01/22/2020 DAB Transcript

Genesis 44:1-45:28, Matthew 14:13-36, Psalms 18:37-50, Proverbs 4:11-13

Today is the 22nd day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today. Wow! 22 days into this year already. Land is like a faint…faint little line on the horizon behind us and we are…we are sailing toward the end of our first month together, and it’s exciting to be on this journey. So, let's…let’s go ahead and take that next step. We’ve been reading from the English Standard Version this week, which is what we’ll continue to do and we have been working in the Old Testament through the story of Joseph and…and his brothers who…who had sold him into slavery when he was younger. Genesis chapter 44 and 45 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so we are rounding the corner on this story that we’ve been tracking with for several days now, the story of Joseph and his adventure to Egypt, an adventure that he wasn’t planning on taking but is family, his brothers have sold him into slavery and we’ve kind of recapped all of that. Today, Joseph reveals who he is to his brothers who are speechless and dumbfounded. A similar reaction happens in…in Jacob’s life when he finds out that his son Joseph is still alive. He’s dumbfounded. And interesting thing is Joseph’s posture through all of this, he was shrewd and cunning, in other words, he wasn’t stupid about this. He observed once he knew that his family was before him, observed to discern their hearts before revealing himself and once he does, it’s just a breathtaking scene. It’s just such a beautiful reunion. And the words of Joseph are beautiful man. I mean God didn’t make Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery. That was an act of evil that they chose to do. But Joseph recognized and we hear from his own lips, “God was in it from the beginning. He brought me here to save you. He brought me here to save many.” And certainly, Joseph could have that perspective after he had been restored from his ordeal but as we read the story of Joseph it seems as if he has this perspective, this unwavering trust in God in all things throughout the story. And, so, Joseph’s story is one in which he was able to face surprisingly difficult circumstances, but was not unmoored in his faith, was not estranged from God because of it. Rather, he clung to God as the only hope there was. And one of the things that we see in this story is that difficulties are part of it, right? Challenges are part of the experience of being a human being among other human beings and our brokenness is on full display as much as we try to hide it. What we need to settle into is an awareness or the understanding that these difficulties, these challenges, they are not purposeless, they are leading somewhere and they’re part of it. And one of the things obstacles and challenge and difficulty does for us is to truly expose our hearts, even if just for ourselves because we can immediately see when we head into a difficult where our heart is positioned toward God. Are we angry? Are we let down? Are we frustrated? Or are we clinging as if there is no other hope? Because there is no other hope.

And we get into the book of Matthew and we have this story today of Peter walking on the water, right? And we see more examples of Jesus withdrawing, right? Trying to find solitary quiet serenity. We see this a lot in Jesus life, and we look at it and we know it and He’s the son of God and all that but we don’t look at it as an example for our own lives usually. You know, we’re just living in a world at warp speed and sort the idea of actually setting aside some time to do nothing but be quiet, still before God feels like a waste of time. And yet, we’re looking at Jesus the model, the Savior repeatedly, regularly doing exactly this. So, he’s having some quiet time and He sends His friends across the lake in a boat. And, of course, they’re experienced fishermen and this storm comes up. And, so, He goes walking out to them on the water. Here’s the interesting thing. Everybody is freaked out because they think they’re seeing a ghost. And I raise my hand and say, “hey. If I’m out on the Sea of Galilee in the dark and the wind is blowing and some figure is out on the waves, probably I’m gonna do the same thing, probably I’m going to as the Bible says, cry out in fear.” Jesus is like, “hold up, hold up, it’s me, it’s me. Don’t be afraid. Take heart. Everything’s gonna be okay.” So, Peter’s like, “Lord if its You then command me to come out to you on the water.” And, so, Jesus is like, “alright. Come…come on.” Peter got out of the boat. This is a super famous story and it’s been looked at from so many perspectives I don’t know that I can bring anything new to the story other than that Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water and came to Jesus. And so, he’s walking on the water coming to Jesus and then he looks around and sees the wind and all this stuff and he starts to sink and he’s like, “Lord save me.” And, so, we know, like all the parallels that we can make into that story. But Jesus reaches for him and it’s so interesting. I’ve always been told the story, “oh you of little faith, why did you doubt”, which condemns me for all of my doubt but it’s almost as if Jesus is saying, like, “you did it. You were doing it. Why did you doubt. You could have kept doing it.” And, so, this…as the story goes, they get to Gennesaret and many people come to be healed by Jesus and all they do is touch His clothes in order to be healed. So, we have to wonder about this miracle worker, Jesus. Is the miraculous something Jesus is doing to people or is the miraculous a result of the faith of a human collaborating with the power and presence of God? I mean, what sort of power does cotton conduct? What kind of superpower was Jesus clothes hooked up to that when they just touched them this healing power transmitted through the fabric and into their bodies and lives? Well, at least according to the Bible, that agent is faith and Jesus keeps saying to people, “go in peace, your faith has made you well.” Faith is an irreplaceable, absolutely, completely irreplaceable component in our spiritual journey. It was Joseph’s faith in God that got him through the…the ordeal. It was Peter’s faith that had him walking on water. It was people’s faith that had them touching Jesus clothes and becoming healed. So, pay attention to that fact. Watch what we’re pointing at. Like watch this as we continue the journey listening to Jesus and following Matthew after Him in His ministry

