12/29/2018 DAB Transcript

Zechariah 14:1-21, Revelation 20:1-15, Psalms 148:1-14, Proverbs 31:8-9

Today is the 29th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure to be here with you at the close of the…I mean…this is the last close of a week that we have together in this revolution through the Bible in this year. So, we’ll be closing our final week together and also closing the second to the last book in the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah. We’ll finish that today and then move forward in Malachi tomorrow for the final two days of the year. So, if it hasn’t been obvious, like we’re on the threshold of ending the year and getting ready to gear up and start a new year together. So, we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible all this week, which of course, concludes with today. Zechariah chapter 14 verses 1 through 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, I mean it’s pretty obvious that we’re just days away from concluding the year, which, I mean, in concluding the year and concluding a complete reading of the entire Bible and preparing our hearts to start over again. And, so, as we continue the journey between the holidays…we’ve already talked about how it’s a contemplative time…we’re setting new goals and, you know, our lives have been disrupted a bit by the holidays. And, so, we’re thinking about what we want the next year to look like and we’ve even talked about how the Proverbs speak into that because it’s easy enough to go, well, I mean we’re just days away, let’s just finish this thing up and we’re not really paying attention, but the Bible is still speaking because it still has some things to say. The years not…like…we’re not done. And, so, we can turn again to the Proverbs to guide us in our resolution making and focus our hearts on what’s the next weeks and months are gonna look like. And, so, today in the book of Proverbs we’re directed to look outside, beyond ourselves, and to respond. So, we’re told, “speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, ensure justice for those being crushed, speak of the poor and helpless and see that they get justice.” And the truth is, it’s probably…it’s pretty unlikely that we don’t all agree with what the Proverbs saying…but it’s also easy to agree with the sentiment and remain passive. But the Proverb isn’t describing, like, a posture or, like, a mindset or a philosophy. It’s giving actions that are we’re supposed to live into. “Speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves”, like, that’s an action. “Ensure justice for those being crushed”, that’s an action. “Speak up for the poor and helpless. See that they get justice”. This is, like, a participatory thing, not just something you can shake your head up and down and agree with. And, boy, you know, a proverb like this, it’s so easy to ambush a proverb like this and like you know, throw it into the stew that is the political climate of our day and, you know, make it rhetoric and make it a talking point or try to figure out who’s supposed actually be doing that when we’re all supposed to be doing that. Like it’s not proverb that was written for elected officials running government agencies. We’re supposed to obey the voice of wisdom. So, it’s not really supposed to be a political thing. I mean, maybe, you are supposed to engage in political discourse. But we gotta remember, like, Proverbs wasn’t written last week and it wasn’t written this century and it’s not speaking specifically to our political climate the issues of injustice. These are ancient issues and we’re just living through what it looks like right now. And the reason that this is important is that as we contemplate the new year our sense of justice does indeed shape our convictions and we’ve certainly had plenty of opportunity this year as we’ve gone through the Bible to bear witness to the erosion that takes place when justice is obscured. And, so, Proverbs isn’t giving like a posture or sentiment. Justice is a defining characteristic of God’s people, it’s all through the Bible and it it’s absolutely gonna shape our year. We may not think of it, like, we might not actively be thinking about it, but our sense of what is right and wrong, what is just and what is unjust will shape our convictions and will shape our year whether we ignore the proverb or not. And if we choose to kind of incorporate this into what we’re looking at in the new year, like, to pay more attention to the downtrodden in some sort of way, that’s gonna look different for everybody and it basically, I mean, like, we all agree, we all agree with the Scriptures say. So, it’s gonna boil down to whether we’re paying attention, but ignoring a proverb like this is like ignoring one of our most fundamental core understandings of God, right? One of our core understandings of God is that He is just and good. And we can think, okay, God is just and He’s good and He should bring justice to the poor and helpless or we can understand what has always been true, that we are invited to collaborate and participate with God as actual hands and feet, boots on the ground for His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven and that He uses our hands and feet our flesh and bone to bring blessing and glory upon the earth. So, one of those blessings is supposed to be…like one of the things in his kingdom supposed to be that the poor and helpless are treated justly. And, so, rather than just thinking that we’re doing our part by having random, heated social media, political debates…I mean…why don't…this doesn’t have to be like that. Why don’t we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us individually about how it is that we can participate in bringing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven and reflecting His glory upon the earth as the body of Christ. I mean, so, like, rather than figuring out whether we’re conservative brothers and sisters or whether we’re liberal brothers and sisters or all the different persuasions of politics and governments around the world that represent who we are as a Daily Audio Bible community, rather than try to figure out how to unpeel the onion there, why don’t we just ask God, you know, what does this look like for me? What is it You would like me to be aware of? How should I pay attention this year? How do I be made in your image? How do I be Christ like when it comes to what is just and good?

Prayer:

Father, obviously a worthy question because You brought it up in the Scriptures. You know it’s one that is definitely, definitely overwhelmed by the political climate of the day, but we’re kind of stepping away from all that noise and just saying, what are You saying  to me? How do You want me to incorporate this into my life and my actions as I take steps forward every day with You in the coming year? How is it that I can be Your hands and feet? How can I be flesh and bone? How can I be the body of Christ in every situation that I step into this coming year? So, we invite Your Holy Spirit. You are the Creator of all things and You know all of the answers to all things in and yet You are one of the last people’s that gets consulted. And, so, before we ever enter into the new year we’re consulting You, we’re asking You to begin to break our hearts for the things that break Your heart. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here, and there’s always something or another going around on around here.

