Genesis 8:1-10:32, Matthew 4:12-25, Psalms 4:1-8, Proverbs 1:20-23
Today is the 4th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we launch forward into our first…well…workweek…workweek of the new year. For some of us this is the first day back in this brand-new year. And, so, you know, we’re settling back into the rhythm of things with a hope a great hope that this will be a year where we will mend. Last year was one for the books. And mending doesn’t necessarily mean returning to any kind of status quo, it just means a time to heal, a time to pursue the way forward by pursuing the narrow path that leads to life that Jesus will illuminate, will teach us about as we journey through the Gospels. So, it is a fantastic, it is a joy to be here with you today as we move forward. So, let’s get to it. We are reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. We have already talked about Genesis. We’ve talked about Matthew. We’ve talked about Psalms. Now this is the fourth day of the year. When we get to the Proverbs we’ll talk about the Proverbs and then we’ll be kind of moved into the books that we’re reading. But first, Genesis chapters 8, 9, and 10 today.
Introduction to the book of Proverbs:
Okay. This brings us to the book of Proverbs in our Proverbs reading today. And, so, we haven’t actually talked about the book of Proverbs yet to get moved into it, like we’re moving into this year. And, so, let’s talk about Proverbs. Proverbs is a book of wisdom. In fact, remember how we were talking about how the Bible is broken down, like we have Old Testament and New Testament, those are delineations and then within those delineations are subgroups, like the Torah or like the Gospels. So, Proverbs is the centerpiece of a section of the Scriptures known as the…the wisdom literature of the Bible. And, so, it’s, Proverbs, and then the others are Ecclesiastes and Job, and part of the Psalms. And wisdom literature is a genre. I mean there’s wisdom literature outside of the Bible. It’s a genre of literature. But this is the biblical wisdom literature at its intended to speak directly. It’s not like a narrative story where we’re kind of learning all the little twists and turns of how the story went. This is direct teaching. And although it can come in the form of a rhetorical question or a riddle or…or just a direct statement, its intended to speak directly to what it’s trying to teach. And, so, the Proverbs are invaluable, invaluable for our lives, like, truly. As we continue into the book of Proverbs wisdom will come forward and introduce herself, and she will introduce herself in the feminine voice. And she will tell us that she was with God in the beginning, that He used her. That she celebrated and danced with delight and joy at the creation of humanity and that she is here at every crossroads pointing the way if we will simply slow down and not blast through that intersection into some kind of brick wall and destroy ourselves. She’s there saying, “this is the way you should go. Not that one.” If we will simply listen to her. So, she has a valuable voice in our lives for this year and…and for the rest of our lives for that matter. And we should pay attention clearly and closely. In fact, at this point I would make you aware that this is the Daily Audio Bible, but there is the Daily Audio proverb. And it's…it’s like less than five minutes…about five minutes a day of pouring unfiltered wisdom right into your soul. If you keep that up, you’re going…and be…and heed the call…like heed her words…well…that’s the path of wisdom. That’s how we become wise. And, so, there is that resources. It’s like a vitamin…if this is the Daily Audio Bible and this is the meal then that’s the vitamin. And…and there’s also the Daily Audio Psalms, which is like just a couple minutes a day to just stay in this rhythm throughout the day because what we will see in the Bible is many many many rhythms established, because once we get into a rhythm then we have a repeatable process that is continually reminding us of who we are because it’s easy enough to forget. We get swept into other people’s conflicts, we get swept into other people’s gossip, we get swept into all kinds of things that aren’t us and we pick up offenses and carry them around and they’re not even ours. We forget our identity and yet we come here to be reminded each and every day with the rhythms of life who God is, who we are, where we are going. And, so, with that said let’s read from the Proverbs. We’ll read chapter 1 verses 20 through 23 today.
Prayer:
Father we thank You for that. We press into that. We make it a point. As we continue to sail out of the harbor and into the deep for this year, we make it a point to always pay attention and heed the voice of wisdom in our lives. We’re gonna need it and You have given it to us. It is there for us. It’s not hidden, it’s available to us. And, so, Father help us to listen to what she has to say and heed her counsel we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be familiar with it. Get connected there. The Prayer Wall is there. Yeah, just be familiar. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app and that is highly recommended for the year that we’re on for lots of reasons, but it helps us keep track of where we are and where we’re going. And as we move through the different sections of the Bible we receive, like achievement notifications that we’re making this progress - this is where we are, this is how far we’ve gone, this is the section we’re going through. We get these badges that show up and is just a much much more connected experience. So, check out the Daily Audio Bible app. It’s free wherever you get your apps. So, just search for Daily Audio Bible, and download the app and dive into this year.
