Micah 5:1-7:20, Revelation 7:1-17, Psalms 135:1-21, Proverbs 30:5-6
Today is the 16th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today. And now we have crossed the center of the month. And, so, we are in the back half officially of the final month of the year. And we have some tremendous ground to cover yet in these next couple weeks that are left. And of course, Christmas is coming in that timeframe as well. And, so, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but the most busy time of the year. So, let’s embrace it with joy and continue our journey forward. Our next step will bring us back into the book of Micah. We began the book of my kite yesterday and we talked about that then. We will conclude the book of Micah today before continuing our journey through the book of Revelation. So, we’re reading from the New International Version this week. Micah chapters 5 through 7 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, it’s no secret that Christmas is right around the corner and some of you have all your shopping done and everything is wrapped and under the tree and you’ve got it goin’ on. And some of you haven’t even started yet but what are gonna give God for Christmas this year? If you were gonna give God a gift for Christmas this year what would it be? What des He want? Let’s…let’s do a little gut check from Micah as we concluded Micah today. God had a couple questions in our reading today. “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me.” It becomes a gut check when we personalize it. Instead of my people think of your own name – Tom, Mary, Jane, George, on and on we could go - what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. That’s a tough one, right? If we had to answer that question, we wouldn’t probably have all a lot to say. And yet when we’re not putting it in terms of a question back from God, we have plenty to complain about. And this was true in the time of Micah. And the Lord finally says, “what did I do to you? How am I burdening you? Answer me.” And then God begins to say what He has done. “I brought you out of Egypt. I redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses to lead you. I gave you Aaron and Miriam. Remember, Balak the king of Moab and Balaam? I rescued you from that.” The Lord through Micah is just going down a list of how He is always preserved and rescued and cared for Israel. And they have consistently betrayed, rebelled, committed spiritual adultery, rejected, disobeyed. Like, you name it. And, so, finally the Lord is like, “what did I do to you? How am I a burden to you? I have like rescued you from everything. I have saved you. Answer me. What’d I do to you?” And Micah is getting the point. God hasn’t burdened his people. He hasn’t done anything to them but save them. And, so, in response, Micah begins to ponder what could we give to the Lord in response to this question that is so penetrating and flattens us. We have nothing we can say. What can we give to God in response to the way that He is expressing himself toward us, the way that our decisions and behaviors are making Him feel? How do we respond? And, so, I quote because Micah’s musing about that, “what shall I come before the Lord, and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come with burnt offerings, with year old calves? Will Lord be pleased if we give Him thousands of rams as a sacrifice? If we give Him rivers of olive oil will He…will He be satisfied? Is that what he wants? Should I give my firstborn for my sins? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Will that make Him happy? Of course, the answer to those questions is no. That’s now what would make Him happy. And then you realize there’s nothing, that He has done it all and I have been the complainer. I have abandoned the gifts. I have walked away in rebellion. I have run in the opposite direction away from the Lord like Jonah, which we just read a couple of days ago. There is nothing Lord that you have done to burden me. You have done nothing to me. And if I were to give you a thousand sacrifices or rivers of olive oil, if I were to do these things that wouldn’t make this okay. That wouldn’t balance the scales compared to what you’ve done for me. And it is here at this point that we find out what God wants. And I hope this will be branded on our hearts or etched into our souls like a tattoo that we cannot get away from, that we cannot stop remembering this because this is what God wants. And I quote from Micah. “He has shown you all mortal what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? What does he want from you? That you act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” We’re gonna do everything that we can that is within our power and within our…our budget to provide for those that we love the things that they want. It’s the season of giving gifts. And although the book of Micah is not about Christmas it does give us some insight into what God wants from us. And this is as good of a time as any to be very very vigilant and intentional about giving Him that. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.
Prayer:
Father we’re taking it heart. It is so…we…we already know this. We've…this is a famous passage of Scripture, but it’s becoming immediate, it’s becoming personal, it’s becoming important that we pay attention to this now Lord. We will not succeed in being just or loving mercy or walking humbly all of the time on our own. We will fail. But Your Holy Spirit is here to guide us. And we first become aware of that and then we ask Holy Spirit that You begin to help us retrain ourselves. If we’re gonna love justice and love mercy and walk humbly with You then we’re going to have to decide in advance that this is what we’re going to do because these things are not just reactions. They’re not the way we react. We react usually in anger, and any other number of emotions that are reactionary whereas to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God, that is an intentional decision about a way of life. And we confess, we have done these things well at times and have failed miserably at other times when this is supposed to be the normal way that we live. We want off this seesaw. We don’t want to be tossed to and fro as if we’re being thrown around by the waves of the ocean. And to get off that ride or that seesaw we have to become intentional about how we’re going to conduct ourselves, what our life is going to be shaped like. Instead of just letting it all happen to us we have to decide what we’re going to be and move in that direction. And Your Spirit is always there to guide us into all truth. And, so, we take this to heart and invite Your Holy Spirit to help us, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with You, our God. And we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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It’s been Christmas time. We are rounding the corner aren’t we. A week from tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. So, we’re…we’re right down to it and we’ve had a number of resources that have been available for Christmas time this year. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas box, Family Christmas, 2021. That has been available…it is available. And we will continue to ship them. Although it seems like we are very very near to shipping for Christmas arrival. But the Christmas box is still available as well as Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible, our coffee table addition that opens windows into some of the most significant places that happened in the Bible, some of the most significant things that have happened in humanity are captured in that book, and they open up little windows to allow us to visit. And, so, it is a beautiful thing to accompany the journey through the Bible. But its a beautiful thing, period. It’s a beautiful thing to have on the coffee table. So, that is available as well. Both of those things are available in the Christmas section of the Daily Audio Bible Shop, which can be accessed through the app or through the website. So, check those things out.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
