Exodus 12:14-13:16, Matthew 20:29-21:22, Psalms 25:16-22, Proverbs 6:12-15
Today is the 31st day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today on the last day of the first month of the year. Obviously our 31st day on our journey through the Scriptures. And, so, we’re a month in. We’re kind of out beyond the shoreline now. We have sailed and we look back at where we started, and we can’t see. We’re out in the deep. We’re sailing across the year together and it is a joy to be on this voyage with you and it is a joy to be able to gather around the Global Campfire today and take the next step forward, the step that leads us to end our first month and that next step forward leads us back into the book of Exodus, back into the story of Moses, back into the story of the deliverance of the children of Israel from their Egyptian slavery. And we will see that story come to its fruition today. Exodus chapter 12 verse 14 through 13 verse 16.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Exodus today we have the…the moment of deliverance and we were able to witness that as Passover was observed and…and Egypt lost their firstborn. And it didn’t have to happen, but it did happen. And at that point, like there was nothing else to do would let the people go. Because after the firstborn have died than who’s next? Like if this is where…if this is where were at then this God who is invading Egypt is a very powerful God. And…and they can keep resisting but every time they resist, they get destroyed more and more. So, they can resist until they’re completely destroyed, or they can realize that they’ve Artie been destroyed and it’s time to let the people go. And the people marched out plundering Egypt - silver and gold, garments supplies, 600,000 men on foot. Well over a million people by the account in the book of Exodus are heading into the wilderness and it’s a magic moment because freedom has come for the children of Israel. It’s a terribly sad moment for the Egyptians who were becoming more and more clear that their gods were not powerful enough to save them. And the awe and reverence for the God of Israel, the most-high God had descended upon Egypt, and God was made famous in Egypt and stayed famous in Egypt and this whole Exodus story spreads throughout the entire land as we will see as we go forward. And it might seem like, great man! They’re going to go to the promised land now. This is the story. This is awesome! And it is awesome, but this is just the beginning of the story. We have many dusty miles and many lessons to learn as we navigate ourselves into the wilderness.
In the book of Matthew, we are…well…we are heading toward the conclusion of the book of Matthew, but we are heading into the passion narrative, the story of the last days of Jesus. And, so, we arrived in Jerusalem today for these last days and we will be moving through that for the first time this year in the coming days. But while He is on his way to Jerusalem. So, like while He’s coming from the Galilee and going to Jerusalem He’s going south. It’s like 90 miles south, but the way that the path could be handled most easily was to head from the Galilee down into the Jordan Valley, and then follow the Valley like along the Jordan River, follow the Valley and follow it all the way to the city of Jericho and then go up to Jerusalem from there. And, so, Jericho being below sea level, that’s a pretty steep climb, but it’s an 18-mile hike up to Jerusalem. And, so, we find Jesus in Jericho today on His way to Jerusalem. So, He’s left the Galilee, gone into the Jordan Valley, made His way south to Jericho and now He’s got this climb up into Jerusalem. But He’s in Jericho and as He’s passing to Jericho there are blind men on the road and they hear that it’s Jesus that is passing by and they begin yelling, “have mercy on us, Son of David.” They’re just calling out because they can hear that there’s a big crowd but they’re blind so they can’t see. They can’t get through the crowd, they can’t find Jesus, they wouldn’t know Jesus if they found Him. They don’t know what He looks like. But they’ve heard of Jesus, and they know what His reputation is and they’re yelling to try to get His attention. And the crowds trying to keep them quiet of course. And they’re just yelling, “Jesus. Jesus Son of David, have mercy on us.” And He heard them. He heard them and He stopped, and He brought them to Him, and He said, “what you want me to do for you?” And they said they wanted their eyes opened. And Jesus opened their eyes and they could see and they followed Him. It’s a beautiful story. It’s just story that if we go one layer deeper, we realize it’s our story. It’s our story encapsulated in their story, and it reveals to us a posture, a posture of heart that we are to espouse, knowing that on our own we are spiritually blind, that we are wandering, that we can’t see where we’re going, that we fall down, that we’re disadvantaged, that we can’t get anything done, that we’re blind. And when we reach a point where we realize this, and we understand that it’s total and we cry out, have mercy upon me, when we realize our utter need and our utter dependence and reach then we hear these words coming back, “what you want me to do for you?” And our response is what Jesus has been calling out in His ministry. Our response is to ask for eyes to see and ears to hear. The blindmen say it beautifully. “Lord, let our eyes be open.”
Prayer:
Jesus, this is our prayer today. Let our eyes be opened. May we see things as they are. May we see through Your eyes, not only the world and the people in the world around us, but may we see ourselves through Your eyes. We are reaching for You in desperation, knowing our utter dependence and our complete need of You. We are blind. Open our eyes. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you can find out what’s going on around here. And, so, certainly do that. And you can do all this with the Daily Audio Bible app as well right in the palm of your hand and the app can be downloaded. Just search for Daily Audio Bible at whatever app store works with your device and you can download it from there. And, so, check it out.
Check out the different sections like the Community section. This is where to get connected on social media, different links to the channels that we participate in. But it is also the home of the Prayer Wall where we can always share our stories, our struggles, our victories with our brothers and sisters and allow them into our story, that they might come along side of us and encourage us and pray for us, that they might come along side of us and jump up and down and rejoice with us. This is a resource that is always available to us. And, so, certainly check that out in the Community section.
