Month: June 2022

1 Kings 22:1-53, Acts 13:16-41, Psalms 138:1-8, Proverbs 17:17-18

Today is the 20th day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, it’s great to be here with you today, it’s great to be here with you any day, it’s great to be here with you every day as we gather around the Global Campfire and find a place, exhale, relax, take the next step forward together. That next step certainly leads us back into the book of first Kings, where we are getting to know the kings of Israel in the North and the kings of Judah in the south, now that, now that the children of Israel have broken apart into two different nations. We are also dealing with different prophets in this time, Elisha, in particular, and we’ve met Elisha and will get to know Elisha a lot better as we continue the journey but for today, first Kings chapter 22.

Commentary:

Okay so, we have a fascinating story going on in the book of first kings or, we had, because King Ahab ended up dying. We had an interesting story in the book of first Kings today. So, the king of Israel, the king in the North, his name was Ahab and the king of Judah, the king in the South was King Jehoshaphat and they were visiting with one another and Ahab, the king of Israel was just kind of musing about this city, Ramoth Gilead, that has been taken from him and it actually belongs to them and they need to go and attack and take it back. So, he asks Judah’s King Jehoshaphat, will you go into battle with me to take back the city of Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat agrees, like that they’re one people, that they’re brothers, that they will go as one that they’ll do this, but Jehoshaphat, being the king of Judah, were the temple of God is in the city of Jerusalem, inquires of Israel’s King Ahab whether or not there is a prophet of the Lord in the land that they can inquire of the Lord about this, about this plan that they are hatching to go to war to take back a city. So, these 400 prophets of the Lord are brought to prophesy and they begin to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that success is in front of them, that they should go into battle at once, they will be victorious, God is with them, and they will gore the enemy. What’s interesting is that, Jehoshaphat hears the prophets of the Lord, Jehoshaphat is a God-fearing man, the kingdom of Judah, worships at the temple of God in Jerusalem and for some reason he’s not fully buying it, because he will re-inquires, like is there anyone else that’s a prophet of the Lord. And that’s actually a little bit of a clue to what comes next. But in the end, there is one other person, the prophet of the Lord named Micaiah but Ahab doesn’t like Micaiah because every time Micaiah prophesies in the name of the Lord, it’s something bad against Ahab. So, he doesn’t like him, but they send for him. He is a prophet of Yahweh, the Lord and so they go get him and they tell him, all the other prophets are saying this is a good idea, God is in, and that we should go into battle, so make sure that you hear the same thing from God when you come and give the same message. Micaiah comes and he kind of pretends to give the same message, kind of sarcastically in some sort of way, or maybe quietly, he does it in a way that Israel’s King, King Ahab knows that he’s not actually giving what he believes the words of the Lord are and then Micaiah actually gives the words that he had heard from the Lord, which is essentially, if you going to battle you’ll be killed, and there will be no Shephard in Israel and everybody will flee back to their own home. So, Ahab says to Jehoshaphat, you see what I told you. This guy never says anything good about me. But Micaiah’s contrary prophecy to the 400 prophets of God, then sort of causes a showdown among the prophets. So, a prophet, Zedekiah, son of Kenaanah, as the Bible tells us, walks up and smacks Micaiah right across the face and says which way did the spirit of God go when he left me to then come and talk to you. Wow! I mean, that’s like one prophet beating another prophet, both of the same God, both hearing two different things that they believe that the Lord is saying. And Micaiah had told about why there was a discrepancy in what was being said among the prophets, why they had divergent messages, and he tells a story about a spirit being sent from God to deceive the prophets. What is that about? It’s actually a passage that has been wrestled with for a very, very, very long time because we need typically to make the theology work so that we have a view of a perfect God that would never do such a thing. One good scholarly supported view of this is that those 400 prophets prophesying in the name of the Lord, were not actually hearing from the Lord. So, in this instance, a distinction was made that Micaiah was actually speaking with the mouth or with the words that God had put in his mouth. Whereas Ahab’s 400 other prophets of the Lord, were never really listening to the Lord in the first place and were prophesying falsely so that a distinction was made so that the king had very, he had both options, but he had a very, very clear warning from God himself through the prophet Micaiah about the battle he was intending to go into and that it was going to cost him dearly. It was going to cost his life. Of course, as the story goes, as we know, since we just read it, Ahab decides to go into battle, incarcerates Micaiah until he gets back, Micaiah says if you come back, I haven’t spoken in the name of the Lord, I haven’t spoken truly. Of course, he doesn’t come back, which affirms Micaiah as having heard directly from God and having delivered a warning that would’ve saved the king’s life. So, we look at Micaiah, a prophet of God, who seems to keep to himself to some degree, isn’t part of the troop of the 400 prophets of God anyway, and he gets summoned to speak on behalf of the Lord and the Lord gives him the message to speak and he goes and speaks in the name of the Lord the true message that God has given him to speak and only bad things happen to him, right, like he gets rejected, he gets smacked by the other prophets, he gets incarcerated, he’s limited to food and water or bread and water to eat, but he is still sent to speak the truth, even though the truth is rejected and it causes hardship for the prophet. Sometimes we find ourselves in similar circumstances, where all kinds of advice is being given in the situation to maybe somebody that we love or somebody we care about or somebody that we know, or for that matter just a set of circumstances that involve us, advice is being given and it and it gives us a check in our spirit and were sitting there, sensing that there needs to be some kind of alternative to this advice. There needs to be at least the opportunity for the person who’s making the decision to be clear on what’s going on here and we’re in that same kind of situation where we can speak the truth, humbly and offer it, which may be the only warning that the person ever gets. But we find ourselves may be then seemingly opposing those who have given other opposite advice, maybe even in the name of the Lord. Super, awkward position to be in, that’s what we’re seeing happen with Micaiah today. And Micaiah obeyed God and did what he was told to do, even though it wasn’t going to be easy. But there are times we find ourselves in situations where we may be the only one that can speak truth into the situation and if we sense that God is leading us, then the lesson here is that we must obey God, even if it’s not easy. Which is a big deal, because so much of our lives are lived in such a way that we believe if we sacrifice and obey God, then his response will be only blessing and good, like it’s a payback. Like, if we do this, then he will do that, as if our relation is a transaction, we obey, He blesses. We obey, He blesses. Sometimes He invites us to obey Him and trust Him because it’s about more than just us and we may have to step into something hard sometimes. What the lesson teaches us is that we certainly better be sure about what God is telling us to say and then once we are, we better say what God is telling us to say, even if it’s difficult. But regardless of whether we’re heeded or not, we’ve released the information, it’s out there, the person was warned. So, we become God’s mercy in that moment, even if it’s not accepted. Plenty to think about there as we think about the circumstances and intertwining of our lives and the different kinds of people that we have to work alongside and with, each and every day.

