11/30/2019 DAB Transcript

Daniel 7:1-28, 1 John 1:1-10, Psalms 119:153-176, Proverbs 28:23-24

Today is November 30th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here on a day where we’re ending a week and ending the month at the same time. And, of course, is the final day of the 11th month of the year, leaving only one month left in this year and one month left in our journey through the Scriptures this year. Today is the 334th day out of 365. And from the Old Testament we will move back into the book of Daniel, which we’re working our way through now and then we get to the New Testament we will be reunited with somebody that we got to know pretty well during this year, John. But we’ll talk about that when we get there. First, we’re reading from the New International Version this week, which is today. Daniel chapter 7.

Introduction to first John:

Okay. As we move forward into our New Testament reading, as I mentioned at the beginning, we’re being reunited with somebody that we know and we got to know him in the Gospels as one of the disciples of Jesus, John. And, so, we’ll begin the first of three letters that are attributed to the apostle John. Ironically, this letter that we’re about to read makes no mention at all of who it’s from and it does not even specify at all who it’s addressed to. So, it be would easy enough, like other books in the Bible, for example, the book of Hebrews, to conclude that this is an anonymous letter. We don’t know. But church fathers in the second century, so just like about 50 years after this letter was written attributed the letter to John the evangelist and neither the letter nor its author were disputed when the New Testament was canonized, so when it was organized into the accepted New Testament that we have today. It’s only been in more recent centuries that scholars have begun to ask questions as sciences develop. For example, stylistic or language differences between the gospel of John and these letters, the epistles of John. Part of the reason for not addressing the letter to a specific group of people may have been that it was intended to be circulated to many people throughout many churches. It’s possible that the first readers were familiar enough with…with John that he didn’t need to introduce himself in the letter. So, he would’ve known the people that he was writing to and was overseeing their churches and they knew who he was. It’s also possible that those who were receiving the letter weren’t identified in case the letter fell into the wrong hands, so in order to protect the people from additional persecution. This first letter or this first epistle of John was probably written from Ephesus and it was probably very late in John’s life. Most scholars would date the letter around the mid-90s and some even into the early 100s and John was writing this letter for one reason, he was addressing false teachings. Some of the earliest forms of teachings that we…we would now call Gnostic teachings had become a part of the conversation, especially this early view known as a Docetic view or Docetism, that Jesus wasn’t really actually a human being in the same way that we are flesh and blood, but simply appeared to be that way. Or another earlier teacher, Cerinthus who taught that the spirit of Christ, the divinity, the God parts of Jesus actually united with the human part of Jesus when He was baptized. And, so, He was divine from that point all the way through to His crucifixion when this divine spirit, then departed this fleshly Jesus. So I'm…it's…it’s not so hard in our day and age to understand that there are various and very diverse views of the Christian faith all influenced by all kinds of things, tying being one of them. But we get a glimpse here looking backward to the early formation of the church in that early time and see that all kinds of questions were being asked and all kinds of theories were being put forward. John though, even though he’s like a late in his life, is still alive and is in a unique position here, a position of authority because he was there, like he had been there, he was a part of Jesus inner circle. He had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry. So, although any number of things could be thought about Jesus, John…John was there, he saw it. So, he could dispel a falsehood about Jesus, basically because he had an eyewitness account. And that’s pretty much what he does here in verse John. But beyond just denouncing a false teaching, the letter offers contrasts, ways to test the postures of our heart in these matters while encouraging us forward and assuring us of our salvation because that was the heart of the matter here. All of these differing opinions in all of this discussion, which continues until today, confused people about where they were with God. And, so, as we as we finish this 11th month of our year let’s reunite with an old friend. The last we heard of him…well…we learned about him and in the synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John…told the story of Jesus life for the final time. Now some time has passed, the church is beginning to form, and we get to hear from him again. And, so, we begin. First John chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week in Your word and…and…and we thank You for another month in Your word. And as those two endings come together on this day, we are grateful, we are thankful, You have brought us through 11 months every single day and transformation is profoundly visible as we look inside. And, so, we’re thankful because it works, Your word is alive and is powerful and does reach down to the level of our identity and speaks truth to us there. And, so, we are so eternally grateful that You are, that You are raising us up so that we live with boldness and confidence, not only about who we are, but about who You are, which is so vastly more important because without You we can do nothing. And, so, we take this moment here at the end of a week and the end of a month just to offer our worship, just to offer our thanks, to offer our love. We thank You Father for Your presence in our lives at all times and we invite Your Holy Spirit now to continually make us aware of Your presence, and we pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that’s home base, certainly where you find out what’s going on around here. And it’s Christmas time. So that’s what going on around here

And we’ve released the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019 and I’ve been sharing about that for last couple of days. So, you have a sense of what’s in there - a number of brand-new resources. In fact, this Christmas Box is full of things that have pretty much never been in a Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box before. And, so, super excited about it. It’s very…I don’t know…kind of comprehensive…it just touches all the…a lot of different areas of our lives in this Christmas Box. So, excited about it. Check it out at dailyaudiobible.com. In fact, in the Daily Audio Bible shop there is a Christmas section and it’s got few Christmas related items in it, including the Christmas Box but also the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019 and our own Christmas album that came out of our community called Family Christmas. So, you can get all those things or look at them anyway at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then I humbly thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. We wouldn’t exist…we would not exist if we were not in this story together. And, so, I'm…I’m deeply grateful that we are. 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 or you can press the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button of the top.

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:

Hello wonderful prayer warriors out there. This is Vonnie from Northern California calling out to the woman from the Pacific Northwest. I’m sorry I didn’t get your name, but the Lord knows your name. You have been left by your husband with five children and my heart breaks for you. This is a very lonely time, very uncertain time. And dear Lord I pray for my friend in the Pacific Northwest. Lord Jesus please give her a freedom from fear, give her Your piece because You have promised to be the husband to the widow, the husband to the woman who’s alone and we trust You first to be our security, to be our safety, to be our intimate provider and protector. And I ask You to supply every need. Please do not allow her home to be taken. But we pray together that You would bring that man back to his senses. God, please reach out to him and minister to his hurting heart that is defying You and everything that he knows to be right and take away this desire for something that’s not of You. Bring him back to You God. I just ask in Jesus’ name that You’d break the enemy’s hold. Bring him back to his wife and family in Jesus precious name.

Good morning DAB family this is Married and Alone. I’ve been a listener for about four years, but this is the first time I’ve ever called with a prayer request. So, how do you fit 20 years of hard egg into a two-minute audio clip? My husband suffers from intimacy anorexia which is the active withholding of emotional, physical, and spiritual intimacy from a spouse. And as a result, he has withheld love from me for our 20-year marriage. And instead they replace it with criticism and blame and they control you with anger. And if it weren’t for my Lord, I would have no self-esteem at all, but I know…I know God is with me, His grace and His mercy always there for me. And while my husband says I’m unlovable my Lord tells me He loves me. And while my husband makes me feel ugly my Lord tells me I’m beautiful. And, so, I thank God for…for that. I’m still recovering from the last verbally abuse session and haven’t been able to speak to my husband for a week. And, so, I know that that conversation needs to happen because Thanksgivings coming. So, pray for me that I would have the wisdom to say what I need to say and just hold us up in prayer. More to come. Married and Alone. Thank you DAB family. Love you.

What is peace? Is it a piece of cake, delicious gluten-free chocolate fudge cake? Is it a part of a puzzle? Are there are many different pieces that make a bigger picture? Don’t we all want peace? Then why do I fight to get my own way? Why do I strive to get the latest things? Why do I struggle against myself and the world? Why do I contend with those around me? I see the conflicts being waged worldwide, the discontent, the nonstop fighting, the suffering and death. Where is peace? Peace is not worrying about my family. Peace is not worrying about the future. Peace is not worrying about money. Peace is not worrying what people think. Peace is not worrying what to do. I want peace more than a delicious slice of gluten-free cake. I want the whole picture. I want the missing piece. I want to be complete. I want to find peace. Peace is a man named Jesus, a man who walked this earth and showed us how to live, showed us what it is to be human and paid the ultimate price for us our Prince of peace. Peace is choosing joy, celebrating the small things, reveling in the presence of our God and His blessings. Peace is living in expectation of His provision, trusting in His mercy and grace. Peace is sharing our thoughts and feelings with our Father and with our Prince and with our advocate. Peace is being grateful for what we have, it’s learning to be content, it’s remembering who I am, a daughter of the King. I want that peace from God, the peace that surpasses all understanding. The piece that will guard my heart and mind. So, I will trust in the Lord with all my heart and I will love the Lord with all of myself.

Hi this is Jack in Wisconsin. Heard today in the prayer section of a woman who’s going through a divorce. She’s got five kids. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be praying for you and I’m really thinking of you. I have the perspective of this situation in that I was an unfaithful husband. And I am in the process of trying to put my marriage back together again with God’s grace and help. I am in repentance and I’m desperately trying to win the heart of my wife back, but it may not work. So, I would covet your prayers in return, that my wife’s heart opens and softens to me. Especially as we enter the holiday season it’s particularly hard. And again, for the woman, I just want you to know that I’m going to be thinking and praying for you and your family intently. And thank you for sharing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is his beloved and California. I just want to say happy Thanksgiving and I’m just so thankful for you, each of you, my family. It’s amazing. I just love and adore. And this is the beginning of my day every day and thank you to Brian and Jill for creating this amazing family here on earth that we are so connected in Spirit. Shanna from Oklahoma, when you called and said you got your job for…with the…calling in with a praise report and you said you might have shed a tear you opened the email, I shed a tear when I heard you got a job. I was so happy for you. I’m praying for you. So, that made me happy. Patricia from New Orleans, I love you call in. And keep calling in. You’re in my daily prayers for healing and also for your family situation. I looked up what you told us to look up and I am praying for you. Please pray for my son’s girlfriend Jenna’s mother who is not doing well with her cancer. And her daughter went home to be with her and take care of her. And I just ask for you to cover her in prayer. Also please pray for me. My mind is playing tricks on me with a recurring infection I’m getting. And, of course, I’m thinking the worst thing possible. So, I was up all night. Please pray for healing of my mind body and spirit in this and that the Lord would just heal me up and all would be well in that situation. I love all of you. Thank you, prayer warriors who call in. You know who you are, the staples here. God bless you all.

