Category: DAB Transcripts

Numbers 36:1 - Deuteronomy 1:46, Luke 5:29-6:11, Psalms 66:1-20, Proverbs 11:24-26

Today is the 23^rd day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is awesome to be here with you today as we kinda dive into our work week. Today we’re going to conclude the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and move our way into the next book, which is the final book of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy. So, let’s dive in and cover that ground. We’ll talk about Deuteronomy when we get there, but let’s conclude the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 36.

Introduction to the book of Deuteronomy:

Okay. So, that concludes the book of Numbers which brings us to the final book of the Torah or the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy. As we get into this book over the coming days, we may get a sense, “like didn’t we read this? Haven’t we already covered this territory?” And the answer would be, “yes, we actually have.” But there’s a reason that we’re revisiting this territory and we understand the reason that has gravity and actually allows us to pay more deeper attention. The book of Deuteronomy is basically three final discourses, three final announcements to the children of Israel from Moses and these are his final words. And, so, we’ve been with Moses for a long time now. These are the final words of Moses. This is the last thing that he wants to be set before he becomes a part of history. So, Moses is older now and as we…we know he won’t be crossing over the Jordan into the Promise Land with the children of Israel. Joshua has been appointed to take that mantle and lead them forward. So, these are Moses’s last words. And, so, he’s gathered the people together to say these final…like to leave nothing unsaid that he needed to say because this isn’t just a long goodbye. And we’ll see what he’s saying is intended to remind these people of who they are and how they got here, like where they came from and to remind them where they’re going and to warn them about the pitfalls that they’ll face when they get there. So, if we take that approach to the book of Deuteronomy we’ll be in the proper context. If we know that we’ve traveled…like if…we’ve been a part of this story. We’ve been with the children of Israel in the wilderness and all of the trials that they faced. Now they’re poised and ready. A new generation has emerged and this prophet Moses, the one who came and delivered them out of Egypt with the mighty hand of God behind them, he’s about to leave them. This is what he has to say.

Commentary:

So, in the gospel of Luke today we see a series of interactions that Jesus had along the path of His ministry and now He…He has the religious leaders following Him around and kind of asking Him about everything, but not in a good way, like they’re critiquing everything that He does because He’s in so many ways flying in the face of tradition. And, so, in each of these interactions today He’s explaining things about the kingdom of God for those who have eyes to see. So, our first interaction is Jesus is at the home of a tax collector. He’s a guest and His disciples are talking to the religious leaders who are asking, “why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answers, “healthy people don’t need a doctor. Sick people need a doctor. I didn’t come to those who think they’re righteous. I came to those who know they’re not. They know they’re sinners and need to repent”, right? The juxtaposition is apparent there. The people in charge of caring for the souls of God’s people, feel superior and look down on anyone that’s not with them. And Jesus is like, “I’m not even interested in that. I’m interested in the people who know deeply, desperately their need for God.” The funny thing is that the religious leaders, they think they’re doing all that they’re doing on behalf of God. So, we see…we see the contrast here so clearly and it can still be seen in the world today. And then some people come and ask about John the Baptist and the Pharisees, like the disciples that follow them around and they…they…they live this very austere life, they’re fasting all the time crying out to God for change. And, so, they’re asking Jesus, “why don't…why don’t you…like why don’t you guys do this?” And Jesus is like, “yeah, when you go to a wedding feast you don’t fast, you celebrate. And what’s happening here is celebration, the kingdom of God is at hand. They’ll have time to fast because of what’s going to come.” The next thing we see is Jesus giving an illustration of…of the times. “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and uses it to patch an old one because then the new garment would be ruined, and the new patch wouldn’t even match the old one. Nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. The new wine would burst the wineskins spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins.” So, what is He saying here? “I’m not here to patch up the old way. A new thing is being done. The rituals will not save you, the Spirit underneath them will.” And He concludes that example by saying, “no one who drinks the old wine seems to want the new wine. The old is just fine they say.” So, the message underneath it all, from Jesus to the Pharisees seems to be, “God couldn’t do a new thing among you even if you wanted to. You won’t let Him.” And in other interactions He says that explicitly. He tells them, “you’ve locked the kingdom…you locked the door to the kingdom of heaven and you won’t go in and you won’t let anybody else in either.” And then we have a couple of Sabbath day interactions. They’re walking through a field. They grab some heads of grain. They rub them together and they eat them. And the pharisees are complaining, “why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” In this case Jesus simply goes back to the Scriptures that they know and shows them other occurrences in the Bible where this happened. And His point is that they’re missing the point. Like, this letter of the law, this ritualistic tradition without the Spirit underneath it that created these laws, without God below it is nothing, empty ritual. And He declares Himself Lord over the Sabbath. Then there’s another Sabbath day and a man has a deformed hand and everybody’s watching to see if Jesus is going to make a move on the Sabbath. Like, that’s literally what they’re waiting to see, is this guy gonna heal somebody on the Sabbath? Not like, “is this guy gonna heal somebody? Like, is the power of God going to descend upon us and grace us here?” No, they’re watching to see whether He’s gonna break the rules. And, so, again, He exposes the whole thing. “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it? Honestly, we can read these things and go like, “dahhh! Like He’s just…He’s just speaking it clearly. How are they not seeing it?” But they’re not. The people are seeing it clearly. The religious people, the religious leaders are not. These kinds of interactions happen so often in Jesus ministry that we realize that part of what Jesus is doing in His ministry is exposing the falseness of what had become of their faith. So, He asked the question, “is it a good thing or a bad thing to do good, to bring life on the Sabbath?” And then the Scriptures say He looked around at them one by one. So, He looked everybody in the eye after asking that question. And then He healed the man. And the last verse of our reading, which kinda concludes this series of interactions, “at this the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.” That is their reaction to what Jesus ministry is doing. The light came into the darkness and the darkness didn’t comprehend it. The fundamental issue going on in all of these interactions is Jesus is trying to announce that the kingdom of heaven is here and among and within, it’s happening, it’s going on. A new thing is being done in the world and the religious leaders in this case are doing everything possible to oppose it. We can see that in the Scriptures. We can believe that. We can enter into that story and go, “Jesus is a master at this. He always knows what’s going on. He always knows what to say.” And, so, we can read that and go, “I’m glad I’m following Jesus” until we personalize, until we bring these stories close to home and then they have questions for ourselves because we are often asking God to do a new thing. We are often collectively worshiping and asking God to pour out new wine, to restore us, to make us new again, to make all things new again. But what if He does. Do we take that new thing and try to pour it back into old wineskins that will burst because of it? Do we see God doing this new thing in our hearts and we see it and we get a pair of scissors and we cut off a square of it so that we can use that new thing as a patch for the old? Are we buried in our traditions? Are we cemented in our doctrine? Like, are we trapped so that God couldn’t do a new thing in us even if He desired to because we’re closed off even while asking Him to do a new thing? And those are some things to consider from what we’re seen come out of the gospel of Luke today.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that. There is no doubt that each and every one of us want You to do a new thing, not only on the earth but in our hearts but so often when You begin to move and it wasn’t as prescribed, it wasn’t how we intended it, it wasn’t how we wanted it, You’re moving us in a different way somehow inside, then we start to question whether or not it could be You. We go back and try to filter it back through everything that was old. Make us aware. We’re asking for the eyes to see. We’re asking for the ears to hear. We’re not asking that we might be deceived into something. We’re asking that we might see what You’re doing in the world and get on board with it whatever it is, wherever it is, whatever we see, wherever You lead, to know and have this confident relationship, this deep intimacy, this conversation that never ends with You, so that where You lead we follow no matter what gets said. But the only path we want to walk is the narrow path that leads to life. And we love You. We have given our hearts to You and we’re sorry. We are sorry for the ways that we take it back. We are sorry for the areas that we have not surrendered yet. This is a process and Your Holy Spirit is leading us. All we want is to walk into the truth into complete freedom. And, so come Holy Spirit You promised You would lead us into all truth. This is our desire. Lead us into all truth no matter what we think about…no matter what we judge it, how we judge it. Whatever You are doing that is where we want to be. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And lots of interesting things are going on around here as we face this…this new week and some…some changes. This is a real…a great time to stay connected even as we get more and more disconnected physically from each other. This has always been a safe place to stay connected around the Global Campfire. And, so, be sure to do that.