Prayer:

So, Father, we see this, we see what unfolded before us today and as we think about it, it’s impossible to navigate a situation like this without the power of Your Holy Spirit leading and directing us. And it’s interesting, that so long ago all of these thousands of years ago, we can look back and see that people who believe they are hearing from You, hear different things and offer contradictory advice. If we feel like we need to say something because You are leading us to say something, then Holy Spirit, speak to us clearly, clearly enough that we know that if we step into the situation, it may not be easy, but we are convicted, You are sending us to speak. Lead us into all truth, we are hanging onto that hope, that is a promise and that is what we seek to walk on the pathway of truth, Holy Spirit, we pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it is where you find out what’s going on around here and so certainly do check in. The Daily Audio Bible app is also available and checks in on all the same things and so you get the app from whatever app store is connected to your type of device. So, check that out. Check out the different sections. For example, check out the Community Section, there are links to different social media channels that we participate in. That is a great way to stay connected in whatever way that you can or whatever way that you want to, but also in the Community Section, that’s where the Prayer Wall is and the Prayer Wall has been and always on, never off, part of the community here for many, many years. So, no matter what time of day or night, that it may be, no matter what continent you may be on, no matter what time zone you may be in, you can always reach out, it’s always available. You can always reach out and ask your brothers and sisters for prayer, share a little bit of your story what’s going on. But it’s not just repository for prayer requests, it’s an always on, ever moving thing. And so, it is a wonderful opportunity to reach out in prayer and offer encouragement. Sometimes were carrying a load, it’s too heavy and it seems like the more we carry, the shorter we get, it’s just kind of shrinking us down. And we need prayer, but there are other times where we feel very strong, very much connected to what’s going on and an opportunity to remember that we didn’t always feel that way and we are brothers and sisters that are struggling and moving through hardship and we can pray for them so they we’re always praying for one another. It’s the glue that keeps us together and so certainly check that out. It can be found in the Community Section, whether you’re on the website or whether using the Daily Audio Bible out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what’s happening here is meaningful to your life. Thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello DAB family, this is Ruby Rivera in Minnesota and I’m calling in response to the gentleman you called on June 15th. He is struggling to stay in the race and my call is just to encourage you to stay in the race. A quick story about two half marathons that I ran. The first one was phenomenal. The weather was absolutely miserable. It was rainy. It was call, only about 40° but I was running the race for someone else, beside me and the energy from the crowd was phenomenal. It was, it poured into my experience of continuing, they were encouraging. The second race was not fun. It was, I ran alone. The weather was fine, it was cloudy, so it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold, so it was a comfortable temperature. But the crown was far more distant. They were cheering on but it didn’t have the same energy and they felt more like spectators, than encouragers. So, for you, I am saying, stay in the race and keep calling in to DAB family, because you are not alone. And we are here to cheer you on so stay in the race. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Hello DAB family, this is Voice of the Turtle and I’m calling, it is June 15th. And the last couple of days I’ve heard prayer requests about brothers who seem as if they are at the end of their rope, especially the brother from today, he didn’t give his name. And also yesterday, I believe the brother was Stephen Leiland but I want to go ahead and pray and give them encouragement. So, Holy Spirit, as we come before you as a community, I pray for these brothers. I pray personally Abbah, that You will manifest Your presence within them. Holy Spirit, You who live on the inside of us, especially these our brothers, give them a tangible visitation of Your presence. Let them know that they are not alone, let them know that You have not forsaken them. And in the case of my brother from today, I encourage you in the same way that Jesus encouraged Peter on the night that he betrayed Him. I pray for you, that your faith fail not, and once you have recovered, strengthen your brothers. Stephen Leiland, this prayer is also for you, I pray that your faith, fail not. And Father, we just simply ask that You will be God to them. Supply their need, be in their mist, let them know that they are not alone. And help us to continue to bare one of those burdens and so fulfill Your law, the law of love, which is in Jesus. We bless You, we honor You, and we thank You. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Brothers, stay encouraged. We’re looking forward to your praise report. Be blessed.

Good morning, this is Dani from Southern Oregon. Gosh, you know I was on my way to work, and I was late and I was stressed about the day and I’m driving to work and I’m listening to Ezekiel in DAB kids and he accidentally said that Peter went on the rooftop to spray instead of pray and he started giggling, and Jill started giggling and I’m giggling and I just want to thank you guys for not editing that out. I really needed a laugh right at that time and I think it just changed my entire attitude for the day. So, I love it, to hear, I love, love hearing Ezekiel read and make mistakes because it’s so human. And I think the kids can relate to that too, so anyway, thanks for not editing that out. That was awesome. Thanks for the laugh you guys. Have a great day, bye.

