Month: September 2021

Isaiah 45:11-48:11, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 24:3-4

Today is the 25^th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you as we bring to the close another one of our weeks together and continue our journey by taking the next step forward, which leads us back into the book of Isaiah. We’ve been camping out in Isaiah for a while, and we’ve got a little bit more to go. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. Isaiah 45 verse 11 through 48 verse 11.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week. We just completed the last full week of this month. We’ll be transitioning again in the coming week, and it just keeps going. It seems like it’s going fast but at every moment that we slow down to observe where we are we look back and see that You have been faithful, You have been patient, You have led us every step of the way, You have brought us to this point, and we are supremely grateful to You. We worship You. We love You. And as this week becomes part of our history, we pray that what You’ve planted in our lives through the Scriptures will yield fruit, will bring a harvest when the time is right. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base. That’s where the Global Campfire is and…yeah…check it out if you haven’t had the chance yet. You can arrive there at dailyaudiobible.com or you can use the app and press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that will get you to places like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. And within the Daily Audio Bible Shop are a number of categories of resources that…that are for the community here just around the Global Campfire, whether that be Global Campfire things to remind us that we’re in community together, or whether that be written resources to take the journey deeper. Check it out at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app, the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you with all of my heart. Thank you, wouldn't…we wouldn’t have been here 5000+ days in a row if we weren’t in this together 5000+ days in a row. And, so, it's…it’s an honor…it’s an honor to serve and it’s a beautiful thing we’re in this together as we take the journey through the year. And, so, if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at the website at dailyaudiobible.com. If 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 hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you not be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DAB it’s Refined by the Fire in Ohio and I wanted to take a minute. We’ve had just so many people call in with just soul tugging praises and requests. And, so, I wanted to take a minute to rejoice with those who are rejoicing for the gift of sight, for health being restored, for relationships that have been mended. And I don’t want to overlook the high points that we go through. And those high points don’t diminish the low valleys that we also face. And, so, the calls that we’ve had coming in, I’m sorry for the loss of your son. I’m sorry about your mom in the nursing home with dementia. And, you know, your hubby not wanting to walk and his health, just each one of your calls I pray with you. I lift you up whether that’s in praise or just in comfort and sorrow, both with thanksgiving that we know a God who is bigger than our deepest valleys, who meets us at the peaks where we get to be there and who carries us through each one. And I just thank you guys for being there for me over the years even if I was kind of in the background. But I love you guys and I hope you have a great day.

Good night, everybody this is In Cognito but not to God. I’m calling to ask that God would reach out to a friend. I’ll just give his…his initials, Y I’m sorry JY. and he is…he needs to be rescued from male prostitution. And I’m asking that you all will join me in prayer for his deliverance and that God will use him as a point of reference to save many others who are caught up in the same situation. It turns into addiction because you start believing that that’s who you are, that that’s the only way. You can’t see a way out. And he’s truly believing all of Satan’s lies. So, I’m reaching out to all of you because I know that prayer is power. Help me to push, pray until something happens. I’m asking God to save him by any means necessary. God created him and then paid a very heavy price for him. So, Satan cannot have him in the name of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus over him, that God will save him from himself. In Jesus’ name I ask these things. Amen.

Grace and peace Daily Audio Bible family. This is Phil Jordan formerly of New York now of North Carolina. My wife Sherry and I relocated earlier this year. This is a prayer request for the healing and full recovery of my dear sister-in-law Celestine Garner. She and my brother who are pastors of our church back in our hometown of Mount Vernon NY had a bout with COVID in August. Pastor’s out and on the mend and…but Celestine is still there in the hospital on a ventilator. Waiting for her to wake up. There’ve been prayers…multiple prayers and many many prayers have already gone up but I’m reaching out to you guys as well. Support the family as well as for God to just complete this work of restoration in both of them so she can live to continue to spoil everyone and be the most hospitable person she’s ever been. I’ll tell you it’s just something to deal with, this illness because you have to suffer so long in…in isolation. She’s been in the hospital for a while, so you can’t visit. But we’re praying and we pray in the Spirit that she’s been able to hear us and feel our love and prayers. So, pray with us for her restoration and for healing, for God to raise her up, for it to be a great testimony for her to live the rest of her days, see her yet to be born grandchildren and spoil them in Jesus’ name. Thank you.

Good morning DABalonians. Casey Sean Pierce from Hawaii I love the way you started it with your various names for the community at Daily Audio Bible. It was great. My name is Treasured Possession, and I would like to pray for your wife. I want you to know that I am the wife of a husband who I have been married to for 35 years and he has been sober for 12. And it’s not easy but it is beautiful. And God…God is mighty. Shamara, I pray that you shall know the truth and that the truth will set you free. I pray that you would remain free. I pray your children will be settled in a home of peace and that you will have the time to focus on yourself and your recovery. I pray that you will know all you have in Christ Shamara, that you’ll have a solid sponsor in a group that loves you understand you and supports you in your recovery. I pray you will not seek drama to distract from the pain. I pray that you will be able to endure the pain as you…as the pain is revealed to you and that peace that passes understanding will fill your soul, your mind and you will be as you were redeemed in the word made flesh your savior Jesus. I pray God’s almighty blessing upon you, and I pray for an amazing and phenomenal life for you and your husband and your family and that your mother-in-law and mother would be blessed as well. Father God, I thank you for people in recovery. I thank you Father God for your…for you Jesus that that brings it all…that makes it all happen. And thank you Daily Audio Bible family that undergirds all of the believers in prayer. And thank you Brian, Jill, and Ezekiel and all the team behind. Amen.

