Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20, Luke 11:37-12:7, Psalms 78:1-31, Proverbs 12:19-20
Today is the 6th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and it’s of course wonderful to be here together today, wonderful to come around the Global Campfire and just let God’s word speak into our lives. And, so, let’s move in that direction. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Deuteronomy chapters 29 and 30 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we are rounding the corner in the book of Deuteronomy. We have several days to go in front of us, but we’ve…we’ve talked about what Deuteronomy is, the final discourses of Moses to the children of Israel. They will very soon move in opposite directions, the children of Israel toward the Jordan River and across toward the promised land and Moses in the opposite direction into the mountains where he will die. This gives what he has to say a lot of gravity, a lot of weightiness because for all the grumbling he is the human leader that they know, the prophet of God, the one who speaks on behalf of God and tells them what God is saying. And, so, this is very important. And we have moved through the retelling of the places that the children of Israel camped. We’ve been through the story, kind of a retelling of the story. We’ve reviewed the law. We’ve seen new covenants made new statutes enacted. And we can look at the whole thing and go, “man, there is a lot to this. There is a lot to pay attention to. There’s a lot that they have to do. I’m so glad that we don’t have to do those things.” The interesting thing is all of those things that they have to obey and do are establishing a culture, a framework so that everything that they do reminds them of their identity and won’t allow them. In fact, there’s whole tribe that is there to not let them forget who God is and how they got where they. But all of the rules, they distill down, they boil down to a core that can be understood, and we see that very clearly in what Moses is saying today. And, so, let’s go back and just look at a few verses. I quote. “This command that I give you today” and this is Moses speaking “is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.” Right? So, the idea that “there’s just so much to this in the minutia” and “who could ever” and “it’s not beyond your reach. It’s not too difficult.” This is what Moses is saying. And he goes on to say, “what you are supposed to do is not up in heaven, so that you have to wonder who is going to go up to heaven and get it and proclaim it to you so that you can follow it. And it’s not on the other side of the ocean so that you have to ask who’s going to go over there and get it and bring it back and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it. The message is very year you, in your mouth and in your heart so that you may follow it.” So, I we just stopp there, take a step back for second. There is a lot in the law in the country that you live in. If you go and look at the national laws you’re gonna find a library. There’s a lot to it, but so often the actions that we take in our lives…while…it’s like Jesus said, it flows up from our hearts. Our hearts posture is why we do the things that we do. We may disobey a law because we think we can get away with it. We may obey a law because we think we’ll get caught. That’s certainly a deterrent. But when it comes to matters of faith and love these decisions are made within us. And although we may have rules, they become apparent and natural because we are in love. So, for example in marriage adultery is against the rules. We don’t have to usually be told that every day. We know that. And there is a deterrent. We could blow up our entire family and things will never look the same for the rest of our lives. That’s a deterrent. But the greater issue here is we wouldn’t break the heart of the one that we love. And, so, when things get boiled down as Moses doing today’s talk we can see this. And, so, let me go back to quoting Moses. “Today I have set before you, life and prosperity, death and adversity, for I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commands, statutes and ordinances so that you may live and multiply and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow and worship other gods and serve them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish, and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him, for He is your life and He will prolong your days as you live in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” What we see here is that this is a choice. Choose life Moses says. And he has already told them that choosing life is not too difficult and is not beyond their reach, which means it’s not too difficult and it’s not beyond ours either. This comes down to the posture of our heart. Moses is telling them to choose life. Jesus would say something similar. There is a narrow path that leads to life, and few ever find it. But finding it is less complex than we make it. We get lost in the minutia of theology and doctrine wars and all this kind of stuff that just stirs up what we believe and what we don’t. When what were supposed to do this fall in love with God. That is choosing life and when we are in love, things become apparent to us. It becomes important that we treat one another appropriately because we are children of the most-high God, and we do not want to offend our Father by denigrating what He has created. So, if we could take a step back in our own lives and become observant of ourselves and our motives and our passions and our decisions and our words and sit there and hear the words echoing from the Scriptures, “today I have set before you, life and prosperity, death and adversity”. Knowing that the way that we live, the choices that we make are showing whether we are choosing the one over the other. How we are living reveals what we are choosing. And, so, may we hear out of the Scriptures from the lips of Moses what we need to hear. Choose life. Choose life. Friends, this is the offer of the gospel. This is what we believe that Jesus came to set us free and give us life eternal, that He has come that we might have life abundantly. Or, as Moses said, “I set before you, life and prosperity.” The offer is there. It’s all or nothing. May we choose life.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into that and we can often think like I’m either choosing one or the other, but the truth is we’re choosing both and that is why things are the way that they are. When You have given us clarity that when we fall in love with You like You have fallen in love with us everything changes, and we are choosing correctly. So, this isn’t just about us, brute force having self-control. Although we need this. It’s not just about managing our behaviors. Although we need this. It is about a change that happens inside when a stony heart falls in love and softens and becomes a heart of flesh, a heart given to You Lord unreservedly knowing that this is the safest thing, knowing that this is what we were made for. Come Holy Spirit, help us to think on these things, reveal the paths that we need to get off of. May we day by day, moment by moment choose life. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning, DABbers this is God’s Chosen from Georgia. I’m calling in this morning to ask for prayer and I please want you to lift me up in prayer. I need strength to be able to continue to fight. It looks to me like I’m at the end of myself wandering in the wilderness. The only way I know to turn is to turn to God. But I’m looking for him everywhere this morning. I can’t find any strength of my own. I need strength from Him to continue to push on. I’m in that desperate and desolate place and need help. I need prayer. Please lift me up. Lift me up. Lift me up. Help me Jesus. Help me. I need strength to continue to fight. Help me Lord Jesus. Thank you.
