Author: Daily Audio Bible Transcripts

Genesis 46:1-47:31, Matthew 15:1-28, Psalms 19:1-14, Proverbs 4:14-19

Today is the 23^rd day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you today as we continue the journey through our week and continue the journey through the Scriptures. So, let’s dive in. We’ve been reading from the English Standard Version this week, which is of course what we’ll continue to do. And in the Old Testament we are working our way through the book of Genesis and we’ve settled into this story about a man named Joseph and we’ve talked quite a bit about Joseph so we don’t need to do a recap, we know where we are, but we’re continuing the story today with Joseph reaching out to his family and…and…and Jacob, his father being able to lay eyes on a son that he thought had been long, long dead. So, we pick up the story with Genesis chapter 46 and we’ll read 46 and 47 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, Jesus has plenty…plenty to say in the Gospel of Matthew today, plenty that we really, really, deeply need to pay attention to. So, there’s several things here. Let’s kind of work in reverse order, because some of these are things we really, really need to pay attention to and then one of these things is for context. So, Jesus is moving around the region doing ministry as we know, and He went to the district of Tyre and Sidon and…and a non-Hebrew woman, a Canaanite woman comes to Jesus and asked for mercy, that her daughter is oppressed by a demon and…and she needs help. So, obviously Jesus could perform miracles, or that miracles, that the miraculous of the supernatural was happening around Jesus was spreading all over the place. And Jesus didn’t answer her. And she kept asking and she kept begging until the disciples…like she kept asking the disciples to go to Jesus. And, so, they finally come to Jesus and say, “hey, can you send her away. Like, she’s bugging us now.” And then Jesus says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And she’s like, “please help me, please help me.” And He’s like, “it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” And she’s like, “but…but even the dogs get to eat the crumbs when they fall off the table.” And that changes everything and Jesus is like, “wow” basically. “Great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire.” And the daughter was healed. And we can look at this and go, “well, why didn’t He just do that in the first place? Doesn’t Jesus love everybody? I mean, like, why is He being so exclusive here and excluding people? Like, what’s going on?”

We’re not too far into the story so we can remember. If we go back to the book of Genesis, we remember the fall of Adam and Eve, we remember that that separated them from God. We’ve talk about all of this. We watched the world use…you know…we watched humanity use their knowledge of good and evil to try to make themselves a God and we watched things fall apart and disintegrate to the point that the world was destroyed by a flood. We’ve watched what the knowledge of good and evil has done to humanity. We’ve also talked about the spiritual realms and God’s divine family and…and how that pops its head up in different stories from time to time. We also see in the Scriptures that there are times where God essentially releases people to go to their own destruction, to go to the way that they’re demanding to go. And then we saw this story of the Tower of Babel and everybody trying to unite themselves to essentially deify themselves and try to become unstoppable. And God comes down and confuses the language and sends people all throughout the earth. Many biblical scholars view this as like exactly Lord we’re talking about, God sending them off on their own way to go the way that they wanna go and disinheriting them because they have chosen to worship false gods. Immediately after that story is when we meet this man named Abram and the story turns from there because the world, humanity has essentially rejected God and now they’re being allowed to go their own way and follow whatever their own path is going to be, which will lead them to destruction. But then we meet Abram, this one man. And God appears to this one man and says go into a land that I will show you. And we’ve been following his family since. So, it’s as if at ancient times, people went their own way, but God would not stop trying. And He goes to Abram and says I will be your God and will create a people out of you that will be my people and I will be there God. So, in the midst of the chaos and anarchy of the world God chose one person to create a people out of that would be His people on the earth because all the other people had given themselves to other gods. So, he would use Abram and this people that would be formed to show the light to the rest of the world, to bless all the nations through Abraham. Well, that story has a lot of fits and starts. It’s the story of the Bible. So, we’re gonna read that story but if we zoom forward into the book of Matthew now and we come back alongside Jesus, we have to first understand that it’s still the same story, we have just zoomed forward significantly. Jesus has come to earth among those people, the Hebrew people. He was born as one of the people that God had predicted, had chosen through Abram so long ago. But by the time that Jesus arrived on the scene all that the Hebrew people understood of God, their God and their chosen-ness, their exclusivity, their holiness, their set-apart-ness to God had become nothing more than a religious ritual and…and…and power. We’ll get to that in the second. And Jesus is talking to this Canaanite woman…and we know that Jesus talked to other women. Like, there’s gonna be this story of the woman at the well, right, where Jesus talks to her and she’s a Samaritan, but in this particular exchange Jesus is saying what His mission is, that He’s come to this group of people that had been set apart among all the other peoples, not because they were special, like not because they deserved anything, but because everyone else had given themselves to other gods. And, so, God created a people for Himself upon this earth to reclaim things. So, Jesus is stating His mission. This is who I’ve come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And we’re reading this. Israel is Jacob. Jacob’s children are the children of Israel, the house of Israel. There are reasons that this matters to us now. A couple that I can think of right off the top of my head, the first is, Jesus came to earth as a Hebrew in a Hebrew context and taught as a Hebrew rabbi from the Hebrew Scriptures. So, it becomes difficult to understand Jesus without understanding the Hebrew story because this is the context that He is ministering in and these are the people that He’s ministering to. And they understand Him, which doesn’t mean that they accept everything that he’s saying. Some do, some don’t. But they understand Him because He’s in the context of their worldview, they understand what’s happening even though they mostly miss who He is. This is gonna start mattering more and more as we continue our journey forward, especially when we get into…into books like the book of Acts and we get into the church era, because Jesus Jewishness, right, His Hebrew ethnicity and His understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, this is the context that He’s ministering into and it will matter later to the early church when all of a sudden non-Hebrew people known as Gentiles begin flooding in to the kingdom. Then they have a problem to figure out because this is an exclusive people with an exclusive religion and there are steps that need to be taken if you want to become Jewish and it causes some tremendous unrest that eventually causes the very first church council, which we will read about when we get into the book of Acts.

Okay so there’s our context peace. Now let’s look at what Jesus was saying today. We began Matthew 15 and it says, “the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem.” Let’s just pause for a second. Jesus was on the map at this point if Pharisees and scribes are walking 90 miles up into the Galilee to hear Jesus. So, we notice that there’s momentum, energy building around the message that Jesus is sharing as He moves around the region. So, people come all the way from Jerusalem to check Him out and there like, “so, you know, why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?” Now, the elders here would be the Sanhedrin, they would be the leaders at the time, those who interpreted the Hebrew Scriptures and wrestled through how to interpret them so that they could pass those rules and traditions onto the people so that they could honor God. So, what Jesus is being asked here is essentially, “hey, you seem to be a rabbi, you seem to have a following, people seem to be listening to what you’re saying and you have disciples that are your inner circle and everybody’s watching all of this. Why are your disciples breaking the traditions of the elders because they’re not washing their hands before they eat?” Jesus just, in this instance, just flat out peels back the layers and exposes what is going on among this chosen people. And we can go back and read Matthew 15 and we don’t need to re-quote Jesus. We’ve already read it. He’s basically saying, “you have made tradition the thing. You have made yourself the keeper of the tradition and you have lost the plot of the story.” To quote Jesus now, “for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, “the people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”” That is hard core right there, friends. And we can go, like, “well…yeah, He was he was calling out those religious leaders because they were hypocrites and they were against Him and who would want to be against nice, sweet, healing loving Jesus” and “yeah…they’re the bad guys.” But yeah, like we don’t have to look so far today before we can find this same thing going on. Who gets to make the rules? Who gets to be the keepers of the rules? Who gets to pass judgment on those who don’t keep their traditions or rules? Though it’s bit of an ongoing problem and in our own lives in our own hearts posture, we need openness not closed fistedness. We need openness to the Spirit of God, not a closed heart that says, “I have the rules and regulations. I’m gonna try my very, very best to obey these rules.” We need an openness. Jesus told the Pharisees that for the sake of keeping the traditions they made the word of God void. Let’s make sure we’re not the same thing. And then Jesus actually takes the time to flesh out what He’s saying, because those people, those leaders from Jerusalem had come to Jesus asking why they weren’t obeying the traditions of the elders, not…not why are you disobeying the Scriptures. Why are you becoming a heretic and disobeying God? No, they’re asking why He’s not obeying the traditions of the elders. And He shows them, “like, you’ve made traditions that break God’s rules. You’ve lost the plot. Even when it comes to washing hands, you’ve lost the plot. It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person it’s what comes out of a person’s heart that defiles them. And yet you’re trying to ritually wrought wash your hands, thinking that somehow that’s gonna wash your insides. You’ve lost the plot. It’s not outside in. That is a complete backward way of living. It’s inside out. That is how you were made.”

Prayer:

And, so, Jesus…there's…there’s plenty…I mean, we can…we can hang on Your words for the rest of our lives, and we will. So, we’ve we spent some time just exploring today. And now that we’ve done that exploring, we invite You, we open ourselves to Your Holy Spirit. Where have we lost the plot? How are we living completely backward to the way that we were made and to the ways of Your kingdom? How will we ever see Your kingdom if we are backward to it? So, come Holy Spirit. We thank You for context. We thank You for challenge. We thank You for disrupting us and we invite You to lead us into all truth. And we have no doubt that You would do that if we will listen. And, so, we invite ourselves to pay attention. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure stay…stay tuned.

The Prayer Wall lives there and that is a great resource to receive and to offer prayer for your brothers and sisters around the world.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop is there with resources for the journey that we are on.

There are bunch of links at the website to the different places to interact on social media. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if the mission that…that we share in common the bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and to build community around that rhythm so that we know that this isn’t a solitary endeavor, we’re sharing history with our brothers and sisters, we’re going through the same kinds of things all over the world, which is something that the Bible tells us. We’re in this together and it makes all the difference. If that brings life and light and good news and hope and healing and…and the good…the goodness of God into your world then 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, you can hit the Hotline button, the little red button in the app, it lives up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

I want to say thank you to Daily Audio Bible. I was 38 years old about three years ago when I had a stroke, a massive stroke that left my left side weak and it really difficult for me to read the Bible. So, without the Daily Audio Bible I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the word of God. Again, thank you for what you do. I play…I pray blessings upon the people at Daily Audio Bible. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is His Beloved I’m calling in to pray for, I don’t believe you left your name sweet brother who called in for his mother Diana who has stage IV brain cancer. We heard you, we’re praying with you brother. God bless your heart. He just really touched my heart. And, so, we hold your mother up. We asked her to desire of these foods and fruits and vegetables that you wish to help your mother nourish her with. Father God we ask You to heal his mother from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet Father God, that anything that is not of You would be bound and cast out of her Father God, that You would heal her Father God and bless her family and her son with peace and endurance during this time they would keep their eyes on You. In Jesus’ name we pray. I’m also calling for Broken Hearted and that Your husband left, and this breaks my heart, of course. So, I pray Father God that You would give her hope and joy and love and peace. Holy Spirit restore her and fill her with anything that is not of You, that she would…we would right now I hold this situation her marriage up Lord and I put it at the altar Father God, that You would bless or if it’s abusive as she kind of said Father God that You would take it from her and You would give her so much more Father God, that she’s a daughter of the most-high King, that she should be adored and loved and worshiped Father God. I ask during this time that You would bring peace that passes all understanding Father. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Diana Davis, your doctors may have done all that they can, but our ultimate healer is God. Now that you have prepared for the care of your children should you die, let’s prepare for the possibility that God will heal you. So, in Isaiah 1…Isaiah 40, I want to read that for you. ah…I just lost it…here it is…okay. “That those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” And I also want to give you Romans 15 verse 13. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” So, Lord I lift up Diana to You because You are our healer. We ask for the healing of Diana’s Spirit, mind, body and soul and Lord please strengthen her faith and her body. Give her a hope and a future and fill her life with love and joy no matter how long or short her life is. Show her how to use her bounty of food that You give us to heal her body. Show her how to avoid foods that beat cancer and foods that…and herbs that starve cancer. Restore her to life Lord so she can continue to mentor her children on Your ways. We thank You Lord. In Your name we pray. Amen.

My name is Heather and I’m in the Atlanta. I…I am consumed with fear, even making this call. Five years ago, I was embarking on a journey in ministry and Satan unleashed a wrath on my life that I can…I cannot handle anymore. I am asking for prayer, for God to please reveal Himself to me. Help me. I have never been so low in my life. My family has been destroyed. I’m so tired. I’m so tired. I just ask for prayers for endurance to be able to be strong, to be where my kids need me to be, when everybody has left us. Thank you.

Hey Daily Audio Bible is Dr. Kinai from London I pray that everyone is well and it’s the 16^th of January and I just wanted to raise a prayer point for the lady who called in who said that she’s separated from her husband of seven years and it’s likely to end in divorce. And I just…I just had the Lord saying to me that she needs to be reminded that she is seen, and she is known by me. God sees you. God knows you, and there’s nothing in life that takes Him by surprise, and He’s journeyed with you through this. And I just pray that your identity in Him will be restored. I pray that you will know that you are loved, you are cherished, and you are wanted. And while the situation looks dark and bleak, I pray that you would turn to Jesus, our Hope, the One that brings light into dark situations. And I pray for your husband as well, that he will come to the knowledge of God and God’s perfect will will be done in Jesus’ name. And…and just allow praise to be on your lips. You know, there’s this wonderful psalm that says, I vow to praise you through the good and the bad, I vow to praise you whether happy or sad. I pray that you will offer of the Lord a sacrifice of praise. You may not feel like praising but you do it and it ushers you into His presence. You may not feel like worshiping but it’s a sacrifice because it cost you something. And I encourage you to press in through worship. Surrender your thoughts, surrender your heart, the pain in worship and trust that God will indeed restore you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello everybody God’s Smile here from England. I am just a bit tearful, actually. You know how just when we listen, and we’re blessed with the words from Brian as he reads God’s word. And it just really…I couldn’t help but cry and thank God because you are my church. I’m not able to get to church and there’s no…there’s not many around my area. And I remember how I just loved sitting on by Nana’s knee. She wasn’t a proper Nana, but she was like it and adopted Nana and she used to read. And my mom didn’t read to me and I would just soak up the close comfort that I never had as a child with my parents through this lady. And she would read and I…I…I so enjoyed those moments. And it just hit me…though I’ve not sat on Brian’s knee…I felt like I was sat on God’s knee and He’s just reading His word to me and is just wonderful, isn’t it? And these are tears of joy. And yes, I’m still smiling. It just…it just really broke me. I’m so thankful that He cares about such tiny details, which are not that tiny. But you know how He just speaks to you your hearts and you’re just so thankful. Anyway, I’m gonna go and blow my nose. Bye-bye everybody. I love you all and I love this community. I love my church. Bye-bye.

