Isaiah 60:1-62:5, Philippians 1:27-2:18, Psalms 72:1-20, Proverbs 24:11-12
Today is the 30th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you as we cross through the center of a week together and bring to the conclusion another one of our months together. Today is the final day of the third quarter of the year. Ahh man…that’s where we are. One quarter of the year to go after this and I pray that it’s glorious in all of our lives. But let’s dive in and finish this quarter well, finish this month well. We’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week. Isaiah chapter 60 verse 1 through 62 verse 5.
Commentary:
Okay. So, as we end a month and a quarter, we find ourselves in the book of Philippians, and Paul is speaking to his readers and essentially…well…first of all, telling them what he’s told everybody in his letters, “this is all going somewhere. Everything is happening for a purpose. We are headed somewhere good.” And then he invites them to get on the same page so that they can all go where this “somewhere good” is going. And, so, he tells them, “having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose, do nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but in humility considering one another better than yourselves each of you not looking out for your own interests, but also each of you for the interests of others.” And it would be easy enough for us to say, “well…I mean that’s kind of part of the Christian faith. That’s the posture. That’s…we all know that.” Well we…we have to live that though. Like, it doesn’t matter if we know it know it but don’t live it or do it. What’s the point? Well for Paul it's…it’s important to get on that same page because that’s the Jesus page. Like that’s the page we’re trying to get on. And, so, he says, “look, basically, look at Jesus. What I’m telling you is what He did. He was God”…well…I’ll just quote it…”who existing in the form of God did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped.” That right there is saying a mouthful, “but He emptied Himself by taking the form of a slave, by becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in the appearance like a man He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore”, and it’s because of this obedience that Paul is saying this, “therefore God exalted Him and graciously granted Him the name above every other name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, of those on earth, of those under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.” That’s where this is all going, and we go there, we follow that path, that narrow path that leads to life by becoming imitators of Christ. That’s a page we all need to be on. And Paul gives some words to what that looks like. And even as I was reading it just a minute ago, I was like, “wow, right here as we’re gonna go into the final quarter of the year, and it’s gonna be a roller coaster of a quarter of a year, it always is. It’s the fourth quarter of the year. So, it’s like major holidays like Christmas in the next quarter of the year, but there’s also domestic things here in the United States, like an election in the next quarter of the year. And that’s always fun. You know, it’s popcorn eating fun.” And, so, Paul’s words to the Philippians really ring true in the season that we are in. And, so, I quote Paul as…as we end our time together today. “Do all things without grumbling and disputing in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” I don’t know, could there be any better advice for going into this next season of our lives, this next season of the year, and this next season in the Scriptures?
Prayer:
Father we thank You. You remind us, always, You are continually bringing us back and orienting us to You and it happens almost every day because we need it. It’s crushing here in the swirl of everything that…that happens. It’s confusing here when we try to navigate on our own. It’s confusing here when we try to play by the rules of the cultures that we live in and its hard. And yet You are with us and it becomes less difficult when we step back and let go realizing You are the sovereign Lord and we are Your children and we are going somewhere good and it doesn’t matter what things look like at the moment, ultimately we are going somewhere good with You and we can access that spiritually now. We can live into that now. This isn’t something we have to wait for it’s something that we are transformed into and we are in process. And some days, we are more of a failure than a success and other days we are more of a success than a failure. And typically, that is very very much tied to how much we are paying attention, how much we are aware of Your presence and guidance in our lives. So, we confess we need You now more than we have ever needed You before and we need to pay attention and stay awake now more than we have ever had to before. You are inviting us into maturity. This…this season we’ve been in, this year that we’ve been in, it’s been a bit of a crucible, is refining us. We’re fighting to get through it as fast as we possibly can, but it is a refining time and You are purifying us and preparing us for what is yet out in front of us. And, so, we embrace that. We embrace it by stepping back, letting go of all the control mechanisms that we are trying to leverage to make life work. It just doesn’t work without You. And all we need is to be in Your presence and aware of it. And, so, that is the goal. That is the goal of this next quarter of the year, to be awake, to be alert, to stay completely aware of Your presence and Your guidance in our lives. Come Holy Spirit into that we pay. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here next month, which will be tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello Daily Audio Bible family I…I’m baking birthday cakes for my two grandchildren who were born a day apart and I’m listening to the prayer line and I’m just so grateful to God for the Daily Audio Bible, for Brian Hardin, for the way that he has been obedient to God’s calling on his life and all of the support and the beauty that his wife Jill has brought into women’s lives also and China, listening as a double DABber all the wisdom that she imparts every day and just the peace and love and beauty of her life that she…she speaks about. But it’s all of the voices on this prayer line that have healed me so greatly. And I want to thank Radiant Rachel. So, I’m sitting here making these cakes and I am kind of murmuring and complaining and grumpy at my husband because we had a friend show up at the door the other night with no mask on, no call ahead. And my husband goes…he says that the door…Ken you better not have COVID and then walks right out and starts talking to him. Meanwhile I’m thinking, what is going on? But this is the way our lives show up. And, so, all night long I spent frustrated at him and now this morning we prayed, and God is going to use it to break my husband free of the need to please people. And, so, I…I know God’s greater than the COVID, but God gave us a brain to use as well. He gave us His Spirit of wisdom so we gotta be wise as well. So, thank You God for your love. Thank You, Father God for people like radiant Rachel who call up and encourage us and bless us sometimes with our own words. How humbling is that? So, thank You Lord for Your love Your mercy and Your kindness and I lift each one of us up…up and pray that You would give us that spirit of encouragement and help us speak words of life and light into each other. In Jesus’ name.