If you are a partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if you find that coming around the Global Campfire each and every day is life-giving then thank you humbly for being life-giving. There is a link on the home page 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 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. That’s the little red button up at the top 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 this is Early Riser. I’m on my way to work. I’m simply calling in to express how much joy I have when I hear the variety of people talking. Last week someone prayed in the Asian language I think it was Chinese. Hearing different accents. I’m in the Midwest. So, hearing what an accent is to be from the northeast or the southeast or a western accent or Canadian accent or people calling from the UK, South Africa, it’s such a beautiful picture of what the diversity in the Kingdom of God is like. What I consider an accent is flavor, different minerals, and salts. Somebody else can hear me and think that I have an accent. And it’s just this beautiful expression of the diversity of who the Kingdom is and who is also around this…
Hello this is Lisa from Oklahoma and I just listened to DAB and I heard Emily from Washington praying about her anger. I also struggle with these issues. So, I would like to know if you up in prayer. Dear God as we come before You we ask that You would help Emily Lord Jesus. You see her heart and You know that she doesn’t want to be this way. And You see her trying and I just ask that You would bind Satan in the name of Jesus and that You would keep away this anger and help her Lord to find peace and comfort in knowing You and that You can give her what she needs to be the mother that she needs to be to her kids. And help her give herself and not to beat herself up Lord because sometimes things affect us that we’re not even aware of and it makes an anger and we don’t even know where it’s coming from. I have been there, and I have lived through it and You have helped me and You can help Emily. God just wrap her in Your arms. Give her the peace that she needs. Let her know that she can get through this and with God all things are possible. I’m praying for you Emily I hope you have a great…
Father God we just praise You today, we worship You today. And I lift up my brother Garrett today God. I will lift up his return to You, his falling in love with You, his knowing that the addiction and the drift and disconnect from You came when he gave all the love that should have been Yours to another god. I pray that You would heal him and You would hold him and he would fall so deeply into serving You God that he will be healthy in the next relationship. I lift my sister Emily God. I lift up the anger of God that she has given way to this year, __ out on her children God. I lift up her children and I pray for a healing of their spirits and their hearts of all they’ve heard and all they’ve experienced. But God I pray that Emily would know that this time does come up as prayer and fasting God. Let her know no spirit has control of her God. Let her know right now in the mighty name of Jesus that greater are You in her than anything in the world, that the anger is the work of the flesh that can be broken, the entire back of it can be broken through prayer and fasting, not only her but anybody else dealing with the same stronghold God. I lift up Devon God. I lift her up right now right now God. I thank You for her journey as a pregnant mom and God the journey she’s had in learning Your word God. I pray that she’ll take it one day at a time, that she won’t feel so overloaded with trying to catch up God, that the value and the treasure in each day will be lost in this seed and the load she’s trying to carry every day. Let that word just permeate her soul. Thank You for Brian, thank You for China God, thank You for Jill and the DAB family in Jesus’ name. This is Dawn of a New Day. Love you DAB family.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. My name’s Derek from Oklahoma. I’ve been dealing with a lot of things in the last year - health issues, started drinking heavily. I was terrible to my loved ones and the people around me and my addiction was helpless. In the past month I’ve been listening with Daily Audio Bible, seeking God. And in my prayer and fasting He gave me this prayer that I want to share with you guys for anybody that’s dealt with some of the stuff I’ve been dealing with and maybe different things, but you know if this is you. Dear God, I felt like I’m not enough for Your service. From this I see come all of my weaknesses. I’ve short sighted You Lord. I’ve lacked faith. God please show me that I’m worthy of You and that I’ve allowed Satan to trick me into believing that I’m not. Forgive me. Put me into situations where I can find my worth in You. Help me to be of service to You Lord Jesus. Make me enough. I’ve shied away from Your service and I’ve tried every single thing I can think of to not be all in. Help me to forgive myself like You forgive me and to see myself I was Your temple and Your child. Redeem me Lord. Renew me. Make me whole in You. May my body be a fitting drawing piece for You. Maybe I be light and salt in Your world and help others to seek You. That was the prayer He gave me last night. I love you all. I’ve cherished listening to your prayers for others and your requests for prayers and I’ve been praying along with you. I’ve been listening with Brian. Grateful for all of you and grateful for community of Christians. You’re so sincere. Love you all. God bless.
Good evening my DAB family this is Mavis calling in from Grenada in the Caribbean. I want to pray for Paul out in Houston who has been separated from his wife and his family for six years and is going to __ at the end of February to be able to bring the family together again. Lord, we thank You. We bless Your name. We thank You Lord because You are in the healing and the restoration business. Nothing is too hard for You to do. We thank You cool Paul and for the strength that You have given him over those years father. We thank You for touching his heart oh Lord. Oh we thank You for his family that You are restoring them, You’re restoring his wife and his children unto him. Bless that relationship oh God. Bless him in the name of Jesus. We thank You that You are going to take full control of this situation. Bring the family back together again. Let him experience Your amazing love. Oh God we pray that You will strengthen him. Oh, he will look to You the author and finisher of his faith. We thank You Lord that he can find the strength in the midst of the storm to continue to serve You. So, we love you Paul and we thank you that God will strengthen you and give you the courage to continue to hold on. Do not give up. Hold on. God is standing right there with you. We love you. Bye.