Ezekiel 42:1-43:27, James 5:1-20, Psalms 119:1-116, Proverbs
28:6-7
Today is the 21st day of November. Welcome to the
Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure to be here with you today as
we move forward with the next step that invariably, if we keep taking them,
will lead us to the end of the year and the end of the Bible. And what a
journey it has been this year, indeed. So, the next step will take us back into
the book of Ezekiel. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week.
Ezekiel chapter 42 verse 1 through 43 verse 27 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we concluded the letter of James today, and as we
find in many of the letters of the Bible, the final words of these letters give
incredible encouragement and practical life postures that we can actually get
our minds around and live into. And as we look at James thoughts we have to
remember that he wrote this letter to Hebrews, to Jewish brothers and sisters
who had been forced to flee or to relocate because of the marginalization and
persecution that was being faced. So, quoting James, “be patient then my
friends until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for
their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and
spring rains. You also must be patient.” So, for a person facing hardship like
the people that were the recipients of this letter and for that matter like any
of us who are facing hardship, those are words that give us a reason to take
the next step, a reason to continue on, which means that they are speaking to
each of us on some level. And what’s happening here is that James is reminding
us that a process is taking place, one that requires that we be patient and
practice endurance. And, obviously, at times this is very difficult because we
live in a culture…and man…we are about to experience it full force…we live in a
culture that promises instant gratification. And as we move into this holiday
season everything’s gonna be thrown at us. But sanctification does not work
that way. It’s not an instant gratification thing. It’s more like a farmer,
right? A farmer can’t plant seed and harvest a crop the next day. And, so,
sometimes this long wait, patiently waiting through the seasons, it just
discourages us and in the discouragement we find ourselves behaving more like
the children of Israel, right, grumbling through our wilderness experience. And,
so, in the face of patience and endurance James gave a reality check. And , so,
I’m quoting him again. “Do not complain against one another, my friends, so
that God will not judge you. The judge is near ready to appear.” Right? So, in
our season of waiting and endurance and being patient we can find ourselves
discouraged and then we can find ourselves becoming cynical and then we can
find ourselves lashing out other people and basically doing all of the things…like
if we just read the book of James in reverse then we’ll find ourselves doing
all the things that we’ve already covered. James is basically saying, you know,
this is the way it works. You are you are being sanctified, you are being
transformed, and that’s a process, and you’ll have to be patient in that
process, If you try to take matters in your own hands, that won’t work. If you
try to leech off other people, that won’t work. If you try to intimidate other people
or wound in some way with your words other people, that’s not gonna work.
There’s only one way this works. And, so, you can settle down and be patient
and move through this season. It is not purposeless. Indeed, it may be hard,
but it is not purposeless. And when you come out the other side of this you
will be strong and there is no other way. This is how it works.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into this process. Some seasons we are
soaring, and our spirits are high and we’re enjoying all that You are doing in
our lives and then in some seasons You invite us to go deeper. And that may be that
we face external opposition or that may be that we’re just tilling the inner
soil of our hearts and You are going after some things there that don’t need to
be there anymore, and they need to be purged out and cleaned. And these seasons
are more difficult, and they are the seasons that are a lot harder to endure,
obviously. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit into this. May we always keep
our hearts tuned to what You are doing because if we are walking with You, then
You will show us what You are doing in our lives and we will not be confused.
And when we enter a patch that may be a little bit more difficult or
challenging we will know this is not purposeless. There is gold here. And, so,
come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.
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as I mention often, like, as in every day because it’s where you stay connected,
its where you find out what’s going on around here.
