Author: Daily Audio Bible Transcripts

2 Chronicles 26:1-28:27, Romans 13:1-14, Psalms 23:1-6, Proverbs 20:11

Today is the 30^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. 30^th day of July. One day left in this month. The year is flying, but maybe that’s just me. I doubt it though. But it seems like the further we get into the quicker it goes. Nevertheless, we have something in our lives that roots us to the here and now and this is our daily rhythm of allowing God’s word to wash over us, to speak to us. And we continue to create this safe place around the global campfire for us to step out of whatever’s going on and just be at peace in the presence of community, in the presence of God as we hear the reading of His word. And, so, today…well…this week we’re reading from the Common English Bible. Today from the Old Testament we’ll continue our journey through the…well…through the journeys of the kings of Judah and Israel. Second Chronicles 26 through 28.

Commentary:

Okay. So, yesterday in the book of Romans, we kind of went down this list that’s in Romans 12 of just what life should look like. Like how our behaviors should be, what it means to be a living sacrifice. And, so, today Paul just kind of summed it all up. Like all of that and all of the issues of life all boil down to one thing and that one thing is love. As Paul said, if you love your neighbor…like…if you love your neighbor as you love yourself then you are fulfilling the law, right? And he just kind of boils it down. Like, everybody knows you should not commit adultery. That’s the rule. Everyone knows you shouldn’t murder. That’s the rule. You shouldn’t covet. That’s the rule. Like, you know the rules, but if you think about it, you can’t do any of those things. Like, you can’t break the rules in love. You cannot murder in love. You cannot covet in love. So, that’s why love is the thing here. The thing is that that’s not a new concept, right? Love is the answer. I mean how many billions of times has that been said. Like, how many times do we hear that every week almost to the point of cliché? Like everybody, no matter what they believe intuitively understands the idea that love is the answer, but what we rarely actually slow down and pay attention to and move beyond cliché is just how powerful of a statement that actually is. Love is the by far the most potent weapon to fight darkness that there is. So, when we love, even sacrificially, when we love then God’s kingdom is being revealed and made visible in this world. When we love we are reflecting the glory of the Lord upon this earth. And as Paul’s writing this letter, he’s saying this is urgent…like…this is an urgent matter. Time’s running out. You’ve gotta wake up. It’s here, it’s happening, the night is almost gone, the day of salvation is coming. Like, he’s saying this is an urgent matter, this is an urgent matter. When we love, especially the unlovable, or when we are not being loved in return, we are doing battle against the darkness. And the Scriptures tell us love conquerors all. So, we begin to realize this isn’t like a battle against nations, this isn’t in battles against communities, this is in battles against neighbors. This is a battle between darkness and light. This is battle between good and evil and love is the weapon that will destroy and utterly annihilate evil and darkness from this world, which, as we will see in the end, as we’re nearing the end of the Bible is kind of the point. And if we just look back at the Gospels, we will realize that this is what God in the flash demonstrated, taught, revealed, modeled for us. So, it would be easy enough to say…well…love one another and have a good day. But you need to understand when you one another what is happening. When you love you are restoring things to how they were meant to be.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. And there’s a part of us that’s deep inside that knows this. There’s also a greater part of us that’s very distracted from it and we usually are reacting to something not in love before we even think about whether or not we should respond in love. We need Your help because we need love to be the default. We need to be transformed in this area badly. We need love to be the default, not some sort of resistance, not some sort of anger, not some sort of defensiveness, not all of the things that we go to instead. We need love to be the default in our lives, that we will respond in love to whatever comes our way. And we can only go so far in our own strength. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Well up from within and show us how to do this. It’s gonna take some practice but we’re beginning today. Show us how to be a living sacrifice as we respond and love and reveal Your kingdom in this world in every situation that comes our way. May this be our default. We ask in the name of Jesus, who gave us the example of what that looks like. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, which happens to be home. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

Been talking for a while, weeks now, about the upcoming Family Reunion. That is gonna to take place here in the rolling hills of Tennessee over Labor Day weekend. So, August 31^st through September 1^st. We’ll ring in a brand-new month together and looking forward to it very much. Hope you can be here. We can play together, get to know each other. Looking forward to that time. Really looking forward to that time. So, the details, all of the details, everything that you would need to know are at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019. If you’re using the app, you can press the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and get there as well. So, hope you can come.

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 if what we we’re doing in community here every day, bringing the spoken word of God, for anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and the community that surrounds it as we come in around the global campfire every day, if that brings life to you, then thank you, thank you for your partnership. There’s 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, TN 37174.

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

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

2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28, Romans 12:1-21, Psalms 22:19-31, Proverbs 20:8-10

Today is the 29^th of day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and every day sitting around the global campfire letting God’s word speak to us, this little oasis that we have together from the cares of life, this safe place where God can speak. So, let’s get to that. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Today, second Chronicles chapters 24 and 25.

Commentary:

Alright. So, we’ve been taking the journey through Romans reading the letter that the apostle Paul wrote that most scholars thinks is like the crowning jewel, one of the greatest theological documents that we have in the Christian faith. And, so, as we’re moving through it we see that at times very technical, very highly theological but then the implications become clear and some of those are spiritual implications, like realities that we need to live into and become aware of, but today Paul gives us like, here’s some practical things in your humanity that this should be doing. This is what you should look like because of all of this. And, so, it gives us a chance to just look at our lives versus this picture of what life should and even could and can and must look like. So, let’s just take an example. But before we do, we should…we should kind of get into this posture because we’re probably not gonna be perfectly aligned with all of this and it’s gonna reveal some areas that maybe the Holy Spirit here in the second half of the year would like to deal with in our lives, which is gonna force us into a position of repentance. And, you know, we just don’t usually like that word very well because it just…it sort of denotes judgment and all of this, but repentance simply means that you’re turning around and going the other direction, it means that you’re changing your mind and by changing your mind you’re changing your inner self. So, here’s what Paul counsels. Don’t think that you’re better than you really are. Don’t just pretend to love others. Actually, love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other, genuinely with genuine affection. Take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy but work hard. Serve the lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep praying. When God’s people are in need be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them. Pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy. Weep with those who weep. Be in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. Don’t think you know it all. Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty give them something to drink.” We should come back to Romans 12 often because it’s giving us this list, which is basically a roadmap to what it looks like to be a living sacrifice, which is what he said at the beginning of this reading today, that we should lay our lives down before the Lord, knowing that we are dead to who we were and have been resurrected in Christ, so that is now Christ who lives in us and we live out our lives as a living sacrifice. This is what life’s supposed to look like according to the apostle Paul. And if we will pay attention and be intentional about this then we’ll be able to do the last thing that Paul tells us today. Don’t let evil conquer you. You conquer evil by doing good.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into this. This is very practical, very confronting, plenty of room for growth and maturity and we invite Your Holy Spirit because now we are seeing a picture of what it actually looks, like in a practical way to be living sacrifice. And we can see that in some ways…in some ways we do this, but we can also see in other ways we don’t. And then we can also see the back-and-forth of it all. And, so, Holy Spirit, show us how to be consistent, intentional, and true as we walk the narrow path that leads to life. And as we conquer evil by doing good, in other words, taking the evil out of the world because it has been conquered and replacing it with good. And whenever we do this, the kingdom is revealed because the darkness has been vanquished and light has taken its place. And this happens every day, billions of times a day and yet we realize that too often we participate in the darkness. So, come Holy Spirit, show us how to be a living sacrifice. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Go through all the different social media links and stuff that’s going on in the Prayer Wall and the events that are coming up.

The Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion for 2019 is coming up…man we’re like at the one month…like in month from now…that’s…wow! I guess I need to get my own head around that. So, about a month from now we’ll be here in the rolling hills of Tennessee out on the lake where we’ve all kind of come for a family reunion from all over the place, spend some time together, play together, get to know each other beyond just voice. So, I hope you can come, I hope you can be a part of that. We’re looking forward to it very much. All of the details about Family Reunion 2019 can be found dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019 and you’ll get all the details there. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and in you’ll see the Initiatives section there as well. So, I hope you can do that. I hope you can come here to the rolling hills of Tennessee and be together in a few weeks.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link and that link lives on the homepage. Thank you, thank you for your partnership as we move through the summertime. Thank you, really, profoundly. 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 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, good morning, this call is for the woman who called in that lost her son. And I heard Christian Augustus, it was. I couldn’t quite make out the name. I just wanted to encourage you that…I want to comfort you, I hope. My sister’s going through almost the exact same thing. She lost her world, her only child and her daughter at only 29 years old at the end of May. And I have listened to her tell me the exact same thing…same things that you’ve expressed this morning, July 22^nd. I just wanted to reach out to you and if you ever need someone to talk to my email address is renochico@yahoo.com and my name is Denise. And please don’t hesitate to call I’d like to pray for you and encourage you any way that I can. Thank you. Bye.

Good morning DABbers, this is Florida Charlie Oscar Papa. I’ve called a few times. I am a longtime listener. I’ve been listening five/six years now and I’ve just got a burden on my heart. My parents are getting older and I’m trying to be a good son and help them out with decisions they have to make. And you now that just sometimes parents don’t want to listen to their children and so forth. So, I’m just praying for wisdom, a strategy, and God’s will to be done over every major decision. So, if you can keep me in prayer again, I would really appreciate that. I love you all. God bless you. And take care. Bye-bye.

Hi family it’s Shannon from Texas and as some of you may know my son gave his…gave his life to the Lord a few weeks ago and this is miraculous news. And, so, just unbelievably grateful and even amazed by this __. And this is something that I’ve been praying for for a very long time and after this he was arrested for…and this is something that blows my mind also…he was arrested for stolen guns. And it was the burglary of a habitat and the burglary of a habitat __ can’t figure out why they charged him with that. And we got him out on bond. And I talked to an attorney, a good friend of mine, his dad, a Texas attorney and he said that it could be up to two years per gun and there was 7 guns. And my son has a bright future. If you met him, you would __.  I’ve never met anyone that just doesn’t just __ love completely with him. And the thought of him being in prison, is just…it’s not gonna happen. In fact, yesterday I had a revelation about him, the Lord, and how we __ our sins. I can’t get into that but please help me pray. I need…an attorney is like $10-$20,000. So, I’ve got to figure this out. So, please help me pray. I love you guys. That’s it.

Hi, it’s Sherry from Augusta Kansas. I want to thank you Brian and Jill and everyone else and for that I quote Philippians 1:3. I thank my God every time I remember you and all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now being confident of this, that he who began a good work with you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. If feel like every time I call…I always feel silly and I think I’m not gonna call again because I just look stupid but I always do end up calling and it’s because I feel like I’ve connected with God when I connect with all of you and I want to thank you for that. I want to thank you for giving me that feeling of peace I get knowing that others are carrying on with me. And for whatever reason we call whenever I feel like my heart is breaking or when I feel like I’m struggling. I so appreciate being able to call in and tell you guys all of that. Thank you so much and a special thank you to cherry. You know them as Chery and Graig. I always called her Cherry pie. Special thank you to her for encouraging me to call in. And now I not only listen every day, I’ve been listening faithfully, but I’ve been reading my Bible faithfully everyday also since the beginning of the year and I am listening more and more to the Proverbs and the Psalms as well and taking the time to pray and it’s just line upon line. It’s building me up and I’m grateful. I am so grateful because I never thought I’d be back to this place again. So, thank you all. I love you all. God bless you all. Bye-bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible, this is Duane from Wisconsin. All the praise and glory to our wonderful Lord and Savior. Just calling in. Today is July 22^nd. And July 1^st. I think I had mentioned to you, I have a dog moose and usually I take him out for a run on my bicycle and yesterday it didn’t go so well. He managed to pull me off the bicycle and I ended up breaking my collar…well…not my collarbone, but a bone in my shoulder. Not much pain but I’m gonna need some surgery to kinda get it all back together. The muscles to work, the bone broke but that’s not why they gotta do the surgery. It’s got to do with the fact that the muscles tore. And, so, it won’t hold the bone in place. So, I would appreciate your prayers for that. I would also like to lift up all of you all too that call in and pray even if you don’t call in. This is such a wonderful place to come and to listen to all of you lift up other people. We are so blessed. And again, even those that don’t call in, we feel your prayers and we know, as Brian had alluded to once, that all the time people are being prayer for, and people are praying. What a great and wonderful blessing this ministry is. So, Brian and Jill, thank you for all this behind the scenes I a shout out for you. And again, remember that the Lord and Savior that saved us is also those same Lord and Savior who can save our children. God bless.

