Author: Daily Audio Bible Transcripts

Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30, Luke 9:51-10:12, Psalms 74:1-23, Proverbs 12:11

Today is the 2^nd day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you, to be back here with you. It was a fun to go over and spend some time in Daily Audio Bible Chronological and have China kinda come over here and spend some time in Daily Audio Bible yesterday as we mark th April 1^st…we just do these…all kinds of little jokes for April Fools’ Day, but kinda just was switched over, switched it up. It’s nice to have time to visit. And, so, it’s good to be back with you today, back into the rhythm that we have here at Daily Audio Bible. It’s fun to be over there in the book of Judges as they’re moving through chronologically. Here we are moving through the book of Deuteronomy, the last things this Moses has to say. And we’re trying to give it the gravity, even though we’re kind of reviewing some of the laws and some of the different statutes and some of the history, some of the things that we traveled through. Deuteronomy is giving us the opportunity to review that, which is actually really helpful because it’s really important. All the culture and how it formed is the backdrop for Jesus understanding when He comes into the world and the things He’s talking about. So, us understanding this back story is irreplaceable. So, today we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today, Deuteronomy chapters 21 and 22.

Commentary:

Okay. On a number of occasions, throughout this entire year so far we’ve been noticing Jesus talk about eyes to see and ears to hear and trying to press into that, especially in this year of vision and vision to see the kingdom at work because that’s what Jesus was describing in His ministry, a kingdom that was at work in and among us now sown in as a crop among weeds like all growing up together, here and now. So, when He says, for I…for those who have eyes to see, He’s saying, “if you would wake up and see this.” If you have ears to hear this, “then essentially you would realize that the way this world was designed wasn’t supposed to be dog eat dog. It wasn’t supposed to be this…where everything you accumulate isn’t something you have to protect, where you’re further pulled into isolation away, where you live in a world of “I” and “me” and “mine.” Jesus was saying, “like there’s a completely different way of being in this world, a way that you were created to be in this world, one where you are in union with God, and you realize what else do you need, what else do you lack after that.” And, so, we can all get on board with that say, “yes, yes and amen. Like, that’s what I want to be a part of. That’s what I am a part of.” But normally how we translate that is that we will be children of the light and…and we will do good in this world and everything will go well. And Jesus continually, including in our reading today, said that’s not exactly how it’s gonna work. You’re bringing light into the darkness and the darkness doesn’t comprehend it and the darkness doesn’t want light because that light will expose what is hidden in the darkness. And when happens, when this exposure happens, well then that which is hidden, that wants to remain hidden is going to fight against the light which is gonna bring marginalization and even persecution. And Jesus is clear in instructing us on this. And, so it…like we should get our minds around it. He’s saying, “I’m sending you like lambs among wolves.” And He’s also saying like, “anybody who starts this journey and then finds out it’s gonna be hard and turns back isn’t worthy of the kingdom.” It’s a much more sobering reality than we often pay attention to but all we have to do is watch Jesus in the Gospels to see it playing out vividly, wight? So, Jesus is revealing the kingdom to a human family that was so disoriented from its created place, how it was made to be, that it's…it doesn’t even recognize itself. And, I mean like the most poignant way to see this is the cross. God’s creation, not realizing that God was among them, and doing everything possible to do away with God, that’s how backwards things had gotten, that’s how backward things are. The harvest is still ripe. The laborers are still few. And, as we will learn as we continue our journey through the Scriptures, this bringing light into the darkness boils down to one word, “endure, endurance”. When we keep the light burning from within and we endure the onslaughts of the darkness to…to stifle it, to put it out, when we remain, then we are a witness of God’s kingdom in this world not only in what we say but in who we are. We are bearing witness to the fact that God is at work in this world through His people. That’s us. So, we’re going to face opposition on this path. But so often when we face ridicule or some type of something that feels like persecution, we might respond by putting out our own light and perpetuating the darkness by striking back with the same dark tactics that are being used against us. And all you’ve gotta do is just troll around the Internet a little bit to find that in action continually. Jesus instructions to these 72 people that he sent out today was, “be the light, endure, announce the kingdom. If it’s not received than simply say the kingdom was here, it was here for you and then shake the dust and move on.” And this sounds remarkably like the voice of wisdom that we’re getting to know as we move through the Proverbs this year. At every crossroads, there is the right choice. At every turning point there is wisdom for the next step if we have eyes to see, if we are awake, if we are paying attention.

Prayer:

Father, we invite you into that because it really does touch some deep things. Like, if we will sit and think about how our responses, like how we respond to people in any given situation throughout this day, if we would just observe ourselves, we would catch ourselves, we would see the things that pull us into perpetuating the darkness and we invite your Holy Spirit into those triggers, into those things. Help us to remain true and bring the light into dark situations. Help us to be a witness for your kingdom in this world today. And we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that is home, especially for a virtual community. And it’s good that we have this home right now. It’s good that the Global Campfire continues to burn. I am, at least personally speaking, so, so, so grateful for you, so grateful like that this image in my mind of this campfire burning and the word of God being open and we just kind of come in and I can see us in the firelight. I just…to have that mental image, to know that we are still here together in crazy times, that is, that means the world to me. So, I’m so grateful for our community and that our community is virtual and that all over the world no matter what we’re facing, we have each other. Thank God.

So, over the last week I guess it’s been now, we’ve been releasing each day like soul care around the Global Campfire for the times that we’re in. And, so, we’ve been releasing a chapter a day of the book Sneezing Jesus, the…the audio edition of Sneezing Jesus. And yesterday…so China and I were like switching spots, but we still released a chapter yesterday. It was called “Open It Up” and it…this explored the resurrection of Lazarus and applied it into our own lives and our own hearts. And now we…we just have today and two more days before we will conclude Sneezing Jesus. And now we’re kind of turning our attention into Jesus last days. And today’s chapter is centered around the fact that Jesus…Jesus at His Last Supper…like one of the last acts of freedom before He was arrested was to get down on His knees and wash the feet of His disciples and to give them a vivid image of what life is supposed to look like the posture that we’re supposed to have toward one another. And, wow, I am finding such poignant, in my own words, like I’m speaking back to my own self as I kind of go back through this book again. And I am just finding like these things to be considered and to be put into practice no matter what time it is. But in times like these wow it…it is so poignant for us to not lose sight of what the gospel means and how it is supposed to transform our hearts and our worldview and our actions toward one another. And, so, that today’s chapter is called Rinse. So, be sure to check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then thank you. It takes all of us to keep logs on the Global Campfire so that it burns bright. And, so, thank you so deeply, so humbly for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you’ve a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253 or if you’re in the UK or Europe you can dial 44-20-3608-8078 or if you are in Australia or that part of the world can dial 61-3-8820-5459.

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

Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20, Luke 9:28-50, Psalms 73:1-28, Proverbs 12:10

Welcome to Daily Audio Bible I’m China today is the 1^st day of April. Welcome. It is so great to be here with you guys today. Today we continue to keep the tradition alive between me and my dad. We swapped podcasts. So, if you are unfamiliar with my voice, I am the host of the Daily Audio Bible Chronological podcast. So, this is a little different. It’s been the April fool’s tradition to…to either reada like a different reading plan or a different translation. And, so, we continue that on this year by swapping podcasts. So, thank you for welcoming me into your space and listening today. Guys we’re in April. Welcome to April. Me and my husband Ben, we joked about March feeling like the longest year ever. March felt like it was never gonna end but here we are. Today we will be reading from Deuteronomy 18-20, Luke 9:28-50, Psalms 73, Proverbs 12: and we will be in the New International Version.

Commentary:

I really love at the Psalms are saying and I really love that it’s coming from this place of honesty, in this place that is just being vulnerable and being real with yourself and saying, “yeah, like I have almost fallen off. I have envied those who are wicked and they’re doing good. That sucks. I don’t understand that. Why should I continue to keep doing good?” So, while I can appreciate the honesty of that I think we can all agree to some degree that there’s a little immaturity that comes in that and just understanding that like that’s not the way of health. Like if you’ve seen the wicked in prosperity that is like, can we go back to elementary story time where we’re talking about the three little pigs and how they’re building their houses and how two thirds of the pigs are building their houses out of things that clearly aren’t gonna work and there’s that one pig who’s like, “this is gonna be solid, this is gonna be great.” Like that is ultimately like the picture that’s been painted here. And as we continue in this Psalm, as we continue to read on it, we see a little bit more of maturity kind of happen. like this, “ah ha. A wait…they’re not gonna see the glory of the Lord and the way that I can when my eyes are focused upon you Lord.” I love that it says, “my heart was grieved, and my Spirit was embittered. I was senseless and ignorant.” That’s like being aware of your hearty posture. And then coming and saying, “I’m always with you. You hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel and afterward you will take me into glory. Who have I in heaven but you?” So, there’s just this awakening moment where we’re realizing the most important thing is to be kingdom minded. The most important thing here is to keep our eyes upon you Lord.

Prayer:

Father, we repent for our eyes being on anything other than You. Lord we repent for questioning the ways of how other people got to where they are as if there hasn’t been a struggle or as if there hasn’t been any adversary and where they’ve gotten. And Lord we just choose to keep our eyes on You. And Lord, whether we have to keep declaring that every single day or every single hour, Lord we keep our eyes on You. We’re not concerned with what’s happening to the right or to the left of us because we are fixated upon You. And I thank You that goodness and mercy come in that. I thank You that when we are fixated upon You, we think about what is lovely, what is just, what is admirable. And I thank You that all of things are the transforming and renewing of our mind as we speak that over ourselves today and forever more. And it’s in Your name we pray. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is our website. That is where you can see what’s happening in the community, how you can get connected and stay connected, especially in this time where, you know, we’re all social distancing and staying at home. Just continue to encourage you to plug in.

And if you haven’t really been plugged in regardless of how long you’ve been here, I just encourage you. What is your heart need in community? And we have formats specifically with the heart intention to do things together. So, it’s like we…we are set. The Daily Audio Bible is like, “Yes!” This has been our heart mission for years now, is that we would do things together. And, so, if you are needing that connection, I just encourage you to plug in here in this community, here with your brothers and sisters in the faith that are listening all over the world.

Well guys, this was fun. This was different to read, a different reading plan, to switch that up but I so enjoyed it and I thank you for, you know, letting me read for you today and switching it up. I know it’s not my dad but hope I didn’t do him any disservice and that you are satisfied with today’s reading. But welcome to April guys. It’s gonna be a good month. Regardless of how last month went this can be completely different. One of my favorite sayings that I like to live by is, “how we end one season is how we will enter the next.” So, may we leave well and start well.

That is all for today. I’m China I love you and Brian will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey, my outstanding DABC fam this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel from Chicago. Wow, China Brown. So, as I was just kind of looking back over the last week and a half or so I found it very, very interesting and refreshing that God was encouraging Joshua how to not fear. So, for example on the 12^th He told, God told Joshua that wherever you go the Lord will fight on your side and to not be afraid. And then on the 13^th He said, don’t fret, don’t fear. On the 25^th he said don’t ever be afraid or discouraged. And then China you came along on the 28^th today and you encouraged us with something absolutely profound that I think deserves a second hearing. So, family, this is what China said. “Instead of staying in the heart posture of continual questioning lets really dive into the place of saying, Lord I know this is who you are because this is who you’ve been so consistently and faithfully.” And then she said, “let’s enter into a space of remembering who the Lord is and where He’s brought you from.” So, in essence let’s remember that during this difficult time. God is with you. Don’t be afraid.