Of course we’re about to end a year and that’s going on around here and we’re about to prepare to begin a new year, which will be year 14 of Daily Audio Bible. So, we’re about to complete 13 years seven days a week of this, which just blows my mind. And, so, that’s going on around here. But this is one of the ways to stay connected at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in these remaining days of this year’s then thank you profoundly, humbly, deeply for your support and partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.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 is 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 To Be a Blessing in California wanting to just let Terry the Trucker know that I’m praying for you as you continue on your journey of healing. Also wanting to lift up Miguel from Santa Rosa, Blind Tony, Jay from Tennessee, Lee from New Jersey, Drew from the Bay Area. Also wanting to present before you a young man who lost his job, his girlfriend broke up with him, and he is just struggling with deep deep depression stemming from a childhood and a lifetime of rejection. So, if you would lift up Alex __ for me that would be awesome. He’s a lovely young man. Father God, You know…You know where we are, You know what we need and when we need it. So, I’m just thanking You in the name of Jesus for being so sweet to us. I pray that You impress each Daily Audio Bible member, Brian and Jill, China and the others for everything __ dear God that You would be glorified. Thank You for loving us and giving us Jesus, the greatest gift ever. Amen. God bless You. Take good care.

Hello my DAB family community. This is Michael again, I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to call in back to back but I know sometimes you get on here and two minutes goes by so fast and then I guess I kind of ramble sometimes when I get talking and not realizing and not watching the time. And the next thing you know a way over the time. So, I know I was talking about my marriage and I guess I just need prayers on direction and what I need to do. I mean I need a __ to grow on where I need to be in this situation and that’s it. I’m just tired of fighting and trying to be in a positive state in this whole situation. So, I love you guys, I love this DAB family. Like I said…I don’t where I’d be without it. I’m just glad that glad the Lord led me here four years, almost five years ago and it’s been awesome…it’s been an awesome campfire to be around enjoying you guys and hopefully I’ll get to attend some of the things in the future. That’s my plan. Anyways, but I may be a week behind. I missed the Christmas thing again this year, but I love you guys. Thank you, Brian, thank you Jill and thank you China. Got to thank China also, she’s awesome. She’s definitely got ___ the Lord is definitely leading her __ . Appreciate this group and thanks for all the prayer warriors, the people who call in and many of you people __ who call all the time and hear the voices. Love you guys. Talk to again soon.

Hello, I wanted to say something to John the Prodigal. I know that you have lost so many things this year and you really don’t know how to how to live, how to go on with your life. And I just wanted to remind you, the apostle Paul in Philippians 4, he found the secret of being able to live with plenty or nothing at all. And the secret was Christ’s presence with them. And, so, the secret really is for all of us, Christ with us, the power we face anything, that’s how we can face tomorrow. And it’s such a thought that it’s Christmas time and that God sent Jesus into this broken world because we need it, so much help, we need it to know how to live. And, so, John the Prodigal, I just wanted to bless you with this Christmas present, this Christmas gift of speaking God’s word over you. Lord I thank You for the wisdom in the scope of this prayer. I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God. Some of them are already in heaven and some down here on earth but out of His glorious unlimited resources He will give You, John the Prodigal, the mighty and strengthening of His Holy Spirit and I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your heart living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love and may you be able to feel and understand as our God’s children shared…

Hi, this message is for the ICU nurses who called in. I forget your names, I’m so sorry, but I know that you are nurses and that you are work in the ICU. I am a medical student, which means that I don’t know half as much as what you guys know and that I learn mostly from nurses, but I respect the place where you’re coming from, you’re coming from a very humanistic, a very humble place when you reflect upon how your experiences…how you’ve been affected by experiences. And I wanted to share that it’s so courageous for both of you to just be so transparent about how you feel. That’s very uncommon, at least to me it’s seems it’s a little uncommon in the medical community and I very much respect and have been very thoughtful of both of you just for being able to be so forthcoming about how you feel and how you experience life, you know, as an ICU nurse. And I just wanted to pray a prayer of blessing and strength over both of you. And I pray that God’s love would surround you everywhere that you go and that His joy would be your strength every moment of every day and that God would bless the work of your hands, that He would bless and multiply your land, that you would prosper in everything that you do, and that you would be at peace, and in him that you would do all things, and that you would do above and beyond anything you could ask or imagine…

It is so hard to believe the 2018 is closing. I tell you, this family has definitely pulled out all the stops this year. There are so many of you to thank, especially those behind the scenes. SarahJane and the entire crew, Brian, and Jill Hardin, your children. This community has blessed my life so much and I cannot believe it’s 13 years. I just can’t believe it. For all of you who have had hardships this year, I pray that you’re ending the year on a strong note regardless of our circumstances. Something that I keep telling myself is we walk by faith and not by sight. We walk by faith and not by sight. And God is not finished with you yet. Having said that, John the Prodigal, I know you have had a year of loss like many of us. And I’m not trying to minimize that but brother you are still here like Walda said. God opened your eyes, He got you up, He is not finished with you yet. No matter what, you keep pressing forward. For all of those of you who are struggling with addictions I challenge you to get an accountability partner, get in a recovery group, get someone that is going to hold you accountable and that you can reach out to. For all of you battling illnesses, I am praying protection and healing and restoration of your body from the top of her head to the soles of your feet. I love this community dearly. I thank you all for your prayers. I thank all of you will listen and don’t call in but pray in the background. Know that we are all prayer warriors. 2019 is going to be a wonderful year and as Brian says, it’s not how we start it but how we end the journey and let’s end it well. I love you. Cheers! Asia and Munich.