Month: December 2020

Daniel 11:2-35, 1 John 3:7-24, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1

Today is the 3^rd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today. It is great to come in out of the storm of everything that…that goes on in a day and just exhale and just be here and let God’s words speak. So, it’s so good to be here with you today. And what we do here every day is pick up where we left off yesterday in this never-ending rhythm that allows the word of God, the Scriptures to speak into our lives. And, so, here we are to take the next step and the next step leads us back into the book of Daniel in the Old Testament today. Daniel chapter 11 versus 2 through 35. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there were a number of clarifications written down in the letter that we’re reading right now, first John. And a lot of times when we’re reading the letters…well…you may have noticed, as we’ve been reading these letters, there’s not like a whole lot of personal stuff going on, like “Aunt Mary’s doing fine. Uncle Joe broke his arm in a fall.” Like, there’s not that kinda stuff in here. The letters are pretty direct about what they’re saying. And a lot of times when there’s clarifications then we can assume that there was a question at some point that needed clarified, some kind of question had been raised, even if it was a proverbial question, even if the writer John here wanted to answer a question that hadn’t been asked just to simply help encourage the people. And a lot of times we can assume because these churches were spread out and communicated by letter. And, so, between letters a lot of things happen. Ironically, the clarification of the answers to the questions today are things we ask. So, let’s just go back through here and try to ask the question and then receive the answer from first John. So, the first one we encounter would be, “why was the son of God revealed?” And, so, from first John we read. “The son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the devil’s works. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin. Because His seed remains in him, he is not able to sin because he has been born of God.” Okay, and then moving deeper into this topic, the next question would be, “how can you tell the difference then? How can you tell the difference between God’s children and children of darkness?” And the answer, I’m reading from first John, again. “This is how God’s children and the Devils children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.” We could look at something like that and go, “that’s kinda harsh”, but the distinction of our love for one another is the foundational evidence that we are disciples of Jesus. If you will remember before his crucifixion at his last meal Jesus told His disciples, “a new commandment I give to you, that you will love one another as I have loved you.” This is a fundamental distinction of the body of Christ, which should bring a bit of conviction as we look at our own lives. What we are supposed to be doing is showing and modeling for the world how to love one another because if everyone loves one another as they love themselves, if everyone loves one another as Christ loved us the problems in the world go away. And yet we look inside of ourselves and see we’ve got work to do. It’s so easy for us to point out how somebody else isn’t loving their brother or sister and so difficult for us. We give ourselves such a pass for the ways that we behave sometimes. And like James said, it’s not right. It’s not right. Peter said similar things. John is saying similar things. Let’s move on and just kind of telegraph another question. John has been talking about holding on to the things that you were taught from the beginning. And, so, the question would be…well…remind me, what’s the message, what is the core message that we’ve heard from the beginning that we’re supposed to hold onto? And the answer…and again I’m reading from first John, “for this is the message you have heard from the beginning. We should love one another unlike Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous.” Okay. So, we move into all things here, all kinds of things here. The murder…the murder of Abel by Cain didn’t just happen at a whim. His deeds were evil according to first John. And, so, leading up to that murder what do we have? Things like envy, things like jealousy, things like comparison, things that lead us away from loving one another. These are the things that lead to worse and worse and worse things. What John is bringing out here, “the message that you heard at first is the message that you must love one another.” Okay, let’s move on to another question. How is it that we know God’s love? And I’m answering again by quoting first John. “This is how we have come to know love. He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world’s goods, and sees a fellow believer in need, but withholds compassion from him, how does God’s love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” Okay. So, we see the theme that’s arising here is the reminder that this whole thing does not work without love. I mean the fundamental commandments in the law in the Old Testament would be that we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, with everything that we are and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. The fundamental commandment of the New Testament coming from the lips of the Savior would be, “a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This is basically all John’s saying. He’s saying like, “this is the core. This is what you’ve heard from the beginning. This is the essence. This is the starting point.”  And very similarly to James, John is here saying, “look, you can say what you want to say. If it’s not borne out of new life it’s not true” or quoting him, “let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.” In other words, truly from our hearts we are putting ourselves into action the action of loving our brothers and sisters as Christ has loved us. Then John goes on to say like, “it’s in your love that you begin to know that you belong to the truth and that you are going where you’re supposed to go.” Like, “if you are loving your brothers and sisters as Christ loved you then you know you are on the right path.” John says it this way. “This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts and He knows all things.” John is referring to our love for one another, reassuring us that we are doing the right thing. And then last question from our reading today, if we’re holding on to what we heard from the beginning, what is the command of God, what are we supposed to be doing? And I answer again from John. “Now this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him and He in Him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.” So, again this all does boil down to loving one another and that love transforming us and that love compounding upon itself so that it grows, so that we walk around on this planet with the Spirit of Christ in us operating precisely as Jesus did. This is the goal. Christ-like is the goal, that Jesus came and this one man, the very image of God in human form, lived a life modeling how this is supposed to look. If everyone looked that way then the world would experience shalom, things as they were intended to be. This is what the body of Christ is supposed to be modeling. I guess I’m getting a little bit passionate here. I have plenty of work to do. I have plenty of work to do to but it’s not enough anymore to just say we have work to do. It’s actually time that we do the work because it’s time to move forward. I remember at the beginning of this year praying for vision and believing that we would see vision and we did. It was nothing like we intended it to look, but we were exposed, humanity was exposed. We have seen ourselves at our worst. We have seen things more clearly than we have seen maybe in decades. We see how things are. The thing is we can’t keep talking about how things are. The way forward from here is loving one another as Christ loved us. This is His command. There is no way forward without that element and we aren’t capable outside of the fact that we have the Spirit of Christ within us. I know we are at the beginning of this month. I know what this month represents. I know how crazy this month can get and I know that we’re going to blink our eyes three times and it’s going to be New Year’s Day. What we do right now through this season is gonna round out what this year meant for us and for our lives. And if love, actual genuine love coming forth from our very being and spilling out into the world isn’t a part of the equation we’re just gonna keep having the same kinds of years over and over and over. Maybe not with…maybe not with a virus, but the same circle. We will just keep making the same circle pointing out everyone else’s failures and never addressing the work that we must do to love one another as Christ loved us.

