are even aware that we exist is a gift from You. We have nothing and we are nothing without You. And, so, we are reminded today as we look into the book of Job that are hope is in You and You alone. Everything else that we put our hope in, all of our own ingenuity and strength, this isn’t gonna work. It’s going to turn out to be false hope. And, so we put our hope in You alone and we confess that You are good. And Father, we confess this in the face of what we are dealing with right now and in this community it runs the gamut of everything a person can face. So, inside this community, as a collective, we have endured with Job is enduring, just not as individuals, but we are all facing something. And, so, we fall to our knees and worship You. You are good. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to draw near and comfort us in this. We turn to You. Rather than being estranged from You and pushing You away and being angry, we run toward You and fall before You and receive Your comfort. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. Blessed to be the name of the Lord. Amen.

Song:

Brent Bourgeois - Blessed Be the Name (from Job)

May the day perish on which I was born.

May the stars of its morning be dim.

Why is life given to the bitter of soul

Or to those who stand in anger of Him?

Oh, He pierces my heart and does not pity.

He breaks me with wound upon wound.

Remember, I pray that you have made me like clay

And you’ll return me to dust again soon.

Oh-oh, Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return.

Oh, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

He commands the sun and it does not rise,

And treads on the waves of the sea.

Yet, how small a whisper we hear of Him

For He is not a man, is He?

That my words were written forever

With pen and golden rod,

My redeemer shall stand at last on the earth.

In my flesh, I shall see God.

Oh-oh, Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return.

Oh, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

But now ask the beasts and they will tell you,

And the birds of the air and they will teach you,

Or the fish of the sea will explain it to you,

That the hand of the Lord has done this

In whose hand is the life of every living thing

And the flesh of all mankind.

Oh-oh, Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return.

Oh, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Oh-oh, Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return.

Oh, the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Esther 8:1-10:3 , 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13 , Psalms 37:1-11 , Proverbs 21:23-24

Today is the 20^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today and even a joy as we come around the global campfire and lock arms and hearts in the spirit and take the next step forward together. And that’s the important thing, that we’re taking the next step forward together. So, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the contemporary English version this week. And we’ve been working our way through the book of Esther, which we will conclude today. Esther chapter 8, verse 1 through 10 verse 3.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we concluded the book of Esther and Mordecai became the most influential voice in the king’s life and rescued the Jewish people from annihilation with the help of the Queen, of course. And rather than being destroyed the Hebrew people were allowed to destroy their enemies, a radically different outcome than Haman had intended. Something interesting about Esther… So, when the Hebrew text was originally translated over into Greek, so we’re talking about third century BC, so, a couple centuries before Jesus came. In the Septuagint, there are like six more chapters to Esther. So, this was observed by St. Jerome, who translated the Bible using the Septuagint. So, he translated the Bible from Greek into Latin, called the Vulgate. So, at that point that material was put toward the end. And then later, just consider part of the apocryphal writings and called the additions to Esther. And a lot of what’s included in those chapters are the prayers. So, for example, when Mordecai tells Esther she needs to go before the king because she may have been born for such a time as this, her request is that Mordecai go get all the Jewish people and fast and pray and that she is going to do the same thing. And that’s what they do. The additions to Esther include a lot of that prayer, those prayers and intercession over Esther going before the king. So, I’ve read a number of the apocryphal books and recorded them and their available in the Daily Audio Bible shop including the additions to Esther for your listening pleasure and for further research, especially if you love this story as I do. So, you can check that out in the Daily Audio Bible shop. But that’s not all we did today. We didn’t just finish the book of Esther.