Isaiah 43:14-45:10, Ephesians 3:1-21, Psalm 68:1-18, Proverbs 24:1-2

Today is the 24th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is great to be here with you today as we continue our journey around the sun and through the Bible and we have worked our way all the way, well, we’re kind of in the last quarter I guess, of the book of Isaiah and we’re also working our way through the letter to the Ephesians. So, let’s dive in today Isaiah chapter 43 verse 14 through 45 verse 10.

Commentary:

Okay, so I have mentioned that Ephesians, at least as I read it, it’s like an ever upward climb to these higher vistas to see further, to see further horizons, to see more and understand more. And it’s not like Paul’s saying in this letter like, things it he hasn’t said in other ways, but he’s in prison and he is writing this passionately. This vision of what’s really going on here, and if we just meditate on it. If we just take it in slowly. It is so huge. So, Paul is talking about revelations that he has received, mysteries that he is received, that have previously been unrevealed and I quote “this mystery is that in Christ Jesus, the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and people who also share in the promise through the gospel.” Well so, previously the understanding that Paul had as a Pharisee is that the Jews are the exclusive people and that’s what they think but this revelation, this mystery that has been revealed to Paul that he is preaching, well that touches all of us because most of us are Gentiles. And so, for Paul to say that the mystery that’s been revealed is that through Christ, Gentiles and Jews are fellow heirs, members of the same body, people who share in the same promise through the gospel. What Paul is saying is that this is available to everybody in the world which is huge and for me, a Gentile a overwhelming flow of gratitude. Paul goes on, as if to answer a question like, why would God do that, why, why would He welcome everybody in the world, and I quote Paul again “He did this so that through the church, the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was done according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Okay, that’s pretty cosmic in its implications. This is saying God, in his goodness and offering you eternal life, opening a way, welcoming you home. This makes His wisdom known and we are like a living witness, a living display to the unseen realms, that is huge to contemplate. That is a massive vista to just understand that we are all part of something way bigger than…than we ever pay attention to. Paul says because of all of that, because of this gift and because of what it’s doing, in Jesus, we can freely approach God with confidence, through faith in Him. We could say yes, this is a theological formula I’ve known for a very long time but think about that. We can freely approach God, the most high God, with confidence through faith in Him. Let’s try to live into this today. Let’s try to contemplate, consider, meditate upon, allow it to sink in. Even Paul seems blown away. Even as he is writing it down and he gives kind of a benediction here at the end of our reading and so, let’s just let this benediction wash over us as we bask in the goodness of God.

Prayer:

For this reason, I kneel before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the entire family in heaven and on earth receives its name. I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He would strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then, being rooted and grounded in love, I pray that you would be able to comprehend, along with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep His love is, and that you would be able to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled to all the fullness of God. Now to Him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base. That is the website, and it is how you get connected and find out what’s going on around here. So certainly, check it out. If you’re using the app you can access these things by pushing the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app screen in there or on the web, you’ll find the Community section. In the Community section you’ll find different links to the social media channels that the Daily Audio Bible participates in. You will also find the Prayer Wall which is always on and never off and always available. You can always request prayer on the Prayer Wall. You can also, you know, kind of glance through and see where the Spirit may be leading you to pray and pray for your brothers and sisters who are also going through things and give them a word of encouragement. It means so much to know you’re not carrying it alone; it means so much to know that somebody is praying for you and it’s a beautiful thing. It’s truly a beautiful thing to know that somebody that you may never actually get to meet in person is praying for you by name because we’re the family of God. So, if you haven’t ever visited the Prayer Wall, please be aware it’s in the Community section either on the app or at the website, so check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly, humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top break 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi, Daily Audio Bible, my name is New Eyes and I’m from Chattanooga, Tennessee and I’m calling in for the first time because I was really moved by some prayer requests the other day and I wanted to lift some folks up here in our community. First of all, I would like to thank the Lord for Trent and his encouragement to all of us to be thankful for what we have, I know I definitely need that and I want to lift up Vicki from Southern California and Tammy, who is in remission from ovarian cancer. I really want to lift you ladies up to the Lord, for how much you are just laying at the foot of the cross and trusting God to give you peace in such a hard time. And, I also want to pray for Giovanni whose whole family is sick with the coronavirus. Lord, just bring Your healing, bring Your Holy Spirit and touch Giovanni and his family in this long, frustrating battle with this virus and I just ask that You would bless him. And family, it’s my first time calling in and I could really use some prayers this week as I’m sending my 18-year-old son to a youth with a mission discipleship training school in Hawaii and he’s gonna be gone for six months and it’s his first time away from home and I’m so excited for him but it’s also really hard for this mama. So, if you could lift him up just send him blessings and prayers for an amazing time. I really love this community. You guys are an incredible blessing. Thank you for praying. Keep it up.

Hello Daily Audio family. My name is Sharon I’m calling to ask for prayer for my daughter, Sharon. She’s been told she needs open-heart surgery, she’s really, we’re really afraid. Each time we speak to a doctor we’re afraid and she starts crying and I start crying. I’m asking that you pray that, pray, send prayers for us that we can get through this situation and come out whole on the other side. I pray with her and I know that God can do all things and I prayed that He will give us the strength, first and foremost, that she doesn’t need the surgery and that we will get a second opinion. We just need prayer right now family. Thank you.

