01/20/2021 DAB Transcript

Genesis 41:17-42:17, Matthew 13:24-46, Psalms 18:1-15, Proverbs 4:1-6

Today is the 20th day of January. Wow, it’s the 20th day of January already? Wow! So, we are two thirds of the way through the first month of the year. It shouldn’t be a surprise. We’ve done it day by day step-by-step, but sometimes you’re just like wow! It was like Christmas 10 minutes ago but here we are it’s the 20th of January and we are well on our way in establishing this rhythm of the year on this journey through the Scriptures. So, let’s dive into the book of Genesis, which is where we are in the Old Testament. We are with Joseph. And we have seen Joseph, a young, good-looking, well-built man trafficked into slavery by his own family, accused of inappropriate activity toward his master’s wife, thrown into a dungeon and forgotten. And now he’s been summoned before Pharaoh because Pharaoh has had a dream. So, Joseph finally gets a bath and finally gets to shave and he’s before Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s telling him, “I hear…I hear you can interpret dreams.” And Joseph’s like, “I can’t really do anything, but God can give you what you want.” And that is where we find ourselves. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today Genesis chapter 41 verse 17 through 42 verse 17.

Commentary:

Okay. So, on any given day there’s any number of things that we could be talking about, but let’s just try to recount what we read today, beginning with Proverbs and the understanding that the Proverbs are continuing to call out of the pages of the Bible that wisdom is the thing to go for. Like wisdom is the one thing to gain or achieve. Get it above all other things. And if you have wisdom and are wise any of the other things that you’re after can be achieved and can be attained through wisdom or the wisdom will show us that that thing isn’t even worth spending our energy in trying to attain. We will know. But if all we do is live reactionary lives from thing to thing to thing just trying to achieve the next commercial thing that’s being sold to us and we ignore wisdom in our lives then…well…then it leads to destruction of our lives, the dismantling systematically piece by piece of…of our existence until we are shaking our heads going, “what’s happened? What’s going on here?” And we realize then if we’re honest and looking for the truth that we have followed the path of foolishness and it has led right where the path of foolishness goes. Even if that’s who we are, like even if that’s where you are right now, at the bottom, just one rung above the bottom because you started to try to dig out January 1st and you’re one wrung up the ladder now, this is still true. We can start to seek wisdom at any point no matter what is going on. And if we will follow the path of wisdom and continue to live in wisdom day after day step-by-step, we will…we will navigate out of this. It is possible. We have to do what we know is right, slow down enough to look for the story behind the story, right? The true story, the one Jesus is talking about. And that’s as good as a…well…let’s just work backwards.

Let’s go to Matthew where Jesus tells a number of parables, a number of wisdom teaching parables. Because Jesus was often known as a wisdom teacher, right? The same wisdom we’re talking about in Proverbs. Jesus is teaching wisdom. And what He’s doing in particular today is giving us a way to understand how the kingdom of heaven that we have always thought was something that was yet to come, how that we realize that it is already here and that is already happening, and it is preserving everything and we can participate in it, but we need eyes to see and ears to hear. We need to be able to see what is true instead of what is curated. We need to live what is true instead of falsely curating and presenting who we are. And then we begin to see. And, so, Jesus gives one particular parable. A man sowed good seed in his field, right? So, this is a plowed field ready for planting and then it’s planted ready to go. An enemy comes in and sows weeds. Can’t figure this out until everything starts to sprout and then it’s seen that there’s weeds everywhere among the wheat. This is a wisdom parable from Jesus to show us the state of things as they are. This is the world we live in. The weeds and the wheat are being allowed to grow together. This is God’s mercy, but in the end, the weeds will be pulled up at harvest. And, so, the obvious question coming from this parable is, “are you wheat or are you weeds?” Some important things for us to consider today.