In first Corinthians we reached the most well-known portions of Scripture in all of the Bible, the love chapter, right? Most of us can quote portions of 1 Corinthians 13, if we want, but we don’t always know context. And as we make our journey through the Bible we try to…we try to illuminate the context as often as we can because it illuminates the meaning of what it is that we’re reading. So, yesterday, Paul began talking about spiritual gifts and he shared how each person is uniquely gifted and together, these gifts serve a whole. And then he described the way in which the human body has a lot of parts, right? Some seen, some unseen. And the different parts of the body are all needed to make up the whole body. So, Paul tells us that’s how it is with the body of Christ. We’re each uniquely gifted and placed and have full permission to be exactly who we were created to be. In fact, we must become exactly who we were created to be for the body to thrive. And today Paul discussed the different kinds of posts that might be filled out from these giftings, right? Apostles and prophets, teachers, people who can work miracles, those with the gift of healing, helpers, those with leadership and administrative gifts, and those who can speak in unknown languages. And Paul essentially asked, can all of us be all of these things? And, of course, the answer is no. But there is one animating force that empowers each of these posts, gifts, and parts of the body and that animating force is love, which is how we got the love chapter, right? And Paul says, let me show you a way of life that’s best of all. And then we move into the description of love, right? So, no matter the gift, no matter the post, no matter the talents, none of it would amount to anything no matter how it’s celebrated without love. Love is what enables our gifts to be used properly. It’s what empowers us to assume roles of service and it’s what holds the body of Christ together. So, we’re told, three things will remain - faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. But there the three things that will remain. And we’ve been looking at Hope this year. Hope has been the word for this year and we find that hope is one of the three things that remain, right? So, there’s three things, it’s a trifecta of necessary things that are the things that left standing in the end, faith, hope and love. And, so, when we feel our lives. going sideways, like we’re about to go out of control or like we’re spinning around the drain about to go down, one or more of those essential things is being challenged, right? Faith, hope or love. Our lives will always veer off the narrow path that leads to life and veer into some sort of ravine where were going to crash unless these things are present.

Prayer:

And, so, Father, you are love. And, so, we realize we can’t love without you. And, so, we invite your Holy Spirit’s to show us the places inside of us that are simply lacking love that are devoid of love that are a barren wilderness inside of us. We need your love to come flourishing, flooding into these places. And we realize without faith and hope we can’t even see your love, we can’t recognize it for what it is, which is why so many are wandering around in the darkness and why you have put us here to be a light in the darkness by revealing your love for this world. We can’t do any of this without you. Why would we want to? And, so, come Holy Spirit and fill us anew with faith, hope and love. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

And check out the resources that are available like….like I said…the additions to Esther we talked about just a little bit ago, that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible shop. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can’t thank you enough as we move through the summer months. There is a link on the homepage at 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 PO 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 you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Duane from Wisconsin. All praise and glory to our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Today is day 61 praying for children. It is August 16^th. Just a prayer request on my part, if you would continue to pray for my son Nicholas who is in jail. He’s going to be there for a couple more years. If you would please pray for him, that he will come to know the Lord better and get an opportunity to hear God’s word. Also, pray for my son Nathan and that he finds direction in his life. He is working but just that he’ll hopefully find a direction in his life and come to know the Lord as well. Today I’d like to lift up all of us with children out there. Lord, I want to give praise to all those children out there Lord who are following Your ways, leading a godly life. Lord, we thank you for the great, wonderful grace that is. Lord, we also want to, Lord, lift up those children out there who are hurting who feel alone, who feel lost Lord, that You would bring them back to You. Those who have medical conditions, Lord, health issues, we ask that You give them Your healing and, Your peace, comfort. Let them know that we, the Daily Audio Bible are with them, that their parents are there, family and friends, that we are there to support them and lift them up. And we ask that you would give them gracious blessings Lord and to heal them Lord if that is your will. We left this all up in Jesus’ name. Amen. And Brian and Jill thank you for this wonderful podcast.

[singing] Hallelujah, you are not alone [singing stops]. I have come to encourage you. [singing] He’s your comfort always holds you close [singing stops]. You are not alone my sisters. You are not alone my brothers, that God has promised that He would never leave you or forsake you. You are not alone because though you may be walking through a valley of a shadow of death, His rod and his staff is there to comfort you. You are not alone because God who is near to the broken hearted. You are not alone because though you may pass through many waters God will be with you. You are not alone because He has given His angels charge over you to keep you and all of your ways. You are not alone because you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. You are not alone. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy. God is with you, God is in you, God is for you and He is fighting for you. So, I stand in agreement with you and I speak victory over your life, victory over your heart, victory over your family, over your present and your future. And remember [singing] His spirit lives within you so you will walk in His piece. His spirit lives within you, your victory, your victory [singing stops]. I love you family. This is Prophetic Intercessor from North Carolina calling to remind someone that you are not alone. Love you. Be blessed.