Hi this is Mary and Colorado and I’m calling for I believe you said your name was Kimberly and that you’re struggling with PTSD over childhood sexual abuse. And I just want to reach out and tell you that I know exactly how you feel and that I experienced the same thing from a member of our church when I was a child and I often feel very triggered when I go to church. And I just want to pray for you. Father God would You give her Your piece and Your strength. Help her to know that You have not given her a spirit of fear but of love and of adoption and that she is Your child and that You care for her. Kimberly, I would just encourage you to reach out to those in your church and just talk to them about how you are feeling. It may be scary, but it really has helped me to have someone who knows, just even how I respond when I am feeling triggered and that they can sit there and hold my hand and tell me that everything’s okay. So, I just want to encourage you. Love you sister and God bless you too and I hope that you’re doing okay.

Genesis 44:1-45:28, Matthew 14:13-36, Psalms 18:37-50, Proverbs 4:11-13

Today is the 22^nd day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today. Wow! 22 days into this year already. Land is like a faint…faint little line on the horizon behind us and we are…we are sailing toward the end of our first month together, and it’s exciting to be on this journey. So, let's…let’s go ahead and take that next step. We’ve been reading from the English Standard Version this week, which is what we’ll continue to do and we have been working in the Old Testament through the story of Joseph and…and his brothers who…who had sold him into slavery when he was younger. Genesis chapter 44 and 45 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so we are rounding the corner on this story that we’ve been tracking with for several days now, the story of Joseph and his adventure to Egypt, an adventure that he wasn’t planning on taking but is family, his brothers have sold him into slavery and we’ve kind of recapped all of that. Today, Joseph reveals who he is to his brothers who are speechless and dumbfounded. A similar reaction happens in…in Jacob’s life when he finds out that his son Joseph is still alive. He’s dumbfounded. And interesting thing is Joseph’s posture through all of this, he was shrewd and cunning, in other words, he wasn’t stupid about this. He observed once he knew that his family was before him, observed to discern their hearts before revealing himself and once he does, it’s just a breathtaking scene. It’s just such a beautiful reunion. And the words of Joseph are beautiful man. I mean God didn’t make Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery. That was an act of evil that they chose to do. But Joseph recognized and we hear from his own lips, “God was in it from the beginning. He brought me here to save you. He brought me here to save many.” And certainly, Joseph could have that perspective after he had been restored from his ordeal but as we read the story of Joseph it seems as if he has this perspective, this unwavering trust in God in all things throughout the story. And, so, Joseph’s story is one in which he was able to face surprisingly difficult circumstances, but was not unmoored in his faith, was not estranged from God because of it. Rather, he clung to God as the only hope there was. And one of the things that we see in this story is that difficulties are part of it, right? Challenges are part of the experience of being a human being among other human beings and our brokenness is on full display as much as we try to hide it. What we need to settle into is an awareness or the understanding that these difficulties, these challenges, they are not purposeless, they are leading somewhere and they’re part of it. And one of the things obstacles and challenge and difficulty does for us is to truly expose our hearts, even if just for ourselves because we can immediately see when we head into a difficult where our heart is positioned toward God. Are we angry? Are we let down? Are we frustrated? Or are we clinging as if there is no other hope? Because there is no other hope.

And we get into the book of Matthew and we have this story today of Peter walking on the water, right? And we see more examples of Jesus withdrawing, right? Trying to find solitary quiet serenity. We see this a lot in Jesus life, and we look at it and we know it and He’s the son of God and all that but we don’t look at it as an example for our own lives usually. You know, we’re just living in a world at warp speed and sort the idea of actually setting aside some time to do nothing but be quiet, still before God feels like a waste of time. And yet, we’re looking at Jesus the model, the Savior repeatedly, regularly doing exactly this. So, he’s having some quiet time and He sends His friends across the lake in a boat. And, of course, they’re experienced fishermen and this storm comes up. And, so, He goes walking out to them on the water. Here’s the interesting thing. Everybody is freaked out because they think they’re seeing a ghost. And I raise my hand and say, “hey. If I’m out on the Sea of Galilee in the dark and the wind is blowing and some figure is out on the waves, probably I’m gonna do the same thing, probably I’m going to as the Bible says, cry out in fear.” Jesus is like, “hold up, hold up, it’s me, it’s me. Don’t be afraid. Take heart. Everything’s gonna be okay.” So, Peter’s like, “Lord if its You then command me to come out to you on the water.” And, so, Jesus is like, “alright. Come…come on.” Peter got out of the boat. This is a super famous story and it’s been looked at from so many perspectives I don’t know that I can bring anything new to the story other than that Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water and came to Jesus. And so, he’s walking on the water coming to Jesus and then he looks around and sees the wind and all this stuff and he starts to sink and he’s like, “Lord save me.” And, so, we know, like all the parallels that we can make into that story. But Jesus reaches for him and it’s so interesting. I’ve always been told the story, “oh you of little faith, why did you doubt”, which condemns me for all of my doubt but it’s almost as if Jesus is saying, like, “you did it. You were doing it. Why did you doubt. You could have kept doing it.” And, so, this…as the story goes, they get to Gennesaret and many people come to be healed by Jesus and all they do is touch His clothes in order to be healed. So, we have to wonder about this miracle worker, Jesus. Is the miraculous something Jesus is doing to people or is the miraculous a result of the faith of a human collaborating with the power and presence of God? I mean, what sort of power does cotton conduct? What kind of superpower was Jesus clothes hooked up to that when they just touched them this healing power transmitted through the fabric and into their bodies and lives? Well, at least according to the Bible, that agent is faith and Jesus keeps saying to people, “go in peace, your faith has made you well.” Faith is an irreplaceable, absolutely, completely irreplaceable component in our spiritual journey. It was Joseph’s faith in God that got him through the…the ordeal. It was Peter’s faith that had him walking on water. It was people’s faith that had them touching Jesus clothes and becoming healed. So, pay attention to that fact. Watch what we’re pointing at. Like watch this as we continue the journey listening to Jesus and following Matthew after Him in His ministry

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. We thank You for the Scriptures, we thank You for the stories that share of Your ministry upon this earth. And it brings You so near and we are so grateful to have these words and to be able to allow them inside of us, into our lives, transforming us. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to continually disrupt if that’s what’s necessary, comfort if that’s what’s necessary, but lead us into the truth, that we might have eyes to see and ears to hear. We pray this in Your name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

Reminding you of the Daily Audio Bible Shop and the resources that are available there for this journey, including the God of Your Story, which is a great way to double…double dip as far as just kind of immersing into the territory that we’re going through each day. Obviously, we read it every day and we talk about it every day. But the God of Your Story is a written form of exploring the Scriptures that we read every day. And, so, what gets said here is probably going to be different than what was written down, so it allows for depth.

Also, a resource called Promise Land, which is a film resource. It’s actually about 70 short films, none of them are really over five minutes, just a couple of minutes long, but they’re…they’re like a drop in into so many of the biblical…biblical locations that we’ll encounter this year. It’s like over the course of several seasons in Israel we…we filmed these from the ground and from…from the air. And, so, it’s a real comprehensive but quick look at the important locations in the Bible. Works as a great companion, especially when we’re reading through, you know, through stories, a battle or of victory or, you know, a city, or what…whatever’s happening to know that that’s a real place and you can go look at…at the ruins of the place, what’s going on there and…and see it, draws it…draws it near. So, that’s a resource that’s available in the Shop as well. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage, and I thank you with all of my heart 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 Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good afternoon Harold in St. Louis I just heard your call and I want you to know that hearing your voice and you calling in warms my heart and it put a smile on my face. Welcome to the DAB. You’re now part of the family. Okay Harold, God bless you and thank you for calling in. You made my day. Bye-bye.

Hello Brian and all of the listeners here on this podcast my name is Cassie and I live in northeast Ohio and I am a newbie to this group. I saw a friend post about it on Facebook at the beginning of the year and I thought, what a better way to start my year than this daily podcast. I drive an hour to work one way every day. So, it’s perfect for me and I just really can’t say enough great things about this whole podcast and the commentary and the prayers and the encouragement. Brian, you have an amazing way of reading and telling these stories. I’m 33 years old but I find myself like a little kid wanting to read ahead and find out what happens next. Some of these stories I’ve never really maybe paid attention to or known the full story and I’m just really captivated by the way you read, and it’s really been awesome. Anyway, I just wanted to thank everybody and it’s been really neat to hear everyone calling in and people all over the world and different accents and I was just really encouraged by the gentleman that called in that said he was not a believer but he was listening to this and it was encouraging him. And I just want to say if you’re listening to this, I’m praying for you and I think that that’s awesome that you’re listening to this podcast. So, hope everyone has a great day. Love you guys.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Esther calling from Nashville Tennessee. I haven’t called in a long time. I…I just wanted to call and ask prayers for my heart. I’ve been just feeling very anxious the last few mornings. And I’ll wake up and just feel this sort of stabbing pain in my chest and just going through the entire day just very anxious and I know that the Bible says be not anxious for anything but in everything with thanksgiving and supplication let your requests be known unto God. And I think my heart knows that, but my mind sometimes needs reminding. So, if you could pray for me that God would give me the mind of Christ and I would be strong and praise in him at my workplace and just in my day-to-day life and as I prepare for med school and all of that and I would be very grateful. Thank you.

Hello, good morning, just doing a quick call for Harold from St. Louis. Just wanted to say as I was listening to you call in and share your…your story about training for a marathon and trying to find something to calm you or, you know, to make you feel peaceful and happening upon the Daily Audio Bible and not being a believer and how it’s blessed you even though you may not at this point in your life, you know, maybe know God directly. I just smiled kind of merrily because it’s a blessing you and that it’s bringing upon you peace and probably energy when you run and…and it’s just kind of making you feel at rest, which, you know, what I personally know all comes from God. But it’s amazing how…how the word of God as a way to…has a way of reaching out and creating emotions in everyone who hears it. So, I just love this testimony and…and I love that you’ve kind of given me an idea of…of ways to calm maybe people…folks who aren’t necessarily particularly looking at it for…to memorize Scripture or, oh…I gotta get through the Bible this year” but mostly to just kinda have something to inspire them or make them feel good or uplift them or give them energy. So, thank you for that and, you know, Harold I am praying for you and definitely wishing you great luck in your marathon and have a wonderful day.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Kim in recovery. I just wanted to pray for Michael. I heard you Michael and I just want to say that Lord, I just want to thank You for Michael’s heart for his mom as Diana is going through this struggle of her life Lord that she has this brain tumor and Michael I just heard Your love and Your caring for Your mother and Lord I just want to encourage Michael to just continue to be with his mother and show her that love that he feels in his heart, that we know that we can depend on You Lord to comfort us when we most not know what to do. And Lord, pray that You’ll give him the strength to be that strong guiding light for his mom Lord and that we know that she’s safe in Your arms Lord. And we pray that You’ll…You’ll be with the doctors and be with the nurses and be with the people that are surrounding Diana and her…her family and especially Michael Lord, that sometimes You feel helpless in these situations, but Lord we know that he is strong. Michael, thank You for Your strength, thank You for Your love for Your mother. This will help her get through the toughest part of her life. And we pray for complete healing Lord and we know You can do miracles Lord. Bless this family and we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Father God, I’m heartbroken right now of all the situations that are going on. I heard yesterday of someone who gave up the fight and has left her friends and her family behind. And Lord, I lift up to You all of those who are in that deep darkness where they can’t see a way out, all those who have a mountain before them that they can’t see past. Lord, please be shining Your light and Your love into their lives. Please be surrounding them with people who can help them. I think this person who knew You and who had those people, that she didn’t ask for help or she couldn’t ask for help. And I pray Lord that You would help us to ask for help, to reach out, soften our hearts Lord so that we are ready to reach a hand towards You, to reach a hand towards those around us who are waiting and so, so willing to help us through. Thank You, Lord that You love us. Thank You that You are sovereign, and we can trust You to provide. Thank You for this day. And thank You for the manner that You’ve provided for us for this day. Lord we want to be ready for tomorrow and to store things up but that’s not how You work. You’ll provide stuff for us tomorrow as well. And we have so many burdens that were carrying. Please Lord, help us to give all of those burdens to You and entrust them to You so that we may take up Your burden for its easy light. Thank You that we can trust You. Thank You that You love us. Thank You that Your sovereign. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Shirley and southeastern Washington I was listening to Daily Audio Bible this is January 16^th and I want to say thank you to Brian and Joe for this ministry. I was listening to the prayer requests and I was just praying for Diana Davis who had called, who needs healing, she has brain cancer and just as I was doing that her son Michael called. And, so, Michael I just want to let you know it’s Shirley in southeastern Washington has been praying since I heard your mom’s prayer request and praying for you and your brother. And I’m joining you in prayer for your prayer request, that God gives her more time and that she’ll be completely healed. There is nothing impossible with God. So, I’m joining you Michael in this prayer. God’s will be done. And I pray that you guys will keep us posted as to what is going on and just thank you. Just know that I’m praying with you. God bless you all. Thank you DAB family for being here and praying for…for one another. I have a prayer request also, that you pray for healing in my body also in my husband’s. Nothing is impossible with God. Thank you. God bless. Bye.

