Author: Daily Audio Bible Transcripts

Daniel 6:1-28, 2 Peter 3:1-18, Psalms 119:129-152, Proverbs 28:21-22

Today is the 29^th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today, squarely in the middle of the week here in the waning days of the month of November. And today we will finish second Peter. But before we do that, we need to read from the book of Daniel, chapter 6 verses 1 through 28. And we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we conclude second Peter, its conclusion brings up sentiments that we have seen before, many, many, times and the ways in which the early believers were trying to work out how to make sense of what was going on versus what they were expecting to be going on. And if we’ll notice this, then we’ll notice that this wrestling has profoundly impacted the last 2000 years. So, first century Hebrew culture in the Roman province of Syria, which encompassed the territory of ancient Israel, was heavily influenced by an apocalyptic worldview. And that basically means that they had a sense that the destiny of the world was ultimately changing. And that, ultimately, decisive things were going to happen that were going to change the shape of the world as we know it. And although difficult and destructive times would come that would be really disastrous, in the midst of that there would be rescue, and something new would be born. And this is the culture that Jesus came into and he spoke this kind of language, as did the writers of the New Testament. And in the decades that followed Jesus earthly life, this idea spread and merged into Gentile culture in one form or another as the gospel began to spread all over the known world. And we can see that this is been passed down all the way until today. As believers, we generally think the same thing. But as we read the New Testament we don’t see this idea being something that’s going to happen somewhere in the far distant future. We see it as being something imminent. They thought the revelation of Jesus and his return was imminent. And this has actually fueled revival down through the ages. So, take, for example, the Jesus movement that happened in the late 60s in through the 70s. I’ve studied that movement a lot because from it came the Christian music industry as we know it and I come from that as the second-generation after it. So, I spent a lot of time with a lot of those early artists, talking to them about what was it, what was it that fueled that time where the spirit flowed the way that it did. And almost to a person, the thought was that the return of Christ was imminent. There was so much going on in the world, so much cultural shift with the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy. Times were changing. A new era was spilling out and the younger generation, which would’ve been my parent’s generation, we’re looking for a better world. And, so, they turned to sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. And the idea that love would conquer all and bring unity, and the age of Aquarius, and all of this stuff. And, in the midst of this, people began to find Jesus. And the way and teachings of Jesus made sense. And the idea that Jesus return was imminent and would usher in a new era was deeply compelling. I talked to artists from that time and felt like they didn’t even have time to go into the recording studio to make a record. They just needed to be out on the beach, on a park bench, playing songs that would draw crowds so that the story, the message of Jesus, could be shared because the arrival of Christ was imminent. And, so, we can see how this worldview leads just about every generation to believe that they are the last. Because we can all look at the struggles of the world at the time that we live and say, this is pretty bad, the end is near, something new is about to happen.

Okay, so what does that have to do with the New Testament and what does that have to do with second Peter? Well, in the decades that followed Jesus life, this was the message. Christ was about to return and reveal himself. The kingdom of God would come and there will be a whole new world. But decades had passed. What was supposed to happen imminently, didn’t, which left them with a bit of a problem. What they thought they knew, they apparently didn’t. So, they had to seek revelation and clarity. And that is what we see in the final chapter of second Peter. And why it’s important for us is that we’re basically still in the same boat, largely thinking the same thing. So, now that we have some context and we have located ourselves in the story, allow me to reread from second Peter, chapter 3, as we watch this explode into vivid color. ‘You must realize that in the last days some people won’t think about anything except their own selfish desires, they will make fun of you and say, didn’t your Lord promise to come back. Yet, the first leaders have already died and the world hasn’t changed a bit. They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God’s command. The earth came out of the water and was made from water. Later it was destroyed by the waters of the mighty flood. But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment, then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed. Dear friends, don’t forget that, for the Lord, one day is the same as a thousand years and a thousand years is the same as one day. The Lord isn’t slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost’. And there is the revelation or explanation. All of this is eminently going to happen according to God and not according to our sense of time. So, according to that explanation, a thousand years is like one day to the Lord, and vice a versa. And, so, here we are 2000 years later, but it’s only been like two days for the Lord, is what’s being said here. And Peter is saying, this has nothing to do with God not fulfilling his promises, and that Christ is not going to be revealed. What we are experiencing is, in fact, God’s patience because our Father doesn’t want to lose anyone. Or, to quote Peter, ‘God is patient because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost’. So, for starters we can see that all of our attempts to create a formula that will identify the exact moment when Jesus will return to this earth and then predict it, well, that’s been going on for a long time and is a bit futile. He will come and when he does it will be at the moment of his choosing and it will be the right moment. If there’s anything we can learn from the arc of the narrative of the Bible is that God is patient. And if there’s anything we can learn in our own life experience it is that God is patient. So, what is it that we are supposed to be doing in the meantime? We are supposed to be patient too. And we’re supposed to be sharing the good news of light and life as people who have been commissioned by God to announce the good news because we don’t want anyone to be lost either. Or, as Peter tells it, ‘my friends, while you are waiting you should make certain that the Lord finds the you pure, spotless, and living at peace. Don’t forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote you with the wisdom that God had given him’. And then he goes on to talk about how people are twisting what Paul said. And then he concludes. ‘My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time. So, don’t let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, help you to keep on growing.

Prayer:

Father, that’s it, that’s what we want, to keep on growing and to see our longing and anticipation through patient eyes, understanding that we’re a part of this whole story. You have invited us to participate by being Your hands and feet in this world so that none will be lost. And may we see the world through those eyes, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And, obviously, we find ourselves in the thick of it in the holiday season now. So, I remind you that the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is available. And it’s chock-full of things for yourself and things for you to give away. And you can check all of that out dailyaudiobible.com in the shop. And one important thing about that. Today is the international shipping cut off day. So, if you are outside the United States, we think today is the last safe day that we can ship internationally for these Boxes to arrive in time for Christmas. So, heads up on that. Obviously, you can order after this, but we think, you know, after this… it's…we don’t know…we know it’ll arrive…but if you’re wanting it to arrive for Christmas then, jump on it right away. If you’re inside the United States then we still have plenty of time but we do always sell out of these.

And another thing from the shop that I like to point out, because we think it’s a great gift idea, is all of the writing and journaling things that we have in the shop. We have the new Daily Audio Bible journals that we custom-made and paired along with Black Wing pencils, which are widely praised as the best pencils in the world. And, in this day of high technology, the act of sharpening cedarwood and graphite to a fine tip and then using your own hand to write your story in your own words offers an opportunity and a practice to slow things down and write your story as it happens. And we have some new items related to that in the shop, a brand-new pencil pouch to go along with the pencil role that we’ve had for a while. And point guards to protect your sharpened tip so that’s ready to go whenever you’re ready to go. And we’ve incorporated some of those things together in bundles that are just everything that you need, everything that you need to get going. I’ve been doing this all year. I’ve been journaling all year like this. I journaled all of the days…all of my mom’s final days…and all of the emotions and feelings of grief afterward, as well as the rest of the year. And we’ve always encouraged journaling around here, since, basically, the beginning of the Daily Audio Bible because it’s so easy to forget what stands out to us in the Scriptures or what is going on in our lives that God is working in, it all becomes a blur after a while. But when you can go back a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, ten years ago today, your story begins to have context. And having context for our own life story is just as important as having context for what’s going on in the Bible. So, this is a great time to get set up for next year. It’s also great gift idea for anyone in your life that loves words, that likes to write, or even that needs to slow down a little bit to a life that flows like water under a bridge. So, all of that is available in the shop as well. Check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here at the end of the year, then, obviously, humble thanks for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. 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 Requests and Praise Reports:

Hello. This is Claire. My love to you and from Jesus. I have tinnitus. It is screaming tinnitus. I found that there is no answer for it but the Lord knows what that answer is. I just pray…I ask for your prayers please. And I have a poem that I just wrote. It’s for you.

God pulled us from the deepest pit
Jesus’ blood washed away the grit
He gave His love and at the root
We’re His masterpiece and He’s our pursuit

God be with all of you, in your thoughts, in your prayers, and your entire life. He’s in your heart and you’re in His hands. Praise the Lord. This is Claire from Wyoming.

Hey Daily Audio Bible Family. It’s Sheila in Massachusetts. It’s been a long time since I called but I’m listening every day, praying for you all. I was prompted to call today by Cheryl from Arizona who called. She was praying…asking for praters…about the anxiety…and saying how much she hates anxiety…and I am just so frustrated and tired and fed up with this mental illness that’s bugging so many of us and our families. Cheryl, I am praying for you. I don’t know if I’ve every shared with you all, but I’m also a psychologist, and I work with adolescents and you all know my daughter Annie suffers from bi-polar and I have generalized anxiety myself. It runs in the family. Just…today I’m going to pray. I pray to our Lord, pray in Jesus’ name, that all the mental illness…just ___ us with worry and despair and doubt…all of these things that come into our mind and take hold of us…that I just…so many of us are suffering…I pray in Jesus’ name to remove the mental illness from us, to show us that we can be sad…we can be down… we can have things that go wrong, but Lord let us always know that there’s hope in You. There’s a light, there’s a light in all of us, the light of the Holy Spirit. I was just saying the other day that the Holy Spirit has never been referred to in the Bible as and ‘it’. The Holy Spirit isn’t an ‘it’. It’s alive, it’s indwelling within us. It’s a gift that we have from Jesus. Let us all find that light and praise it. Let the light shine and just root out all evil, this awful mental illness in us. Lord, I’m just going to continue to pray for our wellbeing and our health. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Cheryl, you are in my prayers.

Hi this call is…the first part is for Cheryl in Arizona. I just heard your call about having like mad anxiety, especially at night. I just want you to know sister that I am there with you. That same thing happened to me. I would look at your caffeine intake and your sugar intake. That really, really affected me, especially at night when I laid down…and…you know…settling down…may brain would just go haywire. Once I cut that out…for a while I cut that out altogether and it was great. And it helped…it helps a ton and especially being able to like…lay down…and go to bed…and not like…hang out awake…and…you know…it really helps. So, I would look at that. If you’re not a big caffeine drinker, maybe look at your sugar intake. And just maybe look at the food and the nutrients and everything that you are putting in your body. That has a whole lot to do with anxiety…at least it did for me…it really helps…when I figured out what I was putting into my body. The second one is…the second part is for a coworker of mine. She has been fighting cancer and she’s having a really rough time financially. She’s having to work multiple jobs and can’t pay her bills and is really sick. She just needs prayer. Lord, I just want to pray for my sister Cheryl with anxiety and my other sister with the cancer and I pray that…I pray healing and release and just wisdom to take the right steps and  know where You lead Lord, and I pray for all of us, and I pray for all of the sick people, especially kids. Please help them and be with them. I pray for a cure Lord for cancer and for everything else. If anyone can do it You can Lord. I pray…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Rob from Chatham, Ontario. Today I’m calling to ask your help to lift my son Max in prayer. He is living in North Dakota. He’s living in a…he’s in a situation…in a relationship outside of God’s will and there’s a child involved. He has a daughter and he’s about to be separated from his daughter. And it’s going to rip him…it’s going to his heart right out and I’m just asking for you to lift him up in prayer so that God can intervene and prevent that from happening. And I don’t know how it could happen but only God can make it happen. And I’m asking you to ask that maybe that relationship be salvaged or just…I don’t know…I don’t know…I’m just. Yeah, this is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, well that’s where I’m from, that’s where he is right now, and I can’t imagine what his Holiday is like right now, but he’s soon to experience a severe amount of pain and I hope that that doesn’t happen. Please pray for him family. Thank you.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. It is the 23^rd of November, Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. And a great day to give thanks no matter where we are. And any day is a good day to give thanks. And I wanted to call in to specifically say thank you to Cheryl in Arizona. Cheryl, you called in and left a prayer request. And at the time you’d mentioned that it was the 17^th at 10:04 in the evening, your time, in Arizona. And I wanted to call to encourage you to stay strong, to keep your faith, and to continue to be still, and trust God.  Heavenly Father, You know Cheryl. You created her. You wove her in her mother’s womb and stitched together perfectly, uniquely, and blessed her with amazing gifts and talents, that she is using here now and needs to sharpen to continue to continue to use to be the light for other people in the world. You created her with purpose. She is part of Your royal bloodline. You know her heart Lord. You created her before you created the universe and You didn’t waste time on her. You don’t waste time on any of us. Heavenly Father, we ask You to be able to dwell deep within Cheryl, to relieve her from all off her anxiety and all of her fear. Let her know that with Your son Jesus, who walks with her in every step of the way and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that she’s free from all of that. Help her to breathe deeply, Heavenly Father, and we ask this in Your mighty and precious name. Amen. God bless you.

Daniel 5:1-31, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Psalms 119:113-128, Proverbs 28:19-20

Today is the 28^th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and, like always, it’s wonderful to have this opportunity to be together for a few minutes as we take the next step forward into our adventure through the Bible this year. And, right now, the path is leading us through the book of Daniel, and through second Peter in the New Testament. This week we’re reading from the contemporary English Version and we begin with Daniel chapter 5 verses 1 through 31.

