Zechariah 4:1-5:11, Revelation 14:1-20, Psalms 142:1-7, Proverbs 30:21-23
Today is the 23rd day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and there’s a lot going on around here, right? This is the threshold of a shiny, sparkly, new week. This is Christmas Eve Eve and it also happens to be the last Sunday in the season of Advent. And, of course, the season of Advent ends tomorrow with Christmas Eve and the bells toll at midnight. And, at least according to the tradition, we greet the Savior at Christmas. So, if you’ve got the Advent wreath going in your house or, you know, the candles are being lit at church or whatever, today is the Joy candle, representing the joy comes after a long wait for the Savior to arrive.
Song:
Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain
O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain
O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain
O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode. Refrain
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. Refrain
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain
So, we have this brand-new shiny week out in front of us. And this week will certainly encompass the Christmas holiday. So, it’s a unique week that’s in front of us, but one thing is constant, and that is that we take the next step forward every day no matter what the day is. No matter what’s going on we center ourselves in the Scriptures. And this week we’ll read from the Christian Standard Bible. Of course, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday in the book of Zechariah. Today chapter 4 verse 1 through 5 verse 11.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us to this point in the year. And it’s shocking sometimes to look forward and realize we’re days away from a brand-new start, a brand-new year, because it seems like we just began this journey not too long ago. And yet You have brought us day by day, step-by-step to this point where we are at one of the most important days of the year that we celebrate and commemorate the world over. But this day, Christmas, represents one of the most profound and impactful things that have ever happened in human history. And, so, we prepare our hearts as we move into this new week with Christmas Eve upon us tomorrow and Christmas Day. There’s a lot of festivities, so there’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of running around, there’s a lot of last-minute preparations, there’s all kinds of ways to be completely and utterly distracted from what is really going on here. And what is really going on here is a mystery. And, so, Holy Spirit, come and allow us to have space in our hearts to contemplate the longing for a Savior, and the arrival of a Savior. And we thank You, Jesus, for that very thing, for Your arrival and for Your life and for Your redemption. The world has never been the same and we certainly aren’t the same because of it. So, come Holy Spirit as we enter into these next few days. Keep us rooted in and what these days represent, not only to our lives and our families but to humanity. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, and, of course, where you find out what’s going on around here.
This is the beginning of the final full week of the year 2018, right? And that obviously includes, you know, everything that’s going on today, it includes Christmas Eve tomorrow, and Christmas Day, Tuesday. So, those days are kinda spoken for. So, we’re like running out of days. We’re moving our way rapidly toward the end of the year and in the end of our time spending this year in the Bible. One week from tomorrow will be the last day that we have to read from the Scriptures in 2018. So, yes, right now everything is all Christmas as it should be. And, yes, let’s immerse our self in everything that the wonder of the season can bring. And I wish…hope, hope, hope, hope for you and your family and everyone that you love…and may you enjoy this final Sunday of Advent and moving us into Christmas Eve.
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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:
Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Anna from Los Angeles California and I wanted to give a praise report. There have been people paying and I’ve felt your prayers for my health, for my hair to grow back, for my skin to clear, for my digestive problems to go away. And I have to say, praise Jesus, I am experiencing healing. My hair is growing back. In fact, it’s growing close to an inch a month and I’m just so excited to have this restored. Also, I’ve been asking everyone to pray that my female relationships have been restored. I lost three female friendships this year and every single one of those relationships is starting to be restored. Specifically, two of the women reached out to me without me contacting them and asked for forgiveness. And praise the Lord that He’s the God of restoration. Please continue to pray for Cameron. He’s the young man that I was involved with and because we’re in different places with Christ we cannot be together but continue to pray. I have so much hope for him. Pray that God would set him free and bring him into the family of God, bring him home, and bring us back together in restoration and wholeness. Lord God, I thank You that You are the God who heels and You are the God that answers and I’m claiming Psalms 65:5, it says that God is faithful to answer our prayers. So, thank you for praying in Jesus’ name. Lord we bless you.
Hey everyone, it’s Margo from Australia and I just heard the message left by the Prodigal and I just want to say to you, I’ve been in a similar place. I have been wanting to suicide quite a number of times and God has brought me to that in the most miraculous…well…in the most amazing way. It didn’t happen overnight supernaturally, but if God can do that for me He can do it for you. He doesn’t love me anymore than he loves you. I didn’t deserve His help and neither do you but God does it because He loves us. There is hope for you prodigal. There is hope because there is always hope with God. You may have hit rock bottom, but you know what that means? That means the only way to go now is up. I am going to be praying for you because my heart breaks for you. It’s clear you’ve had a terrible year. Can I encourage you to absolutely immerse yourself in the word of God? I’m talking burying yourself in the Bible every chance you get because that is where your hope and your joy will come from and the Lord will speak to you. He did it for me and He’ll do it for you. Every chance you get, read the Psalms, say them out loud, it’s a form of spiritual warfare, throwing in Satan’s face. Read the Psalms, the Psalms of David. David was where you are right now. King David has been in that place. Did you know the story of what happened with King David? I encourage you to read it. He did terrible things and got himself into a terrible situation and yet the Lord brought him out and he did it, I think, largely through praise. So, not only bury yourself in the word of God but also pray with Him daily even when you don’t feel like it. I will be praying…
Hello from beautiful Cincinnati Ohio, it is Daniel Johnson Junior and I am calling, it is today the 21st of December and I was listening to the prayer requests and I heard the message from the Prodigal and I just stopped the program and called in here. I just want to pray for you and also to encourage you. First of all, you know that you need help. You know that there is hope because you’ve reached out to this community. And you know that you really do not want to take your own life. And I am just begging you, I’m begging you to see through the lies that are being told to you by the enemy so that you can live and thrive. We were made more than just to survive we were made to thrive. And I think that’s my word for next year for myself. Yes, I have been down, and I have had times of…myself…some of what your experiencing. I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling…it’s just…but I know that you have to believe that there is just hope because you would not have reached out to this community. In the Scriptures, anytime that someone has taken a life it has always been looked at is not a good thing. Judas, King Saul, his armor bearer. Those types of things, all those were not looked at as a good thing. And if you decided to, you know, take your own life, it is more…you’re going to hurt more people then you really realize. You are so much worth…you are worth so much more than you realize, and I just want to encourage you and I pray for you. God, please help, reach out right now into this brother’s life and encourage him Lord. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family, this is Dave from Southwest Florida. I called in a while back just about financial problems with the business and my wife’s father. Every time it seems that I call in there are breakthroughs, almost instantly. And I don’t mean to treat this like a drive-through but it seems like your prayers are very, very effective. Thank you. I’ve been involved in a program here in Southwest Florida for several years called Gator Wilderness Boys Camp that works with troubled youth. They had a counselor tragically killed Sunday night. We had just spent several hours with him and after we left he got on his motorcycle and was hit head-on by a truck that came over into his lane. He was taking care of 8 boys 24 hours a day. He was a parent basically to them. Also, there have been other staff members who have been coming under attack. One has a brain tumor, had a brain tumor, he just had surgery. Another has testicular cancer that spread to liver and lungs. And then there’s also a young lady who works there in her early 20s that developed heart problems. It just really seems like the place is coming under spiritual attack. But please, please pray for them. Again, the name is Gator Wilderness Boys Camp. Thanks.