Hey DAB family, it is Beloved in Boston. I haven’t called in, in a few months, it’s been very crazy over here for us as we have got a house in Florida. We sold our house here and by the end of July, we’ll be moving our family of five, to the Fort Myers area. So, if you could just all be praying for my girls, mainly. Through this process as there’s a lot of loss and grief, and transition and change. So, that’s just a quick plug there. I also wanted to send a quick praise report, this is my first day now, reading the Bible again. How amazing is that. I have finished, as of yesterday, a full year in the Bible for the first time ever in my life. And thanks to the DAB family for this community, and for Brian and his family and team for this podcast. So, anyway, I wanted to praise Jesus for that. And quickly, it’s the end of June 15th, and I just heard a prayer request by a man, who it sounds like is being told that there’s something he has to do to be saved and to be close to Jesus and have a relationship with Him. And so, for that man, I just wanted to speak truth over you, this is a complete lie from the enemy. There is nothing you have to do except surrender into His loving arms and then just chase after Him, pray to Him, worship Him, do the things that out flow from you because God has filled you with so much of His love. All you have to do is say yes and let Him in. It’s that simple, it’s not hard. Love you all.

Hey DABers, it’s your girl Val in Vegas. Happy mid-June, we made it. Hey, we are halfway through this thing, ya’ll keep going man, this has been the best year through the Bible, for me. And it just gets better and it’s better together, you all make it so amazing for me. And thank you. And I want to say a special hello to my guy Micah and to all people that are still feeling any kind of lingering effects to COVID. Or to any kind of respiratory issues, where you’re still feeling sluggish and lethargic and just not fully back to you. I’m right there with you man. But God’s got us baby. We’re gonna keep praying for good health and energy and focus and frequency and the Lord is gonna keep providing it. I love you brother and I love everyone in this community, let’s pray. Lord God, thank You, thank You for the ability to come to You in prayer God. Right now, Lord, we’re praying for health, God. For guidance in what we should do as it relates to our health, Lord. For energy Lord, for frequency God, for You to breath Your breath into us, Lord. God, we want to be better than before we got sick. We’re not just asking to put us back together to where we were. Lord, Your word says that we get double for our trouble. So, Micah, you hold on brother. You’re healing is coming; healing is coming for all of us. And we thank You in Jesus name. And we love You, thank You Lord. Thank You Lord. I’ll see you all next month. I love this community and I love you guys. Hey, make sure you go and tithe, please, please, please, give to this ministry.

1 Kings 20:1-21:29, Acts 12:24-13:15, Ps 137:1-9, Pr 17:16

Today is the 19^th day of June welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today. It’s always a special day when we come to the threshold of a brand-new shiny sparkly week out in front of us and just kinda inside remind ourselves yet again His mercies are new every morning. It’s a fresh start. It’s a brand-new week and even though last week may have been filled with any number of chaos’s that happened then. Maybe some of that spills forward, but how we deal with it…well…we’re at the threshold. It’s a new week. It’s a new story to tell. And, so, we just exhale and inhale and keep doing that because that’s what we need to do to stay alive. And another thing that we need to do to stay alive is take the next step forward together in the Scriptures, allowing them to feed us, to feed our Spirit. And, so, we will certainly do what we do every day which is pick up where we left off. We’ll read from the New International Version this week. First Kings chapter 20 and 21.

Prayer:

Father, we love You and we adore You and that is where we begin as we begin this week. We love You. We adore You. Our loyalty is Yours. You have rescued us, and we don’t deserve anything. You have been loyal to us when we were as far away from that as possible, and You have saved our lives and so we honor You. Our hearts gratitude is to You. And we thank You for Your word, this beautiful gift that brings us together each day. And we thank You for the community here. We love one another as we move step-by-step day by day through the Scriptures. And, so, Holy Spirit come into this week. Lead and guide us in each of our individual stories. We are utterly dependent upon You, and we trust You. Lead us by the power of Your Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DAB family this is Simone calling in from Houston…Simone calling from Houston and calling for the gentleman that called at the end of the broadcast on June 14^th asking for prayers for Stephen, Leland, Emy. Oh, I heard your heart, and your call just broke my heart and I just…I want to pray for you. Father God on today we lift up our brother in Christ Lord God. Lord God, we thank You that he even had the courage enough to call in and ask for prayers. Father God, I ask right now in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus that You will pour out Your Holy Spirit on this gentleman Lord God, pour out Your spirit on him Lord God. I thank You right now as I make intercession for this gentleman and as we hold him up and undergird him in prayers in community Lord God, that You’ll make every crooked path straight in his life Lord God. I thank You Lord God that right now supernaturally Father supernaturally You are opening doors and windows and You are making financial provision for this gentleman to do everything that’s court ordered, required, and necessary to do and be the father he needs to be. Lord God, we thank You for provisions because You are Jehovah You are Jehovah Rapha You are Jehovah Rapha, and You are our provider. You are Jehovah Jira, and You provide, You heal, You…You give us everything that we need so we touch and agree because Your word says where two or three are gathered in His name there He is also. So, I touch and agree with this gentleman that all provisions are being made and that You are making every path straight Lord God and that he is covered, and I ask that You would keep his mind in perfect peace as he continues to lean on You and be stayed on You. It’s in Jesus’ mighty name. Praying…

Hello my DAB family I love you so much and appreciate you and this is Chicago Peg and I wanna pray for our some of our fellow DABbers. And Patty previously from Florida now in Tennessee. Dear sweet sister at the time of your prayer request your grandson Noah was only two days old and born with a blood infection. He possibly had a seizure. And I am…I’m sorry he’s in the NICU. And I’m also well familiar with us with my nephew having been in the NICU but by God’s grace has come out of this. And my whole heart as a fellow mom grandma, etc. I’m praying together with you Patty in the healing merciful name of Jesus, praying for complete healing for Noah. Oh, our hearts go up to you Patty. And I’m also praying for Prairie Sky for your depression. You said you have trouble making friends and even looking for a lease and for living. Oh, precious lady I pray that the Lord our God our very present help in time of need. Oh, just call on the name of the Lord. Find your peace and your strength in Him. We are praying for you. Your fellow DABbers are praying for you Prairie Sky and we love you so much. I pray that He will strengthen you in Jesus’ name. Amen, Amen and Amen. Fellow DABbers I love you so much, praying for you. Chicago Peg signing off, breathing in His grace breathing out His praise.

