Author: Daily Audio Bible Transcripts

Esther 1:1-3:15, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Psalms 35:17-28, Proverbs 21:19-20

Today is the 18^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we…well…as we collectively do what we do every week at this time, we step through the threshold into a brand-new shiny sparkly week that is just waiting to unfold. The next…the next paragraphs and pages of our story are about to be written as we move through this week and we gather here together every day, every single day to allow God’s word to speak to us and inform what that story is gonna look like. So, welcome to a brand-new week, and as it turns out welcome to a brand-new book. As we begin this week, we also begin the book of Esther. So, we concluded the book of Nehemiah yesterday, but we haven’t concluded the stories that come from exile. So, we remember Ezra, we remember Nehemiah, we know there’s a remnant coming back to Jerusalem but these people had been sent into exile as we know, and so we’re reading of the time of the exile coming to a close while people were still in exile. So, that brings us to the book of Esther. And even though this is a short book, this is a dramatic book and it comes at a good time. It’s like a breath of fresh air just moving in and moving us, ushering us into this new week.

Introduction to the book of Esther:

Esther is the story of Hebrew girl named Hadassah. She was orphaned, right, while in exile in Persia and then so she was taken in by her cousin and he treated her like his own daughter. His name was Mordechai and he was of the tribe of Benjamin. And as we’ve seen in other points in the Bible, people being taken exile sometimes had their names changed to a more localized name that people could understand which would make them on one hand, blend in better and on the other hand, make their names more pronounceable to those in authority. So, Hadassah was given the name Esther. Esther translates to mean star or morning star in Hebrew tradition. And according to the Scriptures, Esther was unspeakably beautiful in her appearance and she possessed a quiet character. And, so when King Ahasuerus who scholars believe to be Xerxes sought to find a replacement for his banished queen, her name was Vashti, he chose Esther. Esther, Hadassah, kept her ethnicity a secret, which proved incredibly important as the story unfolds. And, so, we begin. We’ll read from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Esther chapters 1 through 3.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this brand-new week that we are entering together. We thank You for the story of Esther that we are moving through. Of course, we know that Esther contains some pretty famous passages in the Scriptures, “for such a time as this.” So, Father as we move into this week we want to be available to You for such a time as this and although the drama and intrigue may be considerably different than in the book of Esther we want to be available and aware and alert to Your leading and to Your guidance in our lives so that we are available for whatever You may lead us to do for such a time as this. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

You can find the social media channels that we are at in the Community section of the website. You can find the Prayer Wall in the Community section of the website. The Daily Audio Bible shop is there So, just stay tuned and stay connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, first of all, thank you profoundly for your partnership. There is a link. It’s 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, 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible, this is Dwayne from Wisconsin, all praise and glory to our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today is August 12^th today. So, calling in for some of the DABbers. I know there’s a number of you who have called in for your children. First of all, I want to say thank you to those who have prayed for me, all of you that have prayed for me and my shoulder. Things are hearing well. So, I thank you and praise God. No pain at all through the whole ordeal. So that’s a blessing. So, I want to thank all of you. And like I said, I know a number of you have called in for your children. I’m continuing to pray for all of you that have your children. So, we will pick that up again and start doing that here shortly. But today I’m calling in for Ken from Indiana. You called in and expressed your anxiety when calling in. Please continue to call in. I had a little anxiety when I used to call in first, but remember we’re all family, we’re all friends, and we all love you. So, we pray that the Lord will be with you and you’ll be able to call in more. Tracy, you called in letting us know that Robert Willing to Serve had passed on. My hearts and prayers go out to you and his family and friends. And truly, a blessing he was to those of us in the DAB, our community, so we want you to know that we’re praying for you. The sister who called in. a lady called in for her brother Robert whose dealing with alcohol. So, we’re praying for you and your mom. We pray that the Lord will remove that…that temptation in the name of Jesus. I want to lift this all up to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen, God bless, love you all.

[singing] I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever I will sing of the mercies of the Lord [singing stops]. This is Candace from Oregon. I have been witness to the Lord’s grace and mercy and His miraculous intervention once again. I don’t want to neglect to tell you because I had shared with all of you that my niece was in the hospital, she had drank so much alcohol that her liver was failing, she had kidney failure. And the prayer I kept praying was that God would spare her life and that she would be able to return to service to Him and be able to be a mom to her daughter. Well, she’s home. They do not…they say that she does not need a liver transplant, that she will be able to recover on her own. Praise be to God. I rebuke all foul spirits in the name of Jesus. I rebuke the spirit of alcohol from this woman’s life and I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His life, death, resurrection, and ascension on her behalf and His calling upon her life. And I thank You Jesus for everything that You’re doing and everything that You’re about to do. You are a God who hears and answers prayer. Thank You, King of the universe for everything that You’re doing for us. And thanks DAB family and for joining me…

Hi this is Veronica, I called last week about my brother Robert. I don’t think I left my name last week but I’m Veronica and I just wanted to give an update about my brother who has been gone, binging, he’s an alcoholic. He has been found. He has…the woman he has been seeing picked him up yesterday. So, he had been in a few different hotels. I mean 8 weeks straight of constant heavy binging on hard liquor. So, he is safe…in a safe place now but I am sure he is…he’s going through detox period, which is very violent for him, vomiting up blood. It’s just a very rough thing to go through, but he is in a safe place. So, I am praising God for that. And for those of you that have prayed over this situation, I have felt your prayers and I thank you. Please just help me to continue to pray for him on a daily basis. I feel so hopeless and discouraged with him and I just don’t…I don’t know what to do. I am thinking about running __ I  think I need to do but anyway thank you. I also want to say that my 11-year-old has started listening to the Daily Audio Bible kids on the app which I am just praising God for. So, thank you and for everyone and I just love this community and anyway thank you. Have a blessed day.

Hi this is Nina from Vancouver. I’m just wondering if you guys can all pray for me and my fiancé, we are getting married in two weeks almost. We’re getting married during the August 31^st weekend. So, when you are all playing in the water you can think about us. We’re getting married then and it’s just been a whirlwind and an interesting relationship so far, where God has just shown us that He is capable even when we are incapable. And I’m just praying and asking if you could pray for us just protection over the day and over the weeks before and just, yeah, protection from spiritual warfare. It’s just been a bit of a battle lately. And I just pray also that…that you all just have an awesome time together and that it’s just a time of relaxation, that you get to know each other and meet each other. I went to the More Gathering and it was just an awesome time to get to know the faces of people. Anyway, thank you so much and looking forward to seeing how your prayers are answered. Okay. Bye.

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Psalms 35:1-16, Proverbs 21:17-18

Today is the 17^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s lovely to be here with you as we end another one of our weeks together. And even as we end this week together we will be concluding another book, the book of Nehemiah today, which will lead us into new territory as we begin the new week together tomorrow. But where here now, this is today, and we’ve been reading from the Good News Translation this week and so that’s what we’ll use to conclude the book of Nehemiah today, chapter 12 verse 27 through 13 verse 31.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you for allowing us to spend another week together in it, and as we close this week, close the books on this day, and let the week become a part of history, the only thing that it can do, we look forward to all that you will do as we transition into the new week, but we also, Holy Spirit, ask you to come and help us not get ahead of ourselves. We’re here now and this is the day that you have given us, a day on this earth to enjoy your presence. So, come Holy Spirit plant the Scriptures in our hearts and lead us into all truth as you promised and we ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, it’s Sherry from Kansas. I was born again, I was almost 28 years old and I didn’t know much about God, but I knew when He came into my life and the night I got water baptized I woke up in the middle of the night talking out loud and I thought, “what…who’s waking me up?” and then I realized it was me and I wrote down what I was saying and it was a poem that the Lord gave me and a lot of these things I didn’t know it because I wasn’t raised in the church. So, I just want to recite that for you. K.