This is a message for Eyes of a Dove regarding Brayden. Your message really really touched me. This is John in Barcelona. And I’ve been in similar situations with a similar crisis so I can totally understand that and I’m definitely praying for Brayden and for you. And I’m just praying the Lord’s peace over your heart, that you just put this in His hands and for Brayden for the Lord to just come through, which He will. I know similar crisis and a Lord comes through. And…and a more practical vein, you know, you and I were rescued from the Kingdom of darkness by the Lord’s unconditional love. And it was a love and a truth that broke through a lot of lies. And…and, you know, it’s obvious that Brayden is being fed a lot of lies by the enemy about the worth of his life. And the Lord haha sees it totally differently. He loves him with an unconditional love. And, you know, He created Brayden in your womb with a purpose. And I can’t remember where I read it but I read recently that men and women struggling with this often have a strong calling evangelists. And the enemy wants to stop that at all costs. So, I just would counsel you to hug him, hold him, listen to him, show unconditional love. Just tell him I love you the way you are. Let’s work through this together with Jesus. So, peace be unto you and just know that you’re held and upheld in prayer. And so is Brayden…
Good morning folk at DAB world it’s Tim Brown here Tim Brown from North Yorkshire. You know I want to give a praise report this morning because this time last year I was in the process of getting __ but God…but God has brought around. This year has been and awesome year, a wonderful year. He has done so much. He has set us free from years and years of debt. He has set us free from depression. He’s brought us back from Scotland where we’d been for the last 20 years and brought us back to Yorkshire. And I just want to share a word that God gave us before we moved down. There’s a word that He gave us as a confirmation when we…when we came to come down to North Yorkshire. And the word is this. I the Lord your God have called you and placed in your heart this calling. I called you to this land many years ago and you spent a season in the wilderness feeling like you’re going around in circles with no purpose. But I say to you, my child now is the time. I’m calling you forth out of the wilderness out from the bondage of debt and depression and into a life of joy and purpose. You can see the giants and I see those giants too says the Lord. Go, for I’m giving you the victory. I’m giving you the land as I have prepared the way. Be bold. Be brave. Look not to the left not to the right. Listen not to those who mean well but hear My voice. Seek My face and follow Me. Allow Me to guide you into your calling and your destiny. And, oh boy, has He done that this year. He has so done that. So, if you find yourself in a place where it feels like there’s no hope, no future do you know what? God is for you. God has prepared a way. Go…
Lord Jesus I lift up a prayer for your son, your son Brandon. Jesus, with the news I’ve just heard makes me feel downcast. A 15-year-old boy Lord struggling with homosexuality ideals and to live a life that is right now between sinning against you in that finding pleasure and then living with you finding joy. Jesus, I lift up your son Brandon to you Jesus. I don’t have the right words to say but I just lay kneeing down to you face to the ground God. Please, please, please God I want to see Your way. And I just pray that You would be with Brandon spirit, that You would strengthen him and that he might come to terms with himself and with You. Jesus heal that relationship. We thank you for his mom and all she’s doing on this DAB and I pray that she would continue to bless and that You would continue to bless so that she might continue to bless Brandon. Thank you, God for the family style. I love You and I just pray Your will be done in Jesus’ name, mighty name. This is People on the Water from Indiana.
I listen to the Daily Audio Bible every day. My name is Jowan. I don’t really call in, but I want to let you guys know that I’m praying for you guys every day. I listen to the prayers every single day and I’m praying for you guys. I was wondering if you guys could pray for me for my relationship with God and that the Holy Spirit will walk through my life. And also I’m dealing with a very very serious court case right now and I ask that you let the judge and the DA soften their hearts toward me. The situation is very complicated, but I thank you so much for your prayers and for this…
Hi Daily Audio Bible family members I’m just calling. I don’t remember if it was…I think it was a week before last…today is December 11th and I think it was the week before last. A woman called in and I think maybe she was from Canada and maybe her name was Susan. I’m not sure. I might have that all wrong but the main thing is what she called about. And she talked about the very end of the podcast where there’s music that plays and it’s just quiet. It’s usually about a minute or maybe 2, not very often is it two though. It’s usually about a minute and I always get to that part and like she says she used to do and they just hit that little arrow it’s like de de de de de, kind of hurry that time up so that I can just go ahead and close out that part on my phone. And I’ve done my…my…I don’t hurry through my reading. Of course, I can’t hurry through it but I don’t linger at the end. Once, you know everyone has finished with their prayer requests and praise reports then I consider this over until I heard her say that that’s when she really felt God and was quiet and enjoyed that last minute. So, I’ve started doing that and I want to thank you and tell you that it just made my evening. I do my Bible in the evenings. And I play I close my eyes and I feel like that I’m a little infant in the arms of Jesus. And I just…I just totally let everything go out of my mind. I don’t pray. I don't…I don't…I try to make my mind just blank, just wipe it slate clean. And I just lie here…I do it while I’m in bed when I listen to my Daily Audio Bible. Sorry, I’m trying to talk. But I just lie there and feel like He’s holding me as an infant and I…