This is Candace from Oregon. I want to repeat joyfully what Brian said several times on the July 22^nd podcast. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in me. So, say that with me my brothers and sisters. Say it again. The Spirit of God raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in me. And Brian encouraged us in believing this. We know this is what the Scripture says. This is a familiar verse. There’s a wonderful future coming, a future of unlimited power to bless others. So, ask, ask for whatever You want, and it will be done for You and for those of whom You are praying. Lord, we lift up to You everyone who has called in, especially those in desperate situations and we lift up to You those who are rejoicing in the hand…You know…observing that Your hand and Your answer to our prayers. Encourage us Lord. The spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in us. Hallelujah. You told us we would do greater works than You did. I don’t understand why You said that but who am I to question You Lord. Thank You for everything You’re doing in us. Help us to trust You and keep going forward. We love You Jesus. We love You back. Candace…

2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21, Romans 11:13-36, Psalms 22:1-18, Proverbs 20:7

Today is the 28^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we turn the knob and walk into this a brand-new, shiny, sparkly week together. And as we’ve mentioned a couple of times, we won’t get out of this week without getting into a brand-new month. So, we set our sights on the new week knowing that it’s a week of transition for us. Every week we switch translations. We were reading from the New English Translation last week. This week we’ll read from the Common English Bible and obviously we will pick up right where we left off, which brings us back into the book of second Chronicles. Today, second Chronicles chapters 21 through 23.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for what You’ve given us in the gift of the Scriptures, something no matter what’s going on in our lives, no matter how foggy it is, no matter how murky it is, no matter how hard it is or for that matter, no matter how easy it is, we have this gift. We can always turn to this, this is a tangible thing that we can hold in our hands and its words speak into the recesses of our souls and inform the way we live our lives. And, so, we are supremely grateful to You for this. And as we begin this new week and even prepare to end the month and begin a new month before this week is out, we invite Your Holy Spirit to plant the words from the Scriptures in our minds and in our hearts and allow them to do just what we said, inform the way we live our lives. We humble ourselves before You. We commit our ways to You, and we ask that You would lead us into all truth, as was promised in the Scriptures. Come Holy Spirit we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is where you find out what’s happening around here. And, so, it’s a good place to stay tune and connected.

If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can pretty closely do most everything you can do at dailyaudiobible.com by just pressing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

But, you know, at dailyaudiobible.com the Prayer Wall lives there. People are praying for each other and asking for prayer on a continual basis.

In the Community section of the website is all the links to the different social media channels. So for example, all of the places where women of the Daily Audio Bible are interacting, like Jill continually is posting encouragement and those of you who follow along with that know-how that that’s some powerful stuff that’s going on there among the women. And, so, links to those channels, Facebook, Instagram, etc., etc., are there. It’s a good idea to follow Daily Audio Bible on some of these channels just…not because we’re constantly posting annoying content but because we’re just trying to post reminders of what we’ve read, because it’s so easy to, you know, to come around the global campfire together and feel a sense of community and hear God speak to us, but forget it in 10 minutes because life has a crush to it, right? Like we step back into the fray and it just washes us down the stream. So, just try to post things that are reminders and, you know, if there are any issues or whatever. So, that’s a good place to go, the Community section. Find all those links.

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 seriously can’t thank you enough for your partnership as we move through the summer. 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 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 family this is Catherine calling from Maryland. I have a prayer request and an offer of prayer today. So, first offer of prayer. Demetrius, you called July 19^th and you seemed pretty much at the end of your rope, but you are hopeful, you called. All decisions have consequences. Sometimes we make bad decisions and we get bad consequences in life and that can happen again and again but sometimes we make good decisions and we get good consequences in life. So, you have your beloved children, your five children that you called to ask for prayer, and we will keep them in prayer, and you made the good decision to call this community. You have no idea how amazing and powerful this community is. So, it was wonderful that you were led to us and to give a call and ask for prayer. And, so, you are now in the prayers, the prayers of thousands of people Demetrius so that there’s hope for you. There’s hope for you to be the father that your children want you, to be spend time with them and see them if they want and your life can be a blessing…will be a blessing. God does make no junk now. He makes everyone special. There’s a reason you’re here. So, __ Demetrius. Okay. And also my prayer request I like to ask for prayer __ . Okay, bye family. Love you. Bye.

Hey Daily Audio Bible. I’m calling in because I have insomnia and it’s not getting any better and I pray to God every day all the time for intervention that He would take away my affliction, but it’s not happened yet, and I think He must be using it for a higher purpose. But please pray for me. And I’m Roxie from Idaho and thank you Daily Audio Bible for all that you do, Brian Hardin and your family. And thank you very much. In Jesus’ name. Goodbye.

Hi, I’m calling for the brother in Kansas whose wife left with his kids, went onto Iowa. Brother, man, I’m there. And I just first want you to know you’re not alone. I’m praying for you, just, you know, going through something very similar. I want to encourage you first to lean into Jesus hard, pursue him with everything you have. Personal worship, read His word, pray, you know, to connect with other Christians because He is worth it, He is actually the treasure He says He is, and He will comfort you. Father God, please…please God wrap your arms around my brother. Lord, please love on him, please encourage him. Please give him hope Lord. False hope…concerning his family, but hope that You are there, You understand his pain, You do have a good plan for his life, and he will achieve that. And Lord I pray that You would just pursue him with all of Your will, with all of Your heart and it’s in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi, this prayer is for Carla from California. Sister, I heard your prayer and I understand the pressure that you are feeling right now. I have been there and just the opposition. And I could hear in your voice the opposition to even pray and you’re fighting through it. And, so, in the name of Jesus I want to go to war with you right now. Let’s go to war. Heavenly Father, God, I ask that You would, please send a detachment of angels to go and rescue Carla. Lord Jesus, she is under attack. Father God we know that You have identified us as Your sons and Your daughters, and that You do not stand for Your children to be treated like this. So, Father, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ that You would…You would find and castaway these spiritual attacks, these spirits of oppression that are on my sister Lord. Father, please, we beg You in the name of Jesus Christ to rescue and deliver her. We pray this in Your name. Amen.

