Nehemiah 11:1-12:26, 1 Corinthians 10:14-33, Psalms 34:11-22, Proverbs 21:14-16
Today is the 16th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we move into this week and get settled in. I guess about the time we get settled in the week is over and that’s how it works. But here we are for the next step forward together and that will lead us back into the book of Nehemiah. We’ll actually conclude the book of Nehemiah in tomorrow’s reading but for today Nehemiah chapter 11 verse 1 through 12 verse 26.
Commentary:
Okay. So, maybe an underlying question in our read…from our reading from first Corinthians today would be how…how close to the line can we get? Like how close to the line of something that’s questionable can we get before we actually enter into something that’s sinful. And that’s a question I get asked several times in a year and I typically think, well if you're…I mean if that’s the question then probably take some steps backward and reevaluate. But because Paul is talking about this in detail and in specific then we can surmise that this was a question was in the church of Corinth. And in specific it was about eating…eating food that that might’ve been consecrated to an idol, a false God. So, we can read this kind of stuff and go, man I have never ever, you know, you don’t go to the grocery store and think…and ask those questions to yourself when you’re picking out your selection to meet. And, so, it’s a very, very different culture. And, so, just to have the background here, in the Roman Empire we understand that there’s a pantheon of gods, the gods of the Empire. Lots of gods are being worshiped. There are the gods of the Empire and then there is generally freedom to worship whatever you want to worship as long as you have an allegiance to the gods of the Empire. The Jews have the worship of the most-high God, and they were excluded from this and then Christians were excluded from this for a while and then they got in a lot of trouble and a lot of persecution. So, this is kind of right in the thick of this as this is all getting sorted out because how would they go to their meat market, their grocery store, as it were and know the origin of the meat. I mean we might ask the questions today like, is this organically fed, grain fed, like were these happy animals, that kind of stuff. And you can track that information down if you go hard enough after it but a meat market in a cosmopolitan city in the Roman Empire, kinda going around and saying, okay was this sacrificed in a ceremony? And to whom was this sacrificed and when and all of this could get complicated. But the church didn’t want to participate in idolatry even passively. And, so, Paul’s instructions then were, eat. You don’t have to ask those questions. According to Paul, the earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord. It becomes an issue when it touches somebody else’s life in a way that causes them confusion or it becomes a problem when were just looking for a loophole so that we can have 1 foot in the kingdom of God and following Jesus while at the same time honoring other deities, consuming meat that we know was ritually sacrificed to a false God, and honoring that in the process, not passively but actually participating and knowingly doing it. And, so, this last one that we just talked about, like trying to ride the fence basically to have 1 foot in one place in 1 foot in another place and have the best of both worlds, as it were, Paul’s like, and I quote “you cannot drink from the Lord’s cop and also from the cup of demons. You cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also at the table of demons. Or do we want to make the Lord jealous? Do we think that we are stronger than He?” And, so, that’s pretty clear. You’re not gonna have your foot in Baal worship and in Christ worship at the same time because that’s not how it works. There is only one God, only one, the most-high. And then the issue of, how can you know? Like, if…if…if you’re not actively trying to have 2 feet in two different worlds, you really are a follower and a disciple of Jesus, you want to keep yourself pure and so you’re trying to avoid sinning passively by consuming food that may have been consecrated to an idol. Paul’s basically like don’t worry about that, unless it affects somebody specifically. And he uses an example. Like, what if we’re invited over to a friend’s house who isn’t a believer and they actually believe in a different god, and they worship that other god and they sacrifice to that other god, but you are friends, you are associates you’re trying to be the light of the world, you’re trying to share the good news of the gospel and you’re invited over, then go and don’t worry about what’s put before you. Eat the food. It’s not about the food. It’s about the posture of heart. Eat the food. However, if those people who are your friends understand that your religious convictions are different and there’s, and in an attempt to honor you, they let you know, like hey, yeah, this steak here, this was sacrificed to, you know, our god. Well then, they’re letting you know so that you don’t have to break a conviction. Like they’re honoring you in honoring your convictions and allowing you to know that. So rather than going oh, it’s no big deal, no problem than honor them back and show allegiance to the Lord because they’ve made it a point to let you know this. And, so, this is the posture of heart that Paul is instructing the church in Corinth and by way of the letter to Corinth us, how we are supposed to act toward each other, honoring each other while not getting lost in the weeds about things that we can’t know or convictions that we do not have. And Paul kind of preempts by giving the follow-up question. And that is, why should my freedom to act be limited by another person’s conscience? If I thank God for my food why should anyone criticize me about food for which I give thanks? Which is a super individualistic concept that we should be very familiar with because it’s dominant in the world today. Why do…why does what somebody else thinks, why should that affect my life? I should be to live my life without worrying about what everybody else might see or do? And I believe that Paul would argue, yes you are absolutely correct when you are following hard after God. But when you are trying to take the freedom that you found in Christ and exploit it to the point that it’s confusing to people who might seek Christ you gotta take a second look, maybe a couple steps back and re-examine the situation. And we can see that, you know, we’re using this specific example. There are all kinds of sets of circumstances. Basically, this is a conversation about gray areas and some words and language to give us insight into the fact that it’s not about the gray areas so much. It’s about the why. It’s about the posture and motivation of our hearts. So, Paul boils this issue down really brilliantly with something that’s tangible enough for us to carry around and remember. When we walk into that kind of a scenario and we’re not quite sure how…how…what our decisions, what our choices should be. Paul says, well, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God’s glory. Live in such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews or Gentiles or to the church of God. Paul says just do as I do, I try to please everyone in all that I do, not thinking of my own good, but the good of all, so that they might be saved. That distills down very nicely into a core. Can I do this for God’s glory? If that is just a checkpoint that we can insert between the decision and the action. If there’s just that little checkpoint that says, can I do this for God’s glory. We might do it anyway, even if the answers like…we might willfully go forward, but we won’t be confused. We do have a will and we can make our choices, but that could save us a lot of trouble. And, so, let’s consider that as we move through our day.