12/06/2021 DAB Transcript

Hosea 4:1-5:15, 2 John 1:1-13, Psalms 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11

Today is the 6th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today continuing our journey taking the next step forward in the Scriptures. And that next step will lead us back to the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. When we get to the New Testament we’ve got a brand-new letter and we’ll talk about that. It’s known as second John, and we’ll read the whole letter today, but we’ll talk about that when we get there. First, Hosea chapters 4 and 5. And we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.

Introduction to second John:

Alright. So, we finished first John yesterday which brings us to second John today. And we will read the entirety of this letter today, which means third John is up on deck for tomorrow. Second, John’s pretty short and it was probably written pretty shortly after the first letter. And it seems like it’s written to the same people. There are a lot of similarities and these similarities of language, style, and theme make biblical scholars and linguists have conviction that this was written by the same author, John. And it’s traditionally held that John spent the latter part of his life in the city of Ephesus. And, so, second John is likely to have been penned in Ephesus. There are a total of 13 versus. And, so, the first three verses are greeting and the next three verses after that remind us of the importance of love and loving one another. And then the next three verses speak against the false teaching of Docetism something that we covered in the first letter. People following that, that way of believing in Jesus did indeed believe in Jesus as the Savior, but this idea of Jesus being God and man in the flesh at the same time, this was…this is an formation, this doctrine. People following a Docetic view believed Jesus indeed was God but His human appearance wasn’t actual humanity. He appears to be human and live human but kind of more like a ghost, like a tangible ghost or an apparition, a visible spirit. And, so, there are three more verses about that. And then there are a couple of verses that give instruction that aren’t found in the first letter and those verses sort of establish the posture to take toward a…a person who is a…a false teacher. So, like an itinerant speaker who is not teaching in the churched what is being taught in the churches, John tells them that they…they shouldn’t encourage that, they should not offer hospitality to that. And then there two final verses that are concluding words as the letter comes to its end. And we’re gonna read this in one sitting, so it’d be kinda easy to just go like, well this could have been kind of contained in the other letter. It’s dealing with the same kind of stuff. But if what if we imagine that it’s almost like a one-two punch, almost, like the first letter arrived, and then a couple months later, the second note arrives, that simply reiterating what the first one did then it would give kind of a wave. Like you got the initial information, you got to process that and then boom here comes the encouragement and reminder. And we are certainly a people that need to be reminded of things. And, so, if we take it that way then we can understand more of what’s going on here. And with that, let’s read the whole letter. Second, John.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. And we thank You that each and every day is a new day to go deeper, deeper in our understanding, deeper in our relationship with You. And we are grateful and humbled. And, so, we thank You for allowing us to enter…encounter second John today. And as we continue to move forward, we will certainly be encountering some of the more shorter additions that are found in the Bible. So, often will be moving through them in their entirety in a day. And, so, Holy Spirit, we invite You to help us latch onto things that we need to hear and understand the things that You are speaking to us so that even as we move rapidly we move intentionally through the remaining days and weeks that we have in the Scriptures this year. Come Holy Spirit into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And it’s just impossible to ignore because as the day goes by we draw closer and closer to Christmas time. And, so, it’s Christmas time around here. And we celebrate in a number of ways.

Each year we have a virtual Christmas party for the entire community, the family around the Global Campfire who’s been taking the journey all year and it’s easy to participate. So, if you’ve been here all year or even for a little stretch of time you know about the Hotline button in the app and you know about 877-942-4253. These are the prayer and encouragement lines. That is their only purpose except for this one week out of the year. And there’s only a couple of days left where you can use those same lines, either press the Hotline button in the app or you can dial-in, and you can offer a holiday greeting to the community here that you’ve been sharing all year long.  And this is one of the most heartwarming things that we do. It’s something that I look forward to all year long. And, so, don’t leave your voice unheard. If you’re planning to call in, don’t procrastinate. Just a couple more days. But you can use the Hotline, or you can use the phone numbers and call in. Just don’t combine a prayer request and a holiday greeting in the same call. Make those separate.

And we also have a number of resources for Christmas this year. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas box for 2021, Family Christmas 2021 is available. That can be found in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Christmas category. And we’ve packed the box full of a bunch of resources from the Daily Audio Bible and you can check them all out in the Shop in the Christmas section. So, check it out.

