Month: February 2021

Exodus 30:11-31:18, Matthew 26:47-68, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 8:27-32

Today is the 10^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you as we continue the journey through another one of our weeks together, hump day here on this, actually this is the first full-blown seven day week of the month of February. So, we’re smack in the middle of it and ready to take the next step, which will lead us back into the book of Exodus, back into the instructions that the Lord is laying out at the mountain of God, otherwise known as Mount Sinai. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 30 verse 11 through 31 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s…there’s stuff we can talk about in every portion, every section of our reading today. So, let’s just touch base on them real quick. So, we are at the mountain of God and God is laying out statutes and ordinances and expectations. He is building a culture. He is weaving a tapestry and that usually begins with a foundation of some type of rule, right, the rule of law, some type of basis so that everybody has an understanding about how this culture conducts itself, because a culture is what, the interaction of people, right, in some sort of way, whether that be commerce or relationship or any other way. Like it’s the interaction of people and expectations that one person can have another inside of a society that sort of glues the expectations together. And then we usually as people proceed to live on the margins and find out we can get away with. And that will be the story of the children of Israel just like it’s our own story. But right now, God is laying this out and He’s being very specific about certain things, very specific. And if certain things aren’t obeyed then the consequences can be dire. And we can read through some of this and go, “why such a dire consequence for mixing up some type of formula of incense that can, you know, like…what’s the big deal? Yes, I can see that the recipe would be specific, but why can nobody else make this? Why wouldn’t they want to have this holy aroma around them all the time?” There’s reasons for everything. Everything that God is laying out for the people to do or to build or to observe for that matter, certain holidays etc. etc., everything is there to…to serve a purpose. It is a reminder of identity, that they are chosen and set apart and that this is their identity. It is a reminder of who God is, who it is that they have entered into a covenant with, and it is a reminder of where they’re going. They’re headed toward a land of promise. So, as we’ve talked about before. We can get into all this and go, “this is so tedious.” But so is our culture friends. It’s tedious, we just happen to know the lay of the land because we grew up in it. There are expectations inside of every culture. We can look at this and go, “this is so tedious” and forget what’s obvious right in front of us. Everything these people do is a reminder of either who they are or who God is or where they’re going. Everything that they do is order around the same outcome. This puts them on the same page moving in the same direction submitted to the same God. So, if there is an aroma for that than that smell means something specific, and that smell only comes from the tabernacle or the temple. That smell is what you smell when you become aware that you are entering a holy place in the presence of God. So, when you understand it in those terms instead of, “I’m just gonna go order some essential oil from my favorite essential oil”…look…I love this stuff. I love essential oils. I have aromas in the studio all the time, most every day. I love the atmosphere. I love these traditional rituals and I’ve been to Israel many times. I fact, had Covid not arrived we’d be gearing up to go in just a couple of weeks, but we’ve had to postpone and cancel that because the borders aren’t even open. So, but I’ve been there many times and I’ve have been places where these holy mixtures are mixed together minus one ingredient. Like, even in the tradition today they won’t make this outside of the holy place. So, you can kind of get an aroma of what this smells like minus one of the ingredients so that it’s not made exactly as specified in the Bible. And we could be these thousands and thousands of years in the future going, “what’s the big deal?” But we have to understand that aroma changes atmosphere, does it not? And we’ll talk about this later when we get into the…deeper into the New Testament. Can you not walk into a room and if the cookies are baking that changes…like you just immediately think of something or you walk into a room and there’s the scent of pine and it’s Christmas time and all of the sudden that brings the spirit of Christmas or any number of things. And…and certain smells can have very very negative triggers for certain people because it reminds them of harm or it reminds them of danger. Aroma around us sets an atmosphere. So, we could understand why this would be an important thing, that this particular aroma doesn’t remind anybody of anything but God. We…we can keep going here, but let’s just leave it at that because that’s the point that we’re observing here, is that everything is intentional for a reason and everything means something.

We turn into the book of Matthew and we witness the betrayal of Jesus. And I’ve said we’re going into this territory for the first time and we could, “yeah, I know the story of Jesus on the cross and He rises from the dead three days later and it’s a big big deal. And that’s the story of Easter and we just move on. Like I’ve heard this a thousand times.” That’s really not the way to approach this though. Let’s observe what we’ve seen just today. Judas, Judas is one of the 12 disciples, Je’s one of the inner circle of God on earth. When you put into…some of these terms where you understand…like when you say it most directly it’s pretty riveting. Jesus is God made flesh, right, God incarnate, and these 12 people are His inner circle, they’re His disciples on earth. Judas is one of the inner circle of God on earth and he decides to betray Him. And Jesus is fully God and fully human, so He experiences humanity in the same way that we experience humanity. And, so, when one of His closest friends brings a mob of people with clubs and swords and they’re there to arrest Jesus and this friend walks up and puts a soft kiss upon His cheek, that is the kiss of betrayal. Anybody out there ever been betrayed by somebody you loved, right? Or anybody betrayed somebody that loved you? We are right at…at some of the most painful experiences that a human being can experience emotionally. There’s nothing more tearing and cutting and painful and disruptive. There’s nothing that tips you upside down and question reality more than betrayal does. The kiss of betrayal by somebody Jesus loved is how He was captured. And then he was led away. Like what we witnessed today was the loss of freedom. God submitted himself to be bound by humanity and taken away captive. And it wasn’t just random humanity it was the church leaders it was the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They’re bringing Jesus to the high priest Caiaphas. They’re going to hold counsel and make a judgment about the life of Jesus, which is what we see play out today. They’re trying to get two witnesses, but they can’t really cobble that together. And, so, they just…they just ask Him outright, “are you the son of God, are you the Messiah?” And then Jesus says you have said it, which is basically like saying, “if…if that’s what you say. You said it.” And then He goes on to say, “in the future you’ll see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” They don’t fall to their knees and worship at that point. They don’t go like, “hang on a second, we need to explore this further” and fall to their knees and…and say, “tell us more” so that they can begin to get an understanding. They tear their robes and cry blasphemy and then declare that He deserves death and then they blindfold Him. And I know we know this, but this is Jesus. Like we’re here for this. We’re here to find out what the big deal was about Jesus. I mean some of us have been following Jesus and following His paths and being in a relationship with Christ for many many years. But then there are others of us who are here, really, truly saying, “I’m not like trying to deny or affirm anything. I just want to know the big fuss is. And, so, we have to enter into this. If we’ve heard the story a thousand times, fine. This is Jesus. This is God made flesh. They are spitting in His face. They’re spitting in His face and smacking Him and asking Him to prophesy who smacked Him. I don’t know. Can that sink in? That’s where we left…where we left the reading of Matthew today, is that Jesus is being spit upon and smacked around. He’s being ridiculed and made fun of. These people that have been plotting to kill Him are the religious people. And now they believe He’s committing blasphemy and they plan to execute Him. That’s where this story is going. The son of God, God made flesh. That’s what humanity is doing to God. And it’s not just humanity. That’s what religious humanity is doing to God as portrayed in the gospel of Matthew. Let’s sit with that today and invite the Holy Spirit to bring up the ways in which we do the same thing usually when we don’t get our way.