I bore your sins in sorrow I bore your sins in shame
I bore your sins upon the cross I took all the blame
that you might walk with head up your eyes toward the sun
the wounds about my body proclaim that it was done
and in you, lives the victory health prosperity and gain
let all the world look upon you I have not died in vain
You are the light of the world and that light must shine
to let them know everywhere that I have called you mine

When I got to that last line and the Lord said “I have called you mine” I wept because for the first time in my life I felt someone wanted me, that I belonged somewhere. And I just hope if somebody doesn’t know the Lord that they hear this and realize that God is who He says He is in the Bible and that your life will completely and utterly change for wonderful when the Lord comes into it and you’ll know, you’ll know. And dear Rebecca I am so sorry for the loss of your friend and I know that many people are praying for you. And, gosh, I just cried. So, I’m praying for you to and may many, many…

[singing] Jesus I need you every moment I need you. Here now this grateful heart sing out your praise forever [singing ends]. Hey everybody it’s Margo from Australia in Liberia and today I am in need of some prayer and I’m feeling a bit frustrated. So, I’ve got just some health problems going on and I don’t think it’s anything too serious but it is making me feel a bit miserable and I feel like, yeah, frustrated and I feel a bit powerless because the opportunities here for, you know, diagnosis and even treatment…well they’re much more limited than what I’m used to and I’m not really sure what to do. And I don’t know that I’m gonna get an answer and it’s getting to me a bit. I have got a trip planned back to Australia in December. I think I can just wait till then and try to get it sorted well I’m there but in the meantime, it is making me feel a bit awful I am frustrated. So, yeah, could you pray for me because I feel like this could really be an attack of Satan because it’s making it hard for me to keep on doing what I’m doing here which is the Lord’s work. So, yeah, he won’t win, Satan will not win. I would love it if you could pray. All right. Love you all. Bye.

Good morning this is PG from NC, I’m calling to pray for Jessica from Michigan, she called in on August 1 we heard it on August 6^th, and I’ve been praying for her daily since then and I felt like today we should all pray for her. So, let’s pray. Lord we thank you for this 19-year-old college student that who for a long time didn’t have a community of faith and today you’ve surrounded her with one as she’s entered into college and Lord she’s also found that in the midst of that there can be doctrinal differences that have really challenged her not only her relationship with them but somehow it’s changed and challenged her relationship with you. And, so Lord today I just pray for her. God I pray that you would strengthen her, God I pray that you would help her in several ways, Lord I pray first off that you would send her mentors, God mentors that have walked in the faith longer than she has, longer than her peers have. God, I pray that you would send her people who can encourage her and speak the truth and help her rightly divide the word. God, I pray that Lord you would help her to not read the Bible as an intellectual work but that she would read it as the relational invitation that you intended it to be. God, I pray that Lord that you would help her to avoid questions that would be created in her mind, Lord the Socratic method that surrounds her and other college students’ questions…science…it questions philosophies and theories and even religion, but God I pray that it would not create questions to her faith. Lord that’s the same thing that occurs in Genesis 3 and I just pray that you would guard over her, watch over her. God I pray that you strengthen her and encourage her. Lord anything that she needs to hear truth from, I pray that you would speak it to her, and I pray this in Christs name. Amen. Blessings everyone have a great day.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible my names’ Alicia and I’m calling today to ask for your prayers. I’m an alcoholic and I’ve tried for years to do this on my own to stop drinking and I prayed but I really need your prayers too that God will take this affliction away from me. Thank you.

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26, 1 Corinthians 10:14-33, Psalms 34:11-22, Proverbs 21:14-16

Today is August 16^th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. It’s great to be here with you every day and I say that most every day because it’s true. It’s great to be here with you taking this next step forward moving our way into the back half and toward the weekend. What an honor, you guys. I mean, have you ever stopped to think like that we live in a time that we can actually do this and actually even take it for granted that we’re doing this. What you and I are participating in as we come around the global camp fire every day is the kind of stuff that people would write science fiction about just a century ago. And here we are connected all over the world taking steps forward as we go through the entire Bible in a year all over the world. It’s a great day to be here with you. I’m glad that we can take this next step. So, let’s do that. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week and we’re working her way through the book of Nehemiah. All the people have come together and repented before the Lord. The walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt. So, restoration is afoot. Like, things are moving in a very positive direction and we’ll see how that goes. Nehemiah chapter 11 verse 1 through 12 verse 26 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, as we’re continuing through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that we call first Corinthians, Paul was answering questions. And, so, one of the questions was essentially, if you passively participate in something that could be sinful, if you actively participated in it, is it still sin, like if it’s a passive thing? So, specifically what he was being asked was whether a person can eat meat sacrificed to a false idol. So, like on the face of it, we could be like, “well, no we shouldn’t do that”, but it’s kind of complicated. Corinth’s a big-city, people worshiped Greek gods, people worshiped the Roman gods. And, so, the meat from these sacrifices finds their way into the market, like just going grocery shopping making it basically impossible for a Christian, a believer in Jesus, to know whether or not they’re eating sacrificed meat. So, they’re trying to figure out, like, “how do…how do we navigate this? Like are we sinning if we just eat meat not knowing where it came from?” And, so, Paul was essentially making clear the meat isn’t the issue, they could eat in good conscience, but if they’re trying basically to walk the line here, like if they’re asking this question to say, “hey can we worship Jesus, but then can we also go worship at this…at this temple and eat there?” So, the meat, the food wasn’t the issue, it was the posture of heart was the issue, which basically just brought up follow-up questions. “What if…what if somebody who worships another God invites me over to have dinner? That me could have been sacrificed to an idol because I know they worship this false God and this meal that I’ve been invited to could be eating in the idols honor. Wouldn’t this be participating in idolatry?” And, so, Paul answered like this, “If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to go, eat what is set before you without asking any questions because of your conscience. But if somebody tells you this food was offered to idols than don’t eat that food for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience sake. That is, not your own conscience, but the other person’s conscience.” So, basically Paul’s saying like, “look, if you’ve got a friend who worships another God and you’re invited over to eat then go eat with your friend, but if your friend actually honors you by telling you that what your about to eat has been sacrificed to this other God and warns you about the food, well then, the right thing to do is not go like, “I don’t care”. The right thing to do is honor them by not eating.” Ok, like we’re zooming this into today, like I…you probably never go to the grocery store and wonder what…wonder if what you’re picking up’s been part of a cultic ritual, but there’s a principle here that does apply, and that is that we must be very much aware of the effect our lives and our convictions have on other people and treat other people with respect and honor, especially if there respecting us and giving honor to our convictions. And this just ties in with what we were reading yesterday because it’s the same letter where Paul’s saying he tries to look at everybody with dignity, like he tries to lower himself to the point that he’s serving everyone, he’s looking at everyone with that posture. So, Paul kind of sums the whole thing up. We just kind of spent a few minutes talking this through, but Paul really sums the point up very well. And the truth of the matter is if we would remember this posture, if we would remember what Paul said, if it were something that would come to mind continually it would very much help us. Paul says, “whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God’s glory. Live in such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews or Gentiles or the Church of God. Just do as I do. I try to please everyone in all that I do. I’m not thinking of my own good, but it’s of the good of all so that they might be saved.” So that’s first Corinthians 10:31-33. Very comprehensive, very simple instructions for life and no less practical right this minute than when this was written.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We get all caught up on what people do and do not do and what we do and what we do not do. And when somebody’s doing something that we would not do we usually condemn them and judge them and then really we’re just trying to gain an identity by what we’re not or trying to gain an identity by comparing ourselves to what someone else is or isn’t and it’s a waste of energy. We are who we are because of You. There is no identity outside of You. You have fashioned us in Your image and given us the breath of life. It’s not about what somebody else does and it’s not about what somebody else doesn’t do, and for that matter it’s not really about what we do or do not do. What we do or do not do, our behavior, should be shaped by our intimate love affair with You and there is nothing that You have withheld from us, but there has plenty we have withheld from You and this kind of stuff seeps out in the things that we do, the way that we judge people, the way that we condemn others, and the ways that we try to be slave drivers on our own selves, trying to perfect ourselves before You when it can’t be done. It’s a gift. So, Holy Spirit come. Help us to receive the gift of Your mercy and grace today that we might walk in freedom and as we walk in freedom that we might not put anyone around us in bondage for anything. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

The Daily Audio Bible shop lives there. The Prayer Wall is there. It’s your connection point. So, check it out.

