Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17
Today is March 18th, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today, today and every day. It’s great to be together, it’s great to even have this place that we can get together. I’m grateful that we have some kind of oasis that we can come to and let the Scriptures just wash over us, speaking into all the little things that are going on today, this week, this month. So, let’s dive in, we’re continuing our journey through the Book of Numbers, today chapter 26 verse 52 through 28 verse 15.
Commentary:
Okay, we have similarities between Numbers and the Gospel of Luke today. Then we have something to think about. So, in Numbers what we are seeing is the, the transition between first-generation and second-generation people who were delivered to freedom from Egypt, who are in the wilderness. And we know that Moses will not be leading the people into the Promised Land he had been excluded from that. And so, the Lord was instructing Moses to prepare a way for his successor, and his successors name is Joshua. And we will get to know Joshua. There is an entire book called Joshua that we will get to soon enough. We’ve now seen Joshua have hands laid upon him and consecrated him as the leader, and so Moses is preparing the way for Joshua’s leadership.
We flip over into the Gospel of Luke and we see another preparing of the way. Now, we’re seeing John the Baptist’s ministry. We’ve gotten some background on how they kind of emerged, where they came from, John and Jesus. But we’ve watched John at the Jordan River speaking a message of repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We see people from all different walks of life coming in repentance before the Lord. So much so, the people were wondering is he the Christ. And by the way Christ, like when we see Jesus Christ, you probably know this but Christ isn’t Jesus, last name, it’s a descriptive term; Christ means anointed one, the anointed one. So, they began to wonder if John was the anointed one. John of course told them that he is not the anointed one, the anointed one is coming after him. So, John is preparing the way for Jesus. And there is a little bit of an irony here because Joshua and Yehoshua, these are the same names. Which does not make them the same people but does give us another glimpse of that thread that winds its way through the Bible, this thread that reveals that God’s intense and purposes are those of redemption and restoration.
Then lastly, we look at what we read in Proverbs today. A man whose kind, benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. Again, it’s one sentence but that one sentence speaks a lot about the shape of our lives. Kindness is a benefit to us; cruelty is harmful to us. We might think that we already know that or that it’s elementary level wisdom, but then we have to look at our lives and say, how well am I living into that wisdom. It’s very basic, something we can kind of hold onto, something that if we could kind of get into our minds as a checkpoint before we do things, could really save us from a lot. Kindness is a benefit to ourselves and those around us. Cruelty hurts us and everyone around us; who do we want to be? We’ll end up, we’ll end up wherever the path we choose leads us.
Prayer:
And so, Father once again, this is a crossroads that wisdom brings us to continually were we have a choice to make and it’s simple and we can just blow-by it, like we already know all this stuff. But it’s as simple choice, it’s wisdom at the crossroads with a sign saying go this way, don’t go that way. We do not want to walk the path of cruelty; we do not want to be on that path. So, Holy Spirit, come and show us how to walk the path of kindness. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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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 Encouragement:
Hi, I’m calling in to pray for, I believe her name was Emma, who was calling about her son Joseph, who she found out was soliciting sex. And I just wanted to lift them both up to you right now. God, I just pray for Emma and for Joseph. God, I just pray first of all, that you remove Joseph from this situation. In Jesus name, I pray that you just protect him from these attacks from the evil one, God. And just take him out of this situation. Take people out of his life God, take whatever it is in his mind and his heart that’s prompting him to do it. Just take it away right now, God. In Jesus name. And then I pray that You surround them with Your love and Your protection God, and Your peace. And I just pray that Joseph can now You and that this is gonna be such a redeeming story God. And just thank You for his mother’s faithfulness to pray, I know she said she was praying out of fear God which is totally understandable in such a difficult situation God. So, I just want to lift her up to You God. Take away her fear and replace it with faith God. Help her to see Your faithfulness God and the faithfulness that You’ve shown her, her whole life God. And just remind her of that and that You’ll show her through this hard situation Lord. And I just pray protection, love, peace, yeah, this is just gonna be a testimony Lord, this is gonna be a testimony. You’re gonna restore and You’re gonna redeem God. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hi, this message is for Vicki from Arizona. I just wanted to reach out and let you know that I heard your call for prayer on the 14th, that’s when I was listening to it, it’s when it aired. And you just lost your mom and you’re hurting and you’re asking for prayer to walk through this struggle and find strength and see God moving in all of it. And I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling or what you’re going through. I can only begin to imagine how that would affect your life and the hurt that that would bring, I can only begin to imagine. Just wanted to let you know, I hear you and as I’m driving in today to work in Nebraska, it’s foggy and cold. I can barely see the cars in front of me as you’re talking about the hurt, you’re feeling and what you’re going through. And then you start to talk about how you know your moms in a better place and you know that God holds us and carries us through the struggles and he’s powerful and you believe in Him but you’re hurting. And as you talk about that stuff, not kidding, the fog around me started to lift and I could see 3, 4, 5 cars in front of me. And it’s still cold and it’s still cloudy but the sun is starting to come out as I’m driving. I believe in a powerful God and again and I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through, but I know He’s here and He’s with you and He’ll walk with you through it and He loves you so very much.
Good morning DAB family, this is Paula calling from Albuquerque. Just finished listening to today’s podcast March 15th and the word itself is very, very convicting but then I heard little Halo call from Colorado. Halo, I have a grandson your age and I want you to know I am so proud of you. And bigger than that I think God is very happy for you because you made that choice. Don’t worry about her response and your response to pray for her is huge. My grandson, who is your age, is in similar situations but instead he acts out of fear. So, maybe you could pray for him. His name is Kimoni and he’s even been suspended from school for beating up on other kids and I know that that is a fear-based response. So, would you please keep him in prayer and I will be praying for you. You are way beyond your years. Love you my little sister in Christ.
Good morning DAB family, this is Helen in Durham, North Carolina and I just want to say how valuable it is to listen to the Scripture being read, year after year. I’m probably on about year six, I’m not totally sure. But if you listen with open years, my goodness, the Lord keeps on telling me more and more, I keep learning more and more. The commentary is so awesome. So, Father, just want to encourage us, encourage me to continue to listen hard because in all the dysfunction of the world, whatever dysfunction is in our lives, the Lord speaks to it and He is good. God bless you all.
This is Lori from Canada. I’m asking for prayer for me to get right with God. To let go of an affair that I had during COVID. And to say thank you for God’s grace that my husband is willing to forgive me. Please pray that I will have the right posture of heart and be willing to seek God in all things. Thank you.