And man…we are…so, tomorrow’s Thanksgiving and that doesn’t
mean something to everyone within the sound of my voice but to those of us who
are residents in the United States, that’s a national holiday, it’s a day of
giving thanks. And it, you know, Thanksgiving precedes a day known as Black
Friday. And that’s the day…that’s the day…right…when Christmas season kind of
begins and the shopping starts and all of the sales and incentives and all of
this begin. And it’s this way around the world. And this is how our cultures
work. Each year we bring out the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box and this year
is no different. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for 2018 is now available
as of today couple, a couple of days in advance of Black Friday. We always sell
out of these. And their purpose is to cram as much resource into one Box as we
can possibly do - some serious stuff, some fun stuff, some stuff that you’ll
want to keep and some stuff that you’ll want to give away as gifts. And I think
this is a really helpful Box this year. So, here’s what’s in it: Our ever
popular promised land series, the two DVD set that allows you to kind of zoom
in and actually see and experience the places where the Bible happened. Like so
many of the stories that will we’ve gone through in the Scriptures up until
this point, they’re actually real places that still exist mostly in
archaeological form. And over many years, we have painstakingly filmed every
detail so that you can actually experience where these stories happened. So,
that the double DVD project is in the is in the Christmas Box for 2018. And I’ve
spent quite a little…no…I spent very little time this year so far talking about
any of my own writings, any of my own books. I don’t know why…I just…you know…there’s
a tension in me to talk about something that I’ve created and that I think
would help you and that I think should get. It’s hard for me to like hawk that
while at the same time I’ve included two of my books in the Christmas Boxes this
year for a reason. And they will both books that were hard, hard, hard fought
for. The first one is called Reframe - from the God we’ve made to God with us. And
it was a very, very long struggle to really name and put into language what we
are talking about when we are talking about being in a relationship with God.
How does that even work? What is the shape of it? Like, rather than just saying,
yeah, I’m in a relationship with God and that relationship amounts to me trying
to give thanks at mealtimes and as I fall asleep in bed, as I’m going to sleep.
Like that’s my relationship. And I go to church every Sunday. Like, is that a
relationship with God? Because that wouldn’t be a relationship with anybody
else. So, what is a relationship with God. And that was the first of a series
of books, I believe, that are on spiritual transformation, like really trying
to begin to dismantle and look at how we got here and why we believe what we do
and what we’re talking about when we say some of these things. So, what is a
relationship with God. That’s Reframe. And, you know, I’ve heard from hundreds
and hundreds of people that Reframe’s something that they read every year, like
at the beginning of every year just as a reset because it is a reframe. So,
that’s in the Box. And my second book of spiritual transformation is called Sneezing
Jesus. And man…we had the sneeze heard around the world when this released and it
was kind of book 2 in this spiritual transformation process where, you know,
leaving Reframe and saying, okay, now I understand that I am in a relationship
with God and here’s how that looks. The question became, who am I in a
relationship with? Because you can say I’m in a relationship with God and the
Holy Spirit leads me but what does that mean, right? Like when we started
distilling this stuff down we start finding that we are at a loss for the right
words to describe something that is nearly indescribable. And, so, Sneezing
Jesus was my attempt to…well I mean the book of John says that the word became
flesh…and like…this this is my attempt to make the flesh become word. And its
book 2 because if we are in a relationship with God, then what are the
implications of that? Like what is our life really supposed to look like? Because
we have the daily obligations or just the rhythms of our faith. Like, what
we’re doing now. Like the Daily Audio Bible and having this rhythm every day. We
have these things in our religion and our faith but for the most part we’re
living, we’re biding our time hoping for an eternity that is better than now,
where all is well, nothing is broken, nothing is lost, there are no more good
goodbyes, and all our questions are answered. But is that the human experience?
Is the human experience simply to be born and wait to die so that actual life
can begin? Because is that we were going for here? Sneezing Jesus explores
Jesus humanity, a portion of Jesus that we don’t actually focus a lot on. We know
He was a human being and that He physically died on the cross, but we mostly
think about Him as divine, as the son of the living God. And we should, He is.
But he’s also equally, fully, according to the Scriptures, human. And, so,
Jesus gives us the one true example that we can look at and say that’s what
it’s supposed to look like, that’s how my life is supposed to look, right,
which brings a literal meaning to the term Christ like. So, that’s Sneezing
Jesus. And I believe that there are two more books in this transformation, a
series of that’s what it’s called, I think. They’re not written yet. I’m wrestling
with them. Like, I have to wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, before I can
even say something and then I have to wrestle for all of those words. But these
first two are out and available and they are in the Christmas Box this year.