At dailyaudiobible.com there’s a Community section and in the Community section are a number of links to where we are on social media. And it’s a great…it’s a great time to get and stay connected. The Prayer Wall lives there as well, which is an ongoing, all the time, never closed space to come and just not carry things all by ourselves anymore. And, so, be sure to visit the Prayer Wall and maybe you…you have some things you need prayer for, but maybe also you want to give of yourself, you want to intercede over these things. This…these are the things that keep us connected in Spirit and no virus can take that away. So, let’s stay connected even as we get more and more disconnected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you profoundly. The…the Global Campfire that we share that’s been burning for all these years is here because we each take turns and throw logs on and we keep it burning and for such a time as this, my goodness, what a joy that we have this safe space to go and allow God’s word to speak to us. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top and so nice that we have this, so nice that we have a hotline that we can press and reach out and know that we’re not alone. So, you can reach out there or you can dial 877-942-4253. That’s the number if you are in the Americas. If you are in Europe or the UK 44-20-3608-8078. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Sierra from Orlando Florida. I called on March 4^th and I kind of just discovered your app and I was praying for my upcoming missions trip. Due to the coronavirus outbreak and panic and all that stuff my…my missionary school got postponed at least a month. And also, my grandpa who not only isn’t a believer but hates God and hates that part of me who I’ve been living with just kicked me out of his house because…because of all my coming and going to help people or help my church and serve at the soup kitchen and things outside of the house. He was paranoid that I was going to bring the virus into the house. And, so, right now I’m living with a church member for a few weeks until April 7^th, but the earliest my mission’s thing will start will be May 4^th. So, I have like a whole month where I have to try figure out where in the live. So, I’m trying to walk in the Lord and I’m incredibly grateful and He’s been providing for me in terms of finding this house for a few weeks but I feel kind of hurt like just in general because my grandpa and I really want to listen to and obey the Lord’s calling in my life. So, if you guys could just pray for me for guidance and peace in this time, but just in general to show me the way forward whether I should be doing the missions trip in a month or if there’s another opportunity God wants to show me. Thank you so much.