Also, Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible. And that can be found in the Christmas section as well. But this is our brand-new book, photographs that have been taken from…well…all of my nine seasons that I have been in Israel. So, thousands of photographs taken over a decade were finally, painstakingly curated and pulled together and all the different regions of the land and in an attempt to bring the land closer and bring the Bible closer and sort of attaches to the fact that these stories that we’re reading happened somewhere and to be able to look at the where, the where these things happened and just get a sense of geography, get a sense of the feel, the essence of the place. That has been quite a revolutionary thing for me. Having visited these places and our reading these…these stories that happen in these places, I can see them. I can see how the story could unfold and why, because of being able to be there in the geography. And, so, this new book of photography is intended to…to bring that a little bit nearer. So, for those of you who have been to the land of the Bible this would be like a homecoming. For those of you who have never been or can’t go or don’t desire to go but do desire a deeper connection to the Scriptures than this is a way to kind of peer into the land of the Bible to the places where so many of these really really pivotal stories took place. And, so, again that’s available…that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And then we have also released a brand-new Christmas album for this year. It’s called Christmas Time and this was produced and arranged by my son Maxwell and it is…it is a lovely piece. It is a lovely work. I enjoy it so much. It is the kind Christmas album that I gravitate toward actually. I love all of the classics. I love all of the new records that are coming out. I love all the different renditions of the carols, but when I come across an album that makes me feel the atmosphere and just kinda feel the spirit of Christmas for I guess for lack of a better word, the kind of record…the records that I like are the kind that I turn off everything but the Christmas lights and just relax and just soak it all in. And this project really really does a good job setting the atmosphere. So, it is available now wherever you go to get your music for your device. Just search for Maxwell Hardin and look for Christmas Time and should be able to find it. So, it’s Christmas time around here. And check these items out if you have a chance.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if the mission to bring the spoken Scriptures every single day offered freely openhandedly to anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that, that rhythm every day showing up step-by-step day by day, the next step forward together, what we call the Global Campfire. If that has been life-giving and a light in your life than thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t here together. So, 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, we are a community that…that loves one another through prayer very well and we pray for one another constantly. And, so, there’s always a way to reach out. You can hit the Hotline button in the app and share from wherever you are in the world, or you can dial 877-942-4253. And I’ve been mentioning that this…well…just a few more days, just a couple more days, this is the time where we are preparing for the Daily Audio Bible Global Campfire Christmas party which is a virtual party but it’s something that we release each year. Jill and I get together, and we share some thoughts and reflections back upon the year and then we settle in and just hear holiday wishes and season’s greetings and Merry Christmas’s from all over the world throughout this community. And, so, you can call those in now for the next couple of days just like we’ve been talking about…well…for the last better part of week. So, typically the Hotline and the phone numbers they are specifically for prayer requests and encouragements. This is the one time of the year where those lines can be used as well for holiday greetings among the community here. The one rule about it is that you not combine a holiday greeting and a prayer request in the same call. Make them separate. This is one of those rare times where that’s okay to pick up and dial again. If you have a prayer request and call that in and then if you have a holiday greeting than go ahead and call that in and we can keep them separate if they’re combined, then they won’t have a place to go. So, if you’ve kind of been thinking about it over the last several days and you’re going to call in, then don’t procrastinate. There’s only a couple more days that we’ll be able to receive them, and then we’ll get to the business of putting it all together and getting the production for our family Christmas party together. And I love it. It’s one of my favorite things. There’s so many things that I love and adore as we go through a year together and when we reach this time of year, this…I love this. I have never since we started it well over a decade ago have never been able to move through it without tears in my eyes. It just warms my heart. And, so, I’m looking forward to that. But don’t procrastinate. Call now.