Additionally, is another book. This book is called Going Solo. It was written
by my friend Robert. I actually wrote the forward to his book because it deals
with the topic that I think we are under supporting and that is the single
parent journey even within the church. I mean Robert is a super humble guy and
he’s never gonna grandstand but he has been one of the most influential people
in the Christian music industry. So, like if you think of bands like…with…you
know…little startup bands with names like Third Day. Well, it was Robert who
brought them to light. However, he went through an incredibly traumatic season
of being a single father to his daughters. And he tells that story. But beyond
that, Robert is a visionary. So, having to walk through that season and finding
how difficult it is to actually find your place and find any kind of support,
especially when you’re just frantically running…like…there’s no time. Even if
great things were available…like…your just exhausted all the time trying to
maintain everything. So, he wrote. He wrote a story. But he wrote a story in
such a way that it’s like a warm blanket, like when you’re exhausted and you’re
walking this solo parenting journey. And, you know, like, you can’t just call
someone up and share your heart. It’s gotta be like a give-and-take. And, so,
you can end up even more exhausted. Like, there’s no one to just pour into you
and to your brokenness, into your emptiness, into your loneliness. Yeah, that’s
what Going Solo, that’s what this book is, it’s pouring into the exhausted
single-parent and nothing is expected in return. It’s like a balm for the soul
and I think it’s an important topic. And I know that I know that I know that
there are tens of thousands of solo parents in the Daily Audio Bible community.
And this is for you. But I also know that there’s probably no one listening to
me that doesn’t have a solo parent in your life and this is for them because…listen…this
isn’t a trite little book of…you know…well-worn promises and a pat on the back.
This is honest, this is real, this is authentic, this is…this is where you are
if you’re walking the solo parenting journey. So, Going Solo is in the
Christmas Box this year. We have also included, since we are big fans of the Black
Wing pencil around here and we’re big fans of journaling our way through the
Scriptures around here. Last year we put a black wing pencil in the Christmas Box.
We’re doing that again. These pencils, I love. I use these pencils every day of
my life. But this year we were able to work with them and get Daily Audio Bible
imprinted on the pencil. Like, we can’t sell them. That’s an unfortunate thing.
We can’t sell them this way. They would not let us sell them this way, like in
boxes of 12 like Black Wings, but we were able to include one in the Christmas Box.
And, so, the Daily Audio Bible Black Wing edition is in the Christmas Box. Of
course, annually we have the Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb. And I think this
is the sixth or seventh one. I put them my tree every year. We put them on our
tree. And it’s…for me…having each one of those bulbs from each one of those
years…I look at those bulbs and I say, “that is one revolution to the whole
Bible.” And it reminds me of that journey, but it also reminds me of the Daily
Audio Bible community that I love dearly, like with all my heart. And, so, it a
way of like bringing you into our home at Christmas time. So, we’ve been doing
these bulbs for, I don’t know, six or seven years. I’ll have to count them. Of
course, our word for the year is “Hope” and the Christmas bulb includes the
word for the year on it. And you can only get the Christmas bulb in the Daily
Audio Bible Christmas Box each year. We only have limited quantities of these Boxes
and then they sell out. So, we need all the stuff for all the Boxes. So, the Daily
Audio Bible 2018 Christmas bulb is in the Box. We also include a pack of 20 of
the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for the year. Now, those you can get
separately in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. But these are beautiful. They’re
beautiful this year. And on the front, they say our word for the year, “Hope.” And these aren’t like…those of you who have been
around kind of know the situation, but if this is your first Christmas with us,
these are not like fake Christmas cards that are really, you know, an
advertisement for the Daily Audio Bible. They’re not that. The only place they
say Daily Audio Bible on them is on the very, very back like, where it would
say Hallmark or whatever card that you bought. Inside there’s a verse of
Scripture from the Christmas season and blank space for you to write. If you
want to invite your friends and family to take the journey with you, then the
Christmas card is a great way to do that. But this is part of our family
experience. And, so, sending out the word “hope” here at the end of the year to
all of our friends and family is a way of ceiling, that this has been a year of
hope and it’s been hard-fought right? I’ve had to fight for hope all year and I
don’t think I’m alone. But I have found that if you fight for it it exists and
it is there and it’s never absent if you’re really looking with all your heart.