Father God thank You so much for the Daily Audio Bible. Thank You, Lord that it is an online community. Thank You, Lord that we can still meet together as we have always done online through the podcast, through our phone calls, through Facebook, and over social media and however else. Thank You, Lord that this hasn’t changed. Father God, as our routines have changed where now…we’re probably having to work from home or work differently than we did before or we’re actually having to care and school our children throughout the day, whatever it is. Just life has changed drastically. Help us to find You in all of this Lord. Help us to put You at the center. Help us to fix our eyes on You and find You in everything of our lives. Father God give us wisdom and give us courage and patience as we deal with these new measures that are in place to protect ourselves and to protect each other. Please Lord, be giving wisdom to our leaders. Please Lord be giving strength and energy and resources to our healthcare staff and our medical staff and all of those people in front-line jobs because we can’t just stop Lord and there’s jobs that still need to happen. And us Lord that You’d be at work and You be our provider throughout all this. And I thank You Lord that we can rest in You, we can trust in You and we can cast all our anxieties about the situation on You. Give us hope Lord. Thank You for the hope that You give us. In Jesus holy and precious name. Amen. All right guys is Michaela from Gloucester. I hope you have a blessed day wherever you are. Bye.

Good morning friends this is Jen in SoCal a.k.a. Prayer Warrior Princess. Father with suffering you bring fellowship with Christ, You bring wisdom and maturity, You bring cleansing and holiness peace and quiet. With suffering You bring contentment and stillness. With suffering You bring freedom. You give us empathy for others when we suffer. You bring us comfort. You awaken us. You bring revival. After the suffering You bring joy and laughter in the morning. With suffering You bring us perspective, eyes to see and ears to hear. You bring us strength and stamina and perseverance and holiness. Father, have thine own way Lord. Have thine own way. Mold us and make us. Have thine own way in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This is Speak for You from Columbus Ohio a 12-year listener and a first-time collar. I’d like to first thank Brian for being obedient to God’s calling in making a digital community all those years ago and a __ community that’s built on His word. As we deal with this coronavirus and many of us now are turning to the digital world to do church, Brian has led the way that God was preparing us as Brian was obedient. And, so, now I would ask that you would pray for pastors, pray for pastors as we try to lead our people in this digital world, in a world where we’re not permitted to come together as community in the physical buildings and in physical space. Pray for us as we figure out what to do with Easter. How do we celebrate in a way that’s different than we’ve ever celebrated before? And I would ask that you would give a…pray for wisdom as we lead our people to love our neighbors and as we care for our people boldly. I would also ask that you would join me as I begin to fast and pray on Good Friday and that maybe the Christian church, the whole church of Jesus would come together on that day to fast and pray and ask God for restoration, for forgiveness, mercy and for healing and that this virus could be eliminated because of the power of God and He could get the glory. And finally, I want to thank Blind Tony. Thank you for your poetry. Thank you for how it lifts us up and finally thank you DAB family.

Hey this is Jared calling from Duluth Minnesota. I’d like to ask prayer specifically about the coronavirus but more particularly to pray for those who are suffering with mental health issues as the stress and anxiety of this is pretty overwhelming. As I’ve shared before I am bipolar, and I have two kids that are bipolar and a week ago we got a call in the middle of the night at…my daughter said she had a gun and that she’s going to commit suicide and had written a note. We called 911 and the police got there before we did, and she was arrested for public intoxication and is holding us responsible for calling 911 or calling the police on her. And, so, the situation has kinda been strained. And my son is…we haven’t spoke to him in the last four months or so because he has believed a lie that we’ve rejected him some way and somehow house. And, so, the mental health issues are really, really difficult for those who struggle with anxiety and depression and bipolar disorder. Pray that they would have peace during this time of unusual stress. Thank you so much. God bless. Bye.

Hi everyone, its Lisa the Encourager I have been calling in lately and trying to pray for all of our children, all the Daily Audio Bible children and I want to continue to do that tonight; however, I want to focus on praying for Yolanda’s son Al today and I want to focus on him because the Lord really laid something on my heart. I’m a little bit behind in listening and the passage that Brian read tonight really stood out to me. And that was the part about Jesus being blindfolded and then struck by the soldiers. And they were mocking Him and saying, “now tell us who struck you. Tell us who struck you.”. And I…you know…so many things happened to Jesus when He was crucified…before He was crucified on the cross and I never really thought about this exact moment and how Jesus’ heart must’ve been just tearing up inside. So, and it was a form of bullying of course. And, so, I just wanted to encourage you Yolanda in knowing that Al is in such incredible company with Jesus and that he, when he’s a little bit dismayed about his friends and people perhaps not being friendly to him, if somehow you can encourage him know in what wonderful company he’s in with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And just maybe that would help warm his heart in knowing that Jesus was put in the same position. And I’m gonna pray for sweet Al. Dear Lord, thank You so much for giving me this on my heart…laying this on my heart to share with everyone, this horrific thing that You had to go through prior to being crucified and how that must’ve just broke Your heart Lord. It broke my heart. And I’m just praying for Al Lord, that he’s encouraged through this and no that he…and You love him so much God and that You are there for him through everything …

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Asia from Chicago. I’m calling to ask for prayer. I’m in a pretty…I’m pretty down right now. This whole coronavirus has been really impacting me for more than just the social distancing and watching people suffering and afraid. But as you all know my is Asia and I am Chinese. My dad is Caucasian, and my mom is an immigrant from Taiwan. And I’m Chinese and my heart is just very heavy right now at the racism that I’ve watched that I’ve encountered firsthand, violence, fear, hatred. I’m sitting outside just in the darkness by myself looking at the trees and feeling the wind and I feel the comfort of God, but I also feel the weight of darkness. And I’m very proud to be Chinese. I know that God is going to use this, but please pray for me. Pray for my other brothers and sisters that are Asian. We are under one of BS right now honestly, a lot of crap simply because of how we look and where were from. And I fear…I fear…and I’m trying not to fear. I’m trying to have faith but please pray for me. Pray for us. This is Asia from Chicago. I love you all. Thank you.