Hi, I’m calling, I’ve called many years ago and now is the first time in a long time. I’m going to call myself Finding Great Comfort. I want to thank this community because I can reach out in prayer to you. My heart is heavy as I lift this prayer. Lord God Almighty intercede for my daughter Colene. She needs your healing, sober mindedness, and courage to do the right things for herself, her family, and her children. Intercede Lord by your mighty grace for mothers like her suffering and causing suffering. I ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ who came, lived, died, rose again, and lives and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. I ask your mercy, your grace and restoration. As we finished up first Peter today it says love covers a multitude of sins. To love deeply. Loving deeply means that we are stretched beyond our understanding. And here we are Lord. I ask for your grace and your mercy. At this time of Thanksgiving I am thankful for family and even the sufferings of grace. Please cover us and restore us in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday November 30, 2019 (NIV)

Daniel 7

Daniel’s Vision of Four Beasts

Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon,[a] Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw.

In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.

The first beast was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing with its two hind feet on the ground, like a human being. And it was given a human mind.

Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying to it, “Get up! Devour the flesh of many people!”

Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.

Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns.

As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.

I watched as thrones were put in place
and the Ancient One[b] sat down to judge.
His clothing was as white as snow,
his hair like purest wool.
He sat on a fiery throne
with wheels of blazing fire,
10 and a river of fire was pouring out,
flowing from his presence.
Millions of angels ministered to him;
many millions stood to attend him.
Then the court began its session,
and the books were opened.

11 I continued to watch because I could hear the little horn’s boastful speech. I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire. 12 The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer.[c]

13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man[d] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

The Vision Is Explained

15 I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me. 16 So I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it all meant. He explained it to me like this: 17 “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth. 18 But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever.”

19 Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, the one so different from the others and so terrifying. It had devoured and crushed its victims with iron teeth and bronze claws, trampling their remains beneath its feet. 20 I also asked about the ten horns on the fourth beast’s head and the little horn that came up afterward and destroyed three of the other horns. This horn had seemed greater than the others, and it had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against God’s holy people and was defeating them, 22 until the Ancient One—the Most High—came and judged in favor of his holy people. Then the time arrived for the holy people to take over the kingdom.

23 Then he said to me, “This fourth beast is the fourth world power that will rule the earth. It will be different from all the others. It will devour the whole world, trampling and crushing everything in its path. 24 Its ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will arise, different from the other ten, who will subdue three of them. 25 He will defy the Most High and oppress the holy people of the Most High. He will try to change their sacred festivals and laws, and they will be placed under his control for a time, times, and half a time.

26 “But then the court will pass judgment, and all his power will be taken away and completely destroyed. 27 Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him.”

28 That was the end of the vision. I, Daniel, was terrified by my thoughts and my face was pale with fear, but I kept these things to myself.

Footnotes:

  1. 7:1 The first year of Belshazzar’s reign (who was co-regent with his father, Nabonidus) was 556 B.c. (or perhaps as late as 553 B.c.).
  2. 7:9 Aramaic an Ancient of Days; also in 7:13, 22.
  3. 7:12 Aramaic for a season and a time.
  4. 7:13 Or like a Son of Man.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


1 John 1

Introduction

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning,[a] whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.[b]

Living in the Light

This is the message we heard from Jesus[c] and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:1 Greek What was from the beginning.
  2. 1:4 Or so that our joy may be complete; some manuscripts read your joy.
  3. 1:5 Greek from him.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 119:153-176

Resh

153 Look upon my suffering and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten your instructions.
154 Argue my case; take my side!
Protect my life as you promised.
155 The wicked are far from rescue,
for they do not bother with your decrees.
156 Lord, how great is your mercy;
let me be revived by following your regulations.
157 Many persecute and trouble me,
yet I have not swerved from your laws.
158 Seeing these traitors makes me sick at heart,
because they care nothing for your word.
159 See how I love your commandments, Lord.
Give back my life because of your unfailing love.
160 The very essence of your words is truth;
all your just regulations will stand forever.

Shin

161 Powerful people harass me without cause,
but my heart trembles only at your word.
162 I rejoice in your word
like one who discovers a great treasure.
163 I hate and abhor all falsehood,
but I love your instructions.
164 I will praise you seven times a day
because all your regulations are just.
165 Those who love your instructions have great peace
and do not stumble.
166 I long for your rescue, Lord,
so I have obeyed your commands.
167 I have obeyed your laws,
for I love them very much.
168 Yes, I obey your commandments and laws
because you know everything I do.

Taw

169 O Lord, listen to my cry;
give me the discerning mind you promised.
170 Listen to my prayer;
rescue me as you promised.
171 Let praise flow from my lips,
for you have taught me your decrees.
172 Let my tongue sing about your word,
for all your commands are right.
173 Give me a helping hand,
for I have chosen to follow your commandments.
174 O Lord, I have longed for your rescue,
and your instructions are my delight.
175 Let me live so I can praise you,
and may your regulations help me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep;
come and find me,
for I have not forgotten your commands.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 28:23-24

23 In the end, people appreciate honest criticism
far more than flattery.

24 Anyone who steals from his father and mother
and says, “What’s wrong with that?”
is no better than a murderer.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


11/29/2019 DAB Transcript

Dan 6:1-28, 2 Pet 3:1-18, Ps 119:129-152, Pr 28:21-22

Today is the 29th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. Happy…happy Black Friday. It’s gonna be a shopping day today. This is the day that is traditionally…well…it traditionally kind of launches the holiday season. And yeah, we’ve mentioned it on a number of occasions, this is the point in the year where things seem to accelerate and for some reason between now and the end of the year it seems like everything’s moving at double speed and it’s really, really easy to get taken out and really easy to get knocked off of our…our usual rhythms. And, so, this is a time to focus in on what’s most important and the things that we will not allow ourselves to be moved from and obviously the rhythm of Scripture should be one of those things. And, so, we’ll take the next step forward as we continue our journey through the Scriptures this year. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today from the Old Testament Daniel chapter 6.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we move into the end of our week here and for that matter as we move into the end of this month and get ready for the 12th month of the year, we have concluded second Peter. So, I have a great idea. Let’s talk about endurance because that’s what the Bible talking about and but today, we have a really good opportunity to understand why endurance is necessary from a cosmic perspective. So, we can apply endurance to our own lives and understand that resistance makes us strong, right? And being…being patient and persevering actually strengthens our lives. So, we can…we can understand that even though it’s difficult. But is there a greater purpose that we should endure? That’s what the apostle Peter is talking about it as we conclude this letter today. And as we concluded this letter today, we…we certainly brushed up against the apocalyptic worldview that existed in the first century. And we can go like, “like…well…what do I need to know about the apocalyptic worldview of the first century?” Because we have the same essential apocalyptic worldview. And essentially that is that the world as we know it is a changing thing and a new era is coming and this change that is taking place will eventually bring about unrest and great challenge, but inside of all of that rescue will come and something new will be born. So, we don’t usually articulate that but that is a backdrop for our lives. Generally, we all believe this in one way or another and this belief or this sense of the fact that things are going somewhere was a part of the culture that…that Jesus was in in the first century. It actually was the kind of language He used because Jesus continually talked about the kingdom of heaven and revealing the kingdom of heaven, and the nowness of it. In fact, if Jesus were not looked at from a spiritual perspective just as a historical figure then He would generally be considered an apocalyptic profit. So, we’re a couple thousand years in the future since this letter so we know that a couple thousand years have passed since the time Jesus did his ministry on this earth. So, we understand that the…the apocalypse…the time is unknown…even though lots of people are trying to name the dates and figure it out, we accept that we don’t know but we still live with the conviction that we are going somewhere, there is an ultimate destiny. And, so, as the generations go by, right, everybody is considering where we are on that continuum. And in light of this, at the time of the writing of second Peter, this understanding hadn’t evolved, thousands of years hadn’t passed. And the early believers in the first century, they were not looking toward a…a distant unknown future. They believed that the return of Jesus was imminent. So, in the decades that followed Jesus life, His followers taught that Christ would soon return and reveal himself ushering in the kingdom of God revealing the new heaven and a new earth. And because this is all over the New Testament, we find ourselves basically waiting for the same thing. But in the time of…of Peter’s writing, years had passed, and Jesus hadn’t returned. So, what they thought was supposed to happen imminently hadn’t happened imminently, hadn’t happened at all, which left a problem that needed clarity. And, so, Peter stepped into that offering some clarity and I’m quoting here, “above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They’ll say, “where is this coming, He promised”. Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” And skipping ahead a little bit, “but do not forget this one thing, dear friends, with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” So, this is where things get really interesting for us because we need the same clarity. According to Peter, God isn’t being slow about anything, especially His promises. We are being impatient. And the irony is, the thing we are being impatient about is God’s patience, which should flick some lights on for those of us who feel like we’ve been waiting on the Lord for a long time. God doesn’t want to lose anyone, and He has entrusted we who have received Christ who are being transformed into His likeness. He has entrusted us to be His witness in the world, to reveal the good news. Now it’s easy to quote from Revelation that they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. That’s what we’re talking about here. The blood of the Lamb is our salvation. The word of our testimony is what our lives are communicating to a world that is dying. When we endure. We are embodying God’s patience. So, think of it like this, it’s very easy for us to say, “Jesus, come. I wish it could be today. Can you just get me out of this mess?” Just, would you return? Would you just make things right?” And I certainly pray those prayers when a more appropriate posture might be, “God strengthen me to endure, to be Your witness in this world to stand here and show that what You…that what I claim to be true is true. May those who are lost and floundering see Your light in me and be drawn to it and help me to endure so that no one will be lost, so that all can hear?” Basically, when we live by faith and endure then we’re doing it for the sake of the world. It would be easy enough for us to say, “okay. If God could just bring fire down and end it all today and start a new thing, I would be with him, that would be great”, but what about…what about those that would be lost? We must find the heart of God in this. So, the next time we’re going berserk because of impatience, we must remember God’s patience because if He hadn’t been patient with us, we would have never known Him. And there are many that He would like to know. And we are His hands and feet in this world. Jesus said we are the light of the world. When we endure, we are revealing God’s kingdom and that is a game changer.

Prayer:

Father we invite Your Holy Spirit into this and we ask that even though today’s a busy day and it’s going to be busy, busy, busy, and we can be very distracted, we pray God that You would help us understand that we are here for a reason and it is to reveal the good news and we need to be willing to face whatever challenge that might bring, especially in this season, especially when we have the opportunity to interact and rub up against family and friends that we may not otherwise see the rest of the year. May we be light in the midst of it all, Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website its home-base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

And today is Black Friday, so like one of the biggest shopping days in the year if not the biggest shopping day of the year worldwide. So, I’m guessing that whether online or off-line, maybe chances are good you’re going to do some shopping. So, have fun and be careful out there and…and…and share the love of Christ in everything that you do, even if that means you have to give up a parking place. Show the love of Christ.