Hi this is Dorothy out in California responding to Misfit as well as Mike in New York. Mike in New York, I’m so…what came to mind when I was listening to you was for God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. You discussed your pursuits and your ideas, and I am looking forward to…don’t be surprised if you hear from God and He gives you your life back or He turns your world upside down and gives you a whole new direction. So, just excited for that. Also…and…and Misfit, and actually I…I almost felt the same thing, you were wanting God. Both of you. You want God. You want to know Him, and you want to know His will. And it says that you…this is for both Mike and Misfit…if you search for him with all your heart, He’ll let you find Him. And I’m so excited because Misfit it says that the Bible says that there’s none who seeks after…there’s none righteous and it says we love Him because He first loved us. And, so, that seed in both of you actually, God put there that yearning for Him and yearning to know Him. And, so, I know you’re gonna be…you’re gonna be OK as you just yearn for Him because He put that there. Keep going. Keep going. There is a throng of believers cheering you on here and…and…and the ones that already existed. So…
Hey DAB fam this is Nobody Gets Left Behind in Colorado. I’m calling for my daughter Halo. I just want to thank everybody for your prayers for her. Rob, Levi, another woman I can’t recall her name. Today’s reading, it was Luke 10:3. Go your way. Behold I send you out as lambs among wolves. I know you guys have heard some of our prayer requests. You know, she’s a…a devout believer at 9 years old. She witnesses to the kids in her classroom and she’s just an amazing child. Don’t wanna brag or boast but I do wanna boast on the Lord and His glory and the things that He does through Halo. She was invited to a boxing event to sing the national anthem. It was a pay per view event. She…she just did amazing. I just pray…ask everyone to pray for her that she never loses her boldness and continues to use her talents for the Lord. And I covet your prayers family and I thank you for always being here. I don’t know what I would do without this family. This is my 11th year and I'm…it feels like the first year. It’s just the…the best place to be in the world and I thank God for Brian and Jill and their children. And I just encourage you brothers and sisters to go your way, behold Jesus is sending us out as lambs among wolves. Love you guys. Take care.
Green upon green upon green upon brown
such intricate detail right here on the ground
a miniature forest right here in the grass
bending and swaying as the breezes blow past
tiny little bushes abundant with leaf
ants on the ground crawling beneath
little tiny palm trees 2 inches tall
tower above deserts bushes in all
a microcosm of life complete in every way
God is amazing what more can I say
little tiny boulders a 16th of an inch
dwarf boulders even smaller too small to even pinch
long lushes leafy strands trimmed in green and gold
some are trimmed in purple but all of them are standing bold
and then I see this flower it’s tiny petals white
also yellow asters that sprang up overnight
and a dandy lion standing tall with its fur ball
perfectly round it’s tempting me to blow on it and spread the seed all around
but I decide to leave it in its present form just as if it was in a book
I love the detail that God implores
I love the way things look
but even with such intricacies I still see tiny flaws
and once I recognize that fact it gives me cause to pause
‘cause I know that I don’t look so good when sometimes God looks at me
the closer that you look at things the more of them you see
and God has seen me very close he knows each part of me
but he still loves me anyway my beauty he still sees
thank you God for hearts and eyes that see
beyond my flawed ugliness to the beauty inside of me
blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Drew from the Bay Area. It was nice hearing from your brother and I’ll be praying for a little Drew now that he's…
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family my name is Rashonda I’ve been a part of the community for well over a decade and I’ve only called in maybe five times. I called in for my son when he was three. He had heart surgery and that was successful. I’m calling for two reasons today. I’m calling for him because we have to do a follow up appointment now. He’s 16. I’m just praying that his heart is still healing and it’s working well and that he is finished with his cardiology visits. I’m also praying because I have a heavy heart today just about my marriage and finances. It’s me who has a hard time sticking to the budget and even if it’s $5 here or $2 there $6 here, I’m not sticking to the budget. I never have stuck to the budget over 20 years. And, you know, is really starting to take a toll on us because that five and $10 here and there turns into three and $400, you know, $500 by the end of the month. And, so, please pray for me that I can just shake this thing that I have with comfort, that the real issue would be brought forth, my real heart issue to why I’m not content and satisfied with what I have because I have so much. My husband’s so gracious and he just loves me like Christ but he’s really tired because that extra money could have gone into savings. So, please pray for us that I can be obedient to the budget in Jesus’ name.