Hi there. My name is Bremmel calling from London in the UK calling for a lady who called in on the 17^th of August, 2018. And you called in for your broken family and you explained how your daughter committed suicide three years ago and what’s happened to her children and how you feel partly to blame because of what is happening. And I know you didn’t leave your name. I’m going to be praying for you and I’ve started praying for you. Any praise reports, please let us know. Any updates even if it’s not a praise report, please keep us posted. We’ll be praying for you and we’re thinking about you and the entire family. Our God heals. I’m praying for the peace that you asked for and I’ll also be praying for spiritual and emotional healing for your family because I believe you need that. May the Lord be with you and watch over you. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Good morning daily Bible. This is Terry the Trucker. I’m calling in today from a hospital bed. Wednesday at noon in Jackson, Mississippi I had a __ tire blowout and I hit the guardrail, then hit the end of the bridge dead on, flippin off of the bridge onto the embankment. It was a __ blessing the way I hit because I didn’t fall into the traffic below and hurt somebody else. I was on the phone with my wife when it happened. I dislocated my shoulder. Severe bruising and internal bleeding from on left shoulder from my seatbelt. Other than that, just banged up from head to toe. My dog, Snuffy, didn’t make it. They got him to the clinic. He died once, they revived him. Got him back. He died again. They couldn’t get them back. Guys, I just ask for your prayers for healing. It’s gonna take time but I’ve got a feeling __ we’re going to have to step away from it. I’d pray but I think it might have been God’s way of saying don’t do it. But anyway, I want you to I’m still praying for everyone that calls in and I appreciate all y’all’s prayers. You all have a super blessed day. Thank you.

Esther 4:1-7:10 , 1 Corinthians 12:1-26 , Psalms 36:1-12 , Proverbs 21:21-22

Today is the 19^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian and it’s a pleasure to be here with you today as we turn the knob, open the door, walk through the threshold of a shiny, sparkly, new week. And it’s gonna be a great week together as we continue to take steps forward through the Scriptures. We began the book of Esther yesterday and we’ll continue that story today. And this week we’ll read from the Contemporary English Version. So, Esther, chapter 4 verse 1 through 7 verse 10 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this new week. We thank You in advance for all that You will speak to us through Your word. And we thank You for reminding us in Your that we are one body, that we are all necessary. And we thank You for allowing us to come together in community as part of this body as we continue to take this journey through the Scriptures. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check in and check it out.

Visit the community section so you can find out where to stay connected on social media, like the Daily Audio Bible women’s group or the DAB friends. Visit the Prayer Wall. Pray for your brothers and sisters while you’re at it. And check out the shop where there are resources available for the journey as we continue to take steps forward.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It’s on the homepage. Thank you, thank you for your partnership. 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 PO 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 you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Lee from New Jersey and today is August 16^th. And we’re at day 66. So, I want to give you guys a quick story. So, yesterday was pretty much…it was a day to just either start swinging or roll up into a little ball and just cry. I don’t know, one of those. I would’ve chose one of them __, but anyways. Yesterday, work was very difficult, very challenging. Left a lot later than normal. Traffic was horrible, then I got home and I had to cut the grass. The grass was superhigh. It looked like a jungle out there. So, when I started cutting the grass, basically, we have an electric…I had an electric lawn mower…I’ll explain why…and cut the cord and half, the extension cord with the blade underneath. So, I stopped that I was doing and put the cord back together. I did a quick connection there and finished at least the backyard. When I get to the front yard, the grass was so high and I was pushing that electric lawnmower so much that it just __ out, completely burned out. So, I was stuck there. So, my next-door neighbor who’s just __ my actual neighbor, he’s a great guy, his name is Jerry. And I want you guys to send him all your blessings and pray for this guy. He has shown me what a neighbor really is. He lends me is lawnmower. He helped me out so much. He taught me a lot of things that I even though __ man. We’re almost the same age but I really wish I had a dad like you. Like, he just showed me so many things in such a short amount of time that I was just amazed. So, he’s definitely taught me one big thing and it’s the…how to be neighborly and how to show God…how to bring God into every situation. And I don’t think he’s…he’s a believer, but he’s not exactly a practicing Christian but he goes to church and all that. But definitely, he shows it. So, guys let’s pray for Jerry and let’s do a quick prayer for anger. Let’s thank God…