Hey DABC family this is Molly in Ohio and I felt really convicted today to call in and just say a prayer over everybody as we go through this pandemic. Father, thank You. Thank You for Your love and Your grace and Your provision. We may be scared and stressed and uncertain with what’s going on right now with the COVID-19 virus, but the virus can’t take You from our heart and we put our lives in Your hand as always. Lord You have a plan for this pandemic, and I know that You’ll use it to test and grow Your kingdom and Your children. I pray that as we walk through this we walk by faith and You and trust You for all our cares. Thank You for this family, this community You’ve given us and thank You for the blessings these restructurings are showing us in our lives. I ask for Your hand of protection over each and every one of my brothers and sisters listening especially the healthcare personnel who are on the front lines and those in ministry who are being bombarded with the fear of Your children. Let’s remember through this of who of…who You want us to be and let us show You through our interactions with others. Amen. And if you guys could also pray for my sister Jenny. She had to have a leg amputated last week due to infection from diabetes. She is in pain physically and mentally __ to heal and adjust to a new way of her life. I don’t know if she’s a believer. So, pray for her all around and pray that I can be the light of Christ in her dark situation right now. Thanks. Stay safe and healthy…

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20, Luke 9:7-27, Psalms 72:1-20, Proverbs 12:8-9

Today is the 31^st day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, the last day of the third month of the year which means that we have completed, we are about to complete our first quarter of the year. So, and this is…this is…this is a big milestone. If you’re still…you…if you made it here, you can make it. The rhythm has been established in life. Now this is what we do. And we can do this for the rest of the year. And the territory, I mean the stuff that we have out in front of us, as if the Bible hasn’t been epic in its first quarter there’s a lot of fascinating things for us to explore together as we continue the journey. So, this is the 90^th day or actually this is a leap year so this is kinda like the 91^st day that we’ve been here together in the year. And, so, we just mark that. It’s like a little pile of rocks. We see often in the Bible, these little memorial stones or things set up, so you don’t forget, which is why we write things down. And, so, getting to this point the first quarter of the year, it’s just a little pile of rocks for this year. Well done. I am so glad we are on this journey together. So, let’s dive into that journey and finish well this third month of the year. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Deuteronomy chapters 16 and 17 today.

Commentary:

Okay. The last thing that Jesus said in our reading from the Gospel of Luke today was, “truly I tell you”, right? I’m telling you the truth. “Some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” It’s a big thing to say. Throughout so much of my life I read that phrase and thought, “well that’s not…how can that be true because the kingdom of God isn’t here? We’re like…we’re still waiting for Jesus return and then…and then whatever happens next, like somehow this is after what’s happening now is when the kingdom will come.” But as we’ve seen so explicitly clear from Jesus own lips out of the Gospels, the kingdom is within us, is among us, is happening. And, so, in light of that Jesus is simply saying, “tell you the truth. Some of you will have eyes to see and ears to hear. Before you taste death, you will see the kingdom of God.” That is still possible friends. Before I taste death, I pray that I will have eyes to see and ears to hear and see the kingdom of God. And I’m not talking about like some mystical vision kind of thing, I’m talking about that I have eyes to see and ears to hear. Like, don’t we all want this? And we’ve been kind of talking about this because one of the words over this year is…is “vision” and that means something specific. It is exactly what we’ve been talking about all year, eyes to see. Give me vision in this year of 2020 that I might see your kingdom and never be able to unsee it again. That is my prayer. But if it’s in and among us, if it’s sown in and Jesus uses a parable about a farmer planting his field, and then his enemies coming in and sewing all kinds of weeds in it and it all grows up together until the harvest. That’s how Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven, that it’s all mixed in. With all of the bad and the evil there is all of the good and light. If we want to see the kingdom of God, then we will be looking for the good and light in this world. And, so as we’re closing the first quarter of the year, like we are 25% through this year of 2020 already. And, as we know, it’s going to fly by and be Christmas before we know it. I mean there will be patches that seem like they stretch on forever and there’ll be patches that seem like they flew by. That’s how a year goes. But will we…will we gain eyes to see and ears to hear in this year? Where are we even supposed to be looking? I guess there are many things that we could look for but what we are ultimately looking for is the good, the good that is sustaining the world. Wherever we find that it is evidence of the kingdom. But we can also turn to Scripture. We could do a whole big thing, I suppose, but we can just…we can just consider the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit will be the kingdom of heaven in this world. So, wherever there is love, wherever there is joy or peace or long-suffering or kindness or goodness or faithfulness or gentleness or self-control, the Bible says there’s no law against any of that. That is evidence of the kingdom. And while we’re looking for that, because that’s really what we need to see, if we could have eyes to see, we would see God on the move. This planet would go dark. It would be done if it weren’t sustained by God. We would’ve never been here. It would have been over a long time ago. Where is the good that sustains our world and our people? That is where God is at work and He will continue to be at work whether we notice it, whether we have eyes to see or and He will use whoever is willing whether we understand it or not. He is the most-high God. He can do whatever he chooses, but we are invited into that story, into that dance of life, that collaboration of revealing the kingdom as Jesus did, because we are His body in this world, the body of Christ. Man, what if we all got eyes to see and ears to hear? Everything changes at that point. This is what we are struggling toward, but we’re just trying to find eyes to see and ears to hear. And we also have to look in our own lives. Is the kingdom, is the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, is good within us? Where is that? And what is false within us? What is the mask that we just keep wearing and trying to perfect? How do we get eyes to see and ears to hear inside of our own self, what God is doing in the transformation process of our own hearts? It’s all happening. Like, this has always been happening. It’s always been available for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. And it’s so fundamental to the message of Jesus.

Prayer:

Father as we go into the next quarter of the year, we have established a rhythm. We kind of know what’s going on now. We’ve acclimated ourselves to the Scriptures. We’re moving through together. And now as we move into this second quarter of the year, we’re asking what we’ve been asking for all along, eyes to see and ears to hear. Open our eyes that we might see You at work everywhere. It’s not hard to find. Our eyes have just been tuned in to find the evil and the things that might challenge us and make us uncomfortable. And yet, we can make up a life of our own and only lose it. And You’ve told us today in the Scriptures, but if we’ll give up all that, if we’ll give up all the façade, if we’ll give up our life, we’ll find ourself. You said, “what good is it for someone to gain the whole world and lose or forfeit their very self?” So, come Holy Spirit and give us eyes to see within and without what You are doing among and within us. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. It’s how…well it’s kind of where we stay connected or a launching pad to get connected.

So, be sure to check out the Community section of the website. And man, we have needed the Global Campfire burning for always but never more than now. We need each other. So, stay connected. And the Prayer Wall is there as well.

And for the last…well…I guess it hasn’t been quite a week yet, but each day we’ve been releasing a new chapter of the book Sneezing Jesus, which is really poignant for the times that we are in. And so glad to be doing this. Just so, so glad to be hearing how it’s landing in different lives around the world. I’m just so happy to be giving this to you like a soul care around the Global Campfire because we need soul care right now. Things are so disrupted. And that just kind of leads us down all kinds of dark thought paths. So, it’s just so important to keep our faith and to keep our focus on the only hope we have, which is the only hope we’ve ever had, which is to put our faith and trust in God, knowing that He…like we are utterly dependent on Him and to become aware of that. It’s so important. So, it’s been so nice to be able to release a chapter a day. And today’s chapter as we end of the month of March, one of the weirdest months…I think…one of the strangest…yeah…one of the strangest months I can ever remember. It just seems like so long ago it was like March 1^st that we arrived back from our pilgrimage to Israel and then…yeah what a weird month it’s been. So, it’s so good to…to give this away. So, today’s chapters…today’s chapter is called Neighbors. So, in the Scriptures we’re…we’re told to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and all of our mind and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, which brings up like the poignant question, “then who is my neighbor? Like define that.” And that’s found in a story in the Gospels, the story of the good Samaritan. That’s specifically what Jesus was asked, “who is my neighbor?” And that is pretty poignant for the times that we are in. So, the chapter Neighbors explores Jesus discussion, the good Samaritan, using a backdrop of a personal story of getting stranded in the Mohave Desert like really, really in the remote Mohave Desert one summer day, many years ago where the temperatures were well, well above 100° and how people who I didn’t know and people that I would not have paid attention to any other way were neighbors to me. And I love this, I love this chapter and it's…it’s pretty, pretty funny story on reflection. It wasn’t so funny a story as it was happening but that’s kind of what happens in our lives sometimes. So, I’m super excited. I’ve been waiting for this chapter to come up. It’s one of my favorites in the book. So, that’s available in your Daily Audio Bible feed. So, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible Apple or like the web player it just shows up, just an additional program along with the Daily Audio Bible as we work our way through this and just offer it, like I said, as a soul care, as some challenging encouragement in a time where we’re getting kind of pulled all over the place is common. This roots us in our faith. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you with all humility and everything in my heart. Thank you for your partnership. We couldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. And, so, thank you. Thank you so much. There’s a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address 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.

Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23, Luke 8:40-9:6, Psalms 71:1-24, Proverbs 12:5-7