Disappointments are many and sometimes they hurt quite a lot
and with time the pain may lessen but forgotten they’re not
because they’re based on dreams and fantasies that we create in our own mind
visions of what we believe will make everything just fine
but then disappointment enters in and we get shaken to the core
A shot of reality that’s impossible to ignore
we don’t get what we wanted but we lose what we’ve gotten
either way the dream is shattered and the future starts to look rotten
but sometimes we push on any way and stubbornly persist
trying to bend realities to our wills with the strength of our own fists
refusing to submit refusing to bow refusing to even entertain the possibility
that the disappointment just might be a blessing somehow
because God said that all things will work out for our good when we stay
focused on him
even through disappointments when the future looks grim
and God you also said you keep in perfect peace the mind stayed on you
so help us to truly live into those words stand both faithful and true
and help us to grow to the point where we can honestly say not my will father
but thy will be done
and to fully rule us and accept it that it’s you and not us that should always
be number one
for you said that every knee would bow and every tongue would eventually
confess that it is only your grace and mercy that allows us to be so abundantly
blessed
so help us to stay humble totally trusting in you
knowing that your words are both faithful and true
so that when disappointments come as often they will
we’ll have the strength and good sense to just hold on and be still
Hey, my brothers and sisters this is the Prodigal calling in. I’d like to take this time to thank Brian and his family for all the sacrifices and everything that they’ve done to be here today. I’ve been a rodeo clown at this rodeo for 15 years now and the changes have been amazing from iTunes reviews that said he had a creepy voice to where we could be lost without his voice every day, without our shepherd. It’s him. His service crash, just amazing stuff. His initiatives, the Wind Farm Café and all that sort of stuff that many of you new people don’t know. But Brian’s been trying everything God has sent him to help grow this community and resource this community. And, so, I’m grateful to have participated along the way and made friends, virtual friends anyway, along the way. And it’s so amazing. We had people who needed kidney replacements, Robert I think is name was. We had crazy Natasha from New York. We had I remember Tony first home, Blind Tony’s first poem. I remember when Slave of Jesus showed up on the scene and remember what a powerful prayer warrior Sinner was. He disappeared again. So, come back my friend. You were in inspiration to us all. I remember Biola’s first call. The memories along the way. Going to Israel Brian. I remember his…his trip to Rwanda. I remember the…the container…the shipping container he made into a school over in Africa. Just everything. God has…has just been divinely guiding him. And, so, if it weren’t for Brian we wouldn’t be here. And if you’re here it’s because you’re meant to be here, and you’re meant to listen to Brian’s word and get out of it every day. I’ve been getting different stuff every day for 15 years. And the Bible didn’t change, I changed. And that’s a beautiful thing. So, praying for you all. Praying for Brian and his family. And thankful for, incredibly thankful for all the gifts we been given. So, pray on and warrior on and you make it a great day. God bless.
Dear God, I want to lift up those who are having anxiety. I pray for the two anonymous callers who called in from Michigan who are just anxious about what’s going on in the world right now for safety for finances for their future. I pray for Drew who put in a prayer request to be able to trust people and for healing in his ear. He’s looking to have more people in his life but he’s having trouble trusting people. So, I just pray that the anxiety will go away. I pray for James the mighty warrior from Texas who is praying to stay on the path and Pelham who is praying for strength to stay on the path. I just pray that You will lift these people up and fill them with Your Holy Spirit so that they can reflect Your grace and Your mercy and Your love in their lives. I want to pray for those who are feeling overwhelmed right now. Please help us to stay prioritized to be able to filter through to get to what really needs to be done and not to worry about the rest. That everything that needs doing will get done in Your time Lord and that if we just give it to You that You will help to keep our eyes on You and to put You first in our lives. I also pray that You will just protect us from being guided in the wrong direction through things like the media. I pray for that little girl. Her mom called in and she’s being pulled in different directions through other family members and social media. I just pray that we will be a little filter in Your name. Amen.
Hello my Daily Audio Bible family I just listened…today’s Sunday 27th of September and I just listened to a recording from Tammy and Canada. Tammy you were talking about how you couldn’t…all the sudden you can’t sleep and your mental health is…is at stake physical health is…is at stake. I just cannot begin to imagine what you’re going through because I know when I don’t sleep properly for just one night the next day I feel like a zombie. So, to imagine you’ve been going through this for over a month now its…its worrying to be honest. And I really…I pray the good Lord will lift…will hold you in his arms. I lift you up and ask the good Lord to please quiet your heart and whatever it is that is causing this to please take it away and give you peace. And, yeah, I know you’re hanging in there and I know it’s difficult but I want you to please not give up. Keep fighting because it’s a battle. Keep fighting. And if you if you do want to talk to someone you can reach me lucia_obi@hereho.co.uk and I would love to speak to you or to at least chat with you. I’m calling from the UK and I pray that the God Lord be with you. God bless you my dear.
Hello, DABbers this message is for James the mighty warrior. I heard your message this morning and it just makes me so happy to hear that there’s someone like you out there so joyful and a DABber in Texas that I never knew about. You make it feel like family James and because of you I put away my fear of calling in and just said, you know what Lord I’m gonna pray for James because you give me love for him. And, so, you asked for prayer James and I want to pray and encourage you to trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. So, it’s already answered for your brother. You are mighty warrior and I’m your sister out here in Arizona. I love you and I love you all DABbers. Bless you.