Prayer:

Father, this is kind of pointed and kind of hard but it’s kinda true. In fact, it is true. This is the leading edge of the work that we must do. We keep trying to correct all kinds of symptoms without actually dealing with the problem. And, so, we keep bandaiding things together just to get us down the road without dealing with the issue. So, Holy Spirit, come. Well up within us. We become aware of where You are leading us. And we pray most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry. And we humbly repent. In Your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are and direct what we will be, that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You, our God. We pray this in the name of Jesus. 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 tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi siblings this is your little sis, His little Cherry in Canada and I’m calling because I want to call so many times and I don’t and I’m not sure why. Well there are thousand reasons why, but I won’t get into all of that. But I am calling because I’ve decided that I need you guys and even if my messages don’t sound perfect, even if I’m not exactly happy with what I…what came out of my mouth I’m just gonna call when I feel I need to and I hope that’s okay. Of course, that’s okay, right? If it was anyone else, I would tell them it’s okay, call, we need you, we need you. And, so, I am calling not so much because you need me but because I need you. But anyway. Blah blah blah. I’m calling because tomorrow is the first day of Advent and I am celebrating Advent with all my heart this year. Advent is about waiting, preparing, expecting, salvation. And boy I don’t know about you, but I need that. If there was ever a year that begged for Advent, it’s 2020. So, I’m refocusing on waiting, waiting for salvation because that’s the part that I can really relate to. So, tomorrow as I deliberately observed the first Sunday of Advent I am really wholeheartedly waiting for salvation and I know that can only come from the Messiah.

Greetings Daily Audio Bible family this is Egbert from Belize by the way of California. I’m calling in for a young lady by the name of Asherah she’s a college student and the spirit of fear is evident in her life. I ask that you would pray for her, that she would be able to be healed from whatever traumatic circumstances she is facing, whether it’s friendship that she’s in need of. Asherah be advised that you do have a virtual family with the Daily Audio Bible family and we will pray for you. I will pray for you. And sometimes you may not hear your actual name, or you may not hear the prayers that others choose to pray for you. They may just do it based on hearing the request and not announce it. So, I’m calling to assure you that this virtual family do pray and that’s what we do through the Spirit of the living God in us and we know that in the times we’re living in that prayer is one of the most essential things that we have to combat the enemy. So, rest assured that you’re being prayed for and we pray for your families, other people, and other students that may be dealing with a similar situation. We love you. God bless you and we are sending you a virtual hug in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Hey everyone, this is Gigi from Gainesville and I just want to add my thanks to the Thanksgiving prayer list because everyone else has been so…been encouraging and thought you’d at least find my story amusing because I’ve had time. I’ve been having a hard time recording this. I keep like feeling so awkward. I don’t know why. So, I just want to say thanks to God for bringing me the man that I would fall in love with and get married to. I’ve just been this odd type of person I guess that never has felt like that was for me and…but I told God, you know, I’m open to your will and if you do want me to engage in such behavior you need to bring the person directly to my doorstep. And he did so. And it was strange. I mean as soon as I saw the person, Seth, it was just like unlike any other person and I treated him very differently. I was not very composed. And, so, my whole life has changed because, you know, the plans that I had were for a single woman, you know, maybe in the mission field or something but now I probably will have a family and he’s been just so wonderful and he fits in so perfectly. We live with my mom because actually my dad’s passing it’s just so much nicer to stay together and we’re…it’s just so encouraging to be altogether, and it’s so blessed and it’s just so many happy feelings and emotions. It’s great. And I just wanted to wish you guys all a happy new year. Very Christmas.