Commentary:

Alright. In second Peter today we have a bit of a tirade against false prophets. And our understanding of prophet in this day and age is often tied to a person who predicts the future. But here we’re more appropriately talking about a person commissioned and sent by God to speak on his behalf. And, so, sometimes this is translated, false teachers. So, a person claiming to be commissioned and sent by God to speak on his behalf, but it’s not true, it’s false. And there was plenty of this going on. A lot of people were saying a lot of things for a lot of reasons about the faith. Before we dive into this, I think an important distinction needs to be made, because we can read passages in the Scripture like this and get the impression that we can’t ask any questions because we’ve seen a lot of that in our time. Anyone who asks questions that might mess with our tidy little box of assumptions can be labeled a false prophet, a false teacher, simply for posing questions or asking them. And I don’t think that’s the same thing and I don’t think that’s fair. I ask questions constantly. I ask questions of the Bible. I ask questions of the Lord every single day of my life, simply because I want to know the answers and you probably due too. That’s not what we’re talking about here in second Peter. Peter is being very forceful about people who are claiming to speak on behalf of God, who have come to faith in Christ and then have begun to or have completely turned away from some of our all of the core essentials of the Christian faith and are leading people to do the same thing. And Peter has little tolerance for this. And, so, to quote him, ‘these teachers don’t really belong to the master who paid a great price for them and they will quickly destroy themselves. Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way.’ And, so, we’re pretty clear what he’s talking about and what he’s saying is, this is not going to work for those people, in fact, it’s going to go quite badly for them in the end. And then he goes on to give some examples of what that will look like, and he uses the examples of rebellious angels in heaven, the wicked and ungodly people in Noah’s time, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So, we could all agree, that’s not a good time and that’s not a trajectory to aim your life in. And then Peter tells us what’s going on. Right? What the behavior is that he’s so upset about. And it’s here that we have the opportunity to look into our own lives to see if any of this is going on with us. These people, Peter says, ‘speak evil of things they don’t know anything about. They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil. Their immoral and the meals they eat with your spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on. All they think about is having sex with someone else’s spouse’. Right? So, in other words, they are consumed with lust. ‘They trick people who are easily fooled and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts, but they are headed for trouble. They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet, Balaam’, which is a reference to unrighteous behavior for personal gain. ‘These people’, Peter says, ‘are like dried up waterholes and clouds blown by a windstorm. They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense and by being vulgar and crude they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life. They promise freedom to everyone, but they are merely slaves of filthy living because people are slaves of whatever controls them.’ And there’ something to put in your pocket carry around today. I am a slave of whatever I let control me. And it is here in this last paragraph that we read today that Peter shows us what happened to these people and where that road is going. He says, ‘when they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ they escaped from the filthy things of this world, but they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things. And now they are in worse shape than they were at first. They would’ve been better off if they had never known about the right way, because even after they knew what was right, they turn their backs on the holy commandments that they were given. And that is like a dog coming back to lick up its own vomit.’ Alright, this is pretty poignant, and this is pretty direct, this imagery that Peter’s using to describe what it’s like to know the truth, have tasted the goodness, and then turn around and walk back into the filth of a former life. So, I imagine that most of us have at least been around a dog. I guess I’ve been around dogs most my life in one way or another and I’ve watched them do this. Right? Haven’t you. Dog goes out into the yard, has to poop, and can barely finish before they have to turn around and smell that nice steamy pile of waste. You’re out walking your dog, they’re smelling every mailbox, but if they can come around some other dog poop, oh, that’s just a treasure and they smell that and maybe even eat it. Dog is sick, pukes on the ground, pukes in the kitchen, and they might give it a nice whiff and even lap it up. I know, I mean I know that’s gross, I know what I said is his disgusting, and I said it frankly because it’s disgusting to go back to a former life after the beauty of the presence of God. It’s like puking in a bowl and then eating it like soup. Sometimes understanding something starkly can shake us away to what we’re doing. And when we realize what we’re doing it explains a lot about the shape our life is in. To turn away from the narrow path that leads to life and go back and try to resurrect a life that is no longer a part of our story is like walking into a gas station bathroom, seeking out toilet that has been backed up for days, hoping to ladle out some of that filth into a Styrofoam cup so that we can go back to our car and drink it down. That is what it is like to try to resurrect the corpse of who we were before Christ. That is what it is like to wander into territory that will only lead us away from our union with God and the intimate collaboration in life that we’ve begun with Him. And that helps us understand the context of so many of the books of prophecy that we’ve read and are reading, when God is exasperated and essentially saying, why would you choose this over me? Why would you choose sewage over the banquet I have prepared for you?

Prayer:

Father, those are questions that have no valid answers. They never have. And we’re all guilty of this. And we’re all humbled at the starkness of what we’re doing. And, once again, we are called to repentance, we are called to change from within. And this can only happen with our surrender and Your participation. And, so, together we pray the ancient prayer of repentance, most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. In Your mercy, forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we will be, that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with You, our God. Amen.

Announcements:

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

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here as we move toward the end of the year, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. If you prefer the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill 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.

Song:

O God Forgive Us
​for KING & COUNTRY
https://youtu.be/tz4toSf-xQU

Lyrics 

We’ve prayed the prayer with no reply

Words float off into the night

Couldn’t cut our doubt with the sharpest knife

O, O God forgive us

Silence isn’t comfortable

We want drive through peace and instant hope

Our shallow faith it has left us broke

O, O God forgive us

O, O God forgive us

A slave to our uncertainty

Help us with our unbelief

O, O God forgive us

Young and old, black and white

We’re rich and poor, there’s no divide

Hear the mighty, hear the powerless, singing

O, O God forgive us

O, O God forgive us

A slave to our uncertainty

Help us with our unbelief

O, O God forgive us

With our white flag sailing in the night

Eyes pointed to the sky

Hands up and open wide, open wide

With our white flag sailing in the night

Eyes pointed to the sky

Hands up and open wide, open wide

With our white flag sailing in the night

Eyes pointed to the sky

Hands up and open wide, open wide

With our white flag sailing in the night

Eyes pointed to the sky

Hands up and open wide, open wide

O, O God forgive us

A slave to our uncertainty

Help us with our unbelief

O, O God forgive us

Daniel 4:1-37, 2 Peter 1:1-21, Psalms 119:97-112, Proverbs 28:17-18

Today is November 27^th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we get back into the flow after a, probably, long but busy weekend. And I guess we can say we are officially in the holiday season, but no matter what season we find ourselves in we have this rhythm of daily taking the next step forward in the Scriptures. And, so, we’ll do that. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week. And we’re in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. And then we get to the New Testament we will begin the second Peter. And we’ll talk about that then, but first, Daniel chapter 4 verses 1 through 37.

Peter:

Okay. Yesterday, we finished first Peter and we talked at length as we read through that letter. And now we have come to the second letter of the apostle Peter. And this is thought to be the final writing of the apostle Peter, the last words of the old saint. And over the years some scholars have believed this text to be pseudo-biographical or a text written in the name of someone who has already died, but we also have to acknowledge that the writer of second Peter claims to be Peter, names himself as Peter. And some of this scholarly tension comes from the fact that Peter was probably illiterate. This comes from the fact that most people were illiterate and a Galilean fisherman would more than likely be illiterate, which is not to say that Peter didn’t learn to read and write later on in his life, but the thought is that he probably spoke things to someone, he had, like, a secretary, a scribe. He spoke things that were written down. So, scholars who favor the authenticity that this was written by the apostle Peter would defend that position by just assuming the Peter used a different scribe, like, he quoted this other letter to someone else who wrote it down, which would account for the variance in style. So, if we assume that Peter is involved then this was probably written in the late 60s A.D., just prior to Peter’s martyrdom, where he was crucified upside down. Now, Peter being crucified upside down is a church tradition that we probably have all heard, but you won’t find it in the Bible. This tradition comes from a book known as the Acts of Peter, which was not included in the canon of Scriptures. Its considered Apocrypha - church writings that are held as valuable and to be read but not to be used for doctrine in the Christian faith, like the canonized books of the New Testament. And church tradition tells us that the apostle Paul was arrested for the second time and somewhere around that time Peter was martyred. And in this letter, Peter does not explicitly say who he is writing to, he just says this is my second letter to you. So, we can assume that he is writing to the same people that he was writing to in the first letter. That being, Hebrew believers who had been scattered throughout the Roman provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor, and Bithynia - all in modern-day Turkey. And he’s writing to remind them to strengthen their faith that had been born, in the first place, in hope, and to guard what they had learned and not be swept away or carried away by everything everybody was saying and every false teacher that came along. Rather than just blowing by this, it’s important to know that Peter would’ve known he was about to die. He says as much in the letter. This is the man who walked with Jesus along the Sea of Galilee, saw miracles performed, laughed with Jesus, cried with Jesus, lived with Him. Ate his last supper with Him, and denied Him, and then overcame the regret of that, watched Jesus being nailed through the hands and feet to a cross, watched Him die, saw Him raised to life. Peter was there in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came and transformed him. And he preached that first sermon where 3000 people came to Christ. He was an early church leader, an early church father, and devoted his life to the Savior. These would be the final living words of the apostle Peter and they should hold some weight in our lives as we read them. And, so, we begin. Second Peter chapter 1 verses 1 through 21.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the rhythm that it brings to our lives and the context that it gives to our days. We thank You for the way that You are transforming us from within through Your word. And we thank You for the council that we found in second Peter today, that we should do our best to improve our faith. And that is one of the reasons we come to Your word every day. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit to help us do exactly that, improve our faith. And You tell us in Your word that we can do this by adding goodness and understanding and self-control and patience and devotion to You, Father, concern for others, and love. You tell us that if we will keep growing in this direction, if this is where our focus is, then we will begin to see how You are making our lives useful and meaningful through it. So, come Holy Spirit. As we turn in those directions lead us forward, show us how to grow in these areas we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And, of course, what’s going on around here right now is…well…a lot…but the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is available and we’ve been talking about that. And one of the things in the Christmas Box this year is this book by my friend Ian called The Road Back to You. And, so, Jill’s down here in the studio with me.

Brian - Hi Jill.

Jill - Hi babe.

Brian -  This is a book that we both read this year. Some of it we read together this year. And it impacted us both pretty profoundly. What are a couple of things about it that stand out to you?

Jill – It was really good and it was really hard, but I think it was the most helpful relationship book I’ve ever read.

Brian – Why?

Jill -  It was the most insightful.

Brian – Because the funny thing is, it’s not really a relationship book.

Jill – No. But once you have the information, it’s like, it can only be applicable in every one of your relationships going forward.

Brian – Yeah.

Jill -  I mean, even in the relationship with yourself, but, we’ve done some of the other personality tests, but this is, by far, I felt like it honed in the most, it was the most accurate, and I think those other ones are as Yes, E, F, J, S, Q, 3, 5…and I just couldn't…it didn’t stick for me, but, like this one, I’m like a solid 4, I’m solid complicated, and it just was really amazing in that…I mean…well…you read both of our numbers together and I laughed…I laughed for yours…just because it was like…wow…you are right this time…and I cried with mine…just because it’s a little bit more complicated of feeling like you don’t belong anywhere and very lonely sometimes and just feeling like, oh yeah, that’s how God created me or that’s whatever happened in my life that ended me up like this…that’s where I’m at. So, it was very validating, very affirming, very insightful, and a little bit hard.

Brian – Let’s talk about the night we were sitting on the couch and I had read this book and I was talking to you about it and you were kind of thinking, yeah, whatever, it’s just one of those other things. But I’m like, no, let’s find your number. And, so, we go through all these questions and work our way through until we get there. And then I read the chapter and, yeah, by the time I was done with that chapter you were in tears. Why was that?

Jill - Just…man…I don’t know if I can even talk about it now without tears. Well, I’m just…I’m all emotion…that’s who I am…but when you get so specific to where…like…I know this sounds ridiculous…but clothing has been a big part in my life. I love clothes. I love to express myself in clothes. And I don’t like clothing that looks like everybody else. Like, I have since I was a child, and I would exasperate my mom by how many times I changed clothes because if I didn’t feel like wearing that anymore during the day, I would change clothes. And for him to talk about clothing in the number of a form of expression and creativity, it was like, it just was like somebody gets it…and it’s okay that that’s who I am. Because it can feel like that you have those parts of yourself that you don’t even like about yourself, but for somebody to go, oh, and by the way, yeah, I get that this is who you are. For that to be validated…just to go…okay…I see you… it’s okay.

Brian -  Yeah. Absolutely. And…it…I mean…it affirms you in a lot of positive ways and then it exposes the underbelly of that, the shadow side…that’s…you know…the struggle that we have, you know, with all kinds of things inside of ourselves.

Jill - Exposed.

Brian - Yeah, exposed. It’s very accurate.

Jill – Exposed is probably the best word to describe.

Brian – Yeah. It’s just really, really helpful to get a dispassionate, honest look into your own temperament and, you know, it begins to give you context for why you do the things that you do and then it goes beyond that and tells you, you know, you have developed all of this to cope, but beneath that is truth and this is where the Holy Spirit lives. It’s been very helpful that way.

Jill – But I feel like it goes beyond just like, this is who you are. I feel like it’s almost a little bit invasive of like…let’ get to the heart of who you are. And we to it by explaining all of these other things of your personality.

Brian - I think that’ true. I think that’s well said. I think it’s…I mean…I’m not up for these kinds of tests either. We’ve taken them all. And this was the one thing that I felt was peeling back the layers so that you could find your own heart. And we’re all about that and so is the Bible. And, so, it’s been really, really helpful.

And I’m glad that we could make arrangements for that to be included in the Christmas Box this year.

And the other thing that we’ve got going on that we’re announcing today is the open, pre-registration for the More gathering that’s coming up this April, that you lead every year. So, tell us a little about that.

Jill – You know, every year I say…I just get a little bit more excited. It is so true. I…my anticipation only builds every year. It never seems to dissipate. It’s…I’m so excited for this year for some reason. Registration is open and we are…like…let’s do this. If you are sitting on the fence, just come. I recently did a women’s pilgrimage with 30 women that I’ve never met. I only knew one person coming. And I feel like I sort of…God invited me to that…so that I could first identify every single fear and emotion that these women that I invite coming to More feel or experience, just to remind me. And I get it. But the one thing the Lord really started speaking to me before I was coming was, I want you to face every single one of those fears, I want you to call them out, and I want you to give them to me. Not to give them power. Not to prop them up. But so that we can overcome them together. And I can tell you that every single fear, I actually wrote them down, He addressed, specifically and personally with me, intimately, up close on this pilgrimage. And I know that He does the same thing at More. So, that would be my biggest, my first step, of…you’re going to have all of those feelings and fears…they’re going to surface. Even if your husband buys it for you and gives it to you as a gift for a Christmas present, you’re going to experience those fears. Like, what is it going to be like? I’m going to be all alone. And nobody like…I won’t meet anybody…there won’t be any friends…and…da…da…da…da…da. And God will address every single one of those fears with you intimately. So, sign up. Take advantage of the $50 off to the end of this year and come and let’s explore the heart of a woman’s yearning for more together.

Brian – So, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box is available now. And they’re going fast as they always do. Those of you who are ordering internationally, just a couple of days on that. We feel like the 29th is the last pretty safe date for Christmas. Of course, you can order whenever you want. Just want to give you a heads up on Christmas delivery. Those of you in the United States, we’re still good for a while. So, be sure to check it out. There are things in there that you will want for yourself and there are things in there that you will want to give away. And the magic is, you get to choose. And we love doing that each year.

And as Jill just said, the More gathering is coming up and early registration is open now at dailyaudiobible.com in the initiatives section.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here as we move toward the end of the year, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. If you prefer the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill 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 Reports:

My name is Glenn. I’m from Irving, Texas. I’m addicted to pain medication and alcohol. I’ve tried everything I could to quit. I’ve been asking God to take it away from me and that urge just keeps coming back. I went almost 3 years and I had I accident at work that required some pain medication. I could have refused but I let it happen. The whole year I’ve been hooked. So, this is Glenn, once again, from Irving. I need the prayers of the saints for me right now to save me from opiate addiction. It is a demon and it’s destroying my life. Thank you, Daily Audio Bible. Love you, Blind Tony.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. This is John Corrado. I hope you’re doing well. Look it, I just want to take a minute to…so…this is like a comment more than anything else…and maybe I’ll ask for some prayer afterwards as well. I wasn’t sure that you’re all aware…maybe you are…some of you at least anyway…that there is an additional resource for you that’s available for the Daily Audio Bible…and that is the Tumblr blog of the Daily Audio Bible. And what that is are transcripts from the Daily Audio Bible podcast from each day. So, essentially, the welcome message that you hear from Brian every day, the commentary that you hear from Brian every day, the prayer over the Scriptures that we read and the commentary that Brian provides to us each day, the announcements from the Daily Audio Bible, and then the community prayers and praise reports. I’m not sure you guys were aware that…and I became aware of it…oh…I don’t know…a couple years ago…and was just so blessed to be able to go back and read what Brian had said through the commentary. There’s so many priceless gems that he puts out there because of…awe…just because he’s been around this so much…and he’s very knowledgeable of it all….as goes without saying. So, if that’s interesting to you or if you would benefit from being able to go back and look at his commentary and prayer requests, and praise reports, and announcements. Go to dailyaudiobible.tumblr.com. I love you guys. I hope you guys tap into that resource. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. God bless you all.