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. I hope you can hear me. This is Sarah in Nebraska and I am driving to work in a rainstorm this morning, Thursday morning. And I just was listening, it’s 16^th today, to the daily reading. And No One Left Behind called in from Colorado about her anniversary, her anniversary and being grateful. And that was the last call made today. And, so, as is my practice I just started my prayers for the community and my family. And, as usual, I was praising God for His…today I was just praising him for His continual love for us, the constant love that He has that never wavers, that never falters. And He tickled my conscience with a revelation of me not being grateful as she had called about. It was her anniversary. She started to not be grateful that morning due to something her husband had done. And I often…I…more often than not, that is me. I can talk to God and be grateful and thankful but some of the most important people in my life, often I’m not. And God showed that to me today. And, so, today I am going to be grateful. I’m going to do my best to reflect God in all I do, all I say, especially to those most important to me, like my husband. So, I just thank you No One Left Behind in Colorado for those words.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family it’s Jay from Nashville Tennessee. Let’s pray. Precious Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow our hearts, our minds, and our spirits before your Majesty. Lord, we adore everything about you. We are overwhelmed by Your power. We’re mesmerized by Your grace. And we’re bewildered by Your love. Father, we confess of anything that we’ve done that goes against Your will, Your word, and Your spirit for our lives Father. Lord, we thank You for today. We thank You for this very moment. We thank You for the opportunity to join together with one another praying for one another, praying for our country, praying for our children, praying for our leaders, praying for our pastors, praying for those to heal and those who fix, and those who deliver, and those who deal with situations that are beyond our own understanding. Lord, we thank You for this now in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I just wanted to mention that it’s raining here in Tennessee and the crazy thing about rain in Tennessee is it could be raining on one side of the street or could be raining on the other side of the street or it could be completely dry on one side and raining on another. I say that because in life sometimes will have rain on our side of the street and then we’ll notice on the other side of the street, it’s a great situation, better than where we are. But what I want to do is recognize that in this rain there is a blessing, light comes through rain. We wouldn’t have all this greenery that you see every day here in Nashville without the rain. God bless.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is John Corrado from Bethlehem Pennsylvania. I hope you guys are all doing well. It is the 16^th August here, 2018. And folks I am just pumped up beyond all recognition for what God is doing in your lives and the lives of all you all that call-in. So thankful Brian and Jill for what you do in your ministry and this community and the transformation that it has had and how it’s played a role in my life. It’s just absolutely amazing. First of all, Mark Street, dude, thank you for the shout out recently. I heard my name and man that really, it really made my heart leap for joy. I know how much of loved by God. I know who my Father is but, ya know, you’re on the other side of the world and to hear you say that you were thinking about me meant the world today. So, thank you so much for that Mark and God bless you. I’m thinking about you too. And folks, I think about you all, all the time. You know my friend Sarah Evans up in Canada and myself, we do the Daily Audio Bible transcriptions, every day. So, we listen to your prayer requests, we pray along with you. I’m praying with you. I hear your praise reports and am praising with you. And I don’t call-in frequently enough but here I am today. I just want to extend thanks and gratitude to you all for your prayers over my family. Real quickly, and I’ll call back with another update, my daughter Kelsey who’s in California that moved out to Los Angeles back in April, everything is going very very well for her. She’s going through struggles and challenges but she recently came back to find Jesus and put Him at the center of her life again and what a remarkable difference in this young lady because of you guys and what you’ve done for me. God bless you. I love you all and we’ll see you at the reunion.