And we turn into the book of Psalms today and can…let…I mean…lets just listen to these words. “I will instruct you.” Let’s take this from God. “I will instruct you and show you the way to go. With my eye on you I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule without understanding that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it won’t come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him.” Let’s take that as the truth. Let’s live into that and understand that we are seen, and that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is available. The trick really honestly, like the biggest trick we could learn this year is to insert a beat before we react to anything, like one second. If we take one second before we react to anything and in that second become aware of wisdom and become aware that God is present and watching and will show us we could save so much mayhem from like…we could take out…where we would be giving life back to ourselves. Some of the days out in the future of this year won’t get ruined if we will listen. We won’t go through days of silence with our spouse trying to show who’s more dominant. We won’t be doing this stuff anymore because it doesn’t do anything that leads to life.

And, so, then we turn into the Proverbs today and we’re listening to the voice of wisdom. And it is here that She tells us She has been with God from the very get-go. She was with God when humanity was made. We should seek wisdom. She is older than human beings are. She has seen it all. And we should seek her as the Bible tells us as a more valuable thing than any kind of treasure we would go after, that everything flows from her and everything flows to us because of wisdom. And, so, we hear the voice of wisdom as we end our reading today and she’s like, “listen to me, those who keep my ways are happy.”

Prayer:

Father, there's…there’s always rich depths in Your word. And they're…they’re rich in that they inform our minds, but they’re rich in that they touch our hearts. They begin to transform things in us. They question…they ask the right questions of our lives and they begin to shape us. And, so, we are thankful for all that we have read in the Scriptures today and we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and plant these words, plant these thoughts deep into us as we move and navigate the rest of this week. May we be continually considering the path that we are walking. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Community Prayer and Praise:

Good evening DABbers this is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania. Tonight, is February 6^th and there were a number of heavy prayer requests tonight and I just want you to know that I’m praying for you. Kingdom secret Daniel with your kids, the sister her and her husband lost their daughter seven years ago this month, the woman whose son took his life in college and for the rest of your family. I just want you to know that we’re praying for you. I’m praying that you’ll be strengthened with power in your inner person, that Christ may dwell in your heart that through faith, that you would be rooted and grounded during this time in love. And I just wanted to pray over you. [singing starts] The blood that Jesus shed for me way back on Calvary the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power. It soothes my doubts and calms my fears, and it drives all my tears the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power [singing stops].

Hello DAB family this is God’s Grace for Japan I just listened to the February 6^th broadcast where a brother and his sister called out for prayer for families in crisis. I want to speak as a daughter of two faithful believing parents who were raised in abusive alcoholic households who chose to turn away from the path of the family curse and to believe in Jesus and His design for family. It was not easy for them. I’ve watched them for decades prayerfully go through crisis after crisis both from the previous generations and sickness disease cancer hatred of God all sorts of things as well as in between me and my siblings I’m afraid the abuse got through my sister abused me for 20 years and I don’t think my family even knew how to process that and I’m sure my parents felt like failures that that had gotten in however I can’t go into all the details for the past five years God has been redeeming that situation. My sister and I are now reconciled because I rebuked her according to Matthew 18. She fully repented and all of this is because my parents were faithful. They kept praying. I know that our families are in crisis, but God loves family. He redeems family. It takes time. Sometimes it takes decades. Sometimes it takes generations. But as a daughter of faithful parents who did not give up did not stop caring who saw who grandfather who hated God his entire life come to faith on his deathbed because of my parents belief in God’s design for family, He said this a good family and because of that he believed in Yeshua before He died. I just want to encourage you parents you brothers’ you sisters keep praying keep being faithful because God will be faithful and will redeem. I love you all. I’m praying for you. God bless.

Hey this is Pike hey this is Ben and we just wanted you guys to pray about our grandma who has COPD. She really needs some prayers. She walks to the spare room and then she walks back and then she’s out of breath. She has COPD because she…because she…what was it again? She started smoking when she was six. And we just ask you guys to pray about that and then that you guys will make sure God will heal her. And yeah, she is doing really bad. And yeah, that’s all. We just ask you to pray about my grandma and then bye. Bye.