Hi family. This is His little Cheri from Canada and I finished listening to the community prayer for November 18^th. And when I listen I doodle your names as prayers for all of you and then I put the doodle page up on my wall. Right now, I have 20 doodle pages, I counted them and I’m sure that eventually they’ll wallpaper my whole room. It’s kind of ___. And today I felt the Lord wanted me to encourage you to let your ideas of prayer out of the box and get creative because I don’t think that prayer doesn’t need to be as hard or as complicated as we make it. Anything that we do with the Lord is prayer because prayer is communion with Him. Right? So, if it’s good and it’s right and its fun it can be prayer. And I spend a lot of time doing puzzles and lately I’ve been turning puzzle time into prayer time. The last puzzle I did was the Norman Rockwell puzzle, maybe you know it, with the doctor preparing to give the little boy shot, and he’s intently studying the doctor’s diplomas on the wall. And I realized that while I put this puzzle together I could be thinking specifically of people who need healing. And as I put the pieces together, I could ask the Lord to bring the pieces of their healing together, to complete their healing. And, so, that’s what I did. And it was so much fun. And it was so interesting to see which parts of the puzzle I was doing as I was thinking of specific people. Anyways, it was really meaningful. So, my question to you is, what do you like to do? And how can you turn it into prayer time? Maybe it’s cooking or gardening or working on cars. Whatever it is, ask the Lord to show you and I’m sure that he will. Turn it into prayer. Alright family. That’s it for now. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.

Hi. My name is Donna and I’m calling from California. This is my first time calling in a prayer request. I’m a little bit nervous about it, but I know you all are friends and I am very, very thankful for this. I started listening to the Daily Audio Bible last spring / early summer and it has really blessed me in so many ways. Thank you Brian and Jill and everybody who makes this possible. I’m calling to request prayers for myself. First and foremost because…I really feel…believe…have come to believe…that I’ve got some strongholds that I just am not able to get over by myself and I need help with that. I’ve had some things in my past, some bad choices that I’ve made that certainly have not helped. So, I’m not really sure how much to reveal but I have found myself in relationships that were very destructive. I trusted some people that I shouldn’t have, unwisely, and it has been very detrimental and I am left with so much shame and so much regret and I just need to give this to God and I need to be healed so that I can be a blessing to Him. That’s what I want the rest of my life to be. So, thank you so much. And, also, if you could please pray for this ministry. It is such a blessing. Thank you. Thank you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Rebecca from Michigan and it’s November 23^rd, two days before Thanksgiving. And a couple of days ago I decide to work on doing a month of thankfulness and gratefulness instead of complaining, which, now that I walk through this door I feel I am complaining all the time and I sometimes want to complain. So, I want to start by thanking God today. So, I’m thankful, even though I’m single and I’m not married. There’s a thankful part about being single. I can basically go where I want. I don’t have to answer to a husband and I don’t have to have in-laws or a mother-in-law. I guess that’s a thankful part, but I am a mother-in-law, so, I like that. And I have a beautiful, healthy, intelligent child ___ and one coming on the way. And I’m beyond more than I deserve as a person. And yesterday I finished another financial ___ university class online. I learned more about how to by houses. So, I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that I have a Thanksgiving dinner coming and some people have to eat beans and rice. Some people don’t have a roof over their head. I’m thankful that I have a roof over my head, a warm bed to sleep in, and I have lights, and I have heat, and some people are sleeping on the street and eating garbage. So, I thank You Jesus, for all You have given to me and a car to go to work and go places and enjoy life and I wanted to…I want to start doing that…giving thanks…

Daniel 2:24-3:30, 1 Peter 4:7-5:14, Psalms 119:81-96, Proverbs 28:15-16

Today is the 26^th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today at the threshold of a shiny, sparkly, new week. And we’ve got some territory to cover. We began the book of Daniel yesterday, which we’ll be spending some time in. Today we will finish Peter’s first letter. So, first Peter. And then work our way through second Peter and get ourselves into first John before this week is out. And, of course, we’ll be in a new month before this week is out. We will enter the 12^th month of the year. So, buckle up. Here we go. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week. Daniel chapter 2 verse 24 through 3 verse 30.

Commentary 

Okay. So, we finished first Peter today. And Peter carries the theme of suffering and endurance all the way through this letter and he applies it to all kinds of situations because a lot of situations apply. Peter was writing this to a lot of people who had been dispersed from their homeland for various reasons over a long period of time. And as they’ve come to faith in Jesus, they’ve begun to be marginalized and even persecuted and blamed for all kinds of things that they hadn’t done. And all kinds of assumptions were made about these Christians. And there were reasons for this. And all of these reasons go back to why Peter is writing a letter of endurance in spite of injustice and suffering. So, in the Roman Empire it was not illegal to be a Christian at this time, but it was expected that, like, the gods of the Empire would be worshiped. And most Romans were polytheistic. So, in other words, they believed in many, many gods. God was everywhere in all kinds of things. There were many gods. So, you could worship whatever God you wanted to but you were expected that the gods of the Empire, you know, the ones making the Empire great, they were to be worshiped. And Christians wouldn’t do this. And, so, that immediately made them stand out. Now Hebrew people, Jewish people didn’t do this either, but this was permitted because the Jewish people were coming out of a very, very ancient tradition, a very ancient religion. So, this was acknowledged for the Jewish people who were definitely disassociating themselves from the Christians. And, so, the Christians were singled out. And there’s all kinds of weird thought about them. So, to round out this context that we’ve been looking at, because as we understand this context, every time we pass through the territory of the New Testament, and we see people suffering and we see endurance being spoken of, and we see instructions about behaviors to avoid and behaviors to embrace, we begin to understand that there’s a back story. Yes, we should live a certain way. Yes, we should avoid certain things, no matter what time we live in, but in this particular time, the formation of the church, a lot of these instructions and behaviors were two combat the stereotype that was being formed around them, to resist by rising up and simply being better and being nothing like what was being said. Which begs the question, what exactly was being said about these early believers by people who did not understand the faith at all, who had no reference point for Jesus in a faraway land, who had no grid at all for this singular God and his son, and the saving…of the…like…who had no idea? Right? So, who were just living in a world with many gods going about their lives in their culture and looking at these strange people. What, exactly, were they saying? Well, thankfully there are many, many writings from many, many cultures that are very, very ancient and some of this thought is captured, which gives us the opportunity for a very interesting exercise. I am going to read you a passage. And this is from the late second century. So, the late 100s. So, maybe about 80 years after the gospel of John was composed. And in the thick of the development of the Christian faith. And this description was captured by a man named Minucius Felix in a book he wrote called Octavius. So, Minucius Felix was a believer. And he attributes this description of Christians to a person named Fronto. And I’m going to read this. And the exercise is to imagine that this is what is being said about you and your faith. What would your response be? What would your reaction be? Because this puts us squarely in the shoes of the people that are being written to, not only in first Peter, but in much of the New Testament. So, when you think of Paul being dragged out and stoned outside of the city or, you know, an idol maker causing a riot against Paul, like, all of this swirling tension going around that we find in the New Testament. So, imagine this is being said about you.

And now as wickeder things advance more fruitfully and abandoned manners creep on day by day, those abominable shrines of an impious assembly are maturing themselves throughout the whole world. Assuredly, this confederacy ought to be rooted out and execrated they know one another by secret marks and insignia and they love one another almost before they know one another everywhere. Also, there is mingled among them a certain religion of lust and to call one another, promiscuously, brothers and sisters that even a not unusual debauchery made by the intervention of that sacred name become incestuous. It is thus that there vain and senseless superstition glories in crimes. Nor, concerning these things, would intelligent reports speak of things so great in various and requiring to be prefaced by an apology unless truth were at the bottom of it. I hear that they adore the head of an ass, that basest of creatures, consecrated by I know not what silly persuasion. A worthy and appropriate religion for such manners. Some say that they worship the virilia of their pontiff and priest and adore the nature, as it were, of their common parent. I know not whether these things are false. Certainly, suspicion is applicable to secret and nocturnal rights. And he explains their ceremonies by reference to a man punished by extreme suffering for his wickedness and to the deadly wood of the cross appropriates fitting altars for reprobate and wicked men, that they may worship what they deserve. Now, the story about the initiation of young novices is as much to be detested as it is well-known. An infant covered over with a meal, that it may deceive the unwary, is placed before him who is to be stained with their rights. This infant is slain by the young pupil who has been urged on as if to harmless blows on the surface of the meal with dark and secret wounds. Thirstily, oh horror, they lick up its blood. Eagerly, they divide its limbs. By this victim they are pledged together. With this consciousness of wickedness they are covenanted to mutual silence. Such sacred rights as those are more foul than any sacrileges. And of their banqueting, it is well-known. All men speak of it everywhere. Even the speech of our Cirtensian testifies to it. On a solemn day they assemble at the feast with all their children, sisters, mothers, people of every sex and of every age. There, after much feasting, when the fellowship has grown warm, and the fervor of incestuous lust has grown hot with drunkenness, a dog that has been tied to the chandelier is provoked by throwing a small piece of offal beyond the length of the line by which he is bound to rush in spring. And thus, the conscious light being overturned and extinguished in the shameless darkness, the connections of abominable lust involve them in the uncertainty of fate. Although not all, in fact, yet in consciousness all are alike incestuous. Since by the desire of all of them everything is sought for which can happen in the act of each individual.

Okay, so how you feel about that? If these are the kinds of things your culture was saying about a group of people, would you be racing to sign up? And if you had put your faith in Christ and you heard these things and you knew they were absolutely not true at all but rather gross distortions and mischaracterizations and flat out fabrications, how do you respond? How do you respond when your entire culture is set against you? So, it makes a whole lot of sense then when you read this letter from Peter and most of the New Testament, for that matter. But since were in first Peter specifically, like when Peter says, for you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do, living in debauchery, lost drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. Right? The very things they are being accused of. Peter is saying, that was the old days. That stuff is not what we do. That is not who we are. And those who are accusing you of it will stand before the judge one day - the one who judges the living and the dead. Or when Peter says something like, who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear their threats. Do not be frightened, but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do it with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. So, now we have a pretty good picture of what is really going on here and what is being, like, what these people are going through. These are our spiritual ancestors. Were it not for their faith and steadfastness and endurance in this time, we wouldn’t be here today. This is what they were going through. And it’s a lot more challenging than what most of us are going through. Although, I know, many of you live in countries that are not Western or Christian, and you feel this kind of assumption and degradation going on around you toward faith in Jesus. But for most of us, this is more challenging than anything we’ve ever faced. And, so, the council in the New Testament in all of these letters, the postures of ways in which we are to live that we still struggle with every day. We begin to realize that we have that much of an excuse. Those early to the faith faced all kinds of oppositions that we…we can’t even imagine. And yet they stayed true to the death. If we really want to embrace this new life, if we really want to believe that we can be made new creatures and renewed every single day then we’re going to have to follow the advice that we find in the Scriptures. Like James said, you can’t just hear this stuff, you have to do with this, you have to live into this, it has to become you. And we’ll have to find the resolve of those who went before us, the conviction of those who went before us, and faced injustice by simply aiming higher, being better, being nothing like the stereotype. And there are plenty of stereotypes about people who have put their faith in Jesus all over the world still in existence today. For example, in our own lifetimes, we’ve watched things go from, like, if you said you were a Christian then you were thought to be trustworthy. I mean, people would say they were Christian at their businesses even if they weren’t to get the trust of their patrons. It’s gone from that to the stereotype of hypocrisy, that Christians aren’t really what they’re presenting. And unfortunately, there’s truth in that. And we find ourselves in the Scriptures every day being counseled forward into a life and a set of ethics and behaviors that will lead us into new life and all truth and we have to listen because we have to rise above it all. We can and we must aim higher. We are better than that and the name of Jesus that we carry around is more valuable than that.

Prayer:

Father, this is a moment of repentance. We’re seeing what the faith that was handed down to us so freely cost our brothers and sisters earlier on in the story. We see the ways that we’ve trivialized our faith. We see the ways that we’ve used You in this relationship. We see all kinds of things and we invite Your Holy Spirit to continue to bring these things up in us because this is a moment of change. We invite Your Holy Spirit to indwell us and be within us and change us from the inside out. We see that this is an all or nothing proposition and we’ve been trying to make it work in all kinds of other ways besides that. And in so many ways it’s allowed us to become a stereotype of ourselves. And yet, Your love, your love propels us forward. We come running to You because, in spite of our failings and shortcomings and flat out rebellions, You have been unwilling to surrender us. And we see so clearly now. You have been holding onto us when we were unwilling to hold onto You. And what can we do will but fall down before You in repentance and apology and lament. But even then, You scoop us into Your arms and Father us. You tell us we’re better than this. And so often we don’t believe that and just move back into the old patterns, but we believe You. We’re better than this. We must rise above this and show the world why we are compelled to serve You, why we have fallen in love with You, and given our lives to You, and given our lives for You. Come Holy Spirit, we pray, as we reach with all of our hearts toward You. In Jesus name. Amen.

Song:
Reckless Love
Bethel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJJYKOpFnkA

Before I spoke a word

You were singing over me

You have been so, so

Good to me

Before I took a breath

You breathed Your life in me

You have been so, so

Kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn’t earn it

I don’t deserve it

Still You give yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

When I was your foe, still Your love fought for me

You have been so, so

Good to me

When I felt no worth

You paid it all for me

You have been so, so

Kind to me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn’t earn it

I don’t deserve it

Still You give yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

No lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn’t earn it

I don’t deserve it

Still You give yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God

Announcements: 

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

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, There is a link. It’s on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. 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 877-942-4253 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.