Genesis 42:18-43:34, Matthew 13:47-14:12, Psalms 18:16-36, Proverbs 4:7-10

Today is the 21^st day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward through the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis we’re following the story of Joseph right now who is the great grandson of Abraham, and who has been sold or trafficked into slavery by his brothers, only to become the second in command of all of Egypt because he interpreted a dream that foretold of a coming famine and that has all come true. So, these very brothers who had sold their own brother into slavery are now before that brother not knowing who he is because…because they need food. But Joseph has accused them of being spies and has kept them under arrest for several days. He has not revealed who he is. He’s observing them. He’s seeing where their hearts are and that’s where we pick up the story. Genesis chapter 42 verse 18 to 43 verse 34 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve been moving along pretty quickly and really tracking the stories of Genesis as well as following in the footsteps of Jesus in the book of Matthew as well as the Psalms and Proverbs. And, so, we’ve covered a lot of ground in a pretty short amount of time so far this year and we’ve focused on the teachings of Jesus a lot. So, let’s just look at what we’re reading in Genesis right now with the story of Joseph because the story systematically shows us all kinds of valid and legitimate reasons to…to fall off the cliff into depression and bitterness and anxiety and then by the time we get to where we are in the story…every…everybody’s being exposed here. So, Joseph was this young man and it does appear that in his youth he had some of the arrogance of youth, some of the fearlessness of youth, and the mouth of a young boy in his teens. He had been a favored son. So, he was raised up as a beloved son. So, it’s like he has a charmed childhood, but his older brothers are jealous, and we know this from the Scriptures. And, so, we know how the story goes. Joseph has dreams. He shares his dreams. That further causes his brothers to hate him and even causes some problems with his dad. And then Joseph goes to check on his brothers and this is when his brothers decide to go to kill him and just be done with it and, not have to hear this…this kids dreams and his arrogance and all…just all of the favoritism…just all of the stuff they’ve been enduring, they’re done with it. What happens is that Joseph is thrown into a pit and then subsequently sold into slavery. We like…we…we can gloss over it, right? Because it’s a story from the flannel board when we were in Sunday school. And, so, Joseph, being sold into slavery just happens so quick and then the next thing you know he’s in Egypt. But this is a boy, a young man in his teens, and from the confession that we heard in today’s reading from his brothers, he was terrified. He was begging. Like he was looking at the only people he knew, and they were his blood relatives and they were sending him off. They just sold him for money and now he’s bound up on a wagon being hauled away further into the desert toward Egypt and he’s looking back at his brothers, terrified. So, this is a boy who is grown-up, protected and nurtured and his life as he knew it came to a sudden and abrupt, end. Even though he was still alive, like the life that he knew and people that he knew and the surroundings and everything that was normal for him was over. And it’s a long journey down to Egypt. And, so, there were weeks for Joseph to contemplate his situation. And he gets to Egypt and he’s sold again. If anybody has a right to fall into depression, right, if anybody has a right to cry injustice, if anybody has a right to say they are being oppressed or that their life has become supremely unfair it would be Joseph because it’s true. Like he has every right to these things. He’s not just being self-absorbed and selfish and feeling sorry for himself. This stuff is really happening and it’s awful. He just…that’s the thing that’s missing from this story though. That’s the weird thing about it. That bitterness and that depression that he has a right to is missing from the story other than his deep longing to get out of the predicament that he’s in. He trusts God as he goes to work for Potiphar. He honors God as he runs away from Potiphar’s wife. And the Bible says Joseph is a good-looking guy. Like his countenance…like he’s handsome and he’s well-built. So, Potiphar’s wife wants a little of that action. And Joseph’s a young man. So, like normally in that kind of a scenario, the young man’s like a pretty willing accomplice. Joseph’s not. He understands…like he was able with wisdom to look at the whole situation and realize, “she may be a woman and she may be throwing yourself at me a and she may be attractive, but she’s not available. I am in command of this house and the only thing off-limits is her.” And, so, he…he…he doesn’t betray his master, which throws him into the dungeon falsely accused of a crime that he wouldn’t participate in. So, if anybody again has the right to these kinds of deep anguishing feelings, it’s Joseph. It’s just missing from the story. And, so, Joseph sets about doing everything that he can in the situation that he’s in to do his best and after the same fashion he becomes in charge of the prison. So, Joseph has become a leader everywhere he’s been when he has every right to just sit and languish in his depression at the injustice. Like, he could spend his life rightfully crying injustice, but instead he becomes a leader everywhere he goes, because according to the Scriptures he trusted in God. And, so, we know the story leads him out of the dungeon because he interprets a dream for Pharaoh. We know that…I mean in the space of 24 hours it seems that Joseph goes from a desperate person who may be a leader, but he’s leader of the dungeon and he is a resident of the dungeon. He goes from that place, kind of in the dark, underground, hidden completely, forgotten, utterly hopeless, he goes from that to being second command in Egypt in like the space of a day. And we can see in Joseph because he was just a young man when all this began, he was in his teens when this began. But we see that over the course of the years of him growing up without…I mean without anyone to guide him that he becomes very observant and very wise. And, so, when his brothers show up, he doesn’t take revenge and he doesn’t just expose who he is and have a family reunion either. He observes. Because now Joseph has learned about the heart of a person. And, so, before he makes a judgment about his brothers and his family he watches to see where their hearts are. Of course, we’re not done with the story. Joseph is able to see his…his full blood brother Benjamin and we’re seeing that Joseph is have…having a pretty hard time holding it together. Seeing them again is just rocking his world in a lot of ways. And that’s where we are in this story. We’re not done with this story. There’s much more to the story but that’s where we are. And the first part of this story really gives us an opportunity to look at the things that, you know, that that we’re depressed about or the things that we’re in anguish about or that we’re facing anxiety over and then just contrast that with Joseph’s story. Not to compare. Like Joseph’s story is a pretty tough story. Not too many people could top a story like that. It’s not a story to make you feel small because you have lesser problems, but they seem to be taking you out. So, just look at Joseph and how strong he is. That’s really not the point. The point is that through it all somehow Joseph navigated without becoming bitter toward God through all of it. And the things that were happening to Joseph are the things that would for sure estrange us from God were they to happen, which is funny because we read the story and God didn’t do any of this. And it helps us to look at what we’re blaming God for in our own lives that He had nothing to do with, He’s just getting the blame. It also gives us a chance to look at where we’ve sat down…like what are we wallowing in right now? Where are we wallowing? Because it’s fine, we can wallow there as long as we like, but that’s all we will ever be doing is wallowing there. Joseph’s story would be a completely different story if that were his story if he just…like he made it to the dungeon and he was like, “what the heck? This woman threw herself at me. She’s taking off her clothes. I’m trying to get out of there. I have to leave some of my clothes. I didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t be in this dungeon.” He could’ve wallowed there for the rest of his life. Somehow Joseph was able to have the long view and it would do us some real good inside if we would begin to get the long view. What we are wallowing in right now is temporary. Everything is temporary. Everything is changing. It’s a constant. We’re being pulled forward, but we can fight to stay where we are and defend why we’re so depressed and anxious and all of the things that go on. We can fight to protect that, which only reveals to us that our wounds and our hurts, we’re using them to create an identity, one that’s gonna keep us from moving forward, one that’s gonna keep us stuck. That’s the ingredient that’s missing from this Joseph story and it changes the story dramatically as we’ll see as we continue forward.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another day in Your word and we thank You for all that You are revealing to us through Your word and all of the insight You are giving us into our own souls, into our own lives and the motives and the why’s of how we do what we do. We thank You. And, so, we take heed what the proverb told us today, that the beginning of wisdom is to want it, to get it, to go after it. And whatever we get, we are to get insight. And, so, Holy Spirit we’re not really capable of spotting all the insights along way. All of the wisdom that’s flowing throughout the earth, we’re not able in our own strength to be successful. We need Your guidance. And, so, Holy Spirit, well up within us we pray. Come into all of these issues we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected. I

I have mentioned on a number of occasions the Daily Audio Bible Shop. I mention it because there are resources that…that…that really become friends for the journey as we make the journey through the Scriptures in a year. And, so, check that out.

While you’re at it, you can visit the Prayer Wall. That is in the Community section.

All these things can be gotten or accessed through the Daily Audio Bible app as well. That is a great place.

You know, one of the things we were just talking about, sliding off into the world of depression and anxiety and injustice and all of this and just kind of contrasting that with Joseph’s story. Joseph obviously kept busy at something. He didn’t just show up in the dungeon and become the leader. He didn’t just show up in Potiphar’s house and become the leader. He obviously lived into that, which means that he didn’t just sit down and quit and…and…and basically just get swallowed by the darkness. He had to turn his focus outward in order to do this. And one of the ways that we do this, and it’s unbelievable in the way that it can help us with what overwhelms us, is to turn our focus away from ourselves and to our brothers and sisters understanding that we are all in this together. We are all going through stuff. We can hide it all we want. I don’t understand. I mean like…the whole world is hiding and pretending to be like more perfect than we are. We are all going through all of these things. If we begin to realize we’re not alone and we focus our attention on others, it’s profound what that does inside of us. And we’re a community of prayer. And the Prayer Wall is a place to go for that as well as all the calls that come in. If you are low, there’s somebody to pray for who is lower and it’s remarkable what that does inside of us. So, check that out. The Prayer Wall lives in the Community section or just press the little Drawer icon in the app in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage and I thank you profoundly for your partnership.

And if you have a prayer request or comment, you can dial 877-942-4253 or just press the little Hotline button, the little red button at the top of app and you can start…start sharing from there.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is for Harold in St. Louis. Brother, thank you for calling in. I’ve been a member of Daily Audio Bible for about 11 years and I’ve never called in until this moment and it’s because of you. Just hearing your story and hearing how you found Daily Audio Bible. Don’t think its happenstance that you called in and that you’re actually embarking on training for a marathon. This is what this is all about. This is what this whole Christian walk is and walk of believers is taking it step-by-step. And God has His interesting ways of whispering that you’re in the right direction. And brother you are. you’re in the right direction, you’re in flow, you’re in step. So, as you’re training for the marathon, see this whole year of listening to the Daily Audio Bible the same way and just know that already you’ve had an impact on this community, you’ve had an impact on me. You got me to call and share that because it’s important. And, you know, I just want to say congratulations brother and you’ve really found the greatest treasure by finding the DAB. You know, looked up Harold and I know it’s not…I know you spell HAROLD, I’m sure but I almost…it made me think of Hark the Herald and just know that the definition of Harold is a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen. So, know that something great is about to happen for you this year and you’re already a blessing. So, all right marathon Harold. God bless. Bye.

This is Bonnie from Maryland and this call is for Diana Davis. I heard your call on January 14^th that there’s nothing more they can do for your cancer and I am so very sorry. I have been praying for you since I heard your story a couple of months ago and I want to pray again now. Dear Father God in heaven I ask that You be with Diana and with Michael and Elijah. I ask that You give them the peace that surpasses all understanding that only You can give. I pray for Diana, that the doctors will be able to keep her comfortable and as pain-free as possible at this time. And I pray for her children, Michael and Elijah. I pray most of all that they would be able to stay together and never be separated. I ask that You give Michael the resources and the wisdom and the strength needed to keep Elijah and take care of him. And that family and friends would come and help them and surround them with love, surround them with emotional support, physical support, financial support. Whatever their needs are, that they would help and guide them. And I pray that they will feel Your love and Your peace and Your presence enveloping them and that they continue to grow in their relationship with You. Just be with them all Lord at this time that is so difficult in Jesus’ precious and holy name we pray. Amen.

Hi, it’s His Welsh girl again, 15^th of January. Brian, just thank you so much for your…your commentary today. It was so enlightening, and it helped me to understand the passage in Matthew where Jesus is saying about, He’s not come to bring us peace. And I’ve never really understood it, but you really helped me today. So, thank you. And I wanted to say hello to Harold doing the Chicago marathon training. It just made my heart glad to hear you phoning in. And, yeah, I just want you to know that that difference in your life, you know, that you feel happier and more at peace, that is God’s peace and He wants you and He loves you and I just, yeah, brilliant that you rang in. Diana, I heard your message yesterday and I felt so heartbroken and I’ve been praying that God will give you His peace about Elijah and Michael and reassurance about them, that something miraculous will happen so that you feel reassured that God is so close to you. And I pray for your courage and strength for you to. And I just wanted to say hi to Blind Tony. I just found a poem that I wrote out a few years ago of yours and it starts, “I immerse myself within myself and find myself in you.” It’s just such a great…it’s brilliant. It took me ages to write it out…but I just read it again and it’s brilliant. So, thank you Blind Tony. Okay, lots of love to you all. Bye.

Hi DAB brothers and sisters this is Byron out in Florida. I just want to give a shout out to a couple people I heard on the podcast today. To Harold you called in and had discovered the podcast as an alternative to a couple of other more mainstream items and are training for a marathon and talking about how the Bible is just totally changing you. I think that’s pretty awesome. I’ve been listening to the DAB for, I don’t know, eight or nine years now and your story’s probably one of the coolest that I’ve heard. And, so, keep on with it. Keep letting the Bible speak for itself and you’ll see how it will change you inside out. But I just wanted to welcome you to the community and hope that we get to hear more from you. Right after you called, Janet in SoCal you called and you just __ little things that happened to you in the morning. And I just want to thank you for sharing that. It’s so often in Christian-dom, even in our community where were focused heavily on the struggle and pains of life because life is a struggle and life is painful but that’s not all it is, it’s also fun, it’s also funny. And you quoted a proverb which I always thought was funny about greeting your neighbor with a cheery voice but there’s also another proverb that says laughter does good like a medicine. I just wanted to thank you for filling my prescription today. And love you all. Talk to you later. Bye.

Hello DAB family this is Shante calling from Metro Detroit and I just heard Harold’s call. Harold who is an unbeliever from St. Louis is training for the Chicago marathon. I just wanted to say, Harold thank you so much for listening and thank you so much for calling in. I’m just…I don’t know…I’m just really encouraged by your call and just grateful that you gave the Daily Audio Bible a chance and…and that you’re experiencing the benefits of feeling peace, the peace of God’s word. And, yeah, you know, I listen to a lot of podcast myself and…and yeah, that is definitely one of one of the wonderful qualities of the Daily Audio Bible, it’s just a great way to start your day. And…and also if you stay listening with us, and I pray you will, later on in the year we’ll get to Hebrews and it will talk about running with perseverance the race marked out for you or it’ll say for us. And, so, that’s just a little, you know, runner’s analogy. But, you know, I’m praying that your training goes well for the Chicago marathon. That’s a fantastic goal to have. And, yeah, we’ll be praying for you. So, all right everyone that’s all I have for today. Talk to you all later. Bye-bye.

Hi this is Marsha from Monument Colorado and I’m calling in today for three people that have called in in the last few days with prayer request and comments. The first person is Harold in St. Louis. I just want to say thank you so much for your call today. You have no idea how much your call encouraged me, and no doubt thousands of people that heard your call. So, thank you for calling in and I want to let you know that I am praying for you. I’m praying for your upcoming marathon and just praying for you in general and I’m hoping that you will call back and keep us posted on how the Daily Audio Bible podcast is affecting your life. I’m really anxious to hear. The next person is Kathleen in Mount Zion Illinois. You called in about her daughter who lives in Dubai with brain lesions and how much you want to be with her at this time and I just want you to know that I am praying for that. Yeah. And then the next person is Diana Davis. Diana I’ve been praying for you for a long time. I’ve heard probably most of your calls and I’m continuing to pray for your total healing and that your request that Elijah and Michael will be able to stay together. You have such a beautiful heart as a mother and I just know that the Father’s heart is so tender. He’s heard your prayers and I just want you Diana to be encouraged today and thank you for your call. And then lastly, I just want to say one more time, I’m always saying how thankful I am for the Daily Audio Bible and how much it’s changed…

Hi, DABbers it’s Carla Jean from Las Vegas calling because the last six months has pretty much been hell. I lost my job, I’m homeless, my kids are all kind of freaking out. My oldest daughters not speaking to me or her father since our divorce last January. And my son Noah is in the middle of a mental health crisis and I’m driving to lose it with him. I’m fearful for my own safety because he doesn’t sound very safe. So, I’m asking for prayers for that. My youngest daughter and her husband came to visit us at Christmas, and they stole from us. And I have a 14-year-old who is wonderful. But I’m just…I’m losing my faith guys. How has God not shown up yet? Please pray for me and pray for my kids, especially please pray for Noah, that whatever it is that’s going on he can get the help that he needs or maybe me just being there is going to be a help. I don’t know. I need you guys. Love you.