Today’s the 30^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you. Can you believe tomorrow’s the last day of March? I…well…I’ll try to have it believed by tomorrow but we’re in today. This is 30^th of March and we’re continuing our journey in the book of Deuteronomy and in the book of Luke and we’re reading from the New International Version this week. Deuteronomy chapters 13, 14 and 15.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of Deuteronomy, as we know, these are the final things that Moses has to say to the children of Israel. So, we’re reviewing things. They’re more tight and concise. Rather than sort of like reading the giving of the law, we’re hearing his last discourses. But he comes to one today that’s about as big of a command about as big of a deal as can be in this culture, and that is idolatry. And, we can roll our eyes and go, “idolatry, who worship idols? That’s so stupid. What are those people thinking?” Like we can think these things and because they’re not like major issues in the world today, we would consider them irrelevant, but this is not irrelevant. So, Moses is telling people that a prophet or a person, a dreamer comes and says something about the future or gives a sign of some sort or performs some type of miraculous thing or something that they say does happen. So, like, let’s just pause, like just stop there and suppose that happens because usually if something like that happens we are drawn to know more and to may be persuaded by that person because it seems as if something’s going on, right? God’s doing something. So, so far so good, no problem. I’m just pointing out if these kinds of things happen, we get drawn into them, which may be in fact a very good thing or in fact may be a very bad thing. Like we can just follow the signs, or we can have a wise heart of discernment, which is what Moses is trying to instill into the people. So he’s like, “if that happens and something they say does come true and then they say, come, let us worship other God’s, then you know.” And Moses wasn’t messing around about this. I mean he was saying like, “even if this person is a family member and their enticing you to go worship false gods, then you should be very clear and intentional about getting them out of your lives.” That’s like a big deal. And, so, when we read through passages like this and sort of try to read through our modern lenses and go, “man this is really harsh. It doesn’t like…it doesn't…why is it such a big deal?” I mean this behavior, Idolatry being…seducing people away from God is a capital offense in this culture. So, like, wow! Why? Why is it that big of a deal? So, if we take off our modern lenses and just like go back several thousand years into a very tribal world, especially where all this is going on, people, communities, nations, literally…they literally made images and then declared them their gods and sacrificed before them and created all kinds of stuff that they had to do as acts of devotion. And it’s not like this is a foreign concept to the children of Israel. All we have to is go back to Mount Sinai. We spent so much time there in the book of Exodus and we remember that Aaron was asked by the people to make them new gods because Moses disappeared. And then Aaron’s just like, “I just took all the earrings and stuff and threw them into the fire and out came this golden calf.” This is what’s going on in the nations all around them. This is the world they live in, a world in which there are many gods, gods of the different nations. And, so, if drought comes then the gods are not happy. If rain comes then the gods are happy and wherever those things are happening that’s where God is blessing them. When war comes, whoever wins, that God is the more powerful God. The strongest God is always the victorious God. So, we can look at all those kinds of practices as strange and bizarre. We don’t, most of us, live in cultures that affirm any kind of religious practice like this. Although the fact is that idol worship absolutely still exists in the world today but it's…it’s beyond a statue. It’s what’s going on inside that matters. So, it’s not just building a statue and “you are my God” and, I guess, killing a goat. Idolatry is what’s happening inside. Is giving over, surrendering our hearts and our hopes to something - a person, a thing - and we put our hope in that person or thing and then the expectation is that it will give us life, something that we want, that we consider life. So, we could just zone out and just dismiss all of this as, “statue worship, who would do that” until we understand that what we’re talking about is what is going on inside when you give your heart in worship, when you give yourself over to someone or something. All of a sudden idolatry becomes much more near because anything can be an idol. Our possessions can be an idol. The power that we have or don’t have can be an idol. People can be idols. Sex can be an idol. Our need for control can be an idol. Our money can be an idol. Like, you name it and we can make an idol out of it. And we do. Like, this something that we’ve been doing all along through the human story and we’re gonna see that the children of Israel aren’t gonna listen to this. Like, they’re just not. Like, they’re going to do exactly what they’re being told not to do and we’re gonna get a front row seat. But why is Moses commanding since such stern severity. Like, why is this so serious. It…it’s because idolatry, giving our hearts to something false, is going to be cancer inside of us and inside of everyone around us. It will eat us from the inside out. It will make us forget we are and who God, who the source of life actually is. So, when we turn to lesser things in hopes to get life we’re forgetting that there is only one life giver.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into all of that. We certainly feel confident that we’re not worshiping statues and sacrificing rams and lambs and trying to perform acts of devotion to some false God, but we can make false gods out of anything. And, so, we have to confess that idolatry has been a part of our lives and it’s very very serious. So, Holy Spirit, we invite You, we open ourselves to You, that You might show us the places that our hope is not in You, that our hope is something else or that we’re getting pulled in some kind of direction, “come, let’s go over here, there’s life over here.” Help us to, once again, remain completely aware that there is no life outside of You. You are the giver of life. Life flows from You. There is no other God but You. You are the most-high. There is no other hope. Forgive us for our distractions. Forgive us for the way that we’ve been seduced we ask in the name of Jesus and we invite Your Holy Spirit to continue the work inside of us today, revealing these areas where we have been deceived or we have been seduced. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that is home base, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

We’re in the middle of something that's…well…it’s unique in the world, but it’s unique in the Daily Audio Bible as well. Since last week we’ve been releasing a chapter a day from the book Sneezing Jesus and what fun we are having with that. When this virus started working its way around the world and disrupting things, I started thinking about this and then I thought about it some more, then I called my publisher, NAV Press, who published this book a couple years ago and just talked to them about, “could we kinda release this in serial fashion, like a chapter a day, the audio addition, a chapter a day.” This is so poignant for right now. Like there’s so much bad news and this is THE good news and it just discusses how the kingdom, how the gospel spread like a virus. And it’s so poignant for right now. In a sea of scary things this is the solid rock. So, we’ve been releasing that and we’re just giving it to you. It’s just coming every day as an additional episode along with the Daily Audio Bible. And, so, so happy to see these words igniting something, reigniting something. So, today…today’s chapter that we’re releasing is called keratoconus, which would…which reveals maybe something I don’t really talk about on the Daily Audio Bible but reveals something personal about me. Keratoconus is an eye condition that I’ve had all of my adult life. It's…it’s when the…it’s when your cornea, which is round it, protrudes in a certain area, becomes coned in a certain area. And then light, you know, your brain is used to interpreting light as it hits a round cornea and since mine are kind of deformed then light…my brain doesn’t know how to interpret. Like everything looks like a smear, multiple images all smeared together. And, so I can…there's…there’s a correction for it, where very, very rigid contact lenses that kind of vault over the deformed areas and then fill in with tears and then you have kind of the illusion of a round cornea. So, I talk about that in this this chapter. There’s an interesting story in the Gospels where Jesus is healing a blind man and Jesus asked him, “how do you see?” And he’s like, “I see men as trees walking.” And that’s always been meaningful to me because if I take my contacts out, I know what that looks like. So, this chapter is just exploring the miracles of Jesus and…and actually more…even more importantly, His posture toward the miraculous. So, that chapter is available today, just right there in your app. And I pray that…I’ve been praying every day that these chapters are offering an alternative perspective, like something else to focus on, something like Jesus and are encouraging the world over. And, so, so happy for the feedback, that that is what is happening.

Okay. If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do this together and that is a fact. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s 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, if you prefer, 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.

Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32, Luke 8:22-39, Psalms 70:1-5, Proverbs 12:4

Today is the 29^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m  Brian it’s great to be here with you at the beginning of a week where we just consider that it’s all out in front of us and step through the threshold together and see that it’s brand-new, it’s waiting to be lived into, its shiny and sparkly, and the choices that we make and the paths that we walked down they’re gonna tell the story of…of this week. And, so, let’s approach it with full hearts and an openness to God’s leading in our lives. So, we gotta a new week. So, we’ll read from the New International Version this week and we’re gonna be continuing our journey through Deuteronomy and Luke. And just by way of reminder, I hope it’s not over reminding but Deuteronomy is…these are the final things that Moses has to say. So, it is reviewing the story that we’ve read, but he’s speaking it to a generation of people that are about to attempt to go into the Promise Land. And, so, it is a review, but it gives us a really good chance to review a lot of territory that’s very detailed. Deuteronomy helps us kind of pull that together as we prepare to move into a new era in the Bible. So, today we’ll read Deuteronomy chapters 11 and 12.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for bringing us into this brand-new week and as we enter this week, we enter it with a rhythm of life, allowing Your word to speak into our hearts each and every day. And, so, even as we’re here at this…at this little threshold with his new week, You know, that’s just something that we recognize every week, it’s still true, it’s out in front of us and we don’t dare want to take a step forward without taking a step forward with You. We’ve learned far too well what our own way looks like and yet we confess that everything will sweep in upon us in this week and we will be busy about our own way without even realizing it, but we’re here now and we’re out in front of it and we’re inviting Your Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. And…and…and that’s never not happening. Wisdom is never not at every crossroads, either. What we need we have we’re just often not paying attention at all. And, so, come Holy Spirit, quicken us, that we might slow down enough to know that before we make any decision which should consult You. Come Holy Spirit into this week we ask in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and that is indeed home base for a virtual community like ours. So, that’s where you go to find out what’s going on around here.

That’s where the Prayer Wall lives and that is always happening. That’s we’re get different links of different connection points on social media, etc. Those…that can all be found in the Community section.

But also something really unique is going on around here, something we’ve never ever been able to do before, but just really overjoyed to be able to do it in the time that we’re kind of going through, this disruption that is happening throughout the world and, you know, causing all kinds of interesting things to be said and done each day. And we began kind of the middle of…middle of last week and we’ll kinda go through this week until we’ve concluded. But, my book, Sneezing Jesus, we’re releasing this as an… releasing the audio addition one chapter a day. And this is a gift. This is a gift from NAV Press who published this book. It’s a gift from the Daily Audio Bible. This was the fertile soil from which it was written, but this is the gift of good news. It’s a portrait of Jesus life. It’s an exploration of Jesus humanity and what that means to our humanity. It’s a clear and concise telling of why the good news is good news and it’s an exploration of the fact that the good news spread like a virus and good news can spread like a virus just like darkness, just like viruses that can hurt you. And, so, today we are up to the chapter called Between a Place and a Hard Rock. And this explores the story of Jesus walking away from the sea of Galilee, 15 miles. So, like walking 15 miles north to the city of Caesarea Philippi which is a pagan Gentile city. And this is the place where Jesus asked perhaps the most important question that can ever be asked in life, “who do you say that I am?” So, that chapter is available now. It just shows up along with the Daily Audio Bible each day. It’s a separate program but it shows up in the feed and you can click on it and listen to it and move through the book together as we do…do this in community. So, be sure to take advantage of that. It's…it’s a joy, it’s a joy, honestly to give this to you, especially now.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link that lives on the homepage. I thank you. I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can dial 877-942-4253 or you can just hit the Hotline button in the app and begin to share from there.

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:

Hi DAB family it’s Carla Jean in Las Vegas I am calling to pray for all of us during this pandemic. In particular I am a couple of days behind, but I just heard Asia praying and feeling isolated and judged. And I’m just so sorry sister that you’re going through this and I’m just praying that hearts and minds will open and just be kind to one another. I read Peter’s request on Facebook to pray for God’s Smile who’s in such tremendous pain. And it hurts my heart to know that you are in pain sister and please know that I’m praying for you very deeply. Sierra, I’ve heard you, I heard your mission trip is postponed and that you’re feeling abandoned by your grandpa. And I’m just praying that God will work on his heart, that he will come to know the Lord first and foremost and to find reconciliation with you and I am praying that the Lord will open up a place for you to be and that while you are in the hallway you are praising Him in the hallway. Jerry from Duluth, I hear you brother. My kids also have mental health issues. And my son woke me in the middle of the night last week and was suicidal. Brother, you are not alone. I’m praying for your kids. Please pray for my kids too. I love you all so much. And thank you Brian for being the pioneer to online and virtual community. We so need you and I’m so glad that I’ve been part of this community for years so that right now I don’t feel as alone as I would without you. I love you all so much. God bless you. Bye.

Hey DAB family, first and foremost I want you to know that I’m praying for the whole world. I know these are some scary times, but we rely on the Lord and His promises. We should not fear, we should not live in fear for He is a great God. Would you please pray for my sister-in-law that is been called to go to New York? She’s a doctor, she was…she’s in the military reserve and they were just activated, which means that they will go and serve and help all the sick in the midst of everything that’s happening in New York. Please pray for them. She has a little boy, he’s less than a year old. So, he’s going to be at home left. Would you please lift her husband up as he will be home as well playing the role of a single dad? They don’t have a timeframe. Her name is Natalie, her husband’s Kenny their son is Caleb. I also have another request. My sister-in-law Michelle is a nurse. She is an RN in California in LA for Kaiser and I’m sure you’ve heard in the news they are completely under resourced. Please pray for them. Pray for a hedge of protection over all health care, all the nurses and doctors, janitors, I mean everyone that is just making sure that the hospitals are running to care and love everybody. This is Stephanie from California. Thank you so much. Love the DAB family. And thank you so much for lifting us with prayer. Love you guys. Stay strong. Share the gospel, especially during this time. Stay positive. Love you guys.

