Jeremiah 31:27-32:44, 1 Timothy 3:1-16, Psalms 88:1-18, Proverbs 25:20-22
Today is the 18th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward through the scriptures this year. And we’ve been working our way through the book of Jeremiah, which we’ll continue to do until we get to the end and we’re not there yet. So today we’re reading from the New International Version. Jeremiah 31:27-32:44 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in our reading from the pastoral letter of 1 Timothy today, a template for church leadership was offered that has basically been used ever since. Many different Christian denominations have their own process of discernment for ordination, but the guidelines outlined in 1 Timothy are nearly always a part of this process and they include moral and temperamental characteristics that are necessary to successfully care for God’s people. So, two different offices of leadership were mentioned in 1 Timothy, the first being the overseer or the pastor and the second being the deaconate or deacons. And in most cases, these are each functions of ministry that a person is ordained and commissioned to perform. So, the office of the pastor or the overseer or the priest or the presbyter or bishop is certainly one of the most worthy callings in the church. However, it’s also very complex and it’s a very challenging and difficult job. It requires a certain gift mix to perform with honor because a pastor, an overseer, right? In that kind of language, we can get a dominate kind of characteristic, but it’s not there. An overseer watches over and cares for the spiritual needs of the community of people of God. So, according to 1 Timothy, these are the criteria that are essential for a pastor. A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control. He must live wisely and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home. He must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome and not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. And a church leader must not be a new believer because he might become prideful and the devil would cause him to fall. And people outside of the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the traps of the evil one. So, those are characteristics, according to the Apostle Paul given to Timothy, as a template for who can be an overseer, who can be a pastor. And the office of the deaconate, so deacons, this office was established to care basically for the earth-bound well-being of the congregation and the different functions of community life. And they were commissioned and ordained to assist the pastor in this regard. So, for a deacon, according to the Apostle Paul, they must be well respected and have integrity, they can’t be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money, they must be committed to the mystery of the faith as it has been revealed and must live with a clear conscience. Before they’re appointed as deacons, they must be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them be ordained and serve as deacons. Their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in what they do. And a deacon must be faithful to his wife and he must manage his children and household well. And those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Jesus. So, if you’ve ever felt God’s calling, if you’ve ever felt this prompting and God calling you toward ordained ministry, then the discernment process begins way before you ever say that out loud. And this critique criteria that we looked at in 1 Timothy today is something that should be closely examined personally because it’s certainly going to be closely examined as you go through the process of ordination. And if you’ve ever wondered why the ordination process works the way it does in your church or in your denomination, 1 Timothy 3, it’s gonna be a part of that mix. These criteria are what you should expect from your spiritual leaders. So, whether or not this is something you aspire to or something you feel called to, we should - every single one of us, pray for our leaders, our pastors and those who serve as deacons among us. They are required by the Scriptures to live what they teach and it’s no easier for them to do it than it is for any of us. They carry an additional burden and mantle of serving God’s people, of caring for, of watching out for and watching over God’s people. I mean, through my own process, one of the things that was really impressed upon me is that ordination isn’t something to achieve. It doesn’t elevate a person above anyone else. Even though you may be leading, you’re not leading from a place above where you’re looking down on anyone. Actually, ordination is to get down on your knees and lower yourself. You become a servant of God’s people as Jesus modelled with a servant’s heart. He came to serve and not be served. And ordained leaders are to do this as they are the servants of God’s people.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for this. And it certainly brings up the fact that we need to remember those who are leading us. And we do. We think of them now. We thank You for all of those in church leadership all over the world in so many different capacities. Strengthen their hearts, Lord. The road is long and new challenges every morning, sometimes it seems. And without Your grace and Your kindness and Your mercy and Your Holy Spirit’s guidance, it’s an impossible task. So, we pray Your Holy Spirit fall upon Your leaders all around the world, giving them strength and courage for the road ahead. And we pray this 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 you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