Numbers 33:40-35:34, Luke 5:12-28, Psalms 65:1-13, Proverbs 11:23

Today is the 22^nd day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you at this threshold that we step through every week into a brand-new week. And just reminding us each week, this is this is something that we have to live into and it’s before us and this is a fresh start. And, so, we’ll dive in. We’ll pick up, of course, the journey where we left it off yesterday, but we’re in a new week and we’ll read from the New Living Translation this week. Today numbers chapter 33 verse 40 through 35 verse 34. And we’re almost at the end of our journey and numbers. We will conclude this book tomorrow. But this is today. So, Numbers chapter 33.

Commentary:

Okay. We have an interesting story happening in the book of Luke. It’s a famous story. It’s kind of a Sunday school story because it’s dramatic. And some friends have brought their friend who’s paralyzed, they brought him on a sleeping mat to Jesus but they can’t get to them so they climb up on the roof and kind of carve a hole in the roof and lower him down before Jesus. Super dramatic. But something really interesting happens because Jesus doesn’t say like, “do you want to be made well or be healed?” He says, “your sins are forgiven”. Why is He saying that? Which only makes the religious leaders freak out. Like, “that’s blasphemy. Only God can forgive sins.” So, Jesus responds to that and He’s like, “what’s easier to say, that your sins are forgiven or stand up and walk?” And we can look at that and go like, I’m not sure which would be easier to say. They seem like completely different things.” But in this case, they’re not. In this first century Hebrew spiritual worldview, in other words, the world Jesus lived in, if a person was chronically ill or deformed in some way, then it was because of some sin somewhere. So, for that person to be healed than their sins were forgiven, and they would go before the priest to verify this and offer the sacrifice and be pronounced clean or healed. So, with that before us than Jesus has been moving all over the place, forgiving sins. So, in so many ways Jesus is saying to the religious leaders, “are we going to split hairs on this too. Like I’m moving around the countryside doing this. What’s easier to say, your sins are forgiven or get up and walk?” And then He unites the two issues, “so that you can see that the Son of Man has the power and authority to forgive sins. Young man get up and walk.” And then the man did. But it brings up something interesting to consider. Jesus continually refers to Himself as the Son of Man or the Human One and we are…I mean the goal of our faith is to become Christ like. And the Bible tells us that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us. So, can we forgive sins too. Do we bristle up at that thought? Like, do we bristle up like a Pharisee like this exactly like they did around Jesus at that thought? Can we forgive sins? Of course, we can. We must. We have no power to make ourselves or anyone else righteous before God, but we certainly can forgive those who sin against us. Isn’t that what we pray in the Lord’s prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, who sin against us. Of course, we can forgive. Jesus said, “if you forgive, you will be forgiven. If you don’t then you won’t.” Forgiveness flows through God’s kingdom like water. It sets the captives free and often that captive is us. Forgiveness brings healing to our soul and our lives, our hearts and our bodies as we see demonstrated in this story today. Forgiveness and mercy flow from the heart of God into our lives and then we in turn turn that out into the world. Forgiveness is where the actions add in God’s kingdom. Forgiveness brings freedom. This is why we can see Jesus exasperated at times with the religious leaders because they don’t get…they don’t see it. For them it’s in obeying the rituals, it’s about obeying the religion, but they’ve lost the Spirit of the law as we’ve talked about so many times. What Jesus is revealing is there is a way, way better story going on here. There is way way more authority and power than you can imagine. All things are possible for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. And Jesus, in effect, is merging these two issues. Can I heal you or can I forgive your sins, since it’s seen as one and the same in this worldview uniting them? For us reading this, we can see how pervasive the theme of forgiveness is in the Gospels is

Prayer:

Father, we love You and we thank You for Your forgiveness in our lives. Your mercy and grace abounds beyond anything we could ever comprehend or deserve. There’s no question about that. And we certainly acknowledge that forgiveness is an irreplaceable part of Your kingdom and something that we must participate in every day. And we acknowledge we can’t walk around forgiving people and making them righteous before You, that’s not the point. The point is You have forgiven us so much. You have been merciful so much that the only response is to turn that out into the world and forgive as we have been forgiven, forgiving those who have sinned and trespassed against us, knowing that the burden upon us, the damage that we do is astounding sometimes. And yet You still forgive us. So, come Holy Spirit we pray. And show us again the places that we need to revisit, the things we need to let go of, whether that’s an entanglement because somebody cut us off on the road and so now we’re following them too close to teach them a lesson instead of just forgiving it and letting it go or whether it’s something far, far more deeper with tremendous amounts of wounding. It all starts somewhere, and it starts with this posture, this openness to forgiveness, to forgive and to be forgiven. Come Holy Spirit and let us see that this is where freedom lies. This is how Your kingdom works. Come in Jesus in we pray. In Your name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And interesting times that we’re in as we great this new week. But no matter what the week may bring in terms of further isolation from each other, this is a safe place. Around this Global Campfire it’s always been that. So, no matter how…no matter how we are led into further disconnection we don’t really have to change anything about the rhythm of our life around the Global Campfire. This is gonna be a safe place and it’s gonna be a different place, it’s gona be a place that we know that we can go and exhale and be safe. And, so let’s continue to pray into that and continue this rhythm forward as God continues to speak to us through His word. And let’s stay connected with each other.