Hey DAB this is beautiful soul in North Carolina. I’m calling after listening to the February 8^th episode. I heard a call in from a young man. He didn’t give his name or anything, but he spoke about how he just come to faith within the last month and how God has changed him and pulled him from where he used to be to where he is now and how God is giving him a desire to chase after him and find out who he is in his life. He encouraged everyone to just talk to God like He’s a person because He is a person and that’s all he wants. And I really needed to hear that. And it’s amazing how God can use the babes in Christ to…to…to speak to those who have been in it for a while. I’m literally driving around in my car this morning just taking a drive and trying to get my head focused on God and hearing from Him and listening to Daily Audio Bible. When this young man sent his word of encouragement out, I know it was God that spoke because I needed to hear that this morning because I’m trying desperately to hear from God. So, I just appreciate God using you, young man. Continue to let God use you, continue to chase after Him and…and I’m gonna keep chasing after Him too and having these conversations so I can hear from Him. So, I appreciate that encouragement. God bless you all. God bless you, young man.

Hello this is Alice from Idaho I’m calling in to ask for prayer for my mom and her family right now. She…a few weeks ago she found out that her brother had passed away and a few days ago she found out that her sister had also recently passed away. We haven’t been able to visit them 10 years now because we live in China and it’s been really tough on all of us not being able to see them and for this sudden news to come as a shock for all of us. I’m asking for prayer also for my grandma my mom’s mom. Obviously, this has been really hard on her and I’m praying that her heart will be softened towards the Lord and she will find comfort and peace in Jesus as well as joy and happiness. I’m praying for the same thing for all of my relatives in China. This is definitely one of the most unexpected things and I’m just hoping that they will find God and peace and joy surrounding that. Thank you so much. Bye.

Greetings fellow believers and prayers. This is Paul from Manchester calling. I have…I’ve just listened to the 2^nd of February and I heard Jody from Arizona praying, asking for prayer for her family and particularly her granddaughter…her granddaughters. I just wanted to share it really touched my heart and as I started to pray, I heard the words of Psalm 23 came to mind. And I just want to pray that over them with anyone who will pray, that thank you Jesus, that you the Lord are there Shepherd, that in you they have everything that they need, that you let them rest in green meadows and that you lead them by peaceful streams, that you renew their strength and that you guide them along right paths bringing honor to your name, that even when they walk through the dark valley of death they will not be afraid for you are close beside them, your rod and your staff protect and comfort them. You prepare a feast for them in the presence of their enemies. You welcome…you welcome them as a guest anointing their head with oil and their cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and your unfailing love will pursue them all the days of their life and they will live in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you, Jesus for this wonderful way that we can connect in prayer together and for your power at work in their lives. And I pray for wisdom and courage and boldness for all parents and grandparents and carers including myself, that we would make excellent decisions for and on behalf of the people that we care for. Yeah, Lord I pray that you would be present in their…in their situation, that they would know your…

Exodus 29:1-30:10, Matthew 26:14-46, Psalms 31:19-24, Proverbs 8:14-26

Today is February 9^th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey through this week and through the territory that we are covering in the Bible right now. In the Old Testament we are in the book of Exodus. So, I want to keep us rooted to this story because it can get so tedious. We are at Mount Sinai. We are around the mountain of God and the people are in the wilderness and they’re gonna be in the wilderness for a while. But right now God is weaving together a tapestry that will form a people that have only ever been slaves. It will pull them forward from slavery into becoming a nation, a nation of people, God’s chosen, the Hebrew people. And, so, let’s pick up that story. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 29 verse 1 through 30 verse 10.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s just start here at the Proverbs because it’s like we…we entered into today’s reading in…in mid thought, which is kind what happened. This is the voice of wisdom speaking here to us saying, “I possess good advice and sound wisdom. I have understanding and strength. It’s by me that king’s reign.” Like, it’s by wisdom that things are done and that things that matter, stay. They’re not just passing. They’re a solid truth. So, wisdom tells us, “I love those who love me.” So, there it is. There it is. “And those who search for me find me.” So, you know, we’re just getting going in our year, but we’re…we’re well underway. We’re moved in now. We…we can’t see the shore. Like we’re or out in the deep now and wisdom has been telling us all along that the most valuable thing we could achieve in life would be her, that we would be wise, that everything else follows wisdom. And that it’s not just us. It’s God. Like, I quote from Proverbs, “the Lord acquired me at the beginning of His creation before His works of long ago. I was formed to before ancient times from the beginning before the earth began.” Okay. So, wisdom is what God used and uses to create. And we are, in black-and-white, invited to pursue wisdom above everything else in life. And, so, let’s remember that. Let’s remember that reminder.

I remind you of the Daily Audio proverb, which is, like if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app it’s just another one channels. It’s like five minutes a day and you go through the entire book of Proverbs in a month. You can go through the entire book of Proverbs 12 times in a year. Just pouring that…that wisdom into your mind and letting it seep into your heart and then, I mean, over time these things build up. And, so, we become less reactionary. We’re not just reacting to life and more being proactive and deciding in advance what life is gonna look like instead of just letting it happen all around us just being pulled in every direction by…by influences that have nothing to do with us on our walk with God. Or we can be wise. So, let’s remember this.