Hey Daily Audio Bible this is Hope from the Heartland. Listen every day love each one of you so much. Thank you for your voices and your prayers and for this ministry Brian of reading the word every day. And I’ve been meaning to call in for a while and just wasn’t sure what exactly to say so I thought I would just begin to pray for myself and others and…and leave the rest to God. Father God we just come before you today Lord just with hearts full of praise for who you are. God you are sovereign, and you are good. You’re our anchor in these hard days. You see us God as you saw Hagar in the desert and Lord we just lift our hearts to You. I pray You’d be with each one that is listening to this Lord and that You would just continue their work in their…Your work in their lives. And Lord I just lift up my own family today Lord. My husband has been out of work for a while and I’m not sure where he stands with You. The dynamics of our family are very very hard. Tomorrow I’m going to be starting some part-time work and Lord You know that my desire is just for my husband to walk with You and to find joy and for our family to have peace father in the midst of this chaos and that we would love You and serve You with all of our hearts for all of our days. And right now, Lord people are just not getting along. And I just want to have You be high and lifted up Lord. Please bless each member of the Daily Audio Bible. I love You. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Hi China, congratulations on finding out the…that the baby was a girl. And we are so happy for all your friends are missing you. They’re saying God bless. We pray that the child doesn’t miscarriage __ the child come to full term and be born a most healthy baby. We pray that she will be a great prophetess of God and close to God’s heart in influencing the children of God all over the world and all children of God and we also pray that she never be having __ problems and this thing that thing, you know, all the problems that she may have a perfectly happy life. God bless China harden and Ben. Bye everybody. It’s been lovely talking with you.

Daniel 9:1-11:1, 1 John 2:18-3:6, Psalms 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28

Today is the 2^nd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today. Always remember this day would’ve been my father’s birthday. I lost him a couple years before the Daily Audio Bible began, but I can assure you it’s on his back that I stand. I don’t think that I would be able to do what I’m doing, I don’t think I would be able to do this had it not been for his guidance, his fathering me. So, yeah, happy birthday dad. And, so, we are moving through our new week and getting settled into our new month. And, so, let’s put…put…put our foot forward and take the next step. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Today, Daniel chapter 9 verse 1 through 11 verse 1.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s talk about doubt for a second because that really is the…sort of the underpinning to what we read in first John in his letter today. People were falling away…were falling away from the church, walking away from their faith just kind of disappearing back into the fabric of the culture. This kind of thing doesn’t usually happen without spiritual doubt preceding it. And where does that come from? Like, where does the dissonance come from that would lead us into doubt? Typically, it's…it’s because we were expecting something that didn’t happen that caused us to question and caused us to doubt in our faith, like expectations went unmet. We prayed, we believed, we stood on promises, we lived into something that we thought God was going to come through on and then somehow it’s taken too long or it’s not happening the way that we envisioned it and then we…well…we reveal to ourselves what our expectations were, but it also leads us to discontent and doubt and then we can be let into deception quite easily and pretty soon…pretty soon we’re…we’re stepping away, we’re disappearing into the wall work…we’re walking away. And sometimes when these things happen people are estranged from God. Like, they don’t just go, “well that didn’t work.” They are angry at everyone who led them to God, and they are angry at God. They become anti-God or anti-Christ. This is what John is talking about. And I quote, “children. it is the last hour and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; however, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.” But why would they, whoever they are in…in this equation, why would they do that? Why would they depart? Why would they become anti-Christ? This is where we have to understand the context that we’re dealing with. The early church had an apocalyptic worldview and Jesus preached an apocalyptic message, as did Paul, as does the…basically the entire New Testament…have this apocalyptic worldview that everything is going somewhere, that…the world…that we are headed somewhere and that somewhere is ultimately good, but not before it’s bad. So, an understanding that everything is headed somewhere but it’s headed into a time of real turmoil and trouble upon the earth. Very, very difficult times. And then, as is the backdrop of the whole Bible, against all odds, then God comes through. It is only God that could save. It is only His mighty power. But this is what they’re looking at. The thing about it is they’re expecting this imminently. So, people come to faith as they are quickened and awakened by the Holy Spirit, they come to faith at the message of Jesus and they are told that His arrival and the restoration of all things and the establishment of the kingdom of God is imminent, this gonna happen very, very soon. So, people would come into the faith really understanding that they’re some of the first people to be in. This is like a…this is the ground floor opportunity in the kingdom of God, but instead of being respected and instead of things moving forward they instead received ridicule and they were persecuted and they were marginalized and it just…they didn’t get what they were expecting when they were expecting it. And this is why John would say something like what he has. “They…they never really were with us. If they really ever had been with us they would’ve stayed.” And, so, John basically aims his pen at an essential truth. So, he’s trying to cut through all of the different arguments and all the different reasons for why people do the things they do, just cut to the chase and tells us who…who is the liar if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This one is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the father. He who confesses the Son has the Father as well. So, John is clarifying this because some have fallen away and become antagonistic and become anti-Christ’s, but also because some were falling away because…because there was a swirl, a cauldron of different kinds of teachings beginning to emerge. And John wants to speak to both of those things because the end result is the same, people falling away from their faith, falling away from what they had been taught at the beginning. And, so, John writes words that are very hopeful and very encouraging as we face doubt, as we face deception, as we face anything that would draw us away. He says, “I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead His anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, remain in Him.