And then we move back to Genesis we continue the story of Joseph and there’s not…I mean…we just read the story. Joseph’s brothers have come, and they have bowed down to him fulfilling this dream that he had when he was 17. Let’s remember that Joseph wasn’t in Pharaoh’s service according to the Bible until he was 30, 13 years after he had been trafficked into slavery by his brothers. It took 13 years before he came into Pharaoh’s service. Another seven years went by in prosperity, and now we are in the season of famine, probably a couple years into famine. Joseph lost his childhood and spent his young adulthood in a dungeon. Like we said yesterday, he had every right to his bitterness and his depression and all of the things that would bring him down as if he had been cursed personally by God. It’s just that, that’s not in this story. And that’s the point. That’s not in this story. Joseph…Joseph knew what had happened to him was unjust. He didn’t blame God for it though. He held onto God as the only hope of ever getting anywhere else. That is a sharp contrast to the way that we normally behave because the second we face something that we have to endure is usually the time that we just throw up our hands and go, “God’s not there for me.” And all of the things that we say, maybe we could take a cue from Joseph or maybe we could take a cue from wisdom or maybe we could take a cue from Jesus teaching wisdom. God loves us. That’s not what’s going on here. And somehow Joseph was able to hold on, hold on and believe that God was his hope and that one day…one day this story would right itself. Now Joseph’s brothers are before him and he’s making accusations that they’re spies, and they are incarcerated. So, what’s gonna happen here? Is Joseph gonna get his revenge? Because he’s got them in his power now and they don’t know who he is. What’s gonna happen? That is a story to continue tomorrow.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the opportunity to come into Your presence and to come into each other’s presence and to just come around what we call the Global Campfire, this oasis, this calm serene place where we can focus our attention on what is really going to matter, that those things can get within us and change our perspective about all the things that we have to do. And, so, we thank You for encouraging us. Again, wisdom above all else, wisdom. Because wisdom will give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Come Holy Spirit we pray. Lead us into all truth as You promised. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that’s the website, it is definitely where you dive in, definitely where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be familiar and stay tuned and stay connected.

Everything that you find at dailyaudiobible.com you can also access pretty much from within the Daily Audio Bible app. There is a Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner that gives you a bunch of these choices. So, check that out. Be familiar with the Community section. This is where the Prayer Wall lives. And the Prayer Wall is…is just a very important component. It's…it’s been with us 24 hours a day seven days a week for almost as long as the Daily Audio Bible. It’s always been this place to go. And, so, it’s not just you got a prayer and so you want to post it, or you just want to pray for people. There is a history here. Tens and tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters over the years, have come to this virtual prayer wall to offer up prayer, to hear what needs to be prayed for in people’s lives, to offer our own prayer requests because of what’s going on in our lives. It’s something that’s been going on for a very very long time. And, so, it’s a sacred place around here, that Prayer Wall. So, be familiar with it. I can’t even count really the…the things that God has done through that Prayer Wall. The things that I’ve heard over the years, spectacular things. And it's…it’s even deeper than that, because sometimes you know, we want to offer a prayer and we want God to answer it the next morning and it’s all better but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. And sometimes we find that we’re…we’re kinda working through some difficulties, some…a difficult patch, And that’s hard, it’s painful. And, so, it kind of begins to isolate us. When we’re facing something difficult, whether it’s physical or whether it’s emotional, whatever. When we begin to focus on the pain then we begin to take steps toward isolation and then we get isolated and then it’s just even that much worse because it’s like not only am I going through this, nobody cares even though we’ve withdrawn because of pain. But praying for people through it all, despite it all while we’re going through things. It's…it’s remarkable what that does. Because it…it turns our focus off of our pain and off of our suffering and how nobody cares and it focuses our attention on other people who are going through similar things and it focuses our affections on God who is the only hope. So, if you haven’t been to the Prayer Wall, be familiar, be a regular. It's…it’s surprising how profound it is to pray for one another. So, check that out. It’s in the Community section.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage and I thank you. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. And that’s pretty much across the board. That’s how it’s spelt built. We’re in community and we do this together. And it doesn’t work if we don’t show up. If we’re for not here it doesn’t work. But it works when we do. So, if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible there’s a link on the homepage. 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 encouragement you can press the Hotline button that’s in the app, little red button at the top that looks like a red hotline button, press that no matter where you are in the world and you can share 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:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family my name is Sarah, and I am from London England. I’ve been listening to Daily Audio Bible since 2017 and it has been a blessing, but I haven’t always followed it through. It’s been on and off. And this year I have decided that I will definitely want to seek God more and just to be consistent and, you know, follow the Bible through and really getting to know God on a deeper level. I was raised in a Christian household and I…my relationship with God hasn’t always been strong. It’s always been quite lukewarm. And back in 2009 I…I heard from God during my quiet time and the word that He revealed to me was consecrate. And back then I had never heard of the word and I even had to go into a dictionary to find out what the word was. So, after I found out what the word was consecration, you know, I really wanted to get close to God but there’s load…loads and loads of distractions in my life and I haven’t really had the opportunity to really seek God wholeheartedly. And since then, I have been through a lot of challenges that I look back and think that maybe I should have, you know, consecrated then I would have never…I would have never have gone through what I’ve gone through. So, I want to just ask for prayer. I want to just ask for prayer for God, you know, for God to…to draw closer to God. And also to…just to…you know…for all the distractions to be taken away because every time that I want to draw close to God distractions always come in and I never seem to fulfill that. So, I just wanted to ask for prayer for that. God bless you all thank you. Bye now.