And then let’s just back up into the book of Matthew just for a quick second here because we are coming to some territory, that this is the first time we’re encountering it, and that is the betrayal of Jesus and, yeah, His arrest and trial and His execution and His resurrection. So, this is the first time that we’re entering into this story and it’s important that…that we embrace it and not let it just be something we’ve heard before. We’re gonna, I mean, we’re gonna hear it in the Gospels and then we’ll move on from there, and it’s important that we embrace this because it’s the centerpiece of the faith, it’s the centerpiece of the story that we’re living in. And, so, to understand how this all goes down, this envy, this jealousy, this uncertainty, that Jesus is who He says He is, but also that He is gaining power because He is speaking with authority and He is calling out the truth from the shadows and exposing the truth and in the process exposing the power structures that are dominating the people and making them confused and polarized and marginalized. Yeah, they…they ultimately decided they needed to kill Jesus to shut Him up and we need to pay attention to this as we go through it because it’s the story of our salvation.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank you for this. We thank you for the counsel again toward making wisdom the centerpiece and we thank you that we have an example as we watch your life and ministry of what it looks like to seek the truth, to see the truth, to live wise. Come Holy Spirit we pray into these coming days, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DABbers my name is Hineron I’m from New Zealand. I just want to start this off by thanking everybody in the community and Brian and everyone who’s behind this because, what a change to my life this has brought. I look forward so much to listening to the daily word and how it’s explained by you Brian and it just…I don’t know how many times I have read the 1^st three books of the Bible and nothing’s ever really sunk in, but I’m really enjoying where we are at the moment in the Bible. It’s just incredible. So, thank you. I just want to quickly ask for some prayer for myself and my family. My dad took his life a few days before Christmas in 2020 and I’ve recorded this a few times but I think what I actually need is just a covering. I know that God knows exactly what it is that I need and what I’m struggling with and what my family needs. The list is too long to try to fit in. So, just some prayer, just general prayer for a covering of God’s goodness, which already has been so prevalent, was such a blessing. But this community is powerful. God…God moves through this community and I really wanted to tap into that because the situation is…is not a good one. There’s a lot of heartbreak. He was only young. There’s a lot of division in our family now. But thank you all. I love you. Hope you have a blessed week.

Hello this is Wonderfully Made in Albuquerque and I am calling to pray over Kingdom Seeker Daniel and your children, Daniel, Hannah and Bianca. I just listened to the prayer requests from today about just the heaviness there that’s going on with each of your children. I think today is the 6^th of February so prayer requests for today. So, heavenly father I lift up Daniel Hannah and Bianca. Each situation is heartbreaking, and you know the details that are going on, you know their hearts and their minds, and I just pray that you’ll deliver each of these children Lord. Deliver them from the different struggles that are going on and guard their minds, guard their hearts with your peace and shine through. I pray for the mental health issues and what’s going on there for the past assault and that situation, how that really…the influence there and then the identity crisis Lord. I just pray that you’ll intervene and transform these lives and that there’ll be a beautiful testimony there for each child. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning this is Dennis from Los Angeles it’s February 6^th I just got done listening to today’s DAB and I felt inspired to call. Lately there’s been a lot of prayer requests from families that are estranged from their children. I myself am suffering with that same fate. My oldest daughter has decided she doesn’t want to speak to my side of the family. And I’ve been dealing with this on my own, but I figured why not reach out to the DAB family for prayer. I always pray alongside all of the others that are going through a similar circumstance and I would like for the family to pray for me. And as I listened to the prayer requests today, I felt so inspired to call and just share my prayer and that I’m praying for Tiffany and Tony in Ohio who lost their child and her prayer request to love her husband. Just know I’m in prayer for you. My wife and I also lost our son over six years ago, so I know what you’re going through. Also, for Emily in Minnesota, your pain, I hear it in your voice. Know that I’m in prayer for you and your situation, the loss of your son and your family’s difficulties and then right behind that Kingdom Seeker Daniel came on and asked for prayer for his son,0 his mental health issues, and his daughters’ situations. Just know that we’re in prayer for you, that we come together as a family and even though people might not call in, they’re in prayer with you immediately. So, just have faith and hope. Father God is gonna be doing miraculous things in our lives and we just have to have the faith of a mustard seed. So, I thank you for this podcast and I thank you for your prayers. God bless.

Hey DAB family this is Brookee545. I was just listening to the prayer request from January 6^th and I just want to lift Emily up in prayer, Emily from Minnesota. As I was praying for you I was getting a vision of a pillar that was in rough weather but it was still standing firm. So, God I just thank you for Emily and her strength and her faith in you and that she called in and that she’s a part of this community. Lord I lift up her…I just lift up her family to you right now, that they have the same strength and wisdom and knowledge that Emily has to run to you. Lord I pray for multiple anointed divine appointments for Emily and her family, that they listen and they accept your truth Lord and that they can work together for your glory in this time. Lord they’ve had a lot of attacks from the enemy. So, God I just pray that you protect them from that. And God again as I was praying for Emily proverbs 31 came to mind and how she’s just a pillar for her family. And a verse from 31 that always encourages me is verse 25. She is clothed with strength and dignity. She can laugh at the days to come. She can speak with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue. So, Emily I just encourage you to press into the Lord, let Him be your guide and your strength, and always be patient with your family in these times because they’re hurting. And I know that you’re hurting as well. So, I just pray for the Holy Spirit just to guide your family.

Hello this is just another Joe calling in on February 6^th. I’m calling in response to Kingdom Seeker Daniel. I want to encourage you and pray for your…your son. At the beginning of this year on the 6^th of January I also snapped and was admitted into a crisis Center for 13 days. And it’s really, really disorienting, and you don’t even know if…if what’s happening is real sometimes. So, Father God I just want to thank you for bringing me out of that situation and I want you to show Daniel the 2^nd that…that same kindness and mercy that you…that you showed me through those 13 days as you were with me the entire time. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Hello DAB family this is Greg, Greg from Bethel Washington. I just wanted to call in and thank everyone for being so transparent about your pains and your griefs and your challenges. I’ve been part of this community for many years, but I’ve had so many distractions and this is the first year I’ve actually really committed, daily being here with you all. I’ve survived a heart attack in 2014. I’ve talked to you about that before. I survived all these things and this last week has been a really challenging. I’ve seen my cardiologist. I’m having angina chest pain. They put me on a new medication for hypertension. I also have had, you know, diagnosis of bipolar. And I don’t know that that’s really true. You know the medical community treats our bodies, but they don’t know what our spirit is about. My wife and my daughter and my grandkids are not saved. I live in this home and there’s forces that are all around us impact them and I try desperately to carry it, but I can’t. So, just…I just wanna give this all to you to pray for my…my wife Jane, my daughter, Robbery my granddaughter Carolina and Bradley. Please Lord Jesus protect us all. In Jesu’s name I pray. Amen.