It’s June 15^th and I just heard a gentleman who called in and he was stating that the last two years nearly killed him and he’s just struggling to hang on and to finish the race is how he put it. I just want to let him know and pray for him that God would let him know that all he needs to do is to hang on to Jesus, that all he needs to do is to look up because His redemption is there is right there. I just pray that he could see that. I pray that Lord that You would bring someone close to him that would help show him You in the flesh. Lord my heart is just so burdened for him to finish the race and Lord I believe he will because I believe that You’re a powerful God that can oversee this whole situation for this gentleman and help him to be able to see You and know that You are going to care for him, You are going to take care of whatever it is that’s standing in his way, to feel redemptive, and to feel saved, and to feel that You are there Lord God. I just lift him totally up to You and put him in Your hands Lord God, to give him the peace and the strength and the courage that he needs to finish the race and to finish it strongly and that his life would be just a testimony of You there in his presence. I praise You and I thank You for what You’re going to do for this gentleman Lord. I love You all and I love this gentleman too knowing that God is going to be there for him. Amen.

Hi this is Michelle from Boston I’m calling for the final caller on June 15^th. You didn’t leave your name but you’re struggling with salvation and the thoughts of salvation at the end, and have you done enough do you feel enough. And I hope to encourage you today because I used to worry about this as well. I used to worry if I had enough faith at the moment that I pass away, is that when I would make it? What if I have faith now and not then? I think after talking with my sister and reading the Bible one thing that stands out to me is that I have no role in my salvation besides surrendering to God. I used to think that I had to have faith and like I had to feel saved in order to be saved. And that is not the case because faith is a gift from God. Faith is something that I used to think that I had to like, you know, scrunch really hard and try and produce more faith and squeeze it out of me, but faith itself is this gift from God. We cannot contribute to one iota to our own salvation.

Hello DAB fan this is Joyce from Virginia today is June 15^th and the very last prayer request played on today’s reading was from a young man who is really struggling and says that people are telling him that if he doesn’t hold on that he will not be able to finish well and basically won’t be saved. And just wanted to read you a couple of verses from John 10 my friend because we don’t have to hold on to Jesus. Jesus is holding on to us. So, Jesus says in verse 27, “my sheep hear my voice and I know them. They follow me. I give them life that lasts forever. They will never be punished.” And here’s the key part. “No one is able to take them out of my hand. My father who is greater than all gave them to me. No one is able to take them out of my Father’s hand. My father and I are one. So, friend, be encouraged. The Lord will get you through this hard time and Ge is holding you in his hands. Bye-bye.

1 Kings 19:1-21, Acts 12:1-23, Psalm 136:1-26, Proverbs 17:14-15

Today is the 18th day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and every day, another step forward is what we’ve come and gathered around this Global Campfire to take, and so let’s take that together. And, of course, that next step takes us back into the book of first Kings, where we are really dealing with King Ahab and his interactions with the prophet Elijah. Some of those interactions have included a mighty show of force from the one true God, who answered by fire on Mount Carmel and which led to the end of 450 prophets of Bale. Ahab’s wife Jezebel is a Bale worshiper and she’s very serious and devout about it. So, she’s going to have to find out eventually about these prophets, let’s pick up the story, first Kings chapter 19.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we are grateful for the gift that it is in our lives in the direction that it brings. Holy Spirit, come and plant what we’ve read, all of the different stories that we are moving through and these amazing things that are happening. And as we continue to read and understand and grow in our understanding, plant it deep in our lives so that as we navigate our days, the Scriptures are there, reminding us of what we know. Lead us by the power of Your Holy Spirit. You are the only true God, and we are watching how You are manifesting Yourself in these situations in the Scriptures and those give us examples for how You are working in our lives. May we recognize and follow Your lead. We ask, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that where the Global Campfire, well I guess that’s where we throw the logs on the campfire. We are the campfire but that’s home base of the campfire. The Daily Audio Bible app is equal and is the best way to experience the Daily Audio Bible and that can be downloaded free from the App Store that is connected to your device. So certainly, check that out and get familiar with it.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, as we approach the summer time, if being around the Global Campfire, having a place around the Global Campfire, moving through the Scriptures together in community, if that makes a difference, if that brings hope and life and good news and clarity and direction, all of the things that the Bible provide to us, if that is part of your story, because of being around the Global Campfire, than thank you, humbly and profoundly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that would be the little Hotline looking button at the top of the app screen. Or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Morning DAB family, this is Brian calling out of Florida. I’ve been listening since April. I think this app is amazing and I’ve been sharing it with a couple of my family members. I think it’s great, everybody should be listening to it. But today, I actually made an account and I wanted to leave a recording and I wanted to ask for prayers of discernment and grace and patience and just wisdom. I’ve been a manager at a construction company for the last eight or nine years and the companies been sold and it’s a great company. I make great money and I’d like to change careers, so, I can have more time with my family and just more good in my life and that’s gonna require me to make a major pay cut and lose my benefits until the foreseeable future. And I feel in my heart that it’s the right decision and everybody that knows about it, is pressuring me to stay with the major company but the stress really gets to me and I never see my family. And I’m just in a really bad spot right now, I feel trapped. I just, I just feel like I’m in a hole and I just need, I just need some kind of wisdom I need prayers. I need something, to just send an answer to me and what I should be doing. I’m just very confused right now. And thank you, thank you.

Hello DABers, this is Steve from Texas. I was listening to Steve, Stephen, Leila and Danny. The, this is June the 14th and he’s battling, he has no custody on the daughter and he has no money. And he hasn’t seen his kids in 4 months. And I’m lifting up Stephen and the Lord’s hand. I pray Lord that you console his heart and give him the shalom that surpasses understanding. I’ve been through what he is going through and understand Lord, the pain and the outpouring of his love over his children, Lord. And I pray Lord, that You maintain that relationship, despite all the hurdles of the court. I pray for Your divine intervention, Lord, in his life. In Jesus Christ name.