I’ll remind you that it’s Black Friday and every…every Christmas season we compile resources and create the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for the year. And, so, it’s family Christmas Box for the year 2019 and we’re super excited about this. The things in this Box have…have never been in in any box because they’re…they’re…they’re new. And, so, a number of resources from our Global Campfire line that we…that we released back in September are in the Boxes, some of our most popular items. So, there are the brand-new Global Campfire postcards. There’s five postcards. They’re in a nice little package and they’re beautiful, they’re frameable, they’re givable, they’re mailable, they’re shareable, they’re wonderful. And, so, five of them are in the Christmas Box as well as two of the Global Campfire stickers are in the Box. The…the brand-new resource in book form, known as the God of Your Story, which is a one year 365-day devotional that in written form captures the essence of our journey through the Scriptures in a year. So, it is a fantastic gift idea, but it’s also a wonderful resource for everyone around the Global Campfire to have. It’s a tangible representation of what it is that we do here. So, this is a beautifully hardbound first edition and this is a signed first edition copy of the God of Your Story. And that’s in the Christmas Box. We also have our new Daily Audio Bible Journal 2.0. We have well…we went to the drawing board and crafted a journal that we wanted to be, you know, something that’s was beautiful, was the right size, was good to hold, had a good feel to it, had really good paper, was like the kind of thing that would encourage companionship and interaction with and writing in and…well…journaling. And, so, we went to the drawing board and crafted that and had some made and went back to the drawing board after that first batch and refined and just made it even better. And, so, our Journal 2.0 is in the Box this year. Also, fantastic gift for anybody that’s journaler but a wonderful way to set up for the new year. Life of your gonna take the journey through the Bible again then let’s write down the things that God shares with us. And as those things accumulate over years, we begin to see the wisdom of God in our lives as He keeps bringing insights from His word into our hearts. So, that’s what the Journal 2.0 is about. So, that’s in the box. The brand-new Global Campfire candle is in the box. And I’ve mentioned many times, we worked hard to get this aroma right. It’s amazing how an aroma, and we even studied this in the Scriptures when we were talking about the aroma of Christ, which is…which is something that Paul said. But it’s incredible how an aroma changes the atmosphere. And, so, like here in the US we just went through Thanksgiving. My wife, she’s like a master chef. So, you know, the day before Thanksgiving my house had such a festive, such a homey aroma in it, just a…that the entire atmosphere was permeated in my home. That’s what an aroma can do. And we were trying to…to find an aroma that was reminiscent of Campfire and community and sweetness and…and wholeness and nature. And, so, we worked really hard to make the Global Campfire smell like a Global Campfire and…and it does. And, so, we’ve included a candle in the box. Ahhhh…the Daily Audio Bible ornament for the year 2019, those are only ever available in the Christmas Boxes, is in the Christmas Box. This one, it says Daily Audio Bible 2019 and our word which has been “Maintain” is on the…is on the ornament. And mine is hanging on my tree. And I hope yours will be hanging on your tree soon. We also have your choice of our Daily Audio Bible blend of whole bean coffee or our boutique tea. And the coffee is roasted fresh in Colorado and will be sent…sent. It will arrive to you fresh. It’s not something that…well…I mean a lot of the gift Boxes that are out there that will have coffee and that kind of stuff in them, those were roasted may be a couple months ago and they’re just making their way through distribution channels. The coffee that we’re gonna send to you is gonna be roasted like days ago and you’ll be able to tell the difference, significantly. So, your choice, coffee or tea. We also have a pack of the 20 postcards…or…not postcards, Christmas cards, 20 of the Daily Audio Bible 2019 Christmas cards with their companion envelopes. And you can certainly get the Christmas cards in the Daily Audio Bible Shop separate from the Christmas Box, like if you need more than 20 or whatever. They’re five bucks for 20. I mean…and they’re a wonderful way to invite your friends and family along for the journey next year. These are not advertisements for Daily Audio Bible. They say Daily Audio Bible on the back where Hallmark would be written and that’s it. But they are beautiful, and they are wonderful way to engage with your sphere of influence and invite your friends and family to be on this journey because where at this point in the year where you can see like a journey through the Bible, I mean it touches everything in your life and it’s the constant in a year and it makes such a huge profound difference. So, invite your friends and family along for the journey next year. Anyway, a pack of 20 of the Christmas cards are in the Christmas Box. And lastly, one of the Global Campfire pop sockets, which has been very popular for your phone or your tablet device to…to…it’s a little thing that pulls out and you can use your fingers to kind of hold onto things, that’s in the Box as well. So, check that out. Like I said, you can get Christmas cards separate if you need more.

There is a Christmas section in the Daily Audio Bible shop and it contains a few Christmas items including our own family Christmas album that we released…ahhh…I can’t remember…a couple years ago. And you get out on Spotify, you can that on Apple music, just search my name, search for family Christmas, you’ll find that. Enjoy a Family Christmas. I created that album to be as classic…like the kind of album…I don’t know…I’m a Christmas music lover and I’ve got albums from my childhood that they were made in such a way that they…they feel timeless and that’s what I was going for in this instrumental Christmas album. It’s the kind of album that you put on after a busy day, right, you’re just kind of winding down for the night, it’s the holiday season, you’ve got the tree on, I don’t know, maybe you’ve got a fire, but all the lights are off and you’re just kind of sitting there in the bask of the glow of the lights and this album makes the perfect companion for that atmosphere. So…so, check that out as well. All of these things are available here on Black Friday in the Daily Audio Bible shop dailyaudiobible.com.

The only other thing I want to say about that is that our international cutoff date for shipping of the Christmas Box or for anything Christmas later will be Tuesday. We have an arrangement that allows us to ship via FedEx into another country. But then, that…that country then takes it…takes the item and via their domestic mail system delivers it and that can take 21 days or more. And, so, this is the date that we’re cutting off for international…I mean you can order internationally as long as we have these. Just heads up, like this is the date that we think is the last safe date ship for Christmas and that’s just kind of born out of years of experience.

Okay, if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you, thank you, thank you. You can do that at the website, you can do that on the app, you can do that via the mail. 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 or you can just press the Hotline button in app, the little red button up at the top and begin sharing your story.

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:

Greetings everyone this is Toni from Germany. So, I am calling first and foremost because I am thinking about Prodigal because I remember Prodigal about last time of this…last year…pardon me at about this time where in December you were calling in with some very grim messages. And I’m smiling just thinking about where you are now compared to then. And, so, I’m grateful for that and I’m sure this will make others…other people smile who remember that time and have seen where you’ve come. And, so I’m glad you have hung on and you have listened to the Lord and you’ve leaned on the faith however thin it was and just kept hanging in there and that you’re doing, you know, with the Lord wants you to do basically. So, God bless you and continued…continued joy on your journey. As for me, I’m a little bit better health wise. I called in before. On a long journey of being sick but…and I’ve been using natural remedies but I just kind of feel that this illness that I’ve had is the Lord’s way of actually helping me get some other medical issues under control. So, yeah, so I’m on an interesting journey. A lot of different trials but I’m seeing the Lord in that and I’m trusting him. So, I just want to say too, hello mom. She started listening again. Bye-bye everyone. God bless.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible listeners my name is Vicki I am also called Victorine and I’m calling from Winnipeg in Canada. I am a longtime listener. I’ve listened actually for over 11 years now, but this is the first time I’m calling. I have tried to call before but just not had the courage to post it. Anyway, I’m calling today to ask for prayer because I will be having surgery tomorrow, November 25th, 2019. I know that will long be done by the time you guys listen to this request, but I believe that God is God and He knows what’s to be and I just pray that everything is a success and that my recovery is quick. I am hardly ever sick, and I’ve never gone to anything as major as this. So, needless to say I’m a little worried but I believe God is good and He means good for us and He’s a God that heals and He’s going to heal me. I want to thank you Brian and Jill for all you do. I want to thank you for this forum and thank you for all the people who call in regularly. I listen every time. I enjoy hearing the requests. I pray with people that give requests and I rejoice with those who call in to give prayers that have been answered. I don’t call. Anyway, this is my first time calling but I pray that that’s a __. I do miss some people’s voices like Pastor Gene who has called in the past. I listen for regulars like Biola, like Rebecca from Michigan and, like Blind Tony and several other people. I just…I just thank you so much for having the courage to call often. It is very encouraging. And for those who pray we are with you in spirit. I know I never call in to pray but we do pray for you in the background and we pray that God will walk us all through this different struggles that we have

Hey DAB family this is Dominque I know haven’t checked in a while. I just wanted to say thank you for everything. Thank you for the prayers, thank you for the books, thank you for the year planning…the year Bible reading book. Like I said this is Dominic Crumhold from LDC in Arab Alabama, friends with Pelham Morris. He’s a good brother of mine I love him the death. I’m very happy that God sent him, in my life. I just want to give you a quick update on myself. I’ve moved beyond the fear of the future. I am falling more and more in love with Jesus. I’m understanding and more and more and am emptying out myself more and more. I just recently give my testimony, which was amazing ordeal for me. I just love…I can’t even really explain it…I’m just loving walking with God, walking with my father, walking with dad. And I’m almost done with my program. I graduate in two months. Thank you for your time. Love you all.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible DABbers this is Norma from the Bronx and I just have to call and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, a time when I spend meditation particularly just in Thanksgiving for all of the great things that God has done for me for the year. And one of them is definitely for this Daily Audio Bible ministry. I just have to thank Brian for this amazing…I…I…that I divinely got…divinely got…just brought me to and wishing…wishing that I had found Daily Audio Bible sooner. It has been such a blessing to me. And I want to thank your wife for giving you the support to do this Daily Audio Bible forum. I am thankful for the DABbers, the community. I feel like I have brothers and sisters all over the world and I’m just so thankful to Jesus, to your blood, the resurrection, the power of the Holy Ghost. I thank you God for the gospel and just so thankful for all of you. I have you in my heart, I have you in my prayers, and I pray that each and every one of you will have many, many, many reasons to be thankful, to focus…focus on the things, the things you can be thankful for. Don’t focus on the things you don’t have. God bless you and I love you.