Exodus 28:1-43, Matthew 25:31-26:13, Psalms 31:9-18, Proverbs 8:12-13

Today is the 8^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we get into this workweek and reach out for the next step, move further into the Scriptures and into the stories that we are immersing ourselves. In the book of Exodus, we are…well…we’re listening to God begin to weave together the culture of these recently freed slaves are gonna look like. So, what God wants His people to present and model for the world, this is what we’re beginning to hear. And if we understand that then, you know, some of the stuff is tedious like, how long, how far should the polls be spread out on this tent and, you know, but what we need to understand is that this tent is something that God is saying, “I want to build this and this is gonna be in the center of the camp and this is going to represent the fact that I am dwelling among you in the middle of it all.” And, so, for God to have some specific specifications about what this is to look like not only has practical value because it needs to be movable, it needs to be portable because they’re moving around, but also because it needs to fulfill a specific purpose among the people. This is the place where God is among them. It’s something physical that they can see. It’s something that makes them aware that in the middle of everything there is God. And, so, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Exodus chapter 28.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Matthew for the last couple of days we’ve been reading Jesus discussion about the end times. And this whole thing began by Jesus and His disciples being in Jerusalem, and them admiring the construction of the temple. And the temple, in Jesus time, this is the second Temple, so this is the Herodian temple, and it would’ve only been completed for about 40 years. So, this is pretty new, and Herod is one of the greatest developers in world history. As crazy of a person as he was, paranoid as he was, he was an unbelievable developer, a builder. So many of the Herodian constructions are still in existence today in ancient Israel. So, this would’ve been the temple that they would have been…would’ve been observing and they’re just admiring it and Jesus is like, “the whole all things coming down”, which is what began this discussion because later on they’re like, “tell us when this is all going to happen.” What Jesus tells us is that things get worse before they get better when we reach the times of the end, and that essentially the things that are observable like wars or famines or rumors of wars, these kinds of things, these are like contractions that a mother has when she is in labor preparing to give birth, but the contractions aren’t the birth. The birth is the birth. And I’m kinda using this line of reasoning, the birth is that all things will be made new again. And, so, this in affect is called an apocalyptic world view and Jesus was known from the outside as like an apocalyptic prophet because He said the things that He’s saying. He’s saying things about the times of the end. A lot of times…we already talked about this…we’re trying to date things, trying to find the right month just plan it all out, which has always up until this very day been 100% incorrect every time a guess has been made. And Jesus during this discourse claims that He doesn’t even know, that the only one who knows is the Father. And, so, His…His discourse, this conversation that’s been going on isn’t really to instill terror it’s just simply to say this is…this is how you will know things are moving in a certain direction when you see these kinds of things happening. Well, these things…these kinds of things have been happening for a long time. So, this is where we find ourselves, contractions or labor pains or the pains of birth depending on which translation you’re reading in, that this is what we’re seeing but this is not the end. And even Jesus…that like nobody…nobody knows that day but the father, which then leaves a little bit of unrest, right? Because how could you prepare for what you don’t know? It’s just like an ominous cloud of dread that hangs over everything. And, so, Jesus then goes into a couple of stories saying this is what the posture should be. So, He does a story of the virgins and the bridegroom, the banquet, the wedding banquet and half of these girls, they came prepared with extra oil in their lamps because they didn’t know exactly when he’s gonna show up. The other ones just came to the party excited about it but were not prepared for any kind of lengthy waiting. And, so, their oil ran out. They all fell asleep their oil ran out but when the bridegroom came the wise…the wise maidens woke up they had oil. The other three are like, “give us some of your oil. We don’t have enough.” And they have to go buy more oil and in the process, they miss the bridegroom. So, in the context of what Jesus is saying about being aware of the end and just being like just being able to see the signs of the times, what would be the moral of the story? The moral of the story then would be the ones who were prepared, right, the ones who didn’t know when the bridegroom was going to show up, but they were prepared are the ones who got to see him. So, in other words, like bringing this out of a story we would say we don’t know the day the end of things. We have some signs that are observable, but we don’t know exactly when. Only the Father knows that. We are supposed to be ready any time as if it’s in the next five minutes. Like we’re always supposed to be vigilantly ready and aware. And then Jesus tells another story about a master who gave five talents to one person, one servant, two talents to another servant, one…two to a third servant and then went away. Two of them doubled what they were given. The one with five had ten by the time the master came back. The one with two had four by the time the master came back. And the person who was given one talent buried it in the ground and did nothing with it. When the master did return it was, “well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter into rest. Enter into my joy” for the…for the two that had taken the risk and actually stewarded what they were given by the master and doubled what they were given by the master. That worked out well for them. The one who had the talent and buried the talent, it did not work out as well for him. So, what do we pull out of that in light of being aware and prepared for the end? We would have to say that the ones who recognized what they had been given and did everything that they could to steward what they had been given so that the kingdom of the master would have an increase, those who were at work and were not afraid, those were at work and prospering, they got the “good, well done.” The one who just took what they had and…and hid it so that they wouldn’t lose it and just went on with their lives, not paying attention that didn’t work out so well. So, Jesus has given us…well …first of all, an apocalyptic worldview which we all share on some level. That is the…just the general awareness, the general sense that we were born into an ongoing story, the story of humanity and this story continues to go on generation after generation and it’s all ultimately headed somewhere. It’s all…like we’re in a story that is going somewhere. From apocalyptic perspective we’re expecting that things will get worse before they get better, but we have the perspective that these are contractions that are unto something, the birth of all things being made new. So, we have that kind of baked into us, It’s just back there. But it has a profound effect on the way that we live, far more than we realize, unless we’re paying attention. This is what Jesus is speaking to, and so this is why He was known to some the way that He was, an apocalyptic prophet. So, we get into today’s reading and then Jesus is talking about when the Son of Man comes and how He’ll will be like a shepherd and He will separate the sheep from the goats. And the separation, the distinction between the sheep and the goats was how they had cared for the vulnerable, how they had cared for the least of these, how they had cared for those who were marginalized. That should prick us pretty profoundly and invite examination of our own lives. We should also be able to read into this that it’s a great encouragement for the hearers of Jesus because Jesus primary hearer, they were marginalized, they were suppressed, they had…they were subjugated. They didn’t really have a voice or representation in the culture that they were in. And, so, they were simmering and stewing, So, these kinds of words about the least of these being important to God would have been very encouraging to them. But ultimately what Jesus said is that when you care for the vulnerable you are caring for Jesus. When you don’t care then you are not caring for Jesus. And it’s fascinating what happens as He ends this discussion, this discussion at least for us that’s taken several days to move through. He finishes this discussion and I’m quoting from the book of Matthew here. “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest who was named Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.” That is their response to Jesus teaching about where this is all going and the posture of heart that we must have to be able to observe it, a posture of vigilance and awareness and preparedness, a posture of understanding that we are steward…like what we have, the talent in the story of Jesus, what we have been given we are to use to advance the kingdom of God and be participating and collaborating in it. So, this general sense that we need to be awake and aware or to put it more clearly in Jesus vernacular, that we have eyes to see and ears to hear, and that we are seeing and hearing the vulnerable. The religious leader’s response to this is to plot the assassination of this guy, Jesus, who is stirring up the hearts of the people. Now, obviously we are reading the story of the life and ministry of Jesus. So, it’s clear who is against Jesus and it happens to be the religious elite. And we can very easily make judgments about them, but we must examine our own hearts. Are we prepared? Are we awake? Are we alert? Are we understanding that what we have has been given to…given to us to steward? Are we focused on the vulnerable or is it more our custom to simply rehash the political talking points that are going around at any given time? We’re actually invited by Jesus to step all the way away from all that and focus on people and be aware of people, be aware that our impact actually matters, that this is the way of God’s kingdom not paid people who interpret the news and tell us what to think. The Holy Spirit is here to lead us into all truth no matter what gets said to polarize us from each other so that we can be manipulated. This is the stuff that Jesus was against. He was against of the things of the world because the things of the world had grown false. Everything had a veneer of falseness about it. That’s the way of the world now. That’s the way of people now. We’re all hiding things and Jesus is like you…you have permission to be true and…and when more and more people are then the kingdom becomes more and more evident. It becomes a city on a hill. It becomes a light in the dark. It becomes the salt that preserves things. These are the kinds of examples that Jesus uses. And, so, we’re never going to be able to just look at Jesus and go, “that was a pretty story.” There’s nothing about Him that’s not gonna challenge something in us because what He’s after, what He was after in His earthly ministry and what He is after now is that we be free through the truth and not through the next conspiracy theory that comes down the pipe. And, so, maybe we should be listening to Him. And, I mean, maybe this is a good time to review, go back and read the entire discourse Jesus is laying out in the book of Matthew on our own because the point here isn’t that we finally learn what the Bible says. Just…that…I mean that’s the tip of the iceberg. The point is that we hear what it says, compare it to our lives, andt hen understand that there are things that must change if we’re going to come into alignment with wisdom and that we can’t do this on our own. It requires surrender to the will of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And, so, yeah, this isn’t going to go away. That’s the thing. The quicker that we…if we really want this, we want to live this faith, if we want to be in this faith, if we want it to actually work instead of it just being a set of principles that are supposed to work but really don’t. If we actually want to live into this then we’re going to have to be willing to live into this, to take up our cross and follow.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. We ask every day. Some days, we are so full of hope and encouragement and some days we are pricked. And…and we thank…we thank You for that. We thank You for the disruption. We thank You that the Bible isn’t pandering to us. It’s looking at us in the eyes and showing us how things are. It’s leading us away from falseness and into the truth and we need, but sometimes it’s disruptive and we need to get used to disruption because it’s the thing, it’s the catalyst that shakes us that makes us get off the couch, it’s the thing that makes us move. So, come Holy Spirit into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here like I say every day because it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can find out what’s going on around here as well. So, check it out.