Hello my DAB family this is Minnesota Aruka Regina. I haven’t talked to you in a while, just want to tell you how much I love you and care about each and every one of you. On September 21st Danielle, I thank you so much for giving us an update on that 19-year-old girl Lord, it just really made me kind of cry and I want to lift her up in prayer. Loving Father, I just am so grateful for You being there for this young 19-year-old gal who was adopted…abducted and violated Father. Thank You for seeing her and for being faithful to find Your precious lost sheep. Lord, I just pray right now that You please speak love into her traumatic soul where she’s been hurt and crushed and bruised Lord. I pray that You just reach her heart, let her know that You cried with her in those days that she was gone and it hurts Your spirit. But You were already making a plan for her and You are now helping her. Lord, I pray that You heal her. Let her know that You love her and You care about her and You are a God that can restore Lord. Bring someone into her life that can…can help her to be able to process everything and to break all of the bonds of this troubled man. May she not feel guilty and shameful for what is happening. It’s not her fault. Help her to forgive. Help her to learn to love and to be loved again. We give You all the glory and honor in the name of the Father and the Son. Amen.

Hey DAB fam this is Laura in Eugene. I just want to call and lift up Val in Vegas in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just lift Val up to You, I pray for strength and courage as she recovers from her recent surgery. Lord, I pray for her medical team as decisions for what happens next are coming and I pray that You would help Val to rest in Your peace and Your comfort and Your care, that she could just feel that peace that passes all comprehension Lord. I pray that You would continue to be with her and guide her through this hard time but I’m just so grateful that she’s moving forward and getting the care that she needs Lord. Father, just keep watch over her. Thank You. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Hi my name is Maggie Mae and I’m calling in certain dyer straights. My whole family, I just found out my whole family is sick. My three grandchildren, my son. My grandson has got a fever of 105, they don’t know what is wrong with him. He’s only two years old. My older grandson who’s 17 he’s sick with RSV, they said that they don’t know, I don’t even know what that is. My granddaughter is so sick, the only one that’s not sick is the mother. I am beside myself with my grandson who is so, so sick. He’s so sick he’s burning. I pray the blood of Jesus over Armanie over Arianna over Marc Anthony. He just lost his father. I pray for my son Marc Anthony. They’re not saved. Please, God don’t take my family. Please, God don’t take my family. Please, oh please, don’t take my family. Please. Thank you, I’m sorry for the emotions but I feel so hopeless. I feel so hopeless. Please pray for them. Please take care of Dominic, Arrianna and Marc Anthony. Please, thank you.

Isaiah 41:17-43:13, Ephesians 2:1-22, Psalms 67:1-7, Proverbs 23:29-35

Today is the 23^rd day in the month of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy and an honor to spend a few minutes of this day with you around this Global Campfire that we make each day, it’s oasis to let God’s word wash into our lives. And, so, let’s take that next step forward together. We are working our way through the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and we’re just getting going in the letter to the Ephesians in the New. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. Isaiah chapter 41 verse 17 through 43 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Alright. I want to just requote Paul in his letter to the Ephesians just a couple of verses today for us to look at. “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved.” Like we could just sit there, and we should. We should take each part of this and just contemplate it at different points of the day. “It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Again, “this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.” This is a reasonably well-known passage. You’ve probably heard it before, but have you ever just sat with it? “It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God.” That is really really good news. That is the good news. You…you can’t get good enough. You can’t work yourself into this. That’s not what’s going on here. God is trying to offer a gift freely. Your part is to believe that the gift has been given and then life is transformed. And then what we do falls in line with who we are and who we are, according to Paul, is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. So, we can see that we have good work to do, and that good work is part of us being in Christ, But the fact that we can be in Christ, there is nothing we can do to make that happen other than believe because it is a gift, it does not come from ourselves. We cannot earn it in our own power, which also means this cannot be stolen from us. We could reject a gift. We could walk away and abandon the gift. We can treat a gift as it's…as if it’s garbage but this gift is the restoration or renewal or re-creation, the making new of our inner selves. The transformation of our Spirit, the…the changing of who we truly are. Do we not spend our whole lives trying to tweak who we think we really are? And normally what we’re doing is trying to tweak our behavior, trying to tweak our personality so that it’s more effective at coping with the world and getting people to do what we want them to do in some form or fashion, otherwise known as manipulation. What Paul is talking about here is so much deeper, so much deeper than all of that façade, all of that mask wearing. It is at the essence of what is core, what is deeply true of us, what is created in the image of God. This gift transforms us, changing everything about us, including what we do. There’s like not a whole lot of better news than that. I mean would you rather have your…I mean this is an odd question…but the phone call that makes you rich or the awareness that you are being transformed into something that has the Spirit of the living most high God involved and within? I can’t say much about the phone call that will make you rich but this second piece, this is already true. Let’s spend some time contemplating it, contemplating this truth and what it might mean. That we can spend some time thinking about what this might mean, that we can live true, that this cannot be taken from us, that our identity no matter what anyone might say cannot be altered. We are children of God. Think about that today.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. It’s the reality that’s been spoken to us from the beginning. It’s a reality that the Gospels reveal. You came and were willing to sacrifice Yourself in order to give us this gift. And yest we just kind of live as if it’s just a thing, like it’s just always been here, and it’s just a thing. We’re just trying to figure it out and we’re just trying to be better when You have offered us the gift of utter and complete transformation if we will utterly and completely surrender to You. Come Holy Spirit, help us to think on these things today, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website, it’s where you find out what’s happening around here. So, be sure to check it out or you can use the Daily Audio Bible app to do the same thing. Press the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. Some people call it a hamburger button. I’d never heard that one before. Looks kinda like a drawer to me, three little lines. Push that button. It opens a drawer and then you can access the different sections there from within the app.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are a number of categories and resources there for the journey through the Bible in a year.