Daniel 1:1-2:23, 1 Peter 3:8-4:6, Psalms 119:65-80, Proverbs 28:14

Today is the 25th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we close the books on another week. And one month from today is Christmas day. So, we’re kind of in the thick of it. Things are speeding up and we’ll be covering a lot of territory in the Scriptures over the next month. And the new territory we’ll wander into today is in the form of a new book. We finished the book of Ezekiel yesterday, which brings us to the book of Daniel. And Daniel is a prized book in the Old Testament for its narrative style and the history that it covers and because it’s been mined for millennia in the search for the end times, eschatological studies, because of Daniel’s visions. And Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel. So, he was carried away into exile when Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 597 B.C. He was obviously favored by God and was a gifted young man as he became an advisor and an authority in the Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and then beyond him. So, Daniel was respected and gifted. And the first half of the book is a narrative about Daniel’s life and some of the richest stories in the Bible are in these first six chapters. They demonstrate faith in God, God showing up, even in exile. The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace, the story of Daniel in the lion’s den are contained in the first part of the book of Daniel. And then, the second part of the book shifts to visions that Daniel had - prophetic visions of four great world empires. And Daniel was not a prophet, like, that was sent to Israel, like, for or against Israel. The visions that he had, although they’re in the context of Israel, weren’t Jewish, particularly. And if eschatology, the study of the end, is something that you’re interested in or something that you’re a student of, then the book of Daniel is one of the centerpieces of your study. And whether the end times is your passion or not, the book of Daniel is rich in the heritage of God’s faithfulness and is beautiful in the way that its narrative is constructed. And, so, we begin. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, which is today. Daniel chapter 1 verse 1 through 2:23

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and for the rhythm that it is in our lives. We thank You for this week, that we’ve expressed gratitude and thanksgiving and considered all that we have to be thankful for, which is substantial to say the least. And we thank You for the season that we’re moving into of contemplating the mystery of your arrival. So, we find ourselves entering into a busy season, full of all kinds of activity, and all kinds of emotion. And we just acknowledge, this is where we are, and we also acknowledge the peace and wholeness of Your Holy Spirit in this busy and fragmented season. So, we invite You, Holy Spirit into all of it, asking You to illuminate the path forward for us in all that we do think and say. May we represent You well and Your kingdom in this world, in this season. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And what’s going on here, right now, is the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box and its availability. We do one of these every year and pack them full of resources that you can kind of open up and pick and choose what you want to keep for yourself, what will help you in your life, and what you want to give away as gifts. And we’ve talked about that a couple of times. What’s in the Box this year? So, there’s some music for the season. First up, music for the season of Advent, the month before Christmas, just that is intended to put us in the place of longing, to put us in the place of longing like the Jewish people were longing for a Savior to come at the time that Jesus came, but to also put ourselves and acknowledge the season of longing that we’re in for Christ’s return, His second advent, His second arrival or coming, which is what Advent means. So, there’s music for the season, just contemplative music to keep your spirit and your mind focused on what’s going on. Then there’s the family Christmas CD, which is full of Christmas carols, beautifully and lushly orchestrated. I love it. And it’s a great contemplative record for the season as well. There’s a couple of copies of Sneezing Jesus in the Box as well as a book called The Road Back to You, written by my friend, Ian Cron. And I talked about that little yesterday. It’s been one the most influential books for me this year. And so influential and helpful that I wanted to bring it to this community. So, that’s in the Box. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb for 2017 is in the Box. And that’s the only place to get the Christmas bulb. We do them every year for the Christmas Box. And, so, the one for 2017 is in there. A Black Wing pencil is in there. Those are paired with our writing journals and all of that. And, so, we thought we’d give everyone their own Black Wing pencil. You will have a choice of our Wind Farm coffee or tea. So, our tea selection for this year is honey bush and rooibos and our coffee is the Daily Audio Bible blend that’s roasted exclusively for us. And a pack of 20 of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards along with the envelopes that go with them. Those are all in the Box. It’s a great Box this year.

And speaking of Daily Bible Christmas cards, those are available individually in the Daily Audio Bible shop as well. They come in packs of 20. We make them new and exclusive every year. And there just a great way to invite those that you love that are in your sphere to take the journey with you, although you don’t have to do that. I mean there Christmas cards. The only thing is a Daily Audio Bible about them is just on the back where you’d find Hallmark. But there not like a blinking neon commercial for Daily Audio Bible at all. But they’re a great opportunity for an invitation into the Bible next year with your friends and family. So, those are available and you can’t get them…I mean…they’re $5, $5 for 20 cards…so…you know…you can’t get them cheaper than that. And we do them every year for just what I said, they’re a great opportunity for a personal invitation to experience the Bible together in community, like we’ve been doing all year. So, they’re in the Christmas Box, 20 of them, but you can get as many as you want in the Daily Audio Bible shop, individually as well.

And some cutoff dates. One is important. It is 29^th of November and, I mean, today is the 25^th, so just a few days from now. That is the international shipping cutoff date for the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Boxes. That is the date that we feel like that’s the last time that we can be confident that things will arrive for Christmas to you internationally. You can certainly order after that, but we’re just giving you a heads up. So, just keep that in mind if you live outside of the United States.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, then what new way can I come up with to say how grateful and humbled we are that we get to be here doing this together as a community, bringing God’s spoken word to whoever will listen to it, wherever they might be on this planet, whatever time it might be of day or night, and to continue to foster community around that rhythm. If that is life-giving to you, thank you for being life-giving to what we’re trying to do here every day. And thank you profoundly. There is a link. It’s on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. 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 877-942-4253 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 Prayers and Praise Reports

Good morning DAB family. This is Joyful Noise from southern California. I am calling you with what I consider a huge prayer request and can’t even believe I am asking this of you. So, our daughter turned 21 yesterday, and out of all of our kids I would say that I really question her salvation. She is a darling spirit. I love her, of course, we all love our children, but there has definitely been a separation from her family to her…and she finds ways to separate, like not coming home during the holidays, not spending time with us, finding ways to take on jobs or extra classes even during the summer and even during the holidays. She just doesn’t want to be around us anymore and, although, she is a super achiever and she  works very hard in her college, I would say based on worldly values, she is doing just fine, but I really have to question her salvation. And as I was out in nature yesterday, waking up very early the morning of her 21st birthday, and heading out into God’s creation celebrating, and really crying out to Him for her as I have been for months, God made clear to me that I was to pray fervently for her every day of her 21^st year. And I know we all pray for our kids, but this was like a command for her soul. And I’m so scared I’m going to drop the ball. It feels like so much pressure and I’m just asking for my prayer warriors to partner with me in this. I know it’s so much to ask and you all have your own things but if you could she’ll get a second day. Between today and November 19^th, 2018, pray for her. Her name is Zoey, which means eternal life. And I really have to believe that.

This is Patrick from Georgia. I wrote this down because I knew that I wouldn’t remember everything that In needed to say. I’m calling in today because God wanted me and confess my sins against this community. For years after I started listening to the DAB, I wouldn’t really listen to the prayer request part at the end of each podcast because my heart was so hard. Then God worked on me to the point that I was willing to listen to the prayer requests and even sometimes pray for them. At this point my hard heart struggled with and made fun of those warrior’s prayers that I considered to be too stereotypical and too religious. Also, in my heart, I made fun of people who sang on the calls. It took me a long time before I was able to start stopping myself when I would begin to start having such evil thoughts against those who called. But I still have them and I have been convicted of them significantly over the past few months. God has been dealing with me to call in over the past three of four weeks to confess my sin and ask for forgiveness. My heart is definitely not where I want it to be but I need to apologize to you all because I have been choosing to perceive the love that you give one another in such wrong ways. I’ve benefited from this community and the prayers of this community for so long now, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you. But it ___ me to stop harming you with my own messed up heart and mind. So, for all of you prayer warriors and all of you angels who lift up your voice in song to the lord, please, please continue to do so. And to everyone in this community, please forgive me, for my hardness of heart and my judgmental spirit. Thank you.

Father God, we lift up the country of Zimbabwe to You. We pray Lord, for Your blessing on that country. May that country flourish. Father God, we lift up the leaders of that country and we just pray for wisdom Lord and we pray for peace Lord in this time of absurdity and transition. Father God, please be at work there. Please be at work in the hearts and minds of all of those involved and the hearts and minds of the people, that there would be peace, and that any change that comes about be done in a calm peaceful manner that serves the people of Zimbabwe. Father God, thank You so much for Your people thus. I pray Lord that You would be blessing them and helping them be a shining beacon of hope in that country. Father God, thank You for the countries around Zimbabwe as well. And I just pray for wisdom for those leaders and leaders around the world as we watch the situation develop. Please be at work Lord. Father God, we lift up to You, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip and thank you for their 70 years of marriage. Father God, thank You so much for marriage and for those people you’ve given is to care for. Please be blessing our marriages Lord and filling our hearts with love for our spouse. Father God, help us to be more like you. Give us a love for those around us. Help us to love You with our heart, mind, soul, and strength, help us to love others and let Your love shine for us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.  This is Beloved by Him in Gloucester, UK. Hope you have a blessed day wherever you are.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Kep from the UK. I’m calling with a prayer request for two people recently diagnosed with brain tumors. If you would please pray, that would be amazing. The first one is for one year old Lily who has a brain tumor that is affecting the part of her brain responsible for hunger. So, she is not gaining weight as well as from having ___. She is very poorly ___. Please pray for her and her wonderful family who are part of our church. The second prayer is a colleague of mine named Heather who has been diagnosed with a brain cancer affecting the front of her brain and particularly keeping her inpatient. This is a fast-growing cancer and we are all very worried for her. Please prayer for her temple healing. Thank you. Good bye.

Hi. My name is Gail. I love in Clayton, North Carolina and I just wanted to give some words to encouragement. Recently, I’ve been in prayer about how I can become close to the Lord and I have a very long commute in the morning. And yesterday at church it became clear to me that I should be using that time for my commute to be listening to the word. And this morning I woke up early and downloaded the podcast and listened to the podcast for today. And while I was listening to the podcast one of the verses, the scriptures that came through was, Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever - Psalm 136:1. And that is actually the memory verse that my family is currently using the November month for the Thanksgiving holiday. And it was just a wonderful reminder that when we seek the Lord He will follow through. And it was amazing to me, out of all the verses in the Bible, that that one today was the one that was spoken for the daily podcast. So, I would like to just give everybody encouragement to continue to seek the Lord and be in prayer. And I’m extremely thankful that I was able to reach out and listen to the podcast today and I look forward to continuing to listen to it in the future. Thanks so much for this wonderful blessing.

Hey. This is Bobbly from Louisiana and I’m with my son Lesly. I just wanted to say, it was so great getting to hear Brian speak about Sneezing Jesus in person. Annette, it was so good seeing you again and it was great to meet Tracey B. and Julie and her husband and Ron and his wife from River Valley church. We thought you all had a great church and we’ll be visiting again soon. We really love the DAB and we listen every day. We know all of your voices and we’re looking forward to getting together with the More Gathering. We’re praying for all of you and we stand in agreement for each of you as you call in. You all be blessed. Bye-bye.  

Ezekiel 47:1-48:35, 1 Peter 2:11-3:7, Psalms 119:49-64, Proverbs 28:12-13

Today is the 24^th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s good to be here with you at the close of another week and the beginning of a very busy season. So, it’s Black Friday. So, some of you may have been out and about doing shopping things since midnight. I know a lot of people do that. I’m not one of them, but I know a lot of people do that. But no matter what you are doing, the global campfire is roaring with warmth and light and good news and here we are for the next step forward in the Scriptures. And today we will conclude the book of Ezekiel before we take another step forward in Peter’s first letter, also known as first Peter. So, lets dive in. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Ezekiel 47 verse 1 through 48 verse 35.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in our reading from first Peter today, we have a very, very popular and well quoted passage. And, so, we need to look at that and get the full context of what’s being said, because as we’ve noted all the way through this year, we come to these very, very famous passages and often pull them out of their context, when their context actually gives the clarity for what’s being said. So, we’ll take a quick peek at that before we get to a bombshell, disruptive moment. So first, the famous passage. ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds’. Right? ‘By his stripes, you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the Shepherd, an overseer of your souls’. Okay. So, this is a summary statement. This is the end statement of a larger point that Peter was making. And we like it, and quote it, because it concisely describes what we put our faith in, and what we’re hoping for - healing, wholeness and eternal life. And the ‘by his stripes, you are healed’. Right? ‘By his wounds you have been healed’, as the New International Version translates it, we often say this to people who are sick. So, what was Peter saying? Like what was the point? So, the context becomes a lot more clear when we understand what was going on. The good news of Jesus was spreading around the known world and over the previous centuries Hebrew people had been spread all over the known world, either through forced exile, right, or fleeing. So, there are people who practice Judaism and who have synagogues and they’re all over the Roman Empire and down into Egypt, they’re all over the place. And this is who this letter is written to, Jews who have been dispersed and are now embedded into any number of cultures all around them - widely diverse and varied cultures. So, as the good news about Jesus spreads throughout the world, it reaches, obviously, these Jewish people who are all over the place, and many come to believe in Jesus as the next step, as the next chapter in their Hebrew story. But as we’ve seen in the New Testament, this provides a lot of friction, a lot of tension. Those practicing the most traditional form of Judaism, obviously, have no use for this Jesus. And, so, they’re against it. And faith in Jesus’s is causing disruption in other cultures as well, as we see in the writings of the apostle Paul. So, overtime these people do get sidelined and marginalized in a lot of places and that just makes them a target. And, so, persecutions do break out. Basically, Christians get blamed for a lot of things that they never had anything to do with. And being called a Christian was not a good thing. It was slanderous. So, for most of us, our culture has, like, turned away from using the ‘N’ word as a derogatory thing toward someone else. Right? Being called a Christian in a lot of these circles that Peter is writing to was like that. So, kind of understanding this is backdrop allows the words in Peter’s letter to bloom and blossom, that we understand what he’s trying to say. So, when he says, ‘dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul’, we begin to understand who is talking to. And he goes on. ‘So, live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong’. Right? ‘So marginalizing you, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits’. So, this whole passage, that leads us to the payoff point that we know very well, is intended to encourage these people who are being sidelined and called names and marginalized and even persecuted, that the only way to combat that is to be better than that. Right? To make sure that you do not fit that profile at all, the profile that the cultures that these people are and are trying to heap upon them. So, in so many ways, Peter is inviting these believers who are being marginalized and called names and persecuted to not become the stereotype because they are called to be something far greater, a new creation. And they need to live into that reality rather than degrading themselves. So, Peter’s saying the way to resist this isn’t to become the stereotype. The way to resist this is to be Christ like. So, Peter goes on, ’submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority, whether the Emperor as the supreme authority, or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right’. He goes on to say, look, you’ve got to work inside the system you’re in, but you can rise above all of that as you live into being a new creation. Or to quote Peter, ‘live as free people but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Live as if you were a slave to God. Show proper respect to everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor’. And then Peter talks to those who have found themselves as slaves or in servitude. And he’s in no way saying, like, this is a good idea, slavery is a good idea, I condone this, everybody should have a slave. None of that’s going on here. Peter’s simply speaking into a reality, how things are for some of these people. And he uses it as a backdrop for the suffering, for the injustice that they are beginning to encounter. And he’s saying, look, if you’re punished for something that you did wrong and you have to endure the punishment, but you actually did the deed, then you can’t credit yourself with something you didn’t deserve. You deserved it. But, and I’m quoting Peter here, ‘but if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps’. Right? You should be Christ like. You should rise above all of this. Which brings us to this very famous summary. These people are feeling like they’re being treated unjustly and marginalized, and Peter is encouraging them that they are not the only ones, that the son of God was treated the same way. Which brings this important passage that we were talking about into context. So, Peter says, ‘when they hurled their insults at Him’, which is Jesus, ‘He did not retaliate, when He suffered He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly’, which is a very important recommendation for the people that Peter is speaking to. And he goes on to say, ‘He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By His wounds we have been healed’. And we can see that this is not just a verse about physical healing. What Peter’s talking about is regeneration, being made new, being made whole, healed completely. And, so, we get a hope and an outlook and a context for what we’re going through. And then Peter shifts gears. He’s still talking in the same context, but he switches gears to husbands and wives, and ends up with a bombshell. So, for starters, we have to remember our context. These people are dispersed Jewish people who have, to some degree, assimilated into new cultures. And those cultures are wide and varied. And because of this, the marriages are wide and varied. So, it’s not unusual for a woman to have come to Jesus but her spouse has not. Or a husband has come to the Lord, but their wives have not. So, Peter says, ‘wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your own husbands, so that if any of them do not believe the word they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives’. And can we at least acknowledge that Peter is not talking about domestic abuse. I mean, we can read passages like this and go, like, alright, than no matter what’s going on, you’re getting beat up, you’re getting verbally abused, you’re living in fear of your well-being, and in even your life, and you just need to suck it up. If that’s what Peter was trying to communicate, then that’s what he would have communicated. But we’ve just spent a good amount of time trying to provide the context for what’s going on here. And Peter is simply saying, the posture that you have to live with as you are being marginalized in this world is to acknowledge the injustice of what’s going on and look to a higher judge. You are being remade. This is a whole new thing going on and endurance is a part of that story as was displayed by the son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. And that finds its way into our own homes. It’s a posture of love that Peter is describing. And he’s essentially saying, look, you may not be able to convince your spouse with your words but your life says a lot more than your words do. And your beauty radiates from within you, spilling out into the world. It’s not the other way around, that you have a fancy wardrobe, and walk around, and your all beautiful and fancy. Your beauty radiates from within. And what can be more beautiful than the glory of God radiated out into the world through your life. And then he turns husbands. ‘Husbands, in the same way’, so adopting the same posture of love, ‘in the same way, be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life’. And then we get to the bombshell. You do all of this so that nothing will hinder your prayers. So, in other words, if your life is not speaking louder than your words, there’s a problem. If you trying to ornament yourself in a way that draws attention to you but exposes the lack of the glory of God spilling out of your Spirit and into the world, then you’ve got a problem here. If you’re not consider it to each other, if you’re not treating each other with respect, then you’ve got a problem here, and your prayers can be hindered. And that’s kind of big deal to ponder. But that would explain a lot, wouldn’t it? It’s kind of an, ah ha. It’s kind of a bombshell, like, whoa, I didn’t see that in here before. My prayers can be hindered based on the way I treat my covenant of marriage. Some things to think about today 