Hi everybody this is Susie from Colorado. I’m going to try to talk fast because I have so many praises to report. First of all, his little Cherry, thank you so much for praying for me and my children in Haiti and Joe my husband. We were getting ready for work this morning and my husband turned around and I looked at him and he looked at me and your voice was on DAB praying for us. I was just…it just started this week off so wonderfully. And then I talked to my staff in Haiti at the orphanage in the schools and they wanted to say praise God. We have had the biggest blessing and that not one of our children has had to be rushed to the emergency room during this civil war. This almost never happens. We almost always every week are having to take our children to the emergency room because we have a lot of terminally ill and very severely handicapped children. But God knew that we could not safely get in the streets, so He has kept them safe and well and we’ve had plenty of oxygen. We…this is also a miracle because we just run out of supplies so often with many, many crises, lots of little sick kiddos, but every one of them…no seizures in the last couple months. This is just a miracle. I can’t tell you. So, praise be to God. I mean…really. And thank you. Keep please keep praying for these kids in Haiti. Just we thank you should so very, very, very, very much. We love you and just keep us all in your prayers and just pray that God would keep the kids with no seizures, with no emergencies, and that we would not run about oxygen. We’ve lost a few animals because we couldn’t get into the streets to get food for them but just…and we’ve…

Hey everybody this is Pelham in Arab Alabama with lighthouse deliverance center. Addicted to Christ is my first white stone name that the DAB gave me. I’ve got a couple others, but I won’t mention those right now. I’m calling to let you guys know how…you know…I’m coming up on six months I’ve been in this program here which is…it’s tough but it’s life…but life is tough wherever you are. You face it day-to-day with His help and He’s got treasures along the way if you’re looking for them. So, I’m calling because on Friday…well okay…first of all, I can’t get on the Internet, I cannot listen to the show for the first time in almost a decade that I’ve been a part of this community, I can’t get to the show, I can’t hear Brian, I can’t keep up with what you guys are doing. So…but I still call, and I still let you guys know was going on. So, apparently someone has heard that and low and behold Friday I received a box with about 20 copies of the God of Your Story, the companion to the one-year Bible that goes through the whole thing and it’s get the words that Brian each day. So, now at the beginning of the new year I can keep up with you guys and I can actually read the book and then read Brian’s commentary. I read…I want to give the book to the guys in the program. That’s why they sent so many copies. And thank you so much to who sent them to me. I don’t have but a few more seconds. Brian your words in the opening introduction brought me to tears in front of the men in the program…

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday November 29, 2019 (NIV)

Daniel 6

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

[a]Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.

Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law.

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. 11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”

“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”

14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.

15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”

16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”

17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.

19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”

21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”

23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

“Peace and prosperity to you!

26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.

For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.[b]

Footnotes:

  1. 6:1 Verses 6:1-28 are numbered 6:2-29 in Aramaic text.
  2. 6:28 Or of Darius, that is, the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


2 Peter 3

The Day of the Lord Is Coming

This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.

Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.[a]

11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

15 And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— 16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

Peter’s Final Words

17 You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. 18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

Footnotes:

  1. 3:10 Other manuscripts read will be burned up; one early manuscript reads will be found destroyed.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 119:129-152

Pe

129 Your laws are wonderful.
No wonder I obey them!
130 The teaching of your word gives light,
so even the simple can understand.
131 I pant with expectation,
longing for your commands.
132 Come and show me your mercy,
as you do for all who love your name.
133 Guide my steps by your word,
so I will not be overcome by evil.
134 Ransom me from the oppression of evil people;
then I can obey your commandments.
135 Look upon me with love;
teach me your decrees.
136 Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
because people disobey your instructions.

Tsadhe

137 O Lord, you are righteous,
and your regulations are fair.
138 Your laws are perfect
and completely trustworthy.
139 I am overwhelmed with indignation,
for my enemies have disregarded your words.
140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested;
that is why I love them so much.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
but I don’t forget your commandments.
142 Your justice is eternal,
and your instructions are perfectly true.
143 As pressure and stress bear down on me,
I find joy in your commands.
144 Your laws are always right;
help me to understand them so I may live.

Qoph

145 I pray with all my heart; answer me, Lord!
I will obey your decrees.
146 I cry out to you; rescue me,
that I may obey your laws.
147 I rise early, before the sun is up;
I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.
148 I stay awake through the night,
thinking about your promise.
149 In your faithful love, O Lord, hear my cry;
let me be revived by following your regulations.
150 Lawless people are coming to attack me;
they live far from your instructions.
151 But you are near, O Lord,
and all your commands are true.
152 I have known from my earliest days
that your laws will last forever.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 28:21-22

21 Showing partiality is never good,
yet some will do wrong for a mere piece of bread.

22 Greedy people try to get rich quick
but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


11/28/2019 DAB Transcript

Daniel 5:1-31, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Psalms 119:113-128, Proverbs 28:19-20

Today is the 28th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today. Happy Thanksgiving…well…happy Thanksgiving to everybody in the whole world. I know it’s not Thanksgiving everywhere that…that you are, but here in the United States, today is Thanksgiving Day. So, happy Thanksgiving everybody. And yeah, let’s spend the day in the state of gratitude and thanks and let’s continue with the rhythm that we have every single day as we come around the Scriptures and allow God’s word to speak into our lives. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. And today, Daniel chapter 5.

Prayer:

Father, as we have a posture of gratitude, as we give thanks today, we certainly give thanks to You for Your word and we certainly give thanks to You for the community that You…that You’ve raised up around this rhythm of being involved in and interacting with Your word every single day. So, we are grateful, and we are thankful. And we are thankful for all that You have brought us through to get us to this point in the year and all that You have rescued us from through Your word and all that You have rescued us from in spite of ourselves, and in spite of our own actions. You are a good Father. No, You are a great Father. You are a perfect Father and our hearts are full of gratitude for Your involvement in our lives that You would even be mindful of us as the Psalms say, is beyond our comprehension. So, we are deeply grateful to You for all that You have done and all that You are doing and all that You have yet to do within us. We thank You and we praise You for who You are. We love You Father and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, and yeah, where you find out what’s going on around here would.

Today in United States…this is a pretty major national holiday for us called Thanksgiving. It’s a day of gratefulness and thanksgiving. And, so, happy Thanksgiving…happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I suppose, like I was saying earlier, it’s Thanksgiving, we can give thanks all over the world every day, for in the life of a believer it should be Thanksgiving Day. This is just a day that’s commemorated here in…in our country. So, happy Thanksgiving to everybody. This is also kind of a transitional…it’s…it’s a holiday but it’s a transitional day…transitional day because it seems like worldwide tomorrow, you know, tomorrow’s Black Friday…just…yeah…it’s the…it’s the retail rush into the holidays and it’s a point at which it seems that things go into warp drive and that we spend the final month of the year…I mean it’s disruptive but it’s joyous but it’s different. It’s like December is different than any other month in the year and by the time we get through this weekend we will be in the month of December. And, so, let’s just be aware of that and take this this attitude of thanksgiving, this sense of gratitude that this day evokes and carry that into the festivities that are in front of us because…because invariably, our lives are gonna get disrupted and it’s very easy when that happens that we start to live reactionary, right? So, we’re not really enjoying the season anymore, we’re just responding to the season, like we’re just responding to things that are swirling all around us, and pretty soon we are just in the storm as opposed to the fact that we are in the season. So…so let’s remember that as we take the next steps forward intto this weekend and into this season.

I remind you, dailyaudiobible.com is where you find what’s going on around here. So, stay connected in any way that you can.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com there is a link that lives on the homepage and I cannot thank you enough, other than to say from my heart the deepest sense of gratitude that we are even here is kind of how I live every day. It’s amazing for 14 years every single day we’ve been doing this, and we’ve been doing this together. That’s why we’ve managed to do this every day for this long. So, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, you can press the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top and just begin to share your story or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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 Vickie from Arizona and I am calling first of all because I just want to give God praise, that this is the day that He has made, and I shall rejoice and be glad in it. So, I’m setting my face to rejoice but I’m also asking for prayer. December 10th it’ll be two years. And my son left this world and it was suicide and I still every single day give in and struggle and want to hear his voice and I see his little girl and I just wish to God he had made a better choice that day. And I know when that day comes that I just really need God to put His arms around me and just walk me through that day because it’s such…such a hard thing to go through. And I lost my husband almost a year and half ago. So, it’s just a lot of loss that I just…I keep walking through thinking…well God…you’re gonna make a way where there doesn’t seem to be a way, You’re gonna give me joy unspeakable and full of glory and I am declaring and decreeing that over myself. But it’s a constant thing that you just walk through day by day and it doesn’t…it doesn’t stop and I know that God loves me, I know that He’s there, but it’s still such a missing part of my life. And December’s coming and my birthday and Christmas and all the things that…I just miss ‘em. So, I just am asking for prayer for just joy…joy that I can…I can put my head up and say that God said He would never leave me nor forsake me…and I know…

I this is Rolan, my daddy listens to the Daily Audio Bible and I want to…I have a prayer request for a member of our church, she has cancer and she’s having a hard time with that. And also, for my cousin and his mom, they aren’t believers in God and I want them to know how…how much…how much He…how much He loves them and that they…they need to know about Him. Thanks for listening. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Aminah out of Ohio. I just wanted to follow up on baby girl Adelaide. She was the eight-year-old that had the cancer and she’s been going through aggressive treatment, chemotherapy treatment, and it looks like this is her third round of chemotherapy and that the doctors did anticipate that her white blood count would drop. It’s usually between a 4.5 and a 14.5 but hers is currently at a .6 white blood cell count with this new chemotherapy drug that they are treating her with. So, I ask that you guys please keep her lifted in prayers and may God give her body strength. She’s just a baby and these drugs are so…so aggressive. And, you know, before they work, they really tear your immune system down. This is really a poison. So, I ask that you guys keep her in prayer and that God gives her strength, strength in her little body to get through this aggressive treatment and that this cancer is eradicated. And I don’t think any child should have to suffer and go through this. So, it’s been a while. You know, her hair fell out and everything else and she’s only eight years old. So, please keep her lifted. Let’s pray collectively. I know where two or three are gathered God is in the midst and I know He…He is in the works before we even activate these prayers through the airwaves. So, I love you all. God bless everyone. Again, her name is Adelaide. Take care.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Isaiah from New Jersey and actually I have an awesome praise report. I am…I can finally say that I have passed the math portion of my PRAXIS. It took me so many times, but I knew that I couldn’t give up. So, I appreciate your prayers and your interceding for me and just…yeah…just being there, standing in the gap for me. Thank you so much Daily Audio Bible family. I was just at the point where, you know, I was like, “oh great, here are my test results again.” So, I was like, “oh I’m going to have to take this again. I know I didn’t pass” and it puts me in a funky mood, you know. But I finally, you know, checked my results and it said that I passed, and I just sat there and just cried and said, “oh…I know that I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me And I know that I can’t give up on God because I know that God will not give up on me.” So, guys, just have faith in God. Put your faith…put your faith to work, put some feet on your faith. Just know that God is able, and He can do exceedingly and abundantly far above what you can ask or think. Just believe and trust God. If He can do it for me, He can do it for you. He can do it again and again. I love you guys. Have a blessed holiday. Be grateful. Be thankful. Love on each other. And also love God because He loves you. All right. Be blessed.