Check out the Community section. That is where to get plugged in on social media to where the Daily Audio Bible is. That is also the home of the Prayer Wall. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, that can be done at dailyaudiobible.com or from within the app as well. On the web 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, of course, if you have a prayer request or encouragement there are number of ways to reach out. If you’re using the app, you can press the Hotline button. That’s the little red button up at the top. You can’t miss it. You can press that and share your story from wherever you are in the world or there are a number of telephone numbers that you can use depending on where you are. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is a number to call.

And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, my DABalonians DABaruskis, my DABster’s what’s going down? This is Casey Sean Peirce from beautiful sunny Eloa. How are you today? I wanted everyone to join me in prayer if you could if you would be so kind for the beautiful Shemira Pierce my wife. Heavenly Father please bless Shemira and give her extra piece and extra joy and strength to…to do the things she needs to do in Jesus’ name. Amen. If anyone else wants to pray for her that’d be super cool. I’m not really that good at prayer. She recently quit doing all drugs and tobacco products and alcohol and she’s got a lot of family issues that she’s dealing with, that she’s talking to a custody lawyer right now. We’re handling a lot of kids in and out of the house and with different parents, her biological kids. Her mom lives with us. There was a reason she drank and did drugs, my wonderful wife and now that we don’t that it kind of takes away what was protecting a lot of things that she needs to just overcome now. And, so, if anybody can help her with prayer to do the things that she needs to do that would be great. I love all you guys. God bless you and God bless your day.

Hey everybody my names Kara I live in North Carolina, and I just wanted to put in a prayer request for one of my friends. About 10 days ago she lost her son who’s only 19 years old and it was very unexpected and suddenly. And his funeral was on Saturday. And I saw her for the first time since this has happened, and it just broke my heart to see her. And I just pray that she feels lifted up and comforted and finds peace. And I just I’m asking for all you guys to pray for her period she she's…she’s having a hard time and she also has another son that’s his…the other boy’s twin. So, I can imagine that would be very difficult. So, yeah if you guys could just pray for her and with her up, I would really appreciate it. I love this community and everything it stands for. And thank you Brian for having this community. It’s definitely kept me going in difficult times. So, I appreciate it. Love you guys. Bye.

Heidi DAB family it’s Shanda from South Dakota. I was doing my Bible study this morning and I felt prompted to call and ask for some prayer. We did our festival and it turned out great. Thank you for those prayers. However, my son was assaulted shortly after pretty badly. Had someone not stopped he feels like maybe he wouldn’t have lived. And the people that are salted him are still threatening him. He feels like he needs to go buy a gun for safety. And I am praying for him. And I still have some fear. He’s my baby. I’m just calling to ask for prayer for his safety. I’m just in this place of praying to the Lord and…and going back and forth. I trust the Lord and I trust His plan and I know He has plans for my son’s life. I still just feel a little fear. I am praying for all of you, and I thank you so much for your prayers. Have a great day everyone.

Good morning, everybody this is God’s Smile here. It’s a beautiful morning and I just wanted to share a little…little __ I had with the Lord. As the lights are drawing in, I’ve noticed by the time I’m able to get down the stairs. And, you know, I only get about an hours’ light before I notice it starting to draw in. And I thought, wouldn’t it be lovely if I could just get up in the mornings and be able to get downstairs physically. So, here I am at 9:00 o'clock in the morning. Thank you, Jesus for that. Isn’t He great? He even hears the sighs of our heart. So, Brenda I would like to pray for you because you rang in about your mom in a nursing home and it’s on lockdown due to COVID and it’s not been easy on a dementia ward. And she’s had a hard time remembering conversations and when she last saw your family. She loves the Lord. She’s been a pastor’s wife for 35 years and she feels abandoned. Father God thank you that you’ve not abandoned Nancy. Thank you that Jesus lives inside her and Your precious Holy Spirit. Father I ask for Your peace to be…to abound Lord, that Your grace would impart Father and a stillness in Nancy’s heart to know that everything’s OK. And I know You do this with me Lord when I’m in distress and I have faith and trust in You that You will calm her and soothe her Lord and let her witness be from Brenda the next time she calls. And times ticking away and Bob’s chirping away. I’ll have to go now guys. Kiss kiss. I love you. Bye-bye.