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. And we say that a lot, because Your word continues to speak things into our lives that are disruptive. They always bring us to a fork in the road. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit into the ways that we have felt unjustly treated and in the ways that we relate to our spouses. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Today is Black Friday. And, so, it is the official launch of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box 2017. And we do one of these every year and pack it full of resources that you can pick and choose. Some stuff you’re going to want for yourself and other things you may want to give away. And this year’s box is tailor-made for this season. So, in the box is the Advent CD that I talked about a couple of days ago. Also included is the family Christmas CD full of carols and beautiful arrangements for the holiday season. And I loved making that album. It was the Christmas record I always wanted to make. And it’s perfect for grabbing a cup of hot coffee or cocoa or whatever and turning all the lights off and just leaving the Christmas lights on and taking a few minutes just to reflect. So, some great music for the season. Also included are two copies of the Sneezing Jesus, a book that was written to be read, obviously, but also written to be passed forward into many other lives. So, we’ve included two copies of Sneezing Jesus in the box this year for that reason. Also included is a book by my friend, Ian. It’s called The Road Back to You and it’s been one of the most influential reads of the year for me. You may have heard of the enneagram before, you may have heard that word, it’s like all the rage right now. It’s definitely a big buzz and a lot to do with this particular book even though it’s been around for a very, very long time. So, I’ve got to tell you. I have taken lots and lots of personality profile tests. Right? Strengths Finder’s, and Gift Mixes and, you know, like, Myers-Briggs, all of this stuff and I think it’s interesting and I think it’s helpful to a degree, but this enneagram journey was like a totally different thing. And I could talk a long time about it but, for me, it kind of came at the right time. So, early in the year my mom passed away and I talked about that back in January when it happened. And that’s something…I mean…that…that left me grieving, obviously, but I’ve lived long enough to know that kind of pain, that kind of suffering, it…it’s always the precursor of something new. It’s usually the precursor of something creative in my life. And I spent a lot of time just, you know, moving through grief, but in it all, trying to intentionally aim my heart toward God, to invite Him into it all. And I knew this book is being written a couple years ago. And, so, when it came out I jumped on it because, The Road Back to You, oh, that was just like, that is what I’m looking for, because it’s like, if I can find the path to my own heart, if I can find the path to my true self, I will find the Lord there. Where else would he be? He indwells me. He’s within me. He is at the core of the truest person that I am, my identity. And, so, I read it twice. And then I started talking to Jill about it and she wasn’t over the moon, like, oh my gosh, let’s sit down and read this together or anything like that. She’s taken all these tests too. And, so, I’m like Jill, this is, like, different. This is coming from a different place, the assumptions are different. This isn’t like trying to uncover your personality. This is trying to tell you that all of the things you’ve developed over the years that have become your personality and your presentation to the world are actually the ways that you have created to cope with the world, but behind all of that is the truth. The vulnerable and true you. And all of these things that you have created around yourself to present yourself in a certain way, you did that for lots of reasons, but ultimately you did it to protect that true place. And it was fascinating to me intellectually, but then, so, like, I’m finding my type - there are nine of them in this book – and I’m reading it and I’m like, this is scary accurate. Like, I am exposed. I am exposed here, good and bad. My bell is rung. My mail has been read. And, so, one night with Jill, I kind of forced the issue. We were watching something on TV or something like that. We were sitting on the couch together and I’m like, hey, let’s find you, let’s find you in this. And she’s like, you know, like, alright, you know, like not all that excited, but okay. And for the next couple of hours we began to engage in conversation and then we narrowed this down and then, right there on the couch, I read the chapter aloud for her type. And by the time I was done, my wife was sitting next to me on the couch in tears, because it was describing her inner life in words. It was naming things. And so, like, for her, she was like I thought I was the only one. Like, I thought I was the only one who felt these things. And it validated so much for her, while at the same time exposing the shadow side of it all, as it had done for me. And, so, then I read my chapter and she laughed, because it was just saying on the page what she had known about me all along. But it gave us language to understand each other in profoundly new and helpful ways. So, then I, you know, I sent a copy to everyone who was around me, who works with me. And it’s profoundly helpful just for understanding of where everybody’s coming from. So, to make a long story short, we contacted InterVarsity Press, who published this book, to see if we could get them for the Christmas Box this year, and we figured that all out, and we have them. And they are in the Box this year, because this has influenced me, has helped me a lot, and I do believe that it will help you. And, so, it’s in the Christmas Box this year. Also in the Christmas Box, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb that we have. Each year a different one. And this one has the word for the year ‘margin’ on it. And we’ve been doing this for five years and I have five of these on my tree and this is the one for 2017. A Black Wing pencil is included in the Box. Your choice of windfarm coffee or tea, your choice will be included in the Box. As well as a pack of 20 Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2017. So, it’s an awesome Christmas Box this year and it is available now at dailyaudiobible.com in the shop.

So, a couple things. 1) I would say get them while you can. We always sell out of them, and 2) This is for those of you will be internationally ordering. Obviously, you can order whenever you want, but if you want your Christmas box to arrive for Christmas, then we have calculated that the 29^th, so just a week, this coming Wednesday, the 29^th is the cut off day that we feel like things will arrive for Christmas. We have this arrangement with FedEx and it takes longer because FedEx ships into your country and then it moves into your mail system, but it allows us to ship as inexpensively as is possible. The downside is it takes a little bit longer. So, we’re telling you the 29^th if you’re ordering internationally. And, yes, my Canadian brothers and sisters, and my Mexican brothers and sisters, that includes you. As close as we are together geographically, we still find ourselves in different nations. So, just a little heads up there. Those of you in the United States, the cutoff date for getting there by Christmas we have calculated to be December 18^th, although they may be sold out by then. So, there’s your Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box 2017. They are available now.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It’s on the homepage. Thank you for your partnership here as we move into the busy season, the last season of the year. Thank you for your partnership. 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 877-942-4253 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 Prayers and Praise Reports

Hi DAB family. My names Terry. I’m from the Chicago area. I had an affair for a couple of…a ten month affair…and as a result of this affair…I hurt and striped my family, hurt my wife. I want to make things better. I’ve lost my job. I’ve lost my livelihood. I’ve lost the respect of my children. I’ve lost everything. She was my Bathsheba. And I don’t know how I’m going to go on. I’ve been praying a lot. And especially for trying to find another job but…it’s so hopeless…just please pray for me in my situation. Thank you DAB family for being there. I pray for you. I’m sorry I’ve wandered so far from the Lord. I know I wasn’t listening. I know those traps were out there and I built them. Now I seek forgiveness. I seek to heal this relationship. Thank you all. I know your names. Again, Terry from Chicago. Thank you.

Well, hello my DAB family. This is Mark S. from Sydney Australia. Today is Monday the 20^th. And I’m really ___. It’s very hard as well because…it’s a hard call to make because…well…of the fear of human judgement…the fear of…admitting my sin to you. It is a hard one but I do want to just because, family, I love you, and I want you to pray for me. I’ve fallen into sexual sin again and I know all of you prayed for me back around about March and I feel ashamed that…that I’ve done it again…but I want to move on quickly because I don’t want to go into depression because I know that’s going to take me away further from the Lord and I want to get back straight at it again…but I’m fully aware of the seriousness of my sin and I’m asking God to give me His grace to get up and get back on the narrow path and keep trusting Him and moving forward again. Thank you, family. Bye.

Hi. This is John from Bethlehem Pennsylvania. Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. It’s the 20^th of November and Thanksgiving week. I hope you guys are all doing well. I love you. I love this community. I love everything that you all stand for. I wanted to call in prayer for Linda from Spokane Washington. I listened to the podcast for the 20th and you are asking for prayer over your daughter Maddison and, I believe, your son, James. I just very quickly, wanted to make sure, Linda, that you’re encouraged. My son, John, who is 25 years old now, if I could combine both of the stories that you told about Madison in her rebellion and James with his addiction, this is my son. And things that he had gone through when he was about Madison’s age all the way up until just about 8 months ago. I can tell you Linda that John came back to God, he came back to the Lord, and he’s there now. And I know that Madison will as well and I know that James, through the power of the Holy Spirit and with Jesus as his Savior, will overcome his addiction habits, just like my son John. So, my prayer for you and my prayer for everybody in the community is, that through God and through the Holy Spirit that indwells within us that we can stay encouraged and stay strong in our faith. And that we continue to pray over and ask God for forgiveness and to humble us and everything we do so that so that we can do everything we can to serve those around us, especially our sons and daughters. I love you community. Thank you Brian. Thank you Jill. God bless you.

Daily Audio Bible family, this is Curtis from Northern California. It’s November the 20^th. I’m asking for prayer for my wife. She has fibromyalgia, shingles, and has a number of other ailments. My wife and I are struggling with my marriage. We are still foster caring for drug babies. I ask that you pray for her and pray for me as this week is Thanksgiving. Please pray for me that I may serve my wife as Christ has served the church. Please pray for me. I love you all. I’m praying for you. Love you.

Ezekiel 45:13-46:24, 1 Peter 1:13-2:10, Psalms 119:33-48, Proverbs 28:11

Today is the 23^rd day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who live here in the United States. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the world. Yes, today is a national holiday in the United States but isn’t every day an opportunity to show gratitude and thanksgiving. So, let’s dive in and take the next step forward through the Scriptures. We’re continuing to read through the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Tomorrow we will complete the book of Ezekiel. And we have begun first Peter in the New Testament, so we will read from that we get there. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Ezekiel chapter 45 verse 13 through 46 verse 24 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, what Peter is doing here in his letter is very similar to James. He’s showing a posture to live by, the shape our lives are to take, but it’s not just for the sake of handing down some behavior modification rules. He’s saying life should look a certain way because of what is going on, what God is doing in the world. So, it’s not about these rules, it’s not, like, this is the shape your life should be and because I’m laying down the law. It’s, this is the shape your life should take because this is godly and you are a vital part of what’s going on. So, let’s look at that for a second and, man, it can’t be any more appropriate than this time of year. I mean, here in the United States, this is Thanksgiving Day, so, families have traveled. People are moving about so that families can all be back together. And then this kind of begins the holiday season as we move toward Christmas. And, so, there’s a lot of parties, a lot of interaction, a lot of family, a lot of this kind of stuff that is full of joy but can also be really, really challenging depending on the family dynamic, because you could have been on your own for decades and have your own family your own spouse, and live in a different city, but when you walk into that home that you grew up in, or whatever, and you’re 10 years old again. Right? And everybody all gets together and kind of falls back into that. And then, you know, there’s all these boundaries, and it just, all of the sudden things can get a little weird and tense in those environments. Not always and not for the whole time, but it can get that way. And that underlying tension, kind of, it’s just like a cloud that is part of the mix of the holidays. So, in light of that, let’s just look at what Peter is saying the shape our lives are to take is supposed to be. So, let’s just begin at the beginning of our reading. ‘With minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, so, you be holy too, because God said, be holy because I am holy’. Now, obviously, Peter’s not talking about any national holidays or anything like that. He’s talking about the shape of life itself, but we’re about to live into this season, this holiday season, and it is the next chapter of our lives. It’s the most immediate thing that’s right in front of us. So, it’s just simply remembering in every situation, whether it’s that you’ve got, like, somebody stole your parking place when you are trying to shop, somebody cut you off in line, somebody was pitching a fit doing this or that at this party, or this person was acting stupid, or family dynamics, or whatever. Just remembering, ‘be holy because I am holy’ can really save us from a lot of conflict that does not have to happen, that can happen, but doesn’t need to. Let’s move onto his next point. ‘Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially’. Right? So, right there, we have to remember, everyone is an individual here and we’re not the judge. God is, and he’s impartial. So, we can be no different. So. Peter says, since you’ve call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. And it’s these kind of verses that make us go like, I’m a stranger here, I don’t belong here, my home is somewhere else, I’m a foreigner just waiting. I’m not going against that metaphor. But I do want to point out, that’s not what Peter is saying here. Peter’s specifically writing to people in the Diaspora. Right? People who have been disbursed from their homeland over a long period of time and either sent into exile by force or have fled for their lives, especially during the Assyrian conquest or the Babylonian conquest, both of which we’ve read earlier in the year and talked about at length. So, we at least have to acknowledge who Peter’s writing to. So, when Peter says, ‘live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear’, he’s speaking to specific people about a specific scenario. And to those people he speaks into the lives, ‘you know that it was not with perishable things such as gold and silver that redeemed you’. Right? You were not ransomed by cash or valuables from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors. You were ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. So, Peter is referring to their history and how they got to where they are and of the great hope for redemption, eternal redemption, that comes through Jesus. And, so, his pay off thought is, ‘through Jesus you believe in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Him. And, so, your faith and hope are in God’. Right? So, your faith and hope are in God and not in your money or your valuables or any other hope for redemption, which gives us another pivotal thing to remember as we move through this season. So, so far we have two points from our reading in first Peter today that we could summarize and carry with us. I will choose holiness because my Father is holy and my faith and hope are in Him no matter what is swirling around me. And then Peter’s third point is a massive one. ‘Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart, for you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God’. So, Peter’s saying, be holy in all that you do. Your faith and hope are in God alone. So, open your heart to each other. Truly love deeply from your heart because you’re not who you were. You have been born again and you are a new person. Okay, so what does that practically look like? How would we describe what Peter is saying? Thankfully, he does that for us. ‘Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind’. And these are the kinds of things that kind of bubble up to the surface when we get put into those tense situations that the holiday season can bring. Right? You can lavish gifts upon people while at the same time being full of malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander of every kind. Kind of like the way that James said, you know, you can praise the Lord and curse your brothers and sisters out of the same mouth. And James counsel was, this shouldn’t be happening. And Peter’s saying essentially the same thing. So, as an alternative to malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander of every kind, Peter suggests a different posture. ‘Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation now that you have tasted that the Lord is good’. Peter is describing an innocence and a trust and a hope, like a newborn for their parents, a much better way to live in the hope that God gives us. And according to Peter, what makes us grow up in our salvation. Definitely something to carry forward with us into the busy season. And then, lastly, Peter gives us a picture of who we really are, why we should shift our posture of heart and be holy as our Father is holy and put all of our faith and hope in Him and rid ourselves of malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander of every kind. And rather, trust our Father as a newborn would. And crave what He is feeding us so that we might grow up in our salvation. And the picture is this - ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy’ -  which is huge. Huge! But it’s the ‘why’ of it all for Peter. ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. That’s why you be holy because your father is holy. That’s why you put all your faith and hope in God alone. That’s why you are impartial and fair. That’s why you open your hearts to each other and love deeply. That’s why you get rid of malice and deceit n your heart. That’s why you don’t live as a hypocrite. That’s why you don’t walk around with envy toward everything and everyone that you don’t have. And that’s why you don’t slander people. Rather, that’s why you live with the pure trust of the newborn baby craving spiritual milk, so that you can grow up. You’ve had a taste and you can see that the Lord is good. And these are the postures. This is the shape of life that a person who is chosen should have. And, of course, this should permeate everything about us every single day. But these are definitely the things that we can carry with us into the busy season of the year because that’s going to encompass every single day of our lives during this season.

