Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalms 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10
Today is the 21st day of January. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it’s a pleasure, of course, an honor every day to come together like this centering ourselves around the rhythm of the Scriptures. It’s the joy of life. And, so, this is the 21st day of the year, which I guess means officially, right, three weeks into the year and we are definitely sailing forward as we continue to move forward. And man, what three weeks in the Bible will do right? A lot of the different aspects of life and a lot of different stories in the Scriptures have begun to unfold before us. And, so, we’ll continue and pick up where we left off. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. We’re reading the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis who has been reunited with his brothers who trafficked him into slavery. He knows who they are. They don’t know who he is. And, so, there’s some drama unfolding. Genesis chapter 42 verse 18 through 43 verse 34 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, Jesus has been telling stories about the kingdom of heaven. And, you know, the announcement of the kingdom, and the revealing of the kingdom is a central thing that was part of Jesus ministry. And, so, of course, he’s gonna talk about it. He’s telling stories and the net net of these stories is that the kingdom of God is something that will grow up among things that are not the kingdom of God, right, the wheat and the weeds. And, so, this is a good time to pause for a second because we have all kinds of ideas about the kingdom of God and what it will be and what it will look like and when it will come and how it will come and, you know, what we will do when we get there and all of this, we have these kind of a notions about things, but these notions are usually of futuristic, right, they’re things yet to come when we need to look at what Jesus is laying out and not miss the fact that He is saying what’s coming is already happening. And that’s a little bit of a rewire for most of our notions because…and we’ll see this as we go forward. Jesus is announcing a kingdom that is already begun and is within and among us already. And yes, the kingdoms fullness has not yet arrived. And yet we usually think it hasn’t even begun, like that’s something that happens later when Jesus announcement was, no, it’s already happening and it’s already among you if you have eyes to see and ears to hear. This is already going on and you need to get on board and be a part of it of what is already going on. Of course, most people missed what He was saying. Most people still do. A lot of times we spend our life thinking that what our mission on this earth to do is to is to be a good little boy and a good little girl and, you know, and try to be try to eek our way into eternity when what Jesus seems to be laying out, and we will be exploring this as we continue through the Gospels because He talks about this stuff a lot, but what Jesus seems to be saying is, you’re not supposed to live here so that you can die and get out of here and be in the kingdom. You are the kingdom, you are a part of the kingdom, it’s happening right now, the kingdom has a mission on planet Earth right now. This isn’t just about something that’s gonna happen later, you’re a part of that story. And, so, you know, let’s ponder that today. We’ll have plenty of time to ponder it over time, but this is kind of a big deal because it reshapes what we believe our purpose is and a fully invites us into a collaborative relationship with God where there is actual work to be done on behalf of His kingdom. And, so, we’re getting the echoes of Jesus ministry about the kingdom, we’re just beginning to explore but we see Jesus keep saying, the kingdom is like this, it’s like this, it’s like this, and He’s ultimately leading us to the revelation that it’s happening right now.
And then in the book of Proverbs we should also listen up. We’re told that the beginning of wisdom is this, “get wisdom”, right? So, like, first, like the thing that I am going to get if I get anything is I am going to get wisdom, right? You set that before you. That is the target, that is the goal, that’s what I’m after. Like, I’m not after a race. Like, I like a race. I’m not after the new car. I like the new car or whatever but the main thing that I’m going to get if I’m going to get anything is wisdom. And we put that before us and remember that in every decision then we can immediately essentially know whether we’re making wise choices and not. And the Proverbs goes on to say, “whatever else you get get insight, prize her highly and she will exalt you, she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland, she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” So, basically you can try to fight your way through life fighting against your culture to get what you can get while everybody else is trying to get what they can get and then we all have these piles of things that represents all of the efforts of our lives or we can get wisdom, make that the priority, and everything else will begin to flow in our direction. Plenty to think about in today’s readings.
Prayer:
father as we dive into this, another workweek here at the beginning of the year, we ask that you show us how to get wisdom and how to make this the mission of our lives because we’re going to need to be wise to collaborate with you and participate in the redemption of this world and the revealing of your kingdom in it. So, come Holy Spirit we pray, plant the words of the Scriptures deep into the fertile soil of our lives and may it yield the fruit of the spirit as a bountiful 100 fold crop of wisdom. Come Jesus we pray. In your mighty name we ask. 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:
Hello DAB family, this is Walta, the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of our God and King. Today is Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 and I heard a prayer request go out. A mother’s calling on behalf of her son who had a gun who said he’s a demon. I rebuke every lie the enemy is speaking over that boy’s life right now in the name of Jesus. And father God I praise You Lord that we’re overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the power of our testimony. My sister, I just want to challenge you to stand in the gap for your son. The word of God tells us that your salvation is strong enough to cover your family. And, so, continue praying for him, I’m gonna pray for him. I also want to pray, I’ve heard a lot of prayers go out for illnesses and sicknesses. And, so, father God I praise you for your family and those who are listening today, and I pray for your divine intervention, your divine healing God over this __ father. Whatever they are struggling with Father, be it mental illness Father or just physical ailments, illnesses that have been diagnosed and the ones that people do not even know what they are. Father God, by your stripes, Jesus by Your stripes we are healed. So, I pray for healing over this family right now in the name of Jesus. And Father God I pray for a miraculous healing God and just breakthrough in the name of Jesus. God, I praise you Lord for answered prayers. There was a man of God who called today and he just read a bunch of Scripture and he started by saying that he was suicidal. I just want to say thank you for sharing the word of God because that is…the word of God is a doubleedged sword and it’s so strong, it’s so powerful, it’s so __, and so soothing and I just want to thank you for sharing that. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.