I’ve been mentioning for several weeks the upcoming Family Reunion which begins two weeks from tomorrow here in the rolling hills of Tennessee where we’re gonna come together and just enjoy fellowship, enjoy each other’s company, play together, be together and just spend some time together visiting getting to know each other. So, we’re looking forward to that very, very, very much. That is, like I said, two weeks from tomorrow So, you can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Look for Family Reunion 2019 and hopefully, you can be there. We’ll be there. Hopefully you can be there as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible then thank you, humbly. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If the Daily Audio Bible app is what you use then you can just press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family this is last Michelle from Central Florida. I have a big prayer request. So, my husband and I have a very effective prison ministry. We minister to men that are coming out of jail and we have pantries that we support in eight different persons and we also have a pantry, a large pantry, with our church and it’s like exploded in growth and we each have a small business that we operate on top of everything else. The small business that I operate we took over a year ago and it was a loser, but we got a great deal on it and got into it. So, I’m asking that you guys pray with me. I’ve had a lot of difficulty with one of our vendors. I’ve gone back and forth with them for months and spent many, many hours proving to them, you know, that we’ve paid payment on different invoices. And when I say hours, multiple hours multiple calls, multiple emails. So, please be in agreement with me and I would like to take a moment to pray for all the small business owners in the DAB family. Father I just thank You Father for my brothers and sisters and for the DAB family members that own small businesses. I pray Lord God, Moed moments, Moed divine appointments, that You’ll put the right person in front of them at the right time, that You’ll give them favor and that You’re going to just work circumstances and situations out, that You’re gonna bring forth the answer from the North and South East and the West, that You’re gonna increase the fruits of their labor Father, that You’ll show them where to sow seed. And God, that in a time of famine or what seems like famine that You are gonna give them increase on every side and I thank You for…

Hi family it’s Terry from southern California. I’m calling on behalf of the prayer request from Laura who was calling in from California as well on behalf of her friend Barbara who introduced her to the DAB family a few years ago. And Barbara has lost her daughter Marcy and has passed away. And, so, Laura just thank you for calling on behalf of your friend. And I just want to lift up Barbara right now in the name of Jesus. Father God I pray Lord that You would just draw close to Barbara’s family God, to her mother and her teenage boys as well, the teenage boys of Marcy who had passed away late July this year. And I pray God that You would comfort them, that we would give them that peace that surpasses all understanding in those things which are just hurtful and full of heartache. And I pray God that Your presence will be felt in their lives and they will know that You will be with them and You will help them through this situation and that You will just bestow Your love and kindness upon them and that they will be able to rejoice in knowing that they serve a risen Savior and that one day Marcy will rise and be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And just comfort them right now, comfort her teenage boys Father God. Let them know they have __ her family and allow them to draw close to You during this __ time dear God. And so, __ thank You so much for calling on behalf of Barbara to allow the DAB family to lift her up in prayer during this very difficult time in their lives Father. So, thank you so much family…

Find family, hi Brian, this is Sally from North Dakota I am calling to give an update and a praise report on Maddie our friends daughter who ran away from a youth home. This past week she reached out to a family member and she was returned safely. It is such good news and our prayers were answered. Her family says thank you to all of you. I wanted to say hi to Jane Root from Nebraska. You said it had been a while since you called in. I’m so glad that you did. You expressed how much the DAB means to you and I feel the exact same way. how I, too, am becoming attached to each one that I hear and love. Isaiah from Delaware, I hope I got your name right. On August 1^st you were the last caller that played that day. Thank you for your encouragement and prayer on thanksgiving. I love what you said, “so may we choose this day to be faithful to glorify God and be grateful for what He has done for us and all that He has in store for our lives.”

Hello Daily Audio Bible this is David from Clinton Massachusetts and I’m just calling because I heard some people calling talking about people with migraines. And I suffered with migraine for about 15 years. I had cluster migraine. I had to go into a dark room three times a week with absolutely no light. Any light would feel like a dart piercing through my eye. And I just…my heart goes out to anyone suffering from these migraines because I remember the intense agony that I suffered through so often and my wife was very loving and patient through all of that and very good. It’s always good to have somebody who is very patient with you, but if you don’t, guess what, you have a God and I’m here to tell you that the way I really got through those migraines and have not suffered one in years now was I praised the Lord through the storms. Okay? Anytime I had one I would…I’d just start praising God. Okay? And, so, I know I only have two minutes and…but I just wanted to try to encourage you to praise God through those migraines and get in the word more. Okay? Those are two things, those are the two ways that you get through it. Alright? So, I just want a quick prayer. Father God, anybody suffering with these migraines Lord I ask that You be with them and comfort them Lord, that You would relieve them, that You hold their hand Lord so that they are able to praise You Lord. Comfort them and show them the way out of that dark tunnel and let them know that there is a way out. In Jesus precious name I pray. Amen.

