Ezekiel 44:1-45:12, 1 Peter 1:1-12, Psalms 119:17-32, Proverbs 28:8-10
Today is the 22nd day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s wonderful to be here with you today as we continue the journey that we are on, you know, the one that’s leading us all the way through the Bible and all the way through this year together. We are continuing our journey through the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we’ve got some new territory to move into. We concluded the book of James yesterday, which will lead us to another letter, this one known as first Peter. And we’ll talk about that when we get there, but first we are reading from the New English Translation this week. Ezekiel chapter 44 verse 1 through 45 verse 12.
Introduction to first Peter:
Okay. So, I mentioned at the beginning that we were moving into new territory in the New Testament, a letter known as first Peter. And this is the apostle Peter that we’re talking about. So, whereas we had never really heard from James all that much before we read his letter, we do have a bit of an understanding about the apostle Peter, not only from the Gospels and the life and ministry of Jesus, but also from the book of Acts, which spends pretty much the first half of the book centered around the ministry of Peter. So, we kind of understand Peter and who he was. But this will definitely be the first time that we’re hearing directly from him in…in sort of a letter fashion. And it’s been a while. It’s been a while since we’ve been around the apostle Peter in the Scriptures. And, so, this is kind of like we’re being reunited. And if we remember much about the apostle Peter as depicted in the New Testament, we know he’s a passionate person. Maybe even a person who, at least at one point, spoke before he thought. But a very passionate person. And, so, we’re going to find that Peter is no less passionate in letter form. And if we thought that the book of James was direct and was pretty much looking at us square in the face as it told us the truth first Peter will do the same thing in its own sort of way. So, if we buckled up to go through James Then we should just stay buckled up as we move into this new territory. But let’s talk about Peter himself. Peter’s…Peter’s name is actually Simeon or Simon. And, so, it’s not unusual to hear him referred to as Simon Peter. But where does the Peter part come from? It comes from Jesus, who renamed Simon and gave him the name Cephas, and that should also be a familiar name that we’ve heard before – Cephas, this is Peter. Cephas in Aramaic in the language that they were using means rock. So, Cephas is an Aramaic term and when it is translated into Greek, which is largely the language of the New Testament than the word is not Cephas anymore. It’s Petro’s. And as you can see, that sounds quite a bit familiar to Peter which is how we get to the name Peter. And we definitely did some traveling with Peter. Like I said, in the Gospels and the book of Acts we might remember that it was Peter who…who denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of Caiaphas, the high priest as Jesus was being tried by the Jewish people before being turned over to the Romans. And we followed that story, but we follow Peter all the way to a dramatic transformation. We see Peter in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when tongues of fire hovered and came down as the Holy Spirit fell upon the people in the upper room. Peter pretty much right after that preaches a powerful message in which 3000 people believe. So, a dramatic transformation in Peter’s life. And like I said, he’s still passionate and direct in this letter. But just…just like James, James wasn’t being passionate and direct just to be mean or forthright or just confrontational. He was trying to expose some things so that freedom would be available. Peter is also very direct but also encouraging. He’s lifting up those who are suffering because of Jesus, because of their faith in Jesus and he wants to remind them and us that there is profound hope profound hope in Jesus. And, so, let’s dive in. First Peter chapter 1 verses 1 throug 12.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us into this new week and this new territory with these new letters from Peter as we hear a voice that…that we got to know earlier in the year. And we pray Father that, You know, this is a really really old letter that it speak very very dynamically and personally to us as we continue our journey of growth, our journey through a year but a year that we repeat really want to grow in You. So, as we do most every day. Holy Spirit we need You. And You are always with us. We are just not always aware or paying attention. We need Your help. We need You to lead us into all truth. This is what the Scriptures tell us that You will do, and we believe that. And, so, we trust You that You will lead our thoughts, the things that we meditate on from the Scriptures, the attitudes that we take toward what we’re reading, that You will plant seeds in our lives and will bring a harvest of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what is going on around here. Here in the United States where I live in the rolling hills of Tennessee this is a holiday week. It’s Thanksgiving week for us and so we have this holiday coming up on Thursday, Thanksgiving. And then the day after that is black Friday and I think that is worldwide as we have this sort of retail day to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. So, that’s all on the radar for this week.
