Hosea 10:1-14:9, Jude 1:1-25, Psalms 127:1-5, Proverbs 29:15-17
Today is the 8th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy and an honor to be here with you today as we do what we do every day, take the next step forward together in the Scriptures as we continue our journey toward the end of the year. And I’ve been mentioning things are gonna speed up because we’re moving to use shorter texts. Today is no different. We will conclude the book of Hosea today in the Old Testament, and then when we get to the New Testament, we will read in its entirety the letter of Jude and we’ll talk about that when we get there. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Hosea chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 today.
Introduction to the book of Jude:
Okay, now that we are at our New Testament portion for the day, as I mentioned at the beginning, we’re gonna read the entire letter of Jude, which is pretty short, 25 versus. And it wasn’t too long ago that we were reading first and second Peter and we may notice as scholars have noticed that second Peter and Jude are fairly similar. And it…it’s thought that second Peter is using Jude as a source because of the similarities. It’s not unlike the synoptic Gospels sharing material and stories. So, if this is a true theory, then Jude’s letter would then predate second Peter and that would put the letter somewhere maybe in the mid-60s A.D. And that’s not the case if the similarities are just like coincidental. Then the letter could go all the way to somewhere near the end of Jude’s life and that would prop probably be somewhere around 80 A.D. And that’s fascinating and interesting and certainly trying to place these letters and these texts in…in their proper place historically, that’s definitely a discipline worth achieving, but there’s probably a more important question, at least for us who are about to read this. Who is Jude? Who is this person? And that has been a question that has been raised throughout the history of the church. It’s a question that continues to be examined among scholars to this day. If we move toward what has been the consensus then the majority of traditional scholars agree that the Jew who wrote this letter was the brother of James and the brother of Jesus, which would most definitely give the letter credibility and be a valid explanation for why it was preserved, but we need to remember like James, Jude, the brother of Jesus didn’t believe, like he wasn’t an apostle. He didn’t follow along under Jesus teachings. Even though they were brothers he didn’t believe in Jesus during his ministry. But with a short letter like this there are still some mysteries like, who was this supposed to be read by? Who is this writing to in the first place? Jude says he is writing to all who have been called by God the Father who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. So, like that’s everybody who believes ever. And, so, we can include ourselves as recipients of this letter, but if the similarities between second Peter and Jude are true, then it’s than likely that Jude was writing to the same people, possibly that Peter was writing to, which would be the displaced believers who were fleeing persecution and marginalization, both because of their faith in Jesus, but also those who had been dispersed into exile in generations past. Oddly, it looks like Jude was wanting to send these people an entirely different letter. I mean, he says that. We’ll see that in a minute. But an issue has arisen and he…he writes to address it. And the issue was this false teaching about grace. And what Jude is addressing isn’t something that hasn’t been addressed in other letters. Basically, that the teaching about grace is that you receive it as a gift. You haven’t merited it right. It’s unmerited favor that is bestowed upon you by God. And that has always been a core understanding of our Christian faith, right? You can’t earn it, it’s a gift, it’s grace. So, when we’re reading through the letters like James and the letters of Peter and letters of John we see there’s an understanding that if you receive this gift, it should transform you and it should transform the way you live your life. And your faith then should be evident in the things that you do. What Jude is addressing here is kind of the opposite of that spectrum, which is basically an understanding that if this grace has been bestowed upon me freely and there is nothing that I can do to ever live into it or live up to it are earn and it’s given to me as a gift and nobody can take it away from me then I can do whatever I want with whoever I want whenever I want to do it because sin isn’t a category of my life anymore. God has taken it away so now I can do whatever I want. And Jude is forcefully opposing this concept. Okay, there’s one more thing to note about Jude and it’s really not about the text or who Jude was, or when this was or anything like that, it’s where it lies in the New Testament. We’re gonna read this entire letter of Jude and this is kind of the end of the letters. And, so, when we conclude our reading today then and…and check it off in the app then we will see, we have concluded another portion of the Bible, the general letters and we will get the general letters badge, which is cool. But that’s where we are. We have one more text in the New Testament that will take us to the end of the year and that is a book known as Revelation. And there are letters actually contained within the book of Revelation from Jesus and we’ll read those. But as a category we’re moving into apocalyptic literature and prophecy. And, so, as we read through and conclude Jude today, we will be making the final turn into the final book in the New Testament that will…will carry us forward. So, let’s dive in and read in its entirety the letter of Jude.