This is Lori Ann, a.k.a. Victorious Grace from near Gettysburg Pennsylvania. As I was listening to the DAB yesterday, October 13th, I was hearing words and prayers for the lady who called herself Gee and I had this realization, and Gee, I want to share it with you. This may sound corny, but I’m a want to be writer of sorts. I’ve been working on my first novel for like 16 years. But, in any case, I have all these stories and worlds and characters in my head and one, in particular, centers around a woman called G. She was unwanted and dehumanized by her parents, others, even society as a whole and the story is told from the point of view of her twin brother who, in adulthood, discovers he has a sister and is getting to know her. And, well, there’s all sorts of awkwardness and parts I’m leaving out, of course, but the point is…the point is…the brother comes to this realization that the name G doesn’t really stand for unnamed baby girl, baby G, which is literally how she got her name but he sees this G actually means grace, because most overlook her and don’t see it, he realizes that’s who she truly is, it’s what she reflects, grace. So, yeah, it’s probably weird that I’m pulling all of this from an unwritten fictional story, but I am. And I get that you probably picked Gee simply as a way to keep some anonymity but, well, I don’t want that somehow to stick to you. So, I am praying for you and I am praying that you will see your identity in grace, not just a letter, but in grace, God’s grace. Shalom.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Alfi calling from Delaware. It’s been a while since the last time I called. I know, I listen, and I pray that each one of you is still blessed. Today I’m calling to give some encouragement to somebody who’s struggling and trying to find their purpose. When reading the Scriptures, I remember Brian reading this one sentence saying in the New Testament, in everything that you do, do it all for the glory of God. That statement, that Scripture, that verse is life-changing. Reason being, before you say anything, before you do anything, before you even think about anything that would be otherwise, take time to think, is this going to glorify God or not? And if it’s going to glorify God, by all means go ahead. And if it’s not, stop right there and do otherwise. We struggle in life, we make a lot of mistakes through our words, through our actions. But we know that God desires a relationship with us. So, few things. May we be quick to listen, slow to anger, and slow to speak. And in everything that we do, say, or think, may we do it all for the glory of God. Daily Audio Bible family, I love you. May you have a great week. This is Alfi from Delaware. Bye. Make it a great day.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Prophetic Intercessor from North Carolina. Hope everyone is doing well. I haven’t called in in a while. It’s a Monday morning and I’m just on my way to work. __ call in and pray for those who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide or have had family members that are battling that or have attempted that. So, let’s pray, gracious God, in the name of Jesus I come before you lift up those who have struggled with thoughts of suicide, who have been by family members who have battled attempting to take their lives. And in the powerful name of Jesus Christ God, we surround them with the angels of the living God and we take this opportunity God to ask that You would, that You would pour out Your healing upon them, pour out Your healing upon their minds God. And we ask that every lie of the enemy that has been launched in their psyche to try to convince them that life is not worth living, we come against it now in the name of Jesus and we command the lie to be dislodged and we command it to be expelled and we speak life over your life right now in the name of Jesus. And we release the spirit of hope, we release the spirit of peace to envelop you. Hallelujah. For you shall not die but you shall live and you will live to declare God’s glory in your life and over your life. Hallelujah. So, you will not succumb to the darkness. You will not come to a spirit of oppression and depression, but we come against it and we command those things to bow in the name of Jesus for at the name of Jesus every knee must bow. Hallelujah. So, we pray in the name of Jesus that there would be peace in your mind today, peace in your spirit today, peace in your heart today and that you would be made a prisoner of hope. So, I love you family. Have a blessed day and we will continue to lift up all those who are struggling with suicide and we will continue to bind it in the name of Jesus.
Hi DAB family this is Andy from Albany. I just wanted to lift out a big praise. Thursday I was in involved in a pretty good accident in my little car and through the intervening power of God to step into that space with me and my kids, we are relatively uninjured. I mean, we’ve got some muscle stiffness and tightness and my daughters got a pretty good bruise from the seatbelt and, you know, aside from the trauma of the event where relatively uninjured and that’s because God stepped into that space and protected us and for that I am eternally grateful. And I appreciate you all and I just wanted to throw out a praise and I’m here with you guys daily, praying with you and for you and I just wanted to put that out there. Thank you guys, for your prayers, previous prayer request, and I’m here with you for your…
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. I just met a vet today, he is a double amputee. He’s homeless and now he’s got a stage four small cancer and he’s afraid that he won’t get his benefits from of the Veterans Administration before he passes away. So, if you’d just pray with me. Lord, please heal Thomas from the tip of his head until the end of his body. Lord, just strengthen him and give him courage and give him all the help that he needs and the support that he needs. And would you also pray for me for Rye and her hubby to be healed as well. Thank you Jesus, for your love and your care. And I appreciate you all for praying with me. Thank you. Bye-bye.