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. We thank You for the Scriptures, we thank You for the stories that share of Your ministry upon this earth. And it brings You so near and we are so grateful to have these words and to be able to allow them inside of us, into our lives, transforming us. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to continually disrupt if that’s what’s necessary, comfort if that’s what’s necessary, but lead us into the truth, that we might have eyes to see and ears to hear. We pray this in Your name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

Reminding you of the Daily Audio Bible Shop and the resources that are available there for this journey, including the God of Your Story, which is a great way to double…double dip as far as just kind of immersing into the territory that we’re going through each day. Obviously, we read it every day and we talk about it every day. But the God of Your Story is a written form of exploring the Scriptures that we read every day. And, so, what gets said here is probably going to be different than what was written down, so it allows for depth.

Also, a resource called Promise Land, which is a film resource. It’s actually about 70 short films, none of them are really over five minutes, just a couple of minutes long, but they’re…they’re like a drop in into so many of the biblical…biblical locations that we’ll encounter this year. It’s like over the course of several seasons in Israel we…we filmed these from the ground and from…from the air. And, so, it’s a real comprehensive but quick look at the important locations in the Bible. Works as a great companion, especially when we’re reading through, you know, through stories, a battle or of victory or, you know, a city, or what…whatever’s happening to know that that’s a real place and you can go look at…at the ruins of the place, what’s going on there and…and see it, draws it…draws it near. So, that’s a resource that’s available in the Shop as well. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage, and I thank you with all of my heart 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, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top 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:

Good afternoon Harold in St. Louis I just heard your call and I want you to know that hearing your voice and you calling in warms my heart and it put a smile on my face. Welcome to the DAB. You’re now part of the family. Okay Harold, God bless you and thank you for calling in. You made my day. Bye-bye.

Hello Brian and all of the listeners here on this podcast my name is Cassie and I live in northeast Ohio and I am a newbie to this group. I saw a friend post about it on Facebook at the beginning of the year and I thought, what a better way to start my year than this daily podcast. I drive an hour to work one way every day. So, it’s perfect for me and I just really can’t say enough great things about this whole podcast and the commentary and the prayers and the encouragement. Brian, you have an amazing way of reading and telling these stories. I’m 33 years old but I find myself like a little kid wanting to read ahead and find out what happens next. Some of these stories I’ve never really maybe paid attention to or known the full story and I’m just really captivated by the way you read, and it’s really been awesome. Anyway, I just wanted to thank everybody and it’s been really neat to hear everyone calling in and people all over the world and different accents and I was just really encouraged by the gentleman that called in that said he was not a believer but he was listening to this and it was encouraging him. And I just want to say if you’re listening to this, I’m praying for you and I think that that’s awesome that you’re listening to this podcast. So, hope everyone has a great day. Love you guys.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Esther calling from Nashville Tennessee. I haven’t called in a long time. I…I just wanted to call and ask prayers for my heart. I’ve been just feeling very anxious the last few mornings. And I’ll wake up and just feel this sort of stabbing pain in my chest and just going through the entire day just very anxious and I know that the Bible says be not anxious for anything but in everything with thanksgiving and supplication let your requests be known unto God. And I think my heart knows that, but my mind sometimes needs reminding. So, if you could pray for me that God would give me the mind of Christ and I would be strong and praise in him at my workplace and just in my day-to-day life and as I prepare for med school and all of that and I would be very grateful. Thank you.