Genesis 41:17-42:17, Matthew 13:24-46, Psalms 18:1-15, Proverbs 4:1-6

Today is January 20^th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a wonderful honor to be here with you today as we, you know, reach out our foot, and take another step that leads us forward, forward in life, and forward through the year, and forward through the Scriptures. And when it comes to the Scriptures, every step that we take forward also leads us a step deeper. So, it’s a joy to be here taking the next step forward, which will lead us back into the book of Genesis. And we have begun to camp out in this story that is…is certainly an intriguing narrative, but this story is also revealing our hearts to ourselves and there are poignant things for us to learn from this character that we’re reading about named Joseph, who has been human trafficked by his own family. He was purchased as a slave and then falsely accused. So, he’s been thrown into a dungeon where he stayed for years. And then the next thing you know he’s standing before the Pharaoh of Egypt in an attempt to interpret a dream. You can only imagine that kind of culture shock for Joseph. I think about him in a dungeon for years and then the next thing you know there’s guards going like, “take a bath, get a shave you’re going in front of Pharaoh.” And he’s humble before Pharaoh. Pharaoh wants the dream interpreted and he’s like, “I can’t. Only God can do that.” And that’s where we pick up the story. We’re reading from the English Standard version this week. Genesis chapter 41 verse 17 through 42 verse 17.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s go into the book of Matthew for a second. So, Jesus has told a number of stories in our readings today, stories that are called parables. They’re wisdom teachings. But in today’s teachings, the stories Jesus is talking about is intended to reveal something in particular, the kingdom of heaven. And what Jesus is doing is revealing to his hearers that something that they are looking for, this kingdom in particular, is something that already exists. It’s not something that they are waiting to come onto the horizon. It’s something that is already happening. They just don’t have eyes to see it because there spirituality has become about obeying a set of rules and ethics, and regulations. And, so, Jesus tells common but disruptive stories that you’re not exactly sure what He’s getting at, which is why the people and the disciples ask Him. So, let’s just kind of look here, the kingdom of heaven…we should be actually interested in this because we’re basically…we’re longing for the same thing, this fullness, this wholeness, this kingdom, that all things would be made new and that all things would be as they are supposed to be. So, Jesus words about the kingdom of heaven should set our hearts on fire too because this is what we’re longing for. So, He says the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but when his men were sleeping, there was an enemy that came and sowed weeds in with his good seed. And, so, when this crop started to come up, it became apparent that the seed that had been sown was good but there are all of these weeds sown in among this…this good crop. And, so, the servants are asking, “what we do? How did this happen? What are we supposed to…do we pull the weeds? Like what are we supposed to do?” And the master says, “let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I’ll tell the reapers together the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned and then gather the wheat into my barn.” That story is an illustration from Jesus the Savior to illustrate the kingdom of heaven. And, so, if we look at the story what do we would do we glean if we’re gonna stick with this metaphor? What do we get out of this story that gives us something we can understand about God’s kingdom? What we can begin to understand is that it is a growing and that it is happening and it’s all mixed in. There’s all of this other stuff that’s not the kingdom growing up around it, even to try to choke it, but it remains in and among everything. It’s here in and among all of the bad. So, one of our words for this year was vision, which is an obvious word for 2020. But it’s specific. What if we looked for this kingdom? Like, if Jesus is telling us the truth. If He’s not telling us the truth then we should close the book, right? Close the book and use this time for other things. But if He’s telling us the truth and I am convinced that He is, then this kingdom isn’t something we’re supposed to be waiting for, it’s something that’s happening right now, and we should be looking for the evidence of that everywhere. We live in a world that is highly crafted and designed to reveal to us what we are lacking and then to attempt to provide the answer to that problem at a purchasable price. Like, this is the world we live in. The entire system is to show us what’s wrong and how we can buy what’s right. If that is where and how we live our entire lives, then we do not have eyes to see a kingdom that is here and happening right now. But what if we did have eyes to see and ears to hear? And have we ever intentionally tried to cultivate that? Eyes to see and ears to hear of…of this kingdom that Jesus is revealing. He went on and told another story. The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It’s the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows it’s larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. It’s a small thing that keeps growing and growing and growing where it is so that at some point it sustains life. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up and then in his joy sold everything he had to buy that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who, on finding one, one pearl of great value, went and sold everything he had to buy that pearl. So, what are we getting here? We’re getting that there is a kingdom for those with eyes to see it. It’s here. It’s happening in and among everything else if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. And when we find it it is worth selling everything we have in order to have it. I mean, I can just look at my own life. I’ve looked at my own life over the years and I realized that I live as if this kingdom exists, but most of the time I live as if it’s something yet to come. It’s what I’m striving for, it’s what I’m enduring for. I’m waiting for this point at which I can have this experience, right? I think…I think that’s the condition of the modern church. Like that’s kinda how we normally live. Jesus words should be just as disruptive to us as they were to His hearers because the same kinds of things were going on. They believed that something would happen but hadn’t. And, so, they were hoping for this Messiah, for this restoration to come when Jesus comes and says, “this is already underway. This is already going on. You’ve just been blinded to it. But if you have eyes to see and ears to hear you might hear the whisper on the wind.” Jesus wasn’t just trying to talk of just new things that…that were happening, he was talking of things that had been happening all along. And according to the Scriptures this is one of the reasons he used parables. I’m just reading from Matthew. “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” So, what Jesus is revealing is something ancient and hidden since the foundation of the world. And what Jesus is revealing is the kingdom of heaven. In other words, we may be waiting for something that’s already happening. We may not have eyes to see. So, at least for me, for me, trying to live into vision this specific kind of vision where I…where I see the kingdom in action instead of the evil like a tidal wave swarming over us. I wanna see the pushback. I wanna see God at work at all times in all places and in all things. And I know I’m not alone. I know you long for that too. What we may be missing is that it’s not a future thing, it’s a now thing, a now thing that will stretch into the future forever and ever. I want to find my heart, my mind, my life, my soul in alignment with that flow, the unstoppable march forward of the kingdom of heaven. And if what it takes is eyes to see, then I want them.

Prayer:

Father, Jesus, we’re asking for eyes to see and ears to hear Your kingdom because now we’ve come far enough into our journey and heard enough of Your words to understand that You are describing this same world that we live in viewed from a completely different perspective and if we can find ourselves seeing from that perspective, becoming aware of Your vision, the way You see things, then the world and our circumstances and the date and time that it is, and how we’re feeling, and what we’re wearing, those things won’t change, but our eyes will have been opened and we will see. And we pray that we won’t be able to un-see, that once we’ve seen we can’t stop seeing Your kingdom’s advancement in this world and our place in it, that we might find great courage to be Your hands and feet in this world. Come Holy Spirit into all of that we pray on the authority and by the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can, and in any way that you want to.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop is available with resources for this journey. The Prayer Wall is there. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we’re doing here just bringing God’s word read fresh every day in the we get to kinda gather around this Global Campfire and allow it to wash into our lives, if that’s a life-giving thing to you, then…then thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. So, thank you. So, there’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, just hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that is 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 Daily Audio Bible this is Dacia from Austin Texas and I don’t normally call in to pray. This one just kind of kicked me in the gut and I just want to pray for Diana Davis who has cancer, who has the two boys with autism. I have two boys with autism, and this is just…wrenched my soul. Lord I just pray that You would be with Diana and that You would calm her and soothe her like You did Hagar, that You’re going to take care of her sons. Lord I pray that You would enable Elijah and Michael to stay together and that they know that You care for them and that You will protect them Lord and I pray that You place angels around them and her Lord. Calm her and give her peace. And Lord, You know, You can do the unthinkable and You can do hard things. And, so, we pray that if it’s You’re will that You would heal Elijah and Michael and that they would be able to take care of themselves and have a good life and know You the way You want them to know You. And I thank You that You hear our prayers. And thank You for loving us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Verlyn from Alberta and it’s January 14^th I’ve just heard the lady call in that has cancer has two autistic boys and got really bad news and I just want to pray for you today. God I just thank You for this podcast and I thank You for this community. And Lord You said that if we have great faith as small as a grain of a mustard seed that You will move mountains. And God my faith is growing. I just want to lift her up and her boys up, her to autistic boys and I want to just ask You to answer her prayer that You keep her boys together. And God I ask for healing for her, a miracle healing would be awesome. I know You could do it. However, if You’re going to call her home, if You’re gonna heal her by calling her home to see You God I just pray that You will give her peace, that You know about her two boys, You know her two boys and You will take care of them. That’s what You do for Your kids. And, so, I just pray that You will just fill her with Your spirit of peace and not of confusion and let her know that You got this. Thank You, Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen.

Good evening DABbers my name is Mike I’m in Texas long-time listener I’ve been listening for about 12 years now. I have not called in before. I didn’t feel I had a need. Today we just got word that my daughter of 33 years has breast cancer. I’m asking for prayer for my family that I’ve prayed for and listen to that all this time. Thank you very much. I’ll keep you posted as much as I can. Bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family I’m just calling in to welcome the gentleman that called today, January 15^th into our family, the one that is training for the Chicago Marathon I think he said. I’m not gonna rewind and get his name. I’m just so thankful that he called in and bore his soul and heart with us. And I don’t know if he’s heard before the saying that we say around here, give it a year and you will look in the mirror and the December 31, 2020 and you won’t see the same person. I am so excited to hear what he has to say December 31^st. So, welcome, welcome, welcome to our family. Thank you. Thank you. Bye now.

Hi Daily Audio family this is Karen from Hemet and I got so excited, this is January 15^th when I heard Harold call in. Harold is training for the marathon and I just got so excited to hear that he has included Daily Audio Bible in his training and right away I thought of first Corinthians 10. Let me find it. Okay, no, it’s 9, first Corinthians 9:24. Harold this is just for you. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the game goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and I make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the praise…for the prize. You know Harold, you are running two races. Having the discipline of Daily Audio Bible every day in your life, opening your heart to the truth of God, that is the greatest race you’re ever gonna run. And you’re going to get the wall many times where you’re gonna wonder what does this have to do about my life? I say key, keep running both races. Harold we’re gonna be on the sidelines cheering for you.

This is Lori in Texas I’m calling in response to a prayer request from Diana Davis and she has learned that her cancer has spread to her brain. She’s seeking prayer on behalf of her two autistic boys, Elijah and Michael, that…that they could stay together. And Diana, you really touched me, and I am lifting you up in prayer. Father, holy heavenly good and merciful Father I pray that You would give my sister Diana peace of mind, that You would give her Your incredible comfort, that You would assure her, that You will direct the paths of these boys, and that You will keep them together, that they can be a help and a comfort to one another and I pray father that You would walk through this valley with her to keep her under the shelter of Your wing, that You would give her heart and mind the peace that passes all understanding. Father we know You hear our prayers and we know there are so many others that are joining and to pray for this thing. Father with You nothing is impossible, and You are…You are Jehovah Jira, You are a great provider and I’m just believing what You’re going to make happen for Elijah and Michael and Diana. I ask for Your blessings over this and I ask it in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Good morning friends this is Jen in SoCal, a.k.a. Prayer Warrior Princess. It’s Wednesday, January 15

^th

. Harold in St. Louis, my brother I was so excited to hear your call this morning. I am a fellow marathoner and something you said struck my…my heart so much because my first marathon many years ago, I’m five foot four and at that time I was 183 pounds and I was so scared I was going to starve to death running all those miles I packed so much. I looked like a kangaroo. I had a bunch of pouches and pockets. I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in one of my pockets. And as I ran that marathon I started throwing things off left and right to the point where I threw…I pulled everything out of the pockets and then I pulled off the jacket and all the layers just getting every piece of weight off of me that was encumbering me and since that race, Hebrews 12:1 has been a life first for me. It says let us throw off every weight that hinders us. And when you are talking about the other podcasts that weighed you down, I smiled with so much joy thinking of how that is happening in your life in a similar way. So, I looked up your marathon is Sunday, October 11. I am totally praying for you Harold and I wish you the best. And I pray today that though you be afflicted you shall not be crushed. Any lactic acid filled muscles sweat stained brows desperate for oxygen on hills and speed work days, through all of this suffering toward your noble goal, Harold I pray that your body would reveal the heart of God for you the love and joy that he takes in you and He’s so proud of you. We’re glad you’re here Harold. Let us know how it’s going. Bye.

Genesis 39:1-41:16, Matthew 12:46-13:23, Psalms 17:1-15, Proverbs 3:33-35

Today is the 19^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you as we begin a new week. And this is the third beginning of a new week already in this new year. And, so, we…we…we’re definitely moving along at a good clip, and it’s always nice at the beginning of a new week to realize that it’s a new beginning. It’s a fresh start. All the days that are out in front of us that will make up this week, we haven’t lived into those yet so, we can decide in advance even though there are plenty of unknown things that we will face in the coming week, we can decide in advance what the posture of our heart will be. And one of the ways that we do that is to just invite the Scriptures to speak into our lives, which is the purpose of us meeting here every day around this Global Campfire. So, we’ve got a brand-new week. This week we’ll read from the English Standard Version and we’ll be picking up where we left off yesterday. So, in the Old Testament we’ve got this story and we’re gonna settle into it. It’s essentially the story of Abraham’s great grandson Joseph who is the son of Jacob, whose name has become Israel. So, Joseph is one of Israel’s children. And he’s young man. He’s got older brothers. He’s a little on the arrogant side it appears. He has dreams. He’s definitely a dreamer, but he’s definitely a young man, right? So, he doesn’t exactly have all of his manners and…and wisdom in communication. So, he has dreams and these dreams seem to indicate that his family will one day be bowing down before him, which certainly doesn’t go well with his older brothers and it really doesn’t go that well with his father. Joseph’s kind of the favored one because he was born to his wife, Rachel, and he loved her, and he was a child that she longed for. And, so, he’s a favored child and his mom is passed away. And, so, I mean all of that kinda comes together and his brothers just don’t like him. And in the end, they take him and we…we see the first clear depiction of human trafficking in the Bible. Joseph was sold into slavery, trafficked by his own family, by his own brothers. And, so, he ends up in Egypt and that’s where we pick up the story. Genesis chapter 39 verse 1 through 41 verse 16.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for another day, another day in the rhythm that goes back many, many years and…and with your grace and mercy will continue on many days into the future, even years and years into the future nut we thank you for bringing us to this moment of time, where we cross the threshold into another week and we invite your Holy Spirit fully into everything about this week, everything about us. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear as we continue to open ourselves to you. Come Jesus we pray. In your mighty name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay up with what’s happening and check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, as well as I visit the Prayer Wall in the community section and pray for your brothers and sisters.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com there is a link on the homepage and I thank you, I thank you with all my heart 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 Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

And that is that’s it for today. Welcome to a new week. It’s going to be a great one. I am Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Genesis 37:1-38:30, Matthew 12:22-45, Psalms 16:1-11, Proverbs 3:27-32