Be familiar with the Community section. As I say often that’s where the Prayer Wall lives. And knowing where that lives, that…that’s a destination, that’s a destination to know about because sometimes…sometimes we need to reach out. Sometimes we’re shouldering burdens that are crushing us for no reason because we’re not willing to humble ourselves a little bit and reach out. And, so, the Prayer Wall is a great place for that. So, be aware of that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com or if you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if you prefer the mail, 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, that’s super easy no matter where you are or there are a number of numbers, telephone numbers that you can use. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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 good whatever it is wherever you are whenever you’re listening to this. This is just another Joe calling in on Wednesday February 3^rd 3:13 my time. Against my logical self I’m throwing my log in on the campfire. I’ve been listening for many years, but I never really felt like I needed to call in and speak. I just want you to know that I’m standing behind you and agreeing with whatever you ask for in prayer. I love you guys. Can’t wait to hear…

Hi my name’s Amie calling from Canada and I was initially going to respond with a prayer request but instead after listening these last few weeks and indeed the last few months and just growing into the Daily Audio Bible, loving it to pieces I am so grateful for this ministry. Thank you so much for what it has given me and so many around the world obviously. But I really wanted to just reach out to a couple of people individuals who called in and requested prayer. One, the young girl with the so-called whatever brain problem that she described. Honey, you are so loved by Jesus. And when you asked for prayer, I envisioned His hands on your head and may His hands be your helmet all day long. There will be healing, and I pray for you every day. I also pray for them mum who called him with a daughter she has to be strong for. You were just diagnosed with breast cancer. I am a daughter of a woman who has just survived breast cancer and mama wherever you are I am praying for you. Remember, God does not give you what you cannot take He does not give you more than you can take and…and you will be strong. You are strong in the Lord. Rest in Him on His rod and His staff. You may walk through the Valley of the shadow, but it is just a shadow. He loves you and I am praying for you.