Hey DAB family, this is your sister Ashley from California. And I am calling on June 14th and I wanted to call and respond to the brother, who was on at the very end of today’s reading. My heart broke for you brother. I know that for me, during the pandemic and through COVID, my life went from one path to, it went, it felt like it went to a downward spiral. And I’ve released that and I am so sorry, my heart breaks for you with where you’re at right now with your daughters. But as I finish listening to you, there was a, I’m driving to work but I saw this truck that said, real men love Jesus and the license plate said L-Roy. And brother, I just want to remind you, I just want you to know that God see’s you and He hears you and He loves you, He is for you and He, I know it’s hard. I don’t want to throw a bible verse at you to say, just to like, put a band-aid on it and like, and like make it all better and that’s not gonna happen. But if you keep turning to the Lord and you keep honestly crying out and letting Him know how you feel and then turning to Him and turning to His word and coming back to hear Him, He will heal, He will help you. And that will be for your good and His glory. So, I just want to encourage you brother. Take heart, be strong and encouraged, God’s got you. Love your sister Ashley in California.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. This is Laura in HeverHill. Today’s the 14th day of June. I just heard a gentleman, the father of Stephen, Leila and Emmy. Lord, I hear a broken man. A dad, whose heart is desperate to see his children, to provide for his children. Lord, everything that is going on in the desperation of this family, You know. I pray Father, for protection for the girls, wherever they are. I pray for this father, for his needs to be met. And Lord, I pray Father, I thank You that he’s seeking Your face. I thank You God that he is turning to You. Lord, I just pray Father for amazing grace and mercy and peace and strength and restored joy to this family. Father, please guide and direct his steps and his ___ I pray in Jesus’ name.

Hi, it’s Sparky. I liked to pray for the father of Stephen, Leila and Emmy. Bear with me brother, if I cry with you. It is very heartfelt and there are a lot of us dads that can feel like you sometimes. So, go ahead and pray together. Father God, I ask that You give this man strength. I ask that You reach deep down into his heart, help him to know that those kids love him and adore him for every piece of time in his life that he has spent on them and for them. Father God, I ask that You give strength to this gentleman, I ask that You help him to rise up and be the strongest piece of iron that You have ever laid hands on when it comes to his faith and his strength. He’s been gone a while, Father; he’s walking back and he’s falling on his knees before You. As another father, I am on my knees with him, praying that this situation will sort itself out. Lord, I ask that You give him the peace and the encouragement, the same encouragement that Peter had when he fell short, so many times and he was walking with Jesus. But Jesus still, grabbed him by the hand and said, you haven’t been gone to long, stand up and walk with me. I love you brother. It’s in Jesus name we pray. Amen.  

1 Kings 18:1-46, Acts 11:1-30, Psalms 135:1-21, Proverbs 17:12-13

Today is the 17^th day of June welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today and thrilled that we can gather around the Global Campfire and take another step forward together. That will lead us, the next step that is, will lead us back into the book of first Kings. And we need to remember that after Solomon’s reign Israel split into two different nations or kingdoms. The northern kingdom of Israel, which was 10 tribes and then the southern kingdom of Judah which was the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. And we are now chronicling the kings of both of those kingdoms and how they overlap and sometimes how they remain at war with each other, even though they’re the same people, people lead out of slavery and into the promised land and now they’re fighting against each other. But first Kings isn’t dissimilar kinda to books like the book of Judges. If you remember when we went to the book of Judges, sometimes we met a judge and we had a long story, a lot of information to process and talk about and then with other judges we get like a paragraph of what they did and when they did. That can be true in Kings as well. Some of these kings we’ll get to know they’ll be much more detail and story for us, whereas with some of the other kings we get a paragraph. But that’s we’re moving through, is a chronicling of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. And at this point we have also met the prophets Elijah who has prophesied a drought, or a famine in the land and then he goes into hiding worries being kept alive by the birds. And, so, we pick up the story. First Kings chapter 18.

Commentary:

Okay. Such big things happening in the Scriptures today. So, in the book of first Kings we have the showdown with Elijah that was kinda being set up in yesterday’s reading. So, it’s Elijah, the one prophet of God against 450 prophets of Baal. And you can imagine the scene, these people crying out to Baal to answer with fire from heaven and show His power and show that he’s the true God and they are cutting themselves and dancing around and just trying to whip things up into a frenzy. And Elijah’s just like maybe you need to be a little louder, maybe he’s doing something else, just maybe you need to press in. And they do. Nothing happens. At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah restores an altar, digs a ditch around it, covers the alter, the wood, the stones with water and fire comes from heaven, consuming the sacrifice. And everyone there saw it and they fell to the ground. It changed them. It disrupted them and changed them until they were confessing once again, “the Lord our God is the true and only God”, which invariably led to the demise of the prophets of Baal. Mount Caramel is a real place. In fact, there’s a monastery on the top of Mount Carmel that protects this place and commemorates what happened there. And the Kishon Valley, the stream running below the mountain is visible from the top of Mount Carmel. This happened in a place. And if we remember there was severe drought so bad that everyone was suffering looking for Elijah who had spoke the word of the Lord that began the drought. Elijah goes back atop Mount Carmel begins to pray. And we just read this. He sends his servant to look toward the sea because Mount Caramel’s not that far from the Mediterranean Sea. And after seven times the servant was sent comes back and says there’s a tiny little, tiny, tiny cloud, about the size of a man’s hand coming up out of the sea. And that’s when Elijah knew, like, okay tell the king he better get going back to Jezreel. And then Elijah is able to run and outpace the chariot as he runs from Mount Caramel back to Jezreel. I guess I probably have to look it…look it up on the map, but that's…that’s a long, long, long way to run. I’m gonna guess no less than 50 miles give or take. And the famine is brought to an end by the mighty power of the only true God. We have a massive display of God’s power that disrupts the people and turns their heart back to God. So, it's…it’s a mountaintop moment that happened on a mountaintop. If only it could last. We’ll have to see how this story continues to play out as we continue our journey tomorrow.