Prayer:

Father, with great encouragement we read these words, these pictures of who we really are, these reminders of what it is we’re doing here and we heed the counsel found in this letter from Peter, to first consider whether or not what were about to do or say or think is holy and to shape our lives accordingly. And, of course, we acknowledge that this is not possible in our own strength. So, we invite your Holy Spirit to indwell us, to fill us, and to inform all of our thoughts, words, and deeds, all of our interactions, all of the beautiful moments, and all of the tense ones. Come Holy Spirit and let our lives be radiant with the light of the good news of the coming of the Savior in this season. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

We’re moving into this holiday season. Tomorrow is one of the bigger shopping days of the year and now we always bring out the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box. And, so, that’s available you check that out at the Daily Audio Bible shop, where you can see all of that. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards are available as well. So, you can check it out at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you profoundly for your partnership. 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 877-942-4253 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 Prayers and Praise Reports

Without You Lord I have no win
I struggle daily deep within
It’s hard for me, my mind and heart both stray
To places where they shouldn’t be, places far away
The tempter comes and my thoughts go to places not in You
The tempt is always there dear God no matter what I do
Sometimes I win sometimes I lose
I’ve struggled now for years
Never stopped to recognize the sum of all my fears
Holiness with happiness, that’s what I wish I could enjoy
But I’ve been drawn to the flashy things since I was just a boy
I also walked in faith with power
All demons had to flee
I prayed in tongues and healed the sick
You walked each day with me
I’m looking back with longing now Lord
Please fill me once again
I need your power to overcome these fleshly thoughts of sin
The things I lost were precious Lord 
They might not get restored
But nothing in the material world can compare with Spirit poured 
Bind, cast uncleanness out, I’ll follow as you lead
I want to be approved by You in word and thought and deed
Anoint me God and fill me too
Purify me once again
I’d rather be your slave dear God than a free man lost in sin
Cause only You can deliver
Only You can save
Even though I walk and believe I’ve got one foot in the grave
Freedom isn’t free at all when one is lost in sin
Cause once you start you cannot stop
You’re doomed to sin again
I’m ready Lord with all my heart to let this madness end
I need to Lord it and freely confess that without you I can’t win 
My love for You is greater Lord then my love of fleshly fun
Let it be a done deal Lord
I need this battle won
Make my heart complete dear God
Cast all uncleanness out 
Victories mine I know dear God
Of this I have no doubt

Blindtony1016@gmail.com

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is ___ calling from Delaware. I hope that each one of you is blessed. I have a small encouragement for each one of you. Call it what you wish, a talent, a skill set, a gift, the talents are different but the truth is the same. Paul says in First Corinthians 12:7, the Spirit has given each us a special way of serving others. You aren’t the only person with your skill, but you are the only person with your version of your skill. You enter the world uniquely equipped. Psalms 139:13-15 describes it as, mixed together, woven together in the depth of the womb, intricately and curiously evolved. Yes, each of us, not some of us, are the ___ of the elite among us. Each of us has a beauty that longs to be ­­­­___ and released. It is you at your best when you stand at the intersection of your skill and Gods call. You are standing at the corner of Promised Land Avenue and the glory days will ___. I love you family. Make it a great day. ___ from Delaware.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Monica in Kentucky. I’ve been listening to the community prayers for November 18^th. I’m not done yet, but I wanted to call in and thank everybody who called in about spiritual warfare and spiritual attack over the past week because I really needed it. I lead the largest prayer life ___ center ministry in Kentucky and we just moved into a newly renovated facility and just rebranded this month and the enemy has just been discouraging me personally, but seems to be enjoying just a nagging attack across our ministry. In the last several weeks, 2 of my staff members spouses’ have lost their jobs, our board chairs’ pancreatic cancer remains inoperable after 4 months of chemo, and we had a seriously scary carbon monoxide infiltration this past week due to the boiler being improperly vented. So, praise is that the board chairs’ tumor has stopped growing. And that we did not have any children on site during that carbon monoxide scare. I don’t want to downplay those praises, but I’m just really leery. There’s a lot of punch list items and lose ends to wrap up before we’re complete. But we do have a ribbon cutting and grand opening event this Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the 21^st. The governor is going to be there, more than 100 guests and I would just ask that you pray that it goes well and that we are encouraged and can come out of Thanksgiving holiday just renewed and refreshed. Thank you and I will probably call back and pray for some other people, later, after I’m done with the prayer line. Bye.

Hello from beautiful, well, this is actually the greater Houston area, Houston Texas area. This is Daniel J. Junior. And I’m actually here in Webster, Texas. I’m getting ready to take my mom home to beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio. It is currently November the 19^th 2017 and God has done some amazing things. The last time that I saw my mom, before coming back to here, she was unconscious, and now my mom is very much awake and alive and alert. She still needs a lot of rehab. And, so, your continued prayers along those lines would really be helpful. And then, I got a call from my wife this afternoon. We learned that her sister, her oldest sister, was found dead in her apartment in her home this morning or this day recently. And, so, this prayer is for my wife Jenny and her family, especially my mother-in-law, who is in her 80s, this is so hard, obviously, for our family. God is doing something, the enemy is really doing something, but God is much bigger. Jesus wins. Satan loses. To God be the glory. Looking forward to hearing your prayers and comments. Daniel J. Junior from Cincinnati Ohio. God bless and make it a great day.

Ezekiel 44:1-45:12, 1 Peter 1:1-12, Psalms 119:17-32, Proverbs 28:8-10

Today is the 22^nd day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. Here in the United States it’s the day before Thanksgiving. So, a lot of cooking going on today for the feast that happens tomorrow. You may be cooking up a nice turkey right now while your listening. I know that’s going to be happening in my house. I won’t be doing the cooking. I’m not the magic there. My wife is. Jill is an amazing cook, but I don’t think we’ve come here for cooking tips. We’ve come here for the Scriptures. And, so let’s dive in. We have just a couple of days left as we move through the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament and then today we will begin first Peter and we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, we’re reading from the New International Version this week, Ezekiel chapter 44 verse 1 through 45 verse 12.

Peter: 

Okay. So, yesterday we finished up the book of James, and we were left with plenty to ponder, plenty to examine and to consider, especially as it relates to our words. And now we find ourselves at the threshold of the first letter or epistle of the apostle Peter, and we’ll find, as we can deduce from the Gospels, that he will be very direct as well and that Peter’s passionate and direct encouragement is for believers who are in persecution or are beginning to be marginalized and coming under persecution. And, of course, we’ve come to know the personality and character of Peter through the Gospels and in the book of Acts. This a very passionate follower of Jesus. One of Jesus inner circle along with James and John. And probably Peter’s lowest moment was that of denying Christ three times. Remember that from the passion stories? But as is true with each one of us, God redeems everything. And that denial, although a part of Peter’s history did not become Peter’s legacy. He was the man when the tongues of fire of Pentecost came down upon the believers who preached a message where 3000 came to Christ in one day. And he spent the rest of his life before he was martyred spreading the good news. So, this first letter from Peter was probably written from Rome although we don’t know that for sure, there’s nothing positive about that. It was likely written between A.D. 62 and 64 somewhere around the time that the apostle Paul was first released from prison in Rome. In fact, there is some persuasive evidence that maybe Paul asked Peter to write this letter. And again, that’s conjecture, but make some sense. Paul was leaving on a missionary journey but there was persecution in the region. And what is compelling about this is that John, Mark, and Silas, who were accompanying Paul happen to be present with Peter as he wrote this. And these were assistants to Paul. So, that’s where that idea comes from. The letter is written to the strangers, sojourners scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. These were five provinces of the Roman empire that sit in modern-day Turkey now. And he uses the term ‘strangers in the Diaspora’ because this would be well known in Jewish culture. So, you remember the 10 tribes, when the Assyrians came in and they were lost to history? Well, they were dispersed. They were in the Diaspora. So, you remember when Judah was captured by Babylon, and they were taken away, and many fled in all kinds of different directions? Yea, they were dispersed. So, those in the Diaspora were those who would have been scattered all over the world in different exiles and those were who were estranged and found themselves strangers from their homeland. And, so, this letter is written to bolster and encourage and lift up those who are suffering persecution and those who were, that it’s looking like they’re about to enter a time of persecution, encouraging all believers to stand firm in the grace of God. And we’ll find that Peter’s direct and forthright. And as we embrace this letter we’ll see that that rings true, that that’s actually helpful, and that it matters as much today as it did then. And, so, we begin First Peter chapter 1 verses 1 through 12.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and the rhythm that it provides for our lives in community here Daily Audio Bible. We thank You for this constant in our lives that is so often a rescue for our circumstance and advice and counsel for the road ahead. And, also, Your pursuit of our hearts, of setting us free by forcing us to expose things inside of ourselves and face things inside of ourselves and name them and surrender them to your Lordship. We are grateful. And as we turn into this season, here in the United States, of Thanksgiving, we all turn toward family and gratitude. But this is also the time when a lot of things get brought up inside of ourselves and we find ourselves fulfilling roles in our family from days gone by, and all kinds of turbulence mixed in with gratitude and thankfulness and joy. And then we come out the other side of this and here we are in the holiday season and it gets busier and busier and busier. And, so, Father, we commit to this rhythm, to staying true to this rhythm, to continue to walk with You and listen to You, heed Your counsel as we move into the busier part of the year, the most joyful time, as the world rejoices at the coming of a Savior, but also a time that can be exhausting and can be depressing, and has its own challenges. And, so, we’re holding on to You. And we’re holding onto Your word in our lives every day. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And we just acknowledged the season that we’re moving into as we went before the Lord together. And this is a joyful time of year as we turn toward thinking of others and giving gifts and receiving and all centered around the coming of the Christ child who would grow to be the Savior of the world. And, so, that’s what’s going on around here. Every year for, oh gosh, 10 years or more, I can’t remember when we first did this, I just remember it was a basket the first year we did this. But we compile resources together and make a Christmas box that is full of things, things for you to choose for yourself and for your own journey and things to give away. And we always bring that out the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, also known as the day that the shopping begins for the Christmas season. And that’s what we’ll continue to do. This Friday, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box 2017 will become available. And we always sell out of them because, on our side, our intention is to create a box that is a valuable, valuable for giving away, valuable for keeping for yourself, and bundling resources together so that we can offer them as inexpensively as we possibly can this one time of year. And I think this box is really well-rounded and really tailored to the season that we’re moving into. So, I’ll give you little overview of what’s in the box this year. Some of these things I’ll be talking about maybe a little bit more detailed as we move forward, but I’ll give you a sneak peek. So, for starters, we’re moving toward the season of Advent, and you know, I’ll talk about Advent when we get into the season of Advent. Lots and lots of you already know what Advent is and you maybe observe it or at least are aware of it every time it comes around. And others of you are probably like, I’ve heard of it, I don’t know what it is, it’s not something that is part of the tradition in my church, we don’t do that. No problem. No problem. I mean, observing Advent isn’t in the Bible. But there is an ancient rhythm to the Christian calendar that moves us through seasons and if we’ll pay attention to that calendar it has really rich traditions that focus our hearts on the time of the year that were in so that we can particularly give reverence to what’s going on. Advent’s one of the seasons. And this has been going on among brothers and sisters since fourth and fifth centuries. So, it’s a long-held tradition. And Advent means coming or arrival. So, it’s the season that we put ourselves in the position of the people who were longing for a Savior to come and praying for that and waiting expectantly for that. And then Jesus came. So, we put ourselves in that posture of longing, of waiting expectantly, as we move ourselves through all of the story of the arrival of Jesus and the mystery of it. And we also acknowledge that we are in that same time still. And we can put our hearts in that same place because we are awaiting Jesus second Advent, His arrival. We are waiting for Him to come and the fullness of his kingdom to arrive. And it can be a beautiful, beautiful time of reflection of pondering the mystery and setting our hopes on Christ. And I said all of that to say that first up in the box is a CD. And the CD is called Advent. And it’s full of beautiful songs of longing and contemplation for the Advent season. Not like Christmas carols, these songs are meant to allow us that space in our lives to contemplate the season. And it’s beautiful. It was created by our friends at Mission Chattanooga, really, really good friends of ours and a church that has really built an intentional core of songwriters and worship leaders and it’s just a beautiful, beautiful album for the season. Then, next up in the box is the family Christmas album. And that is a project that I produced and arranged. And that project is full of Christmas carols that we would, that we know, that our traditional around the Christmas season. And I guess I’m biased, since I created it, but I think it’s lush and orchestral and beautiful and family Christmas is what I think it says. It’s is the kind of project that you put on after you know you trimmed the tree and everything’s, you know, ready to go and you have that rare moment of quiet in the evening and maybe you’ve got a fire burning or maybe the lights are off and just the Christmas lights are going and you have this minute to just get a cup of hot cocoa or whatever and exhale - this is the perfect soundtrack for that. So, in the box, some music for the season. And then next up in the box is a book that was written by my friend Ian. And this book has been one of the most influential reads for me, personally, for the year 2017. I read this book earlier in the year and then had long, long discussions with my wife, and then brought it to our kids, and then brought it to everyone around the Daily Audio Bible that works with us, and then gave away a ton of them, and then made some inquiries to see if we could get them for the Christmas box this year. And this book is called, The Road Back to You. And I’m going to need to go into this in more detail at another time. Actually, I’m going to see if I can round up my wife and do coffee with Jill and Brian about it. So, we’ll talk about that as the days go. Then, next up in the box is two books. We’re including two copies of Sneezing Jesus in the box this year because Sneezing Jesus is just meant to be given away. I mean, it’s meant to be read and pondered, but then the response is to pass it forward, to sneeze it forward. And we’ve been doing that since it came out in July and the stories have been incredible to hear. So, if you don’t have Sneezing Jesus yet, then there’s one in the box for you and there’s one in the box for you to give away. And if you already have it then there’s a couple for you to give away. And then, every year we include in the box or your choice of our windfarm lose leaf tea, our boutique tea. This year, in the box for the tea selection is honey bush and ribose, a South African tee. And our whole bean coffee selection is our own Daily Audio Bible blend. And it is fresh roasted at altitude in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and then shipped to you so that it arrives fresh and you can tell that it’s fresh as soon as you open it up. So, your choice coffee or tea. Every year in the Christmas box we have the annual Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb. I think this is the fifth year that we’ve done this, I believe. The only place to get Christmas bulb is in the Christmas box and it’s got the Daily Audio Bible logo on it and the word for the year which has been ‘Margin’. And, wow, that has been quite a word for me this year. So, every year when we put our tree, I put up the bulbs from the Daily Audio Bible from these different years on the tree and its, for me, in my heart, it’s my way of bringing you into our family and our home. I see those hanging on the tree and they represent a whole year together. And every time I see them I just think of the community that we that we share together. So, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas bulb is in the box. And then, a pack of 20 of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards that are new and unique and specially designed each year. This year the cover is Peace on Earth and inside is a portion of Scripture from the gospel of Luke around the birth of Jesus. And if you send out Christmas cards, this is a great way to invite people along for the journey with you next year. I mean, there’s nothing about these Christmas cards that just screams Daily Audio Bible. Right? It’s not like that kind of a thing. They’re like cards that you would go to any shop and buy to send out for Christmas and the only thing Daily Audio Bible about it is just on the back, you know, where you’d, like, see Hallmark or whatever, it’s just Daily Audio Bible back there. But there’s plenty of blank space inside for you to write your notes of holiday cheer and greetings. And maybe want to invite some people along with you for the journey next year through the Bible. And incidentally, you can get the Christmas cards, like if you need more than 20 or whatever, you get them at dailyaudiobible.com in the shop as well, just as standalone’s. And they’re not like, we’re not trying to raise money off the Christmas cards, their $5. $5 for 20 of them with the matching envelopes. So, you probably can’t get Christmas cards more inexpensively than that. We create them each year because it’s a great opportunity to invite those that you care about deeply, that you would love to take the journey with you through the Bible in year, into the community for next year. And then, finally, we have included a Black Wing pencil. We introduced those earlier in the year when we introduced the brand-new Daily Audio Bible writing notebook, the new journal that that we custom made from the ground up and paired it with these pencils. And I talked at length about that when we brought those out. So, I won’t revisit that right now. Maybe, I’ll tell the story as we get to the season. But we’ve included a black wing pencil of your own. And their normally sold in boxes. In fact, that’s the only way we’re allowed to sell them, but we talked to them and they agreed to allow us to put one in each of the boxes. And, so there’s one for your writing pleasure in the Christmas box. You may think, pencils, isn’t that kind of old school? Exactly. Writing with a pencil that you have sharpened, that is made out of cedarwood and Japanese graphite, that is the best pencil you can get. It is a joy. I have journaled my way through this entire year using these Black Wing pencils. And, so, we’ve included one in the box. So, there’s little bit of an overview. The Christmas boxes will be available on Black Friday. So, this Friday. And we’ll talk more about that as we move along.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. Thank you profoundly for those of you who have been willing to click that link. 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 877-942-4253 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 Prayers and Praise Reports