Nehemiah 11:1-12:26, 1 Corinthians 10:14-33, Psalms 34:11-22, Proverbs 21:14-16

Today is August 16^th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. It’s great to be here with you every day and I say that most every day because it’s true. It’s great to be here with you taking this next step forward moving our way into the back half and toward the weekend. What an honor, you guys. I mean, have you ever stopped to think like that we live in a time that we can actually do this and actually even take it for granted that we’re doing this. What you and I are participating in as we come around the global camp fire every day is the kind of stuff that people would write science fiction about just a century ago. And here we are connected all over the world taking steps forward as we go through the entire Bible in a year all over the world. It’s a great day to be here with you. I’m glad that we can take this next step. So, let’s do that. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week and we’re working her way through the book of Nehemiah. All the people have come together and repented before the Lord. The walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt. So, restoration is afoot. Like, things are moving in a very positive direction and we’ll see how that goes. Nehemiah chapter 11 verse 1 through 12 verse 26 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, as we’re continuing through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that we call first Corinthians, Paul was answering questions. And, so, one of the questions was essentially, if you passively participate in something that could be sinful, if you actively participated in it, is it still sin, like if it’s a passive thing? So, specifically what he was being asked was whether a person can eat meat sacrificed to a false idol. So, like on the face of it, we could be like, “well, no we shouldn’t do that”, but it’s kind of complicated. Corinth’s a big-city, people worshiped Greek gods, people worshiped the Roman gods. And, so, the meat from these sacrifices finds their way into the market, like just going grocery shopping making it basically impossible for a Christian, a believer in Jesus, to know whether or not they’re eating sacrificed meat. So, they’re trying to figure out, like, “how do…how do we navigate this? Like are we sinning if we just eat meat not knowing where it came from?” And, so, Paul was essentially making clear the meat isn’t the issue, they could eat in good conscience, but if they’re trying basically to walk the line here, like if they’re asking this question to say, “hey can we worship Jesus, but then can we also go worship at this…at this temple and eat there?” So, the meat, the food wasn’t the issue, it was the posture of heart was the issue, which basically just brought up follow-up questions. “What if…what if somebody who worships another God invites me over to have dinner? That me could have been sacrificed to an idol because I know they worship this false God and this meal that I’ve been invited to could be eating in the idols honor. Wouldn’t this be participating in idolatry?” And, so, Paul answered like this, “If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you decide to go, eat what is set before you without asking any questions because of your conscience. But if somebody tells you this food was offered to idols than don’t eat that food for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience sake. That is, not your own conscience, but the other person’s conscience.” So, basically Paul’s saying like, “look, if you’ve got a friend who worships another God and you’re invited over to eat then go eat with your friend, but if your friend actually honors you by telling you that what your about to eat has been sacrificed to this other God and warns you about the food, well then, the right thing to do is not go like, “I don’t care”. The right thing to do is honor them by not eating.” Ok, like we’re zooming this into today, like I…you probably never go to the grocery store and wonder what…wonder if what you’re picking up’s been part of a cultic ritual, but there’s a principle here that does apply, and that is that we must be very much aware of the effect our lives and our convictions have on other people and treat other people with respect and honor, especially if there respecting us and giving honor to our convictions. And this just ties in with what we were reading yesterday because it’s the same letter where Paul’s saying he tries to look at everybody with dignity, like he tries to lower himself to the point that he’s serving everyone, he’s looking at everyone with that posture. So, Paul kind of sums the whole thing up. We just kind of spent a few minutes talking this through, but Paul really sums the point up very well. And the truth of the matter is if we would remember this posture, if we would remember what Paul said, if it were something that would come to mind continually it would very much help us. Paul says, “whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for God’s glory. Live in such a way as to cause no trouble either to Jews or Gentiles or the Church of God. Just do as I do. I try to please everyone in all that I do. I’m not thinking of my own good, but it’s of the good of all so that they might be saved.” So that’s first Corinthians 10:31-33. Very comprehensive, very simple instructions for life and no less practical right this minute than when this was written.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We get all caught up on what people do and do not do and what we do and what we do not do. And when somebody’s doing something that we would not do we usually condemn them and judge them and then really we’re just trying to gain an identity by what we’re not or trying to gain an identity by comparing ourselves to what someone else is or isn’t and it’s a waste of energy. We are who we are because of You. There is no identity outside of You. You have fashioned us in Your image and given us the breath of life. It’s not about what somebody else does and it’s not about what somebody else doesn’t do, and for that matter it’s not really about what we do or do not do. What we do or do not do, our behavior, should be shaped by our intimate love affair with You and there is nothing that You have withheld from us, but there has plenty we have withheld from You and this kind of stuff seeps out in the things that we do, the way that we judge people, the way that we condemn others, and the ways that we try to be slave drivers on our own selves, trying to perfect ourselves before You when it can’t be done. It’s a gift. So, Holy Spirit come. Help us to receive the gift of Your mercy and grace today that we might walk in freedom and as we walk in freedom that we might not put anyone around us in bondage for anything. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

The Daily Audio Bible shop lives there. The Prayer Wall is there. It’s your connection point. So, check it out.

I’ve been mentioning for several weeks the upcoming Family Reunion which begins two weeks from tomorrow here in the rolling hills of Tennessee where we’re gonna come together and just enjoy fellowship, enjoy each other’s company, play together, be together and just spend some time together visiting getting to know each other. So, we’re looking forward to that very, very, very much. That is, like I said, two weeks from tomorrow So, you can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Look for Family Reunion 2019 and hopefully, you can be there. We’ll be there. Hopefully you can be there as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible then thank you, humbly. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If the Daily Audio Bible app is what you use then you can just press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family this is last Michelle from Central Florida. I have a big prayer request. So, my husband and I have a very effective prison ministry. We minister to men that are coming out of jail and we have pantries that we support in eight different persons and we also have a pantry, a large pantry, with our church and it’s like exploded in growth and we each have a small business that we operate on top of everything else. The small business that I operate we took over a year ago and it was a loser, but we got a great deal on it and got into it. So, I’m asking that you guys pray with me. I’ve had a lot of difficulty with one of our vendors. I’ve gone back and forth with them for months and spent many, many hours proving to them, you know, that we’ve paid payment on different invoices. And when I say hours, multiple hours multiple calls, multiple emails. So, please be in agreement with me and I would like to take a moment to pray for all the small business owners in the DAB family. Father I just thank You Father for my brothers and sisters and for the DAB family members that own small businesses. I pray Lord God, Moed moments, Moed divine appointments, that You’ll put the right person in front of them at the right time, that You’ll give them favor and that You’re going to just work circumstances and situations out, that You’re gonna bring forth the answer from the North and South East and the West, that You’re gonna increase the fruits of their labor Father, that You’ll show them where to sow seed. And God, that in a time of famine or what seems like famine that You are gonna give them increase on every side and I thank You for…

Hi family it’s Terry from southern California. I’m calling on behalf of the prayer request from Laura who was calling in from California as well on behalf of her friend Barbara who introduced her to the DAB family a few years ago. And Barbara has lost her daughter Marcy and has passed away. And, so, Laura just thank you for calling on behalf of your friend. And I just want to lift up Barbara right now in the name of Jesus. Father God I pray Lord that You would just draw close to Barbara’s family God, to her mother and her teenage boys as well, the teenage boys of Marcy who had passed away late July this year. And I pray God that You would comfort them, that we would give them that peace that surpasses all understanding in those things which are just hurtful and full of heartache. And I pray God that Your presence will be felt in their lives and they will know that You will be with them and You will help them through this situation and that You will just bestow Your love and kindness upon them and that they will be able to rejoice in knowing that they serve a risen Savior and that one day Marcy will rise and be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And just comfort them right now, comfort her teenage boys Father God. Let them know they have __ her family and allow them to draw close to You during this __ time dear God. And so, __ thank You so much for calling on behalf of Barbara to allow the DAB family to lift her up in prayer during this very difficult time in their lives Father. So, thank you so much family…

Find family, hi Brian, this is Sally from North Dakota I am calling to give an update and a praise report on Maddie our friends daughter who ran away from a youth home. This past week she reached out to a family member and she was returned safely. It is such good news and our prayers were answered. Her family says thank you to all of you. I wanted to say hi to Jane Root from Nebraska. You said it had been a while since you called in. I’m so glad that you did. You expressed how much the DAB means to you and I feel the exact same way. how I, too, am becoming attached to each one that I hear and love. Isaiah from Delaware, I hope I got your name right. On August 1^st you were the last caller that played that day. Thank you for your encouragement and prayer on thanksgiving. I love what you said, “so may we choose this day to be faithful to glorify God and be grateful for what He has done for us and all that He has in store for our lives.”

Hello Daily Audio Bible this is David from Clinton Massachusetts and I’m just calling because I heard some people calling talking about people with migraines. And I suffered with migraine for about 15 years. I had cluster migraine. I had to go into a dark room three times a week with absolutely no light. Any light would feel like a dart piercing through my eye. And I just…my heart goes out to anyone suffering from these migraines because I remember the intense agony that I suffered through so often and my wife was very loving and patient through all of that and very good. It’s always good to have somebody who is very patient with you, but if you don’t, guess what, you have a God and I’m here to tell you that the way I really got through those migraines and have not suffered one in years now was I praised the Lord through the storms. Okay? Anytime I had one I would…I’d just start praising God. Okay? And, so, I know I only have two minutes and…but I just wanted to try to encourage you to praise God through those migraines and get in the word more. Okay? Those are two things, those are the two ways that you get through it. Alright? So, I just want a quick prayer. Father God, anybody suffering with these migraines Lord I ask that You be with them and comfort them Lord, that You would relieve them, that You hold their hand Lord so that they are able to praise You Lord. Comfort them and show them the way out of that dark tunnel and let them know that there is a way out. In Jesus precious name I pray. Amen.