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your word. And as we have spoken out loud so many times, we are grateful for the way that it transforms the way we think about things. And when we think about things differently, when we change our minds about things then we realize that we have done exactly what you have invited us into, repentance. Repentance is changing our minds and moving in another direction. And your word continually pulls us forward into all truth and we are grateful for that, deeply, deeply grateful for that. And, so, as we continue through these final weeks of this year and as the pace increases in our lives, but the pace increases in the Bible, we ask for attentiveness for focus for openness. Sometimes when things get so busy it’s like we can’t handle another thing and so we start to shut down. And this is one place that we need to remain open, one place that is set aside as a place in community to work through the Scriptures certainly, but as a place that is a constant, an oasis, a place that we can go to to reorient ourselves from the chaos of life. And, so, help us to keep this day by day step-by-step rhythm as we move into the final weeks of the year we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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So, a couple things Christmas related. Every year we have an annual Christmas party together. It’s virtual. It’s beautiful, it’s moving. I have never attended one of these little virtual parties that…that I don’t end up in tears just hearing everybody. And, so, now is the time. And, so, you are invited to call in your holiday greetings to the community that you’ve been spending this year with. And you do that by using the prayer line or the Hotline in the app. So, this is a rare thing. Normally the rule is just one call…one call a day, not multiple stacks calls, but this is one time where you can call and then call back if you have a prayer request. The only rule about this really is do not combine a prayer request with a holiday greeting in the same call or that…it will get nowhere. So, if you have a prayer request, certainly call it in and or use the Hotline and send it in. And if you have a holiday greeting then do the same but just don’t combine them. And we’ll do this for a week. We’ll collect these for a week and compile them together and then Jill and I normally get together and have a conversation about the year, the year that we’re leaving and about our sense of the year that we’re going into next year and just talk a little bit about that. And then we hear from each other, all of the greetings from all over the world and we are just immediately reminded of this thing that we got to be a part of, this beautiful thing called the Daily Audio Bible around the Global Campfire. So, today’s the day we start. You can call in your holiday greetings, like I said, using the telephone 877-942-4253, or using the Hotline button in the app. And I am particularly looking forward to our Christmas gathering this year and it always brings joy, always. And joy…you know we’ve had to contend for joy this year, haven’t we? So, just to have this dumped into our lap, just as we collectively come together and celebrate the wonder of the Christmas season is beautiful. So, send in your holiday greetings for the next week and we’ll be working to put it together.
And then the other thing is, it’s obviously Christmas time. And, so, I’ve been talking about the Daily Audio Bible Shop as an option, as a place to go and shop and look around. You may find some really wonderful things, unique things to give away. You also might find some stuff that you…you want, to remind you of the journey that you’ve been on. So, we have journals. We have developed a journal that…well…it’s my daily Journal. So, we’ve developed these journals. We have wonderful things to write with, resources to take the journey deeper, video wise or…or in book form. The Global Campfire line, just all kinds of stuff. So, check it out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. If you spend $40 or more in the Shop, we will send along with your order the Daily Audio Bible ornament for 2020 with our words for the year which were “vision” and “settle”. And, so, take advantage of that.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in the waning days of the year, I cannot possibly thank you enough. I’ve tried…I’ve tried all the vocabulary words that mean grateful and that mean awe and that mean wonder and that mean surprise. And all those things are true on a daily basis. Isn’t it surprising and shocking that we live in a time that we could get together like this and even taken for granted? That we could be all over the world working our way day by day step-by-step through the Bible and that we would know each other by voice, that we would know each other by heart and that…that we live in a time that we could even take that for granted? It’s amazing. But the only reason it exists is that it exists because we’re community and we’re in it together. And, so, if life has been brought into your life this year or if light has shown and shined into the darkness, if it’s just been an oasis, a place to go in the middle of very uncertain chaos then thank you for your partnership. There is 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 the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.
And, as always, if you have a prayer request or holiday greeting or an encouragement you can hit the hot line button in the app, or you can dial 877-942-4253.