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:

Hey Daily Audio Bible this is Jimmy from the East Coast. I was just calling to pray for one of the DABbers. I’m a little bit behind about a month and I’m just praying for the disciple who he loved and just heartbroken to hear a parent talk about a child not wanting to be here at such a young age. And I have a daughter that’s a little bit older and I’d do anything for her. And just…I…I suffered with those feelings a lot in my life and having a special kind of brain and I just can’t imagine a child going through the things that I’ve gone through and feeling the feelings that I felt. And I just…just…just pray for your daughter and you. And you can keep asking every single day multiple times a day as much as you need. Any parent, anybody out there, we…just…this is a place to be and to ask. And I just pray right now for your little one, just blessing in the name of Jesus and just to lighten that load and to remove completely as far as the east is from the west whatever’s holding her down and whatever is just eating at her. So, I just pray that light and joy just flood in, like just flood in your life and her life and that God will just whisp you two away on a journey of just complete bliss in Jesus’ name.

Yes, this is Whitney from Alabama. I’m calling in asking for prayer for me and my children. We lost my mom in November of 2016, and we lost my dad September 24th of this year and it’s been really hard to deal with. And it’s not only that but my kids’ dad’s not really in their lives. So, I pray also that…that you…you pray that God softens his heart. My dad was like my kids’ dad. He was the closest thing that they had to him and to a father and it’s just been really hard especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas and Christmas being his favorite time of the year. And we even played two Christmas carols at his memorial because that’s just how much he loved Christmas. So, it’s going to be really difficult for me and the kids this year. So, if…if you all don’t mind, please just send up a prayer for us and for my children’s father and, you know, that we can just get a Christmas miracle and that He…He allows us to feel my dad’s and my mom’s presence here with us for Christmas because it’s been really really hard. Thank you so much. Thank you, Brian and Jill and the family and to everyone that’s prayed for us before. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Martha, and this is the first time I’m calling. I just wanted to pray for the man who called and said they had COVID, and he was worried about his wife who’s pregnant. And I just wanted to tell you do not fear. Do not fear. God is with you. And Lord I pray for him and for his family. I pray that You bring your healing to them and that You take away all fear in the name of Jesus.

Hello my DAB family this is Mark Street from Sydney Australia today is Friday the 3rd of December and I’ve just finished listening to today’s podcast. And…and Brian was talking about how we need to give God’s love to everybody. And it is so pertinent in my life as well and understanding than more we give the more we receive. And I was looking back on our word this year which was mend and was feeling a bit depressed because my body, my physical body has actually got a lot worse. But then it impressed on my heart and mind that something that has miraculously changed is my mind and spirit have become so much closer to Him. And my mind is healing so much more. My anxiety, God has gifted me that my anxiety has probably left by about 75% now through practicing His love. So, I realize now that healing as spiritual and mental is much more important than healing the physical body. And…and also too, and this is not for boasting or saying how good I am, but the closer I’ve got to 10% of the income that I give the more God seems to give me as well. And I have witnessed that firsthand. I have never been left short. The more I’ve given the more God has given me. And I just wanted to confirm what Brian is saying. In my life I have certainly noticed the more that I share love…

Hi this is Victoria Soldier could just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I want to pray for Irene who was…you wanted to pray for…that she do not have fear and I want to pray with you my sister, that God do not you have fear. God doesn’t give us fear but He gives us peace, power, love, and a sound mind. I want to pray for Cynthia. She wants to pray for her friend to receive Christ. I want to pray for Ashland for a friend of hers that she do not know,,,that do not know Jesus. I want to pray for Tammy in the Adirondacks and her husband they’re going through some…some…some highs and lows that I want to pray for…for my precious sister Tammy. I also want to…want to…want to…just…just say happy Thanksgiving and also I forgot to give a happy birthday to Blind Tony and to my precious sisters that…that’s been going through in the hospital, those who’s been going through with the…with the coronavirus and…and those who kids who are suffering in the depression and…and…and the strongholds. Gracious Father we just praise You and we lift You up. I thank You so much for the Daily Audio Bible. I thank You for my sisters and my brothers. Oh Lord that…that are…that are going through the challenges, but we’re praying for one another and that You are in the midst Lord and that You are answering prayers and that You are healing and that You are delivering and that You are opening doors. We just ask You to have Your way. Give life and favor to Your DABbers Lord and let them see Your work and know that our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly up of all we ask for or think. Lord my sisters thinking that her fear is trying to come on her. I want you to know my sister that fear is what they call false evidence appearing real and then the devil try to give you the fear. You…