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite You into that. It's…we’re all wearing masks in this world. And, so, there’s situations all the time where it’s not always clear how to navigate, but to have this little checkpoint in our lives that says, “well, can I participate for the glory of God in this” really really helps, not only whether or not we should proceed, but if we do proceed, how? How we should proceed. With what posture we should proceed because we understand that we are doing it for Your glory and we are trying to bring honor to Your name in what we do as we are a witness, the light in the situation to reflect Your glory into it. So, come Holy Spirit because we certainly do need help. If we’re paying attention, we…we may be somewhat successful. But if we’re not paying attention, which is a lot of the time, we don't…we don’t consider what we’ve done until it’s already over and then we’re reflecting back. So, come Holy Spirit. We…we need to change that. We need to think these things through in advance and we need Your help. And, so, we humble ourselves before You and ask for Your help in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi this is Donna from California and today is August 11th. I finally got caught up and was out this evening on a beautiful walk listening to the podcast and then the prayers and a prayer came across that just made my heart just…just lift up doctor John, our dear friend and brother Doctor John to you Lord. He’s recovering from surgery for glaucoma and bent over, felt a pain, and is now having some…some disturbances in his vision and fears blindness in that eye. Lord Jesus please rush to him please heal him. We…we ask that…that you…you bring healing to him from the surgery from the glaucoma and restore his vision. Thank you, Jesus for…for doctor, John and let him know how loved he is by our community. Thank you doctor John for all the times that you’ve called in prayers for…for us and lifted us up and we cherish you. I will be keeping you in prayer. And please let us know how you’re doing too and how we can continue to pray for you. And we love you. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Renzo in Florida and I just want to pray for Doctor John. Father God I just thank you for everything that you give to us Lord and I just please pray for doctor John and that what he’s going through right now God for what…with the glaucoma surgery God I just please pray that what just happened to him as he called in today on the 11th God I just please pray that…I just please pray that…that that vision that was just turned into black and white God would be completely restored, that the surgery go well, that his vision to be completely restored in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Yes. God please just help him to just be touched by the Holy Spirit and let him be guided in everything he does. And father God I just please pray as he’s recovering from that, and I please pray for him to just keep trusting You Lord in everything. And father God please, I want to pray for I think he said Jonathan…I think his name was Jonathan and Bethsaida. But he said they were struggling with COVID. God I just please pray that they’re completely hailed in name of Jesus. God You can do all things. You’re the great physician God and You do all things. All things are possible through You. Please heal them. Let them be completely recovered in the name of Jesus. Amen. God bless you guys. You have a blessed rest of your day. Jesus loves you.
Good morning DAB family this is John O'Connor calling from Juba South Sudan. This morning I would like to ask you to join me in praying for my son Steven John. Steven John is my second child but my first son. I have three sons. He’s the first one. Steven John has been diagnosed with bipolar and we have seen him go through the phases with severe depression that lasts for quite some time and then the manic phase that is erratic, pressured speech, and poor judgment and, you know, very restless. And we have gone through the phases that families go through when you're…when you have such a thing in the family. We have been filled with shame. We’re going through denial. But now I can only call on…on God to help us with my son. So, your prayers are really really important. I have seen what God can do when people in this community pray. So, I need your prayer. And thank you for praying. Have a good day. Bye-bye.
This is God’s Life Speaker. Hello DAB family. I was listening on the 12th, and I heard a 16 year old young lady call in to encourage another DABber who’s pregnant. And what she pointed out is that, I can’t. And then she gave biblical scripture to back that up. Oh yes you can when you lean on God. I can do all things through Christ. And that is just amazing First off. 16-year-old. God bless you sweetheart. May you be speaking life into those around you which I sure…I am sure that you are. I wanted to point out some of the I cants of the Bible. And those would be, I can’t, Moses. That’s right, he couldn’t until he took off his shoes on that holy ground and turned his attention towards that burning bush. Jeremiah, I can’t because I’m too young. That’s right until you believed that God said that I picked you for this and you will. Gideon, I can’t because I’m not. That’s right until you put on what God has called you. There are so many I cants. We need to stand for Christ, who He is, what He has called us to do, who He tells us we are and start speaking them out loud, and walking with that scripture exactly like the 16-year-old has blessed us with and reminded us. So may we all take up what is put on us like Nehemiah. Just take the next step. Go in Christ. Meet with Him first and then step it out, walk it out, speak it out. Amen.
Hi DAB family this is Jessica from California. Today I’m calling to leave a message for Kingdom Seeker Daniel. This is regarding your…your check in after not being able to get in to see her son and how your friend said that God is in the know sometimes. And I have to agree with that because I was actually in the position that your sons end. I was on the other side of the wall, and I had a really bad drug problem. I wound up going crazy. I was schizophrenic on meth and I…I went to this lady’s house and I thought that these people were creeping on my daughter and all this strange stuff and I entered their home and to make a Long story short I wound up in jail. I was confused. I was lost and that’s right where God met me. And if I wouldn't…if I hadn’t of had so much time between…to myself between me and God, you know, with no interference from my family and to realize…to sort it all out mentally then I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Well, this was in 2015 and I’m telling you the Lord delivered me from it all. I lead a normal life. I’ve been out for three years. I went to a massage therapy school. My whole entire lives changed. All my relationships have been healed because I had that one-on-one time with the Lord. And just trust that the Lord’s working and that He can change your son’s heart to realize where…where you were there for him and how much you love him. And I just I hope you stay strong. Thank you.