Nehemiah 9:22-10:39, 1 Corinthians 9:19-10:13, Psalms 34:1-10, Proverbs 21:13

Today is the 15^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, of course, but hey, this might be your first day here. Welcome to the adventure of a lifetime. Even though you’re jumping on in August, that’s fine. This is a day by day journey through the Scriptures and it never ends. So, I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we take the next step forward in that journey that is leading us through the Bible in a year. And we have been working our way through the book of Nehemiah the letter that we call first Corinthians in the New Testament and we’re all reading from the Good News Translation this week. So, yesterday in Nehemiah, all of the people had come together, they celebrated the festival of Booths, they were really having a wonderful time together, very unified. The law was read, the people began to repent, and a prayer was being spoken. Nd, so, we pick up today where we left off yesterday in the middle of that prayer. Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 22 through 10:39 today and we’re reading from the Good News Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in first Corinthians, Paul is essentially kind of sharing his posture of ministry, sort of his guiding principles. Yesterday he spoke of the honorable right of those who have devoted themselves to spiritual ministry and who are caring for the spiritual needs of people, that they should be able to provide for their families from that work even though he didn’t exercise that right. And then today Paul discussed freedom basically. He said he’s a free man and like he’s a slave to no one but he’s finding it meaningful to look at his life as a slave to everyone and that helped him to look at the world through the eyes of Jesus. Paul could look at anyone and give them the dignity that they deserved or to revere that person as someone created in the image of God as the as opposed to thinking, “well, I’m a free man, they’re a slave” or “I have spiritual freedoms and they’re in spiritual bondage.” Like, he didn’t look down. He actually tried to diminish himself. He tried to reduce himself below the other person to become their slave, to become their servant, to give them honor in order to share the gospel with them. So, he described it like this. “Among the week in faith, I become weak like one of them in order to win them. So, I become all things to all people that I may serve some of them by whatever means are possible.” And he wasn’t just saying, “so, you know, this should be easy now that you know this, just go out and serve everybody, just lower yourself to the place of a servant and serve everybody” even though that’s a command, even though that’s the way Jesus lived, even though that’s what Christlike looks like. He wasn’t trying to say it’s an easy thing to do. He actually says that it takes the same kind of self-discipline that an athlete has to commit themselves to in order to become a winner, to become a champion. And one of those disciplines is simply being aware, like being vigilant and observing how our hearts are moving. Like, are we being seduced away? Are we looking down? Have we humbled ourselves to the place of a servant? Are we being tempted away? And he gave examples from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament that we’ve been reading that we know well because we’ve just traveled to that territory, right? And people were tempted and seduced away from God into idolatry. Everything about them began to disintegrate. When they returned to God, as we’re seeing in the book of Nehemiah right now, unity was restored. So, the example Paul’s giving us an Corinthians today is one that we can all put to good use constantly - lowering ourselves so that we can find common ground with whoever it is that we have to interact with understanding this is a posture of a disciple of Jesus Christ and a discipline that we have to train ourselves for, right? So, you’re not gonna just decide necessarily to do this today, jump out and your whole life is changed. This is a discipline, a practice, something we train for. So, start training today and when you fail at it just observe the fact that, “oh, I was not successful at lowering myself. I actually got very prideful, very haughty and said a bunch of things I didn’t need to say into the world, but next time I will know. I am training for this.” And in that we would be training to be Christlike.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that because You have given us a model of what life can and is supposed to look like and actually needs to look like as we continue to be Your hands and feet, Your body in this world revealing Your kingdom that is in and among us. So, we’re gonna have to walk Your path and that will not allow us to walk the path of pride and arrogance. So, help us to look at everybody as someone who’s created in Your image, everybody who deserves dignity and let us not try to dominate over anyone, especially those that we love. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

It’s where the Prayer Wall lives. It’s where the Daily Audio Bible shop is, where there are number of resources for this journey.

It’s where all the initiatives, event type things that we do. For example, we’ll be going back to Israel this coming February and there are precious few, handful of spots left on that journey. So, if it’s been a part of your thoughts and prayers over the last little while, certainly check that out. Love to have you.

And the Daily Bible Family Reunion that’s coming up here in just a couple weeks here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. Looking forward to that very much. Just a time to come together with the family that’s been journeying through the Bible together this year and get to know each other. Looking forward to that a lot. So, hopefully you can come. And the details are in the Initiatives section at dailyaudiobible.com. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com also. There’s a link that is 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 the mailing address, if that is your preference, 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Nehemiah 8:1-9:21, 1 Corinthians 9:1-18, Psalms 33:12-22, Proverbs 21:11-12

Today is the 14^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s always great to be here with you no matter what day it is. The fact that we know we’ll be here, and we’ll be here for each other and we’ll take the next step forward brings a lot of joy. So, it’s good to be here with you and the next step forward is, of course, gonna pick up where the last one left off. So, we’re reading from the book of Nehemiah and we’re reading from the letter that we know as first Corinthians in the New Testament. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1 through 9 verse 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Nehemiah, yesterday we saw that the wall was complete. The wall surrounding Jerusalem was complete. Nehemiah’s mission was accomplished. And, so, he called all the people together, went through the genealogical records, got everybody together and then the Mosaic law was read in everyone’s hearing and obviously there were a lot of people. So, you have Ezra on a platform reading but then there’s Levites out among the people explaining what’s being read. And as the laws being read, they realize they need to celebrate the festival booths. So, they send word, and everybody celebrates the festival booths. And as all of this celebration is happening and everybody’s excited because these things haven’t been done, according to Nehemiah, since the time of Joshua. So, these are really, really old traditions that are fundamental to the people’s identity. And, so, they’re excited about this and it leads them to a prayer of repentance, it leads them to come clean before God, and renew their covenant with God. And we began that prayer today and we’ll conclude that prayer tomorrow.

And then in first Corinthians, in Paul’s letter he’s defending himself against people who are basically putting out the word that Paul is in it for himself…like he’s taking advantage of people, he’s exploiting them for his own personal gain. And, so, he responds like this, “when people criticize me this is how I defend myself. Don’t I have the right to be given food and drink for my work? Don’t I have the right to follow the example of the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Peter by taking a Christian wife with me on my trips or are Barnabas and I the only ones left to work for our living?” So, Paul’s basically saying, “those who are caring for you in spiritual service who are leading you to God, they deserve to be able to support themselves through that work. That’s hard work and it’s on behalf of others.” But even though Paul could rightfully say that he deserves all that, he was saying he didn’t. He didn’t take anything from anybody. These were false accusations and false assumptions. And, so, Paul ends uop saying, like “I’m commanded to preach the good news and I’m not exploiting anybody and I’m depending on God.” Now assumptions are kind of a big deal. They were a big deal in the early church as we’re seeing in the writings of Paul. They were a big deal way before Paul and they’re a big deal now - assumptions about spiritual leaders about political leaders about creative leaders. Like, this is a commonplace thing in our society but it’s kind of a commonplace thing in humanity and it’s certainly a commonplace thing in the Bible, like Joseph, right, in the Old Testament. He faced these false assumptions and his family human trafficked him. Moses, all kinds of assumptions about Moses throughout the wilderness journey. A lot of the Pslams that were written by David were because of the false assumptions that were being made about him. And remember David and Saul’s life and how that was so intertwined and how Saul wanted to kill David based on false assumptions. And as we move through the prophets see that they like not…most people didn’t believe them. They assumed they were crazy. It wasn’t until later when what they were prophesying came true that they were considered legitimate profits. Of course, Jesus faced false assumptions, right? Remember, it was the religious leaders, the Pharisees of which Paul…that was his tribe that were saying, “Jesus heals by the power of demons.” That was false. That was a false assumption. And now we’re seeing Paul deal with false assumptions and we can zoom forward into our own lives and look at the ways that people have assumed false things about us, but if we’re gonna do that we have to look at the way we have assumed false things about others because the reality is we invent a lot of things about a lot of people that we have never met that we do not know, maybe we have met, maybe we’ve had brief encounters but we don’t know them and so we make up realities about them. Well, they can be false, and they can be hurtful. You have to think about your own life. You know like, what if the things that were being told about you were the things that you were doing when you were in college and there were fragments of stories that were completely taken out of context, they did not represent your life now and they really weren’t accurate about your life then, well then you see how deeply hurtful and incorrect a false assumption can be. It finds its way into the Bible because Paul who’s trying to only be a slave of Jesus Christ, and who has faced really significant obstacles throughout his ministry of bringing the gospel, now he’s being accused of being exploitative. So, we see that it makes its way to the Bible. He’s basically exasperated saying, “what do I have to do here?” So, we need to pay attention to how dangerous false assumptions can be and we need to catch ourselves. And how many incomplete inaccurate assumptions we make on any given day because we pull these assumptions together to make an inner narrative, right, the story that we’re telling with our lives that is synthesized through all of the things happen to us on any given day. And, so, we’re making all kinds of assumptions to keep our reality strong when the reality is we don’t really know what we’re talking about when we’re talking about somebody that we don’t know and when we judge that person then we have stepped into the realm of God. Are we willing to do that? Let’s think about that today as we move through the day and we make assumptions about the day.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come into that because we’re constantly doing this. And it’s not always a bad thing. Like, we need to have situational awareness, but once we make assumptions and start believing that there the truth and we don’t have all of the facts, then there is something false. And we need to realize that we do this to You all of the time. We make all kinds of assumptions about what You’re going to do and not do. Come Holy Spirit, help us to realize that the way he around assumption is to be known and to know and to be true. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and it’s where you find out what’s going on around here and its how you stay connected in any number of ways.