Hi family this is His Little Sherry in Canada and I appreciate everyone who calls in but there’s something really special about the men who call in either to pray for people or to leave prayer requests. And I just think there’s someone listening to this who needs to be encouraged to be brave. And, so, this is for you. My child walk with me into your nighttime and take my hand. Walk with me past the garden shadows in the nighttime sounds. Feel the strength of this safety, the thrill of this danger as I go with you into the outside, we’re you’ve never dared to go before. You are my summer child growing tall and fearless and I am the Father who knows you. Come with me my boy, my rough-and-tumble friend into the warm evening and I will show you how to be brave like me. I will show you the stars and the creatures and teach you their names. You’ve seen them from your bed, your pale face peering out the window into the unknown. I can give you the unknown things, the things that have come to you only in dreams and I can show you how to tame them. I will go with you. I will go with you as you grow, and the darkness will open to your coming like a hand opens to a friend. Don’t be afraid. I have you little warrior. Walk with me and let’s see what we can conquer.

2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37, Romans 10:14-11:12, Psalms 21:1-13, Proverbs 20:4-6

Today is the 27^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a joy to be here with you as we conclude, close down, and release another one of our weeks together for this year. And what a week it has been as we’ve…well…we continued our journey through second Chronicles and we’re moving through the kings of Israel and Judah again. And the book of Romans, obviously, from the apostle Paul is revealing so much for us to allow to seep deep into our hearts and become our realities. So, let’s take the next step forward and finish this week well. We’ve been reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today, second Chronicles chapters 19 and 20.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week that we’ve been able to spend day by day in Your word allowing it to speak to us, allowing it to challenge us, allowing it to shape us. And as we close this, the final full week of this month of July down, we again take a moment to look back at all of the ways in which You have been so present to us in community as we’ve gone through Your word this year. And, so, we set our sights forward as we prepare to move into a new week and then move into a new month. And we say come Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base and it’s where you find out what’s going on around So always try to stay connected and up-to-date.

The Prayer Wall lives at dailyaudiobible.com. And people are continually asking for prayer and receiving prayer and encouragement there at the Prayer Wall. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can reach the Prayer Wall using the app as well just by pressing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop lives at dailyaudiobible.com and you can get to that from the Daily Audio Bible the same way. So, there are resources there that are intended to accompany you on the journey through the Scriptures in a year.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can’t thank you enough. I humbly thank you with a grateful heart. We are a community and it grew up that way and it’s only ever been that way and we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t here together. So, thank you for your partnership as we navigate the summertime. 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 mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34, Romans 9:25-10:13, Psalms 20:1-9, Proverbs 20:2-3

Today’s the 26^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a joy to be here with you as we end another work week. And we’re about to complete the final full week of July this year. Next week we will start in one month and end in another. And we see day by day the passage of time and we see day by day God’s faithfulness to us in His Word. And, so, we’ll take the next step forward. We’re in the book of second Chronicles in our Old Testament reading. We will read chapters 17 and 18 today. And this week we’ve been reading from the English Standard Version.

Commentary:

Okay. So, obviously as we continue our journey through Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see that there’s some highly theological technical language in here. And at some points as he’s making an argument for what the law is and what the law is not, and this is a very controversial conversation that he is having, especially from people who have been raised in Judaism and who revere the law. Paul is obviously misunderstood on a number of levels, but we can see from this letter, especially even from today’s reading that he’s not attempting to throw the religion he was raised in, which is Judaism, out the window in favor of like a completely different belief system. Instead, he’s trying to show that Jesus is a part of that story, like He continues that story and that story began with Abraham not Moses, which is a very…absolutely irreplaceable distinction for Paul’s theology. Paul’s not just writing this like for no reason. He was a well-educated person, a very articulate, deeply devoted to God, a Pharisee, a person like giving and devoting their life to strictly obeying the Mosaic law and Paul had attempted to find his way to God through that process only to discover that it’s impossible. It’s impossible to become perfect on your own by just simply trying to obey certain sets of rules. So, Paul in his own personal struggle and then in his encounter with Jesus begin to realize the essence of what Jesus was teaching, that God’s people had lost the plot of the story. They were trying to obey a set of rules that were no longer connected to the spiritual underpinning and the result was that the life was sucked out of the law and there’s only this shell of ritual left behind or just in the words of Paul, “what shall we say then? Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is a righteousness that is by faith, but that Israel who pursued the law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law? Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.” So, here’s the deal. What we’re talking right here for Paul and for that matter for Jesus, this is where the train went off the tracks. The law was to be a continual reminder of what God had brought them out of and to lead them into complete dependence on God and into deep intimacy with Himself, but instead over the generations the law had become this source of power and control that lead people to believe they could achieve righteousness before God all on their own if they could simply obey the law perfectly, which nobody could. And Paul had tried hard. And, so, Paul says it like this, “I do bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness”, right? So, nobody could do it. As hard as people have been trying to do it, no one could reach perfection until Jesus came along. And then Paul says Jesus is essentially the first picture of a person who got it right, like was perfect and He didn’t do it by strictly adhering to the rituals. And we know this because not adhering to the rituals was what got Jesus in trouble. So, for Paul, Jesus demonstrated that He fulfilled the law by demonstrating His complete and total dependence on God and His obvious intimacy with the Father and that can only happen through faith. Right? The reality of what we hope for, the evidence of things we cannot see. So, Paul finally threw his hands up in the air realizing that it was impossible to obey the law perfectly in one’s own strength. No one ever did it before but maybe the impossibility was the point. The law was to lead a person to the end of their own feeble attempts to be righteous and at the end of that road there’s nowhere to go but to take a leap of faith and that leap of faith…and man…this is not so Jewish that we can’t understand this as Gentile Christians because we’re trying to follow all the rules and find the right recipes and the right mixture of things that we should do and prayers that we should pray to get the things done that we need to be done and how to find inner peace inside of ourselves and try to find the Holy Spirit’s leading…like we’re trying to do it by rote, by rule, usually. Maybe not everybody, but me. Like, I can raise my hand and say yeah, when I really got serios about my faith I got really serious about obeying, like really trying to deconstruct it to the point that I could say this is how it works. And every road leads to one place, a leap of faith. There is no other way to find intimacy with God other than to take a leap of faith and believe in what you have no control over. So, if life has been lived under a cloud, wondering when the mighty hammer of God’s gonna fall on you because you’re breaking the rules, that’s not what’s happening. Like, that’s not what’s happening here. Faith in Christ is the bridge and once you cross over it you have been made perfect in God’s sight and your upbringing or your ethnicity or whatever it’s not…it doesn’t matter anymore. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord has this open invitation or again like, let’s just read it out of the Bible. This is Paul’s words. This is his way of explaining this. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And that’s that. Like, there’s no blackout dates on that. Like, there’s no caveats. There’s no exclusions there. It just is what it is. So, if you’re one of the ones here in this community who have been an outsider for so long you don’t know where you stand. If you are a strong believer trying to obey all the rules perfectly and feeling like a failure every day because you can’t or if you’re just here trying to find out what the Bible actually says, but you don’t believe anything, if you’ve never crossed that threshold and leapt into a relationship with God, maybe this is your time. And if you’ve lived the rituals that keep you in fear then maybe this is your time to walk in freedom. I’m not making something up here. We’re reading from the book of Romans from the pen of the apostle Paul who wrote two thirds of the New Testament that comprises the faith of all believers of Jesus. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Song:

Come To Jesus

This is for the weary and the weak
This is for the desperate and ashamed
This is for the hopeless hiding in the shadows
Cupping hands around a flicker of faith
This is for the ones who don’t belong
This is for the silent castaways
This is for the sinner peeking through the stained glass
From a sidewalk in the cold, driving rain

We all fall down
We all need saving once in a while
You are not alone

We all lose faith
And lean on mercy but through our darkest night
He said He’d wait for us
Just come to Jesus

For anyone who’s given up on God
For those who’ve tripped and fallen out of grace
For anyone who’s looking
To the bottom of a bottle
For the strength to make it through another day

He did not come to raise the living
Or touch the eyes of those who see

It was for the bitter and burned out
It was for the unforgivable
It was for the failure standing on the bridge
Because the guilt’s too high a price to pay to live

2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14, Romans 9:1-24, Psalms 19:1-14, Proverbs 20:1

Today is the 25^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you today and every day. Today is little Ezekiel, our son’s, birthday. This is his seventh birthday and he’s kind of the Daily Audio baby because he was born since the Daily Audio Bible started and it kinda marks a moment in our lives. Man…so…seven years ago and some of you were here like, some of you went through all of that with us. Seven years ago today we were planning to have this little baby boy and we had a midwife and it wasn’t the first time we had done that. We had home births for several of our children so we knew it was time, we knew what we were doing and Jill just has terrible fear throughout the whole pregnancy that something…something would happen…something…an emergency would happen. And it did, and we had to rush to the hospital. It was just taking too long, basically. And Jill was getting exhausted and the baby was getting exhausted and heart rates were in trouble and blood pressures were in trouble. So, we had to make a decision to rush to a hospital and by the time that was underway it was like we couldn’t even go to our planned hospital, you know, because you have to have this…you have to have a plan. So, we had to go to the nearest hospital and this is where little Ezekiel was born and mommy and baby had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days and I had to do the Daily Audio Bible from our van that we don’t even have any more because that was seven years ago, but our van from the hospital parking lot. And, so…but the thing is…it was a day where a lot of unexpected things happened. I mean literally. Jill had to go almost immediately into emergency surgery. We had like a minute to make that decision and we just didn’t know how complicated things were getting other than that they were getting complicated and things were not going well. And, so, we had to say goodbye to each other not knowing like what’s gonna happen on the other side of this. And I remember then wheeling her out of that hospital room and I remember sitting there by myself and I remember reaching out to this community for prayer and I remember that being instantaneous. And, so, I’ll never forget this day for the rest of my life not only because it’s Ezekiel’s birthday but because we came together around that day and around that situation and, yeah, that was…it was just one of those times where…and I’ve had this many times…but it was one of those times where I realized, what we’re doing here, there may not be a blueprint for this and this may not be reproducible but what we’re doing here. This is community. This is really happening in real time. There really are…we really are in this together. So, happy seventh birthday Ezekiel and let’s dive in as we together take another step forward in life, in community and through the Scriptures this year. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and today we’ll read second Chronicles chapter 14, 15 and 16.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father for Your word. Thank You for another day together in community as we continue to navigate and travel this grand adventure that is the Bible in a year in community. We thank You for this and we thank You for what You have given to us from the Psalms today, a roadmap, a ground zero, a place to return to, a north star. Your law is perfect, it revives our souls. Your testimony is sure, it will make the simple become wise. Your precepts are right, making our heart rejoice. Your commandments are pure and they enlighten our eyes so that we can see the path before us. Fearing You is clean and endures forever, and we hold You with awe and respect. Your rules are true, and they are righteous altogether. These are more to be desired than the best purist finest gold. They are sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Holy Spirit plant this in our lives today. Help us to rest in this, that You are surrounding us with all that we need and all that we lack if we are simply looking for it. But so often we are looking for it in the material world without looking inward and knowing that You are transforming the way that we look at everything. So, come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base and where you can find out what’s happening around here. We’ve been mentioning what is coming up here at the end of August over Labor Day weekend, The Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion here in the rolling hills of Tennessee out at camp Widjiwagun out on Percy Priest Lake. It’s gonna be quite a nice time together, actually it’s gonna be an amazing time together by the looks of it. So, I hope you can come. All the details are at dailyaudiobible.com just look in the Initiatives section and that little area can be found at the…in the navigation at the top. If you’re using the app you can press the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner, but just go to the Initiatives section and find Family Reunion 2019 and all of the details are there and I hope you will be there. We will be there. And if you are there and we are there than we’ll all be together and what could be better than that? We’ve been taking this journey for so long now that it’ll be good to see each other. So, hope you can come. Details are at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link that lives on the homepage. I thank you, thank you, 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 of course, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, if you’re shouldering the burden by yourself and you really shouldn't…well…you don’t have to. There’s an army of people around the world and you’re part of that army and no doubt you’ve been praying for others, but if you don’t want to ask for prayer for yourself. If that’s you, why? Where a big family here around the global campfire every day and we love each other well and we do pray for each other. So, 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.