Good morning DABbers this is Shaw from Oaktown Orlando FL. I usually don’t call in, but I was inspired by Tonja with a J from South Florida that you finished the Bible last year. You know, I’ve been listening to DAB for a few years now and I haven’t gotten through a whole year. You know, I got through most of it and missed some days, but you’ve really inspired me to focus and…and make it through. You know, there’s other areas of life that I’ve really focused in and I’ve been successful. And I’m like, “why not this one?” So, I appreciate your excitement, I appreciate the energy, and I’m going to finish the Bible this year. I’m making that, you know, my…my goal. So, right now I’m on day 10 but I’m catching up. This morning I’m taking some time to catch up and I just really appreciate your inspiration. Brian, Jill, you guys are amazing. Appreciate everything that you do. You know, it’s so good to be able to…I do this in the morning…to just listen and get the goodness of the Spirit and just connect with the Lord in the morning just to get your day started off right. So, again I appreciate everything that each and every one of you do. You know, I listen to all these recordings and I’m just so inspired by, you know, the movement that everybody has, the changes in the life and everybody just praying for each other. So, I’m praying for each and every one of you. Know that. I love you. God bless. And we’ll talk to you soon. Signing out. Shaw from Oaktown Orlando Florida.

We are all reflections no matter what you say or do
and most of the times we tend to reflect those things in our hearts that we believe to be true
even though the scriptures warn us that the heart is deceitfully wicked and very easily misled
the scriptures also advise us to pay very close attention to those things upon which our heart is being fed
because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
and our words become the reflections of those things our heart seeks
how much influence does social media exert on the things that you do and say
how much time do you spend on the Internet in the course of a normal day
how much time do you spend reading God’s word
how much time do you actually spend each day in prayer
our actions are the outer manifestations of whatever is internally there
are you reflecting God when you open your mouth to speak
or are your actions more self-serving reflecting passions and desires that run deep
because it’s nice to receive love and praise from the world and our peers
but that’s too fades just like the passing of years
and only that that you do for Christ has the power to last
social morays and fads all eventually pass
proverbs says that gossip tastes sweet when you first take it in
but it turns into a poison once it gets deep down within
that’s why it’s so important to feed daily on God’s word and prayer
and not be so quick to ingest and repeat those things from the Internet that people are so eager to share
pray for God’s Holy Spirit to lead you to all that’s true
and try to be an accurate reflection of Christ and all that you say and do

BlindTony …

Hi this is Tara in Los Angeles and I’m calling to pray for Jeremy in South Oregon. Lord Jesus I just lift my brother up to You. He has cancer and he is looking at going to Hospice soon. And I just pray Your peace and Your love over him. And I know that the nights can be scary and feel lonely and sadness can be overwhelming sometimes. And Lord Jesus I just to ask that he would feel Your peace and Your love just wash over him in just a physical way and that he will just know deep in his heart in his soul that everything is going to be OK. And I lift up his family to You and I just thank You for them just loving him and walking with him through this difficult time that he’s been going through. And I pray that they will be blessed for having had this walk with him. And I pray Lord that You would…they would have a strengthened relationship with You through all of this, that they would turn to You in their grief in their loneliness and their fear and that they too would know ultimately that everything is going to be OK. And I just thank You for that Lord. I thank You for Jeremy’s time here and I thank You for where he is headed when he goes home. And Jeremy, I just give You a hug brother. It’s a soul hug. And I was there in 2019 and came through it but I know the fear of leaving Your family. And just love You very…

Lord God we lift up the country of Mexico to You. Thank You, Lord for this land and for its people and we thank You Lord for our brothers and sisters who live there and our brothers and sisters who are working there serving You. Praying especially for Maria and others like her serving the people of Mexico on Your bath. We pray Lord that You would be blessing their work greatly, that You would be guiding their hands and inspiring them and providing their needs as they seek to serve You in Mexico. We pray Lord that the love and forgiveness of Jesus would overpower any strongholds of crime, violence, and corruption. We pray Lord for the government of the leaders and pray that You would be giving them wisdom on how best to serve Mexico, that You would help them to be honest and upright and good examples to people. We pray Lord that the people would find You, they would seek You and that they would find You and they might find their identity and purpose in the love of Christ and in the purposes of God and we pray Lord for Your Spirit to fall on Mexico, that You would break any chains of darkness and…and remove any influences that…that aren’t helpful. We pray Lord for renewal. We pray that Your name will be glorified in Mexico in Jesus’ holy and precious name.

Hello dear friends my husband of 46 years recently left me, and I’ve recently just gotten out of the hospital with Covid and I really don’t have anyone to help me here at home. And the home health services haven’t kicked in yet and I’m just asking for your prayers. I appreciate you and I love you community…I love you. Thank you.