Hello, good morning, just doing a quick call for Harold from St. Louis. Just wanted to say as I was listening to you call in and share your…your story about training for a marathon and trying to find something to calm you or, you know, to make you feel peaceful and happening upon the Daily Audio Bible and not being a believer and how it’s blessed you even though you may not at this point in your life, you know, maybe know God directly. I just smiled kind of merrily because it’s a blessing you and that it’s bringing upon you peace and probably energy when you run and…and it’s just kind of making you feel at rest, which, you know, what I personally know all comes from God. But it’s amazing how…how the word of God as a way to…has a way of reaching out and creating emotions in everyone who hears it. So, I just love this testimony and…and I love that you’ve kind of given me an idea of…of ways to calm maybe people…folks who aren’t necessarily particularly looking at it for…to memorize Scripture or, oh…I gotta get through the Bible this year” but mostly to just kinda have something to inspire them or make them feel good or uplift them or give them energy. So, thank you for that and, you know, Harold I am praying for you and definitely wishing you great luck in your marathon and have a wonderful day.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Kim in recovery. I just wanted to pray for Michael. I heard you Michael and I just want to say that Lord, I just want to thank You for Michael’s heart for his mom as Diana is going through this struggle of her life Lord that she has this brain tumor and Michael I just heard Your love and Your caring for Your mother and Lord I just want to encourage Michael to just continue to be with his mother and show her that love that he feels in his heart, that we know that we can depend on You Lord to comfort us when we most not know what to do. And Lord, pray that You’ll give him the strength to be that strong guiding light for his mom Lord and that we know that she’s safe in Your arms Lord. And we pray that You’ll…You’ll be with the doctors and be with the nurses and be with the people that are surrounding Diana and her…her family and especially Michael Lord, that sometimes You feel helpless in these situations, but Lord we know that he is strong. Michael, thank You for Your strength, thank You for Your love for Your mother. This will help her get through the toughest part of her life. And we pray for complete healing Lord and we know You can do miracles Lord. Bless this family and we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Father God, I’m heartbroken right now of all the situations that are going on. I heard yesterday of someone who gave up the fight and has left her friends and her family behind. And Lord, I lift up to You all of those who are in that deep darkness where they can’t see a way out, all those who have a mountain before them that they can’t see past. Lord, please be shining Your light and Your love into their lives. Please be surrounding them with people who can help them. I think this person who knew You and who had those people, that she didn’t ask for help or she couldn’t ask for help. And I pray Lord that You would help us to ask for help, to reach out, soften our hearts Lord so that we are ready to reach a hand towards You, to reach a hand towards those around us who are waiting and so, so willing to help us through. Thank You, Lord that You love us. Thank You that You are sovereign, and we can trust You to provide. Thank You for this day. And thank You for the manner that You’ve provided for us for this day. Lord we want to be ready for tomorrow and to store things up but that’s not how You work. You’ll provide stuff for us tomorrow as well. And we have so many burdens that were carrying. Please Lord, help us to give all of those burdens to You and entrust them to You so that we may take up Your burden for its easy light. Thank You that we can trust You. Thank You that You love us. Thank You that Your sovereign. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Shirley and southeastern Washington I was listening to Daily Audio Bible this is January 16th and I want to say thank you to Brian and Joe for this ministry. I was listening to the prayer requests and I was just praying for Diana Davis who had called, who needs healing, she has brain cancer and just as I was doing that her son Michael called. And, so, Michael I just want to let you know it’s Shirley in southeastern Washington has been praying since I heard your mom’s prayer request and praying for you and your brother. And I’m joining you in prayer for your prayer request, that God gives her more time and that she’ll be completely healed. There is nothing impossible with God. So, I’m joining you Michael in this prayer. God’s will be done. And I pray that you guys will keep us posted as to what is going on and just thank you. Just know that I’m praying with you. God bless you all. Thank you DAB family for being here and praying for…for one another. I have a prayer request also, that you pray for healing in my body also in my husband’s. Nothing is impossible with God. Thank you. God bless. Bye.