Zechariah 2:1-3:10, Revelations 13:1-18, Psalm 141:1-10, Proverb 30:18-20
Today is the 22nd day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is fantastic. It is a joy; it is an honor and a privilege. It’s crazy that we even have this place that we can come, and call home and just be warm and cozy around a campfire together. That’s a peaceful oasis for us; it’s a joy to be here with you today. So, we began the book of Zechariah yesterday and that is the second to the last book in the Old Testament, and we will continue with Zechariah for the next several days, until the last couple of days of the year. So, we’re not flying through another book today in its entirety, we’re picking up where we left off, which is our normal custom around here. So, things should feel a little bit more normal, even though Christmas is almost upon us. Let’s pick up where we left off and that will be Zechariah chapters two and three today.
Commentary:
Okay, unless we’ve been asleep most of the year, Christmas is upon us. We’re just a couple of days away and those of us with kids, especially with little kids, probably counting down the hours and they can’t sleep and try to figure everything out and some of us are getting ready to travel and make sure we don’t forget anything like kids. Others of us are making the preparations to receive family that’s gonna be traveling to us, maybe they’re coming from just across town but maybe they’re coming from across an ocean, and that’s, that brings a very disruptive but very joyous time right, the coming back together. It should be joyous, it brings us back together and around people who were present in our early years, maybe our siblings, parents, aunts, cousins, uncles, whoever, reunited, we become reunited kinda with our childhood in some ways and even though we’re adults now and maybe we have families of our own and maybe we even live in a different city and we’ve built our own life. It doesn’t take long when we get back in our environment to fall immediately back into the role that we, that we were forced to play, or that we played as youngsters. And when we find ourselves in that place, and we’re like, this isn’t really who I am anymore. I have my own kids. I have my own life. I have my own spouse; I have my own everything. I feel like this younger thing going on, right, the soft places start getting touched and then something gets said, an old word, and old teasing, old scorn. These things start creeping in and then maybe the generational differences and all of the opinions that go on in family and the convictions rubbing up against each other and that’s just a, it’s a beautiful, joyous time that is ripe for something to start a fire, right. Somebody says something that’s volatile; just a little too far. And then everything, everything starts to go sideways and a good day becomes a very difficult day. We read something in Psalms today that maybe should give us some advice on how to handle this. Oh Lord, place a guard on my mouth, protect the opening of my lips. Do not let me have evil desires or participate in sinful activities with people who behave wickedly. I will not eat their delicacies. It’s a pretty ancient prayer, it comes from King David. So, thousands of years ago, but it compels us to make some choices now, right before any gifts are brought from any trunks, any keep of any moments where words may form and happen before they can be unsaid. We’re out in front of all of that. We need to remember that we’re not who we used to be. Like, if you’ve been here all year, and we’ve been just taking this journey this year, then you’re not who you were at the beginning of the year. You’re not who you were before, and you can choose who you are, you can choose to bring light and life into situations where you may have once jumped right into the darkness. But it’s not easy to make these decisions in the moment, they need to be made in advance. So, let’s remember this season, this is Emmanuel, this is God with us. This is God’s unwillingness to abandon His people and leave us in our story. It shows us that He deeply longs to be a part of everything that we do and He wants it intensely, including intimacy with those that we often find ourselves in conflict. So, we have the joy of Christmas to give or to withhold. We have love to give or withhold. May we go into these next days, offering the light of the world flowing through our very lives and out of our mouths. May we be lights that shine the kingdom’s brightness, as we celebrate the arrival, the advent of the Savior. And may wherever we walk, may that be holy ground. Because as we read in the Scriptures in the Psalms yesterday, where can I go, that You are not; where can I flee from Your spirit. The spirit of the living God is in us, let’s let loose love, joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, kindness, gentleness. And let’s choose that in advance.