Then in the book of Acts, we are continuing a story that as we’ve already mentioned was so profound that it changed the early church and the reverberations of that shift echo until today. So, we remember yesterday of Cornelius and his household in Caesarea and Peter coming there beginning to share the gospel and the Holy Spirit falling upon them. News has spread as the book of Acts told us. News has spread very very quickly. So, by the time Peter gets back to Joppa people already know what happened. And as we can see right out of the gate where are some people there that are like, this is not supposed to happen. We are not supposed to extend fellowship and hospitality to outsiders or to Goyim, to Gentiles. But once Peter told the story everybody had to kinda come to the same sort of conclusion that Peter had come to, not only from his visions in Joppa but also…like Peter doesn’t have any power to force the Holy Spirit upon someone else. Nobody has that power, to just make someone receive the Holy Spirit. And at this time, they truly believe that the only people invited to receive the Holy Spirit were Jewish people. So, the Holy Spirit fell upon Gentiles, Cornelius’s household. Peter could only conclude what..what am I supposed to do? Like the Holy Spirit came upon them. God spoke. God’s Holy Spirit came upon them. So, who was I…who are any of us to denounce something that God has chosen to do? I don’t know…I mean this is one of the most pivotal moments in the Bible and in…in our church history, like a complete rewiring of their understanding. No longer were they like separate and chosen and put aside. But God was inviting everybody to the family to be set apart and put aside as holy people even Gentiles. And as we continue our journey through the New Testament, we’ll see that. This is a serious serious problem for some people and a point of exuberance and joy for others. All love Jesus but now we have a little bit of a rift between them and will see how this goes as we continue our journey.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We love You with all of our hearts. Help us to ingest and process and allow the Scriptures and the stories found in them deep into our hearts, that they may change us.  And we thank You, that through Jesus all of us, even we who are Gentiles are welcome into Your family. Thank You. We don’t deserve this or anything. And, so, our hearts are grateful today. Come Holy Spirit. Well up from within us with gratefulness. And may we share kindness and compassion with those around us. None of us deserve this. Everyone is invited. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is ground zero, that is home base, that is the home of the Global Campfire. And if you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, that is the same. So, the Daily Audio Bible app can certainly be downloaded from whatever app store is connected to your device. And, so, definitely download that and experience the Daily Audio Bible through the app.

Check out the different sections like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources that are available there specifically for this community, specifically for making the journey through the Bible in a year in a number of different categories. Check out the Community section. That is where the prayer wall lives. That is also where different links to get connected on social media are. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. I say thank you probably 9 out of 10 times that I mention anything like this, may be more, I don’t know. That’s the right word. Thank you. The truth is that we are in this together. That’s how this whole thing kind of burst forth from the dust of the Internet. And from the day that we began, we haven’t missed a day, which puts us in year 17 that we’re moving through right now every day. And here every day without missing a day since January 1, 2006. And that has only been because we’ve been in this together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible 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, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Jesus from beautiful South Florida, and I just want to wish you all a great start of your week. May the Lord mighty God will bless us in abundance each one of you. Well, this call this call is a better prayer request made by a brother named Demetrius. Demetrius from Portland OR you called on the community prayer on the 10^th of this month. Today is the 13^th and brother I have been praying for you since I heard your petition and it’s about your marriage and I want to tell you that I also going through the same circumstances, and I want to pray something over you brother, something that has been put in my heart. And yes, as husbands and men we want everything to be fixed right away. We want restoration, we want healing, we want it now. And that’s the way it works because we love our marriage, you know, we love our wives. But brother the Lord has come up to me and has shown me a different way to pray for marriage. And what I pray is restoration of a friendship of a unity of respect. Remember that before we become married, we are friends. And in that friendship, there is fruit that are blessings, that are good moments, that are memories. Once we get married, we come into this this journey, a journey that has a lot of trials, tribulations, responsibilities. And some of those responsibilities are up to us men to do as God has blessed us as the head of the family. So, brother Demetrius I want to tell you and I want you encourage you it’s something that has helped my life.

This is Eyes of a Dove. I was thinking to myself, I like to call in and pray for my daughter and for all the DABbers kids at every school that they be safe from mass shootings. And then I thought can God handle more than that? Could I pray for a greater coverage? What if I said the world? To God, if I ask Him to protect the world’s children in every school in every college in every technical program for all the children for the legions of angels to go, God said that every person could have a legion of angels to protect them. If that’s the case, I can pray and ask the Lord. Dear God, please protect all of the children from the demonic forces that seek to kill steal and destroy them. Father, that any person with guns or with killing on their mind would not be able to enter those schools, Father that You would supernaturally put a boundary around around these schools and around these children and that we would fear not for legions of angels protect our children. Father God, I ask it be Your way, that Your hand would come down like a hedge of protection a ring of fire around these children Lord God. Thank You for protecting our children. Thank You for giving us our children. They are gift from You. Father and I just pray for the children that have fear, Father that they would not fear but they would trust in You, trust that You are there to protect them keep them safe. Let the teachers not be afraid Father God but help them to be strong and courageous and wise in every situation. We thank You for our school teachers in our districts. Thank You Lord. Yeshem, Yeshua. Amen.

This is for Prairie Sky suffering from depression. I understand what you are going through. You’re at the bottom of the waves and all you can see around you are the dark wall of water closing in on every side but there is a horizon out there and when the waters of your life come you will see the glorious horizon, that future that God has for you. And until that time I pray as Paul prayed for the Colossians, that you will be strengthened with all might according to God’s glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness. Amen.