Prayer:

Father, we certainly can find ourselves in some of these types of categories. We have been a person who has walked away into rebellion before. We have been people who have walked into doubt before in an unhealthy way. We have at times allowed ourselves to feel separation or estrangement from you because of unmet expectations, as if you owe us something. So, the letter that we are reading here may have come from a couple of thousand years ago and the recipients of this letter may have been from far back in history and perhaps we don’t have the same culture that they did, but we…we certainly do find ourselves in the posture of heart that’s being spoken of. And, so, we acknowledge. We owe you everything. There is no way to repay you for your goodness and for the gift of eternal life that you’ve bestowed upon us. And, so, we ask Holy Spirit that you would teach us, that you would lead us into all truth, that we would hold true to what we were taught from the beginning. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And today…today I have my daughter China here in the studio to…to share some things that are going on around here, but just before we get to that. I want to play you something.

[China reading] This is the family history of Jesus Christ. He came from the family of David. David came from the family of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Sarah. Their mother was Tamar.

Brian - That is that is so profoundly sweet to me. That was more than half of China’s life ago on her first day of reading the Bible out loud and recording it, the first day of Daily Audio Bible kids. So, it has been a year for the record books this year 2020 and sitting here with China and just talking about all of the transitions because it’s been a hard year, but it’s also been a really beautiful year and some…in…in the midst of it all some really, really beautiful things have happened in our family. Well China got married a couple of years ago but this year she finds herself like Mary, with child and she’s laughing but she doesn’t it want it to be on the mic

China – I can’t believe you just compared me to the virgin Mary.

Brian – Yeah, with child. You find yourself with child at this time of year. And, so, that’s exciting because it’s Christmas time. But this coming spring it won’t be a pregnancy, it will be a baby, But without you having a baby, especially this being your first baby. Oh, and by the way, for those of you who are like not aware, this is baby girl

China – Yup.

Brain - This is a baby girl coming into our family and China was the only girl in a sea of boys growing up. And, so, to have another little girl running around in little dresses or whatever she’s gonna run around in. I don’t care check, She can run around in a diaper. That’ll be fine. But just to have her, that’s gonna be new life in our family and I’m really excited. But you have been at this now since 2009.

China – Yeah

Brain - I remember we went to India together. I think it was in 2009 and you were just a little girl. I remember that. And coming out of that was an inspiration to do Daily Audio Bible kids, even launch that. That was your vision. That’s something that you felt led to do, even as a child. And, so, we did. So we started and more than half of your life now has been spent reading the Bible and recording it every day just like your dear old dad.