Hello DAB family, my name is Tim calling from Michigan. Started this journey last year and I’m still trying to find faith and become a believer and I was making my way through the DAB Audio Bible and I got into about mid-May of last year. This was around November I started of 2018. And we got about ¼ way through the Bible and the New Year sprang and I went to listen to the next podcast and it had been reset. So, it’s funny how the devil always will try to thwart you or push you away or deceive you. So, I just kind of took it as a welcome new beginning into the Bible this year and we’re starting fresh and I look forward to completing it for my first time and I, you know, I hope you guys can pray for me to help get me through this and help me find faith and find Jesus and eventually one day become saved. I appreciate it, I listen, I love listening to the podcast, I love listening to the prayers. It’s outstanding how everybody comes together. So, that’s where I’m at. I appreciate it. I love you all and I ask for prayers. Thank you.
Hi, this is Max Madison. I haven’t been listening. I used to listen a lot more than I do. I started up again this year. I haven’t listened for a year and ½. This past year was very, very tough. I almost lost my faith several times. I even thought about suicide but one thread in faith in Jesus Christ is stronger than a __ of steel but __ inspired me to call in and as someone who used to hate Christianity, if I can just give a piece of advice, I mean, show your grandson and father love and compassion and people are tacked by the media showing a Christianity that’s mean spirited and hateful and the best way to show someone the love of Christ is to show them the love of Christ. Maybe ask them why, maybe they think Christianity is something that completely it’s not because, I mean, unfortunately Christianity, like Judaism in the time of Jesus is corrupted in many __ . And many people don’t hate God, they don’t know God, but they Christianity. And I hope this helps and my prayers are for your grandson because that’s was life does, life skills and destroys faith and I pray that your grandson will continue having faith and that your family will come to faith. Thank you. Bye.
Good morning this is Julie calling from Albany. The burden has been heavy. I’m praying for my brother. I’m praying along with my older brother. We speak often of wanting to help our younger brother. We pray that he surrender to God, feel peace, feel the love and a joy, everything that comes with trusting God. We pray for his physical and mental health and well-being. We pray for his happiness. We want our brother to be happy and not full of conflict and stress and anxiety and fear. We pray for his independence. We pray for his happiness. We pray for him to find God. We love him so much. We just are reaching out today to our Daily Audio Bible family. My brother and I listen daily. We thank you all for being part of our family and ask for these prayers this day for our younger brother. Let him find God and surrender. Let him find that peace and happiness when we surrender and listen and learn. Thank you. God bless you all.
Hello everybody it’s Tony the Painter in London here. I’ve possibly got pneumonia or a really really heavy flu. I think I’m gonna find the results out today, so please pray for me in that. And also, it just reminded me, and so I’ve come to my bookshelf, I’ve re-picked up Sneezing Jesus and I’m gonna have a read of this over the week I think. Thank you, Brian for that. Everybody, I’m praying for each one of you. I hear the messages that you…and the prayer requests. Also, Michael in London, really nice to hear that there’s somebody close by who’s in the DAB. And I’m actually planning to go to a Hillsong church in the next couple weeks possibly not this Sunday because I’m not very well but, yeah, so, who knows, I might actually be able to meet a DABber and hug their neck and say I love that you pray for me. Yeah, so, anyway, I just wanted to say that I love you all and Brian I’m gonna to be reading Sneezing Jesus as I’m sneezing flu-y pneumonia and looking for ways that I can turn this into something that’s gonna be really beautiful for Jesus. I love you all. God, bless. Bye-bye.
Hey Daily Bible Audio family, this is Andrea Delaine from Kentucky and I this morning I just wanted to call and I just wanted to give praise to Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, the resurrected Messiah and I just want to give Him thanks because this month 22 years ago I gave my life to Yeshua, He came to me in such a real way, transformed my heart. I had such a heart full of hatred towards God. I grew up in religion, but I did not know God. I was getting burned out from legalism and not being good enough and it was a nightmare and I was just 15 years old at the time, but I was always starting to cut my arms. And I was like, “God if you’re not gonna help me maybe Satan will.” It was that burden of legalism and the burden of religion that leads us nowhere except worse, but when you Yeshua Jesus Christ set me free he set me free indeed. And the word of God is clear, that the son therefore shall make you free, you are free indeed, and it’s the truth. When you find the truth, it is truly Yeshua Jesus Christ. And, so, this morning I just want to give praise to my Savior, 22 years, that He has kept me, that He has walked with me, that He has brought me through some dark valleys and through horrible things, that He has kept His word, that He is taking care of my life, that He has never left me or forsaken me, and I want to remind you today my brothers and sisters that no matter where you’re at today that if you’re in Christ, that if you are truly in Christ, His promise is to you that He will never leave you or forsake you. He is your Redeemer, Healer. He is everything to you. Call on the name of the Lord and He will save you, He will deliver you. Remind Him what He’s done for you, remind Him what He’s done for all of our brothers and sisters for the ages. He is…