So, at dailyaudiobible.com in the Community section you’ll find all…all kinds of different ways to stay connected as well as the Prayer Wall. The Prayer Wall lives there and it’s a continual ongoing prayer and encouragement for each other. So, let’s make sure were aware of that. So, that’s Community section at…at the website. If you’re using the app you can just push the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner to get into the Community section as well.

If you want to a partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you with all of my heart. Thank you. In these times or in any other time, we wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t done this together. And, so I’m grateful that we continue to do this together and create safe space no matter what’s going on in the world. Thank you for your partnership. So, there’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, I mean this is the community for that. We don’t have to carry these burdens alone. We’re not alone. We have each other no matter what we’re facing. And, so, you can reach out 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or if you have the Daily Audio Bible app, just press the Hotline button, the little red button at the top and you can begin sharing from there.

And that is it for today other than to tell you I love you and I do and hang in there, we’re gonna get through this and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

This is the day our Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is Dawn from Maryland and I’m calling for prayer. I had been blessed in the last few years to be surrounded by people, some ministers and being shown a different way of __ and prayer and also to church. I discovered the Daily Audio Bible probably within the last five / six months and I have been __. I wanted to ask for prayer and strength because my husband had divorced me and had taken everything from me - the house, the children and he advised that I did this because I was, you know, like not mentally stable. I had devoted my life to him and to my children and, you know, even…even before that I devoted my life to God. And I taught them about the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for me and ask God to release me from this depressive state that I have been in. I am in need of a lot of prayer. I can’t even find any friends. My family, you know, my family has abandoned me. My mother has not answered her phone. My sister has been calling but she’s going through her own issues too. And please keep my family in prayer. Also pray for my sisters, my two sisters that I have and my mother and also too for my two children. Thank you in the name of Jesus Christ. God loves you.

Hi DAB family this is CS from SC. We’ve been told that the best thing to do for this coronavirus is to self-quarantine, stay out of the public. So, I would like to ask prayers for all those that can’t self-quarantine, all those that can’t stay at home because of their job, all those that are the hospitals and doctor’s offices. We think of the doctors and nurses but I would also like to think about those that are the housekeeping staff, the people at the desk, the clerks, the people at the grocery stores and convenience stores, the people at the hotels that are doing housekeeping and working the desk and just all these thousands and thousands of jobs of people that don’t have the opportunity to stay home like some others do. So, Lord I just ask that You have a hand the protection over these…all these people that don’t have the opportunity to just stay at home where it’s a little bit safer, where it’s a little bit calmer, and that You’ll calm their souls, calm their nerves, that they’re not infected with this disease that only because of where they work or what they’re responsible for. Lord I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Good morning DAB family this is March 18^th, and this is Teresa from Birmingham. I am calling for prayer request for all of our professors out there, our teachers that are trying to figure out the best way to help the students and how to navigate in this world where the coronavirus is ruling everything. All my students are…are being held at home and college students being told they can’t go back to the dorms and just overwhelmingness. Social distance…distancing can make you just feel alone. I pray for the students. I pray for calm. I pray for peace. I ask in Jesus precious name that as our teachers and our professors figure out how to put their lessons online and help their students the best way they know how, the Holy Spirit just watches over and protects them. I pray this prayer in Jesus’ precious name. Thank you DAB family for being there. Thank you, prayer warriors. We need you and I am just thankful to God. Thank you.

Hello family this is Lisa from San Jose. I really need your prayers. I just dropped my husband back up at the hospital because he’s having complications with his feeding tube. He’s probably down to 112 pounds now which he’s normally a robust 200 if not 180. So, please pray for me and him. They wouldn’t even let me in the hospital because of the COVIDS, you know. And, so, now I’m just at home waiting to kind of see what will happen. I’m confident though with all these prayers God has been holding him together and I thank you so much. And I do want to pray for the man who called in on I believe it was the March 7^th prayer community line. He’s been on my heart a lot that’s in dark depression. I’ve been there brother and I understand that you’ve had this all your life, very dark and you’re just wondering where God is. He’s there. He’s there in the darkness. Please don’t forget it and hold onto Him with all your might. And, you know, it’s these darkness…these dark times that make us really cling to Jesus. And as somebody recently said, lean into Jesus. Oh…thank you family. We praise you, praise you Jesus. Okay, I’ll let you all know how Craig is doing. Thanks.

Good morning DAB family this is Janel in China. It is March 19^th 9:24 in the morning and I just want to pray. I want to let everyone know that I am praying for you all while you are having to isolate yourselves for the coronavirus just like we did here in China. And honestly, we’re still doing that. I’m still working from home. I want to ask the Holy Spirit to give everyone who is listening the peace that only He can give. Have an awesome day everyone.

Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalms 64:1-10, Proverbs 11:22

Today’s the 21^st day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as…as we end another week. Ahhhh…you guys…like we’re gonna be out of March before long, but I…let’s note…let’s not even think about it. It’s great to be here with you today as we take this next step forward in the Scriptures. And we are continuing a lengthy journey through the book of Numbers. And, so we will continue that journey today before getting into the book of Luke. Numbers chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 39.