Esther 1:1-3:15 , 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 , Psalms 35:17-28 , Proverbs 21:19-20

Today is the 18^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you as we close down another week. And even as we close down another week, we’ll be opening a brand new book today.

Introduction to the book of Esther:

The book of Esther is a short little book, but it’s a high drama story that’s full of intrigue. Esther tells of a young Hebrew girl named Hadassah who was orphaned while in exile in Persia. And then she was taken in and raised as a daughter by her cousin Mordecai who was of the tribe of Benjamin. But they were in exile and exiled Hebrews often took on localized names. So, Hadassah was given the name Esther, which translates to mean star or morning star in Jewish tradition. From the scriptures we know that Esther was stunningly beautiful and she possessed a quiet character. And when King Ahasuerus, who is associated with Xerxes, sought to find a replacement for the banished Queen Vashti, Esther was chosen, although she kept the fact that she was Jewish a secret. And this proved very providential. Around the same time, a man named Haman rose to prominence before the king. And Haman was a descendant of King Agag of Amalec. So, the Hebrews and the Amalekites had been enemies dating all the way back to their origins, which would be Jacob and Esau. King Agag was executed by the prophet Samuel after King Saul defeated the Amalekites in battle. So, Haman’s hated of the Jews was personal. And it was reignited when Mordecai would not bow down before him in honor as the king’s highest official. And so Haman devised a plan to annihilate every Jew in the Persian empire. So, that’s quite a backdrop for quite a dramatic story. On one side of the king was this beautiful Jewish queen Esther. On the other side was this high official Haman who intended to wipe all Jews from the earth. So, the book of Esther is the basis for the festival Purim for the Jewish people, which was established by Mordecai in the book of Esther. The story takes place during the same period of history that we’ve been reading about when we’ve read through Nehemiah and the previous books that describe the exile. We’ll find many parallels in the book of Esther that we can apply to our lives. And God will always show up. The circumstance doesn’t always dictate the outcome of things. And everyone has an important role to play because God brings people into the picture for specific times and specific missions to get major things done in his kingdom. This can be large as Queen Esther saving God’s people from destruction or God sending you to rescue your next door neighbor. We’re all here for such a time as this. And so, with that being said, let’s dive into the book of Esther 1:1-3:15. And we’re reading from the Good News Translation this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week in Your word. And we thank You for all that You have spoken to us, all that You have shifted within us, all the seeds that have been planted in our lives that will yield a harvest. And we thank You for bringing us this far. All the way to the beautiful and redemptive story of Esther. We ask that Your Holy Spirit plant this in our lives and we thank You God. We love You and we worship You. And we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find what’s going on around here. So, certainly, be sure to check it out.

Dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s gonna…what’s gonna go on around here? (Brian laughs.) It’s where you find out what’s going on around here so be sure to check it out.

Visit the Prayer Wall. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Stay connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. 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 PO 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 you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. My name is Joy. This is my first time calling in and I’m so blessed by this ministry. I have been enjoying it on my walks and jogs every morning and I assure you that I have been praying and growing. This morning I’m calling in because I was encouraged to when I heard two other brothers from the prayer line call in who are in ministry as we are. And I felt led to go ahead and call in my first time to ask for prayer for my husband and I. We recently planted a church, our second, in Texas. And it’s been a four year journey and we decided to let go of this position because another phone call came in for a church in Missouri. And, so, we have been moving that direction, to take over a church in Missouri. However, we got a call the night before at 9 PM from that church, the night before we were to be celebrated the next Sunday morning to say goodbye to our church in Texas that that board has decided not to continue with us because we are foster parents who are having to go to court and be in trials to win our baby boy who we have had for 20 months in our home and we also have his sister and she is adopted. This trial has been going on since the end of January. It is now August. No one has ever seen a trial go this long and every time we go to court there seems to be a reschedule and with no end in sight. And so we lost this church and…this is the church in Missouri as well. All was…