We also have a brand-new resource that we began to talk about just a little over a week ago and the response has been really humbling. When…when a creative process…process begins or some kind of project, some kind of idea…that…you can have the idea in your mind that you want to write something, or you want to do something, or you want to create something and that’s fun. It’s fun to dream it up. But then you’ve got to count the cost and figure out how that’s gonna happen and…and then get involved in the process, and there’s no way to plan for everything. So, there’s gonna be all kinds of obstacles that come up in and so often we just kind of give up and think it’s too hard, but when you have a vision and you want to see something, no matter how long it takes, and you want to see something be born into the world and then it finally does happen, that is really rewarding feeling. And Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible, this brand-new resource fits that perfectly. It took years to make this and a massive amount of time and creative energy to make this. And, so, for it to be real, for it to be more than a dream or an idea, for it to be real and sitting on the coffee table and be able to look at it, that’s been really really rewarding and beginning to hear feedback that it is…it is really beautiful and really treasured is also really, really rewarding. This resource…it wasn’t created so it will be really really rewarding. It was created to…to locate some of these stories into the geography where they happened and to get a glimpse of what the biblical geography even looks like, what…what diversity there is because there’s a vast amount of diversity in a very very small space. And, so, with this coffee-table edition of Promised Land it’s easy to flip through the pages and visit the different terrain and geography and locations where some of the most pivotal and monumental things that happened in the Bible actually occurred. So, this brand-new resource, Promised Land photographs from the land of the Bible is available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop and you can get there from the web or from the app. Just go to dailyaudiobible.com and you’ll see…you’ll see the Shop in the navigation bar at the top, or if you’re using the app push the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and it will pop open a drawer. And one of the selections is the Daily Audio Bile Shop. So, once you’re in the shop if you go in the Lifestyle section or the Book and Audiobooks section you will find this brand-new edition Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible is available now. So, check it out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com also. There is a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or with a 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:
Susan’s daughter, this is Christopher from the Pretzel City and I just heard your prayer request played on the 18th. You didn’t leave your name but your left your mom’s name and your needs. So, we will be praying for healing for her and wisdom and peace for all of you in the mighty name of Jesus. I covet the prayers of the DAB family in the matter of a friend of the family and her daughter who is a close friend of my daughter. They are dealing with COVID. They’re both hospitalized and the daughter is 15 years old and is in the pediatric ICU fighting for her for life. So, please pray for Jenn and Elizabeth and let’s bring them home. I hope all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving and keep your eyes on Jesus y'all. Thanks.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family this His Girl Warrior and it is November 18th and today I’m grateful for my baby girl. She’s my second born. She is drolly, humorous, a deep thinker, and she and I have been through a lot of life together – tears, struggles, shouting, scrunches, laughing, inside jokes, giggles, girl talk. I am grateful that at this point in her life we have a growing friendship and I look forward to the future. I would like to ask Daily Audio Bible to actively intercede for her salvation. She has seen a lot of stuff that isn’t great happen in my life and it…she just…she struggles. She’s honest. She’s like, “I believe God exists. I just don’t believe He’s good like the way you do, and I don’t see the need for Him.” So, if you guys would pray for her salvation, I would love that. Alright Daily Audio Bible I’m going to pray for all of our kids. Father, I pray for the children – small, middle school, high school age, grown children of the Daily Audio Bible participants. I pray for our children to know You and to have an intimate growing relationship with You Father. I thank You that they are never out of Your sight, never out of Your hands Father. We pray for their salvation in Jesus’ name. Amen. Alright guys I will talk to you later. Bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Diane Olive Braun from Newburgh IN throwing my log the global campfire of the Daily Audio Bible community. And Jeff and I are heading for Beaver Island MI. I don’t know if you all heard the tragedy of the plane crash, the first in 107 years I think, where only one child…one child survived and the other people on the plane died. But Jeff and I are going there to be with these people and mourn with them. And please keep them in your prayers. And I’m so grateful and I’m so thankful for Daily Audio Bible. This is Thanksgiving and I’m thankful for the readings every day and I’ve added the Psalms, five-minute psalms to the readings of the Daily Audio Bible Chronological and Daily Audio Bible Kids and the traditional Daily Audio Bible, Brian. What more could I be thankful for? And all the friends, Radiant Rachel, Blind Tony. Happy birthday brother. I’m 72 and you’re in your 70s also. We’re in the same decade and oh, Radiant Rachel, oh it just so blesses my heart when your son comes on. And I’m grateful for…
Hello Daily Audio Bible prayer warriors this is Deb from Galbert again calling in for…for Samson and Clarence. They wanted to say that they appreciate your prayers for…especially Samson does it’s his son…but he hasn’t really heard by way of telephone for him. So, if you could continue to lift that need up so that Sampson could get a call in here from his son that would be greatly appreciated. Samson wanted to thank Kingdom Seeker Daniel who wrote to him. And he wasn’t sure if you’d got it though. So, if you could give him a shout out that you received your letter. And for Little Sherry who wrote a beautiful letter to both Sampson and Clarence. But Clarence never received his letter. He…she mentiond it in her letter to Sampson. So, if you could resubmit a letter. I’ll give you Clarence’s address. Clarence is Clarence Daniel number 164876 PO Box 600 Grady Arkansas 71644-0600. Also wanted to let you know Samson’s birthday is coming up December 27th and it takes about two weeks for a birthday card to get there. So, if those of you who have, you know, a heart for Samson, would you please send him a card. His address again is Samson Ellis number 69299 PO Box 600 Grady Arkansas 71644-0600. But that would be a joy for them. If somebody would like to write to Clarence, he would love to write back to people. He considers me a blessing because I share with him through Samson, but I would like for somebody else to reach out and be his special person or family that would be lifting up his needs. So, I’d ask that you ask God if you could be that special person for Clarence. They…they just love being a part of this community and to get a personal letter is…is the best for them. So, Lord we just lift these needs up to you and thank you for the way you’re going to meet them. God bless.
I’m calling from my porch in Georgia with my dog and I just wanted to reach out today for a lady who called in, called herself Blind Angel I believe from Happy Valley and pretty much just asking God to bless her health. Just hearing her list off she sounds like a strong lady who has trusted God for a while and that is now in need of a miracle. So, I just pray that as the lady who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed, as the two beggars cried out even over the voices of the disciples who told him to be quiet, they kept crying out and wanted Jesus to heal them, and as the man who was lower to the ceiling by friends, was lowered to Jesus and he was healed, I pray that for her, that she would experiencing healing and she would acknowledge God through that healing and that…that Jesus would be glorified as she walks around and is able to share in how God healed her. And I ask all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hi Daily Audio Bible my name is Kaylee. I’ve actually never called before, and I am calling to lift up a coworker named Kendra who just found out about a month ago that she has breast cancer, but only recently did she find out that it has metastasized in her spine and her pelvis. And I felt so burdened to pray for her because this is the same diagnosis as my mother’s seven years ago. And we were surrounded by the church and so many people prayed for my mother and my family and she’s growing strong and is such an encouragement to others and so I wanted to do the same for this friend. Thank you so much.