Commentary:

Alright. Let’s talk about fishermen today. Our reading has Jesus moving around the Sea of Galilee to the villages that are basically on the northwest shore and a lot is happening. He is speaking with authority. He has eyes to see and He’s inviting His hearers to open their eyes and see the kingdom that is among them, that is within them. So, people are hearing His words, hanging on His words but then kind of going back to their homes and villages and talking about His words. So, this is beginning to spread around the Sea of Galilee, to the point that He can’t really get anywhere. Like people are crowding Him wherever He goes. So, like, if He’s even on His way to the next village He could get stopped in some field somewhere where the people are just gathering around this message. It’s actually a beautiful thing. Truly, the kingdom of God is being revealed in the Galilee and Jesus is the flashpoint. It really doesn’t start going sideways until the scribes and the Pharisees and the teachers of the law start showing up to protect the people, find out what’s going on around here. But here in this moment we have Jesus moving freely about and people are flocking like a magnet. And on one such occasion He’s kinda being crowded down to the shore and if they keep going there gonna push Him into the water. He’s down on the shore, people are gathered all around Him, He has nowhere to go, He sees a couple of boats, He climbs into Simon’s boat and then He teaches the crowd. It’s a beautiful moment. And then once He’s done teaching each He…He…He could go back to the shore and get back into the crowd but He invites the boat to go out deeper and there’s such a rich metaphor in that because that’s how God works with us. And, so they row out a little and Jesus is like, you know, “let the nest down.” And Simon is a professional fisherman. Like he’s there with James and John and they’re a team and this is what they do for a living. And they’ve been out all evening. At the same time this is like…this is the Rabbi everyone’s talking about and He’s in the boat. And the people are on the shore…like you gotta a obey and so he does and there’s so many fish, right? There’s so many fish these other boats gotta come. And it's…they’re full, they’re sinking, and they get back to shore and it’s such an overwhelming blessing of God. Just for the use of the boat for a little while. It’s like such a windfall. Maybe they can pay off the boat now. I mean, maybe they can get some new nets now. What goodness, such goodness of God. So, Simon, he…he…he…he gets it. Like, there’s things he may not get. We may see Peter saying things from time to time before he thinks about them, but he gets it. He knows he’s in the presence of something far different than anything he’s ever been around, and this is holy and he’s not and he knows it. And, so he…he confesses it. “Just leave me…leave me…leave me alone…I don’t deserve to be anywhere near you. I’m a sinner.” And that is an appropriate response to God when …when we realize like the damage that we’ve done, the darkness we’ve perpetrated like when we come face-to-face with…with our own lives and the ways that we’ve navigated and we come face-to-face with holiness, that’s a proper response. God’s response in the person of Jesus wasn’t like, “Yup, you’re right, you need to get away from me I’m holy. Be far from me and never return until you wander and find holiness on your own.” His response was what He responds to everyone who has this realization that they are woefully separated from God and there is a God and He is inviting us back when we realize that. Jesus invited him to become a fisher of people. He didn’t send Peter to seminary. He didn’t teach him how to do theological battles. He just said, “come on, let’s do this. You are skilled at a craft. You are a fisherman. Let me show you how to harness what you know and apply it into people’s lives. Let’s do this.” And James and John are there too. They’ve been a part of the whole thing. There’s these two boats full of flapping fish that represent a financial windfall. And the most riveting thing about this story is that they just left them flapping there in the boats on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They left it all there and followed Jesus on the spot. We don’t know what happened to the fish after that. Probably a great blessing for the villages around the countryside. But for us, we can very easily put ourselves in this position because the question then becomes, what am I looking for here? Am I looking for the windfall? Am I following God because I believe he will supernaturally bless me, or would I leave blessing behind have God?

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite You into that question. It’s not that You don’t bless us. We are so blessed and it’s not that You don’t provide and it’s not even that You don’t provide windfalls at times. It’s about why. It's…it’s about what’s underneath it all. This is how we get eyes to see and ears to hear, by actually looking within ourselves and seeing what is driving us. What is our hearts motive because that sets the trajectory? And we find that when our motives are mixed, we experience the dissonance of that and the anxiety that it brings. And yet, what we’re seeing is if we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we can see what’s really going on, what’s driving it. And this begins with us. So come Holy Spirit, are we looking for a boat full of fish or are we in the presence of holiness and nothing can compare. Come Holy Spirit into that as we navigate this day. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it is home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. It’s where we always find out what’s going on around here. And thankfully in the kind of times that we’re in right now, it’s a safe place to go, it’s a safe place to gather. We gather here every day. We have all of these years. And because our gathering in this kinda nonconventional virtual way then we don’t have to be alone, even if we are further and further and further kept from each other. We have each other here around the global.

So, stay connected in the Community section of the website or in the app as well. You can find all the different social media channels and different places to get connected as well as the Prayer Wall. So, stay connected in this time of…of isolation. There aren’t any germs around the Global Campfire. So, if it’s getting cold out there there’s a place to keep warm.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link that is on the homepage, it just kinda lives there. Thank you. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top and then just begin to share from there no matter where you are or if you prefer the phone, the phone line is 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey everybody it’s Margo and Liberia. I am not even sure what I want to ask for. I am just so confused and kind of stressed right now. I know everybody is. I am, you know, not alone in this. This virus, for those of us living overseas, it’s very hard to know how to deal with it and what’s the best options for our, you know, the people that we’re surveying and also ourselves. And I feel fear coming in, not that I’m afraid of the virus. My husband and I are quite healthy, but the fact that if this country shuts down and transport options shut down, you know, if something serious, an accident or something does happen for me or my husband then our options are limited and maybe we can’t get medevacked out which I know I’m privileged to even have that option that so many don’t but I’ve got all these thoughts going around my head and yet at the same time I desperately would have…I don’t want to be evacuated out of here because, you know, this could be the time they need me most. We’re trying to make preparations at the hospital and it’s just totally overwhelming. All the children are, you know, at our malnutrition clinic could potentially be completely defenseless. It is just the most horrific situation for a country like Liberia. So, I know everyone’s praying about this but maybe just remember us here in Liberia in your prayers. And I…I just…I’m disappointed because I want to trust God and, you know, the fear comes in and it’s just so confusing. I will trust God, but we all need prayer. So, yeah, thanks for praying. Love you guys. Bye.