Daily Audio Bible this is Jane Ruth from Nebraska and I wanted to say something else. I know that I’m not supposed to submit twice. But Brian, on my belly button birthday March 22^nd, you talked about Luke 15 and you talked about the…the guys…letting the guy come down through the mat…through the roof on the mat. And you made reference…you know sometimes all these parables kind of run together for me…but the thing that Jesus said was, “your sins are forgiven.” And when you said the words, you know, we can say that to somebody else, that your sins are forgiven, I thought, “that’s heresy.” But wait, in the Lord’s prayer, and you said this, we are to forgive other people’s sins as He forgives our…forgives our sins. And the thought that went through my mind was, “Jane where have you been all this time. You’ve been saying those words over and over again.” And it was like He sets the captive free and I felt like finally, finally I could forgive all these people that I’ve been carrying around on my…on my back like this albatross. And I felt like finally Jesus saves because I have been set free. It was the most incredible awareness that I don’t have to carry these people around anymore. Thank you so much.

This is Violet from Indiana I’m calling in response to Nick’s request for prayer. Nick helps in public transportation. Drives a bus I think he said. I want to know Nick I’m praying for you and adding to that prayer all of the DAB family who work in service to the public where they are daily exposed to people who are often acting in a much less-than-perfect way. I pray that God will protect you and help you through this time so that you will not become ill. But I also pray that the Holy Spirit will fill your hearts with the spirit of forgiveness as so many of us are so less-than-perfect and we display behavior that is not loving, not kind, not patient, not considerate and that you service workers can be filled with forgiveness as our Lord forgives us, forgiving us for our imperfections that we display that just add to the burden of the work that you are so graciously serving for us. So, I will keep you in my prayers Nick. And all of those DAB family who are giving service, I thank you and I thank God for the gift of you in our lives. Amen.

Good day Daily Audio Bible family my name is Oscar I’m calling in from the United Arab Emirates where I live and work. I’m a first-time caller but have been a listener for about a year now and I’m really grateful for the family I have here in the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, Brian…Brian Hardin and family for all that you do and for letting God use you in such mighty ways. I’m calling in today because I just listened to the first part of the book Sneezing Jesus and I can’t describe what a blessing…what an encounter it has been. I think one word to describe this is Emmanuelle, God with us. I mean like the book mentions as much as we like to focus on the divinity of Christ which, of course, cannot be denied, the human side of him, the humanity of Christ makes Him so…so relatable. And the fact that…that God wouldn’t…wouldn’t give up, the fact that God doesn’t give up on humanity. In fact, I find that…through this book I find that God actually affirms our humanity. And it’s a real miracle to see how he brings forth these treasures from our earthen vessels. And I can’t imagine…can’t describe. Sorry, if my thoughts are a bit jumbled. It’s because I’m still reeling from the __ of this book. It’s something that I never realized I needed at this very point in time. And I just want to say, thank you so much for making this available. I’m totally going out there to buy the book myself. Thank

Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22, Luke 8:4-21, Psalms 69:19-36, Proverbs 12:2-3

Today is the 28^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and it is a joy and an honor to be here with you today as we take this…well…final step of the week. And I’m glad, I’m grateful that we can take this next step together. So, we’ve been working our way through the book of Deuteronomy which is we’ll continue to do. And we’ve been reading from the New Living Translation this week. Today Deuteronomy chapters 9 and 10.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week and we thank for…we thank You every time we come to the end of another week because we’re thankful and our hearts are grateful. And even though there’s plenty of things to challenge us, You’ve given us the gift of life and You’ve given us the ability to reveal Your kingdom in this world and participate. And, so, we are grateful, and we heed the word of the proverb today - wickedness never brings stability but the godly have deep roots. And yet, even as Jesus, as we approach this story of the soil again, we pray that by the leading of Your Holy Spirit we will be good soil for deep roots. So, come Holy Spirit, show us the path of wisdom, show us the narrow path that leads to life, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. There’s usually something going on around here.

Check out the Community section. That’s where the Prayer Wall is and that is always underway, like that is always happening as well as the different links to different social media channels like DAB Women. If you’re a woman and you’re not connected this is a great time to get connected there, but the different social media channels that we are participating on. So, check that out.

And…well…since the middle of the week we’ve been doing something really special, releasing kind of in serial form like once a day, day by day we’re releasing a chapter a day of this book called Sneezing Jesus. Once this kind of outbreak started happening, once the world started paying attention, once it started freaking out, all the stuff that’s going on, I began thinking about this book because…because it’s poignant, the times that we’re in because it just shows in its conclusion how the gospel spread like a virus. And, so, we’re working real hard to not spread things but we have an alternative view that we really have an opportunity to spread light and life and the good news. And, so, Sneezing Jesus was…was my attempt to draw with words…what I say in the prologue of the book is, the Word became flesh and this is how I try to make the flesh become word, like how I try to portray this Jesus that I’ve fallen in love with out of the Gospels and bring the good news. And, so, that’s what we’ve trying to do to offer light and good news, and encouragement free. And I called my…my book publisher, NAV Press who published this book a few years ago, asked them if we can do this and they were like really on board with it. And, so, I am so so grateful to be able to offer this to you and you can have this encouragement in your hands in your ears each day as…as we go through one chapter a day. And, so, today’s chapter is called “Go Away” and it’s an exploration of Jesus among the Gadarene people. And Jesus, ultimately the story that we immerse ourselves into in this chapter is Jesus throwing a legion of demons into a herd of swine and just the implications of that. And, so, that is today’s chapter and it just shows up with your Daily Audio Bible every day. And, so, indeed partake, enjoy, be encouraged in this time. There’s no shortage of bad news out there. This is the good news.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I am profoundly grateful, deeply deeply grateful for your partnership all of these years. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, 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:

Hello, my sisters and brothers in the Lord Jesus Christ this is Candace from Oregon. I would like to pray for a couple of missionaries beginning with Margo from Australia. So, please join me in this prayer. Lord thank You that Margo and her husband are in good health and not afraid of their own confrontation with the coronavirus personally, but they have some real concerns about what will happen to the whole infrastructure around them. Lord, I pray that You’d be very near to the children in their malnutrition clinic. I pray that You’d put a hedge of protection around all the people that they came so far to love on and to bring Your love. And I pray that Your love would serve as an incredible force of goodness surrounding the entire experience for every person involved. And I lift up my dear, dear Tina Barstool who is in Uganda. She had only recently gone to the mission field there, a sustainability project. Please Lord, their concern is that normal food deliveries will continue so that there won’t be any stealing and I just ask You God to cover, cover, cover, cover everyone concerning this and honor this desire that she came so far, her and others, to bring Your goodness, Your love, Your redemption. May it be only increased by what’s going on.

Hi fellow DABbers this is Rosanna from __ I’m calling to encourage all of the parents out there during this time of quarantine in our homes. I have three children and I’m single parent and they are all young children. And what I want to encourage you is that God has given us this time to powerfully influence our children for the gospel. We are gonna shoot our children out as arrows into the world and I encourage you to see this as an opportunity to poor scripture and godly influence into them. And, of course, I need prayers for patience and guidance and wisdom as I try to teach my children at home and guide them and discipline them and love them. So, I encourage everyone around the world to take this opportunity and see it as an opportunity to pour into your children. I hope you are doing well, and I pray for you and I am so grateful for this, for this ministry. Bye.

Family, I’m in desperate need of prayer for my two teenage daughters. I’ve got a 13-year-old who is deeply suicidal right now and indignantly telling me that I have no right to insist that she stay alive when she’s in this much pain. And her 16-year-old older sister has also really been struggling with depression and wild panic attacks and just really dark thinking and I don’t know exactly what’s coming against our family but it feels like warfare and I just need lots of warriors to pray for us. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Lexi and I just want to pray for my grandma especially. And that would be like a star on my prayer list and I wanna pray for my family.

Hey Daily Audio Bible friends it’s been a long time. I just recently…I just want to thank God for everything because I just recently got back into the faith. So, I am just praying asking maybe if you guys would pray with me on this journey, not necessarily for me because we’re all together and we’re altogether in this. And I just hope that wherever you are right now, you can do it and if he did it you can do it too. So, thank you so much for listening to this and you have a wonderful day.

This is Protected by His Wings calling from Virginia. I’m just calling to pray for some folks today. Dear heavenly Father I bring these people before you today, specifically Prodigal and Christina with a bumpy dog, Lee from Chicago, Pink Paint, Angel in California, SG a woman who’s struggling with mental health issues, Alex a man who helped a DABber with her car on the side of the road, a flat tire and a disabled veteran’s wife. Dear heavenly Father I bring these people before You today, You know their concerns, breakthroughs, healing, needing breakthroughs, things falling apart in their lives, they’re asking for prayer Lord whether its fighting cancer, fighting divorces, bankruptcies, depression. Lord You know their issues Lord I bring these people before You Lord and I pray for them often and ask that You reach each and every one of these people individually in a way that they know, that today they know and feel Your loving arms wrapped around them, that they know that You are there with them walking beside them if not carrying them during the this time through the…through the valley of the shadow of death. And though they know they fear no evil Lord they know that You are with them. I pray Your hand of blessing, graciousness and peace that goes beyond all understanding upon each and every one of these people today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. Brian thank you for this wonderful podcast and China, thank you as well. I’m a double DABber. Love you all. Bye.

Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20, Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalms 69:1-18, Proverbs 12:1

Today is the 27^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we as we begin to close down another of our weeks together and move ourselves into the weekend. What a joy to take this journey with you. So, let’s get on that journey. We’re moving our way in the Old Testament through the book of Deuteronomy, the final book of the Torah, the final three discourses of Moses to the children of Israel before he leaves them and this new generation that has emerged. Well we’ll see if they make it to the Promise Land. Right now, Moses is saying everything that he feels that can’t be left unsaid. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation. Deuteronomy 7 and 8.

Commentary:

Okay. I mean we could just take that proverb and say, “that’s enough.” Put that in your cup and steep it and let it sit all day. “To learn you must love discipline.” Not self-discipline or the discipline that life brings or the discipline of the Lord as a Father. It’s stupid to hate correction.” So, yeah, we could stop there, but the book of Deuteronomy is basically telling us the story of our lives today.