2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22, Romans 8:26-39, Psalms 18:37-50, Proverbs 19:27-29

Today’s the 24^th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s always a pleasure to be here with you around the global campfire as we just come in as we do each day, different points of the day. The fires always burning. There’s always someone here. There’s never a time that we’re not together with somebody else listening to the Scriptures. And we just release whatever’s going on and let God begin to speak, allow the word of God to wash over us. So, that’s what we’ll do. That’s what we do every day. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today, second Chronicles 11,12, and 13. And, of course, in the book of second Chronicles we’re kind of reviewing some of the things that we read in second Kings. So, we have completed King Solomon’s reign and Rehoboam, his son has become king. And, of course, that has caused division. And we’re in the midst of seeing the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah begin to form. So, second Chronicles 11.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in Romans Paul continued to reveal the implications of what he’s been arguing throughout the entire letter, right? And, so, yesterday we reached this like panorama that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us and we just kinda hung there and hopefully you’re still kinda hanging there just considering the implications to your own life. But Paul then explained more cosmic implications of this today. He explained that Jesus was the firstborn among many brothers and sisters, and this was accomplished because he was raised from the dead, right, or he was reborn into life from the dead. And, so, essentially what Paul is saying is Jesus resurrection started a completely new thing on planet Earth, one that hadn’t been seen since the Garden of Eden. And this new thing was that God and man were reunited. We’re not separated by sin any more, but we’ve been reborn out of death into the family of God, where sin doesn’t have a claim to our soul. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. And so, if we’re believers in Jesus well than Paul’s talking about us in the Bible today. And again, we could just stop there and just…I mean…Romans is one of those…it’s very dense. You could just, you know, read a chapter of Romans and then think about a four a week. And this is…these are obviously very, very big, very, very good things. This is very, very good news, almost indescribable, right? Even Paul says that, “what then shall we say to these things?” And his conclusion is very famous. “If God is for us who can be against us?” And obviously, that’s a very famous passage of Scripture that gets quoted all the time but that’s not the only thing Paul’s saying. Paul goes on. “Who shall bring any charge against Gods elect. It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword? No. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I’m sure that neither death nor life, angels or rulers, things present, things to come”, right? So, things that are happening now, things are in the future. “No power, no height, no depth, nothing. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I…I mean you get to some of these passages in the Scriptures and I don’t know what to say because it’s just like…doesn’t your heart just burn when you hear this, when we are reminded of our reality. I mean, obviously, the things that we face in life, they wear us down and often pull us into doubt about whether God has a good heart toward us and then we come to the book of Romans and realize God has decided to live within us, indwell us by the power of His Spirit, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. And here we are running away rather than running inward, running toward. It’s like Paul said at the beginning of this letter, “I’m doing the things I don’t want to do and the things that I want to do are not the things that I’m not wanting to do”, which simply reveals that we are yielding to sin, something that has no claim to us whatsoever because we have died to it and been reborn into the family of God, separated from sin. Think of it this way. We know how the gospel goes. There’s a chasm, right? There’s a chasm of sin. Gods on one side, mans on the other side. There’s no way to bridge that gap. There’s no way to be reunited and Jesus comes and builds this bridge. That’s sort of gospel 101; however, we’re on the other side of the bridge now. It would be just as hard for sin to have a claim to us than it was for us to get across that bridge to God. It’s not possible unless we build the bridge. Holy…and then you insert whatever word you want or maybe we just stop with holy.

Prayer:

Father, this is holy. To think that the struggles that we keep struggling with really, actually, honestly do not have to be a part of our life? We just give them power. We animate them. We resurrect them. It’s very humbling. And yet that’s not why we come here every day. We don’t come here every day to find out about our sin. We come here every day to find out about who we really are and how to live that out in this life. And the book of Romans is showing us clear pathways of a reality that we embrace through faith. And yet we confess that we spend most of our energy in any other number of different realities than this one when this one is the only one that matters. This is the only path that will lead us to life. So, come Holy Spirit. Allow what we have read from the apostle Paul today to settle in and settle over us. Help up us to meditate upon it, get it deep inside of us, so that it is no longer a concept, but rather our reality. Come Jesus we pray in Your mighty name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here and how you stay connected in any number of ways that we’re trying to stay connected as well.

So, in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com you can come and find all the different links to the different social media channels that belong to the Daily Audio Bible. It’s a good way to stay connected, stay connected with updates etc. etc. So, check that out.

The Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion for 2019 is coming up here pretty quickly. And, so, you are so invited, so invited here to the rolling hills of Tennessee where we’re gonna have a great time. We’ve got camp kind of locked down out on a lake for us and it’s shaping up to be a fantastic time together. We’re getting excited about it as the weeks draw us closer and closer to that time. So come, come if you can. We’d love for you to be there. As I’ve mentioned a couple times in the past, we’re now planning…we’re actually kind of cutting some things off of our calendar for next year and this is one of those things. So we won’t be having a family reunion in 2020 or a More Gathering in 2020. We feel very, very much invited by God not only to rest but actually there’s plenty, plenty, plenty of work to do and we’re excited to dive into that. So, we’re really looking for the Family Reunion this year because it gives us this chance to see each other’s faces, to talk to each other, to be together as a community. And, so, hopefully you can come over Labor Day weekend August 31^st through September 2^nd here in the Nashville area, which is definitely a destination place right now. Nashville is a wonderful city and there’s plenty to do. So, come. Come. Come one come all and you can get all the details about the Family Reunion at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for Family Reunion 2019. If you’re using the app and you want to look for that, click the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and you’ll see the initiatives button and you’ll see it there. So, all the details are available, and we hope to see you there.