Good morning DAB family I’ve got a prayer request and also a praise report but before I start this story, I’m a bit sick so hopefully you can hear me OK, my voice sounds alright. But my praise report is that I…I got my university results back and I graduate with a first. And I can’t even explain like. Like I got it like a week ago and every single day since, I just keep thinking about and I’m like oh my goodness, how on earth did I graduate with a first. Like so grateful, so happy and like I…I just owe everything to God because like if someone had told me I was going to graduate a first I would have been like oh, stop it. Believe it or not people said yeah you will, and I was just rolling my eyes like ok please like stop expecting so much from me. And I did. And I just…like it’s honestly the weirdest feeling but like the best feeling at the same time. So, that’s some good news because I struggled a lot especially like balancing uni stuff and work. Well…I did it, but my prayer request is for my brother. He’s just so lost. And like we had a conversation last night and it just honestly just made me really realize how lost he actually is, and it’s just been on my mind like the whole night even when I was sleeping and when I wake up today. It’s been on my mind like and like the love I have for my brother is so much like I don’t love anyone else the same way that I love him, and I care for him, and I want him to add like have the best life he can possibly have. But like I just don’t know what he’s doing. And he’s drifted so far away from God it’s ridiculous. Like he’s just…he’s not even putting in any effort to spend time with Him. And like He’s just doing…he’s doing what he wants, and I don’t know whether or not he cares that what he’s doing is like not what he’s supposed to be doing and if like…I just…I…I don’t know but I just I guess I…I…I I’m just asking for you guys to pray for guidance and wisdom and for him to actually have a relationship with God…

Isaiah 39:1-41:16, Ephesians 1:1-23, Psalm 66:1-20, Proverbs 23:25-28

Today is the 22nd day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian. It is my joy and honor and privilege to be here in my seat around the Global Campfire and it is so good to be here with you around this Global Campfire that we call home. This little oasis in the thick of the world and the craziness of it all. This one place that we go and take deep breaths and let them go and allow God’s word to speak in a safe and serene place. And so, let’s dive in, we’re continuing our journey through the book of Isaiah. When we get to the New Testament, we have some new territory to move into; the letter to the Ephesians and we’ll talk about that when we get there, but first Isaiah chapter 39 verse 1 through 41 verse 16.

Introduction to the Book of Ephesians:

Okay, that brings us here to the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians, which is going to take us into some new territory and some new ways of thinking. Ephesians is different than any of the other letters that we’ve read so far, which leads and has led certain biblical scholars to wonder who wrote this, clearly, its Paul line, clearly, it comes from his theology and from his way of thinking, but some wonder like, is this his style or did this come later, or are there developments that are later? Did Paul actually write this? And that’s been up to…for debate for…for a long time. But then other Biblical scholars would be like, look, these letters were being passed around and copied and sent to each other all over the places, there would be nuances. There’s no way to nail this down and that’s equally fair. And Ephesians, well Ephesus is not a place that Paul wasn’t familiar with. So, the people receiving this letter knew Paul and he knew them, which could explain some of the differences in the ways that he speaks. I guess if you’re writing a letter to people you don’t know to introduce yourself or to a church, maybe that you’ve founded and you know the leadership but it has grown and there are new people involved. That’d be different than if you’re writing a personal letter to a group of people that you knew them all. Paul had spent about three years in Ephesus in the community that was established there, that he had established there. Ephesus was an important city in the Roman Empire. It was a port city. So, imports and exports are coming in and out of there as well as people from all over the place, arriving by ship, which would obviously make it a melting pot of different customs and different spiritual ideas. Ephesians is a little different, because Paul’s not writing to correct a bunch of stuff and we’ve seen that in the letters so far where he’s correcting things because of others who have come in and taught differently. He’s correcting things that he’s been asked directly about; he’s correcting things that he’s heard are going on. Rather, he’s writing to people he knows and he’s been arrested at this point. So, he’s writing this from prison. That’s really compelling, like, once we start reading this, to imagine that this was written from an incarcerated person that was up for capital punishment, like, a life-and-death case is pretty remarkable because Ephesians gives us a glimpse into who we are because of what Jesus has done and where this is all going and it gives us a glimpse of the good news that, if you really just stop and think about some of the things that are being said, it’s almost like, how can that, that is to good, that is so good that it makes you think how do I, that’s the world I want to live in, like that, yes how do I get there? So, for Paul to be in prison and sending along this encouragement is really compelling to read. And you can imagine, Paul gets arrested as a ringleader of those who are now following Jesus. Those who are now known as Christians. If you’re in the Roman Empire near a Gentile, and you’ve heard of Paul and you’ve kind of, you’re in the culture and you kind of know that there’s some things stirring around this, you’re not necessarily, I mean like, if he’s in jail and he could be executed. You probably not looking for how you can sign up to be part of this club and if you have found Jesus and now Paul’s in jail and could be killed. It’s hard to think about how you would navigate the marginalization and how you would navigate what you’re going to do, how you going to manage with the culture turning against you. So, for Paul to write such grand views of the faith. Such hopeful things to contemplate is really beautiful on a lot of levels. So, let’s dive in, it’s a letter, it’s not a superlong letter but let’s drink every drop and let it lift our spirits and lift our eyes to the horizon that we might see what’s really going on here instead of just trying to cope and survive. And with that we begin Ephesians chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this new territory that we are moving into in the letter to the Ephesians. Holy Spirit come, reset our vision, reset our attitude and our convictions as we contemplate what is in this letter over these next few days. Come, Holy Spirit, and lead us into all truth. This is a promise and we need the Spirit of truth to guide our steps, so come, Jesus we pray in your mighty name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base that’s the Daily Audio Bible website. And that’s where you can certainly find out what’s happening around here. If using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can find everything within the app as well. Check out the different sections, check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are a lot of resources there in the Shop that are, that are for our community around the Global Campfire. It’s specifically for our journey through the Bible together in a year, whether that be Global Campfire apparel or things to carry around or whether that be the Daily Audio Bible journal and the black wing pencils and all of the writing instruments that go along with journaling. That’s all been created for the, for the journey. It’s remarkable to Journal your way through the Bible in a year. Amazing, the things that happen and the things that become clear and the things that are challenging that God gets us through to have that documented, that’s a beautiful thing and so, and it’s a biblical thing so we…we encourage that. Or other resources like The God of Your Story, which is 365 days of written commentary like what we talk about every day on the Daily Audio Bible leading us through the Bible in a year and that is a fantastic resource every day. Actually, it’s a great resource every day may be each morning or each night, whatever. Like if you listen to Daily Audio Bible in the morning and kind of just glance through God of Your Story at night you just kind of lock some things in or see them from a different perspective because what we talk about at Daily Audio Bible each year, that’s always very dynamic to what’s going on and how it’s hitting us on that particular day. So, there are many resources for the journey and you can find them in the Daily Audio Bible Shop whether using the app or the web.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you, humbly, humbly, thank you. We would not be here. We would not be here if we were not in this together and we have been in this together for a lot of years now and I’m deeply humbled and deeply, deeply grateful. There is a link at dailyaudiobible.com 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 P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Asia from the City of Angels. And I just had to call in and pray for our sister Vicki from Northern California. Vicki, we hear, we hear the fragility in your voice as you tell your DAB family what happened to your son but yet we hear the strength of your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the glory of God, even in your child and you’re suffering. I just want to give it up to you and my heart goes out to you, our arms are lifted to hold you during this time, our sister, and to give you the love of Jesus right now, through your fellow DAB family for what you’re going through with the loss of your son. And, I do pray right now also Father God, please protect all of our medical care workers, our caregivers and workers in these environments Lord, in these current COVID times we’re living through. We just pray for them. We pray for their protection. We pray for their courage and we pray for their own health in this season, Father God. And, I just wanted you say thank you to the DAB Family for just your love, just showing everyone the love of Jesus Christ. Thank you.