Hi DAB family this is Tammy from the Adirondacks. My husband and I just got done listening to the June 13^th podcast. And Prairie Sky you called in. Your depression is just taking a toll on you from the sound of it and you’re not alone. I know where you’re at. But we just want to pray for you sister. Father God, we lift up Prairie Sky to you Lord. Lord you are the mighty physician, You are our healer, You are our comforter, You are our ever present help and tomes of trouble. And there’s nothing too big for You Father God that You cannot heal us from. And we’re asking dear Lord to just pour Your anointing down on Prairie Sky, lift this depression, fill her heart and her mind and her soul with Your peace and Your joy and Your love. Let her know that she is so worthy of all Your love and more, that she is Your daughter and that You love her, and You cherish her and that she is the righteousness of You Father God through Your son Jesus Christ. Sister, be encouraged. Be encouraged and just lean and press into the Father. Jesus take care of her and just watch over her and Your precious name we pray. Amen. If you need somebody to talk to, reach out to somebody to talk to, reach out to me reach out on the DAB, the Prayer Wall or Facebook or somehow if you need somebody to talk too. You’re not alone. You don’t have to go through this alone. God bless. Love you.

I’m praying for the father that I just heard on the Prayer Wall. He sounded broken. He hadn’t seen his daughters in four months, and he was saying how the courts wanted him to give all this money that he doesn’t have and he’s feeling lost and alone and estranged from his children. Dear heavenly Father please cover this man in Your blood in the blood of Jesus. Please give him the ability to look up and to hold on for just another moment. Lord, I ask I ask that You send help his way in an unexpected and miraculous way dear Jesus. I pray Lord. I pray that he will have an understanding that You Lord at the author and finisher of his fate and he will look to You. Amen.

1 Kings 15:25-17:24, Acts 10:24-48, Psalm 134:1-3, Proverbs 17:9-11

Today is the 16th day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s wonderful to be here with you today as we gather and take the next step forward together and that next step will lead us lead us right where we left off yesterday, and that happens to be first Kings chapter 15 verse 25 through 17 verse 24, today.

Commentary:

Okay so, in the book of Acts, as we travel alongside the apostle Peter at the moment, we have something that is so profound that happened in today’s reading, that it changed the church of Jesus, irreversibly and changed the course of history in the process, until today. Like, it’s still changed today, because of what we read in the end the book of Acts today. There will be several times through our journey, through the rest of the year that we’ll have to refer back to this moment and remember this moment, especially through the lens of the apostle Paul and understand what is going on here. In yesterday’s reading, Peter’s on a rooftop in the city of Joppa and he’s praying and he sees a vision and, in this vision, there are a number of animals but they would be unclean animals to eat but the message, the messenger in the vision tells him that he should eat these things and of course he resists that saying, he had never done anything like that before. And then he is told, what God has made clean, is clean. Then, these people show up to collect him and take him to Caesarea to Cornelius. Cornelius, is a Roman centurion by Hebrew standards, he is a Gentile. He is an outsider; he is not to be messed with. But he is also not to be associated with, in terms of hospitality and friendship. The Hebrew people are separate. They have been separated; they are separate to God. They don’t intermingle with anybody; they’re trying to get their ducks in a row. So, the God will see that they’re not mixing anymore, and that God should restore them. That is the common understanding of the Hebrew people who feel like they are being occupied, like this land should be theirs. God should give them their homeland back but instead it’s under Roman control and they just get to, squat there, this is the environment that Jesus came into. And so, Jesus message, the vast majority of the time, was to the Hebrew people, in a Hebrew context. Jesus was known as a Hebrew rabbi or even a Hebrew prophet, the signs and wonders are largely among the Hebrew people, indicating that God is hearing them. The people are flocking to Jesus but they’re Hebrew people. So, this whole thing is happening in Hebrew context after Jesus’ death and resurrection and the birth of the church and the falling of the Holy Spirit upon the people, this is all happening in a Jewish or Hebrew context. The earliest early church was Hebrew people, was made up of Hebrew people, in a Hebrew context. Peter is talking to a non-Hebrew family, a Gentile family, a Roman family and he has been summoned there to tell about Jesus. Cornelius received of visionary communication, that he should send for Peter and Peter received a visionary communication that what God has made clean, is clean and also that he should go with these people back to Caesarea. So Peter is in a Gentile house. Something he definitely, culturally, should not be doing and yet he had just had this disruptive vision about things being made clean that had previously been considered unclean and then he had been told to go with these people into a Gentile home. So, he’s sharing the Gospel and the Holy Spirit falls upon them, as the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the Hebrew people in the upper room, on the day of Pentecost. This is the first time they had ever seen anything like this, this was not a part of their framework for where things were going. Gentiles received the Holy Spirit and the dots were beginning to connect for Peter, because of this vision of things that were unclean, being declared clean, which might even include unclean people. Peter sees that the Holy Spirit has spoken here and they are baptized, the first Gentile people to be welcomed into a brand-new thing God was doing in the world. This is a game changer in the early church and now in the world today the Christian faith is made up almost completely of Gentile disciples, Gentile believers throughout the earth. What began as an exclusively Jewish thing, has become dominantly a Gentile thing. So, what we see today, is one of the biggest flashpoints, or monumental shifts that we can find in the Bible. This changes everything and is still changing things today. We’re going to see that this causes a significant amount of unrest and requires quite a bit of discernment and counsel. We’ll see that. But this is the flashpoint. Cornelius summons Peter and the Holy Spirit responds to Gentile people, filling them and they are baptized in the name of Jesus and welcomed into the community of faith. And this has not been done before, and this is not going to sit well with everybody, but thank goodness. I am a Gentile and I am grateful to be welcomed into the family of God. Most of us have the same story and we can trace those roots back to this moment in Caesarea in Cornelius’s home, among his household. And so, let’s appreciate that. Let’s have a sense of gratitude that this very, very exclusive thing was being transformed into…into an inconclusive thing were all are invited, everyone can come, let’s enjoy that shift, as we read it but let’s also understand that this sets off a chain of events and we will see this as we continue through the book of Acts and through the letters of the apostle Paul and all the way through the rest of the New Testament, but it begins here.