Hi family this is his little Cherry in Canada and I’m calling because I wanted to pray a blessing over all of the architects, contractors, designers, builders, those involved in construction because we’ve just read through the portion of Ezekiel where Ezekiel has a vision of the temple and an angel or whoever that man was took Ezekiel through the temple very specifically and showed him all of the measurements and specifications and it’s so specific. And, so, I just want to encourage all of those who are involved as architects or builders that what you do is incredibly spiritual, and God is an architect. He loves all of that. He’s so precise. And, so, I just want you to know that your valuable part of the body of Christ. And not just architects but also tailors, seamstresses, cooks, all of those things are mentioned in this vision that Ezekiel had. And, so, I just want to pray for you. Heavenly Father bless all of these creative people who express Your heart in these specific ways through building, through creating, cooking, sewing, designing, even interior decorators. Lord, bless what they do, kiss what they do by Your Spirit, may it reflect Your heart, your vision. May they do exactly what they’ve been designed to do and bring glory to You in and through it I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hey DAB family this is God’s Little Bird and this is my two year anniversary and I just wanted to call in and share my appreciation to you guys for all that I learn from you and I’m praying along and I’m glad to use the hotline button because my last couple calls didn’t get played because I think my quality at home is terrible and they get…they thrown out. So, darn! But my last call that I wanted to make was to tell Toni in Germany that like I too did not maintain this year. So, I’m with you. I’m with all of you who are, you know, huge self-judgers and feel like, you know, you just didn’t measure up this year. You know, it’s okay to start over. I’ve had some real up and downs this year, but you guys have been through that with me when I have my really bad anxiety days when I feel like everything’s falling apart. My relationships are terrible. I post on the Facebook page and I have many, many brothers and sisters who pray for me and I just appreciate that so much. It’s so helpful and thank you Brian for all that I learn from you. This podcast keeps me in the word and the word is really what keeps us so close to God and it just makes it so much easier to be able to do that. So, I love you guys, I appreciate you, and I am always listening along just going yes Jesus, agreeing with you guys in prayer. So, I might not call in and say, “hey you I’m praying for you” but I have, you know, I have acknowledged your prayer. So, I love you guys. Thank you so much. Happy two years to me and here’s to many more. Bye.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday November 28, 2019 (NIV)

Daniel 5

The Writing on the Wall

Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor,[a] Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers,[b] and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”

But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.

10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king—your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar—made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

Daniel Explains the Writing

13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. 15 My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 16 I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

22 “You are his successor,[c] O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean:

Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 Parsin[d] means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian[e] king, was killed.[f]

31 [g]And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

Footnotes:

  1. 5:2 Aramaic father; also in 5:11, 13, 18.
  2. 5:7 Or Chaldeans; also in 5:11.
  3. 5:22 Aramaic son.
  4. 5:28 Aramaic Peres, the singular of Parsin.
  5. 5:30a Or Chaldean.
  6. 5:30b The Persians and Medes conquered Babylon in October 539 B.c.
  7. 5:31 Verse 5:31 is numbered 6:1 in Aramaic text.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


2 Peter 2

The Danger of False Teachers

But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell,[a] in gloomy pits of darkness,[b] where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.

These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings[c] without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord[d] a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.

12 These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. 13 Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception[e] even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. 14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. 15 They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor,[f] who loved to earn money by doing wrong. 16 But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.”[g] And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”

Footnotes:

  1. 2:4a Greek Tartarus.
  2. 2:4b Some manuscripts read in chains of gloom.
  3. 2:10 Greek at glorious ones, which are probably evil angels.
  4. 2:11 Other manuscripts read to the Lord; still others do not include this phrase at all.
  5. 2:13 Some manuscripts read in fellowship meals.
  6. 2:15 Some manuscripts read Bosor.
  7. 2:22 Prov 26:11.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 119:113-128

Samekh

113 I hate those with divided loyalties,
but I love your instructions.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
your word is my source of hope.
115 Get out of my life, you evil-minded people,
for I intend to obey the commands of my God.
116 Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live!
Do not let my hope be crushed.
117 Sustain me, and I will be rescued;
then I will meditate continually on your decrees.
118 But you have rejected all who stray from your decrees.
They are only fooling themselves.
119 You skim off the wicked of the earth like scum;
no wonder I love to obey your laws!
120 I tremble in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your regulations.

Ayin

121 Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies,
for I have done what is just and right.
122 Please guarantee a blessing for me.
Don’t let the arrogant oppress me!
123 My eyes strain to see your rescue,
to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
124 I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love,
and teach me your decrees.
125 Give discernment to me, your servant;
then I will understand your laws.
126 Lord, it is time for you to act,
for these evil people have violated your instructions.
127 Truly, I love your commands
more than gold, even the finest gold.
128 Each of your commandments is right.
That is why I hate every false way.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 28:19-20

19 A hard worker has plenty of food,
but a person who chases fantasies ends up in poverty.

20 The trustworthy person will get a rich reward,
but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


11/27/2019 DAB Transcript

Daniel 4:1-37, 2 Peter 1:1-21, Psalms 119:97-112, Proverbs 28:17-18

Today is the 27th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we pass through the center of the last week of this month. And I guess traditionally here in the United States, this a big cooking day like a big preparation day. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, which is a national holiday for us here…here in the United States and then the day after that’s Black Friday and I think worldwide that sort of kicks off the Christmas season. So, here we are right at the threshold of a busy season for us but we have a rhythm that we’ve established all year and we come around this Global Campfire where there is peace and where there is calm and we let God’s word speak into our lives. And, so, that’s what we’ll do. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today, Daniel chapter 4. And when we get to the New Testament we’ll be beginning of Peter’s second letter known as second Peter but first Daniel chapter 4.

Introduction to Second Peter:

Alright. So, as we mentioned at the beginning, we finished first Peter yesterday, which brings us to second Peter today. And the second letter of the apostle Peter is thought to be the final writing of Peter’s life, but it’s also important to understand that the authorship of this particular letter has been questioned, going all the way back into antiquity. The acceptance of the idea that the apostle Peter wrote this letter, that happened over time and the letter was considered Scripture by the fourth century. In the more modern era scholars have observed stylistic differences between first and second Peter. So, those who would defend Peter’s authorship would say he…he was dictating…like he…he may have been illiterate…he wasn’t writing these things, he was saying them, and they were being written down by a secretary. So, he just used two different secretaries who wrote down the thoughts that he was saying. But all in all there are compelling reasons to consider this letter like we do the letter to the Hebrews or the book of Hebrews as in the author is unknown, but there are equally compelling reasons to consider the author to be the apostle Peter as is named in this letter. So, if the apostle Peter wrote second Peter it would’ve likely been in the late 60s. A.D. and he would’ve been martyred shortly thereafter. And our church tradition holds that during his execution period Peter was crucified upside down at his own request and that may in fact be the true truth. The Bible doesn’t verify that. It’s a very long-running tradition of the church. And Peter didn’t explicitly say who he was writing to in second Peter. He said he was writing to you who share the same precious faith that we have. So, we assume that he was writing to the same people he wrote his first letter to because he referred to the first letter in the second one, the one that we’re about to read. And these letters have different purposes. First Peter sought to bolster and encourage and instruct believers about how to endure the pressures that were coming against them. Second Peter will warn about false teaching and evil behavior from within. But rather than like just looking at this letter as another encouragement and try to live better, we have to know that Peter’s about to die and he says as much in this letter. This is Peter, right? This is the man who walked with Jesus along the Sea of Galilee. This is a person who saw Jesus perform His miracles. This is a person who was a friend of Jesus, laughed with Him, cried with Him, lived with Him, ate his last supper with Him. And of course, we know the story of Peter. This is the man who denied Him and watched him die, but this is also the man who saw Jesus raised to life again. And this is the man who preached the first sermon after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and 3000 people decided to follow Jesus. So, this letter, these may be the final living words of the apostle Peter. And, so, we should give them the weight that they deserve in our lives. And, so, we begin. Second Peter chapter 1.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have…well…we have talked about second Peter and we’ve begun to read it and so let’s just…let’s look at what we read today for just a quick second because we have some addition, some spiritual addition to do. We’ll have to kind of unpack the introduction to this letter. The letters in the Bible…the greetings in the letters in the Bible…they’re…they’re usually really long comprehensive sentences and you’ve gotta go, “let’s read that slower.” So, let’s do that. “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life.” Alright, we could just pause there and think of that for a minute. We have been given what we need to live this life. And we’ve been given it through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. “Through these”, through God’s divine power and our knowledge of him, “through these, He has given us His very great and precious promises. So, through His divine power and through our knowledge we have been given these precious promises, so that through them”, the promises, “so that through those promises we get to participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” That’s two verses and one paragraph that says an awful lot about our status as brothers and sisters, as children of God in this world. But we’re…we’re still working through this. “For this very reason. So, for the reason that we just talked about, that we get to participate in the divine nature of God because He has given us that promise, because of that, for that very reason we need to do some adding. “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness and add to goodness, knowledge, and add to knowledge, self-control, and add to self-control, perseverance, and add on to perseverance godliness, and add to godliness, mutual affection, and add to mutual affection, love. If you possess these qualities” and I’m quoting Peter here. “If you possess these qualities in increasing measure”, in other words, “if you keep adding to these things, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever doesn’t have these things is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they’d been cleansed from their past sins.” That’s an awful lot. I mean there's…there’s a bunch here that’s going on because we walk around feeling like we’re like weighted down by this…by our sins because we fail all the time. And, so, we’re estranged from God. There’s so much in this that we can look and go, “okay. If this is true, this weight of sin that I carry around all the time feeling as if God is angry at me, it’s an illusion, He’s not angry at me, He doesn’t see them, they are not a part of my life. I certainly can choose to…to rebel in some way against God, but all of the things that have led me to this point, God has forgiven…they are not a part of my life, they are not a part of my identity anymore. So, rather than adding shame to guilt and then adding condemnation and then adding rebellion and then following that spiral down. I have a different math problem to do. I need to be adding to my faith, goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and mutual affection and love. Then I will not wonder what’s going on and I will not wonder why am living in unproductive life. If I’m adding these things together, I will be effective and productive in my knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ”, according to second Peter. So, that can explain a lot about the state we’re in about the status of our lives. And, so, let’…I mean there’s a lot…reread it today. Think about these things. Today we’re going into a very busy season, a season that we can move through with excellence and precision following the leading of the Holy Spirit, enjoying the joy of the season and spreading that joy to everyone that we encounter or we can get bowled over and end up at December 31st, making the same New Year’s resolutions we made last year. It’s a big circle a year, a big circle around the sun and we can end up right where we started if we don’t obey what we’re hearing.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that because it’s just flatly the truth. We’ve experienced it enough times, we’ve seen the patterns, it’s the truth and yet Your word continually pulls us forward out of those patterns that are going nowhere and that has happened today. Help us Father as we move into this season to add to our faith, goodness and to our goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection and to mutual affection, love. Then we will be effective and productive as we move through the rest of this year. Come Holy Spirit into this, we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and home base for what’s going on around here.