Also reminding you that we have re-launched Daily Audio Bible kids and our son Ezekiel is in the driver seat there and doing such…such a great job. So proud of him. But it is a beautiful thing, to allow your children to experience. And this is a New Testament reading. So, it’s not long. It’s not beyond the attention span of a child. And to go through the Bible for kids with kids by kids, this is truly a beautiful thing. So, yeah, if you’ve got kids or grandkids check out the Daily Audio Bible Kids in Daily Audio Bible app and…and enjoy. It’s inspiring.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. It lives there. Thank you. Thank you for everyone who’s ever pressed that link. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.
And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app and share from there. It’s the little 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:
Happy new year Daily Audio Bible family this is Catherine calling from Maryland and I just wanted to offer a prayer for you Afia. I missed that you moved from Delaware to central California. So, good luck settling into your new area. And maybe that’s part of the feelings that you have. But God please be with Afia. Help him to know You in a new way this year in 2021 and to settle into his new place and to mend his relationships with You, with himself, with…with everyone around him and grow closer to You. And I just want to tell a little story of…of the word of the year. So, I was driving in my car and trying to remember what it was and I…the word in my mind came as “mind” and then I realized quickly that, “no it’s not mind its mend” and then I thought “how funny though that mind in the sort of old style of the word is to obey, right? To listen, to heed.” And we do have to mind God and God’s word and put our minds on God word…God’s word in order to mend for 2021. So, little change of vowel but…but the two kind of go together. So, I thought that was kind of an interesting little God breeze. Anyway, I love you family and look forward to spending 2021 with you and God bless Brian and Jill and the entire Hardin family. Amen.
Hello this is Ben Kramer and we are from Fort Wayne Indiana and I really like how…how you’re doing this and I think you’re doing a great job. I also pray that we all stay safe during Covid and my mommy does too, right? Right. I hope to listen to you guys tomorrow. Thanks.
Hi this is Stu Sutton from Southern California. I just want to pray a blessing over everyone as they embark on this one-year journey with the Daily Audio Bible. It is an incredible journey; one I’ve been fortunate to take for several years now. And I can’t tell you how important it is to be focused on the words. Don’t be distracted while you’re listening. Read along if you’re able to do that and to make this an important part of your day whether it’s how you start the day or how you and the day. It’s an incredible way to allow God’s word and the truth of God to come into your life and to give you perspective on each and every day. And I can’t say how much I am in complete awe and reverence for what Brian Hardin and his whole family has done here and to see over the years how it just keeps getting better and better and better. And it’s a testament to how living authentically by the word of God can be an incredible blessing. And, so, I wish that blessing and I pray that blessing upon everybody that’s taking this journey this year through the Daily Audio Bible in 2021. Thank you all and we have an incredible day, an incredible year together.
Good morning DAB family giving all praise glory and honor to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the head of my life. This is Walking in the Wilderness in Georgia. I am calling to say on January 5th it will be my one-year DAB anniversary. I have been blessed beyond measure’s for the person who gifted this app to me and I am so thankful for Brian, Jill, China, and the rest of the family and all those who take part into keeping this Daily Audio Bible going. I will officially start putting my log on the fire. This year has already started rough. Satan has tried but I will not give him any glory. I will still continue to praise, glorify, and worship my Lord and Savior for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the spirits of this world. So, I love you my DAB family and happy 2021. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Peace.
Hello Bob from Arizona I’m just calling after listening to the Christmas podcast actually even though this is New Year’s Day today. I just want to thank Brian and Jill for loving us. You have been used so mightily, so…so wonderfully by our Lord I am overwhelmed by the giving of certain people and you and your family come to mind. Brian today even in this New Year’s Day that we’re presently in, all things made new as you spoke of in your Christmas Day podcast. It was a wonderful teaching about that longing, that empty space still that we have. Yeah, it’s…it’s…it’s a wonderful thought and meditation to know that all things are becoming anew again and they will be made new by our Lord in His coming. We look forward to that. I look forward to that. I look forward so much to all evil being eliminated by the graciousness love of God. So, thank you. Thank you, Brian and Jill. And I pray that your year is prosperous, holy, blessed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.