Exodus 29:1-30:10, Matthew 26:14-46, Psalm 31:19-24, Proverbs 8:14-26
Today is the ninth day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it is awesome to be here with you today and a joy to continue our journey together. And that journey leads us back into the book of Exodus today for our Old Testament reading. And we are at Mount Sinai still, Moses still up on the mountain and the laws, customs, rituals holidays, all the things that will shape this newly forming people in the wilderness is being revealed and so we pick up the story, Exodus chapter 29 verse 1 through 30 verse 10.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the book of Matthew, the first of the four Gospels, we are entering into a story that we will hear in each of the Gospels, but for we who believe in Jesus, this, this is an agonizing story, but it is also the story of our salvation. And so, we’ve seen that one of the 12 disciples, the one named Judas Iscariot was ultimately a betrayer and he went to the the Hebrew religious leadership and negotiated a price. The price on Jesus head, 30 pieces of silver, 30 pieces of silver to betray God. And when we look at the story obviously, we we know this is wrong and in what we read today, we see the disciples going, it’ll never be me, like I will never deny you even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you, but they did. And when I allow this to become a mirror, I’m guilty There have been times my life in thought or word or action that I’ve been willing to betray God for a lot less than 30 pieces of silver. We all have, we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. And so, when we come to this point and this is the first time this year that we’re coming to this point, it’s important for us to not just blow by this, it’s important for us to know that God most high, the one giving Moses the laws that are going to shape the people on the top of Mount Sinai, that God came here incarnated into a human body to rescue us, and that God has been betrayed by humanity over and over and over repeatedly and we are guilty. We’re the ones supposed to be executed but through Christ we have been pardoned and the gratitude that should come from that should shake us to the core and so let’s embrace this story each time it comes up.
We also witness a very famous scene known as the last supper and let’s remember that that’s actually what this is His last supper, His last meal and it’s at this meal that He breaks the bread and passes the cup. Generally speaking, all Christians, no matter what tradition or flavor or stripe continue in this tradition what has come to be known as the Eucharist or communion or the Lord’s table or any number of things. And this observance comes from here, from the last meal.
And then we see Jesus and His disciples go to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus in anguish prays and His prayer is a very human prayer. If there’s any way to get me out of this, if there’s any other way. If we try to put ourselves in this position, obviously, we can’t put ourselves in the position of Jesus. But if we just consider the scenario that we know we’re eating our last meal, we know that we’re about to be arrested and we know we will be condemned to die. That is very weighty, that is a very grave and from the narrative in the gospel of Matthew we can see that it is taking a toll on Jesus because it’s not only that He knows He’s had His last meal and that He’s about to be arrested and tortured, it’s that He also knows that all of the people that He has poured His life into, all of the miles that they have traveled together, they’re going to abandon Him. I hate that so much but there have been seasons in my life that I have been guilty of the same thing, we all have. And will continue obviously, with the story tomorrow, but for us to just sit with that, to just consider that, helps us to begin to realize that the things that we take for granted did not come cheap and we may not be able to arrange for our own salvation but we have a debt of gratitude that we can’t pay. But one of the ways that we express that gratitude directly to God is by being aware of the least of these, which is exactly what we’re talking about yesterday. And so, let’s consider this as we move through our day.
Prayer:
And Jesus, what can we say, we are all guilty of betraying You in one way or another and yet You have remained faithful and have rescued us and have loved us, despite it all. We don’t deserve any of it. We don’t deserve to be able to talk to You, we don’t deserve life itself. It has all been given to us as a gift and we are well aware of the ways that we have squandered it, but we are beginning to awaken. The Scriptures are speaking loud and clear day by day, step-by-step, and we are learning but knowledge itself won’t do it. We surrender to Your goodness and Your kindness to us and we repent of our rebellion. And we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and continue to shape us into the image of our Savior and we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
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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.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hi, this is Lisa from Virginia. I’m just calling in for Dave from the UK. Dave, I heard your prayer on the 31st of January on Monday and I usually listen when I’m at the gym in the morning. And your prayer request stopped me, tears just filled my eyes. I too have twin boys that are 18, they actually turned 19 on Thursday, February 3rd. I also have a daughter who is 21 who has seizures since she was 5 months old. So, it was a double whammy. I can understand and relate but not fully understand. Having to see your child in pain all the time that one would really do me in. And then to have your other boy have seizures and unexplained seizures. So, I just reach out. I’ve been praying for you everyday and I’ve been meaning to call in. It’s Saturday, February 5th and I’m finally able to make the call. And I just pray for you and your wife. I understand how much of a toll a special needs child takes on the whole family and I can understand the twin relationship and the guilt that goes with that. So, just know you’re being prayed for from Virginia, for your wife, for your two boys and you said you had a third child as well. I’ll be lifting you all up in my prayers, I pray for comfort for your son the cerebral palsy, I pray for relief from the seizures and a stop to them for your other son. And I pray for your wife and you that you find some rest and some wisdom to know how to deal with this. Like us, the parents are really more the expert than the doctors when it comes to your child. So, I hope you find some answers for both of your boys. You’re in my prayers.