Hey family. It’s Jordan from Michigan. Wow! So, I listened to the community prayer line last week and there were, like, eight people that called in and from the couple days before that as well. And I can tell you, with each person that called, man and I started to tear up. Sometimes I started to full-blown weep every time I heard that people would actually take the time to call in and to try to nourish my soul like that. That is just beyond words, a gift from God for sure. And I just can’t thank you enough. And the prayers are working. This week, I feel as though I’ve had my first successful week as a teacher. And I’m getting a lot more support. And for the first time my career I have some hope. And I always have my hope in God but in my career as well. So, thank you, I love you, and have a blessed day.

Hey everyone. This is Sheryl in Arizona. I think today’s the 17^th. It’s 10:04 my time in the evening. I’m calling in, I was sitting here feeling a great deal of anxiety and it was just put on my heart to call in. I just need you guys. I need your prayers. I hate anxiety. I am trying to trust God. If you could just pray whatever the Holy Spirit lays on your heart to pray I would appreciate it. I’m just being hit with it so hard, especially when I lay down to go to sleep at night. So, I just…I…I definitely need clarity, direction, clarity…I just…really… and the peace of God. Psalm 46:10 has been my life Scripture - Be still and know that I and God. And I just…but I need the prayers of this wonderful community. And I want to say thank you to Tony the painter and to Duane from Wisconsin. Thank you both for saying for mentioning my name on the prayer line, for your prayers, and your words of encouragement. And I am also praying for you both and this whole community. I love you all so much. I just need you. I need my family. I love you guys. Sorry, sorry to call up upset, but thank you so much. Like I said, I love you. Okay. Bye-bye.

Hello. I’m Alaska Mom and today is November 18^th. I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible on and off for several years but this year I’ve been pretty much keeping up every day or catching up if I miss a day or two. I also have been really listening to the prayers each day and I have been praying. But I felt God nudging me to call for a bit but I hate the telephone. So, this is my first call. I’ll probably start posting some prayers on the prayer wall though for those of you who check that. I’m asking for prayers for my family. My husband goes to church on most Sunday’s and says he believes but he doesn’t seem acknowledge God anywhere except maybe an occasional grace at dinner. He used to go to a men’s group and bible study but then got sick for a while. I also have three adult sons who have drifted away from God and although I am very proud of them in what they are doing they doing and that they are not into illegal drugs or activities as far as I know, I long to have them in ___ the presence of the Lord. I also have an elderly mother and older sister who don’t believe and I ask prayer for them. And last, I ask prayer for myself and for a young woman who is struggling with life right now. She’s pretty devout Catholic and I sometimes encourage her and help her as she doesn’t seem to have a very good personal relationship with Jesus. She seems to have difficulty with spontaneous prayers, especially those for confession and forgiveness. She seems to feel like she has ___ or even just to pray for anything. And even little things seem to weigh her down and it’s affecting her health. So, anyway, if any of you listeners could please pray for me and my family and friends, I would really appreciate it. Thank you all for making this podcast and God bless.

Hi everyone. It’s Kristi from Kentucky. I’m looking forward to the day that I can call you with joy again. But today, it’s a hard day, and I’m asking for prayers again. My best friend Gracie is in Orlando and she is, at this moment, sitting next to her brother who is actively dying. And, so I’m just asking, if you would, to please pray for Gracie for strength and that the Lord will keep her well because her health is been reflecting so much of the stress that’s been in her life. So, please, if you would please pray for Gracie and her family, that God will surround them with His peace and comfort them and strengthen them and keep them well. She just lost her daddy, lost him 2 months ago. And, so, she’s really having a hard time. So, please, just pray for my sweet best friend. And also, I’m going to ask you to pray, and this seems so insignificant right now, but I need prayer for my knee. I injured it about 3 months ago but because daddy was so sick I really didn’t do what I needed to get done. But yesterday I went and had an MRI done and last night I was doing some stretching exercises that a physical therapist showed me that help to strengthen my hamstrings and my tendons and when I did my knee popped really loud and I almost fell. And, so, now I don’t know what I’ve done to it more than what was already done to it. So, anyway, I just need prayer for this knee and that I don’t have to have surgery. Alright everybody. I love you all so very much and I thank you for praying. You are so amazingly faithful friends and I love so much. I pray that each of you have a most blessed and lovely day.

Ezekiel 42:1-43:27, James 5:1-20, Psalms 119:1-116, Proverbs 28:6-7

Today is 21st of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. And of course, like every day, it is wonderful to be here with you as we dive in and take another step forward through this week, through this month, through this year, through the Bible. So, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday, which leads us back into the book of Ezekiel, but then when we get to the New Testament, we will be finishing up the book of James. We’re reading from the New International version this week. Ezekiel chapter 42 verse 1 through 43 verse 27 today.

Commentary: 

 Okay. So, we just completed the book of James and if there is one thing about the directness of James that happens, it is that it creates contrasts that then invite personal examination. And we’ve been doing some examination as we’ve gone through the book of James. So, in order to look at the last things that James has to say in this letter, we have to kind of review, really quickly, the last paragraph of yesterday’s reading. Otherwise, it looks like James just launches into an unconnected tirade against rich people, but there’s a more complete thought here. And, so, as we were ending yesterday’s reading we were talking about plans, like, the plans that we make in our own strength. Or to quote James, ‘today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city and spend a year there and carry on business to make money’. And James is like, you can’t know that, you can’t plan that in your own strength, you don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Instead, you have to humble yourself, first, before the Lord before you’re off out there making all of your schemes and plans. First, your posture is to be, ‘if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’, which is kind of interesting and we didn’t talk about yesterday, but it’s kind of interesting, because, I guess the majority of my life I’ve heard teachings against ever saying ‘if it be the Lord’s will’ because that could introduce doubt into what you’re saying and you shouldn’t say ‘if it is the Lord’s will’ if you already know that it is the Lord’s will. And, as true as that might be, James is saying, no you actually do say ‘if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’. ‘We will live and do this or that’, that’s pretty encompassing. And his point is, this is your first reaction in all things, to acknowledge God and our humility, our humbleness, before Him as we seek to follow His will and His ways in our lives rather than coming up with our own schemes and in our own strength trying to make things happen. And it’s here that we turn the corner. And in the same way, James was talking about words and owning what we say and actually sitting with it and being grieved by and mourning and wailing with the repercussions of the harm that we can do with our mouths. He does the same thing as we turn the corner about our own plans and acknowledging the Lord. ‘Now listen’, he says, ‘you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you’ and then he goes on to explain the temporary nature of wealth and its inability to be fully preserved. And from a scholarship perspective, it’s not quite clear which rich people James is talking about. And there’s a couple ways look at it that both make sense and, actually, both have value and meaning. So, the first would be that he’s talking about best laid plans and acknowledging God and then he turns his attention to the rich people of the world who are probably hiring and paying the poorer people who are in this church or in this community and the ways in which they are oppressing them, like, by holding back payment, by not actually paying them what they’ve earned, and thereby making themselves richer by preying on poorer people. And what are these poor people to do? I mean, they can rise up and claim injustice and maybe even be successful in getting their pay, but then they’ll be blackballed from working anywhere. So, it’s kind like this oppressive situation. The other way of looking at is that James is talking to people who have wealth that are in this faith community and are doing that, are making themselves more wealthy by exploiting people who are in the working class. For James, if you’re doing that, then it’s going to eventually completely fall apart and you are going to lose what you think you have and then you’ll have judgment to look forward to in the process. And, so, he launches into that warning and that warning is encouraging to people who have been exploited, which leads him to his larger point, ‘be patient then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming’. So, in other words, if this is happening to you and you don’t how ends are going to meet and you’re being exploited and in this way, anger, and bitterness, and rage are inside you because of this injustice, just know, God handles the scales. He is the judge and He sees and has always seen this kind of behavior for what it is. But in all of that, you have to adopt a patient posture. He uses the example of agriculture, ‘see how the farmer waits for the land to yield its crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm because the Lord’s coming is near’. So, don’t find yourself turning toward grumbling and this is stirring up more misery. The Lord sees all of this’. Then James uses Job as an example of a person who was patient and persevered. And then James abruptly changes topics and turns to the taking of oaths, and that change reads abruptly, but we have to remember, James has spent a good majority of this letter talking about words and the use of them. So, it’s not surprising that we revisit that idea at the end of the letter. And, so, what’s the big deal about oaths here? For James, this is about simply living true and patient and enduring whatever has to be endured with a good true heart and controlling our mouths so they don’t cause further and unending destruction in people’s lives. And, so, this deal with oaths is more about simply being true. There have been a diminishment of just simple truth speaking. And this comes up in other places in the Bible. And it shows up in our culture. So, it’s unlikely that you’ve never heard somebody say, ‘I swear to God this is the truth.’ Right? Or, ‘I swear to Jesus and all the angels’ or ‘I swear on my own life’ or ‘I swear on the life of my children that this is the truth’. This has been going on a long time. It was going on back then. And, so, the issue is, had you simply said yes this is true, would have been true or do you have to take these oaths, do have swear to something or on something or about something to make it be true? And if you have to do that, was the assumption of the person that you’re talking to that you weren’t saying the truth because you haven’t said the truth before? And, so, now you have to pile on all of these oath’s in order for something to be true? So, for James this is unnecessary. Just be true. Your yes means yes. And if you live that way for a long enough period of time people know that when you say something it’s the truth. If you say no it’s no and if you say yes it’s yes. You don’t have to say I swear to Jesus and Mary and all the angels and on my children’s life and in the memory of my mother that this is true. It doesn’t need all of that unless underneath all of that you are prone to being untrue. And so, you have to say all of these vows and oaths to make someone believe you. Just be true. And then James ends his letter with a set of postures or behaviors that should be espoused and their outcomes, what they will bring about. So James says, is anyone among you in trouble? Then their response is to pray, let them pray. Is anyone happy? Then let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Then let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. And that, my friends, is something that we have done well here at the Daily Audio Bible, confessing our sins to one another and praying for each other. That is biblical, as we all know, but what we may have missed is the why -  so that you may be healed. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is a powerful and effective thing. So, when we come together and we hear each other’s voices and we pray over each other and for each other, that brings healing. And it’s not just like physical healing, that brings wholeness. And then James gives his final thoughts. And this letter doesn’t have a valediction or like a closing, a goodbye, it just ends. And his closing challenge is to not let anyone fade away. If people fall away, go after them. Don’t just let them go. Go after them. And, so, he says, ‘my brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this, whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins’. So, it only took us a few days but we covered a lot of territory in the book of James and have a lot to continue to contemplate and invite the Holy Spirit into. We talked about being quick to listen and slow to speak and how to control our anger and that our rage goes nowhere. We talked about the fact that we can’t just hear the word and expect that it’s going to work. We have to do. We have to live into what we hear and make our lives. We learned that our religious life is absolutely worthless if we cannot control our tongues. We learned that favoritism in the body of Christ is a ridiculous thing because everyone is made in the image of God. We learned that if we harbor and hold bitterness and envy and selfish ambition in our hearts then, not only is this an unspiritual thing to do, its allowing the demonic, and that’s a literal translation. And we learned that to avoid quarrels and fights we first submit ourselves to God. We acknowledge God first in all things, submitting ourselves to Him in all things. And if we would submit ourselves to God and resist the devil, He would flee. And we learned that in our own strength, we can make all the plans we want, but we have no idea what we’re talking about, we have no idea what tomorrow’s going to bring, and our posture should be, first, to acknowledge God and if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. So, plenty of stuff that hits right at the heart of where we live in the book of James.