Hi. My name is Shika from Los Angeles and I just started listening. __ start from January and I just hit February and I’ve fallen in love with the community and all I can think of is how I really wish I had a community like this. But I’m calling because I really need prayer. I’ve been married for four years. I’ve known him for nine years. He’s traditional, like, he’s Indian family. And I __ from Jamaica. And his parents have just made my life hell. And I thought it was just his past, like, they call me the N word, they call me __. And I’ve put up with this cause I thought…well…they don’t know better. My __ family, they don’t know Jesus but he’s been the problem too. He just came down and __ hateful person. And then when I was pregnant he was really verbally and emotionally abusive. He would like scream at me. And right when I had my son he __ didn’t want anything to do with him. And he was just terrible. He just….he was just so caught up on status and show. That there was spite for him. And, I’d said, you know, we needed a good environment __, and we need to be separated. __ that I have to fight him tooth and nail. __. I spoke to a lawyer and he said that he would get custody. __. And if he was as manipulative as I say then I won’t fare well. So, I don’t know what to do. I tried everything. I’ve tried counseling. Maybe my message is too long. I’ve tried counseling multiple times. __ I’ve tried everything I could with him. But he still is always blaming me and putting me down and I don’t know how to get out of this and I don’t know how to get strong enough to __ life time because he’s only twenty two months and __ custody…and…

Hi DAB family. This is Shelby. Forgive me for reading this but I don’t want to ramble. I’ve been listening for six years and finally got the courage to call today. I pray along with you all and look forward to hearing your familiar voices most every day. I’m asking you all to pray with me in finding the house that the Lord would have me have because I am a single changing aging woman and desperately need to downsize to something I can manage. I can’t afford to move unless I sell my house and I feel trapped in it. I’ve been down in the dumps over my living situation for years and I’m stepping out of faith, asking the Lord to provide the house of his choosing. I already feel the Lord’s hand in this because I found a home that I think will work and a couple is coming to look at my house on Saturday. I haven’t even listed it in the house and found wasn’t listed. Please pray that if it’s the Lord’s will, and that’s the important part, the couple will buy it and I will be able to get the other house. Timing is critical. I need prayer for wisdom, discernment, and courage to handle the negotiation and all of the for sale by owner transactions. I confess, I’m afraid. I also need strength to finish cleaning and decluttering before they see the house on Saturday, August 18^th. Thank you family, Brian, and Jill for your prayers and all that you do. Listening to the Bible through the DAB all these years has changed my life and by relationship with the Lord. I recommend it to everyone I talk to. I hope to come back soon with a praise report. God bless you all. Bye-bye.

Hi family this is Prophetic Intercessor from North Carolina calling just to say shed prayer for those who feel that their dreams have been deferred for so long. And I have been so heavy the last two days. And my brother and my mother prayed for me just a few hours ago and I felt such a weight lift and I wanted to pass that forward because I know what it is to feel heavy and I know what it is to have a dream that’s deferred that makes your heartsick. But the other part of the verse in proverbs says that when the dream is fulfilled it is like a tree of light. So, I’m just calling to pray for those who find themselves with sickened hearts because there’s s some dreams and desires you’ve laid before God that you haven’t seen manifested yet. And I want to speak light over your life and I want to encourage you to stay on the course because God is not a man that He should rise but every word that He spoke He is well able to bring it to pass and I pray that God send a fresh wind into your life today to breathe upon every dry dream, to breathe upon every dry bone, that a new wind will come to every valley that you’re walking in until flesh comes back upon your bones and until you are reinvigorated. I pray in the name of Jesus that He would invigorate your heart today with peace, with joy, with hope, and with strength. That you will not stagger at the promise, but that you would hold fast, and that God would release eagles wings so that you do not faint, hallelujah, and that you do not fall moments before you cross over the finish line because the enemy’s tactic is to wear us out before we lay hold of the promise. But I rebuke every satanic plot that gets you to give up moments before the promise is realized in your life. And I join forces with you as a prophetic intercessor and I stand in the gap with you that your heart will no longer be sick because your dream is coming to be fulfilled. Be blessed. And I…