China – Yeah

Brain - And we’ve been like at this every day for all of these years. But it’s unique for you because it really spans your childhood and you’ve been at this every single day. I don’t know anybody else like you…

China – Yeah

Brain - …in that regard, and I’m proud of that and I’m proud of how wise you’ve become over those years. You…you let the Bible be a part of your childhood and your teenage years. Now you are with child with a husband and about to become a mother, which brings tremendous transition. And, so, we were talking a couple of months ago about those transitions and what they would be like and what you felt like you were going to need to live into motherhood well. And we talked about it then, but now we’re talking about it now. And, so, I feel like I’m doing all the talking here, but China is going to step away and take a breather from the Daily…and believe me…it is a big responsibility when you have a seven day a week thing that never ends. And she’s been faithful to it, but in preparation for the new life in a whole new set of parameters that she…she’s never experienced before, it’s just best for her to get ready for motherhood. And, so, as we and this year 2020, China will be stepping away from Daily Audio Bible Chronological and taking a break to be a mom and in her place will be Jill, China’s moms goona kinda step into that that role and begin the daily broadcast for Daily Audio Bible Chronological, and I’m looking forward to seeing what that brings for her. But we wanted to honor you and we wanted to have you here. This is a good thing. We wanted to both be here saying this is…this is a good thing; this is what needs to happen. So, I just wonder, like 10 years, what’s it gonna be like the first day you don’t have to do this.

China – Gosh, I don’t even know like what looks like because it is…it’s…when something becomes daily, when it’s your routine and a legit hard-core routine that isn’t just your 30-day routine that becomes over a decade

Brian - Right.

China - It’s like ingrained into you. You can’t even try to put your head on the pillow at night and be like we do something and needed to do today. Like like it had to of been done. And so thinking about not doing it is like wow that’s that’s like a on wiring almost.

Brian - Yeah

China - But really around Thanksgiving every year we’d be praying about the word for next year and what the word’s supposed to look like direction wise. And I heard the Lord say probably mid-June or July when you started asking what 2021 looks like. And I was like, oh that’s kind of a jump. And just felt like I was supposed to come to a halt. That’s all I kept hearing and I was very confused by it and sat with it for about a month, was praying on it was nervous about it. Like it’s a single word. We have never heard that before and then about a month later found out I was pregnant and kinda was like, “ah okay”. Yeah, the Lord was preparing me for that and so once we announced to my parents, you and mom, we’d been having that conversation. Really what it comes down to is you can’t do both well. And I have no idea, you know, what it’s like to be pregnant and I don’t know what it’s like to have a newborn and I don’t know that I could do both well. And, so, instead of sucking at one thing or both things I think…well…really the Lord knew what was needed was to take a step back. And I don’t really know…I know there’s probably some questions that the community might have and here’s the only one that I think…I think I can answer right now, is that I actually don’t know when I will come back. That is a pretty big question that the Lord hasn’t answered yet but as soon as that is made clear we will let you guys know.

Brain – Absolutely. Well, I mean, that was one of my first questions when we were having this conversation

China – Naturally

Brian - Just to…well…just to plan and pray into and understand what you’re thinking and just really did seem best to…why nail that down right this second. It’s not necessary.

China – Yeah

Brian - This whole thing that we’ve been doing all of these years has been on faith basically

China – Yeah

Brian - Just being faithful every day, showing up every day. And, so, it’s best that you show up for your daughter first…

China – Yeah

Brain - …as this gift and let mom kind of step into this role. She’s equipped for it. It’s part of the rhythm of our family. And, so, super excited to see what that looks like and how that grows and morphs and becomes as…as she takes over for now.

China – Yeah

Brain - And then we’ll just…we’ll just see. The…the point is, you’re not gone.

China – Yeah. No. I have no intentions of like disappearing or vanishing where you hear that I’m pregnant and you never see or hear from me or been for our little one. It’s just necessary and this is I have to steward my family well in order to do that and not properly leave something every day. This is … This is the best and this is what the Lord has and it’s going to be good. So, it’s bittersweet and exciting. It’s all the things all the things.

Brain – Yeah. It’s all of the things. And, so, we should all just sit with all the things. And, so, mainly I just wanted you to come on with me. We started like this.

China – Yeah

Brain - On day 1 all of those years ago, sitting together like this reading the very very first one when you were just a little girl with a sweet little voice. Now you’re a grown woman and this has been the thread.

China – Yeah

Brian - Like since that day one you’ve never stopped. This has been the thread up until now. And, so, I want to honor that because I don’t know anybody else in the world like that, that’s been able to, through their childhood, record the Bible and I…I think that’s unique and a beautiful thing that has shaped your life. And, so, we’re just honoring you for all of these years and looking forward to years to come. I don’t know whether you gonna have one baby and then come back or whether you’re gonna build a whole family…we don’t know.