Hi, DABbers this is…this Victoria Soldier haven’t been around in a little while. Been praying for you all here. I want to pray for Joe the Protector. I heard you Joe and my heart is out to you. You’re protecting us and the devil is trying to unprotect your daughter but he’s a liar and I rebuke him in the name of Jesus and bind him and cast him out of that life. Lord, you touch that young woman, you bless her and let her know she is what God says she is and not what the devil says she is. Lord we rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Lord we just ask you to encourage Joe, you to strengthen him every day, Lord in the name of Jesus. Lord I want to touch…ask you to touch a Burning Bush and I say hi to Burning Bush and to Candace And, also to Brandon about the young babies committing suicide. Lord that the devil is trying to steal our babies and I’m with you. I’m praying with you and I’m in agreement with you and all the DABbers of the mind of our young people, that God will control their mind and let them know who they are, let them know who to go to when things get rough and let them know that…that God is able to change anything, that God is the answer to whatever the question is. Gracious Father will lift You up in the name of Jesus. We lift You up with the challenges. Oh…my precious sister that her husband that she’s in the hospital and her husband died. I think her name is Denise. I…I’m praying for you also my sister in what…in you’re going through. You said three years it’s been since you…since your husband has died, and I wanted to just encourage you to Lord to strengthen her. Lord you strengthen those who lost parents, who lost loved ones. You strengthen those lord that…that are having the…

Hello, I’m Duncan from Fredericksburg Texas. I am a senior citizen. The most important thing, I am a committed follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. I happen to be totally blind. I’m almost 74. My wife Sharon died back in October, so I’ve been widower now over five months. God has definitely worked on me and with me and has supplied my needs and I’m learning new skills, so I’m…but I want to encourage all of us during this time Brian would call it of a disruption. And it has affected all of us and will affect all of us. And my only prayer is that, wouldn’t it be wonderful if when Easter Sunday happens things can begin to turn around for the better, like a resurrection. This is the Lenten season and I am praying for you all and for myself, that not only will our needs be supplied but that we can walk through this. Let’s invite God to lead on and walk us through. Let’s ask for His mercy on the people of this earth and especially on those so that others will come to know Him. Let’s lean on each other even if we can’t even hug or handshake which I still do as people allow me too, but there is going to be more isolation and I know that one way or another I’ll get through it. God bless you. Be encouraged. He is our refuge and strength.

Good morning Daily audible family. My name is Laura I’m calling from Georgia and today is March the 17^th and I just listened to today’s message. Brian you are such a blessing and you are anointed beyond… Your words was what I needed. I have it, but it was more reassurance, that through dark times we are supposed to be who we are called to be, which we are called to be God’s people, His chosen. We’re supposed to walk in love, walk in hope, walk in belief, that through anything that’s happening in this world God has us. He has us. And that’s been my comfort and that’s been my peace and I pray that for everyone through this time. Love on each other. Don’t walk in panic. Don’t walk in fear. The reality is we all are leaving this earth by one way or another. How do you want to leave? What mark do you want to leave? God bless you all. I love my DAB family and I’m truly thankful for you. Continued blessings to everyone. Peace.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family this is Stephanie from Bangalore and I’m calling on the 17^th of March. Just wanted to give you an update. I had called in January and was upset about the fact that it seemed like my husband and I would likely never get pregnant do to my age and some other things. Well, it turned out that I was pregnant actually at that point, although far too early to have known. And when I called back on the 25^th of February that’s what I was…was saying. But we lost the baby and I miscarried a little over a week ago on the 9^th of March. And, so, you can imagine we’re going through a lot of grief right now. I know I’m not alone in the grief of miscarriage and that helps but it’s still hard. And, of course, I’m in India with very different cultural attitudes towards miscarriage. And, so, that’s also hard. And, of course, in the middle of all of this, this whole pandemic thing has started here as well. And, so, it’s…it’s making me feel even more isolated. And again, I know I’m not alone in that as much at that sounds funny, isolated and alone. But just please be praying for us, that God would give us wisdom and peace and that if it’s His will He would give us more children.

Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalms 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21