Well, I just wanna say if anybody is hearing this that God is good and personally just coming to Him within I would say about a month been kinda crazy but, you know, coming from a life that’s been, you know, so against God. When I was a child and going to church and stuff not really knowing what it meant, you know, coming to God, just, you know, view changing it’s encouraging. Like I actually have, you know, a purpose in life. And it’s awesome. And, of course, there’s bad days and there’s good days like He says. God doesn’t change for a season. I’m really trying not to. I really want to, you know, get the same truth out to everybody else. And, yeah, I hope that He comes back some because I feel like I miss Him. I miss my __ here but I love all you guys. And everybody who’s hearing this know God loves you. Literally, all you have to do is chase Him with your full heart, ask Him, talk to Him like He’s a real person, He is a real person, He made us into persons but have a conversation like you have a conversation with a real human being. That’s all He really wants. And, yeah, He’ll show Himself to you. He’s got you like he did me. I’m just trying to, you know, chase after Him. And I know I will find Him. Amen. Amen. Amen.

My name is Tyler I’ve been trying to pray for a less critical spirit, and I can’t pray for myself anymore. So, I need prayer from other people around me. I appreciate all of your prayers that I’ve heard and listened to. Jesus loves all of you. Thank you for the Daily Audio Bible app.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. I’ve been reminding myself this…of this scripture quite often over recent days because everything seems a bit manic, everything seems a bit busy, you know it’s all uncertain as…as it has been for the past year really. And I’m tired and that doesn’t help matters either, you know. I’m eating properly, I’m getting sleep and yet I’m still tired. And yeah, it doesn’t help. And…and I make plans and then things happen that could potentially derail those plans and nothings certain. And, so, at this time it's…you know I’m choosing to cling to Christ, I’m choosing to trust and the Lord that even though I’ve made plans that His will will be done. And I’m praying for wisdom around that as well. Yeah, and yet…I'm…I'm…I’m choosing to rejoice, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is Michaela from Gloucester. I hope you have a blessed day wherever you are. Thank you for your prayers. Bye.

Hello DAB family we just thank God for your lives and also thank you to the Hardin family for this amazing podcast. I just have a strong urge to encourage those who were adopted fostered moved from family home to family home or those who generally feel abandoned by their own parents, it could be either physical or emotionally they are not there, and they feel unloved. Just remember that God wipes away your tears and He hears your cry. He is mending your hearts. Abba Father is our true Father. He gives us the love that no earthly parent can give us and comfort you when you feel alone and emotionally drained. We have to also remember that in Galatians 4, 6 and 7, it says because we are His children God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts prompting us to call out Abba Father. Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child and since you are His child God has made you His heir. Amen. Please be encouraged. God bless you all. Praying for you all. And this is Sarah from London.

Exodus 26:1-27:21, Matthew 25:1-30, Psalms 31:1-8, Proverbs 8:1-11

Today is the 7^th day of February welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and here we are stepping through a threshold that…well…this happens 52 times every year we greet a brand-new week and around here we usually take note of that because…well…we live our lives day by day, week by week and month by month and year by year, but every time we come into a new week it’s out in front of us and we can…we can choose in advance what this week is gonna look like by simply paying attention to the posture of our heart and where things take us. And, so, it’s all shiny and sparkly and new and let’s walk into it with intentionality. Like let’s be intentional about making this week a bright spot of our year instead of descending into some kind of darkness that we didn’t have any business getting anywhere near. So, it’s a brand-new shiny sparkly and we turn the handle and walk-through it together. This week will read from the Christian Standard Bible. We are in the book of Exodus. We are with the children of Israel who have recently been freed from slavery in Egypt. We are in the wilderness. We are surrounding the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and God has been laying out ordinances, essentially expectations, rituals, just the way that this newly forming people will be organized. And as I have mentioned when we got into this section, we can certainly read back thousands of years through current lenses, through our eyes now and not understand that this is radically moving the world forward, that many of the things that are being laid out here are new ways for people to conduct themselves toward one another and toward God. And we’re seen God weave a tapestry that will become a culture and He is inserting into this culture essential reminders at every turn about their identity who they are, about who God is, and about where everything is headed, which is primarily what we’re looking for in our lives as well. And, so, let’s pick up the story. Exodus chapters 26 and 27 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this shiny sparkly new week that we get to live. Thank You. Thank You for the breath of life that we get to live and make plans and lives this week. Thank You. Your presence is always with us and we need to do nothing more than pay attention to the fact that we’re breathing to know that You are here. And, so, we thank You for life and it is our desire to give this life back to You as we move through this week as we continue the dance of life together, the collaboration that You have invited us into. And, so, we take from the Scriptures today, the voice of wisdom, that she is calling out to all the children of Adam which would be everyone that’s hearing this right now, that she is calling out, that she’s overlooking the road, that she’s at the crossroads, that she’s beside the city gates, that she’s at the main entrance, that she’s calling out, that she is teaching us, that we should learn to be shrewd if we’re inexperienced, that we should focus our attention on developing common sense if were foolish, that she would never speak deceptively to us, that she would never deceive or pervert the truth, that she would only lead us to the truth, that she would only speak what is righteous, that we should seek her more than we seek to gain, more than we seek money, more than we seek silver and gold because wisdom is better than jewels. There’s nothing, according to the Scriptures here, there’s nothing more desirable, there’s nothing that can equal attaining wisdom. And, so, this is something we want to carry with us into this new week, that we pay attention, that we slow down and understand that wisdom isn’t hard-to-find, she’s at every corner, she’s at every juncture, at every crossroads she’s there. We just blow on by with whatever it is we feel like doing. We don’t slow down enough to listen to what would be wise. Come Holy Spirit and lead us on the pathways of wisdom this week we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, and it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, check it out. You can also check just about all this stuff out using the Daily Audio Bible app if you have it. If you don’t just go to your app store, whichever…whatever app store you use to get apps for your phone or tablet and download the Daily Audio Bible app. That is definitely the best way to experience the Daily Audio Bible and it will…will only continue in that direction. So, being aware of that is good, but check it out.