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31 , 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 , Psalms 35:1-16 , Proverbs 21:17-18

Today is the 17^th day of Auuuuugust (Brian pronounces August a it a little weirdly and laughs abut it)…although I don’t think that’s really how you say it…but August. It’s the 17^th day of August How are you in the middle of this month and at the end of this workweek? Hope you’re doing well. And no matter how you’re doing, this is the right place to find some serenity and some peace and some quiet and some stillness and allow God’s word to speak as we move forward and take the next step. And this week we’ve been reading from the Good News Translation. And, so, that’s what we’ll do. Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 27 through 13 verse 31 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we concluded the book of Nehemiah today with the dedication of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. And two choirs processed their way in opposite directions atop this newly completed wall. That must’ve been this moment of divine satisfaction for Nehemiah because it had been a very challenging and opposed task, but for all that they endured God had been faithful. With His guidance, the mission had been accomplished. And Nehemiah returned to Babylon to serve king Artaxerxes’s afterward, but he was later granted permission to return and when he did he discovered how quickly the people began to drift away from all that they had vowed before God. Eliashib, the supervisor of the temple storerooms allowed Tobia, who had been one of the chief instigators of intimidation and discouragement during the building of the wall, he gave him access to a large storeroom within the temple to use as he pleased, because they were family related. Additionally, the Levites and singers hadn’t been resourced, right? So, they had to leave their sacred jobs to go back to their fields just to survive and to provide for themselves and their families, which, of course, negatively affected the worship, the prescribed worship at the temple, which was already being neglected. And the people also began to ignore the Sabbath in favor of trade and commerce, which horrified Nehemiah. And finally, the people began to intermarry again with the surrounding nations. So, it’s like, Nehemiah left with everything moving in the right direction and he returned to find that everything was moving in the wrong direction, the very direction that had destroyed them in the first place. So, in the face of this discouragement, this is a good lesson for us as we are enduring because nothing stays. Like, we can get everything moving in the right direction, but it’s not going to stay that way unless it’s maintained in our own lives and in our own relationships. So, in the face of the discouragement of Nehemiah, he turned to God. He asked God to remember all that he had done out of a true heart on behalf of the people. And that shows us another important example in leadership. In the end, we can’t always influence people to do the right thing but we can do the right thing ourselves and we can follow God’s leadership by stewarding ourselves and taking responsibility for what He entrusted us to do. If we do this with a pure heart we can also pray the final words of Nehemiah. Remember this in my favor oh my God.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. We invite You into everything that we encounter in Your word and ask Your Holy Spirit to speak to us, implant it in our lives. We have faced discouragement because we’ve tried to encourage people who do not want to make any kind of change. And often this exposes things in us, our controlling tendencies. We get bitter and angry that they will do what we want and then we realize, oh, we’re doing this to You too. That path won’t lead us anywhere. The path that Nehemiah shows us will. Although he couldn’t change everyone’s heart, he certainly could give his heart to You and follow You. And, so, we do this and we ask Lord that You remember the things that we’ve done out of a true and pure heart for Your people. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find what’s going on around here. So, certainly, be sure to check it out.

Check of the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Check out the community section so you can stay connected on social media. If you’re a lady and you’re not in the Daily Audio Bible women’s group on Facebook, you should be. You’re missing out. Lots of stuff is always going on there. And there’s also the Daily Audio Bible friends group on Facebook. There’s continual conversation constantly happening there. So, be sure to plug into those places and stay connected as we continue our journey forward.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It’s on the homepage. Thank you, thank you for your partnership. 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 PO 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 you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello. This is Tony from Germany and I want to just call in, just to give thanks for our prayer warriors. And Victoria Soldier you always come to mind. Your prayers are so beautiful, rich, and powerful. And now I’m hearing Sonja from Tampa. And Sonja, please don’t stop calling. You speak to my soul the way you pray and it’s…I…I would love to pray like you do and I guess that is just with time maybe or maybe it’s just your beautiful gift. And you speak to me. Your prayers resonate with my soul about how powerful our prayers can be and how we can bring down God’s power here on earth, bring down His kingdom. So, I just want to thank every…the prayer warriors…and I am missing a number…but you too just really come to mind and I thank you. So, I just wanted to speak. I pray everyone is doing well. I’m grateful to be part of this DAB community. You…it is so important to me. It is an integral part of my life. God bless everyone.