So, to give hope is what we’re trying to do with the Christmas cards. Now there’s
a pack of 20 of them and they include their envelopes and everything like that
and that’s in the Christmas Box for 2018 but you can get them separate in the Shop
as well. If you’re gonna send out more than 20 cards etc. etc. And then lastly
is our Windfarm coffee or tea and your choice of coffee or tea. And I will be
roasting, roasting, roasting the coffee. Our Windfarm coffee is roasted at
altitude in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. And it’s delicious and you know, I
drink it every day pretty much. Got my coffee mug just to my left as I speak.
So, you can choose that or our boutique coffee or our boutique tea, which is
delicious and is also something that that I drink. So, I said that’s it,
lastly. But truly lastly we’re also throwing in a mystery item. We just kind of
went through warehouse and we just have some additional resources laying around
but not…like not enough for the whole Box or anything like that. And, so we
thought that yeah, let’s, let’s include some of these resources. And, so, can’t
tell you it will be. But everybody who gets a Christmas Box will get something
else additional to what I just said. So, there you go. There’s the family
Christmas Box for 2018 and it’s available now. Just go to dailyaudiobible.com and go into the
Shop and find the Christmas section and you will find what you’re looking for.
Okay. So, with all of that having been said, these will go
fast, they will sell out, they always do. But you, those of you who are
international, who are not in the United States, and yes, that includes the
house of you who are in Canada. We’ve gotten emails in the past about this like
when they of arrived late from our Canadian brothers and sisters who are like,
it’s not like I’m in Europe, I’m in Canada. But ironically you’re in a
different country, which forces us to ship international, which slows the whole
thing down to molasses. And we have a situation worked out with our friends at
FedEx who allow us to be able to ship internationally at pretty close to
domestic rates, like, way cheaper than regular international it just takes
longer. So, having said all of what I’ve said, one week from today is the
international cut off. Like one week from today, if you haven’t ordered your…by
one week from today…if you haven’t ordered your Christmas Box and you’re not in
the United States then we’re not sure…like we absolutely…we’ll send it…but we’re
not sure it will get there for Christmas cause sometimes, you know, it takes
several weeks. So, you will get it but if you wait, you may not get it in time
for Christmas. If you are in the domestic United States then we’ve got some
time on that, but they will sell out. So, there it is, the Christmas Box for
2018.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the
mission that we share to bring God’s spoken word every single day without fail
into the world, read fresh, and to continue to build community around that
rhythm, if that is bringing life to you, then thank you for being life-giving
back to Daily Audio Bible. If we didn’t do this together we wouldn’t be doing this.
And that’s fact. So, there is a link on the homepage at dailyaudibible.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:
Hi, this is Stephanie, the Lord’s Chic in Oklahoma and I was
calling because Scott from Michigan called. And brother, thank you so much.
That day I was really wondering if I was in the right field altogether. I’m an
ER nurse and over time I’ve developed anxiety that at times can be crippling
and have come to find out that as ER and ICU and paramedic, that we develop PTSD
just like the soldiers do. But we can talk about it. We’re not allowed to say,
hey, I’m feeling like I can’t take this anymore, if I see one more person to
another bad thing to another person I’m just gonna lose it. And we’re warriors
on those front lines. And after decades of doing this I’ve wondered if I can
keep doing it. But if the Christians pull out than who’s going to be there?