The Prayer Wall, of course, lives at dailyaudiobible.com and people are praying for one another on a continual basis.

The Daily Audio Bible family reunion is coming up here on the 31^st of this month. So, day by day we’re getting closer and closer and more more excited to see to see everyone and to shake hands and hug necks and hear stories and tell stories and…well…family reunion, to do family reunion stuff. And, so, looking forward to that very, very much. We are excited because we’ve been working pretty diligently here for the last few months on crafting a whole line of global campfire stuff that says just goes along with the journey that we’re on through the Bible in a year. So, we’re gonna think that all through…actually been thinking that all through for over a year. And then design and look and feel and all this stuff. And, so, we’re gonna be launching the Global Campfire line at the family reunion this year. So, super excited for that. And those of you who are coming, can’t wait to see you, and you’ll be the first to get a look. So, hopefully you can come here to the rolling hills of Tennessee where we’ll go out on the lake and have a family reunion. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, just press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll take you to the Initiatives section as well and hopefully you can be there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we’re doing together is life-giving to you then thank you profoundly and humbly for your partnership as we continue to move our way through summertime. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Nehemiah 5:14-7:73, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Psalms 33:1-11, Proverbs 21:8-10

Today is the 13^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey toward the middle of the week, and for that matter toward the middle of this month. I’m glad that we could be here together to take the next step forward in our journey through the Scriptures. And we’re in this really interesting, really dramatic story called Nehemiah and there’s so much for us to learn in this book about the way leadership works, the way that Nehemiah handled a task that he was given that was far beyond his capability and all of the oppositions that he faced along the way. It gives us such a life lesson. So, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday were reading from the Good News Translation this week. Nehemiah chapter 5 verse 14 through 7 verse 73.

Commentary:

Okay. So, back to Nehemiah. Yeah, obviously the last part of our reading today was a number of lists about people who had returned from exile, but before that, and throughout this story of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, we should notice that Nehemiah…like…he assessed the situation before he got anyone involved and then when they launched, they launched strong and they faced all kinds of opposition, but as we’ve read over the last three days, these oppositions only got like…it only escalated…it only amped up the closer they got to finishing the wall. We should maybe give us a little bit of an exhale when we think of our own mission, like where not the only ones who ever face opposition. This is everybody. And today we got to see kind of what was burning inside, like what Nehemiah’s heart was like, what was a motivating because he gave it to us in print form. He didn’t take the resources that was given to his position. Even though his predecessors as governors had taken their pay he didn’t. And there was nothing wrong with them getting paid for what they did. It was just that he saw the burden the people were under and as their leader he tried to live by example and lighten the load and be a part of the story with them instead of taking advantage of him. And, so he paid out of his own pocket what it cost for him to be in the position that he was in, which could’ve only showed everyone around him, everyone under him that he was in the struggle, that he was in it with them, but it also showed the people that Nehemiah was looking for this opportunity. Like he wasn’t looking for personal gain. He had one mission and it was a mission that burned in his heart when he served the King of Persia and that was to rebuild the wall to see that the temple would be protected. And so, that was it. He would accept nothing less or nothing more. That was it. In fact, Nehemiah goes on to tell us that he was so devoted to the wall that he refused to acquire any land. And that might be like well, “you’re just putting another feather in your cap buddy. We get it. You’re a good guy. You were a good guy.” But it’s actually a pretty big thing what he’s saying because this is Jerusalem, right? This is Jerusalem, who has been…that has been destroyed, but this is a city that is sitting in the center of things, a very valuable piece of property. And now, with walls going up and a temple going up, like this is the primmest of prime real estate for the future. Like, this is where you want to invest cause thus city’s coming back. He didn’t at all. It wasn’t wealth that he was after, right? It wasn’t in position or power or prosperity that he was after. He wanted to finish what he started, what God gave him to do. So, then Nehemiah faces the politics of the whole situation, right? So, ridicule didn’t work, taunting didn’t work, and they planned attacks and attacks didn’t work. And, so, they tried to intimidate Nehemiah specifically. First by inviting him to basically a summit, like “hey…come out to the plane of Ona. We have some things we need to talk about.” And the  enemies of Nehemiah, the enemies of the people are just exposing themselves. They see that the wall is about to be completed so they want to get on terms with Nehemiah. Actually, they want to lure him away so that they can discredit him, but he won’t go. Like he will come down. He’s basically, “I’m up on this wall and I’m not coming down from this wall to meet with you.” And that’s when this open letter comes, right, this plot to send word all the way back to Persia to the king that Nehemiah has built this wall and is rebuilding the city and plans to become the king of Judah and rebel against the king of Persia. And even prophets are bribed in the mix here to discredit and make Nehemiah look bad. So, basically we’re watching the systematic attack on God’s plan that was birthed in the in Nehemiah’s heart. And Nehemiah, as the leader of the vision, of this plan, the leader of this whole effort, how he responds to all of these things, right? We don’t have any little asides in the book of Nehemiah where Nehemiah’s, you know, hiding out in some kind of house somewhere with his head in his hands asking if he missed God, right? Like with all of this that keeps…all these attacks that keep coming against me, maybe I just missed God or maybe I just missed it somehow and then we start to try to figure a way out of whatever it is. What Nehemiah did was keep moving forward. Like, one way or another, as slow as it might’ve been, one foot in front of the other, one little bit of progress forward every day. And I feel pretty confident that some of you needed to hear that today straight from the Bible, unfiltered.