Hey __ from Alabama. August 14^th. I don’t know if you caught Nehemiah 8 verse 9 and 10, when the people heard with the law are required they were so moved they began to cry. So, Nehemiah who was a governor __ and the Levites were explaining all this. The law told the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God. So, you are not to mourn or cry. Go home, have a feast, share your food and wine with those who don’t have enough. Today is holy to our Lord. So, don’t be sad. Catch this, the joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong. Did you catch that? __ and how much we need grace and mercy. Then let’s not mourn her cry all the time over our past. Know you are forgiven child of God. Today, this day, is holy because you have been made holy by the blood of Jesus. So, don’t be sad. Go have a feast. Go share with others because it’s not yours anyway. And remember this if nothing else, the joy that the Lord gives you will make you strong. So, let’s live this out in Jesus name. And one thing I want to ask, I know I’ve asked before but I appreciate your prayers. I go in tomorrow morning August 15^th for an echocardiogram. A virus attacked my heart earlier this summer. It gave me congestive heart failure temporarily and I just ask that the doctors are just as amazed that this happened that they’re going to be amazed that I’m completely healed in Jesus name. Thank you. Love you. Appreciate your prayers.

Good morning dear brothers and sisters. Thank you so much for all that you do for the community, for the helping and praying for each other. I am reaching out to you folks to pray for my…my broken family. My daughter committed suicide three years ago and left four gorgeous children, two of who tried to resuscitate her and tried to help her. They were 13 and 16 of the time. They are floundering. I’ve had my granddaughter here this weekend and she was just heartbroken and said she feels like she has no home since her mom has passed. Doesn’t matter where she goes it just feels wrong. And now she found a boyfriend at the age of 16 and her boyfriend is 18 and he’s an atheist. And her dad and stepmom have kicked her out of the house because they feel like they need to live by the letter of the law as opposed to grace. And I know we do need to be obedient to the calling of the Lord and I just pray that you would reach out and pray for my daughter’s children. The oldest is into pornography and has a young girlfriend himself who he is living with. And these children are just lost and we all are. And my ex-husband, the day that he and I split up, threw something across the yard and said, for God’s damnation upon whatever. And I just feel like all of this, because I chose to leave husband has ultimately broken up the family in such a way. I’m remarried __ even a brand-new marriage. So, I pray that the peace of God of all understanding. He is the God of understanding…

Hi family. This is his little Sharif in Canada. I just finished listening to the community prayer and I just love the diversity of this community, don’t you? I love hearing the different voices. And it reminded me that we are supposed to be this way. We’re meant to be different from one another. That’s what makes the body of Christ beautiful. So, I just wanted to call in and remind you and myself that there is no place for comparison in the body of Christ because each of us is completely unique. I mean, how sad would it be if Victoria Soldier felt second-rate because she didn’t write poems like Blind Tony or if Blind Tony didn’t call in because he doesn’t sound or pray like Victoria Soldier. Everyone who is part of this community contributes something vital and they do it just by adding their DNA to the mix, those who don’t, and as much as those who do. So guys…ahhh…the truth is, each one of us is Jesus’ favorite. Did you know that? When we know and experience that, His specific and unique affection for each one of us, it frees us from measuring ourselves against someone else. So, I just want to thank you all for embracing me as I am, his little Sharif who prays with doodles and puzzles and whatever else. And I want to thank you for being exactly who you are. Please don’t try to be anyone else. We need you to be you and I like you the way you are. So, thank you so much for being a part of this community. I love you family, each one of you. God bless you. Bye-bye.