I just want to praise God. And I want to thank you all for your prayers. Today, is September 18th and I am a little behind on my, on my, on listening to the Daily Audio Bible. I just…just finished listening to September 14 and at the end Cam in California had requested prayer for rain out here in the West. And I just want to tell you, I am driving on Highway 58 through the mountains in Oregon and it is raining. It started raining yesterday. We haven’t had rain for a long time and it has been so smoky and so dry, there’s been so many fires out here. It’s just been really, really, really a rough summer. But it is raining and everything is wet. Everything is crisp and the air is clean and I just want to tell you that God is so awesome. And He’s heard your prayers. The prayers that have been prayed since Cam’s request aired on September 14th, four days before it started raining. God has heard your prayers and He has answered. And I just wanted to praise Him and I just want to thank you all for praying for us out here. We are so grateful for this rain, praise You God. You are so awesome, praise You.

Hello, Jermain here, new to the DAB community. And, I’ve been pretty moved by the different prayer requests and praise reports at the end of these talks and I wanted to request some prayer for a good friend of mine, his name is Bill. He has…he has done a lot of work for the Lord and he’s brought a lot of, exposed a lot of people to Jesus since I’ve met him. A very strong soldier for the Lord. And, he, in the past couple years, he…he got schizophrenia and his relationship has been very, very rocky with God since then. At times, it appears he’s an enemy of God. And I know it’s has a lot to do with his mind, but I want to pray, I want to ask that we could, if you would pray for his healing. But in addition to that, pray also for everyone who is…who his around him, and help us to, pray that we would receive divine assistance in loving him the way that he should be loved cause it has been very hard since…since he’s changed in this way, it’s like he’s a, almost like a completely different person. But that is my, that is my prayer request and I appreciate the existence of this community and I’m looking forward to getting more involved. Hopefully meeting…meeting some of you. Bye bye.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. It’s James no longer the teacher in LA after 11 years with our fine school district. I actually moved to a school district north of Los Angeles and been there for little over a month now and honestly spent a lot of those first weeks questioning the wisdom of my decision, finding out that benefits weren’t gonna be as good, a lot of things weren’t gonna be as good but you know what, I met another teacher there who was just reminding me that working for the students like this can be ministry and that’s the word they used was ministry. And boy if that didn’t re-light a fire that’s been inside me for a long time that made my last few months really crushed. So, in the last week, seven days, I’ve had the opportunity to reach out to four students already, but the good news, in one form or another, like one a day. And I went over to thank this teacher for just their kind words and they said this past Friday, they shared the news with three students in a day and this is not normal for either of us so please be lifting up our high school. Also, my therapist is really sick actually worried for his well-being so you can lift up my therapist John too. So, thanks family love you guys and I don’t know if I could do this without you guys. Bye.

Dear sister, I hope I get your name right I think it was Vicki from California. That’s the lady whose son passed away on, I believe August 18, he took his own life. As soon as I heard this story that you told I texted my own son and told him I love him and we talked briefly on the phone. He had PTSD for other reasons but never been in the heroic position that your son has been in for such a long time. And we are so grateful to him and to all the medical people who’ve been right there on the front line, struggling in this battle. Lord, would you uphold this dear mom, thank You for her testimony of faith in You Lord. And, thank You for her son, who ministered really to all of us, day-in and day-out as we fight in this battle against the COVID virus. I pray it would go away soon. That we would find even more and new ways to cooperate to get this to just not be part of our lives anymore. Bless this dear mom in Jesus name I pray.