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 can’t thank you possibly enough for your partnership. We…none of us would be here if we weren’t in this together and that’s the reality. So, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. There’s a link, of course, on the website. If you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19, Romans 8:9-25, Psalms 18:16-36, Proverbs 19:26

Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. Today is the 23^rd day of July. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we kind of buckle up and prepare for today’s reading allowing God’s word to speak to us as we do every day just kind of calming our minds down. There’s so much going on for each of us in our own ways. Just letting that kind of recede into the background. It’s not going away. Maybe when we come out of this time, we’ll look at it differently. And, so, we just give ourselves permission to let the Holy Spirit to come as we take the next step forward through the Scriptures this year. This week we’re reading from the English Standard Version and today second Chronicles chapter 8 verse 11 through 10 verse 19.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve been traveling with the apostle Paul through this letter to the Romans and listening to him lay out his argument about the law and its purpose and so today we reach this point where we can start to see the implications of what this argument is, and it should bring us unbelievable hope. So, Paul says, “it’s the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead that lives in you.” Okay, can we just sit without for second? Like, I know where at the end here and we’re kind of getting ready to enter…to move into prayers and move back into our day but can we stay here for second and slow down and let that just kind of turnover in our minds? Because we’ll hold it as a theological concept or some kind of metaphor and not as a reality that penetrates our hearts. Say this with me, “the Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead, lives in me.” What else is there to say my friends? Like, what if we embrace that as a reality? What would change? Because we know it. Like it’s this famous passage. Like, we know this, but do we know this? Like is this our reality? How could we ever feel abandoned by God, ever again if we believed that the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in me? Like, how could you be abandoned by the Spirit that lives with in you? And if you take some time today to just meditate upon that alone. It’s the Spirit of God that’s in me, the Spirit of God Almighty lives within me. Like, you know, I don’t know how to…I don’t know the right words to use to describe the magnificence of what we’re talking about here the monumental shift of what that would mean if we were continually aware of it. If we just meditate upon this one thing today and just think of the implications, just look at all of the different anxieties and I’m speaking to myself here and all the different obligations and responsibilities. Like, my life is no less chaotic than your life and I have no fewer invitations to lose it than you do. So, if  we just actually took some time today to think about all of the different things that seem to be flying at us like bullets, all the anxieties that we have inside that are just churning in there and consider the implications of what Paul has told us, “the spirit of God, the same one that raised Jesus to life from death after being brutally crucified as we witnessed in the gospel, that same spirit lives in me.” It’s like the biggest game changer you could possibly imagine. So, why aren’t we living like this? Because we’re choosing not to. We’re choosing other voices, we’re choosing our own voice, we’re choosing the voices of other people over the voice of the Spirit within us and frankly we’re gonna be obedient to whatever we have submitted ourselves to. So, let’s consider today when the anxiety begins to churn up or when the depression seems to come down like a low hanging cloud around our head, let’s consider whose voice we’re listening to because the reality remains the reality - if we are in Christ then the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead lives in you.

Prayer:

So, Holy Spirit, we invite you into that because it’s your Spirit that we’re talking about here and you are never not available to us. You have not abandoned us, you are within us. And we…we acknowledge…like…there’s a lot of voices going on inside of our heads at any given time, like there’s all kinds of things that pull us, whether it’s the voice of fear or the voice of judgment or whatever. We’re looking for your voice and your voice alone to lead us into all truth, to illuminate our path, to lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. We’re looking for your voice and your voice alone. And, so, help us to silence the voices that are within us and reveal to us the voices that are outside of us that we’re giving a place that they do not deserve and show us how to silence that. We want to hear you. We want to walk with you and enjoy this life in you. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base. It’s where you find out what’s happening around here.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop lives there. All of the different links to connect to different places of the Daily Audio Bible on social media, that can be found there in the Community section. The Prayer Wall is their course where people are praying for one another and asking for prayer on an ongoing, continual basis. So, that’s a good thing to be aware of and participate in. So, that’s all available at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can access these things as well by pushing the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

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. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, we are a loving community, we are on this journey together, we’re in this together and we love one another well here around the global campfire. So, if you are carrying burdens that are best not carried alone then there’s a number you can dial, 877-942-4253.

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

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10, Romans 7:14-8:8, Psalms 18:1-15, Proverbs 19:24-25

Today is the 22^nd day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  It’s great to be here with you today as we kind of get into the new workweek. So, hope you had a wonderful restful weekend and are just ready to live into this week. And we do that daily by taking the next step forward in the Scriptures and allowing them to speak into our lives into all the issues that we might be facing. And, so, let’s get to it. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Today, second Chronicles chapter 6 verse 12 through 8 verse 10.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s review a couple of things that the apostle Paul said in our reading from Romans today. He said, “for I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing I hate, for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” I mean, does that sound familiar, or what? And if it does, and it probably does sound familiar then we’re in good company because the apostle Paul is saying this, and he confessed these things in this letter to continue the discussion of the law that we’ve been having since we began Romans. So essentially, Paul’s telling us that the war that is between right and wrong, or that is between good and evil, it may indeed be a cosmic struggle, but the war is waged inside of a person, right? So, often we’re just looking externally all around us at the world at our community at whatever is wrong and screwing up our lives, not realizing that the battle is inside of us. And, so, what Paul’s trying to explain here is that the law is a good, and spiritual things given by God because it simply makes us aware of this fact, that the battle is happening. In our own strength there’s no way. It’s a losing battle, which is exactly what Paul’s saying, “everything that I’m trying to do that’s right is not what I’m doing and everything that I’m trying to avoid is what I am doing, wretched man that I am.” Right, that’s what Paul’s saying. “Who’s gonna free me from this? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, according to Paul for himself and for us, Jesus changed the paradigm, the entire trajectory implied of all of humanity. There’s no longer any condemnation for those who belong to Jesus, for those who are in Christ. And because we belong to Him His Spirit frees us from the power of sin and death, something that the law couldn’t do, right? So, the law could show us the situation and even point the way to perfection, but as hard as we try, we can’t achieve it on our own. And, so, we keep failing and doing the things that we don’t want to do, but through Jesus the paradigm is changed, and Paul described that paradigm shift. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” And isn’t that what we’re after, life and peace…I mean…isn't…isn’t that all what this running around and all the jumping through the hoops and staying on the treadmill and all of the activities that we do, isn’t that what we’re looking for, life and peace? And when we just stay in the fray, how’s that working out? So, let’s live in to what Paul is instructing us to do. Let’s consciously turn to the Spirit, set our minds on the spirit, the Holy Spirit. Let’s call upon the Holy Spirit when the things of the flesh arise – envy, lust, rage - any of the things that have been described in this letter so far that will disrupt peace and wholeness in our lives. When those things arise, we set our minds on the Spirit and remember that…that we have a choice. And this isn’t just a new…like this wasn’t  a choice because Paul wrote this down in a letter. This goes all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, right? Remember Moses saying, “today I have given you the choice between life and death between blessing and cursing. Oh that you would choose life.” May we choose life. Because what we have found in the book of Romans today is that there is a way to choose life. It is just beyond us to achieve on our own. We cannot get there on our own and we cannot get there through obeying the rules. The rules show us the way, but we can’t do it on our own as we well know, but we have a Savior. So, we can exhale, we can relax, and we can set our mind on the Spirit and follow the Spirits leading. This is the path. It is set before us. May we choose life.

