Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18 , 2 Corinthians 7:8-16 , Psalms 48:1-14 , Proverbs 22:17-19
Today is the 4th day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. And it is a pleasure and an honor to spend some time with you today around the global campfire that is our community as we take another step forward in our journey through the Scriptures. And this week we’re reading from the Modern English Version. We’re working our way through the book of Ecclesiastes. Today we’ll read chapters 7, 8 and 9.
Commentary:
Okay. So if I were to say the word sorrow, what does that bring up inside of you? Do you think of sorrow as a positive thing? Or is it something to be avoided? Is it something we embrace or stay away from if we can? Or maybe it’s just something that happens from time to time and we have to endure it. I’ve never in all of my travels and all the people that I’ve met in my life, I’ve never had somebody come up to me and say, I’m just praying for some more sorrow. I just need more sorrow. I just need that deep within me. But I’ve also not met anybody who hasn’t experienced sorrow. And the Apostle Paul certainly experienced many sorrows. Prison, shipwreck, beaten, stoned. He wasn’t unfamiliar with that kind of suffering, but he does make a distinction when it comes to sorrow in 2 Corinthians today. Paul said the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But it’s the sorrow of the world which lacks repentance that results in spiritual death. So have you ever considered that sorrow actually plays a role in our lives? One that God invites us to experience when it’s necessary? According to the apostles Paul, we should experience sorrow when we find ourselves wandering into what we know is wrong. It should be disappointing. It should feel like loss. It should cause distress. But when we walk into sin with our eyes wide open, we should experience the gravity of what we are doing. Because we’re willingly interrupting this process of sanctification that is happening inside of us. We’re literally regressing. We’re literally going back - devolving. And we’re also betraying God, our source of life. And this is not good. And it’s not healthy. And we should feel sorrow over it because Paul said it leads us away from sin and results in salvation. That you may be experiencing sorrow for any number of reasons in your life, and there are plenty of reasons that sorrow comes where we need the comfort of the Holy Spirit and we need to be surrounded by people who love us , there’s no doubt about that. But the next time you experience sorrow, just sit with it for a second. The very twinge of sorrow in our lives sends us running. We’re trying to figure out how to make that go away. But wait. Don’t suppress it. Don’t avoid it. Ask God what it’s about. Because if it’s a godly sorrow it will lead us to repentance and away from what is going to destroy us. And this kind of sorrow is a gift.
Prayer:
So, Father, you definitely work through our emotional lives. You definitely shape what we do in this world through that emotional life. And sorrow is one of those things that we experience for all kinds of reasons. And, Lord, into the sorrow of loss and suffering we ask your Holy Spirit to come and comfort us. And, God, if we’re experiencing regret and sorrow because we have walked away from you, then use this sorrow to lead us back to the truth. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Today is August 31st, 2018. This is Lena from New Jersey. 43 years ago, while praying with one of Christ’s soldiers I gave my heart to Jesus and although my family and others were in the room as he and I prayed and he quoted revelations, that behold I stand at the door and knock, an illuminating life, the Holy Spirit engulfed us in its light. I went home that night, got in bed, leaned over, and threw my stuff up because Christ came in, evil came out. I’ve been a lip-service Christian now that I think back, always loving the Lord, but not truly serving Him. On February 26th I had a mass removed from my brain. It is glioblastoma an aggressive form of brain cancer. But since then God has sent so many angels to me and I am in the closest commune with Him that I’ve ever been with in my life. I used to struggle for prayer and now prayer comes like water, flowing. I trust Him. I have every faith. I am praying for a healing so that I can take whatever time I have to serve the Lord. I also pray that God sends souls to me so that I can convert them and I can bring them to Jesus. I pray that He keeps me humble. And all the glory to God at all times. I thank Brian and Jill with his beautiful ministry because this is my church. And I ask for your prayer for healing in Jesus name.
Hello this is Carla from North Carolina calling in. This is August the 30th and I as listening to the response from Ramona out of Alabama when she spoke to the Daily Audio Bible family about feeling that your prayers are insignificant and that you should call in when so many other people are suffering. And I like that she did that because I was thinking of that this morning because of the things that I’m going through. I feel that it’s not worthy of me to call in for prayer because there’s so many other people suffering. I’m struggling with my mortgage payments and it’s getting worse and worse and I don’t want to lose my home. We are doing everything we can to save it and the mortgage company is not cooperating with us __ to save it and it’s just so stressful. And I know there’s so many other people that are homeless and don’t even have homes. I thought that it just wasn’t fair to call in but because of Ramona I’m calling. And also calling for prayer that God would change the situation around that we’d be able to get our mortgage straight to where we can afford it, where we can keep our home. __ that I really want to be. So, I’m asking that you pray for Carla in North Carolina. Just speak my name. God will hear it. And I know he’ll answer your prayers because he’s answered so many other prayers. I just believe He’ll do it. It’s just that I’m weak right now. And I need this prayer answered so I won’t be so distressed. Thank you so much for your prayers. Thank you Brian for this forum. And I continue to pray for you all. You are all awesome. __. God bless you.
Hi. It’s Kayla from Nashville. I am calling, essentially, for prayer but before I get into that, I had been listening to the Job reading…and just as well as everybody else. It’s definitely been an adventure. It’s definitely been…not necessarily a comfort but…well…yeah a comfort…for…yeah know…well I’ve been going through some dark times too during…some hurtful times…hurtful…very hurtful. But…and also the lady who had called in about suffering from chronic fatigue and asking for prayer with the doctors….the doctors…and I think you might have something else too…for the doctors to just be compassionate and receiving, yeah know, understanding, just thorough even…I know I need thorough doctors to be open…I guess…to all of that. It’s quite a…quite a struggle to have a disease. Tell you what…I get very tired too. So, I am also asking for healing for just exhaustion, bladder issues, stuff like that. And definitely enjoy…I look forward to listening to DAB friends and everybody else I enjoy listening to you all’s prayer…
Hi. I have called several times but until I can get this cross right with God I’m gonna to call myself Desperately Needing Jesus. I have asked so many times on my knees for him to guide me in the right direction. I’m lonely, I want companionship, I keep making the same mistake over and over. I know what it says in the Bible. I don’t know, I’ve heard people talk about pornography so I will just be as open and honest as I can. I just seem to be struggling with sex, looking for the companionship, looking for somebody to listen to me, somebody love me, somebody to hold me. And I know all of that, God says He supplies all my needs. And I’m just asking for prayer and guidance on how I’m supposed to handle this. Have a good day. Running Desperately for Jesus.