And now we’re moving into the holiday season and so the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019 is available. We wanted to jump out in front of Black Friday a little bit just to give a few extra days for international shipments. We ship internationally. But like I was saying yesterday, the cost of shipping internationally are just really, really high. And, so, we have this arrangement where it’s a lot cheaper, more like domestic shipping, it just takes longer and take more than three weeks. So, the international cutoff date for shipping Christmas Boxes in time for Christmas will be the 2nd of December, which is a Monday. So, just a few days from now. Of course, shipping domestically inside the United States, it’s no problem. So, we’ve got…got time there as long as supplies last. In this year’s Christmas Box is one of my very favorites that we’ve ever done because I think it centers us in the journey of a year, the rhythm of a year. And, so, the God of Your Story, this new daily resource that really is the heart, the essence of the Daily Audio Bible in book form, in written form is in the box. So, a signed first edition copy of the God of Your Story is in the box but also our new Daily Audio Bible Journal 2.0…I can…I mean…we do throughout the year talk about writing things down, and especially when we see that mimicked in the Scriptures, but I can’t tell you how important it is to write things down, especially things that…that are like insights that you have received from the Holy Spirit through his word…like as you’re moving through the Scriptures. It’s crazy how you can have something that actually is like a missing puzzle piece in your life snap into place and then after lunch, you’re like, “what was that again?” But it was like so important, and then it’s gone. But when we write these things down, they’re there, and we can go back through a year of these kinds of insights and transformations in our lives and review these things and lock them in. So, I guess the best the best way I can say it is, if you feel God speaking to you, take notes. And, so, we have the new Daily Audio Bible Journal 2.0 in the Christmas Box this year for next year’s journey. Also, some of our most popular Global Campfire items from the new Global Campfire line of resources that we released just a couple months ago. So, the Global Campfire Daily Audio Bible candle is in the Christmas Box and worked hard to get this candle to smell like campfire so that it evokes the community that we share, the Global Campfire. So, Global Campfire candle is in the box. Two of the Gobal Campfire stickers, five of the Global Campfire postcards, in a nice…nice little plastic wrap to keep them safe. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2019, which…well…has Daily Audio Bible 2019 on it and our word for the year which has been “Maintain” is in the Christmas box. The Global Campfire pop socket for your phone or tablet device is in the Christmas box. 20 of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019 and their envelopes, those are in the box as well as your choice of our Windfarm DAB blend coffee, fresh roast, it will be freshly roasted and sent to you or your choice of our boutique tea, whichever you prefer. So, it’s a great Christmas Box. It’s available now in the Daily Audio Bible Shop at dailyaudiobible.com or you can get to the Shop in the Daily Audio Bible app by pushshig…pressing the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. And I can’t thank you enough for your partnership as we move into toward the end of the year. So, there’s a link on the homepage. If using you’re using the 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.

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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 Daily Audio Bible family today is November 20th and can I just say Rachel from Pennsylvania and Ben, you guys made my day. I was listening to community prayer from November 2nd and you were praying, oh my goodness, for the devil to get out of two boys heads and having voices. It is such a beautiful fresh breath of air to just listen to Ben praying. Yes, telling the devil to get out right now. I smiled all day. I can replay that prayer over and over again. Oh. Jesus said let them…let the little kids come to me. Yes. For the kingdom of God is for as such the faith of the little kids. I love this community because a lot of parents encourage their kids to come to Jesus. And it’s so beautiful when you’re here even the little kids who are calling in and praying for their friends and praying for their parents and praying for even other members of this community. Can we continue to pray for little generation to continue loving Jesus? So, Rachel I just want to say thank you for calling and for involving your little kids to also pray. Oh. I know Jesus heart is so smiling. Thank you so much. I just wanted to call and say thank you. Daily Audio Bible family this Alfio calling from Delaware. Make it a great day. Bye-bye.

Eliab, David’s brother this is Jesse’s oldest son burned with anger at David’s question and asked him why he’d come. Why don’t you just leave now go finish up those chores? Why is it that you came here and left those few sheep of yours? King David said, I’m not afraid. He went and told Saul that he was going to go and make things right. He said no, you’re just a boy I must tell you the truth you are no match for this giant who’s been trained up from his youth. David said his father sheep I have kept safe from both lion and bear. When they were up against me, I caught them by the hair. God gave back the lamb to me out of the lion’s jaws. My God who delivered me from both bear and the Lions paws, my God will do the same again. This victory will be mine. __ the living God some circumcised philistine. Saul said go ahead and try if you think you can. David knew the Lord would give Goliath into his hands. __ to give you some for protection that will shelter you from harm. Why don’t you go ahead and try my armor on? David tried to wear it, but he had to take it off. He said I’m just not used to that and went to look for some rocks. Five smooth stones he spotted shining on the ground. Stuck four in his shepherd’s pouch and in his sling, slung one around. My name is Diana Blake Davis. I have metastatic breast cancer that’s metastasized to my brain. I’m stage IV. I’m 57 but I have two autistic boys 19 and 21. God has provided everything for us. So, we need prayer and what you just heard was from Jewels of the Bible. And I took the Bible line by line and I pulled out the stories and I made them rhyme only because Brian, I’ve been listening to you every single day for 12 years and I love you forever.

Hi, Desperately Running to Jesus it’s never too late to build a relationship with our Creator and the moniker you chose tells me that you have a great mindset now. 15 years ago, I was 54 and I finally apologized to God for my sins and bad choices. I found a church that taught me how to build a relationship with Jesus. I joined a life group and met people that became the friends who…who cared about me. Six years ago, I heard about DAB and this community and the podcast that family…the Daily Audio Bible and Facebook which…where people encourage, inspire and taught me about God and other people, myself, my family. What I know is this, that thanking God and praising God every day is an essential thing to do. Asking God for guidance in everything you do is essential as well. And listening for the voice in your head that says do or don’t do what you’re about to do and volunteering in your church and or in your community will change you in wonderful ways. I am praying for you.

[singing begins] give thanks with a grateful heart give thanks [singing ends]. Hi everybody it’s Candace from Oregon. I just want to encourage you all to start listing all the things you’re thankful for. Our world is trying to drag us down, the enemy is trying to drag us and we’re thinking just about anything else except what were thankful for. Oh Lord I thank You for health, I thank You for the country that I live in. I thank You for faithful servants who keep our lives just filled with blessing Lord. I thank You for the pastors in all our churches. I pray that You’ll be with them and help them to surrender themselves completely to Your Holy Spirit as they lead Your bride, as they bring our attention and our focus back to You. Lord, thank You for Your word and that Brian Hardin reads this to us every day 365 days of the year and how it is transforming our lives. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord for everything that You are doing. You are a good and gracious God, beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words. Thank You for the sunrise, the sunset, the moon and the starry night. We love You Lord. We love You. We love You back. Candace from Oregon.

Hi everybody it’s Lisa the Encourager just calling to say hello to everyone. I’ve missed calling in and talking to everyone and praying for everyone, but I promise you I am still listening and I’m still praying for you. As you call in your prayers I’m praying on the sidelines. But I wanted to call in today to encourage Margo because when you called in Margo your prayer request and your message that you left, it just seemed like you were really and a sad spot since your son left and I just wanted to let you know that I am praying for you and holding you up high in my mind as far as everything you’ve given up. You left Australia and went to Africa and just…now you’re in a missions and given up so much of your life. And I just am so impressed with everything that you’ve done, and you’ve done it all for the Lord. And just don’t ever forget that because God is gonna reward you for eternity. And, so, what you’ve given up temporarily on this earth God is gonna reward you tenfold in heaven one day. And I’m so envious of everything that you’ve done for the Lord and hope that I will be able to do half as much. So, also wanted to encourage everyone too. I decided to buy the God of Your Story for our…my pastor. I’m going to surprise him and give it to him for Christmas. So, I just wanted to encourage everybody to maybe think about doing that too. And maybe if not your pastor then at least someone this Christmas. Just surprise them with that gift and ask God who you should bless with the God of Your Story and I think that would be a wonderful gift for anyone at Christmas. All right. Love you so much. Bye-bye.

[singing starts] How deep the father’s love for us. How vast beyond all measure. That He should give His only son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain our searing Loss the father tells His __. As who’s which now the chosen one bring Mary’s sons to glory [singing stops]. Good morning everybody. I greet you my Daily Audio Bible family. I’m a Dr. Kamari and I’ve been listening to Daily Audio Bible for about two years now and it has been such a blessing. And today I just want to encourage those who are perhaps going through a period of suffering whether it’s sickness, whether it’s loss, whatever it might be I want you to be encouraged that you can find healing in the wounds of Jesus. And it’s such a paradox. How can something which was broken for us produce healing and totalness and wholeness? But indeed, that is the mystery of His love. And I pray that His love overwhelms you wherever you are. I pray that even in your suffering you will learn to suffer well and by that I mean that you will know you will suffer well because you know that your suffering produces __ and perseverance, endurance, these qualities that cannot come about unless we go through to know that God is. Sometimes you will go through heartbreaks and know that He’s a healer and the mender of the brokenhearted. So, I lift you all up to the Lord and I thank you for your lives.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday November 27, 2019 (NIV)

Daniel 4

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream about a Tree

[a]King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

“Peace and prosperity to you!

“I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me.

How great are his signs,
how powerful his wonders!
His kingdom will last forever,
his rule through all generations.

