Isaiah 43:14-45:10, Ephesians 3:1-21, Psalms 68:1-18, Proverbs 24:1-2
Today is the 24th day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. And it’s great to be here with you as we get the work week rolling. And we put one foot front of the other, take the next step forward as we continue these 365 steps through the year. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. And back into the book of Isaiah we go. Chapter 43 verse 14 through 45 verse 10 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, as we continue to follow the path of this letter to the Ephesians, which is one of the most epic descriptions of what faith in Christ brings to the believer. So, we’re climbing higher and higher. And we’ll get to see these grand vistas of our faith and the implications of what God has done for us. But it’s when we contrast these implications that are written in Ephesians against our own life experience that we find we may be missing out on plenty that is available to us. We’re missing out on things that are just about too good to be true. So, in our reading today Paul wrote, This is God’s plan. Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body and both enjoy the promise of blessing because they belong to Christ Jesus. So, that verse, which is Ephesians 3:6, that applies to every believer in the world. Jew and Gentile alike. And the promise is the riches of God’s blessings. But why would God be so gracious to us? According to Ephesians, there’s a reason. God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus, our Lord. So, here, the implications of what we’re talking about, we could just blow by this day after day after day, but the implications are pretty profound. Had you ever considered God’s goodness in offering you eternal life makes his wisdom known and displays it into the unseen realms? This is a big picture view of our faith. That because of our faith in Jesus, according to Ephesians, we can come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. So, what else would a person want but to be able to come boldly and confidently into the presence of God? What would be more far reaching than that? What mountaintop must we climb to get above that? Think of the implications. We’re permitted to enter the presence of the Almighty God, creator of all things seen and unseen, as boldly and confidently as a beloved son or daughter what with any loving parent. Even the Apostle Paul trying to write this down, it’s overwhelming to him. And he says as much in his benediction. When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. And Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. That’s profound stuff, my friends. And so let’s receive the benediction that the Apostle Paul spoke over the Ephesians as our prayer today. Long ago, this letter would have arrived at Ephesus to the church and it would have been read aloud and Paul closed with a benediction prayer that we can all receive. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Prayer:
Father, we receive that prayer of blessing. And we ask that You make it so, in the name of Jesus and by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Come Jesus, we pray in your mighty name. Amen.
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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:
Hey, this is Cory up in __. I was just listening to today’s podcast and I heard a call from Denise, first time caller who is recently diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. That call kind of hit close to home. That’s something that my dad has been living with for about 10 years now and I just wanted to say that I am thinking about you, I’m praying for you, and I can feel from what you’re going through. I don’t know firsthand but, I mean, yeah, I hear you, and I’m praying for you and I just wanted to give you hope that it is not a life sentence. My dad has been living a very full life with that for quite some time now. So, I’m hopeful that it’s…will be okay for you, yeah, I just want to lift you up today. So, thinking about you, praying for ya. All right. Bye.
Hello family this is Aaron in Michigan. Thank you Brian and Jill for this podcast. Thank you for family because the moment that someone entrusts a prayer request to me that I know is bigger than me that I can’t handle, I’ve got you all on speed dial. So, thank you family. Tonight I want to lift up my pastor. He has just come back off sabbatical and at a time where in he should feel fully rested and ready to go again. I know he’s facing some trouble because throughout his sabbatical his…his precious wife our…our pastor’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and has had undergone surgery and in the midst of chemo. And, so, that of course is laying high and heavily. And just this past weekend…this past week his father passed away. So, he is devastated, understandably so, and we just need to come around him and lift him up. He’s a man of God. He leads us and he makes sure we have what we need and is completely selfless. So, in this time of desperation for my pastor, please remember to pray for him. His name is Tom and he is the true power of God. He’s a man of God. He’s a leader. He is an amazing father and husband and he just needs our prayers. So, appreciate your family. Thank you for praying. I love you and I’ll continue praying as we go. Peace.
Good morning everybody. Hey, this Annette heading into work this morning. Gonna go build some freedom parts. Ha ha ha. Hey, I love you guys but my son Alex, as many of you know who, of course, has chosen the path of incarceration. So, but anyways, he’s asked for me to send him some books and things. And, so, I sent him some Reframe books and I posted that on the DAB friends page. And I thank you guys. Ah…so many wonderful, helpful, encouraging responses and I thank you and I pray for every one of you, especially one in particular and I think you know who you are sir. Thank you. And, so, anyways, I told my son that I was sending him a gift from my Daily Audio Bible family. So, I sent in a couple of Reframe books. And those of you who have read it, including myself, know what a difference it makes in everyone’s life. And he was very encouraged and he was he was really….really excited about receiving one. So, if you guys would, pray for…pray for these books. Okay? Not, obviously, the book itself but the power of the book to invite Jesus into our lives. And, let’s pray for this…it’s San Miguel County prison in Telluride Colorado. Let us pray for these people, that God will just bust open the doors over there, bust open the doors of their hearts. So, I love you guys. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. People on the East Coast you are in all of our prayers here in Oklahoma. You’re in all of our prayers. And God bless you all. And make the path easy for you all. Have a great day. Bye-bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Lee from New Jersey. Today is September 21st and I’m not calling into pray today, not that I haven’t prayed today, but just praying against anger, I just don’t feel it. And I’m just calling to be honest. You know, you guys are my family and I had a meltdown with my daughter this morning. And it’s something that’s been going on all night. Just…just dealing with her…I mean…I think I have __ patience. I think I’m expecting way too much from her. You know what I mean? And she just got a new phone. And it all…it’s all starting again, you know, the nasty attitude. And I don’t know if it has to with her being a teenager. __ some books on teenagers and, you know, what their mind is going through, what their the brain is going through. So, I’m just very confused. Am I doing what’s right? Am I getting on her case? Am I being patient? Is she feeding herself stuff and she’s just hiding it? I mean…it’s not necessarily…it’s music, it’s his literature, it’s everything. And it comes out. And I’m just afraid that my daughter’s gonna come out worse than me. But you know, I didn’t come out right, I didn’t have anyone to guide me. You know, my mother __ but she tried. She was still a mother. My dad was gone. And I pretty much taught myself and I didn’t do a good job at it. I made a lot of mistakes. I had a child at 16. And then from there I made so many mistakes that I keep beating myself up over. And I gotta stop doing that. But then when I see my children and I see that there’s a potential for them going down that road, which I may be exaggerating because they’re far from that but…but just the thought of my daughter or my son, who are both on the path as well, It kills me. So, family please pray for me today, that I just…I just…I gotta get through this…I gotta make some sense out of this childbearing thing…out of this…