Moses is telling the children of Israel their story where they came from who God is what their identity is and where they’re going but all we have to do is just look at that story and understand, yeah that's…that’s kind of my story too. So, Moses is telling the people, “it’s not anything you did. You’re not rock star people. It’s not that you were somehow in some way special. The Lord did not set His heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations. You were the smallest. Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you and was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors.  And that’s why you have this opportunity for a land of promise.” That’s every one of us my friends. So, why do we so often think God owes us? We’ve been behaving really, really well. We’ve watched our tongues. We’ve been kind. He owes us. He doesn’t owe us anything. He loves us, which is very different. And then he tells them, when they go into the land, they have got to defeat these pagan nations. They’ve got to utterly defeat these pagan nations. And we can go like, that’s such violence…and now we’re gonna go into all this war and I don’t like war and I don’t like violence and any of this stuff. Why’s He…why is this happening?” As we will see in the Scriptures, the fullness of time has come for these people. They are being judged. They have had every opportunity, and there are things that God will say as we go through this process where He’s like, “they’re doing things that had never…like they’re doing evil had never even occurred to me.” That’s what God is saying. Like, “they’re inventing ways of evil that I…I can’t even imagine.” And some of those evils were the sacrifice of their children alive in the fire to their gods and the absolute brutality of the tribalism. I mean, it’s hard to understand the loss of humanity and the loss of the value of life in ways that have completely degenerated. God will tell us as we continue this journey like, “you think I want people to die? Like, is that what you think? “We…we go through these portions of Scripture and that’s what we think but then God comes out of the Bible and says, “is that what you think? You think that’s what I want? That’s not what I want. I want everyone to return to me.” But some aren’t going to. The choice has been made. Judgment has come. Then Moses encourages the people to not be afraid to not be intimidated. Yes, in fact, they will be going into a land where they are vastly outmaneuvered and outgunned and out-peopled but he’s just reminding them, “how has your story ever been different. Like, this is your story. It doesn’t matter the circumstances that you’re going into. You’re not doing anything. God is going before you. All you have to do is believe that.” Ahh…this is like…this is our story. And then he tells them. “this isn’t gonna happen in one day. Like, this is a process. Little by little I will give this to you because if you took it all out once you would not…you haven’t grown enough to grow into this. Like things will go wild. You’re not ready for all of this. It will be a process, little by little.” You see, this is our life. And then he gives them the most dire of the warnings. “When all this is done, when the stress is over and all is settled and you are living in bounty, that is your most dangerous time because it’s at that point that you will start maybe thinking, I did this. Look how awesome I am. I navigated all this. I navigated into this prosperity. I did this.” And Moses is just telling them, “no you didn’t and don’t ever forget that. When you forget that your heart is turning away. Don’t forget your story. You came out of the wilderness. You saw God move. He brought you into the desert. You had no food. He fed you. You had no water. He kept you alive. You got here somehow but you didn’t do it.” And, so, we kind of leave our reading today and I’ll just quote Moses here because he’s saying it is clear as possible. “Remember the Lord your God, He is the one who gives you power to be successful in order to fulfill the covenant He confirmed to your ancestors with an oath. But I assure you of this, if you ever forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.”

Prayer:

So, Father we take that seriously. We take that to heart, and we bring back to mind right now the proverb, “to learn You must love discipline. It is stupid to hate correction.” Forgive us Father for the ways we’ve…we’ve taken Your glory and said we did this and all of the story that Moses is telling, so much mimics the pathways of our lives, we find ourselves there and we acknowledge that the most dangerous time isn’t in the battle. The most dangerous time is when blessings are heaped upon us. And unfortunately, we will see exactly how that road goes as we continue the path of the Scripture. But come holy spirit we want to choose the narrow path that leads to life, not the wide one that leads to destruction. So, come and lead us into all truth. How have we been interpreting our journey? What have we claimed the glory for that You did on our behalf? What have we blamed You for that You had nothing to do with? Come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. There’s usually something or another going on around here.

There is something going on around here right now. As you may have noticed, there’s like an additional program showing up every day along with the Daily Audio Bible in your feed in your app. And, so, you probably already kinda know what’s happening. But if you’re just kind of just noticing, we’ve been releasing one chapter per day for the last couple of days and we’ll continue this into you to the end of the book, but the book Sneezing Jesus, which is a book that I wrote a few years ago, but is really appropriate for the times that we are facing and that we are going through and the unrest that we’re seeing and just…yeah all the different fraying that…that is noticeable in our culture as we try to sort this all out. Sneezing Jesus is an exploration of Jesus humanity. It is a portrait of Jesus as told by the Gospels. It is “the” good news, but it is also an exploration of the fact that Jesus was a human being and went through all of the things that we go through and what that would’ve looked like with the conclusion that…that the gospel, the good news, that Jesus told us go into all the world and spread, spread like a virus from person-to-person from family to family, from community to community racing all over the world as it continues to do today. So, we can get obsessed and freaked out about something that could go around the world and infect us and hurt us or we can take an alternative view that this is an opportunity right now for life to infect the world. And this is a gift. This is a gift from NAV Press who published this book, a gift from the Daily Audio Bible. It’s free to listen to, which is a joy. And, so, the chapter that…well we’ve been releasing one chapter per day. So, the chapter that’s releasing today is called “weep” and it’s an exploration of our emotions and the way we try to suppress them and the way that we kind of frown on ourselves. Like we lose control if we gotta cry about something or whatever. It feels like we’re just apologizing for…for our emotions and to look at how Jesus handled these things. So, check that out in your…in your Daily Audio Bible feed, in the Daily Audio Bible app, in the web player, wherever you are listening to the Daily Audio Bible. And may you find deep, deep, deep encouragement as we do this chapter a day moving through…through Sneezing Jesus as we’re moving through the times that we’re moving through.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It lives on the homepage. I thank you with all of my heart. The Global Campfire doesn’t burn if…if we don’t throw logs on together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Gill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit that Hotline button. It’s in the app. It’s always there. You can always press. You’re never alone. That’s one of the beautiful things that we have always been for each other as a community, that although we may be separated by distance and now we maybe even separated by, you know, different sicknesses and illnesses that are possible, we’re never alone no matter what we’re going. We can come in around the Global Campfire and be together. So, you can hit that Hotline, 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:

Hi, it’s Jennifer from Ohio and I just wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to the women who called in and prayed for me. Denise, when I heard your prayer and your empathy last week as it relates to my mom and what I’m experiencing right now it just…I mean I was just so overwhelmed. It…it was in a good way…I felt elevated like you ministered to my spirit, it lifted my soul, you just spoke right to my heart and also deeply, deeply appreciative in that moment and I was just thanking God. It was just what I needed for that day. And then a few days later I was listening, I don’t remember what day it was, but I was listening and then I heard Rachel. You know, like and I said God you really do love me. You know, you…you sent these two beautiful women to pray for me in the moment in the space that I needed it…that I needed the most. And I was just so taken aback, and I was so grateful in that moment too to be connected and to be a part of this community. You know, I haven’t been a part of my physical church for over a year now, my previous physical church for over a year now just because of, you know, some things that happened but I have been a faithful listener of the Daily Audio Bible, you know, for several years now. And, so, it was…just to be known in that way, to be heard, it was it was just everything that I needed, and it is everything that I need every day. And, so, I’m just grateful and I’m just thankful and I just appreciate you both. Love you family.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family my name Adai. I’m calling from the United States and I just wanted to call in and respond to Asia Chicago. Asia, I stopped to recording as I was listening because I wanted to make sure that I didn’t forget to respond and…and that other things didn’t take my attention away. I heard your call about how you’re dealing with kind of the…you’re…you’re encountering the spirit of racism and seeing racism in and around you as an Asian American. And girl, I’m black American. My parents are also immigrants from __ Africa and I just want to share that I’ve been through this. This is…your describing exactly how I felt after the last election with watching KKK marches in the state where I lived and things like that. Girl, I understand we are at and to a degree and I’m praying for you. It’s not easy. It’s really scary sometimes when you’ve encountered this, where in a place you felt safe for so long. But so many of us love you for exactly who you are. We love you because of your heritage not in spite of it and the Lord loves you because of your heritage not in spite of it. And this time will pass and I pray in Jesus’ name that our country will be stronger, that our communities will be stronger and that we’ll be able to continue soon to support each other in…in the fight against racism in whatever form it takes girl. So, I’m here for you, I’m praying for you and your call really resonated with me. I also want to shout out all the medical professionals. My sister is a doctor, my mom is a nurse and they are on the front lines of this fight. God I just pray that You’d be with them and all the other medical writers. And I also want to shout out to all the single people who are social distancing and self-isolating alone. God sees you. I know is not easy. For those of you who are with your families I know that’s a challenge but it’s really hard to be single and at home alone. So, I’m praying for all of you like myself. Thank you and have a good one.

Hello DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our God and King. If I sound out of breath, Harold this one’s for you. I’m spending this time of isolation trying to get back into running. So anyway, I digress. I think Sharon Kansas called in about her friend Denise. And you said she’s been fighting. Well I just want to give you some good news. And they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and shall mount up like with wings like eagles. And when you said that she’s been fighting, I just saw her at the point where she needs to stop fighting and…and wait on the Lord and allow her wings to be guided by the winds, by the Holy Spirit. I’m praying for peace over her now. She is indeed a warrior. I can tell. And, so, tell her I said that. I love her, that I said a prayer for her when you said that. Also, a sister called in and I’m so sorry, I was trying to run…I’m so out of shape guys. I was trying to run. And, so, I didn’t get her name, but she is half Caucasian half Chinese and she was talking about just going through dealing with racism and during this time. And sister I am praying for you. You are loved, you’re beautiful, you’re God’s creature and I’m praying for God to give you wisdom to deal with people that do stuff like that and I pray that God will show you how that there is purpose in your pain that you’re dealing with right now. I love you guys. Talk to you later. Love you. Bye.

Daily Audio Bible family I’m __ out of Ohio I just want to request prayers for everyone who is affected by the quarantine from the coronavirus and their living paycheck to paycheck and don’t really have any emergency funds to get food, you know for their family or household children. So, I ask that you guys keep them in mind, those who actually lost their job and who is affected by the current situation that we are actually in. I ask that you pray for them and that God carries them through this. And let’s just keep them in mind. I came across a young gentleman at Walmart and he just had so many questions. He’s young, still in high school. So, I would like to request prayers for him as well – sweet, sweet little boy. I like to lift him up, can’t remember his name. Also, I’m still able to work. I’m blessed. I thank God for that opportunity for work because it is, you know, hard to come by these days. So, I wanted to express my gratitude and I ask that you guys pray for me as well. God knows what I am in need of. And I’m praying for those who are lonely by themselves right now and I ask that God…God be a comforter. I love you guys. You guys stay safe. Brian, thank you always for this wonderful podcast. Everyone stay encouraged. Take care.

Asia from Chicago this is Cheryl also in Illinois but I’m in Elgin. I heard your call on the March 23^rd podcast and I am so saddened to hear of what you and your precious family have been experiencing along with others in the Asian community. I just want to pray for you. Father in the name of Jesus I thsnk You right now Lord for Asia from Chicago. She’s such a blessing to this community. I know that I have been very touched by her calls and inspired by the things that she has shared in the past and…and things she’s pray over. So, I lift her up before Your throne of grace right now, she and her family Lord and all those in the community that she has been concerned for and just saddened and angered by seeing the hatefulness of racism propagated by the evil one. So, Lord I pray You would come Holy Spirit. Place a hedge of protection around them Lord and I pray that You….that You would bring people along the way who could show the best of being the light in the world Lord, that could lift her spirits, that she would see situations even in this time of social distancing be it on social media or other outlets Lord God that would lift her spirits. I pray that You would eradicate every bit of fear in Jesus’ name. Yes, Lord just lift her up, strengthen her and I pray that her heart would be encouraged in this time. In Jesus’ name. Take courage my dear sister. My ethnicity may be Caucasian, but I definitely have a global heart and I love You very much. God bless You and Your family. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Melody from Canada calling. I wanted to call in and encourage Asia who called in yesterday, March 23^rd and who is saying just the discrimination against Chinese people. My husband is from Shanghai and we have a beautiful half Chinese daughter named Elaina. And we are so proud of her heritage. And I just want to pray encouragement for you and for all the Asians that are experiencing discrimination and fear and __. And yeah, I pray for blessing and peace and strength in their identity as per the body of Christ and I pray for an end to this prejudice and discrimination and for people to come together in unity. Bless you Asia. We love you.

Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25, Luke 7:11-35, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31

Today is the 26^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you moving…moving rapidly toward the end of another month, but I’m super excited that we can spend today and everyday step-by-step one day at a time. One step forward each and every day leads us on this journey and what a journey it has been so far. And man, what a journey it’s going to be. There’s so much out in front of us to see. So, I’m excited that we can be here together around the Global Campfire taking the next step forward. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Deuteronomy 5 and 6 today. And as I’ve mentioned a couple times, Deuteronomy’s three discourses, the final words of Moses and we read the first one, we concluded it and began the second talk today. And, so, that’s where we’re picking up. Deuteronomy 5 and 6.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s look at what Jesus was talking about today in the gospel of Luke but let’s start at the end of what He was saying and just kind of work our way backwards and look at this. The final thing that Jesus spoke in our reading today is this, “but wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” And we’ve spent time on our journey this year talking about wisdom, wisdom from the book of Proverbs, this voice, the feminine voice that tells us that she’s a companion of God and was there from the…from the very beginning of creation and was delighted at all God had made. And we’ve also explored Jesus and some of the different ways that He was known. Like, He’s our Savior, like we look at him a certain way because we have an understanding of Him, but as He was just coming into His ministry and moving around the countryside, how did people look at Him? They looked at Him as a prophet, which we saw in our reading today, like a major prophet as well as John. Like, God was speaking to them again. But He was also known as a wisdom teacher. And we talked about that and it’s borne out in the way that He uses parables to sort of get around the façade of things, like to strip away the mask of a thing so that what’s really happening can be revealed. So, what’s happening today is Jesus is talking specifically about wisdom. “Wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” In other words, if you’re gonna walk the path of wisdom then that’s gonna be borne out in your life. You’re gonna become wise, which would change the way you do things. Why did Jesus make that statement though? Working backwards, He was commenting on the generation that was around Him. “How do I describe this generation? How do I describe the state of the world that I am in? They’re like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends. We played wedding songs you didn’t dance, we played funeral songs you didn’t weep. John comes and he doesn’t eat bread or drink wine and then you’d call him demon possessed. I come and I feast, and I drink, and you say I’m a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” Jesus is in effect making the commentary on the generation saying, “you are never satisfied.” John comes looking like a prophet of old. He’s the right clothes. Like the whole nine. He looks the part. You think he might be a prophet but then you’re not happy with that because he’s crazy and you call him demon possessed. So, then I come looking much more normal and you kinda…you’re not happy either with that. God’s coming to you and you’re missing it because you’re never happy with what you have. That’s kinda Jesus commentary on the generation of His time, but…but how different, how different is this time? Like we have an incredible amount of technology and knowledge and awareness and the ability to move about the earth and transport our…like we can do things that they…they wouldn’t have been able to get their minds around. But is it any different? We’re never satisfied. But why was He saying all that? Working backwards, it was because John’s disciples came to Him, sent by John asking Jesus if He’s the one or not. That’s why He comments on the generation and that’s why He speaks of wisdom because He’s basically like what kind of a question are you asking me? Am I the one or should you be looking for someone else? “Don’t you…like are you unclear about what’s happening here? The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured. The deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is being preached to the poor.” So, basically, it’s like, what else do you need to know? This is exactly what the prophets said would happen. This is exactly what’s being fulfilled. What kind of question is it? Are you the one or should we be looking for someone else? They wanted somebody to come along and defeat the Roman empire by a mighty act of God. Instead, God came and said there’s a way to be in this world no matter what is going on, no matter how oppressed you might feel. There is a whole world within you. It’s called the kingdom of God. That’s where it is and when it’s within you. It can’t help but spill out of you, but you’re never satisfied. You got it backwards. Your hearing the wedding song but you’re not dancing. You’re questioning everything, even though it’s right in front of your face, but wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those follow it.

Prayer:

So, Jesus we invite You into that. It…it's…it’s at times when You can see it, You can see that the heart of man is kind of an unchanging thing and that we’re just wearing different clothes now, but our dissatisfaction and our unrest is the same. And, so, You may say of the generation that we are living in now the same things that You would…that You spoke of the generation when You were ministering here. One of the things that You continually…continually reveal in the Gospels is that it’s all right here if You have eyes to see. Like, it’s all here. What we need to move about the world and navigate in collaboration and confident with You, we have it. We just keep thinking that we don’t, but we do, and wisdom shows that path to us. And we acknowledge once again that she’s at every crossroads. And so often we are just blowing through every choice just dissatisfied in everything, that we’re missing that You are indeed at work in us. It is a slow process. It’s called sanctification. It’s a process and the process isn’t really gonna build up anything without a solid foundation. And so often we’re trying to put the roof on without the foundation of our lives. So, come Holy Spirit. We hear Your words as if they were spoken to John, like “look at what I’m doing in the world. Look at what You are seeing. If you’ll have eyes to see you can see that this is going on and it has always been going on. So, come Holy Spirit and give us eyes to see and ears to hear. And I don’t know how many times we’ve asked for that. And I don’t how many times we will ask that. We’ll keep asking, we’ll keep knocking, we’ll keep seeking. Give us eyes to see this kingdom within and among us we pray in Your mighty and holy name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it is indeed where you find out what’s going on around here.

And it's…I mean what’s going on around here in the world can be scary but what’s going on around here around the Global Campfire, this is exciting because for the next little…little over a week there’s an additional program along with the Daily Audio Bible. So, the Daily Audio Bible is here nonstop every day, seven days a week, but as a gift from my…my publisher NAV Press, as a gift from myself, as a gift from the Daily Audio Bible from which all of this sprang we are releasing the book Sneezing Jesus free, the audio edition of the book free one chapter a day as we go through this time because there is plenty of overwhelming scary news. This is the good news. It’s an exploration of Jesus life and the awareness that this kingdom, the good news that…that we take for granted, it…it spread like a virus. It spreads from person to person. So, it’s poignant for these times. So, we started yesterday and kinda went through the prologue, the premise of everything and the chapter called Advent, this beginning story of why Jesus came and how Jesus came. Today we’re releasing a chapter called Backward, which in many ways uses the Sermon on the Mount as a backdrop for what Jesus was sharing, like this…this idea of eyes to see and ears to hear that we’ve been talking about all year because Jesus says it all of the time is ultimately an invitation to open your eyes and realize that your living almost backward to how you are created. Like the whole world is almost backward to the way it was intended to be. So, that is available, right along with your feed, right where you get the Daily Audio Bible, right in the Daily Audio Bible app. It’s there for your encouragement. And I…I have found encouragement. I mean, it’s been a while since I wrote that book, so it’s been a while since I read the book but when you write a book you read that book like 150 times. So, it’s been, you know, some time has passed since then. And, so, to reacquaint myself with these themes and these messages, especially now, as even encouraged…I’ve encouraged myself…not because of the way I wrote things, but because of what was said. And we’re making it available, giving it to you that you might find encouragement in this time. So, take advantage of that. And my prayers are that God would ignite the…I mean this book was published…we talked about it like the sneeze heard around the world. And man is that appropriate for now? So, check that out.

If you want partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage and it just lives there. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, 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 a Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is for Travis. Travis my name is Qu Annie Cotton. I’m actually calling into our DAB family in regards to your son Brady. I understand that Brady is dealing with some seizures. I want to let you know that as a mom of a son that is now nine but from the years of 1 to 4 our son had been dealing with several different stages or different types of seizures and no one could pinpoint or tell us why our son was dealing with those seizures. Our son was in and out of the hospital weeks at a time to the point where the hospital knew us and who we were, but they took very good care of my son when he was in the hospital. Travis, I want to let you know that God is a healer. Our son has been seizure free for the past five years. He has not been on medication. He has not had any signs of any seizures in any of those seizures that he’s dealt with and it’s only by the grace of God. So, Travis I just want to let you know that God is able, God can heal, God is amazing. God is so amazing for the things that He can do. If you hear in the background, that’s my son. He’s on his game. But I just want to tell you right now to trust God. Continue to keep praying, continue to keep trusting God. And when the doctors want to continue to keep medicating Brady or putting him on different medications, ask questions, even get a second opinion because that’s what we did as well. So, Travis I want to let you know that my family will be praying and continuously praying for your family as well as Brady’s family…as for well as Brady, that God would heal him, that God would definitely touch his body, and that God will deliver him, set free of this this…this…this disease. We’re praying for you. We love you. God bless.

I’m calling in response to Asia who called in on the March 22^nd Sunday edition. Asia, I love you sister. I feel so bad hearing you talk about feeling scared or upset about people looking at you because your Asian during this coronavirus. I don’t understand the racism going around right now. I don’t see Asian people as being the reason for this virus. I think that’s just ignorant. We were in McDonald’s a week ago and there was one lady up at the counter as I was passing by getting my husband drunk and she was Asian decent of some kind and she was talking on her phone and she wasn’t talking English but you know I just wanted to give her a big hug and I was afraid to do so because, one she was already on the phone, and two I thought I’d scare her. But I just inside my heart I just wanted to give her a big hug because I know that there is bad things going around right now with everybody and this virus. And I had already seen online that there are many young Asian men who’ve been beat up over this. And I just feel for everybody who is Asian regardless whether Chinese or Vietnamese or Taiwanese or Japanese, whatever. There’s no need for this. So, please hang in there and know that we have your back. We love you sister and I hope first off that this virus is soon gone. We all need to pray. All of us Christians need to stand together. And my time is almost up, and I just wanted to call and let you know I love you. This is Kiki in Arizona otherwise known as Lola Marie. Bye.

Hello this is Duncan from Fredericksburg Texas and I just feel like praying. Abba Father right now there is a lot of blame going around. I hear the major media blaming the president. I hear people blaming others because they’re…they are Asian – Chinese, Korean, whatever. I hear others blaming the virus on this and that. And yet blaming does not solve anything Jesus, it only creates more anger and panic. And then I hear the news and I get sick of all of that negative news and I have decided I am not going to hear but one maybe newscast a day until there is hope on the horizon and a breakthrough. And that’s what we’re praying for the Lord, a breakthrough. And am praying for Lord that people will quiet down and stop blaming and start trusting in You. Lord Jesus I am totally of blind, I’m a widower right now and I deal with being in my own apartment, but I thank You for a church family Father. And yet I pray also Lord that this…that there will come when we can handshake and a hug again because this healing power in the hug and a handshake. Lord Jesus I thank You for online church, I thank You Lord for people who give …get groceries for us. And Lord but there’s also the impact that is…that all of this has had his work. I’m a musician. I’m a pianist and I play at various local places and their closed and nursing homes won’t let me in and they’re…they’re off limits. Father, we need work. And Father I just come to You. Yes, You meet our needs and I thank You for that, but Lord I am praying Lord for this scourge to be lifted only so that people can have their lives back again. And for others to come to trust You Jesus. I come to You now. Thank You, Lord. In Your precious name. And we kneel in it heavily Jesus.