Thank you so much for calling that day because I was really thinking about
maybe I just need to hang it up. So, my heart and love to you my brother, not
only in Christ but in medicine. And I hope that you’re doing well. And to all
the nurses and doctors and paramedics and firefighters in California, my love
and prayers to all of you.
Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray for some of
the DABbers. I wanted to say hi to Paula and let her know that I’m praying with
you. Paula I don’t judge California because California’s the place where I
received Christ as my Savior and I really believe that God is with it. I don’t
understand was going there but I know that God is able and I’m praying that Lord,
that you send down the rain like never before. Lord You send down the rain and You
open up the windows of heaven for Your people for all they’re going through.
Lord, let them look up to You knowing You are able, that You are able to do
exceeding, that something that’s good is coming out of this. And Lord we’re
looking for it Lord. We’re looking for Your rain, Lord. We’re looking for You
to have Your way, that Your people will look up to You and say Lord, there’s no
other God but that You are the living God. Oh Lord You continue to touch Your
people, You continue to provide. You said You provide their every need
according to the riches and glory. Remember what He did for Job. He gave Job
more than He ever even had before. Just keep Your trust in him. Oh Lord, and I
talked to my sister for Thanksgiving. My sister, don’t worry about
Thanksgiving. Just thank God for the fact that You are there and You’re there to
be a light and somebody needs Christ even in our own families. Lord I know what
You’re going through because I’m going through the same in mine. I will not be with
mine, but I will be there in heart and just trust that God will save and God
will deliver and only God can heal even in families with challenges. Lord You
touch Your people, You open up the doors no man can close. Help us to be
thankful in knowing that God is faithful, that God is holy, and He said He’d never
leave us nor forsake us and that He will supply all of our needs according to His
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. And Lord we give You the glory and the praise
and honor. You touch Brian and their family and all the people of God and Lord
we’ll give You the glory and honor and the praise and…
Hi this is Terry from Southern California. Hi Daily Audio
Bible family. Just calling, I just want to lift up Paula. I heard your prayer
request. I know Paula you live up in the fire area where so many homes were
destroyed, and you lost your home. And I just want to let you know that we’re
praying for you and we’re praying for your family and we just want the peace that
surpasses all understanding, that God will give us peace whose eyes are stayed upon
him. And, so, I just wanted to lift you up in prayer for comfort, for
encouragement, and that whatever the future holds I know that God is holding
the future for you and your family. And we want to pray for everybody who is
impacted, not just the fires in the Thousand Oaks area of California but also
in Northern California that so many people have lost so much in life, have been
lost, and some are not found yet, but we still serve a God that owns the cattle
on a thousand hill and the tide that looks low. So, we know that He can give us
a peace that gets us through this time. So, Paula, I just want to let you know
that we’re praying for you and I just pray that God’s peace would just be with
you and your family. Amen. Bye.
Hey Daily Audio Bible family, it’s James the teacher in LA.
Just an update as far as my mom and her condition. I called in and said that
she…that her doctor discovered a precancerous growth in her uterus. And this
coming Wednesday the 21st of November, she’s scheduled to have a
hysterectomy. And it’s supposed to be a procedure in such a way that it’s
actually pretty low key. I’m freaking out a little bit because, honestly the
last time I had a parent calling me telling me that they were going through
some stuff and it’s right around a holiday time, it was summer and I talked to
my dad and he had a friend in town who was supposed to be helping out and while
I was away he passed unexpectedly. And I’m freaking out a little about thinking
about thus happening again because my wife and I gonna travel out of town for
Thanksgiving. So, I just talked to my mom. She’s sure that she’s going to be an
okay. She knows that we had our plans set before her surgery was set and she’s
not…she’s not upset that we’re not gonna be there. She’s not concerned about
the outcome of the surgery. But I know she doesn’t know the Lord. And I keep
talking to her about it. And then two days a week, she just kind of keeps
pushing away, pushing back. So, please pray family. Yeah. And everybody please
drive carefully out there this holiday season. All right. I love you guys. Thank
you. Bye.