China – Yeah

Brian – and that’s fine. We just don’t know those things.

China – Yeah

Brian – And, so, we’re just gonna do what we’ve always done and just live by faith.

China – Yeah

Brian - And trust that any kind of major pivots that the Lord is gonna have us do, that He’s not gonna thrust them upon us, he’s gonna tell us

China – Yeah

Brian - And lead us as He always has throughout this ministry. And, so, thank you China. You have no idea…I mean you get told it and I get told it. You have no idea the hundreds of thousands of people that know your voice that have traveled the Bible together with you over these years. And, so, I remember…I mean…I got…after you announced you were pregnant I got a letter or not a letter…it was an email of somebody that was…I told you about it…they were sending it to you and it was somebody who had grown up with you…

China – Yeah

Brian - …that was right around your same age and who remembered being a kid with you going through the Bible as a kid and they were still around and still a part of keeping the rhythm of the Bible in their lives. So, you have made a profound difference in so many lives and now there’s one life, one life, your baby girl that you’re going to make an irreversible difference in her life. And, so, we’re excited to send you off to do that knowing that you're…you’re just down the road.

China – Yeah

Brian - And you’re not planning to be a stranger around here. And, so, when the babies born, we’re gonna hear about it and probably be able to hear about it right directly from you.

China – Yeah

Brain – And, so, we’re looking for to that. But we just wanted to make this announcement together, that this is…that this is the right thing.

China - Yeah

Brian - Transitions are always disruptive and not always easy but necessary

China – Yeah

Brain - And this is a necessary one so that you can focus on the things that really, really do need to be focused on because this is a first go around.

China – Yeah

Brian – And, so, super excited for that and super…super excited for the future, whatever that might be. We just want to honor and thank you for all of these years.

China - it’s a pleasure seriously such an honor and a pleasure to be in people’s headphones or cars or workplaces, schools, bedrooms, kitchens, all…all of that. You can’t take it lightly. If you did then you would be doing it for 10 years plus.

Brian – Yeah

China - so it’s a big deal.

Brian – Yeah

China - and I’m grateful

Brian – we’re all grateful and we thank you. And there are no goodbyes in the Daily Audio Bible. There’s only until we meet again’s. And with China you can be sure that you’ll meet her again down the path.

Prayer:

Father, we bless China today and we thank you for all that she has done to bring your spoken word to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that rhythm so that we know are not alone. That has been the mission you’ve given us and she has carried that mission with integrity and wisdom beyond her years the whole time. And, so, as we prepare to move into new seasons, we just pray your blessing upon her and Ben and upon this new baby girl that we just cannot wait to see. And I pray…pray over her from the Daily Audio Bible, I pray over her speaking for the community, but I pray over as her father that You would instruct her, that You would guide her, that you would protect her, that you would direct her and that she and Ben and their family be sealed in Christ all the days of their lives walking with you into the great unknown that is life and I pray this, we all pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Daniel 8:1-27, 1 John 2:1-17, Psalms 120:1-7, Proverbs 28:25-26