Prayer:
And so, Father, we come to You choosing that in advance, out in front of things we need Your Holy Spirit. Some of the people we have to deal with can be very, very difficult to deal with. And maybe we can be really difficult to deal with too. May Your spirit hover; may You permeate our words and our actions. May we act in love, as we interact in the disruptive ways of Christmas time. Come, Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app does that as well. And that’s right in the palm of your hand, just search for Daily Audio Bible, at whatever app store works with your device. And it’s Christmas time around here and so, we brought out these commemorative, keepsake vinyl projects, five different musical projects from the Daily Audio Bible as collectors editions. And those are still available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop or in the app, just navigate to the Shop and look for the Christmas category and you’ll find them there. Thank you for your partnership as we press forward into the new year and toward brand-new technology coming into all of our lives, as we move forward as the Global Campfire.
And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as the, as the year ends. Thank you, humbly and profoundly. Thank you. 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’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.
Prayer and Encouragement:
Hey my compassionate DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family, I am coming to you guys to ask for prayer for one of our beloved DAB members. Most of you know her as Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower. I have the distinct pleasure and privilege of knowing her as mom. God has so blessed my life to have this sweet lady take me in as her son, her boy. And so, many of you guys know the journey that she and Keith have been on with the battle with cancer. And so, she just learned a couple of days ago that the cancer has returned in Keiths body. And as you guys know, mom is a trooper, she’s a warrior, she’s always gonna have a good attitude and praying for others and lifting others up. And just caring on others. And so, she mentioned the other day that she’s a little anxious. And so, I’m asking you family, will you join me lifting up our beloved Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower, my mom here at the DAB. So, let’s pray real quick. Father, I thank you for this amazing servant of Yours and for Keith, as the reports have come in that the cancer has returned, God we thank You that You have defied the odds once before in Keiths life, will You do it again. Will You continue to sustain Keith’s body. Comfort moms heart. Strengthen her and let her know, You’ve got her boy. And we give You praise for what You will do, in Jesus name. Amen.
Good morning, DAB family. This is Paula from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gosh, I love you guys. Merry Christmas and hope that you guys are having a wonderful holiday season and celebrating with your families. Yeah, I’m one of those people that I will Merry Christmas people until their ears hurt. Anyway, I called for Greg, our brother that is struggling in his marriage. Greg, I know your pain. Me and my ex-husband lived as what I had heard at the time, this term called married singles. We lived in the house together with our children, while we were in the midst of our divorce. It was painful. My ex-husband became more and more bitter. It is hard. And I tried just loving him. We’ve been divorced almost 17 years, and he still has so much bitterness inside of him, it’s really sad. Just love her. And I agree with our brother that called and prayed for you today, Monday, December 18th, that love conquers all. Just stay in there, hang in there. Do not give in. I was reminded by friends that separation, legal separation is only one signature away from a divorce. Lord, I lift them up to you, every single married couple that is having problems in their marriage. Give them the strength, the love, the endurance. Help them to recognize that You are there in the midst of it. Amen.
Trajan from Massachusetts, this is Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower. And we heard your prayer request. Sometimes it goes on the Community Prayer. But they’re all played, I believe. So, I just loved your prayer. I just loved it. And I just wanna bless you that, know that we are praying for you. Yeah, that Lord God, that you’re, the anger in this heart, the hurt in his heart. The pain in his heart, Lord God, would be replaced with the joy of the Lord. The joy of knowing eternity, that these brief and momentary troubles we are having on earth, are but just a, like someone said, a spec of memory in light of eternity. And we are waiting, we are waiting Lord, for Your rest in heaven with You. Lord God, and we want to do the best we can while we’re down here. So, I pray You will help this young man and just lift him out of this miery clay and set him on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. Where no storms can dash him away. But that You would hold firmly onto him and replace a broken heart with a full heart for You. Holy Spirit, just touch him gently and draw him out of the pain that he’s in and into freedom with Christ. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Salutations my DAB family. It’s His Little Songbird from Alberta, Canada. And I just heard God’s Smile on the Prayer and Encouragement. Oh, sweety you sound so burdened, like your heart is just dragging behind you. I want you to know that I am praying for Tom and I’m praying for you as well. Cause I know what it’s like to hurt for my child. I just, I pray, and I ask the Lord to wrap His hedge of protection around the both of you. To put His blood covering over you and to help you through whatever it is that is happening. Oh, my sweet sister. I love you. God loves you so much more.