Prayer:

Father, we invite you into that. It’s ultimately about surrendering to the fact that we will not be able to stay in control. It’s like we want all of the advantages of your kingdom and we want to do it right and so we will try our very best, only to continually fail because we could never achieve it on our own. And, so, we’re giving up trying, which sounds counterintuitive, but we are surrendering to you. We cannot do this, but you can. And, so, we set our minds upon you and invite you to lead us in all of our thoughts and words and deeds today. Come Holy Spirit, we set our minds upon you. Come and lead us into all truth we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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We’ve been talking about the Family Reunion that is quickly approaching. It’s over Labor Day weekend, the 31^st of August through the 2^nd of September here in the rolling hills of Tennessee and it’s shaping up to be a fantastic time. And, so, we’re eager and looking forward to seeing everybody and just coming together, coming together for this few moments in time out of a year-long journey together to just step out of…step out of the Internet and step into life together. So, I look forward to that very much. Hope you can be there. All the details can be found dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Look for Family Reunion 2019 and all the details are there. So, hope to see you, hope to see you soon.

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An that’s it for today. Have a great day. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11, Romans 7:1-13, Psalms 17:1-15, Proverbs 19:22-23

Today is the 21^st day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian it’s wonderful to be here with you as we begin a brand-new week together, which is always exciting. We get to switch translations and continue our journey and dive into a week that is a story waiting for us to tell. So, here we go. We’ll read from the English Standard Version this week and pick up the journey in second Chronicles. Today, chapter 4 verse 1 through 6 verse 11.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us into a brand-new week as You continue to do day by day. And, so, we begin this week fresh and it’s waiting for us and we want to walk with You in it all. And, so, we surrender to You and ask that You be before us and behind us and above us and beneath us, hemming us in inside of Your grace and mercy and love and that Your Holy Spirit would lead and direct us as we move through and navigate this week. And we see Your kingdom. May we participate in Your kingdom, may we reveal Your kingdom, may we bring Your kingdom into all that we do and say and think this week. Come Holy Spirit, we pray as we ask every day, lead us into all truth in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

The Prayer Wall lives there, a great place to connect and pray for one another. The Daily Audio Bible shop is there, of course, with resources that are crafted for this journey through the Bible in a year. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. Thank you. Thank you kindly. Thanks you so much for your partnership as we continue to move through summertime. So, 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, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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:

Hi family this is Sally from North Dakota. This is my first time calling in and I’m a new listener since January. Kristi in Kentucky, I’m lifting you and Barbara up in prayer for good reports and I’m thankful that you are choosing faith over fear. Joanne from Seattle, I am lifting you up in prayer with your husband, praying that he will have confidence and that God will direct his path from the job that he has and if possibly a new job. Sherry from Kansas, that is terrific that you are doing a 30-day cleanse and fast and I’ll be praying for you and I also really liked your Thanksgiving prayer. And I’d also like to have a prayer request. We know a family that they have a 14-year-old daughter, her name is Maddie, she ran away from the youth home and they don’t know where she is. Please pray that she would be found and that her parents would have peace. Thank you, family for praying. Thank you. I enjoyed hearing from all of you and praying for you. Lee in New Jersey, Blind Tony, Annette in Oklahoma City, Diana Brown from Newburgh Indiana, Angel in California, To Be a Blessing. John from Pennsylvania, Jared the Encourager. Kathy from Kentucky. It’s all good to hear your voices and I love being a part of this family. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, Jill. Bye for now.

Hi everyone, this is Kyla from California and I haven’t called in a while. This is my second time actually and I haven’t been listening or haven’t called is much as I would like to. I just would like to call, request for prayers. I’ve been just feeling spiritually attacked and it’s a lot __ right now and asking for prayer. Decided to fast this week and spend time with the Lord instead of making irrational decisions. I dealt with…coped with moving around finding a place to __ . I mean I found a place but it seems like again things are being shifted. So, just asking for protection and for me to find a place to be, a community, a church. I just recently moved to __ California and it’s been really tough. And just listening everybody’s messages, people losing families. I feel like I’m being attacked __. Even this prayer request is not big enough to even ask but I’m doing it anyway. Emotionally drained. If you guys could __ . Just a, seeking prayer. I don’t know what to do. Thank you everyone.

Our God is a God of infinite compassion and kindness. He understands all that we go through and sympathizes with our weaknesses and concerns. When we hurt He is moved. When we are troubled, He is sensitive to our predicament. He is not distant and far removed from our troubles. He came to live among us so that we could see how much He cares. He comforts us when we need to be comforted. He understands us and sympathizes with us in our pain and hurt. We can take all our troubles to Him today and let the gentleness of His presence bring us comfort and peace. To the hurting He is the great physician. To the confused He is the light. To the lost He is the way. To the hungry He is the bread of life. To the thirsty He is the water of life. Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed says the Lord who has compassion on all of us. Isaiah 54:10. Be blessed family, brothers and sisters in Christ. I just wanted to encourage our brother that has recently lost a little baby, I pray that God would comfort you as only He can, that He will install peace deeper than you, that He would wrap His arms tightly around you and that He would be there in your time of sorrow and grief…

Hi this is Krista Ratliff from__ . Hey, I’m just calling for some prayer from you guys. The last two years have been the worst two years of my life. So much turmoil, so much pain, so much just arguments and attacks and I am struggling with drugs and alcohol and seeing the devastation I’ve caused my kids and my family and I am so desperately wanting to recover and I just pray that you guys might say a prayer in support of helping me recover and my family heal from, you know, all of the powerful awful things  addiction does. I really appreciate you guys. Thank you.