Isaiah 37:1-38:22, Galatians 6:1-18, Psalms 65:1-13, Proverbs 23:24

Today is the 21^st day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we do what we do and take the next step forward together. We are working our way of course, through the book of Isaiah and we have definitely crossed the halfway point in Isaiah. We are also working our way through Galatians. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. Isaiah 37 and 38 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we just concluded the letter to the Galatians in our reading today. Tomorrow we will move forward to the letter to the Ephesians. So, just looking back. Galatia is more of a province that has many towns in it and this letter was sent…sent to the churches that had been developing in the region of Galatia. Tomorrow we’ll read Ephesians and that will be a letter written to the church in a specific city, Ephesus. And as we concluded Galatians, Paul left a little bit of a list. If we’re looking for it we can find all kinds of little…little characteristic lists, little things that we should be paying attention, little bits of counsel. And, so, as Galatians concludes today, we kinda have that and we can see it basically from verse 2 until verse 10 of chapter 6. So, let’s just look at these suggestions and just invite our own heart to speak, like invite ourselves to be reflective about whether or not we’re heeding any of this counsel. So, first…I’m gonna just be quoting all this. “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. For if someone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” So, we can…we can sit with that one for a while. Next. “Let each person test his own work and then he will take pride in regard to himself and not his neighbor. For each man will bear his own burden,” right? So, basically keep your eyes on your own life. Get that in order. Get that straight before you try to organize somebody else’s life. The way Jesus would put this is, why don’t you go ahead and get that log out of your own eye before you try to get the speck out of your brother’s eye. Again, some things worthy of contemplating and thinking about as it applies to the way we live our lives. Then next up. “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher.” In other words, give honor where honor is due. And next up. “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. To be sure whatever a man sows, he will also reap. Indeed, the one who sows for his own sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh, but the one who sows for the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit”, which kind of begs the question if we’re sitting here thinking things through - what are we doing here? What are we about? What are we doing? What is our motivation? What are we after? Because there are two paths laid out here. Following the path of the sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh. But one who is focused on the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Again, any one of these we can sit and just kinda put in our…the back of our minds and contemplate this all day long, just observing ourselves, watching the things that we do and the attitudes that we have and inviting God in as we compare our functional lives to the advice that Paul’s getting here. And then next up. “Let us not become weary of doing good because at the appointed time we will reap if we do not give up.” So, what’s the encouragement. Keep going. You can do this. Keep going. One foot in front of the other. Don’t be weary of doing good just because you’re not seeing the payoff yet. Keep going. You will reap if you don’t stop, if you don’t give up. Keep going. Some of us need to hear that. And then lastly here. “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.” And we could look at that go okay, yup, got it. I’ll do that as I have opportunity. And then we’re so selfish that we never have opportunity. We should look at this flipped backward. When the opportunity is presented, let us do good to all people, and especially those who belong to the household of faith. And if we’re looking for opportunity to do good to all people. Then we will be fulfilling what was previously said, which is don’t be weary of doing good because at the appointed time we’ll reap if we don’t stop, if we don’t give up. And, so, there are a number of things that we can carry around with us from Galatians, just from the last chapter of Galatians to help us to reflect on the way that we are conducting our lives.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, come. It’s something that we ask every day, something that we need every moment, something that we need every breath. In fact as we become aware of our breath, we become aware of Your presence. When we breathe in we are inspiring, which means in spirit and we release in faith knowing that the next breath will come and we thank You that that’s how simple it can be. Sometimes in the fog of life to become aware that You are here, that Your presence is with us. And we need Your presence. We need Your counsel. We need Your comfort. We need Your correction. Even as we look at what’s here in Galatians today just applying this to the way that we live, show us how to not give up. Show us how to look for the opportunity to do good. Show us how to not draw attention to ourselves or to just be self-absorbed so that we’re only ever comparing ourselves to somebody else, which is useless. Show us how to grow up and live into this to be a mature son and daughter of the kingdom, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is the home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, check it out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can push the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you to the different sections that are available on the website.