Today is the 1^st day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you as we collectively greet a new month, the final month of the year, the final leg of our journey, although this journey is a never ending one and…and should be as we find ourselves more and more in a relationship with the Scriptures instead of in some kind of obligatory devotional state that we never can quite get to. Nevertheless, it is December 1^st and here we are. We made it to the 12^th month of the year. I think that was…well…I don’t think that was ultimately questionable it was…just there’s been days and weeks during this year where it’s like, “what is going on?” We made it. We made it. Well done! Let’s dive into this month. Let’s finish strong as we move through it and prepare for the brand-new year. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Daniel chapter 8.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in first John, today we could probably notice that John, at least in his letters…well…at least in this letter because where just at the very first one…in this letter he doesn’t sound so dissimilar to James or so dissimilar to Peter and their letters in that you can claim faith but the evidence of like a faith filled life ends up being a transformed life otherwise you can say whatever you want. So, let me just quote a portion of…of what we read today. “The one who says, I have come to know Him, and yet doesn’t keep His commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in Him. The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked.” Alright, so we can see this is more than just giving lip service to a religious belief system. The evidence of your true faith in Christ is that Christ is within you, transforming you and that is evident. And, so, easy enough, easy enough here to step back and look at our own lives and ask what’s the evidence here? Like I am my own evidence to where my faith is at. So, John’s being direct because this is something to be direct about, this is foundational. Like, the goal of our faith is that we would be transformed into the likeness of Jesus, that our lives would be lived like Jesus, that we would be the hands and feet of Jesus, that we would be the body of Christ in this world. And that’s not just something you can say. Like, if everybody in the world just said, “yeah, I guess I believe in this Jesus. Okay, Jesus is now my Savior” and then just went about their lives and there was no transformation whatsoever nothing would happen in the world. Being Christlike isn’t something we say it’s something we are becoming. And that means we have to participate. We are in collaboration. Our role is to be aware, to be humble and to be surrendered to God’s will and ways and to obey and walk with Him. What a relief. If you’re walking with God, well, how much safer can that be? And being transformed isn’t just for us and it isn’t just so we have a better prayer life. Like everything…if we’re being transformed then everything is being touched. If you are being…if something is transformed, its very nature is altered into something else. That’s pretty big. We are not who we were at all. And this continuing transformation process with in us that we would also know as sanctification touches everything about us. So, picking up with John and putting it back into John’s words, “the one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him, but the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” So again, not dissimilar to James or Peter. Talk is cheap. You can say whatever you want, but if the words that you say are not consistent with the life that you live, then you’re not living true and you’re not living truthfully. And John says that this happens because, basically because our faith, our trust is put in the world instead of in Christ. And the world that…according to John is passing away. So, hope and trust are put into something that is not going to last, which is a theme that we have seen since we began reading the letters of the New Testament. So, we are at the beginning of the last month of the year and we have talked several times over the last couple months as we came into the last quarter of the year about finishing strong. And John…John is forthright today in giving us ways to look into that as we move toward the end of the year and finishing the year strong. Are our claims about our faith consistent with the lives we are living?

Prayer:

Father we acknowledge the question. It's…it’s been a fundamental question for a very, very long time and it exposes so much within us. And if we were honest, we…we would say sometimes…sometimes like the first half of the day can be great and the second half of the day can be awful, one hour can be fantastic another hour can be horrible. We have an ebb and flow and we are tossed around and pulled in all kinds of directions and this shows us how much we swing back and forth putting our trust in the world, putting our trust in You and trying to make both reconcile when they won’t ever. We were made for You. We were made for earth, but we are in this world and not of it. And, so, help us Lord. Expose the system of the world that is all around us and ubiquitous so that we can’t see it unless we’re focusing our full attention. We can’t do that. We’re or pulled in all kinds of directions. But You are the most-high God. You are the sovereign Lord, and You know who we are, and You love us, and You are Fathering us. And, so, we trust in You to lead us forward. And Father these areas where the things that we say and the things we do don’t match and are actually far away from each other, forgive us Lord. This has just exposed the sin. And help us as we repent to move toward wholeness. This is what a fully sanctified person will look like, whole, like Jesus, like the Savior. This is the goal and we want to be fully participating in it. So, come Holy Spirit and lead us as we move into the busiest time of the year. We hold on to You for dear life. We declare this and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, its where you…well…its home, it’s where you find out everything that’s going on around here.

It is indeed Christmas time around here, so I think that’s what’s going on pretty much everywhere now, in one form or another. For us this year we have the Daily Audio Bible Shop open and we’ve put as many things on sale as we can. We’re not doing a Christmas Box this year as I’ve explained. Normally that’s what we do but with just this year, and all the different lockdowns and protocols and everything that happens we’ve decided just to open up the store and say you can make your own, you can make your own box. Pick all of the things that you like, things you want to give away, things you want to keep for yourself. And if you spend $40 or more in the Daily Audio Bible Shop we will send you the 2020 Daily Audio Bible ornament. That’s something that we’ve had in the Christmas box all along. And, so, we’ll send that to you along with your order. We have…we have Global Campfire Klean Kanteens in stock right now although that’s probably going to not be the case over the next couple of days. But these are beautiful. The only time we’ve had them this year and so get them while you can. They will not last long, but they are…well…I mean there this double-walled food grade stainless steel constructed like thermos that I use literally every day of my life because it keeps my coffee warm all day. Like, I’m…I had to turn my head, but now I’m looking one that’s full of…of coffee right now. So, check them out while they last. Check out the other stuff that’s in the…in the DAB Shop, the like coffee. Like you can send a coffee subscription to somebody and have that land freshly roasted every month on their door. You can do that for yourself. Check…check out the tea. Check out the nitrogen filled portable windfarm coffee that we have in…in the steeped packaging. This is…it’s kind of like a coffee filter…kinda like a teabag, right, but only made out of coffee filter with the right amount of coffee inside of it then nitro sealed to get the oxygen out of it so it won’t deteriorate so that it will last and stay fresh and then you just crack that open, pop it into your coffee mug, pour hot water over it, and then just steep it, steep it for a couple minutes and you have really great coffee on the go. And most on the go coffee, well, at least in my experience isn’t all that great. So, check all of this out, as well as the Global Campfire line of resources and all of the different media resources, books, and videos and music. So, check it out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop.