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:
Hi, DABbers it is December 3rd and I wanted to call in because of two things. First of all, to thank you all over the last several weeks. Probably since the end of October I have been putting on the Prayer Wall and on Facebook and had called in about my dad who was ill and we didn’t know if you really understood salvation and we were praying he would make it to his 95th birthday which is Monday. And he did and was surrounded by family and it was beautiful. And he went to be with the Lord last evening, December 2nd. And I just wanted to thank you all for your prayers. And I also wanted to take time to let Brian know how meaningful today’s reading was of first John and specifically his message afterward and the application of it. It was so special to me and it’s what we need to hear for such a time as this. So, thank you DABbers and God bless you and thanks for your prayers for my dad. God was good, is good, and he gave us that hope that we wanted. Thank you. God bless.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible it’s Laura Lee in Boynton Beach. It’s 5 AM on December 4th. Getting ready for work and feasting on the word of God in the 16th year of feasting on the word of God. Thank you, Lord for the voices of the Hardin family who have fed us faithfully. I want to just tell you how thankful and grateful I am for all of you. I love you all. From the very beginning I’ve heard the people join the family and grow and rejoice and weep and praise and sing. And I had such a wonderful Thanksgiving in Savannah going back to the holy ground, the altar which I was saved on and the people who were part of that salvation. And I want to welcome some new listeners who are ending the year right so they might start the year right. So, David Browning invited his grandchildren Bahavia and Kyle. Welcome Bahavia and Kyle. I invited Berena from Savannah and she is listening and double DABbing already. And iErashum is another woman I work with, but she is a new believer, my little girl and she is listening as well. She loves China. So, help us feast on your word Lord. I thank you for the new believe …
Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is John from Bethlehem Pennsylvania I hope you’re you doing great today. It is the 4th December, welcome to the last…the last few days of the year. What an amazing year it’s been. Harold, I heard your prayer today on the prayer line for your son Jonathan who had been admitted to the hospital. You’d mentioned that he’s diabetic and they took a look at his foot and the MRI showed that they may have to amputate. I just want you to know that yes, I am praying for you, and I’m praying for your son for healthiness for courage for strength for full and for God’s comfort, that he shows up in a real way for him. Sky and Rebecca or SkyBecca, team SkyBecca, with a van named rhino. That’s so cool. Man you guys are amazing. And, yeah, we are tent dwellers here aren’t we? Thank you so much for your call. You could hear your voice, you know, break a little bit when…when you are talking about how your luster possessions and that you’re moving and you’re moving away from the family but you’re bringing light life and hope into people in the world. And, so, God bless you guys as you travel. And, yeah, I’m thinking about you and praying for you as you move on and praying for your health and well-being. And God’s Smile, kiss kiss everybody…you are just a hoot. I love you and man the work that you’re doing in Maria’s life. Man, how God uses us for His glory. You’re bringing Maria closer and closer to Jesus. And, you know, the impact that that’s gonna have on the world and on the kingdom of God. You truly are loving, and I just thank you so much for setting such a great example. Well…I love you family. I’m gonna go. My time’s running out. And know that you’re being thought of and loved. Brian, I love you buddy. Talk to you soon. Bye.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Mac from Pennsylvania and my heart was moved for Harold from St. Louis who called in today about his son Jonathan. I’m a father too and I faced some health issues with my…with my son, both of my sons actually from time to time but from a father to a father Harold I am praying for your son Jonathan, that the Lord will save his foot and ultimately __ him of the issues he’s facing with his diabetes. And I’m just praying for him. I’ll be praying for him throughout the day today whenever I have time and whenever I can think about it. And just from a father to a father from our father Harold I’m praying for your son for you for strength.
Hello DABer’s my name is Stefon I’m from Sydney Australia it is the 4th of December and I just want to say I’ve been listening for quite some time. And Brian and Jill really thank you so much for putting together this program here. My wife and I have come almost to the end point where we’ve never read the whole Bible but because of this program we’ve been able to do that. So, yes we…we run sometimes behind. I think at one point I was almost a month and ½ behind but little bit by little bit, you know. Playing em’ one after another sometimes it connects a story really well and you see a greater picture. But I just want to say thank you so much and I’m coming to find that listening to everyone’s prayers prayer requests and how much we care for one another as really made me feel like I really am part of a Global Campfire. So, it’s hot and sunny outside at the moment in Sydney. and, yeah, there’s so many souls. We’re such a multiculturally society and city over here down under. So, just pray everyone that the word continues to spread. We’re so blessed that we don’t have to be on a mission to see other countries. They’re all here in this one place. How amazing is our God that he’s brought the whole world to a place to like Island like Australia? So, hello everyone and thanks for listening to this…this request. God bless. Bye.