Prayer:

Father, we come into Your presence, and whether we’re facing any of these things right now, we’re all on the same page about what we’re talking about here. Whether it’s our current circumstance, we know what’s going on and we’ve felt this before, and frankly, we’ve given up more times than we haven’t. So, come Holy Spirit and let us see this lesson that is just sitting here in the story of Nehemiah about continuing forward no matter how slow the progress and no matter who’s saying what, no matter the intimidation against us. If we know that You have asked us to do something, then help us to complete it and to do it with honor and to do it in Your name. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And the Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion is coming up that we’ve been talking about for a while. Now we’re actually almost there. Two weeks is it? Yeah, let me look at a calendar. Two weeks from Saturday is the beginning, August 31^st through September 2^nd, which is Labor Day weekend here in the United States. We’re gonna get together and have a Family Reunion and have fun and play together and get to know each other and spend some time in the evenings together. And China’s telling me she’s thinking about maybe Bible trivia or hosting a little Bible trivia competition out there one afternoon. We’re just gonna have a good time and looking forward to it very much. So, hopefully you can come. All of the details can be gotten at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019. And we will be there and hopefully you can be there too because what fun is that if you’re not there? Just like the Daily Audio Bible, what fun is that if we don’t do this together? So hopefully you can come. And get the details at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link and it lives on the homepage and I humbly, humbly, humbly thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Nehemiah 3:15-5:13, 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 21:5-7

Today is the 12^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure, it is joy, does the heart good to be here with you in your presence as we all come into the presence of the Scripture and invite the Holy Spirit to speak through His words into our lives and into our day. So, yeah, it’s a joy to be here with you as we take the next step forward. So, we got a new week here that we’re moving into. We’re reading from a new translation, the Good News Translation. This week we began the book of Nehemiah. Yesterday we talked about that then and we’ll continue with that story today. Nehemiah chapter 3 verse 15 through 5 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, we started the book of Nehemiah yesterday and it is such a powerful work for us to consider, especially as we just watched Nehemiah’s processes because it counsels us as we pursue our own lives callings and our own goals. So, we can watch Nehemiah and then we can contrast ourselves and learn some things. So, first we remember Nehemiah when he arrived in Jerusalem, he road all the way around the city examining the condition of the broken-down walls and he did it at night and he didn’t tell anybody what he was doing to others. He’s assessing the situation before there are a bunch of opinions flying at him about what should be done. He’s assessing the situation. God called him to do this, moved upon his heart, he interceded about this, he went before the king, the king commissioned him, so he has the authority to do this and before he gets everybody’s opinion about it, he’s assessing the situation. Once he did that, he shared the vision with the people and the people were on board and progress moved faster than anyone could’ve hoped. I mean we read about a bunch of people who built a bunch of sections but what we’re watching here if this were actually…like…if we were able to observe this is a bunch of people lifting up a wall all at once all the way around the city. This is happening. And, so, when we think of this in light of our own pursuits, the things that we believe God has invited us to do, that’s what we want, faster than planned, smooth sailing all the way, but smooth sailing isn’t the story, right? Like, this is how they launched but the Nehemiah started facing some pretty formidable opposition once it got going. First came the taunts, right? First came the ridicule. What does this bunch of poor Jews think their doing? What do they think, they can build this wall in a day by offering sacrifices? They think they can make building stones out of rubbish? Oh, these discouraging words. And this is what happens to us. We feel a call. We prepare, we assess, we begin, things are moving, then envy and jealousy somehow seems to surround, haunting voices, people who aren’t actually willing to take risks are thoe ones who seem to have all of the answers. And, so, discouraging words are poured on the fire that’s burning within us and then discouragement sets in, and then we begin to waiver and then, you know, before long its over. That’s not what Nehemiah did. Nehemiah cried out to God in prayer and he kept moving forward. Like, we need to think about that. Nehemiah didn’t listen to the voices of discouragement or the oppositions that faced him. He knew because he had assessed the situation, he knew because the king had given him authority to do this. He knew that he was capable. And, so, he may have had to slow down but he did not stop, and he did not give up and pretty soon the wall was half its height. So, at this point, the enemies, realizing that the taunting, right, the sort of the verbal attack isn’t gonna work so they’re gonna actually attack. So, Nehemiah responded. He armed everybody and basically split all of the work into two shifts. One shift was on guard while the other laborers were working and then they would probably switch places the next day or something. Nevertheless, and even though they had to get on the defensive and be prepared and even though this cut the work in half and slowed them down considerably they still stayed prepared and they still kept moving forward, even though they were moving forward more slowly. And then finally there were the oppositions…there were…there was the opposition that came from within. Many of the people weren’t able to maintain the work on the wall and keep farming and trading and supporting their families. And, so, some people became opportunists, wealthier Jewish exiles preyed upon the less fortunate, causing families to be broken up, right. Like indentured servitude was a common thing, which infuriated Nehemiah. And, so, he pulled all these wealthy leaders together and essentially gave them the business and told them that what they were doing was unthinkable and that they needed to undo what they were doing immediately. And they did. So, Nehemiah didn’t hide injustice just to keep things going and get the job done, he brought it into the light which exposed everybody who was participating and they repented. So, the lesson here is that Nehemiah was not willing to give up no matter what. And he prepared for everything he could prepare for and then he dealt with everything that came his way, knowing that the mission was given to him by God and God would be the only one to accomplish the mission. It’d be very, very good, very good for us to remember these things as we continue to navigate this week.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. So, often we get excited about something, we launch into something, but we haven’t stepped back, we haven’t assessed the situation, we haven’t counted the cost before we get a bunch of voices into the mix. We don’t exactly know what we’re doing, we’re unprepared, but we launch and things move along and then we get all these words of discouragement flying at us and we’re just truly not prepared, we simply haven’t understood that no dream, no vision happens by total accident. So, come Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth about this. Show us the areas that we’re spinning our wheels and wasting our energy because we are not prepared. Show us the voices of discouragement that are slowing us down, but we need to utterly depend on You. And show us the problems that are coming from within that need to be brought into the light. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and it is where you find out what’s going on around here.

Been talking about the Family Reunion that’s coming up in a couple weeks. So, we’re…well…we’re getting there. August 31^st through September 2^nd. So, this is Labor Day weekend. Here in the rolling hills of Tennessee we’re gonna gather and have a Family Reunion and celebrate the year that we are having together and just play together and be together and love one another. So, hopefully you can come. All of the details can be found at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. So, check that out. If you’re using the app, you can press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app screen and that’ll get you to the to the Initiatives section as well. So, we’re looking forward to seeing you soon here in the rolling hills of Tennessee.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at the website as well. A link just lives on the homepage and I thank you beyond words for your partnership. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Nehemiah 1:1-3:14, 1 Corinthians 7:1-24, Psalms 31:19-24, Proverbs 21:4

Today is the 11^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and here we are reaching out, twisting the knob, throwing the doorway, the entry open and walking through the threshold of a new week. And we may have plans about this week and kind of know what the schedule is, but we don’t really know what’s going to happen this week. It will all be revealed minute by minute and choice by choice. And one of the wise choices that we make each and every day is to take the next step forward in the Scriptures, allowing them to be a voice in our lives as we face the choices that we need to make on any given day or in any given week. And, so, we got a brand-new week. We will read from the Good News Translation this week. And we concluded the book of Ezra yesterday, which means we’ll be beginning a new book as we begin this new week and this book is called Nehemiah.