One thing I should mention is shipping cutoffs. And for international…if you are outside of the United States then the…the shipping cutoff is today. And we’re just taking our queues trying to get things to arrive by Christmas. We have an arrangement with FedEx that allows us to ship pretty close to the price of domestic shipping. It just takes…it’s just a little bit more unpredictable because they then bring it…import it into the country and then send it through the regular mail of the country. And, so, at some point it ends up in the…in the local mail system and we have no control of and it’s just a lot cheaper. So, that cutoff is today. You can order internationally any day any time but if you’re hoping for something to arrive for Christmas time for Christmas day today would be the cutoff date for international. If you are domestic, if you are with in the United States we have a little bit of time and we’ll keep you posted there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage, and I thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership here at the end of the year. 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 encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the red button up at the top 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:

[singing starts] Dear Lord please help the people that are homeless to know You. Please help them to know You. Please help them to know that they’re just not through this by themselves. Please help them to get through this with Your help. Please help someone to feed them and to give them a little bit of food please help them to be happy to have food and closer to live. Amen [singing stops]. Hi I’m Jaylin.

Hi family it’s Carla Jean from Nevada I’ve been posting on the Facebook DAB friends page but I thought I’d call and let you know that my husband Marty not only has Covid, but he has diabetic ketoacidosis. His blood sugars are over 1500. He’s a in the ICU in Las Vegas and it doesn’t look good. He was diagnosed with coronavirus two weeks ago and didn’t want to go to the hospital. He had to diabetic seizures that me and my 15-year-old son had to bring him out of. Finally, we convinced him to go to the hospital on Tuesday. On Wednesday both Elisha and I started being symptomatic for coronavirus. Family, I need you to really pray okay? I love you all very much.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family my name is El and I’m from the UK and this is my first time calling and I’m just calling today because me and my husband are going through some fertility issues. We’ve been trying for a baby now for two years and it just doesn’t seem to be working out for us the way we had hoped. So, I just ask that you pray for us during this time. Pray that God will bless us with a baby and pray for our marriage as we go fertility struggles. And, yeah, just if you wouldn’t mind to keep us in your prayers. Thank you.

Hi DAB family it’s Friday, November 27^th and this is Peggy in California. I called a few weeks ago and asked for your prayers for my son Mason and I have felt the power of that in my conversations with him. I just thank you so very much and I ask that you would continue to pray for him because I think he’s on the brink of making some…a real positive move and he needs to be resolved and it’s going to be hard but I just pray that you would continue to reach out with me in that. And I also want to just lift up all the other adult children that have been mentioned in so many of the calls. It is definitely a struggle that many of us share. And, so, I want to lift up this prayer. Lord I pray that You will give all of the adult children of DAB family the discernment they need to understand the clear choices between good and evil and right and wrong, between what is life giving and life destroying and between a path into a secure and good future and a dead-end street. I pray that they will not allow the world to shape them but instead they will be shaped by You. I know that the influence of the enemy can come in so subtly as being nearly unobserved until it’s too late. But I pray that the Holy Spirit given wisdom and discernment they can be prepared for the enemy and anticipate his plans. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Bye family God bless you all.

Hi this is Pamela from Pennsylvania calling again. This time I just want to thank Brian and his family, China. And I never said anything, but congratulations on the beautiful baby that you’re welcoming into your family. I’m welcoming my third grandchild in February, which is a beautiful thing. My daughter’s a missionary and they’re…it’s just a wonderful loving family. But I wanted to thank Brian for the commentary and the long-standing wisdom in your words in understanding the Scriptures. It comes across very clear and I appreciate that very much because if anybody kept track of my other phone calls I did grow up in a very dysfunctional place and that led to some very dark places in my life. But…and actually all three of my children have gone to Christian school and because of the influence of the Christian school that my daughters went to I became saved and came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. So, I’m very thankful for that. And since that time little by little God has been putting the pieces back together in my life the way it was intended to be according to God. So, growing up in a dysfunctional environment I’m way behind all the people who grew up in a Christian environment and I’ve been scampering to catch up. Brian, I just appreciate your help. It’s making things make sense. So, I appreciate that. Thank you very much.