So, check out like the Community section. This is where you’ll find different links to get connected on social media. It is also where the Prayer Wall lives. And I rarely tire speaking about the Prayer Wall. I rarely tire of speaking about our community and the way that we love one another through prayer. It is truly the most remarkable thing, one of the most remarkable things I’ve seen over a sustained period of time, the way that we’re all over the world but we’re around the global campfire and we all go through the ebb and flow of life that sometimes feels like a roller coaster and we’re back-and-forth and pulled in all kinds of directions. And there are sometimes that we’re confessing. There are other times that we’re encouraging. And we just have a way around here of loving each other where were at and understanding that we’re in process. Every single one of us. And, so, the Prayer Wall is a wonderful resource. It’s always there and it’s in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app. You can access it from there no matter what’s going on, no matter what you are shouldering or carrying or whatever feels like it’s clamped around your ankles and you’re dragging it or slumping your shoulders. You don’t have to do that alone. There are thousands, tens of thousands of people around here and we pray for one another. And maybe you’ve come out of a difficult time and are rejoicing in that. Well give glory to the Lord at the Prayer Wall. We all love to rejoice with each other. Or maybe we’re feeling strong right now. We’ve weathered some storms, but we know that we’re on an uptick and some other brothers and sisters are facing struggles of their own and we can go and encourage and pray for them and let them know that they aren’t alone and that there’s somebody out there in this world that has gone before the Father on their behalf. That that is beautiful. That is the body of Christ. That is us being family spiritually on this earth, at least in part. And, so, certainly be aware of the Community section, whether in the app or on the web and be aware of the Prayer Wall.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to keep doing what we’re doing, which is to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone who will listen to it, anywhere on this planet any time of day or night. And because that’s a rhythm and it happens every day to build community around that rhythm. We’re always ear around the Global Campfire. If that has made a difference in your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. 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 hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Denise Saved by Grace in Southern California. I want to pray for the…the lady…the mother who called and said her son was an ER nurse and her son just taken his life and how the new…the second surge has seemed hopeless for him. I too am a nurse in the second surge, and I just want to lift up all of the frontline healthcare workers and nurses and doctors. Father God, I just thank You and praise You Father for…that You are the divine healer Father and we thank You God for all of the…the talents that You’ve blessed us with in order to be able to use these…these gifts that You’ve given us to others. I just lift up all my brothers and sisters in healthcare Father, the doctors, nurses, even the EVS and dietary, everyone Father God that are putting their selves on the line Father to take care of others as this…this devastating disease hits us once again. Father we trust You Lord that You will see us through. I pray for strength in each and every one of us to Your God and I pray Father that You would just comfort us as…as we go through our daily struggles Father. Even with…even not in the hospital setting, even in our homes Father. I pray for the mother of that child…of her son Lord and I pray that You comfort her as she grieves and I pray Father God that there’s anyone else Lord that thinks that there is no hope, Father help them to see them that…that…that You are our hope Lord God and that they don’t need to take their own lives but give their lives to You for You can care for them better than…

Hi there, DAB family this is Daniella calling from Arizona I have an update, a praise report and a prayer request at the same time. I called in just a few nights ago asking for prayer for a young lady of 19 who went missing. And the praise report is that by God’s grace amazingly she has been found. She is alive and she has been rescued from an evil man. So, she’s no longer in the fangs of the enemy being mistreated to say the least by this evil individual. So, that…that’s a great amazing praise to…to just praise God for. So, I’m very thankful she is alive. She’s no longer being held captive. But unfortunately, along with that comes also a prayer request for her as in that week she went through hell to say the least. She was repeatedly assaulted, sexually assaulted. And I just ask form prayer for her healing physically, emotionally, spiritually on all fronts. That takes a long time to heal from to even recover, to just be better let alone in the long haul. So, that could be a lifetime. So, I pray that you would just intercede for her and her grandma who loves her and cares for her and who raised her. Please pray for her. Thank you so much.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community this is Diane Olive Brown from Newburgh IN. I am an encourager, one of very many. Shalom shalom. Nothing is missing nothing is broken. And I was listening to Ezekiel this morning in August somewhere looking back making sure that I didn’t miss anything. I missed a day in August. I think it was the 20^th and where Paul was talking about, I can’t give you solid food yet because you’re like babies. And let’s throw our log on the campfire and listen to this, that, listen to this…you’re not…you’re not able to eat solid food yet. I can only give you milk that we give to babies because your jealous of each other and you’re saying I’m apollos and I’m of Paul and you’re biting and devouring each other just the world. So, Ezekiel prayer that we would be…learn to eat solid food, food you give mature Christians. And if we’re fighting and dividing amongst each other, if we’re saying this one is better than this one or I want this one and I follow this one, where Jesus is the only one we should follow…

Hey DAB this is Tiffany from northern New Mexico and I just wanna tell you how much I love all of you. I love this family and I love how we are so united despite the fact that many of us have never met, actually most of us have never met and we may even live halfway across the world from one another. But the Lord connects us all. The hardest part for me is with every prayer request that comes in I just want to hug you. Whoever you are it doesn’t matter I just want to hug you and take you out for coffee and hear more of your story and really been blessed to do that with a couple of you. But I guess I’ll just have to look forward to meeting the rest of you when we’re all living in our eternal home. But in the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that I love you guys and I’m lifting you up. I know that many others are as well. And I just wanted you to know, Trent from Ozwell thank you for continuing to share your story. And Vicki, my heart breaks for you. I have two boys and can’t imagine what you’re going through. Praying for you through grief. Giovanni I’m praying for you with COVID that God would heal you and your family. Tammy I'm…I’m praying for you to have that piece that you truly want. Brenda I’m praying for your mom Nancy with dementia. I have a loved one also with dementia and see how hard and…and just how hard it is. And Anointed I’m praying for your husband Ron for spiritual and physical and mental health. Val in Vegas we love you and I just pray that your surgery went well and that the surgeon’s hands were…

Hi this is Toni and I’m calling in response to a message that a gentleman from Alabama left on…we heard it on September 17^th, and he talked about the hard struggles in your life, you know, abused as a child, cancer on the nose, and other things. And you talked about the importance of…you know…or the realization of the importance of counting one’s blessings. And just hearing your voice I just suspect you have been and that you are a significant blessing and that you’re living your life in a way where you are the hands and feet of the Lord blessing others. And, so, I just felt I need…that needed to be said and maybe that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Just recognition and love of God coming through. So, God bless you and thank you for leaving your message for us. Bye-bye.