Today is the 18^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we end a…end a week. This is actually…I’m looking at a calendar…this is the third weekend of this new decade. I guess I hadn’t realized that until just now. Nevertheless, we have set sail. We have moved all the way here 18 days on our journey and we will continue that journey today. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, which is today, and we have been working our way through the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose name became Israel. And now we’re going to pick up the story of Israel and Jacob’s son Joseph. So, today Genesis chapters 37 and 38.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another complete week together in Your word and starting to feel the rhythm of the year now, this new decade upon us, starting to settle in, which is one of the words that we spoke of this year. And, so, we ask that You help us to do that, to find within ourselves, amidst all of the disruption that the Bible can bring to us, that what’s really happening here is that what’s false is being shaken. And sometimes we didn’t even know it was false until it’s exposed. But there is the truth deep within us where You live where the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells and this place is true and we want to learn about this place within us, because this is the place that Your word speaks to. And, so, come Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. This is the promise the Scriptures give us, and we believe that You will. Lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. Come Holy Spirit 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. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected

The Community section of the website, and for that matter, the app, you can get all these sections in the Daily Audio Bible app by pressing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. And by the way, while we’re talking about this, I mean, over the years of the Daily Audio Bible there’s been different iterations of the app. The latest iteration is the one that we are really trying to move everybody into and onto because we have finally reached a place where so many of the technologies that we were building and dreaming and living into and having to come up with, finally, we have like an incredibly stable environment where, if you check a box that you listened, it checks the box. We even had problems with that last year. Like if you check that box, it’s checked, it’s done. Done deal. In fact, you check a box it’s checked on any device you are logged in. Like, so, I had a fun time playing with this. like logging in on the web player, then using the app and checking the checkbox that I’d listened to a certain day on the app and then watching it instantly appear on the computer. It’s like across the board, finally. So, I say all that to say, if you haven’t updated recently then go to your web store and look for Daily Audio Mobile app. You may see other Daily Audio Bible apps. Some of those other previous apps, they are being depreciated, they’re going away. Look for Daily Audio Bible mobile app. And even if that’s the app that you’re using, but you haven’t updated in a while, this most recent update that we’ve done back, actually back at the beginning of the year, is by far…I mean…what’s under the hood….the technology under the hood…is really what you’re gonna want to be using. So, update. How did I get on all that? Like I was talking about navigation. So, like, alright, back to the website or the app, go the Community section of the website, find a different links to different social media channels that we participate in, links to the Prayer Wall, like ways to stay connected and praying for one another and now we’re a couple weeks into this year. So, one of the rhythms that become apparent is that we’re a community that’s actually incredibly loving, incredibly accepting. Like everybody knows that we’re in this together and we’re all…like…we’ve decided to try to live in the truth, like Jesus is demonstrating for us, which means that…that we accept each other on…on the journey that were on knowing that we’re sharing some history together. And the best thing we can do is love one another, pray for one another, encourage one another. And, so, you know, that's…that’s the Prayer Wall and that’s the prayers that come in at the end every day. So, you know, kinda like a little bit of a discombobulated conversation, discussing all these things, but I think that’s really, I wanted to say is stay connected. That makes all the difference in the world on a journey like this. So, stay up to date and stay connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that lives on the homepage and I thank you profoundly and humbly 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 Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, this is Candace from Oregon. I love you Daily Audio Bible. Have I told you that lately? And Brian and Jill thank you so much. Oh Lord that none of us ever take for granted this amazing situation. I want to thank Rachel from Pennsylvania and everyone else who’ve been praying for me and my household. We were under terrible attacks. Starting in November, it went on all the way into January and made…the holidays were good…but this was sort of underlying it and very stressful. I think it’s much better now. Please pray. January 28^th, I have a beloved in law who might…who has to go to court and might end up doing some jail time. So, please pray that whatever is the best thing for this dear one will occur, be that jail time or not and that the judge and everyone he has to interact with will know how to point him in the right direction. Lord have your way. Also, please for my February 8^th piano recital, that all the students will do well and that the whole experience of taking these lessons will be part of drawing them into a relationship with the Lord Jesus. Thank you so much for your prayers and I am praying for all of you as well. May the Lord’s name be praised.

[singing starts] I will send out an army to find you in the middle of the darkest night. It’s true I will rescue you. I will never stop marching to reach you in the middle of the hardest fight. It’s true I will rescue you [singing ends]. Hey this is for Anonymous who called back on December 27^th and to anyone else who thinks since God’s so good and we’re so bad we’re not worthy and He doesn’t want anything to do with us, but like the song says He’s doing everything He can to get to us and He will rescue you. So, just a little encouragement.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Carla Jean from Las Vegas calling today asking you to pray for my son Noah. He’s 23 years old and has been fighting a spiritual battle most of his life. I keep thinking that God must have great plans for this boy for him to be so pursued by Satan. He’s 23 and he contacted me yesterday in the middle of an anxiety attack and we Facetimed for an hour trying to get him to seek help. He lives in a different state and he’s afraid because he has no health insurance and I told him I don’t care, just get the help you need, and I will take care of it financially. I’ve asked him if he wants me to come to him and he does not want me to go there. He is a sweet boy and I’m just…am asking you to storm heaven with me. Matthew 8:16 said many who were demon possessed were brought to him and He drove out the spirit with a word and healed all the sick. That’s my prayer for my son Noah and I’m praying for all of you who are fighting spiritual demons right now. May the Lord grant us all peace. Amen.

Some skim the surface while others dig deep
yet both of them say Your commandments they keep
one says confess and believe in your heart
and you shall be saved you’ll have a new start
and nothing and no one can take that away
salvation is yours, whatever may
but then the other one says action speaks louder than words
and faith without works is just air for the birds
if God is in your life then there should be some change
all things are new if they’re not something strange
but both of them say that Christ is the way
that judgment is coming and you should trust and obey
but yet and still both of them put others down
including each other the cycle just goes round
vicious in nature and not from our God
which they both claim to represent which really seems odd
traditions and customs leading to sin
the Sadducees and Pharisees all over again
what will it lead to where will it end
misleading the children of God is a terrible sin
though not by intention for they too are deceived
but that original serpent also fooled Eve
some skim the surface while others dig deep
yet both of them say your commandments they keep

blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Sherlock Washington and Kim and Michelle from LA. Hope you both are doing well and know you’re all in my prayers daily. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit flow. Keep it flown’ y’all. All right bye-bye.

Hello sweet DABber family this is Trusting Father in South Carolina. It is Sunday the 12^th about 4 o’clock in the morning and I’m a five-year listener, this is my second time calling in, the first time being about a year and a half ago when my daughter had an affair. Since then she divorced and went into another relationship, a real bad relationship and from that she is pregnant, and we have a precious little baby boy on his way in April. But also, in her family she has two other little boys, one is five and the other soon to be three and I’m asking prayer for her. She…I don’t even know how to put it into words, but she is…she is very confused. She is in a high-powered job and, you know, before she went into her affair, she and her husband were…you know…they like to party and…and I’m…I just…I don’t even know. I feel like her…she’s just messed up mentally, emotionally, physically and, of course spiritually. So, I need to also tell you this, that I have a son who’s an alcoholic and a recluse and he’s 34 years old and we have another daughter who’s been in a 10 year relationship with another woman and my husband has been depressed before we were even married when where we are age 19 and 20. So, it has been very intense here, especially lately. And I want to, I don’t know, I just felt very led to reach out just ask for your prayer and I’m just so grateful in knowing that Father’s faithful. And thank you so much.

Hello this is Duncan from Fredericksburg Texas. I’ve tried…I’ve been on here once at least, I know that. For the lady in South Carolina whose sister is…is in…is in ICU let me pray right now. Oh Father so many hurting people and there are many listening to this who are broken and hurting and at various stages of grief, various stages of anger, various stages of anything that’s not good. Father, I know I’ve been in…I’m still…the post-holiday __ or hardships of life are…are sometimes harder to deal with and especially Father for those of us who have lost loved ones as I have lost my wife back in October. Father just take care of…of this gal, just please touch her and heal. Father just raise up people, more people who will love her back…back to health. Father, I believe that can be done with encouragement and father with being ministered to and I just ask you to do that for this lady who is suffering from bipolar and is in the ICU. And for…I cannot remember names, so many of them. So, just take care of them Jesus. Thank you. Amen. And now, just for me. I request, I am a pianist, I am…just happened to be totally blind but that doesn’t stop me. I’m 73 years old that does not stop me either. And I will be going to upstate New York next weekend and then to Long Island and then finally back up to Buffalo. I leave Saturday the 27^th and then come back…no…Saturday the 18^th and then come back the 27^th then a player local gig on the 28^th. So, I just ask you to pray for me…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is J from Nashville. Got a little bit of a something going on with my throat, but I wanted to take a moment to pray for the people who just feel like they can’t catch a break. Heavenly Father, in the precious and mighty magical name of Jesus Christ, God we come before You this morning adoring You and lifting up the holy name of Jesus. Mighty God bless You as we confess of any sins that we may have committed knowingly or unknowingly. Lord we rest in Your forgiveness and we thank You for Your grace and mercy allowing us to come to You again and again receiving this precious gift that You give us. Father, we need You in this moment. We pray for Your comfort. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will give us wisdom and understanding in these times where we just feel like giving up, where You feel like all the odds are against us and we can’t find a single way out. Lord we ask that in these moments of despair, confusion, fear, we ask that You will remind us in a way that only You know how, that You are there and You will always be there and You are in control. We love You Father. We praise You Jesus. We glorify You God and we thank You. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. I love you family. I miss you. Until next time.

Genesis 35:1-36:43, Matthew 12:1-21, Psalms 15:1-5, Proverbs 3:21-26

Today is the 17^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you as we take the next step forward in the Scriptures, but the next step forward into the end of our week. We have already successfully passed the center of this month and the strangest thing will happen, we’ll just keep doing this and one day we’ll wake up and we’ll be passing through the center of June and we’ll say, “wasn’t it just January? Didn’t just start his voyage? But that’s what seems to happen as we just keep showing up every day, day by day, step-by-step being transformed as God’s word speaks to us. So, let’s get that. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week and we’ve been tracking with the story of Jacob, whose name has become Israel, which snaps a lot of things into place because Jacob or Israel has kids, those kids are his children, the children of Israel and we’re watching that take shape as we continue forward in the story of Jacob. So, today Genesis chapters 35 and 36.

Commentary:

Okay. In the book of Genesis, we’ve been watching the story of Jacob since he fled Esau, right? And, so, he goes to Laban, he requires a household and a family, he leaves Laban, he meets Esau, they make their peace. There is a ton of drama involved, but they make their peace. And then so then Esau takes his household and moves away. Jacob kind of moves into the Land. He had the birthright he had his father’s blessing. And although there was a time that this was some mortal conflict and looked like somebody was going to die, a couple of decades have past, the brothers have both prospered, Esau moves further east and in the same way that Jacob, his name becomes Israel we see that Esau’s name becomes Edom and he becomes the father of the Edomites. And we spent a good deal of time reading the ancestral line of the Edomites and we might be like, “well what…you know…I understand there’s gonna be genealogies in the Bible, I just hope that they would make some sense as far as why they’re there. And it does. It does. We just simply need to understand. This is Esau’s family. They’re brothers. So, like, the Edomites and the Israelites are literally blood relations coming from two blood brothers, the sons of Isaac. We’re getting a good look at them now, because later on they’re not going to be acting like brothers and that’s going to be a problem. In fact, such a problem that an entire book of prophecy, a small one, but an entire book of prophecy will be dedicated to this conflict. But won’t happen until we get toward the end of this year. So, let’s just kind of place a marker here after the same fashion that Jacob did, a little rock, a little marker here so that we can remember where we are in the story. Jacob and Esau. The Israelites and the Edomites.

Okay. Then we get into the book of Matthew and this week we sort of…we sorta hit a stride as we’re walking along through the gospel of Matthew and walking along with Jesus and observing His ministry and hearing what He is saying. And we got a distinct understanding and had plenty of time to talk about it this week about how backward…how backward the world seems to be or seemed to be in that time to the worldview that Jesus is describing in His ministry. He’s discussing and revealing a kingdom and His words, and His deeds have certainly captured the attention and set the hearts of His hearers on fire. People are following Jesus and what they thought of Jesus we get clues to that in the Gospels when they say things like, “nobody ever talked about this before” or “this man preaches like He has authority that it is unlike any of our other scribes and Pharisees and rabbis.” So, we get the benefit of hearing what Jesus is saying but we also get clues about how that was impacting people. And we’ve talked about Jesus teaching wisdom. We’ve talked about Jesus being a miracle worker at a prophet and…and being perceived this way as He reveals God’s kingdom. And although we know that Jesus did claim to be the way the truth and the life, and I for one believe that fully, that doesn’t seem to be the mission that He’s on, to convince everyone that He’s the way the truth and the life. The mission that He seems to be on is one in which a shift in the way the world is seen can occur in the hearts of people, a change in worldview or a change in awareness or even a change in consciousness so that they can wake up to realize that God is doing something in the world already. It’s not something to be waited for, it’s something to be participated in now. So, in today’s reading Jesus continues to minister and heal. I mean, He’s beginning to get into trouble over just about everything now because the religious people are picking at Him. So, today’s confrontation was over the Sabbath day. And He’s gonna be in trouble about doing things on the Sabbath day on a number of Sabbath days, but simply to illustrate the vast difference between Jesus view of the world and humanity and humanity’s view of themselves and of Jesus, all we need to do is read two verses that sum up our reading today. “Then he told the man, stretch out your hand. So, he stretched it out and it was restored as good as the other, but the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might kill him.” This illustrates how the light came into the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. And it was the religious leaders who missed it, the ones who should…the ones who should have saw it the most clear were the most blinded. And as we probably already know from the story of Jesus, we will see just how dark the darkness can be doing.

