Zechariah 6:1-7:14, Revelation 15:1-8, Psalms 143:1-12, Proverbs 30:24-28
Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. Today is Christmas Eve and even though this is another step forward in our journey through the Scriptures this is a very, very special day. Today is the last day of Advent, the season of Advent, which means that the long wait for the arrival of the Savior is almost over.
So, it’s Christmas Eve and, yeah, there’s a lot of activity, a flurry of activity that happens on most Christmas Eve’s and maybe this evening will include a candlelight service or maybe even a midnight service. And the joy, the joy of Christmas finally arriving is upon us. And even in the midst of all of that we have taken time to step away for second surround ourselves with some serenity and allow God’s word to speak. And, so, this week we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible. Today, Zechariah chapter 6 verse 1 through 7:14.
Commentary:
Okay. So, like we talked about at the beginning of our time together today, this Christmas Eve and it’s the final day of the Advent season. And, so, we probably have this sort of sense of anticipation, and even some joy in our hearts, and probably a pretty long to do list, right, in preparation for tomorrow. And, so, we might think, okay, how is today’s reading supposed to have anything to do with Christmas? Well, in our reading from Zechariah we continue to hear of the visionary experiences that Zechariah was having, but within that we were reminded of the fundamental postures God requires of us. So, in Zechariah we heard today, “this is what the Lord of Heaven’s armies says. Judge fairly and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners and the poor, and do not scheme against each other.” So, this command doesn’t have any blackout dates. So, this command is something that’s to be lived into today and if there were a season to live into this it would be Christmas. So, let’s make sure that we plant this in our hearts as we move forward into the festivities ahead of us. Let’s make sure that we do that. Let’s make sure that we show mercy and kindness to one another. And then we’re reading the book of Revelation and so we could also think, like, well this is the furthest thing from the nice cozy Christmas Spirit that I want to experience. I mean, John saw what seemed to be a sea made out of glass that was on fire. And upon this sea were those who endured. And we’ve been talking a lot about endurance lately, right, because the Bible keeps talking about. And to those who had endured and were on this glassy sea that was on fire, God gave these…those who endured…harps and they were singing the song of Moses and the song of the lamb. We may not think of their song as a Christmas Carol but think of it. “Great and marvelous are your works oh Lord, God the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you Lord and glorify your name for you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you for your righteous deeds have been revealed.” Well, that might not be a Christmas Carol about baby Jesus lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, but this is a song coming from those who had endured who are singing the song of the Lamb and the song of Moses from a glassy sea. And who are they singing about? They’re singing about this baby born in a manger, the King of Kings and Lord of lords. So, this is a time to remember. We’re celebrating the first Advent right. Advent means arrival. And, so, that’s what Christmas is. We’re celebrating the advent of the Savior, the arrival of the Savior but we’re longing for His return. And as we read what we’ve read in Revelation today, we are prophetically hearing worship in advance from the time that we’re longing to see when everything will be made new. So yes, this is a Christmas gift to us. We’re hearing worship in advance from a time when all is as it should be.
Prayer:
Father, we dwell on that. We take a moment to realize how big of a deal this is and that all that we long for will happen. And, so, as we complete the Advent season for this year and move toward Christmas day You have given us a song or a Carol as it were from a time when all is restored. And we long for this. And, so, we invite you, come Holy Spirit and allow us to truly meditate on your first arrival and our longing for your second arrival as we immerse ourselves for the final hours of this season and prepare to move into Christmas. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
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It’s such a lovely time to get to this day, and just really, really consider that here we are. Not only have we reached Christmas time but really are only a few steps away from completing our year together. And, so, yeah, tomorrow’s gonna hit and it’s gonna be a busy day and its gonna be full of activity and joy and wonder and it will be wonderful, but we’re here. We’re here right now in these moments. And, so, let’s commit ourselves to having a contemplative day that we don’t get just washed away by activity and forget what’s really going on here and the reason for all of this celebration. So, I’m gonna go out to a candlelight service myself, my family tonight, probably drive around, look at Christmas lights. It’s usually our tradition to get together and we have some soup or just kind of have a low-key evening just with each other in anticipation for out tomorrow. Whatever your tradition is, I hope that it’s a wonderful, wonderful experience. And just know that you’re in our hearts. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing you’re not alone. You are, for sure, in our hearts. I wish we could all just have a Christmas together, but I don’t know what stadium would do that and I don’t know where it would be in the world. It wouldn’t be cozy. And, so, we have to do this virtually but you are in our hearts and I pray that we are all in each other’s hearts and that we are moving as a community into this Christmas season. So, Merry Christmas. I’ll be saying that again tomorrow, but bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And may this Christmas season be the most meaningful of your life. May you feel intertwined with Spirit of God and may that spirit give you joy knowing that this is all headed somewhere and where we are headed is unspeakably good because we are headed into the restoration of all things. All things are being made new and this is a reason to rejoice. So, Merry Christmas. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is John Corrado calling from the Christmas city, Bethlehem Pennsylvania. I hope you’re doing well. I’m so pumped up guys. I’m pumped up for Jesus arrival, can’t wait for that. But I’m pumped up more than anything just to give you guys a couple of quick updates and ask for your continued prayer, of course. So, first of all, love you guys. Thank you so much, every single one of you out there. Love you and I couldn’t live life without you. I apologize for any background noise here I’m on my cell phone in the car on my way to pick up my daughter Kelsey who is coming home from Los Angeles for Christmas from the airport. So, first of all, wow, I am pumped up and just a praise report there is like, Kelsey is coming home. She is living life, she’s going through life, she’s learning lessons and struggles. Life is a struggle. You know, we are promised that it’s gonna be hard, especially as Christians. And so, living up to its name. But she’s coming home and we’re so excited to have her home. And then thank you all so much for praying for my wife Andrea over the past really month and ½. You know, she’s doing really well, she is feeling well. We’re waiting for some results to hear back from the doctor but, like I said and posted on the DAB Friends page, God’s already got the victory in this and we believe truly in His healing power and strength. And no matter what, no matter what, we love God. We love our life and we’re so blessed and so thankful. I love you family. Merry Christmas and I’ll be back in touch again soon. God bless you.
Hi this is Will from Stroudsburg, formerly Will from Waynesborrow. I’ve been a listener since 2012. So, this will be completing my, I guess, seventh revolution around the sun listening to the Daily Audio Bible this year. I called in a few years ago when I was going through a really hard time. My ex-wife now basically just turned her whole personality around and we ended up getting divorced and it’s still a very strange situation with her with her, you know, alienating my children against me and everything else. But that’s not why I called. I called because I just heard Prodigal on the 21st reach out about how this is the worst year of his life, he’s thinking of committing suicide. And I just want to tell you man, when I was going through what I was going through, I literally spent 11 days in jail because I told my daughter that I loved her. That was the individual that I was dealing with and I lost everything. I lost my wife, I lost my house, I lost my vehicles, my job, I lost everything and had nothing. And I’m telling you, until you don’t have anything, until Jesus is all you have, you don’t realize that Jesus is all you need. So please, do not take what is God’s decision, the length of your life into your own hands. You must lean on Him and He will help you endure. So, I just wanted to call you with that encouragement. This is Will from Stroudsburg. Please Prodigal, reach back out and let me know that everything is going better for you. I’m praying for you. Love you brother. Bye.
Hi DAB family, this is Diane calling from Iowa and I’m calling in response to Duane from Wisconsin and his request for prayer. Duane you’ve been so faithful to pray for so many of us. So, I’m happy to pray for you. Sear family let’s pray. Dear God, we come before your throne of grace to lift up our brother Duane and his request for prayer. Lord he’s you requested prayer for visit that he’ll be having with his son who is currently incarcerated. And the Lord we pray for this visit. We pray for sweet fellowship between the two of them. We pray for your peace to fill the rooms and for love to abound between the two of them Lord. And we pray for healing and reconciliation for anything…anything that needs to be healed within the relationship. Lord, I also lift up Duane’s brother who is having hernia surgery and Lord I pray that you would guide the surgeon’s hands, that you would heal and restore his brother’s body from the surgery and that he would have a quick and speedy recovery. I pray all these things in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
Hi, this is Melissa from Houston and I just wanted to call because I just finished listening to the broadcast and I heard Prodigal call in and I wanted to say that, please don’t consider suicide. I understand that it’s hard to not consider it when things are so difficult, and I know __situation but it’s hard what you going through has been hard and it’s heartbreaking and it feels like loss. But I’m so certain in God and I know that God loves you and he still has something for you in spite of what you’re feeling. And I wanted to tell you that…I wanted to ask you not to make the decision that you can’t come back from and to let you know that people love you and that I heard your call. So, I wanted to tell you that I love you and there’s so much you more for you on the other side of this that I want to be able to see and I want you to be able to come from the other side of this and say, yeah, I thought about it. God is so good and everything that’s come out of this has been better for me not having done that. So, I know that this time is hard for a lot of people, but I want to just tell you that I love you, I love all of you. I didn’t get a chance to say Merry Christmas this year, but Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a very happy new year. And Prodigal, I hope I get to hear from you a lot more about good and sometimes the bad things, but I want to keep hearing from you. I love you. Merry Christmas and have a happy new year.