Prayer:

This changes things substantially and we thank You Father for that shift, we thank You for the awareness that began to descend upon the apostles that everyone, everyone is invited. Thank You for Your mercy and kindness so that most of us who are hearing this today, can only be grateful, we shouldn’t have been able to be here and yet You welcomed us, even when we were estranged and even when we weren’t permitted to be involved. You died for us and swung open the doors and invited humanity to participate in the process of restoring our species. Thank You, we love You, may we work with You and not against You. In this we pray in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that where you find out what’s going on around here. That’s where the Global Campfire is always burning. The Daily Audio Bible app is the same and you can download the app from whatever, whatever app store you use and so, check that out. Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, many resources in many categories for many different purposes but all centered around moving us as a community through the Scriptures in a year, so check that out. Check out the Community Section, there are different links to social media channels that Daily Audio Bible participates in, it’s also the home of the Prayer Wall, always available to us. Always, we can ask for prayer always, we can offer prayer, that’s in the Community Section.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. If coming around the Global Campfire every day is a life-giving thing, is a source of good news in your life, then thank you for your partnership. So, there is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And of course, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, we are indeed a beautiful family wrapped all around the world, on all the continents in all of the time zones and one thing that is strikingly beautiful about us, is that we pray for each other and it really is remarkable. So, if you are shouldering burdens that are slumping your shoulders, if you are dragging things that are attached to your legs that are just too heavy and you shouldn’t be carrying all this alone. You don’t have to, you can reach out, there is a Hotline in the app there’s a little red button up at the top, hard to miss. You can press that no matter where you are on planet Earth or there are a number of numbers that you can use: in the Americas 877-942-4253 is number to dial, if you are in the UK or Europe 44 2036 088078 is the number to dial, and if you are in Australia or the Lands Down Under 61 38820 54 59 is the number to call.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello, my DAB family, this is __ calling from the UK. I trust we are all doing well by the grace of the Lord almighty. I’m calling today for someone approached me and said she wanted to pray for somebody. I do not know who the young man is but he’s a 24-year-old, his name is Steven. I’ve heard he’s had a really rough life from childhood. He’s lost his mom as a child. And it’s just been going downhill from there. Right now, he’s hooked on drugs and alcohol and he’s supposed to get on a plane, soon, to a rehab rehabilitation, a Christian rehabilitation center. So, the prayer is that he gets on that plane. Because there’s really not much one can do if he decides not to get on that plane. And get on that plane, gets to his destination and stays there. And, by the grace of God, comes out of there a new being, a new creation. I thought to bring it to my family because I know that Scriptures tells us that when two or three are gathered in His name that He’s there. So, I ask you to please, remember Steven in your prayers and ask that the Good Lord, will lead him through the right path and bring him out on the other side. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Thank you very much for praying with me and may God bless each and every one of us.

Hey DAB family, it is Monday, June 13th and this is your sister Ashley from California and I am humbly coming on here because I want to update you guys and ask you for prayer. The update is, is that, about a week ago, my Grandmommy Jody, who you all have been joining me in prayer, came home from the hospital. She was having problems with her liver enzymes, they were too high and they couldn’t figure, they can’t figure out why, they are like that. So, she, they cannot treat her Leukemia, with that. So, she decided that she wants to come home and there will be no further treatment. So, that’s the update. And what I’m asking for you, to join me in prayer for, is that, after Brian talked today about Solomon and finishing well, that is what came to my heart, what the Lord put on my heart. Guys, I want to ask you to please, help me to pray that my Grandmommy will finish well. That she will be honest about her feelings with the Lord but that she will be like David was and pour out her heart but then turn her eyes upon the Lord. And that she will cling to hope in him, so others will see Jesus and will want to know what helped her to overcome and to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Guys, she is, she is valuable, she is trustworthy, she is a hard worker, she’s well trust, she’s valuable, she’s a treasure. So, please join me in prayer for my Grandmommy. Grandmom, if you listen to this, I love you and we’re gonna get through this a day at a time. I love you DAB family. Bye.

Hello, this is Bob from Arizona. I’m listening to 2nd June podcast today. Right away, a gentleman by the name of John Wimberly, called the exact in Jonathan, was asking for prayer for a drug addiction. And his plea was, affected me, I certainly am not affected by that but I know friends, family, who are. And John, Jonathan, your plea was heard, certainly by me and all the DABers. And we do pray for you, we pray you do exactly what the Lord has called you to do and you’re doing that. You’re giving Him glory, you’re giving Him honor, you’re sharing that with us and building our faith. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will give you strength and power to overcome this addiction. I believe you said you were in training right now, in rehab of some sort. So, I pray that be successful, all glory given to the Lord. And I thank you for your spirit, you had a deep sense of Christ in your life, the Holy Spirit in your life and I’m encouraged by that. So, in Jesus name, just help him Father. Help him to just be confident in his faith and show him Your face. I pray for that in Jesus name. Amen.

Hi, everyone this is __ in Anjure. Calling from Dubai. I was going through and still going through a lot of depression because of some family issues with my wife and my wife’s family and my family. I ask for a humble prayer request to everyone around the world who is listening to the Daily Audio Bible, it will change a lot of things, the way I look at the life, so I ask everyone to ___ prayer to have a unity in the family. To get back the things that were normal to us. And thank you.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Casco Mountain Aaron in New York State. I’m calling for prayers because I was diagnosed this week with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I go in for my last few tests today, which will find whether the cancer is just in one large tumor in my heart and lungs. I say just, or if it has spread through my body. I’m ready to walk whatever path the Lord wants me to run and I’m at peace with this but my greatest fear in life would be not being here for my wife and sons. So, I can’t deny that I have definite fear here. So, I’m just asking for your prayers over that fear, over the diagnosis and that God willing, this has not spread through my body. Thank you all and I love you.