Prayer:

Father, we invite Your Holy Spirit to keep it rolling inside of us, to keep these issues that plague us coming up. And even sending us back into the book of James, ourselves, as we continue to understand our posture of heart, the one that is of Your kingdom, and the one that is how we were made to live. Come Holy Spirit, we ask forgiveness for the ways that we have messed this all up so many times. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead us to do better. Lead us into all truth. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

A couple of days from now is Thanksgiving Day. And then, so, this Friday is Black Friday and we’ll be talking about the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box that we have every year. And I am excited about this one and looking forward to telling you all that’s in it. I guess I’ll do that tomorrow. So, that’s coming up.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It’s on the homepage. I thank you for everyone who has ever clicked that link. Thank you for your partnership. If you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill 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 Prayers and Praise Reports

Hi. This is Paul from Houston. I’m calling to pray for Kayla from Nashville. Kayla you were pouring your heart out about some depression and thoughts that you were struggling with and thoughts of not wanting to go on and I just want to encourage you that I think Satan is trying to come and really to deceive us and to not understand who we are and just ask that God would just reveal himself to you as you cry out to Him, Lord, that He would find you and you would hear from Him and that you wouldn’t be stuck in those negative thoughts and I cast those strongholds down that have been in your mind and those things that have taken the place and have put themselves up. And I thank You Lord that Your Spirit, your peace would just dwell in Kayla and that she would be strong in You and I just ask, Lord, that You would bless her and be with her and show her her value and how much of a purpose You have for her. Lord, I ask that You would give her a calling and that You would draw her. And I thank You, Lord, as You draw her, Lord, she would find the redemption in You and I thank You Lord that Satan won’t get the upper hand because she’s a daughter of the King. And I just thank You God that You be with her and You just bless her and bring her that hope in the future that she’s just crying out to You for and I just thank You Lord that You meet her. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What’s up everybody? It is Miguel from Santa Rosa and I just wanted to call in real quick and give you guys an update. And after little bit of prayer. I know some of you have been praying for Santa Rosa, you’ve been praying for me, you’ve been praying for my church, you’ve been praying for pastor and, guys, God is doing a great work here. There’s not enough time in a 2 minute call to explain it all, but here’s the short version. God is unifying the churches in Santa Rosa for a common purpose -  to get out there and serve the people of the city, to bring people to Jesus. That’s an answer to prayer straight out of John 17. God has provided for our pastor, who lost his home in the fire. He has a home. Praise God. God is speaking to our church, City Alliance church, and showing us that He is going to be doing a work in this church. Guys, God is working. So, as I’m asking for you to pray, the prayer is not that God will you do something. God is doing something. God is working. That is happening. Whether we pray for it or not it is happening. The prayer is this, that we would be fixed on Jesus, as all of this happens, that we would be focused, that we would not take our eyes off of Him as things get turbulent as the work ramps up as God does his work in the city, in our church, in our lives. So, I just ask you guys to continue to pray for that and I am praying for all of you guys too. And I appreciate all the love and encouragement that I have heard on the line lately. I really do feel a part of this community and it’s amazing over…over simple voicemails. So, thank you guys so much. May God bless and strengthen every single one of you listening to this. Alright. Thanks guys.

Hi. This is Dave from Maryland and I’m calling for two of my brothers who are teaming on Kairos Prison Ministry weekends right now. One would be Billy from Montgomery, Alabama who had called in early last month and looking for prayers on whether to serve and for the support of his family and the other is friend, a coworker, who is also serving on his first Kairos Prison Ministry here in Jessup Maryland, on his very first Kairos weekend at this facility. I just pray that they both feel God’s presence through the entire weekend and they know that they don’t have to worry about anything that’s going on inside or outside, that God’s there, He’s with them, He’s on the outside with their families and with everything there. And I just pray for the other men on the team. And I’ve just been inside. Each team has about 42 men – outside guys and inside guys together - and I just pray that everyone involved is open to the work of the Holy Spirit and great things will come out of these weekends. Thank You. Amen.

Beautiful family. This is Pastor Gene. I wanted to bless Lisa the Encourager and thank you so much for all your calls as I hear you pray, I pray with you for others. My heart rejoices and I’m so glad that you have taken up the mantel of being in encourager, as well as so many others here in this community. Thank you so much. And family, before I completely closed chapter with the whole thing with my mom, I wanted to use it to give God glory and to build someone up. And, so, I thought about it, and prayed about it. I’m calling with an exhortation for anybody that is estranged from a loved one, whether that is a daughter, a son, a husband. If you have wronged your loved one, remember that repentance entails not only to say I’m sorry, but to change direction. And if you know you don’t have the power to change direction on your own then repentance also involves using every tool at your disposal to change. In my case, when I started hurting my husband, as a result of the way I have been brought up, I had to admit that I needed therapy. I had to admit that I needed medication. I had to let admit that I needed more than just prayer and reading the word. I had to change and I didn’t have the power to completely change because my personality traits have been affixed by my upbringing. So, I encourage anyone that is listening to this, if you’re estranged, not only say I’m sorry, but don’t whatever it takes to change. Ask God for guidance, create accountability, and use every tool at your disposal to change because, only when we change, we demonstrate to those that we have wronged that we really mean it. I love you family. This is Pastor Gene.

Ezekiel 40:28-41:26, James 4:1-17, Psalms 118:19-29, Proverbs 28:3-5

Today is the 20th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today, back in the rolling hills of Tennessee. And we had a great time in Louisiana yesterday. Thanks for everyone coming out and saying hello. It was so good, so good to see some of you again and so good to meet so many of you for the first time. So, we’re diving into our brand-new work week . We’re reading from the New International Version this week and continuing our journey through the book of Ezekiel and the Letter of James in the New Testament. But first, Ezekiel chapter 40 verse 28 through 41 verse 26.

Alright. In the book of James, we had a short reading but still packs a punch and can be a swift kick in the pants because James is super direct and clear about what he’s saying. But what he’s saying can be a challenge to our postures and behaviors. So, let’s just take a quick look. We begin with a question: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Right? What causes that tension within you that erupts into conflict? And James says, doesn’t that come from the desires that are at war within yourself? Right? Doesn’t it basically boil down to that you are not getting what you want or that you think you deserve? So, you use domination tactics to take it by force. And this isn’t like stealing or pilfering or robbing or looting. This is how you are trying to obtain what you think is missing inside yourself. And, oh, opening up that door is so complicated. Ironically, it’s not quite as complicated for James. James is basically saying, you’re not going to get what you think you need out of somebody else. Like, what is missing inside of you isn’t something you can force someone else to give you or be for you. James says, you do not have because you do not ask God. And when you do ask God you don’t get what you’re looking for because you’re asking with the wrong motives. And this becomes an interesting opportunity for us to examine the terrain of our own inner hearts. And it quickly exposes the ways in which we are living self-absorbed. And this happens because we’re taking our cues from the world. Or in other words, we’re trying to get our identity, we’re following the way the culture works. And, according to James, this puts us at enmity with God. And enmity is like opposition or hostility. And, so, the net-net is that, when we’re looking to other people to fill a void or to provide something to us that we think that we want or need or deserve, and are putting the burden on someone else to provide what only God can give, then we’ve got it so backwards that were at odds with God because He has put his Spirit within us to dwell in us. And we’re basically saying, that’s not going to cut it, that’s not enough for us, and we’re turning elsewhere, which makes Him jealous, in the same way that if you were to come home today and tell your spouse you are not enough for me, so I am receiving identity and pleasure from someone else, which will only cause fights and quarrels. And James is saying, this is where that emotional and spiritual conflict comes from. So, James offers instructions for getting out of that vortex that’s only going to just keep spinning us but never going to get us anywhere. And those instructions are, ‘submit yourself to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you’. If you will simply come near to God, and His Spirit is within you too, so He’s incredibly close, come near to that and He will come near to you. And that’s a very popular verse. And we quote it to each other all of the time. It’s very, very encouraging, but that’s not all James is saying, which is so often the case with very encouraging promise versus. That’s not all that he’s saying. He’s saying, to make that shift, to do that kind of turn, requires a very humble awareness. And that humble awareness will bring you to a place of repentance where you’re actually feeling the weightiness of what you’re doing. So, to give the whole thought in context, James says, submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you, come near to God and he will come near to you, wash your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded, grieve, mourn and wail, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom, humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up. So, James is saying, you’ve got to see what’s happening here, and you’ve got to own it, and you’ve got to let it be what it is, and grieve it, and repent, and change. Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up. And that is the first priority to orienting things properly. And then James continues on in this idea of conflict between each other. ‘Brothers and sisters do not slander one another’, which is essentially to say, do not skew the truth about someone in order to damage them or to cut them down. And this includes our spouses by the way. And James has some strong language for that kind of behavior. ‘There is only one lawgiver and judge’, James says. And that is the one who is able to save and destroy and that’s not you. Or to quote James, ‘you, who are you to judge your neighbor’. So, James is, very directly, discussing conflict in the things that like keep us all twisted up inside of ourselves and the ways in which we look to other people to fill voids or other circumstances or positions that we can get ourselves into, to fill those things, when they can only be filled by God. And God has been gracious enough to put his Spirit within us and we’re ignoring it. And, of course, that’s going to cause conflict. And then James turns to another thing that causes these kinds of conflicts, this adoption of the world’s system, he turns to our plans. So, he’s like, when you say, ‘today or tomorrow we’ll go to the city or that, like, we’ll make our plans, and we’ll go there, we’ll make some money, and we’ll do some business’, as a way of fulfilling something that is missing, filling something is missing within us, that is causing conflict, then we’re missing the point again. And we can see that James is touching everything - thoughts, words, and deeds. Right? The things about us. And in regards to all of our well laid plans, James says, you don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. So, James is saying, you know, making all these plans without acknowledging God in it all is simply you blustering and boasting in your own strength and it won’t work. Or to quote James again, ‘As it is you boast in your arrogant schemes and all such boasting is evil. If anyone, then knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it then it is sin for them’. Alight. So it’s a short reading, like I said, but there’s a lot packed in there, a lot for us to consider, a big mirror that’s full-length in front of us for us to examine ourselves. And what is being described is a posture of heart that is humble enough to understand that what is broken and what is missing inside of us can only be filled by God. And we must acknowledge God and include God and collaborate with God in everything. And that has to be the first reaction in all things. That is the first place that we go before we say that thing that we shouldn’t say that’s degrading or that’s going to cut down our spouse or somebody else that we’re after. Right? Now, that we’re in conflict with? The first order of business is to submit ourselves to God and understand that His Holy Spirit indwells us and move in collaboration with the Holy Spirit rather than causing more conflict that is ultimately only about the things we find as shortcomings in ourselves or the other places that we run, to all of our plans and schemes without acknowledging God first and inviting his counsel and collaboration, His Spirit within us, speaking and leading us into all truth. And James brings these things to the surface because we can think we’re going along just fine and then we encounter something like what’s written in James and go, ah, not so much. Like, I’m involved in a lot of this stuff and the Scriptures are making it clear to me that that’s not going to work. And, so, I have a fork in the road, which way am I going to go? And the grace of God in all of this is that we have a choice at all. We don’t have to continue in this vortex. It’s just going to keep spinning us inside and out. But we have the Spirit of God within us to lead us and guide us in all things.

Prayer:

Father we come into Your presence with that in mind because the truth is, we’re guilty of everything that’s written about in James today. And this leads us to a place of repentance, a place of us actually sitting with and owning and naming what we’re doing that is putting us at enmity with You, that is putting us in conflict with You. And if we’re in conflict with You, there is no way out of that. It is contrary to how we were made. So, come Holy Spirit and allow us to sit with these things, bring these conversations that shouldn’t have happened to mind and give us the courage to ask for forgiveness. Bring to mind the roads and paths that we wandered down inviting You to come with us, but you were never leading us there in the first place. All our schemes and plans that didn’t work out and that we blamed You for, You were never leading us there in the first place. There’s much to repent of as we consider this and we invite Your Holy Spirit into this and we take it soberly because we want to change. We don’t want this anymore. And here you are, speaking us to Your word saying, here is the way, walk in it. And, so, we grab Your hand and ask You to lead us forward. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Of course, in the United States, this is Thanksgiving week, which will happen on Thursday, of course. And then Friday, Black Friday, like, we’re in it. Like, this is the week where we begin the holiday season around the world. And, so, we’ll be talking about that as we get a little bit closer.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. We are a community here. And everything that we’ve done and that were doing we have done together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage. And, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

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

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is John calling from Bethlehem Pennsylvania. I hope you guys are all doing well. I just wanted to respond to a prayer request that had come in on the 11/15 podcast, today. The woman didn’t leave her name but she was, you were, asking for prayer over your husband. You talked about the loss of your two daughters to gun violence and now that your husband has been diagnosed with cancer. You talked about the anxiety and the pain you’re feeling, understandably, but that you called, because God led you to call the Daily Audio Bible and ask for prayer. So, I wanted to let you know that I’m lifting you up in prayer. Family, pray with me, please. God, You know this person and who they are and what they’ve been through and you haven’t done this to them, Lord. These are things that happen to us in our lives because life is temporary, life is a test, and it’s about our trust. It’s about trust in You, heavenly Father, in Your son, Jesus, and the promise that You have for us. Lord, God, we ask You to show Your tender mercy, and Your outstretched, caring, loving hand over this family, to lift them up and encourage them. Heavenly Father, nothing is impossible with You. You are a supernatural healer and a supernatural God. This family has been through so much. We ask that you heal John. We know that you can perform a miracle for this family and we thank You for that. We come to You humbly, Father God, for this healing and for reconciliation, for full restoration for John and for…

Hello. My name is Linda and I’m calling from Spokane Washington. I just really wanted to ask for prayer for my daughter Maddison. She’s 18 and…just…ya…she…I just pray that God would just come to her and speak to her clearly and allow her to know that she can’t do things on her own Lord, that she just can’t do things on her own. And to stop rebelling so much and admit that…you know…she needs help. And I believe she’s saved, she’s just going through a really rough time. And for me as well to…ya…everything that goes with that. I also would like prayer for James. He struggles with addiction and he is in rehabilitation but I would just pray that God would do mighty work in that as well and for direction for me in both of those circumstances. Ya, I just know that there’s so many prayers out there. But I just thank you for listening. And thanks again.

His this is Toni Nichols from Germany, the Lords Facilitator in Health. And l wanted to say, I have a praise report. I called, not long ago, talking about how we are persecuted and how when you’re a strong Christian there is a power force. So, to give you a little more information, I’ve been under a strong spiritual attack for 6-½ years in the workplace. And I wanted to say that even though I was just sharing information about the counterforce, Satan being the counterforce, I know you guys pray. There are people out there in our DAB community that prayed. Why do I say that? Because today, 6-½ years later, the Lord redeemed me using one of his strong warriors. And so, I want you to know that the only thing that changed was that I reached out to you just to talk a little bit about it. I just made reference to it. And I know that there are people who prayed. So, it’s just such a major thing and I want to thank you. I will say, I want you to know too, that in these 6-½ years I will tell you I always try to do the right thing and I leaned on the Lord. And He redeemed. And He redeemed me. And I say that very humbly because any time we say that is humbling. God bless you. Bye.

Hi family. It’s Drew from the Bay Area, as you know me. You know I used to be Andrew from the Bay Area but the Holy Spirit has led me to call for Jill, Jill Parr. Your music came on and I was praying for you this morning and thinking how you support this ministry behind the scenes and how the Holy Spirit wants us to pray for you. And we know that God deserves all the glory and that He’s given you your powerful, beautiful voice, Spirit filled. But you don’t get enough credit for what you do for Brian and Zeki or maybe you do. But family, I just think we should pray for Jill. And if you don’t have her music, you’re missing out. But let me just say, you can call me uncle Drew. I have nieces and nephews - Laura and Casey and Garett – and I love them dearly. And I have been a great uncle as I could be because there is Southern California, but for all you young ladies and even older ladies, my Shari from Canada, I’m uncle Drew and I give you a big hug. And Jill, I give you a big brotherly hug and say thank you. Thank you for taking care of your family and our family behind the scenes. And all those others that the do the work behind the scenes. We love you. We really, really love you and we appreciate all you do. Okay. Bye for now.