DAB family this is Linda from Ontario Canada. I am a first-time caller, but my husband Andrew and I have been listening since 2006 after being introduced by a good friend’s. Shout out to Rob and Kiersten. All your voices old and new are precious. Brian, thank you. No one reads the Bible like you do and your commentaries and insights are ever so helpful. Family my sweet love Andrew went home on September 30^th. It’s been almost 6 months now that my heart has been morning. And I must say dear Jesus is victorious over death. My family friends and community have been covering me with prayer and support and it’s been incredibly overwhelming how our father’s hand has been holding me up. He is so faithful. Family, you too have been instrumental in his love. You’ve supported me without even knowing I’m here. I listen every day multiple times some days as I fall asleep or can’t sleep or wake up through the early hours. My family is always there with encouragement and hope. Thank you, Jesus. I’ve been hiding in the sidelines but there is a mission ahead. I’m not a widow of a warrior. And warriors are on the frontline. Dabbers Jesus has already one, but we need to join collectively as warriors must. We need to fight for the things that touch each of us individually but most importantly now we need to come together and fight for our nonbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, countries, nations, governments the entire world. Let’s join together this worldwide community and pray for all eyes to see and hearts it will turn to Jesus. Second Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by My name would humble themselves, pray and seek My face, turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven will forgive their sins and heal their land. Thank You, Jesus. My DABber family I love you. Brenda from Ontario Canada.

Hey, DABbers this is Gavin from __ Canada. Today is Saturday, March the 21^st I want you guys to pray for my brother especially and the rest of our family. My sister-in-law passed away this morning very unexpectedly. We have no idea what happened. She was only 27 years old. My brother…I’m a firm believer ion praying for others my name. My brother Derik is now left the single father of three. He has a six-year-old named Elvis who is really going to need prayer with this. He has a two-year-old named Clarissa and a one-year-old named Elvis…I’m sorry one-year-old named Zekia. It is a very hard time for them. My brother feels very empty right now and he’s told our pastor that he feels hopeless and feels like he’s just doing lip service to his son. He’s afraid that that’s gonna trickle down. And he really is afraid that it’s not going away. So, praying that the Lord will give the family comfort and he…my brother will speak these words that he knows to be true with conviction and just not feel they are lip service. Thank you very much DABbers. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Blessed are You oh Lord our God King of the universe who forms light and creates darkness who makes peace and creates all things. Father You are sovereign, and we praise You and we bless You and we thank You for the blessings that You give us Lord. We thank You that Your sovereignty also includes Your grace, Your mercy, Your love, Your peace, Your hope Lord God. Father these are just interesting times to say the least. Lord I just want to lift up all of our shepherds that You have given us. Lord may You continue to bless them as they lead us, as they…as they protect us Lord, as a shepherd does as they protect us from the wolves oh Lord our God by giving us Your word. Father we thank You for Your teachers. We thank You for those You have set in government, for no man is in government that You haven’t put their Lord and we just pray that You give them supernatural wisdom during this time oh Lord my God. Father, I lift up of those who are suffering in this time. I think of a caller who said that she was Asian Lord. Forgive us for the behaviors that we exhibit to our fellow man. Father I just lift up all those who are struggling with mental illness at this time. Father give us clarity and remind us that fear in You is the beginning of all wisdom Lord. And remind…thank You for reminding us that fearing You is knowing and resting that You are loving, kind, and merciful. Father, we just….

Deuteronomy 4:1-49, Luke 6:39-7:10, Psalms 68:1-18, Proverbs 11:28

Today is the 25^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today on hump day as we move through the center of the week. And I can’t think of a better place to be than around the Global Campfire letting God’s word speak into our day in the remaining days of this week. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and we’ve begun our final book of the Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy which is the final discourses of Moses before he…he turns the reins over to the next generation and he receives and becomes a part of history. So, today Deuteronomy chapter 4.

Commentary:

Okay. Couple things to point out today. One from the book…well…a couple things from the book of Deuteronomy. First, we concluded today the first discourse of Moses and then we began his second discourse, and there are three of them in this book. So, this first discourse that we’ve been on the last couple of days is Moses retelling the story of who the…who the Hebrew people are, who they are and where they came from and where they’ve been. So, he’s recounting the story of the last generation. Now we’re kind of turning the corner and he’s reminding them of the laws, and we’ll get into that as the days come ahead. But one thing Moses says as he’s concluding this today is, “the Lord your God is a devouring fire. He is a jealous God.” And this is one of first places we see this stated so explicitly. So, what does that mean, “he is jealous God?” What is it in your life that would make you jealous? The typical scenario for jealousy in the human experience, although it can come in a number…a number of ways, the typical way is that we are in a committed relationship with somebody and we’re moving along in the confidence of that relationship only to kinda get this nagging sense that all is not…is not well, that maybe they’ve got something going on on the side in some sort of way so there’s this nagging feeling that as time goes by it blossoms and blooms into this tree that overshadows everything. And, so, from that a lot of different emotions can materialize like anger and rage or insecurity or hopelessness or whatever. It flows out of that sense that the one we were committed to, the one we were perhaps even in covenant with is flirting around the edges of another lover. That’s what Moses is talking about when he’s talking about God. He’s telling the people, “when you get to where you’re going, you’re going to be tempted in all kinds of ways to turn to false gods and worship them. Don’t forget what that will do to the Lord your God, the most-high God. There is no other.” So, often we interpret God’s jealousy a like He’s vengeful, that He’s just erratic and vengeful. He’s jealous for you when you flirt around the edges of another lover that would take you from His heart. I actually find a lot of comfort in that. I used to think of God as just jealous and angry and vengeful, but I find a lot of comfort that He would be jealous for me. And, so, what is the response then? What? How do we respond? We…we stay faithful. That’s what you do in a covenantal relationship. And, so, let’s think on that today. Where are we turning for life that isn’t God, and are we giving our hearts in worship to that person or thing?

We flip over into the gospel of Luke and Jesus is continuing to work through this Sermon on the Mount and He says some pretty explicit things today about what it looks like to follow the path that He is…that He is laying out for humanity. We were talking a little bit about forgiveness yesterday and Jesus is kind of like moving into judgment and the way that we judge one another. And, so, that’s when He’s like, “why are you so worried about that little speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log of your own eye? That you seem to…you’re so blind you don’t even know you’ve got a log in your eye. So, how can you possibly think about getting the speck out of your brother’s eye, your friend’s eye until you get the log out of your own? You’re just being a hypocrite.” This is when we nitpick at everybody else and we don’t pay attention to the huge issues that we have. And to just simplify it down to the essential core here, Jesus is saying, “that won’t work”. That like…and we should know that. We should know that. We…we’ve tried…like it doesn’t work. And Jesus is just saying, “it never will. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit. A bad tree can’t produce good fruit. Figs don’t come from thorn bushes grapes don’t come from bramble bushes. If you want to be a fruitful person, if you want good fruit in your life, not only for yourself but for a harvest for those all around you, a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart. And the opposite is true. An evil person produces evil from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” So, Jesus is like, “it is what it is. It’s not what you pretend it to be. Curate all you want. You’re whitewashing a tomb if that’s what you’re doing. Good produces good out of the treasury of good.” And He gives it a barometer because He’s like, “what you say is what’s coming up out of your heart.” So, let’s listen to what we say today because Jesus is basically said, “if you’ll like listen to what you’re saying you’ll know where your heart is.” So, we don’t really have an excuse to like…I don’t know how good or bad, I don’t know where I am on the continuum. All we gotta do is listen to ourselves to figure out where things are. But as Jesus points out we’re too busy listening to everybody else. We’re too busy being judge-y against everybody else and ignoring the issues in our own lives. But there is a treasury within our heart, and we can fill that treasury with whatever we treasure, but if we want to produce good things then we have to fill our hearts with good. And then He takes it further. “Like all of this that we’re talking about, the good, the fruitfulness, this comes because of a good solid foundation.” So, Jesus is like, “let me show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching and then follows it”, right? So, somebody who gets it, who has eyes to see. Not somebody who just heard the words but somebody who understood the words and it quickened their heart and they began to walk this way, to obey the way of Jesus. Jesus says, “that person is like a person who digs deep foundation and lays it on the solid rock” so that when the stuff of life comes and it will, “when the floodwaters rise and break against that house”, and we all experience that in our lives, “that house stands firm because it was well built. So, we can consider that God is jealous for us, that He loves deeply and it’s heartbreaking that we chase after other lovers. That is foolishness. But we can take the way of Jesus and understand this is foundational. And maybe I’ve got a lot of walls up and my foundation is built on sand and I need to go back now and I need to lay a solid foundation over time building this faith into something that cannot be shaken instead of continually judging everybody around me for what they’re doing wrong while ignoring all of my own issues and being so mad at God every time the floodwaters come and wash away my life. Maybe it’s not God’s. Maybe we built on sand. And this is exactly what happens over and over and over when we keep doing that. Maybe it’s time for a new foundation.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite You into that, all of the things that we have been exploring in the Scriptures today. There’s a number of things for us to think about, Your jealous love for us and that we can break Your heart as the Scriptures will completely show us as we continue the journey, that You love us enough to be vulnerable in the relationship that when we cheat, as it were, when we chase false promises for life and give our hearts in worship to it, that is heartbreaking, makes You jealous and that makes us understand a lot. Forgive us as we contemplate this today. But also, we need to contemplate our foundations because if our faith is not built on the solid rock, like if we’re just built on sand, no wonder things keep bowling us over, no wonder we keep getting washed away. And we have to apologize again and repent for blaming You for this. It’s time to methodically, slowly, with love and care and the leading of Your Holy Spirit build a solid foundation. Come Holy Spirit and show us where to start. And we ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, and its home base, and its where you find out what’s going on around here.

Special announcement today because somethings going on around here, because something’s going on all over the world. And I thinks it’s safe to say we’ve kinda reached this point where we’re like, “okay how long is this going to be going on all over the world? like what are the implications here?” And ever since…ever since I noticed, kind of this was actually a thing, this is actually picking up steam and this is a thing and…and that what we’ve watched over last couple weeks it kinda become a thing that’s really, really changed a lot of the ways that we think and move about and how do we navigate all this. And I’ve just thought a lot about the book Sneezing Jesus, a book that I wrote a few years ago because…because the premise is that the kingdom of God began and spread like a virus, person-to-person to person-to-person to person to families, to communities, and it continues until this day to work that way. And, so earlier this week I contacted my book publisher and just asked, “listen is there any way that we could give this away like for a little while, like while all this is going on and while we’re refilling our time with all kinds of activities but things are different right now? Is there a way that we could use this to be kind of an ongoing gift of encouragement as we move through the next little bit?” And they agreed with that because we need all the encouragement we can get right now. So, what we’re gonna do here for the next about week and half, I think…have to add them…but I think there’s 10 chapters in Sneezing Jesus. We’re gonna release one chapter per day and it’s just gonna show up in the Daily Audio Bible as an additional program. So, the Daily Audio Bible’s never…I mean…the Daily Audio Bible is the Daily Audio Bible and as long as there is breath the word will be spoken, but in an attempt to serve this community and in an attempt to very specifically offer words of encouragement that are actionable, like they can actually be used. Sneezing Jesus is…I wrote that book to be a portrait of Jesus, like the Jesus that I have fallen in love, to use the Gospels and go into those stories and explore the fact Jesus was one of us, was a human being because we focus on the divinity of Jesus, which we should almost exclusively, but a lot of the times we ignore the fact that He was a human being walking around and His humanity was not purposeless. His humanity shows us how we’re supposed to live and be in this world. So, it’s a beautiful portrait of Jesus, but it’s a beautiful explanation of why the gospel is good news, concluding with the fact that it spread like a virus all over the world and we are all sneezing something. And what if we were Sneezing Jesus? What if that was the contagion that was going around and infecting everyone? So, the first installment, we’re gonna kind of release this as a serial, a chapter a day for the next week and a half, just something more, something else for us to immerse ourselves in that is good news. In fact, it’s the good news. So, you’ll see like the first installment showing up today and the next installment will show up tomorrow. This is a gift, a gift of hope, a gift that can be given, a gift that can be received, a gift that is free and I won’t be able to keep this on the feed indefinitely forever and ever and ever. Amen. But for now, this is the gift of the good news and the first installment is available now. And my prayer is that it will meet you where you are and compel you forward. So, of course. Check that out and may it bring you faith, hope and love.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website, dailyaudiobible.com or in the app by pressing the Give button in the upper right-hand corner of the app screen or, if you prefer to mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can just hit a Hotline button, the little red button at the top in the app. I love it. I love it at times like this like there’s this button that we can push and we’re not alone 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:

Hi this is Rachel from Pennsylvania. Hi this is Ben from Pennsylvania too. And we wanted to pray and thank God for everything. Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for the whole world, the whole world and the sunshine and the rain and what else Ben? The animals, trees, the tress, breath…and the trees. Thank you for the trampoline to jump on and the tickles (laughing) and the giggles (laughing) and our whole family and all of our friends. And we pray that God will put a hedge of protection over all of our friends and family and our DAB community. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Hey, my beautiful DAB family this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel from Chicago. To my dear precious sister Val from Vegas. Oh my dear, I am so sorry that you are in this very difficult place. My heart breaks for you and I…I couldn’t help but think about a portion of Psalm 23 where David said, “he maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” And suddenly I know it doesn’t probably look like or feel like you’re in a green pasture right now, but you know Val, sometimes God has to make us lie down in places that only He knows where He’ll be able to reach us and get our attention to say what He’s trying to say. And one of the things I do believe, I was just kind of sensing that listening to you the Lord is trying to say to you Val, He is trying to tell you how madly, passionately, and completely He is in love with you. He loves you with an everlasting love. His love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out and He’ll never stop loving you. Don’t you dare think for one second that God is angry with you. He is not angry at you. That’s a lie from the pit of hell. And, so, I pray that you would rest in the Father’s love, lean back in Him and let Him love you from a place of wholeness. I’m praying for your healing.

[singing starts] Oh the day the Lord you have given me alight with your Majesty and grace. Oh, this day I wait to hear your voice to calm all the noise in me. Joy of my heart my Prince of peace you build my confidence, courage and strength. I hide beneath your wings our secret place where I feel safe and my soul rests. Oh, this day Lord please light up my heart with the flame of your word to warm the world so cold and dark. Emotions like stormy waves Jesus my Savior makes us settle like sheep. Wherever He guides I’ll follow His voice burning bright with the confidence of His love and tell the story of His grace in my life bringing others to sit beside the Global Campfire [singing stops]. Gracious heavenly Father Lord Jesus I just praise and thank You for the opportunity to hear Your word every day to stand beside each…each of the beautiful people Father God You’ve called and chosen to listen to Your words and…and to be encouraged and feel the love. And I just praise You and thank You God for that. Bless the DAB Father God and bless the Hardin family in Jesus’ name. Treasured Possession.

Father I thank you for all that you’ve done
for your sweet Holy Spirit and the gift of your son
who gave up his life and died on a tree
so that those who were estranged could come back to thee
and know that you hear them each time that they pray
and know you’re attentive to all that they say
I was one of those people and I feel so ashamed
that for me your son was erroneously blamed
and though I do love you Jesus you first loved me
you’re the Holy Spirit and the father all three
surrounding me, anointing me and lifting me up
cleansing my insides while filling my cup
I just want to thank you for all that you’ve done
your sweet Holy Spirit and the gift of your son

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a shout out to His Little Cherry and also like to give a shout out to Slave of Jesus and Mark Crede. Know you all are daily on my prayer list and I pray God’s blessings continuously fall upon you. And once again Brian and the Hardin family, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit flow. Keep it flowing y’all. All right. Bye-bye.

Alright, hey guys my name is Nick. If you could pray for me and my family and a bunch of people, I’m around that would be great. I’m a city bus driver so I’m right in the thick of it. I’m having a really hard time keeping my cool. I get mad at people and frustrated at people like gettion’ all close and coughing all over without covering her mouth and I’m struggling…I’m having a real hard time not loving them as I should. So, if you guys could pray for me and those around me that would be great. I love you guys. I’m praying for you all and talk to you later.

Hello, my name is Jane I’m ringing from the UK and about three or four weeks ago I asked…requested prayer for my son who I haven’t heard from for over two years. And today it’s Sunday the 22^nd of March which in England is Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day. I can’t believe it, that he has just phoned to wish me a happy Mother’s Day as if nothing was wrong at all. Just want to praise God and thank You Lord for this connection again with my son Tom. I love him dearly and I’ve prayed constantly, and I thank You that You are a God who answers prayers. I thank You for everything that You do for us and I pray Lord that in this time of great need You will provide comfort and peace for all those who worried about the virus going about. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. And God bless you all.

Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29, Luke 6:12-38, Psalms 67:1-7, Proverbs 11:27

Today is the 24^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a joy to be here with you around the Global Campfire where it’s always nice and cozy and where God’s word is allowed to speak into our lives. It is a joy to be here with you today. So, yesterday we started the final book of the Torah or the Pentateuch, which is the book of Deuteronomy. And, so, that’s where we’ll camping out for a little while. And as we mentioned about Deuteronomy, these are the final discourses, the final things Moses has to say to the children of Israel before he becomes a part of their history. And they move on forward without him. These are the things that he wanted to say. And, so, some of this is a review but it’s being said to a new generation on the precipice of crossing into the Promise Land. And, so, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Deuteronomy chapter 2 and 3.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the Gospel of Luke today we…we revisited what’s known as the Sermon on the Mount and we went to that at length when we went through in the Gospel of Matthew. The gospel of Luke has a retelling of this, a little shorter one. But again, when it…when we listened to Jesus words at the Sermon on the Mount it’s like He is describing something that ignites something in our hearts, but it seems that He’s describing a way of being in this world that’s really almost the opposite of the way that it seems that the world works, which is somewhat His point. “God blesses you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” And like, we’re not trying to be poor, usually in our life. “God blesses you who are hungry now, you will be satisfied. We’re not usually going for that. “God blesses you who are weak now. In due time you’ll laugh.” We don’t usually go for that…like that’s not we’re waking up in the morning with the agenda to do, like how…how much can I weep today? Conversely, He says, “what sorrow awaits you who are rich”, which is the objective, is to accumulate. Like, that’s the way of the world, and it keeps providing us products and services to buy to make us feel like we’re getting somewhere. And Jesus says, “you have your only happiness now if you do that. What sorrow awaits you who are fat and prosperous now. A time of awful hunger awaits you. What sorrow awaits you who laugh now”, right, so on and so forth. Essentially, Jesus is kind of describing the wheel of humanity, like the way that things keep repeating themselves. So, on the one hand, Jesus is talking to the people who are at the bottom, the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are like at the bottom of the Ferris wheel, as it were. They are in a good position because they can get off the wheel. Their entanglements have been stripped away. They can have eyes to see. They can see there’s a completely different way of being here, you don’t have to play all those games. But those who have, right, those who have things that they need to hoard and protect, those who have arranged for a life that now they’ve gotta try to figure out a way to keep it and not let it slip through their hands. it’s not gonna…it’s not gonna bring the satisfaction that we were looking for. It’ll just keep spinning. Those who are at the top now, some day will be at the bottom. It just keeps spinning and spinning and spinning. Jesus is modeling a way of being here that is true to how we were created to be and it’s almost opposite of the way that we…we live, the way that we think things are. So, if we did live into this, what would our lives then look like? I mean, what can we expect? Because we often have like a quid pro quo kind of mentality. “If I sacrifice. If I do this. If I am faithful, then God is bound to be nice to me. He’s bound to give me what I want.” What can we actually expect though? And Jesus says, “what blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. When that happens be happy. Leap for joy. A great reward awaits you in heaven. And if you are willing to listen, I say love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who hurt you, someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other cheek, if someone demands your coat offer your shirt. Give to anyone who asks. When things are taken away from you don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. Love your enemies, do good to them, lend them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great and you will truly be acting as children of the most-high for He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate just as your father is compassionate. Do not judge others and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others. It’ll all come back against you. Forgive others and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full. This is such a different way of living, of being in this world because it’s one that isn’t tethered to this world. If all of your investment of all of your life is to accumulate things you can experience for the short period of time that you have health and stamina to build it up, that’s all there is. What Jesus is saying is there’s kind of a currency that flows through the kingdom of God that reveals no one is lacking in anything, there’s nothing to hoard. And if you want to operate in God’s kingdom, then you’ll have to be sort of like an open water source. We talked about the Dead Sea, I don’t remember, like month ago or whatever about how there’s no outflow and how it is dead. But how the Sea of Galilee, billions of gallons of water running through their and it hasn’t run dry. That’s how the kingdom of God works, at least as described by Jesus. And we can see that the things, the treasures that we’re laying up for ourselves, they can be earthly but that’s all there is. But if we’re storing up treasures in heaven…if we’re living from the inside out with the objective of not how much we can get while we’re here, but how much we can give…and I’m just talking about money…I’m not talking about money, I’m talking about our hearts, our lives, the weight of who we are in this world. The fact that we are here as a child of the most-high. What are we doing with that? The odd thing about the kingdom of God according Jesus is that when you are wide open like that, when you’ll give anything, you’ll lack nothing. So, once again we have some things to think about as we go into our day about how it is that we are participating, how it is that we are in God’s kingdom, like how that is actually lived out in our lives, in our postures, in our motives, in our heart

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite you into all of that. We wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t the desire, if it wasn’t a desire to know and understand your will and your ways in our lives and to be nourished from within by the word of God. And, so, we want to be actively participating in your kingdom on this earth and revealing it. And we’re gonna have to have eyes to see so we get glimpses. And we want to be fully awake. And this is our prayer. Wake us up to see what’s really going on here. We are so tethered to our physical senses that so often it feels like whatever is happening to us in our bodies around us in circumstance, this is all there is. And you’re simply telling us if that’s how you’re going to look at it, then you are exactly right, that’s all there is, but if you open your eyes there’s so much more. Open our eyes God. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and its home base and its where you find out what’s going on around here. And a lot of things that are going on around here are going on everywhere. And what’s going on everywhere is pulling us into further and further isolation. And this is a place where we don’t need to do that.

So, like at dailyaudiobible.com in the Community section is the Prayer Wall and that’s always happening. And this is a fantastic time to turn outward and pray for one another. And, so, be sure to check that out and in the Community section or the other kind of social media channels that we…we are on. So, there’s no…no reason to get completely isolated. Let’s stay connected in this time. It’s warm, it’s safe here around the Global Campfire.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well and I thank you profoundly, humbly for your partnership, especially as we go through all of this. If you’re 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, which is the little red button 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.