Good morning DAB family, God bless you all. Three months ago I started to experience some sort of anxiety and fear again, over my daughter Sarah. And the dark places that her mind wanders to and I having lived a life of the wilderness and being in those dark places, that’s exactly what I started to revert myself as her mom, fearing for her and her life. And I started to realize just this week, that you know, I was set free from that, I’m a new creation in Christ and those dark places will keep me trapped there with the enemy. And I wasn’t allowing God to just continue to work in my life and therefore hindering Him from working in Sarah’s life cause of my fear, my unbelief’s. So, I just want to share with those people who are in that wilderness right now, who feel like you know, you have been delivered but then you revert back to those dark places because that’s all you’ve ever known your entire life, like I did. God is with you, God is with us you know, He is with the people we love and we have to stay strong, we can’t believe the lies of the enemy. He is a liar, he is the father of lies and that is what we know of him. We have to be able to discern God’s voice and I’ve been doing very poorly of that this past week especially. But, thank God my Aaron’s and my Herr’s that I was able to reach out to in the name of our Jesus Christ, to hold me up when I was too weak to do that my own. And I am praying for each of you who are in that wilderness to reach out to your Aaron’s and your Herr’s because we need each other. We can not do this alone. I love you all, Esther from Haines City.
Hello family this is Biola from Maryland. Brian and Jill, God bless you. Lord, bless your ministries. I’m calling for Jackie from Canada. Sister, you had said that you doubted even those that are His, you are going through a season in your life where everything seems hopeless. You were wondering if your calls are being played. Well, Biola from Maryland heard you and I’m calling your name, Jackie from Canada. And I just want to encourage you sister. You’re in a season in your life where you don’t understand what is going on but God is for you, God is working, God sees you. The word of God says that God is Jerova El Roi. I you remember, that name came about when Hagar the maiden of Sarah, was chased out by Sarah after she gave birth to her son. But God sees her, God actually sent an angel to help her. Now sister, let me tell you, you might be in the winter of your life right now. When it’s winter, it’s cold and hard and difficult bu that doesn’t mean something great is not going on. We see what is going on in the winter when spring comes and we see all the flowers spring forth. So, sister hold on to God. Psalm 25:3 says that those who hope in Him can never be disgraced. If all else fails, sister, you don’t know what else to do. You said the only thing you have left is prayer, prayer is powerful. Praise is also powerful, Psalm 2, just keep praising God. Praise God for where you are right now even though you don’t feel like it. And I’m trusting God that you will get a break through. Prodigal Princess, God bless you, what a testimony. May God make your testimony permanent. The brother who called who says that he was a pastor and is trying to get a job, I pray that God will also give you a breakthrough. In Jesus name, God Bless you.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Dr. Kinayah from London. I pray all of you are well. I wanted to call in to pray for Maryland who said that she’s in a dry place in her walk with God and likened it to being in the wilderness and I just want to pray over you this word of encouragement that God’s love for you and for all of us, endures our driest season. His love is not scared of those times but in fact He permeates you and surrounds you with His presence. And I pray that even in the dry season, even in the wilderness you will know more of God and you’ll become you know, refreshed in His presence, that you will no longer feel dry, in fact you’ll feel watered because you are a child of God and He loves you even in those dry seasons. He is that pillar of cloud that guides you and I pray that over you. I also want to say thank you to Brian, your word this morning, little-by-little is what I needed to hear as I’m concluding the first part of my thesis and my doctorate. It is literally little-by-little, word-by-word, day-by-day, step-by-step. And I pray that over our entire community that we will continue to preserver and we’ll take each step forward with God who will lovingly give us the next one. God bless you all.
Hi, this is Ivy from Missouri. Brian, I just really enjoyed the message today. I guess the main words that I’m hearing and I need to keep hearing is little-by-little. I’ll admit I’m just feeling very overwhelmed with thinking that I need to do so much and get it all done and I know that that’s not what God wants me to do. I’m just coming upon the two-year anniversary of my husband’s death and I still have a whole room of clothes and belongings to him. I know I need to get to it, but maybe not all at once or like you said, little by little. Everything in my life just seems to be so overwhelming. I’m praying for all of you guys and every time I hear your prayer request I life you up. And I guess I’m asking the same thing, just we need to keep each other up and help us get by doing little by little and definitely focusing on You Lord. Help me to focus, I just feel like I’m either feeling depressed or lonely. I don’t know but I know you’re there. I just need to learn to do what I need to do little by little and to stay focused. I love you all, in His grip. Amen.