[b]“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living in my palace in comfort and prosperity. But one night I had a dream that frightened me; I saw visions that terrified me as I lay in my bed. So I issued an order calling in all the wise men of Babylon, so they could tell me what my dream meant. When all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers,[c] and fortune-tellers came in, I told them the dream, but they could not tell me what it meant. At last Daniel came in before me, and I told him the dream. (He was named Belteshazzar after my god, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him.)

“I said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that no mystery is too great for you to solve. Now tell me what my dream means.

10 “‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth. 11 The tree grew very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 12 It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree.

13 “‘Then as I lay there dreaming, I saw a messenger,[d] a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 The messenger shouted,

“Cut down the tree and lop off its branches!
Shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit!
Chase the wild animals from its shade
and the birds from its branches.
15 But leave the stump and the roots in the ground,
bound with a band of iron and bronze
and surrounded by tender grass.
Now let him be drenched with the dew of heaven,
and let him live with the wild animals among the plants of the field.
16 For seven periods of time,
let him have the mind of a wild animal
instead of the mind of a human.
17 For this has been decreed by the messengers[e];
it is commanded by the holy ones,
so that everyone may know
that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.
He gives them to anyone he chooses—
even to the lowliest of people.”

18 “‘Belteshazzar, that was the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, had. Now tell me what it means, for none of the wise men of my kingdom can do so. But you can tell me because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

Daniel Explains the Dream

19 “Upon hearing this, Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar) was overcome for a time, frightened by the meaning of the dream. Then the king said to him, ‘Belteshazzar, don’t be alarmed by the dream and what it means.’

“Belteshazzar replied, ‘I wish the events foreshadowed in this dream would happen to your enemies, my lord, and not to you! 20 The tree you saw was growing very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 21 It had fresh green leaves and was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. 22 That tree, Your Majesty, is you. For you have grown strong and great; your greatness reaches up to heaven, and your rule to the ends of the earth.

23 “‘Then you saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, “Cut down the tree and destroy it. But leave the stump and the roots in the ground, bound with a band of iron and bronze and surrounded by tender grass. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven. Let him live with the animals of the field for seven periods of time.”

24 “‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. 25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. 26 But the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules.

27 “‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’

The Dream’s Fulfillment

28 “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

31 “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. 32 You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’

33 “That same hour the judgment was fulfilled, and Nebuchadnezzar was driven from human society. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven. He lived this way until his hair was as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.

Nebuchadnezzar Praises God

34 “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever.

His rule is everlasting,
and his kingdom is eternal.
35 All the people of the earth
are nothing compared to him.
He does as he pleases
among the angels of heaven
and among the people of the earth.
No one can stop him or say to him,
‘What do you mean by doing these things?’

36 “When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before.

37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud.”

Footnotes:

  1. 4:1 Verses 4:1-3 are numbered 3:31-33 in Aramaic text.
  2. 4:4 Verses 4:4-37 are numbered 4:1-34 in Aramaic text.
  3. 4:7 Or Chaldeans.
  4. 4:13 Aramaic a watcher; also in 4:23.
  5. 4:17 Aramaic the watchers.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


2 Peter 1

Greetings from Peter

This letter is from Simon[a] Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.

I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness[b] of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Growing in Faith

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

10 So, dear brothers and sisters,[c] work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Paying Attention to Scripture

12 Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. 13 And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.[d] 14 For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life,[e] 15 so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone.

16 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes 17 when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”[f] 18 We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

19 Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines[g] in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,[h] 21 or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:1a Greek Simeon.
  2. 1:1b Or to you in the righteousness.
  3. 1:10 Greek brothers.
  4. 1:13 Greek as long as I am in this tent [or tabernacle].
  5. 1:14 Greek I must soon put off my tent [or tabernacle].
  6. 1:17 Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35.
  7. 1:19 Or rises.
  8. 1:20 Or is a matter of one’s own interpretation.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 119:97-112

Mem

97 Oh, how I love your instructions!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
for they are my constant guide.
99 Yes, I have more insight than my teachers,
for I am always thinking of your laws.
100 I am even wiser than my elders,
for I have kept your commandments.
101 I have refused to walk on any evil path,
so that I may remain obedient to your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your regulations,
for you have taught me well.
103 How sweet your words taste to me;
they are sweeter than honey.
104 Your commandments give me understanding;
no wonder I hate every false way of life.

Nun

105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I’ve promised it once, and I’ll promise it again:
I will obey your righteous regulations.
107 I have suffered much, O Lord;
restore my life again as you promised.
108 Lord, accept my offering of praise,
and teach me your regulations.
109 My life constantly hangs in the balance,
but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
110 The wicked have set their traps for me,
but I will not turn from your commandments.
111 Your laws are my treasure;
they are my heart’s delight.
112 I am determined to keep your decrees
to the very end.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 28:17-18

17 A murderer’s tormented conscience will drive him into the grave.
Don’t protect him!

18 The blameless will be rescued from harm,
but the crooked will be suddenly destroyed.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


11/26/2019 DAB Transcript

Daniel 2:24-3:30, 1 Peter 4:7-5:14, Psalms 119:81-96, Proverbs 28:15-16

Today is the 26th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. It’s great to be here with you today on my daughter and China’s birthday. So, happy birthday China over on Daily Audio Bible Chronological. China’s first married birthday. So, we’ve got a mark that moment. And now turning our attention toward the Scriptures, we began the book of Daniel yesterday. And, so we will continue forward in that journey today. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Daniel chapter 2 verse 24 through 3 verse 30.

Commentary:

Alright. So, we concluded first Peter today, the first letter written by Peter. And as we’ve been observing and just kinda mentioning as we’ve moved to this point in the Bible, the theme of endurance starts to really become very apparent in the New Testament and that theme ran all throughout Peter’s first letter. And, so, we’ve discussed this from…from various angles as we’ve moved through these writings, but let’s just recap as we head into a busy season in the year. But…but certainly this theme, this theme of endorphins isn’t gonna let up. So, let’s just understand…understand why. Why…why are all of these people writing these letters encouraging other people to endure? So, basically during the formative years of the church, it wasn’t illegal to be a follower of Jesus or in other words, a Christian in the Roman Empire. The Roman society was a polytheistic society. In other words, they believed in many gods, a pantheon of gods. So, for them, gods were everywhere, and they were involved in everything, all people’s activities. And people could worship whatever gods or goddesses they wanted to worship but there were the gods of the Empire, the ones that…that all the people believed were responsible for creating Rome and making it great. And, so, those gods, the gods of the Empire, they should be worshiped by all citizens and all immigrants inside the Empire. So, Christians wouldn’t do that, which immediately made them visible, immediately made them stand out, immediately brought up a lot of questions about them. Not so unlike what we we’re reading about Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego, right? And the great statute that they wouldn’t worship in the book of Daniel today. Now Hebrew people wouldn’t worship the gods of the Empire either, but they kinda had a past. Like, they were…they were tolerated because Judaism, the religion of the Hebrew people was a very exclusive, very ancient religion. So, although they were…were fairly marginalized in terms of the Empire, they were tolerated. And that’s what actually made an easier time of it at the beginning of the church because at the beginning of the church, Christianity, which is a term that was coined later was…was perceived as just a sect of the Jewish faith, was in other words, the Hebrew religion but specifically adhering to the teachings of a specific rabbi within that religion. So, for a while, the early believers in Jesus had the same kind of cover that the Hebrew people in general had religiously. But as the Jews continued to denounce Jesus and mount opposition to the teachings and the followers of Jesus and as Gentiles began flooding into the faith, forcing the early church to have this counsel, which fundamentally…fundamentally opened the doors for the Gentiles to come into the faith, but ostracized Christian people from…from Judaism, from the Hebrews. And you’ll remember because we explored this argument many times as we were working through the writings of Paul, right? The earliest Jewish believers had no intention of converting out of Judaism. Jesus was a Jew. He taught the law. He was a rabbi. They never understood Him as creating a new religion, but at the same time the Holy Spirit was falling on the Gentiles in droves. And, so, they couldn’t argue with God on this. So, it made them have to reframe what they thought that they knew. But even as they did a reframe and understood that God was saving the entire world…like anybody in the world could come to Jesus and find righteousness before God. The Hebrew people denounced that. So, all the sudden the Christian people following Jesus and don’t have the cover of this ancient Hebrew religion because the Hebrew people are denouncing them as well. And, so, then it’s expected that these people who are following Jesus…like “worship Jesus all you want but you’ve got to worship the gods of the Empire or it will become clear that you are against”, right, “you are against the Empire. You are anti-Roman if you aren’t willing to worship the gods that made Rome.” Okay. So, that’s the soup, right? Like that’s the cultural soup that we’re talking about here. So, we can see why believers in Jesus are starting to be forced to the margins, we can see why they are being pressured, we can see why they’re being blamed for all kinds of things. They’re like an easy scapegoat. So, we can see why these early writers of letters that have found their way into the New Testament would be encouraging the believers to endure, to stay true, to hold to the name of Jesus until the end, whatever that might mean, and why a letter like first Peter would be treasured in the New Testament. These early brothers and sisters who received this letter were in a struggle. They were being stereotyped. They were being marginalized and there was no voice. So, the only thing that they could do, like the only way they could fight back and resist this was to rise above it all and make sure that their lives were speaking louder than the things that were being said about them. And the kinds of things that were being spread about the early believers, I mean, if we heard those things said about somebody, we would not be eager or excited to go find out what the fuss is about. We would stay away from it. I mean, like, just as just…just as a small example, because believers called themselves brothers and sisters, people who are observing this are like, “how? How? You don’t even know each other. Like, you’re not in the same family, you don’t even know each other, you are not blood related in any way. You call each other brothers and sisters when you just…when you first meet each other.” This was odd in the culture. And because the believers would meet together and share a meal there were all kinds of wacky thoughts about what happens at those meals with this brothers and sisters who just meet each other and then have these incestuous relationships inside their strange cultic practices. Like, this is the kind of stuff that was being spread around. So, you start hearing that enough about a certain people group and you want to stay away from them. And, so, people were staying away from them. They were getting more and more marginalized then they were getting picked on, right? Persecuted. So, that’s why this theme of endurance comes up, and why it has stood the test of time. I mean, because few of us are gonna to have to endure as the early believers did in our lifetimes probably. But if somebody had to stay true…that’s the thing…somebody had to stay true. We may live in a time inside of a culture where we don’t really have to think about this type of persecution or this type of marginalization, but it’s still happening to people, it’s still happening to people all over the world, and it’s still happening…happening to brothers and sisters, believers in Jesus all over the world. And somebody had to stay true. If these letters had been passed around and…and in our earliest brothers and sisters had not stayed true, we probably wouldn’t be here. Like, our faith was handed down to us by the few who chose to stay true, to endure, to overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, their witness. They stayed true and bore witness in the world to the gospel, even though in some cases…in many cases it cost them their lives. That’s why we’re here. That’s how we got here. We’re called to be the same. We’re called to do the same. So, let’s invite the Holy Spirit even as…as we’re moving into a deeper…into a very busy week and beginning a very busy season. Let’s invite God to speak into the areas of life that we’re looking at and the only way through is going to be endurance. I dislike endurance as much as everyone else. I don’t sign up to endure and yet I am learning that the Scriptures are asking of us that we stop labeling it as something that we have to avoid and understand that it’s something that we have to embrace. It’s part of it. It’s part of the process of life. And, so, I know that we’re looking at things in our lives that there…like…we can avoid it as long as possible, but eventually we’re gonna have to dive in and walk through it and endure it because that’s the only way forward. We’re gonna have to remember that we can thrust into it and confused about it the whole time or we can actively participate in it knowing that we will not be abandoned, we will not be left alone. We are in this together. As Peter told us, our brothers and sisters are going through the same kind of things all over the world. We’re in this together. We are not alone. This is not purposeless. This is the path to freedom. What if you found out that the narrow path that leads to life included endurance, that it was a necessary skill to walk that path because it is?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We don’t like to endure and sometimes when we’re forced to, we realize how weak we are. And yet the resistance is what makes us strong. So, we’re moving into some busy days, we’re moving into a busy season. There’s plenty out in front of us, but this team that You bring up for us each year and staying true, of overcoming by the blood of heaven and the word of our testimony of enduring until the end, well, it's…it’s here for a reason and we need to know it and we need to embrace it. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit into this theme, into this idea, into reframing and rewiring what we think about endurance because we’re normally doing everything possible to avoid it, as opposed to embracing as a part of the story. So, come Holy Spirit we pray. Into all of this we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