Check out the Community section. That is where the Prayer Wall lives, that is where to get connected in…on social media. That is just where to get plugged in. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage or 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 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or just hit the Hotline button in the app and you can share from there no matter where you are.

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:

Isabel from Atlanta this is Abide in Christ also in Atlanta and I just will be praying for you. I also had a tumor in my brain taken out and then I had a stroke and then I had a bunch of seizures. So, I am fighting some different things, but the Lord has been just showing up and showing off. And I want you to know that there is a reason in every person’s life and the Lord wants to use your personal story to show His grace, His mercy, and His power. So, just Lord I just want You to show up in this person’s life. Show that You love, and You cherish every heart and every soul and just be such a light in their heart so that they will never feel like they are alone and never feel like You do not love them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Saved by His grace and happy Valley which is currently under several inches of snow but that’s not why I called. It’s February 2^nd. I just heard DDFT talking about…kind of suggesting that new listeners do listen to the prayers afterwards. I was one of the many who didn’t. When the teaching was over that was it. And, so, it's…it’s not even just that the prayers become a part of it, it’s because as you listen to the prayers you realize you’re becoming a part of a huge and wonderful family, a part of the body of Christ and you are meeting people who will be there for you and love you no matter what. You can take off your mask because you don’t need to impress anyone. Everyone’s just here because we’re all hurting, we’re all hungry to know God and Jesus and we are loving one another in the process. So, I just want to agree with DDFT. I hope I got those initials right and do have a blessed day. Love you all. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Preston from Sunnyvale…Sunnyvale CA. I’m calling in today to reach out to the new listeners. I know I’m not the only one and I want to share my…my story with the Daily Audio Bible. And I’ve been with this almost three years. I started in February of 2018. And the reason I want to share my story is that I missed the beginning. I missed the first of the year. I picked up probably about a month and a half after it had started, and I started that day. Could have been February 15^th February 20^th, I don’t remember. But…and so at that point I think we were in…I can’t remember…we were either in Exodus or further on and as well as in the gospels and since that point I’ve been with the Daily Audio Bible every day. And I missed Genesis, I missed the good part of Exodus that year but because I stuck with it I picked it up the next year. And, you know, if…if you’re feeling guilty or like you have some sort of pressure on you to…to get it right at the beginning and you want to get caught up…well…go ahead and do that if you want but if you don’t, don’t feel bad. The Bible works…it works its beauty throughout our lives no matter what. Have a great day.

Good morning everybody hey it’s Annette Allison from Oklahoma City and it’s been a while. I’ve just been cruising along like everybody else is. __ cruise control. Anyway, today is February 2^nd. Today’s my brother’s birthday. And for those new folks my brother has been doing a 13-year stint strike two in federal prison and he now has less than one year to go. So, I would like to pray for my brother that he has success when he gets out of prison and most of all he can resume or start a good relationship with the Lord afterwards. And I know that’s a tough thing in…in prison. And you Kairos guys, I bless you and I love you all so much. Thank you thank you thank you for all your work. Please pray for my brother, just keep him in your prayers, that you know, and any of us people who have wayward children who might be in and out of the __, that things turn around. I love you guys. Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family my name is Patrick I am out of Tennessee today is February 2^nd and I heard a prayer request. It’s from a lady that talked about a little girl that was __ declaring to her she was clean, that she was worried. It reminded me of when I was young, I went to a very powerful church __. The…the church grew to huge numbers over a period of five years and we had these big prayer meetings and I was a struggling teen looking for God and I was always going down front wanting someone to put their hands on me and for a big spiritual moment to happen. And then the pastor’s dad was the only one left. The entire church had finished. Everyone had gone home and the only person that was left was the pastor’s dad the pastor’s mum and the pastor’s mom saw me praying at the altar and came over and touched him and said that I needed someone to pray with and I was in a place where I was looking for some kind of big miracle and he came over to me and he tapped me on the shoulder and I looked at him and all he told me was, “son you have to remember that Satan is under your feet.” And I feel that as a Christian people we lose that thought. We see these struggles. I still have struggles in my life, but that moment kept my perspective focused on Satan is under your feet no matter what you’re doing…

Richard, man, my brother it is so good to hear from you. You are a first-time listener now it’s been several years. You used to be Richard from Mississippi back in the old days of 2018. You’ve since had a divorce and you have since gotten Covid. You’re now Richard from Arkansas working with your dad and you are trying to get back into reading the word and listening to the DAB every morning. My prayer for you and my prayer for everyone listening to this is that May God bless you. May you see what God is doing and when He grants you the vision to see what He is doing may you have the heart that is choosing to say hey God I’m gonna jump on your train. I love you Richard. Know that you are not alone. Know that your voice is being heard and that goes for anyone else who wants to hear this. Praying that you might be well. In Jesus’ name. Holy Spirit intercede.