Then we get into the Psalms today, Psalms chapter 15, and there’s these questions that we want answers to. “Who can dwell in your tent”, right? So, “who gets to live in your house? Who gets to be in your presence Lord? Who gets to live on your holy mountain?” And the questions are answered, “the one who lives blamelessly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in his heart, who does not slander with his tongue, does not harm his friend or discredit his neighbor, who despises the one rejected by the Lord, but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his word, whatever the cost or does not lend his silver at interest or take a bribe against the innocent. The one who does these things will never be shaken.” Now we could go like, “okay. there’s my list, that’s what I need to live into.” And there are lots of lists like this in the Bible of things that we ought to live into and…and we should: however, if we just go like, “alright. Well here’s my first list. I’m going to try to live into this this week” and we write these characteristics down and by brute force we try to harness ourselves to be successful at this, we’re gonna find that we won’t be successful, we will eventually fail because what we have going on here is the Bible speaking to us inwardly and us often processing it in ways outwardly. That's…that’s nothing more than rearranging the furniture in our lives, but not actually changing anything. So, David says, “who can dwell in your tent? The one who lives blamelessly, practices, righteousness and acknowledges the truth in his heart.” Let’s work backwards on this. The one who acknowledges the truth in his heart. If there’s one thing that we’re seeing in the gospel of Matthew right now in the person of Jesus it is someone who is true in his heart. It’s actually that truth, that light that is causing problems for Him because as we talked about, truth will set you free but not before it confronts what is false. So, we go back to the Psalm. “Who can live in your tent?” The one who acknowledges the truth in his heart. In other words, the one who will allow the voice of wisdom in the presence of the Holy Spirit to expose what is false. The one who practices righteousness will dwell in God’s presence. Practices righteousness. Not the one who has achieved mastery at being righteous in their own strength upon this earth. The one who practices righteousness. Alright. So, if we’re practicing righteousness and we are acknowledging the truth in our hearts then we got a good shot at a blameless life, but we’ve got a bunch of other characteristics we gotta live into, like the one that doesn’t slander with her tongue. “Alright. now I gotta control my tongue. The one who doesn’t harm his friend. “Well. I don’t normally do that but sometimes I might accidentally say something I shouldn’t.” The one who discredits his neighbor. They don’t get to be in God’s presence. “Well. I do that sometimes. Like we can go down this list but it's…it’s actually quite simple. If you practice righteousness and acknowledge the truth in your heart and live a blameless life, then you are walking in wisdom. And if you are walking in wisdom then you are also walking in love. And will often find that when we get these kinds of lists from the Bible none of the things that we should avoid are things that we can possibly do in love. So, for example, can you slander with your tongue in love? Can you harm your friend in love? Can you discredit your neighbor in love? In the name of Jesus can you take a bribe against innocent if you love them? So, there are all kinds of things in the Bible that can give us lists that are very helpful because they name things. And Paul does this a lot. But then we can, you know, we can get these lists and then feel like they are overwhelming characteristic behavior modification projects and it can get absolutely overwhelming when actually all we have to do is ask ourselves, “can I do this in love?” And that makes the lists really clear.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You for leading us this far even though we’re just beginning, leading us this far into the journey and we thank You for all of the things that You are already touching, the things that You are already beginning to move around inside of us and we open ourselves to You. We invite You to continue this process that we might be one who acknowledges the truth in our hearts, that we might practice righteousness, that we might live in this world in love, Your love flowing out through us into the world. And we are learning plenty about the voice of wisdom. And Proverbs speaks to us clearly today, to maintain sound wisdom and discretion, to never lose sight of them. We will lose sight of them without Your guidance. So, guide us Father because the Scriptures tell us that wisdom and discretion will be the light for us and adornment for our necks. We’ll be able to go safely on our way if we walk with wisdom and discretion. Our feet won’t stumble. When we lie down, we won’t be afraid. Our sleep will be pleasant and restorative. We won’t have to fear the suddenness of danger or the ruin of the wicked. You’ll be our confidence. You’ll keep our feet from snares if we are willing to maintain wisdom and discretion. Come Holy Spirit that is precisely what we want to do. Come Holy Spirit and show us how. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

I remind you that this, what you’re listening to right now is the Daily Audio Bible and we are working our way through the Bible in year but there’s also the Daily Audio Bible Chronological, a community of people led by my daughter China who are working their way through the entire Bible in a year, but in chronological order, in the order that the events happened. So that’s available.

I also…I mean…we’ve talked about wisdom quite a bit because the Bible does. And, so, we will throughout this year. And one of the greatest repositories of…of the outflow of wisdom would be the book of Proverbs. The Daily Audio Proverb is available, going through up a chapter a day and through the entire book of Proverbs in a month. It is a fantastic vitamin, like for your day. It takes…I don’t know…a couple…a few minutes…less than five minutes to pour unfiltered wisdom into your heart.

And the Daily Audio Psalm is also available. That’s about two minutes and it just kind of additionally works through the Psalms. So, there’s these…these communities going through the Bible in a year and there’s these vitamins along the way to just kind of reinforce the Scripture and its advice in our lives. And I mentioned all that kind of at the beginning of the year, but now we’re a couple weeks in, we moved through the halfway point of the first month, so we probably have the lay of the land a little. So, we can start thinking about, “okay. How do…where are the little places that I can put the Scriptures in…in my life so that yes, I hear from God’s word, but I’m continually setting up things in my life that remind me of my life and who I am and who I belong to and where this is all going. So, those resources are available. Check them out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link and it lives on the homepage and I thank you with all my heart 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 the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment you can just hit the Hotline button in the app, 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Genesis 32:13-34:31, Matthew 11:7-30, Psalms 14:1-7, Proverbs 3:19-20

Today is the 16^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue the voyages that we have begun just days ago. So, we have set sail and we are moving our way into and through the Bible this year. We’re working our way through the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, in book of Matthew in the New. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Today Genesis chapter 32 verse 13 through 34 verse 31. And we’re talking about Jacob right now. We have met Abraham. We have met Isaac. And now we are encountering the life of Isaac’s son Jacob who had to flee away from his brother Esau because of his conniving. Now he is on his way home and he has experienced the other side of his conniver-y with his…his uncle Laban. So, where we pick up the story, Jacob has left Laban and is returning to his family. It’s been two decades. Laban found out about it and chased him down and there was a confrontation and a treaty was made. Now Jacob is continuing south toward his family and he sent some servants out in front of them to make contact with his brother Esau. And Esau is now on his way to meet Jacob with 400 mercenaries. So..so, Jacob has split his camp into two hoping that if one gets attacked the other might have a chance of survival. And that’s where we are. Genesis chapter 32 verse 13 through 34 verse 31.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s a few things that we need to talk about in order to keep our place in the story and in order to keep the Bible speaking…speaking into our stories. So, in the book of Genesis, we’ve been working…working our way through the story of Jacob. Jacob’s on his way back toward where his family has been dwelling to the south and Esau finds out he’s on his way and before they all meet up there’s this really interesting story where Jacob wrestles with somebody and that somebody has been a point of theological conjecture for a long, long, long…centuries, where some biblical scholars would say he's…he’s actually wrestling with God, like actually wrestling with…with an embodied version of God on the earth. And other people would say, “no. He’s wrestling with his brother Esau who found him and them they kind of fought it out because later on Jacob’s like, “seeing you is like seeing the face of God.” And…and, you know, we could try to really dig deep there, but what happened there is what is so important to where the story is headed because Jacob who is the grandson of Abraham, right? So, Abraham has Isaac his son, who then has Jacob his son. Jacob does this wrestling match and then in the process is given a new name and that new name is important. That new name is Israel and that shift actually bestowed identity upon his children as well because…well…from this point forward, we will begin to start seeing them as one people, the children of Israel.

Okay. Then in Matthew we have to look underneath the surface and see how people are responding to Jesus teachings and what people are thinking about Him Because we can read it from a couple of thousand years into the future and just, you know, try to pull out Jesus good moral teachings, and, you know, people today can read Jesus and be like, “who…who doesn’t agree with all this?” But the people during Jesus time, they did not agree with all that he was saying, in part because Jesus was describing the plot behind the story. Like He’s describing how things really are and nobody comprehends it. He’s revealing a kingdom that nobody can see and yet He’s talking as they would have expected the Messiah to talk. So, we know that John announced the way and even baptized Jesus and we know that John was arrested, and he was imprisoned. And at the end of our reading yesterday he had sent some of his disciples to Jesus with an important question, “are you the one or should we be looking for somebody else”, which is a fascinating question when you were the prophet that announced the arrival of the Savior. So, now John’s in prison going, “is He the One?” Like…and that gives us a lot of clues about what people were expecting, including John. The idea of a restoration of the people to God, where they could come under their own governing rule and be their own sovereign people set apart to God once again, that was an old story. It hadn’t been that way for these people for a very, very long time. So, this…this person, this miracle worker, wisdom teacher, prophet figure named Jesus shows up on the scene. We know who He is so I’m not saying only a wisdom teacher or whatever, but they didn't…like…He shows up on the scene and He sets their hearts on fire, but they don’t fully comprehend. And even John is like, “hang on. Are you the one, because we were, you know, like, I want…I need somebody to bust me outta here in time for the revolution?” And Jesus says, “look. Go back and tell John what you’ve seen. Go tell Him what I’m doing, that the…the eyes of the blind are being opened and the ears of the deaf are being able to hear and the dead are being raised and good news is being told to the poor and disenfranchised people. Go…go tell him that.” So, Jesus is saying, “what do you mean am I the one? I’m revealing the kingdom. Everywhere I go the kingdom is revealed. The kingdom is touching people’s eyes. The kingdom is touching people’s ears. The kingdom is touching people’s lives.” Right? So, we get this clear understanding that what the people were expecting in a Messiah was different than what God was revealing to them and the kingdom that they were hoping would come was already among and within them and they couldn’t see it. And Jesus is trying to show it to them, to reveal it to them, to open their eyes to it, which is the kind of things He says all the time. In other words, that their consciousness will become aware of something greater than they were already perceiving, that they would become intimately aware of something greater than themselves right there as opposed to the God that they had put in the box called a temple. So, as we begin in Matthew today Jesus is still talking about John. His disciples have left to go give John the message but He’s talking to the people. “Why did you go…why did you go out into the wilderness to see John? What was…what was…what were you looking for? Looking for a read swaying in the wind? Then what we looking for? Were you looking for somebody in nice clothes? Then you went to the wrong place. You need to go to the royal palace to find place…people like that. Why did you go see John? Did you go to see a prophet?” There you go. He is a prophet. And then he says something really, really interesting. “Among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, for from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence and the violent been seizing it by force.” Okay, is a super popular passage of Scripture, but it feels confusing until you understand what’s going on here. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven and He’s not talking about it as a future thing. He’s revealing the kingdom and inviting those with ears to hear and eyes to see to step into it and the first step is to become aware of it. And, so, He’s saying like, “there’s no one greater than John the prophet in the world except those who have stepped into the kingdom.” But this will remain confusing throughout Jesus ministry because it remains confusing now. Jesus is revealing a kingdom that exists now and the journey to it is inward and all they were looking for was external. And, so, here Jesus words, “let anyone who has ears listen.” He says it all the time. And then he keeps commenting. He’s basically saying, “it’s been sitting here in front of you in a number of ways, and you can’t see it.” So, He’s like, “what should I compare this generation to? This generation’s like kids sitting in the marketplace and they call out to other kids. We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance. We sang a lament, but you didn’t mourn.” In other words, “we gave you the song and you ignored it.” Jesus said, “John came and neither eating nor drinking and everybody said he has a demon. And, so, then I come and I eat and I drink and you’re like you’re a glutton and a drunkard and you’re a friend of sinners and tax collectors.” So, what we’re watching here is pure truth, pure wholeness be completely misunderstood and mis-judged by people living backward to the way they were designed. And Jesus is like, “it’s right here calling to you and your labeling it the wrong things. Your labeling John as a person who has a demon. You’re labeling me as a son of Beelzebul. You’re claiming I’m a glutton because I eat and drink. You’re claiming I’m a drunkard and a friend of sinners because I hang out with people who need help.” So, what is it underneath all this that Jesus can see? What is it he can see that nobody else can see? What is he trying to get them to understand? We touched on this earlier. Jesus is walking the path of wisdom and revealing it with anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear. In fact, He’s, like, “you say John is a demon because he doesn’t eat or drink. You say I’m a glutton because I do, yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” In other words, Jesus is saying to the people the same things He said to John’s disciples, “look at what I’m doing.” In fact, Jesus goes on to pray to the Father. “I praise You Father, Lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent.” In other words, those who think they know. “And have revealed them to infants.” In other words, children. And He goes on to pray, “this is the good pleasure of the Father” and that “all things have been entrusted to Jesus by the Father” and…and “nobody knows the Son except the Father” and “no one knows the Father except the Son” and “anyone to whom the son desires to reveal Him.” And then He has does reveal Him. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me because I’m lowly and humble in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, my burden is light.” Again, super, super famous quotable stuff there. We’ll recite it like a mantra when were in the chaos of life, “His yoke is easy, His burden is light. He’ll give me rest for my soul.” We don’t understand this is a whole conversation that Jesus is having, one in which He’s telling His friends essentially, people aren’t gonna get you and that can get really nasty at times, even to the point where you get hauled into court and not know what to say, but if you will trust God He’ll tell you what to say. But they’re not going to get you. You’re the light of the world and the darkness doesn’t like the light. It exposes what’s in the dark and nobody wants that. Everybody’s claiming they just want the truth but what they want is just a better way to curate their lives and keep hidden what’s hidden and what’s exposed exposed. But Jesus is saying like the truth will set you free. I’m here for all light everywhere, nothing hidden. Everything that’s hidden will be revealed. And that is going to infuriate many people along the way because they won’t necessarily see it as an invitation to their freedom. The same kind of principles apply in recovery programs, right? Like you need to reach the end of yourself. You need to reach your rock bottom. In other words, all your shenanigans and all your games and all the things you’re trying to make life look as if it’s working, that all has to come crumbling down until you’re at the very very bottom and then you can begin. Jesus is fundamentally saying, all the constructs that you have made about yourself and all of the darkness that you’ve hidden in those places, that all has to come down and then you can begin. And if you realize that most of your life is built in pride and fear and constructs around that, and contrast that with Jesus who is lowly, humble in heart, we can see the plot that Jesus is telling is to a different story than the one we’re living. We’re so often seduced by our culture. It’s got to be bigger, it’s got to be better, it’s got a stronger, it’s gotta be faster, it’s got to be more individual, it’s gotta be more noticeable, it’s gotta throw us up the charts, it’s gotta put the spotlight on us, it’s got to reveal to the world what one single person can do. We gotta keep clawing, we gotta keep scratching, we gotta keep not taking no for an answer, we gotta out do those around us, we’ve gotta be superior to them, we’ve gotta be above them. It’s says, if that’s the goal we gotta put…put ourselves in a position where we have no vulnerabilities. And we remember that you can’t be known without vulnerability. And remember that Jesus said, there’ll be people who prophesied my name and I’ll say I never knew you.” And, so, what we’re seeing is Jesus saying, “there’s a different way to be human in this world. Your Father knows what you need and if you are only looking around you at everybody else. If you are only looking at what you can experience with your five physical senses, you will only ever experience lack because that’s not all there is. You have a heart made for God and you can let the mind of Christ open in you, or you can chase the chaos and keep trying to make your own self in your own image. It’s up to you.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. These…these themes, they’re…they’re so constant in the Scriptures that we invite Your Holy Spirit to continue to bring them up in us because they will change us. Like, we will either come to the place where we close the Bible and set it down and walk away and say, “that is not where I want to go” or will say, “this is…this…this is what I’ve been looking for my whole life and I embrace it fully.” But this half and half out that we continually try to live, it doesn’t work. It won’t. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit to come and show us what “all in” looks like with You. And we have what we need to see because we are seeing You go “all in” on our behalf as we read the Gospels. So, come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, its where you find what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected.

Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. They have been created for the journey through the Bible in a year in community.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I deeply and humbly thank you. Thank you profoundly. We wouldn't…we wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t do this together. 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 mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And if you have a prayer request or comment, just hit the Hotline button in the app, 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Genesis 31:17-32:12, Matthew 10:24-11:6, Psalms 13:1-6, Proverbs 3:16-18

Today is the 15^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you. And I suppose at some point halfway through today we…we cross the center of month number one, halfway through the first month of a new year and decade. So, well done…well done. And let’s just take a moment here to reflect on the first two weeks of the Bible. Like the Bible has been speaking to us. It is an amazing voyage that we have embarked on together. And, so, let’s continue that journey. Today…well…this week we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible. And today Genesis chapter 31 verse 17 to 32 verse 12. And we continue to read of the great drama of the patriarch Jacob.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s look at what Jesus is talking about in the book of Matthew today. He’s still commissioning, He’s still instructing His followers as they’re being sent out and He’s basically telling them, “this is what you can expect.” So, “a disciple isn’t above the teacher. A slave isn’t above the master. It’s enough for a disciple to become like his Teacher, which is why we aspire to become Christlike in our faith. But that’s not Jesus point. Jesus point is, “don’t expect to be treated differently then you’re watching me be treated. If you want to become like your Master, then you should see the things that your Master goes through. This is what you ‘e gonna go through.” And, so, He says, “if they call the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household?” This word, Beelzebul or Beelzebub. We’ve probably heard it before. We’ve probably heard it Beelzebub like referring to the devil. Although this wouldn’t have been a name, I suspect that the evil one would’ve chosen for itself. So, Beelzebul, means Baal the Prince. And we’re just a couple weeks into the Bible but we’re gonna see Baal worship a lot. So, Beelzebub is probably a distortion of this, and it means the Lord of the flies. More…more specifically like Lord of…of the…the manure pile. Alright. And, so, the subjects would be the flies. So, Jesus is saying like, “you’re becoming a part of this divine family, this household and I am the head of the house and if they’re gonna call me that how much more are they gonna call you that.” And this is another opportunity for us to pause right at the beginning of this journey because it clicks so many things into place about our own personal faith journey because we believe that when we…when we come into a relationship with Jesus and begin to follow that path then we become children of God and so blessing becomes apparent all around us and this is what we have to look forward to. And, so, it becomes really confusing then when we have to face supreme struggles in life. And what we have to become aware of is that Jesus, God made flesh dwelling among us as a human being faced and predicted of the struggles of life that we’re going to face. This idea that the opposition will come our way and that it that…that it must be endured and that we must press into and press through these things. This isn’t hidden in the Bible, it’s like blinking all over the place, and ultimately where going to find out how necessary challenge is to our growth. But nevertheless, Jesus is preparing His first friends to go into the world, and this is what He’s telling them to expect. So, after we talk about the Lord of flies He says, “don’t be afraid of them. There’s nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim to the house tops. Don’t fear those who can kill the body but aren’t able to kill the soul. Fear the one who can do both. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not even one of them falls to the ground without the Father’s consent. And even the hairs of the head…the hairs of your head have been counted. So, don’t be afraid. You’re worth more than many sparrows.” So, what are Jesus fundamental instructions here. He’s telling His friends, “people are gonna say some pretty bad things about you. They’re gonna make all kinds of weird and awful references about you because they’re doing that to me and you are a part of me. So, this is what you can expect. They’re gonna…they’re gonna say all kinds of stuff about you, but don’t worry. Nothing that’s covered is gonna stay uncovered and there’s nothing that’s hidden that won’t be made known.” In other words, keep going, keep being true, keep announcing the kingdom. In the end what’s in the dark will be drug out into the light. Keep enduring, keep moving forward, keep going. “Those that acknowledge me before others, I will acknowledge before the Father in heaven and those who deny I’ll deny before the Father in heaven.” Okay and then this is where it gets really, really challenging. I’m quoting Jesus. “Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” And that’s Jesus quoting from the prophet Micah when He goes on. “The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. The one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.” If those words are disruptive to you, like if…if they kind of shake you a bit and you’re like, “okay. How…how would I…how do I even think about doing that successfully? Then good. Then Jesus has spoken words that have gotten your attention. And you can imagine that if you were standing in a crowd around Jesus as these things were being spoken that they would have your attention. But how do we do this? Like, how do we love father or mother less and love him more so that we’re worthy or how do we love son or daughter less so…so that we’re worthy? Is that even quantifiable, right? Like, could you ever think to yourself, “okay. I love my daughter with all of my heart but a little less than I love Jesus and I see that on my love gauge meter.” What’s underneath all this? What is Jesus getting at? Why is He saying disruptive things to get our attention? What are we supposed to know here? Basically lets just remember our journey and its beginning, like on day two, when we were crossing through Genesis chapter 3 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the rebellion and the eyes of Adam and Eve being opened and their shame and their awareness of their nakedness. The way that we describe this in the Christian faith is often like a canyon or a chasm, a separation from God. Like, that’s very, very common imagery. Let’s go into that for a second. If you are separate from something, then you are aware that you are other than that thing, right? But that separation was never intended to be the way we viewed reality. And awareness of our separateness from God was not our created state. So, anyone who’s ever gone through a situation where the reality that you thought you understood was not the whole picture, like there was a whole lot more and it’s overwhelming. Like, that can be devastating. For example, if you’re a married person, you find out your spouse has been unfaithful, that is a complete shift in consciousness and awareness, and a complete reframing of the reality that you thought you knew. And when something like that happens, the union that you thought you had is blown apart, and you couldn’t feel more separate than you do. We could say you become acutely aware of the separation between you. When these sorts of things happen, what do you hear? We’ve decided to separate. So, you can imagine Adam and Eve becoming aware for the first time of these categories, that they even exist. And we see from the Scriptures, they’re…they’re eyes are opened, and they feel ashamed and they feel naked and they hide and then…then they’re covered and then they’re covering themselves from then on. When our natural state is naked and unashamed and unafraid, like a child. After this, a reality that wasn’t the intended one was made manifest, became their reality and required them to create an identity that was shaped around themselves because this is all they need to do. And at some point, along the line we began to call this our “self”. It’s the thing. It’s the construct of that we have that tells us we are separate from somebody else and we have our own way of looking at things. Okay, let’s go back into our story here. Jesus is saying all of these things. Like why is He telling His friends, “they’re calling me Lord of the flies, Lord of the manure pile. They’re gonna call you that too.” Like why would anybody call pure light and love and graciousness, why would anybody call a true, fully, whole human being like Jesus anything like that? Truth and true humanity came into the world and were modeled and humanity had fallen so far from God that it could not not only recognize God, but rather confuse God with Beelzebub and eventually plot and succeed to assassinate God. The religious leaders who were doing the work of stewarding the souls of the people in their relations to God could not see beyond themselves in order to acknowledge God. To maybe put it more in the vernacular of the Bible, “the light came into the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Couldn’t understand, couldn’t become aware.” So, this “self”, and we all have one of those, right, this awareness of our separateness, this “self” and all these things that we attach it to in order to have an identity can actually serve to reinforce our separation from God. The very thing that this Jesus that we are learning and reading about came to bridge; however, in crossing that bridge…and again this is Christianity 101…in crossing that bridge we have to leave something behind, ourselves. We’re instructed in the Scriptures to die to ourselves and become alive unto God and in the process become awakened and aware of who we really are in Christ, which we will explore very deeply as we move through the New Testament. So, fundamentally what Jesus is saying is that anything you are holding onto, any attachment that you have in your life, whether that’s to a person or to a place or to a thing, if you are more attached to that, if you’re looking for that to be your source of life then you aren’t worthy of me. This…this isn’t something new. This is the whole Bible. We’re just gonna repeatedly watch different people over different periods of time try to create a world that they can control and live in only to find it destroys them because we do not live in a godless world and this world will not work without Him. And the only way forward is into full and utter surrender. And when that comes into our lives, when we think about Jesus and surrendering to Him, we might be able to get our minds around surrendering to God but then when we look at our lives functionally, we realize we’re not doing a whole lot of surrendering or sacrificing. And people don’t like to be told to do. People don’t like to submit and surrender. People don’t want the truth enough to search for it with all of their hearts no matter what it might bring them to. The truth will and does set us free, but not before it confronts what is false. And we as people are notoriously not good at accepting that. So, that brings Jesus words, “don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.” What we’re talking about here is the truth, the truth of how things are. And the more we listen to Jesus and His teachings and explore this, the more we will see how distant from that reality the world is. And it’s easy for us to think like, “why can’t everybody just get on the same page? Why can’t we just figure out hunger? Why can’t we just figure out peace? Like, we’re people. We’re in this together. Why can’t we figure this out?” That’s kind of what God has been saying all along and that’s kind of what he says throughout all of the Bible. “You guys. Return to me. The whole story can change.” One kingdom does not replace another kingdom without conflict and disruption though, and that happens in our own hearts. In fact, it happens here first. And so, let’s embrace it.

Prayer:

Jesus, we…it’s hard to consider the disruption even when we know you are in it. It’s hard to consider it good until later…you…because it’s unpleasant, it…it shakes what we think we know, it…it causes us to…to feel out of sorts. And all you’re doing is exposing our need for control and all of the false constructs of our lives. And, so, we’re here and we trust you. You are God and we trust you. And, so, we invite your Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. And this is a common thing that we pray for. We..we need it desperately, we need it daily, we need it hourly, we need it every minute. So, come Holy Spirit we pray. Lead us into all truth 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. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you want to.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop is available with resources for the journey that we are on, all kinds of different resources, from things to write to things to read and listen to. So, check that out.

One thing I have not mentioned at all, yet this year is our…our long-running relationship with coffee and tea. It might sound odd. It’s just kind of grown up in the community. I personally am a bit of a…a coffee snob and over the last couple of years have grown very fond of tea as well, but a bit of a coffee snob and that’s kind of where it all began. I was just looking for the best coffee, the best things to drink coffee with, all of this. I guess it’s been over a decade now since we formed our own brand of coffee and it’s called Windfarm. And that name, Windfarm, it’s on other things that we do as well. It…it’s just a little nod to the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. There is a story, it’s famous and there’s a valley of dry bones and God asks the prophet, “can these bones live again?” And the prophets like, “how? Only You would know that.” And God tells Ezekiel to call to the four winds, the breath of life and resurrection happens. And, so, Windfarm, just this ongoing, never ceasing calling the breath of life into the community into the world is…is kinda wear that name comes from. But anyway, we’ve been roasting our own coffee and importing our own raw green and…and tea…we’ve been doing this for a long time, partly because it was the rhythm of…of my life. Then I realized. you know what, morning coffee is a tradition around the world. Morning tea or coffee, that’s something that everybody, everybody does. What if what…if we could create a better product? What if we could…what if we could just be boutique-y and it’s really fresh and we send it out really fresh and all of the resources because this is like something that we’re gonna buy anyway, we’re gonna go through the drive-through and get a cup of coffee. We’re gonna do…we’re gonna do all this anyway. What if we could just channel that into…into what we’re doing here. And, so, that’s where coffee and tea were born, and you can find them in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. You can see all the different varieties that we have. You can have it sent to you every month, however many bags you want or drink or consume. And they can be shipped to you fresh every month. And man…when that little box arrives and that containers cut open, the fresh coffee comes flooding out and it’s just wonderful. So, we have that - coffee, tea. Coffee can be sent to you every month. We also found last year, so it’s a relatively new product, a way to steep coffee like tea. It might sound odd, but I had to try it for myself. Last year when I went to Israel, I had a bunch of these pouches to try to see to see if it was gonna be a decent cup of coffee because I travel a lot. And, so, end…end up drinking a lot of bad coffee. And this was good. So, got back from Israel and went about the business of…of creating Windfarm steeped coffee. And, so, that is great. Its Nitro sealed. So, it just…the thing about coffee is…it…it will go stale like food. Like it…it does get worse with time. And normally we’re drinking really old coffee and so you’re drinking bad coffee. But this nitrogen pushes the oxygen out and it keeps it in this state of freshness for months and months. And, so, the steeped version of Windfarm coffee, for those of you who travel or want to keep some at the office or whatever, those are available as well in the Daily Audio Bible shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage and I thank you profoundly 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 Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Genesis 30:1-31:16, Matthew 10:1-23, Psalms 12:1-8, Proverbs 3:13-15

Today is the 14^th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we take our…as we take our places around the Global Campfire and just exhale. Has it been…how’s it been, the beginning of the year for you, hectic or smooth or whatever? Whatever it is there’s this place that we come to hear from God, and we let His word reach into our lives. And, so we have this one place where we can just exhale and just let the Bible speak to us. So let’s get to that. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. And we’ve got this drama, this considerable family drama happening in the Old Testament where this man Jacob who got married and woke up to the wrong girl and then a week later got the right girl, but now he’s married to two sisters and that’s not going so great. And that’s where we pick up the story. Genesis chapter 30, verse 1 through 31 verse 16.

Commentary:

Okay. So, yesterday in the book of Matthew we actually just kinda did a deep dive into the back story, like all the different things, the disruptions, the subversion that Jesus message was bringing, especially the disruption to those who were devout religious leaders. And we talked about how they were like, “you know, the reason He can do the stuff that He’s doing is because He’s empowered by the evil one to do these things”, which Jesus will address that plenty of times. And, so, we’ll talk about that when we get there, but the bottom line was that yesterday’s reading gave us a glimpse into what Jesus was seeing. He was seeing a human harvest on behalf of God bringing Earth’s people back to God and He was out in the harvest doing that. And we need to notice what He was doing, because what He wasn’t doing was coming up with an evangelism curriculum. What He was doing was talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God and awakening people’s awareness to it. He was telling them that the thing they have been waiting for is already happening if they have eyes to see and ears to hear. And then He was demonstrating that reality through His ministry works. And then He’s kind of lamenting to His disciples, “this is a big harvest. The harvest is ready, but the laborers are few. Pray that they’ll be more, more to go do what I’m doing.” So, we moved into Matthew chapter 10 the day and Jesus is commissioning His disciples to go and do exactly that. He’s sending them into this harvest He was talking about. So, if this is the first opportunity for us to see Jesus sending out friends that He loves, His closest people, sending them out into the harvest, then we should pay attention. So, I’m quoting the Bible here. “Summoning His 12 disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.” May I point out that it wasn’t Jesus death and resurrection, His work on the cross that made this possible. He hasn’t gone there yet. These are just 12 people that Jesus picked who are ordinary human beings and He’s basically saying, “look, just go do what you’ve seen Me do.” So, He gave them instructions to equip them on this mission on this journey. So, let’s take a look at what He said to do or don’t do. “Don't”, he says, “take the road that leads to the Gentiles and don’t enter any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Okay, so we can read that and go like, “well, the mission of the world of all the world’s people is try to tell the house of Israel that they’re lost sheep and should return to God.” And we could look at something like this, Jesus saying like, don’t go to the Gentiles, don’t go to Samaritans. Just go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and…and…and go like…scratch our heads and say, “what? Is this not like kind of in conflict with the apostle Paul, whose saying that the work of Jesus was to bring everyone, all nations together back to God. Isn’t that the story that God told Abraham, the story that we’re reading through now in the Old Testament now, that all nations of the earth would be blessed through Him? So, why is Jesus just being so exclusionary and so exclusive here?” And believe me, there’s plenty of different doctrines, different ways that people have interpreted and tried to live out what Jesus is depicting here. Since we know from the beginning of the story with Abraham, and since we know through the writings of the apostle Paul that yes, in fact, Jesus did come to restore all of the earth’s people back to Himself - no Jew, no Greek, no male, no female etc. etc., that Jesus isn’t giving an exclusionary instruction here, He’s telling them to go to their people. These are uneducated Hebrew fishermen for the most part, and tax collectors, zealots, like different kind of Hebrew people, but they have that in common. So, He’s not asking them to go without any education whatsoever into cultures they absolutely do not understand and have never had any kind of interaction. He’s saying like, “go into the harvest in the world that you live in in the culture that you understand and as you do it, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven has come near. And it’s interesting because Jesus pitch isn’t, “hey, your lost without me. Accept me. His pitch is, “the kingdom of heaven has come near, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is the message that was awakening the hearts of Jesus hearers and there was a reason and they were misinterpreting it. They’d been waiting for this. They were waiting for a Messiah, a Redeemer, somebody to come and announce the kingdom of heaven is at hand and get everybody to rise up and revolt against these evil Romans who are occupying their ancestral land, which hadn’t been their own land for well over a millennia. So, Jesus saying, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” awakened things inside of them and they thought this was going to manifest itself in unified Israel when all Jesus was saying is, “if you have eyes to see or ears to hear you will see that God is never stopped working among you. You have silenced Him. Wake up and see what’s actually happening and what’s actually available right now if you simply have eyes to see it. And it’s no different for us today. We share in the same kinds of blindness is and Jesus came to awaken us. So, he tells them, “go. Like, go. Proclaim the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And then He’s like, “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons.” Like…like just go do those four things. That’s just a whole complete sentence. It…I’m just like thinking to myself if I’m standing there in the crowd of friends and Jesus is like, “look go heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons.” I'd…like you don’t even know what to do with a command or even an indentation like that. And He’s just saying it matter-of-factly because He’s just been doing it matter-of-factly. And e can think that He can just do it that way because He’s the son of the living God and yet He’s telling His friends who have no education, who do not understand theology, who are not practitioners of doctrine, He’s telling them to simply go and do what they’ve seen Him do. And then He tells them, “freely you have received, freely give” right? Like this is a wide-open posture. We’re not trying to carve off a little piece of the action for ourselves that we can hide in a tent somewhere under the ground. We’re not angling for how the optics of our ministry might look and who might be able to see us being all holy and pious. Jesus hated that kind of stuff. That’s the kind of stuff He goes after in the Gospels because it’s false. It’s a veneer of falseness. It’s a curated reality that’s not real that we can even deceive our own selves into believing but it’s not true or real. And Jesus can’t stand what’s false because it’s a lie, it’s a deception, it’s the cloud that plagues the human race. It’s the thing that’s been going on since the Garden of Eden and the deception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When we look at Jesus we see a person who sees this clearly and is working diligently to do everything conceivable to get people to wake up to what’s going on so that they can become aware and change the story. And it’s a wide open story. “Freely you received, freely give. Don’t acquire gold, silver or copper for your money belts. Don’t take a traveling back for the road, extra shirt, sandals or staff. Everybody’s worthy of their food” and so on and so forth. And those…like…those last instructions we can be like, “He’s sending them out completely unprepared. Anything could go wrong and they won’t be prepared to deal with any of it.” So, what can we learn from this? I like to be prepared. In fact, I think obsessively so, like maybe at times even in unhealthy ways to be prepared to care for those who are in my charge, whoever they might be. And, so, I can look at this and see his would be really difficult for me to just walk out my front door and walk into completely unprepared. And that’s the thing, that’s the thing about Jesus. That’s what He was doing. And yet He never…there’s no stories of Jesus staring off into space completely lost, right? There’s never a depiction of Him sitting on a rock down by the Sea of Galilee, praying a prayer of like, “what the heck am I doing? I have no idea what the next step is.” He knows when He needs to know. He does what He needs to do. He’s always looking behind the false and finding the true and exposing the true. And that causes incredible amounts of disruption because we’re so used to hiding. People don’t like that. And yet it’s the truth that will bring us into the presence of freedom. So, there’s Jesus instructions. And…and then, like to put the little cherry on top of all of this, Jesus very, very clearly, after he’s telling his friends to simply go. He tells them what to expect. “I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. So, be shrewd as serpent and innocent as a dove. Beware of them, they’ll hand you over the local courts and flog you in their synagogues”, right? Like, that’s basically like saying, “they’re gonna…they’re gonna take you to court and they’re gonna drag you into church and beat you up. You’ll even be brought before governors and kings because of me to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over don’t worry about what you’re gonna say. You’ll be given what to say at that hour because it isn’t you speaking but it’s the Spirit of your Father that’s speaking through you.” And now we get some clues about our own preparedness in our own strength. Jesus is saying, “this kingdom work isn’t something that you can simply arrange for by your own brute force. It doesn’t work that way. You can begin to do this kingdom work, the kind of work you’re seeing Me do when you are out of the way and out of control so that the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.” Like, I know that we’ve covered some serious ground here that can feel highly theological in nature. Jesus isn’t making it highly theological though. We just make it highly theological to try to understand what he’s saying to do. And what He’s saying to do and what He’s saying we are going to be experience as we do it, we should be aware of because, like it’s so easy to just sign up for the Santa Claus in the sky, that…that we just have to ask for what we need and He’s just gonna drop it in our laps and that’s how life is supposed to work and then we’re so angry when it doesn’t work that way. And yet here we are in the Bible, Jesus the son of God is speaking here and telling us what our realities are supposed to be like. And how is it that we have such a disconnect? So, He’s like, “I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves and and you gotta be smart about it. You gotta stay innocent. You don’t play that game. Just beware. You’re gonna face some opposition. You might be in court. You might…you might get beat up in church. You…you might be brought before governors and kings but you…you’re gonna bear witness. You’re gonna reveal the kingdom in that situation. So, don’t worry about what you’re gonna say. It’s not gonna be you speaking. You’ve simply become open and available to go into this situation so that God can speak through you to them. It’s not about you. Brother will betray brother to death. Father will betray his child. Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. You’re gonna be hated by everyone because of my name but the one who endures to the end will be saved.” That’s kind of Jesus pitch. So, why are we so confused when what H says would happen, does? There’s a concept that’s kind of being introduced here. There’s a theme that threads its way through the teachings of Jesus and through all of the teachings of the New Testament and that is that if you want to truly live then you first have to die to yourself. And now we are beginning to see what that might look.

Prayer:

Jesus, we love You, we trust You, we believe You, and yet what You’re saying it kind of disconnects when we actually experience challenge and opposition. We very, very much want to live into our identity as Your children so we focus very diligently on who are in You and what we can do because of You. And yet we are watching You in the gospel of Matthew. We are watching You, light in the darkness, people amazed and overwhelmed. We are watching this, but we are also watching the darkness envelop and try to smother You. And You are simply saying, “You need to be awake. You need to be aware. You need to be as shrewd as a serpent. You need to be innocent as a dove because the darkness is going to do everything it can to swallow You too.” And yet, we acknowledge that You have told us we are the light of the world. And, so, help us Father understand what that means and how important that is and how vital, how vital it is that we stay true and that we allow Your work to remove from us what is false so that we too can announce the kingdom and live in the light as You are in the light, no matter what the darkness may do. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus, Your precious name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and connected.

The Community section of the website, and by the way, all this can be accessed through the Daily Audio Bible app as well. Just push the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. But the Community section is where the Prayer Wall lives. It’s where all the different links to our social media channels are. So, check that out.

You can also check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop, which is chock-full of resources that are intended to…well…to accompany you on the journey through the Bible in a year. So, check those out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. 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 comment, you can hit the Hotline button, the little red button that lives at the top of the app screen or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DAB this is Kathleen in Mount Zion Illinois and I’m just calling today for an urgent prayer request. I’m sorry…I feel awful, you can hear me. So, my daughter…my whole family was just together in San Diego and things seemed….things seemed to be well and then everybody flew back to their own places and my daughter went to Dubai where she lives Abu Dhabi in Dubai, anyway that area and she’s been having migraines and found out that there is lesions on her brain and…and some odd shaped things on her brain, some oval-shaped things. They don’t know what they are and so they’re gonna do another MRI. They have to wait until February for some reason. And I just want everyone to pray that these things will go away, the way that this will be healed before her next MRI. And also, I need a way to get over to see her and so that she won’t be alone during this time. And any way so, we are working on all that and I just…I just pray people that…that this will be a miracle will happen here and that this will all be healed. So, I was just hoping you could pray with me and thank you so much family.

Good morning, this is Duncan Holmes from Fredericksburg Texas. I’m a first…I…I think I’ve sent recordings before, but I think only one was successful. So, let’s pray in the two minutes I have. I am totally blind, so I don’t know when this thing shuts off until voiceover tells me. And, so, when I’m recording, I don’t have voiceover. Let’s pray. Father God I bring Reed to you and any others on this community line that are hurting whatever is happening apply Father your balm of Gilead, apply whatever would take to comfort them, to walk them through whatever they’re all going through for Reed especially. It breaks my heart when people are…are…when I hear the needs and I hear the hurt. Father, the same…for the same for this one who calls herself Anonymous. Father may she find…she find comfort in your word and might she stay the path…the course. Father I don’t know what all to pray. I’m being general here. I don’t know to pray specifically. I thank you for this community. You’ve kept me in this group for five years now. My wife is now gone on to be with you back in October. She and I did this together every day except we didn’t always do the prayer…didn’t always go through the prayers. So, Lord I just ask you to…I just submit all of these to you Jesus and I know that time is limited so I better quit. Thank You Lord for hearing my prayer. Please…please be merciful. Amen.

Morning family I don’t normally do mornings at least not this early. It’s Paul from Wales. To the chap in Chicago whose voice was breaking, you were in my prayers straightaway. I could feel it in your voice. Please feel free, ring back with more. I’ll have a look on the Prayer While perhaps tomorrow see if there’s anything specific to pray about. Also just wanted to thank family whoever had those children that ring in with their prayers. Both my children are fully grown apples and it’s so lovely, it brought back memories of when they first committed their lives to God. And like so many young people, they go their own way. So, this morning Lord I just pray for all those people who gave their lives to you as youngsters and ask that they reconnect with you and come back and make this family so much bigger, so more effective and so more evangelical in your name so that mission might put some right back in this world. Amen.

Hi, DABbers this is Jean I’m calling in again with a prayer request for the persecuted church. If you remember I called in about Afghanistan and Algeria and I was going in alphabetical order, but I wanted to quickly step out of order to pray for Nigeria, the Nigerian church. I don’t know if you’ve heard but over Christmas there were 11 Nigerian Christians killed in an Isis Christmas video. The Nigerian church is extremely persecuted and suffering a lot right now and again I’m getting this information from the voice of the martyrs, but it is sharply divided along religious lines. There are about 80 million professing Christians in Nigeria. There are a lot of Islamic militant groups that are persecuting them and nearly Christians in northeastern Nigeria have lost family members to Bocu Huram ands and Islamic militants, Islamic violence. There have been entire congregations that have been displaced, pastors have been forced to leave the region. It takes immense courage to continue to serve Christ in this area. There is a need for Bibles in the north and there is an issue with famine as well in the North because of the jihadi activities. Farmers aren’t working because they’re afraid of being attacked and there’s just a lot going on for the Christians in Nigeria. So, I just want to lift them up. Lord Jesus, we pray that You would put Your hands on the Christians in Nigeria and comfort them, that You would encourage them Lord, that You  would fill them with Your spirit and meet all of their needs, provide for their physical, emotional, and psychological needs Lord comfort them as they grieve. Give them courage in the midst of danger. I pray that You would give them hearts of forgiveness towards their persecutors and that Your word and Your gospel would spread. I pray this in Jesus’ name.

Hey Anonymous my sister, this is Michael from Arizona. I’ve got a new name for you to call the Lord. Brian had…when Brian read it your face and thoughts of you came into my mind and it was thre name that Haggai referred to the Lord. She said, “you are the Lord who sees me, you are the God who sees me.” And I think that’s a beautiful, intimate way to to refer to the Lord. Not only is it acknowledging that He sees your innermost parts and every part of you, but it also acknowledges that you reveal yourself to Him and are vulnerable to Him and open yourself like a flower. It’s very intimate and draws you closer and I just I think it’s an awesome name for you to for you to refer to the Lord. I think it’s an answer to your prayer and I so admire your vulnerability in calling in and turning to the Lord, turning to the DABber prayer line and being vulnerable. Ahh…I have trouble pronouncing that word. Anyway, I love you sis. Hang in there and tell all that negativity to take a hike. You don’t have time for it because life is so full. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi Brian and the Daily Audio Bible community family my name’s Diana Davis and I’m the one that wrote Jewels of the Bible. I took the Bible line by line. I pulled out the verses and made them rhyme. __ the Bible I took it line by line but I’m leaving it to the world and I just got the news that I thought I was gonna get today and my…my cancer started out in my breasts and it metastasized to my brain and I had __ head radiation and they laser __ each one but I went back for my CT today and they’re all over my head and they said the only thing that they can do is put a drill and then inject chemo into my brain but he said that he wouldn’t recommend that for his wife or…or whatever, that it would…I wouldn’t be the same afterwards. So, I did everything that I’m supposed to do, that they’re supposed to do, and it’s…it’s at a stop where there’s…there’s no more to go. So, my husband after 25 years, 2 weeks after I was diagnosed drank and drank and drank and got real…so I had to get him out. I have two autistic boys ages 19 and 22. My prayer is quickly, my son Elijah he’s 19 but he’s severely autistic but I’m so…I know God’s gonna take care of it, I know, but please pray that Elijah and Michael get to stay together because my older son who’s also autistic but highly, he’s been on the __ about three years but he said his biggest fear is getting separated from Elijah. I’ve got them all set up with everything that I can possibly do but I just need your help and prayers because there’s so many people that can listen and pray for my son Elijah. He’s autistic and he’s so sweet, such a sweet boy. And he’s going to be really sad. And I know this is more than two minutes, but Brian the Daily Audio Bible and Jill says the Bible, you inspired that. I’ve been listening to you every day for 13 years Elijah is…

Hey Lee in Chicago it’s your brother Bart in Kentucky. I heard your call today, your prayer request on January 7^th and I want you to know that I’m praying for you and I know many others are too. I’m sorry that you’re having to go through these tough times where everything seems like it’s falling apart. I understand completely. So, keep praying to the Lord. Keep asking him to hold your hand as you walk through this troubling landscape. He won’t let you go brother and we’ll keep praying for you. Call in and let us know how we can further pray for you in detail so that we know what’s going on with you. We love you. Have a good day. Have a great day everybody, all you DABbers out there. Thank you for your fellowship and thank you Brian and Jill for this podcast.