And I just thought, well, it’s China’s birthday so let’s do this. So, Black Friday, right, is this Friday and I mean…I am getting every…like I wake up in the morning and I’m like oh my gosh…just to dig through all of these emails for Black Friday sales. And I always start with, like, “how did I get on this list?” But okay. So, I’m assuming that that’s what’s happening for you too. And yeah that’s just…it’s been Black November, which is the first time I’ve actually seen that. Nevertheless, every year around this time we gather resources from within the Daily Audio Bible and create a Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box and have a Daily Audio Bible family Christmas. And normally that’s something that we would just announce Friday because it seems like Friday’s the day that the holiday season actually like it’s upon us. The only problem is that that really restricts our cutoff date for international shipments. It is extraordinarily expensive to ship internationally, but we’ve worked out this thing with FedEx where it’s about…it’s roughly the same as domestic. It just takes a lot longer. It can take 21 or more days. So, we’re adding a couple of days and announcing it today. The Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019 is available now. They usually go fast but it’s available now. The International Cutoff date is this coming Monday, December 2nd. So…so, get them while…while you can. And this year’s Christmas Box is different…well…they’re all different. This one’s different than any other one ever because we’ve picked some of the most popular items from this new Global Campfire line of resources that we have. So, in this year’s Christmas Box is a copy of this new resource, the God of Your Story that we’ve been talking about. This one is a signed first edition copy. I was out at the warehouse in Colorado a couple weeks ago and set up a table and signed Box after Box full of these and I just remembered how much I love this book. I love how it feels, I love how it looks, I love how it represents who we are as a community to the world. And, so, I enjoyed that time. So, first edition signed copy of the God of Your Story is in the Christmas Box. Also, our new Daily Audio Bible Journal 2.0 is in the Box. Your choice of our Windfarm Daily Audio Bible blend whole bean coffee or our boutique tea, your choice whether you’re a tea or coffee drinker. We also have a pack of 20 Christmas cards, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019 are included in the Christmas Box. And I haven’t talked about those yet. You can also get those separately in the daily audio Bible Shop in the Christmas section. We…we create these, every year. They’re a beautiful touch point, they’re beautiful cards. This year is no different. It’s a beautiful winter Christmas setting. We create these, every year because they’re a great opportunity for you to invite those in your life that you love and care about to take the journey through the Scriptures with you, but they’re not like an advertisement card. It’s a Christmas card. So, it doesn’t advertise the Daily Audio Bible. The only place it says Daily Audio Bible on it is on the very back, like where you would read Hallmark or whatever. But they are beautiful, they come with matching envelopes and they’re five bucks. So, pretty hard to get Christmas cards like that for five bucks, but this is a great opportunity to hand write an invitation and invite your friends and family on the journey with you next year. So, those are in the Christmas Box. Also, the Daily Audio Bible annual Christmas ornament that is only ever in the Christmas Box. 2019’s edition with our word for the year, “Maintain” printed on it is also in the Christmas Box. I am a little early because I have mine on my tree mow. I have all the different years on my tree now and I love that. I…I can, you know, be sitting just kind of winding down for the night, have the Christmas lights on, everything is peaceful and quiet, look at a tree, and see those bulbs and remember all of the faces and voices and all of the life that those bulbs represent. Like, a whole year in the Bible together is what each one of those represents. So, this year’s Christmas bulb is also in the Christmas Box. The very popular Daily Audio Bible candle that we worked really hard with a perfumer to get smelling like a campfire, because it’s a Global Campfire candle is included in the Christmas Box as well as the very popular Daily Audio Bible Global Campfire pop socket for your phone or tablet device. That’s in there as well. A pack of five of the Global Campfire postcards are included and they’re in a nice little plastic container. They’re fantastic for certainly…they’re very, very visual, they’re very colorful. So, they stand out if you leave them somewhere, but they’re also beautiful for framing, which is something I plan to do during the holiday season. So, a pack of those are included, as well as two of the Global Campfire stickers. So, it is a big box, it’s packed all the way full of these resources and for the first hundred and fifty, the first hundred fifty we’ll also be including one of the Daily Audio Bible Black Wing pencils. So, those are a Black Wing pencil with Daily Audio Bible written on the side. We did those last year and we had…we had some left over…about 150 left over. So, we’re gonna put them in this year’s Christmas Box for the..for the early birds. So, that is the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019. It is available now in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Just go to dailyaudiobible.com and click on Shop at the top or if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app just push the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and you can get to the shop from there, and they are available now.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we move our way toward the end of the year then I thank you humbly and profoundly. Words…yeah…sometimes there are things that words can’t say. Like  you try and try and try say all kinds of different ways, but the gratitude that is my heart for the fact that we are still here doing what we’re doing every single day as a community around the world, that there are those of us that are hungry for this, there are those of us that are actually looking for deep and fundamental and irreversible transformation in our lives through the Scriptures, ahhhh….that is…that is….yeah…words fail. So, if that has been meaningful to you then thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the 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, or you can press the Hotline button, the little red button at the top of the app and just start sharing.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday November 26, 2019 (NIV)

Daniel 2:24-3:30

Daniel Interprets the Dream

24 Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”

25 Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, “I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream!”

26 The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”

27 Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.

29 “While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. 30 And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.

31 “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight. 32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. 34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain,[a] but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. 35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

36 “That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. 38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.

39 “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. 40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. 41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. 42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. 43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.

44 “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. 45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”

Nebuchadnezzar Rewards Daniel

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.”

48 Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men. 49 At Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king’s court.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Gold Statue

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide[b] and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then he sent messages to the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials to come to the dedication of the statue he had set up. So all these officials[c] came and stood before the statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments,[d] bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”

So at the sound of the musical instruments,[e] all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

But some of the astrologers[f] went to the king and informed on the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! 10 You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue when they hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments. 11 That decree also states that those who refuse to obey must be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.”

13 Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, 14 Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? 15 I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments.[g] But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”

16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. 18 But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

The Blazing Furnace

19 Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes, and other garments. 22 And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. 23 So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames.

24 But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied.

25 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god[h]!”

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. 27 Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!”

30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.

Footnotes:

  1. 2:34 As in Greek version (see also 2:45); Hebrew lacks from a mountain.
  2. 3:1 Aramaic 60 cubits [27 meters] tall and 6 cubits [2.7 meters] wide.
  3. 3:3 Aramaic the high officers, officials, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the provincial officials.
  4. 3:5 The identification of some of these musical instruments is uncertain.
  5. 3:7 Aramaic the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, and other musical instruments.
  6. 3:8 Aramaic Chaldeans.
  7. 3:15 Aramaic the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments.
  8. 3:25 Aramaic like a son of the gods.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


1 Peter 4:7-5:14

The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Suffering for Being a Christian

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God[a] rests upon you.[b] 15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! 17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? 18 And also,

“If the righteous are barely saved,
what will happen to godless sinners?”[c]

19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

Advice for Elders and Young Men

And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”[d]

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers[e] all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 11 All power to him forever! Amen.

Peter’s Final Greetings

12 I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas,[f] whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

13 Your sister church here in Babylon[g] sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet each other with a kiss of love.

Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.

Footnotes:

  1. 4:14a Or for the glory of God, which is his Spirit.
  2. 4:14b Some manuscripts add On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
  3. 4:18 Prov 11:31 (Greek version).
  4. 5:5 Prov 3:34 (Greek version).
  5. 5:9 Greek your brotherhood.
  6. 5:12 Greek Silvanus.
  7. 5:13 Greek The elect one in Babylon. Babylon was probably symbolic for Rome.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 119:81-96

Kaph

81 I am worn out waiting for your rescue,
but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes are straining to see your promises come true.
When will you comfort me?
83 I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke,
but I have not forgotten to obey your decrees.
84 How long must I wait?
When will you punish those who persecute me?
85 These arrogant people who hate your instructions
have dug deep pits to trap me.
86 All your commands are trustworthy.
Protect me from those who hunt me down without cause.
87 They almost finished me off,
but I refused to abandon your commandments.
88 In your unfailing love, spare my life;
then I can continue to obey your laws.

Lamedh

89 Your eternal word, O Lord,
stands firm in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness extends to every generation,
as enduring as the earth you created.
91 Your regulations remain true to this day,
for everything serves your plans.
92 If your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy,
I would have died in my misery.
93 I will never forget your commandments,
for by them you give me life.
94 I am yours; rescue me!
For I have worked hard at obeying your commandments.
95 Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me,
I will quietly keep my mind on your laws.
96 Even perfection has its limits,
but your commands have no limit.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 28:15-16

15 A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor
as a roaring lion or an attacking bear.

16 A ruler with no understanding will oppress his people,
but one who hates corruption will have a long life.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.