Introduction to the book of Nehemiah”

Nehemiah is part of a group of books known as the books of history in the Bible and we won’t be to lost. Nehemiah picks up pretty much where Ezra leaves off. In Christian tradition Ezra is considered at least one of the authors of Nehemiah because Ezra and Nehemiah at one time in biblical history were a single manuscript. So, here’s pretty much what we know. Nehemiah was a Jewish exile. He had been exiled and was under the rule of the Persian kings and he’d followed the story of how God gave favor to this remnant of people, these exiles in allowing the first Jewish people to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple. And he would’ve been able to follow the story closely because he was a direct servant to the Persian king. What got Nehemiah’s attention, what engaged his heart, and actually engaged his heart to the point that he interceded for months about this, was this image that he had of God’s temple, which obviously, the temple was the symbol, like the symbol of the Jewish people and the place where God met with mankind. So, he had this image of this of this temple being rebuilt but sitting there completely undefended. And, so, a passion began to build in Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and this went on until he couldn’t hold it inside anymore and had to talk to the King. And just having this desire and then having the guts to talk to the King, that’s not the whole story. He faced all kinds of opposition. But we’ll watch as we see the story unfold, that even though he faced all kinds of opposition he persevered through all of it. He was resolute. He didn’t turn to the left or the right, he didn’t lose sight of who he was depending on. And these are all things that all of us have to learn. This is all part of our faith journey and all part of the maturing process in the faith. And, so, as we’ll see, the wall was rebuilt in record time, and Nehemiah returned to Persia to report to the King and just resume his role, but later he was given permission to go back to Jerusalem again and when he got there what he found very much troubled him, similar to Ezra. The wall they built was strong, the people were not. The people were weak. And, so, Nehemiah stepped into that breach and helped restore Israel to its glory before the Lord. There is so much for us in this book. And, so, we begin, Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 14.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this brand-new week that we are entering to be counseled by Your word and to be in fellowship with one another as we continue this journey through the Scriptures this year. We invite Your Holy Spirit into this week, into every decision that we need to make, whether it’s something that we know about or something that will just home as a surprise. We’re faced with decisions and choices things to talk about every single day and we need the counsel of Your Holy Spirit so that in all things we might reveal Your kingdom. Come Holy Spirit we ask. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and certainly the connection point.

It is the place where the Prayer Wall lives and brothers and sisters are praying for one another and asking for prayer on a continual basis there. It’s where the shop lives, where resources for this journey can be found.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage, and I cannot thank you enough for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, everything that we just talked about is available as well, including if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Just push 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’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Ezra 10:1-44, 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, Psalms 31:9-18, Proverbs 21:3

Today is the 10^th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a joy to be here with you as we end a week together. Another one of our weeks has gone by. And, yeah, we just keep marching forward and I love it. We march through the seasons, we march through so much in a year and the Bible speaks into all of it and that happens because we keep the rhythm going. We just show up. That’s all we have to do. And, so, here we are. We showed up. And we’ve been reading from the God’s Word Translation this week. Today Ezra chapter 10.

Prayer:

Thank you, Father for bringing us through another week in your word and thank you for bringing us through another week of our lives. Thank you for your presence among us as a community. Thank you for your presence individually in our lives. Come Holy Spirit as we prepare for the new week. And as we close this one down, we open our hearts to you and ask that you lead us into all truth as you’ve promised. Come Jesus we pray. In your name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

So, three weeks from today, something’s going on around here. Three weeks from today the D Audio Bible Family Reunion will begin here in the rolling hills of Tennessee out on the lake. It is going to be a wonderful time. You have been and continue to be invited and we’re just hoping as many as can come will come and we’re gonna have wonderful time together celebrating the year that we’ve spent and for that matter years that we have spent together, knowing each other by voice. But this is an opportunity to get to know each other a little bit…a little bit deeper. And I love it. Usually I’m the one traveling all over the place to shake hands and hug necks and this will be here in the rolling hills in Tennessee where…where all this happens every day. And, so, we’re looking forward to seeing you. Hopefully you can come. All of the details can be found at dailyaudiobible.com in the initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019 and we’ll be there, and we hope to see you there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we continue to move through summertime, thank you. Thank you profoundly. There is a link on the homepage. 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 comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Chandra calling from Maryland. I know I am I’m about a week late. I’m catching up with everything, but I did want to call. The Holy Spirit impressed upon me. Alaska mom, you called in with your prayer request, you mentioned how you’re in Africa and because of things that were going through you weren’t able to leave when you wanted to and things like that. And that made me think of Jesus several times, that he met people. He, it wasn’t on his schedule, but the Lord lead him to other places like the woman at the well and other places and it’s a divine set up, you know, it says God is leading, guiding, and ordering your steps. He has you there for that time, that reason, that season. So, please just continue to patient and rest and trust in God. And I wanted to call and leave a message for Demetrius, I believe that’s his name. I wanted to let you know I‘m hearing all these guys…well…people…more specifically men, reaching out to you. And just to let you know that God had you call even though you may not know why you said what you said and why everything the way that it worked out. Just thank the Lord that he allowed you to get through because you have a multitude of people praying for you. Well, I love you guys and like I said I’m catching up with the prayers and everything like and hearing the word. You guys be blessed. Thank you so much Brian and Jill for this outlet, you know, for making a way for people to hear the word and then the praise and then their prayers just to…

Hey family this is Ken from Indiana. I love you all so much. I absolutely love listening to this and thank you Brian so much. I just have to say, it’s been so difficult to call in for some reason. Every time I went to call in Satan just strikes me with so much anxiety, I just start shaking but…so, I haven’t written anything down. I’m just calling off the cuff. I really need prayer. I’ve posted prayers a couple times on the Prayer Wall because it’s so much easier, but I have two daughters that just have absolutely terrible eczema that has ravished their skin all over their bodies. We’ve sought out so much help from doctors and specialists and dermatologists and I’ve only just started getting some relief from naturopathic doctors, but just the stress and the stress from money of spending so much money trying to get help for them has just really, really been hard on our family. My wife has struggled so much with anxiety and drifting from Christ and the relationship that you once had. I just covet your prayers and could really use prayers for direction on which way to go and if God’s willing for miraculous healing for my daughter’s and for relief for my wife. I love you all. Looks like my times about up. Thank you so much. Bye.

Hi this is Kanisha from Atlanta. I’m gonna try to say this very quickly. There was a lady, I didn’t catch her name, she called in about losing her faith, to pray that she…it’s restored and something about she works from home…her business is at home or…and she was having technical issues. Her dog was sick also as well. I’m just gonna offer you some words of encouragement here. Back in 08 I was sick. I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I went into the hospital and what it seems a month and a day. They said I had a rare blood disorder called TTP. A series of miracles occurred. And I say a series in regards to my healing. I’m a medical mystery as to how I was able to survive that. I’m here and I’m living proof. Just hold onto His word. Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. And this is for anyone who’s battling or just feels that they’re being attacked and going. You just have to stay in faith. God promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. And in my darkest hour…at my darkest hour when I thought I was going to die He was there for me as only he could be. So, I just pray for you that you feel that peace that I felt when I was ill and that you’re able to just know you’re not alone, you’re not going through this alone. And just hold on to His word. Hold on. He’s not left you. He’s there…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Tracy. I’m the girlfriend of Robert Willing to Serve. He passed away yesterday, which would be on the sixth. I ask for prayers for me and his family during this time, which is still…just everyone’s in shock. And I want…I want to share something with that Robert and I would do morning. We would listen to the Daily Audio Bible and it was very important to us and he would like go everywhere and he would…he would show…he would tell people about the Daily Audio Bible. It was in his card and he would talk about it and __ listen to. I love you Brian and your family, which helped us immensely through this short time that I was with Robert. And I just want to thank you for…for all…for all that you did and please pray for us and the family. Thank you. This is Tracy. I’ll be…I’ll in touch. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is my first time calling in. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible now for about a month and ½ and it’s completely changed my life. But my call today is for a request a prayer request for my brother. My brother’s name is Robert, has been a severe alcoholic for going on maybe 13 years. So, he’s been to rehab, no exaggeration, probably seven times and he’ll be fine for a while and then he’ll relapse, and he’ll go for a while without drinking and then he’ll start drinking again and then he’ll binge very, very bad. He’ll leave, go a couple towns away, hold himself up in a hotel, and just drink himself into oblivion. He’s he left yesterday morning…afternoon…I’m not sure which…what time you left yesterday but left yesterday on his motorcycle. He just got a motorcycle…I don’t know about a month ago. He is not a believer. So, I’m just asking for you all to please lift him up and also for myself and my mom. We’ve been going through this for 13 years now and I feel like I’ve become very immune to it and “oh it’s Robert’s at it again” kind of thing and I don’t even know how to pray for him anymore…sometimes…