Today’s the 20^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you. It’s an honor it’s a joy. What it joy that we get together like this for a few minutes and focus our hearts attention on the Scriptures, focus our hearts affection on God and just allow the word to speak to us. What a joy. So, we’re continuing to move through the book of Numbers and the book of Luke in the New Testament. Today we will read Numbers chapter 30 and 31.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there’s a really, really huge, huge lesson for us to learn from the gospel of Luke today and it really encompasses the…the entire reading, even though it seems like we encountered a couple of stories of like Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and then Jesus being way back up in the Galilee in Nazareth announcing His ministry. They connect because of the way Jesus conducts Himself, the way that He operates, the way that He sees and does. He’s teaching us a lesson. So, for starters we find Jesus in the wilderness, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed. It’s been like right in front of his from the beginning, but have you noticed how much time we have spent in the wilderness in the Bible so far? It’s an irreplaceable backdrop to the stories that the Scriptures are telling us. And what the Scriptures are showing us in those stories is that the wilderness brings utter dependence on God, which brings transformation and it also brings a lot of thrashing around and complaining and moaning and groaning. I suppose we could just stop right there because that’s the story of our lives. We spend more time in wilderness seasons than we want to, or that we think that we deserve. Even though, as we look back in retrospect, we see just how much transformation and formation happens in those seasons. But usually when we’re in those seasons all we want is out of the season. So, like anything that will show us the clear path out of the wilderness, the quickest, we just pretty much fall for it. Jesus is in the wilderness outside of Jericho. It is the desert. He is making His way eventually back to Nazareth. He’s a long way from Nazareth, like 70 miles. And he’ll have to climb out of the desert and into the transition and up into the lush Galilee. And the devil comes and tempts Jesus. It’s obviously a super famous Bible story. But as we’ve mentioned before when we’ve passed this territory, he’s coming to Jesus with an easy way out of the wilderness, an easy way to get what he seems to want, the fastest way, the pain…the most painless way to get what he wants. That’s kind of our default and we’ve probably learned a number of times that we can get into a deeper wilderness trying to find…take the fast way out of the one where in. The fastest way out of the wilderness, friends, at least in my experience is to learn the lesson the wilderness is teaching you. That changes the entire dynamic of the experience. And Jesus rejected this easier path. And, so, He walked back to Nazareth and the Bible says, that the evil one retreated and waited for another opportunity. That opportunity would come in Nazareth. Jesus entered the synagogue and announced Himself. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Now, of course, everybody’s around the synagogue, the famous Rabbi, the hometown boy who’s made it…making it big is back in town. And, so, Jesus announces that prophecy is being fulfilled but what they really want isn’t any of that. They want Him to perform a magic show. Like, they want Him to do some miracles and signs. They want to see a show. They don’t have eyes to see or ears to hear what Jesus is announcing. Like He’s announcing something huge in their Hebrew faith, the fulfillment of a prophecy and they just want Him to perform tricks. And eventually their provoked. Like, they’re provoked against Jesus, who has just had a showdown with the evil one in the desert and the evil one is waiting for an opportune time. And, so, Jesus comes and announces that He’s fulfilling prophecy and the people decide they should probably throw Him off a cliff in response. And that’s how the story goes. This kind of mob mentality escorts Jesus to this cliff and then He passes right through them and goes on His way. You see how Jesus deals with things? If you’re in the wilderness, and the easy way out is before you and you follow that path without discerning at all, without at least inviting God to show you whether or not the lesson of this wilderness has been learned. And not all wilderness journeys are sent to us by God. We navigate ourselves there quite readily. It seems to be like the one place that we know how to get to in our lives is the wilderness. But once we are there it is not purposeless. And sometimes the easy way out is not the easy way out. And it takes courage to stay one foot in front of the other marching through the wilderness toward the promise. That takes a whole lot more courage than taking the detour that promises an exit. If we keep going, we’ll get out of the wilderness. It will be lush and fertile, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to face the voices of rejection, the voices of ridicule, the voice of contempt and scorn, even the voice of hatred. What if we could just let that pass right through us? What if we could pass right through that and go on our way? We can if we accept things as they are and continue moving forward day by day step-by-step. And, so, let’s take these things to heart today, meditate upon them today, consider them in our lives today.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. Thank You for the opportunity to do just that. We invite Your Holy Spirit to plant these words from the Scriptures into the soil of our lives today and help us to live into them. Help us to continue to watch. As we’re walking through the Scriptures, we’re walking with You. May we not miss anything that we need to see. Come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In Your precious and holy name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. That makes it home base for us as a virtual community. And, so, it’s good to know that.

It’s good to know that the Prayer Wall is 24 hours a day happening there.

Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can get to all of the things on the website as well from within the app. You just push the Drawer icon…well…the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll open up the drawer and give you the selections. So, be sure to check that out.

Check out the resources that are available in the Shop.

Check out the Initiatives that are going on all at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link and it lives on the homepage. And I thank you. Thank you profoundly and with all humility for your partnership. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

But 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 marvelous light. First Peter 2:9. Please pray with me. Lord, my precious Savior it is your bronze slave, Treasured Possession speaking before you thanking you for my courageous sisters and brother who are saying it’s time to face the truth. They did not blame anyone. They did not make excuses for their sin. They just confessed and have repented and desire to be made whole. To have the root of pain removed so that they can operate in the fruit of the Spirit of love and self-control. Lord, you have said those who are forgiven much love much and you are looking for sisters and brothers who worship you in Spirit and truth. I lift these sisters up to you today Lord, the one who desires to be free of jealousy, the one who desires to be free of self-pity, and my brother also of courage who wants to get self-control over his eating and my sister who wants to be fray…free of binge eating. Father, I know you will never love us more today than you will in eternity. The work we have been asked to do is believe in your son Jesus Christ. And Lord relay all our burdens down today as we are called out of the darkness of rejection, self-pity, fear, abandonment and crimes perpetrated against our will. All curses spoken over us are made null and void in the cross of Christ. We receive the love of Jesus for us, the healing of our minds, will, and emotions, the healing of our bodies and say yes to be made a new creation in Christ. And it is in Jesus’ name we ask these things.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family today is March 14^th. Michaela from Gloucester, I heard your prayer. It was yesterday or possibly on today’s podcast you said you were struggling. I just want you to know that I love it…I love your prayers. They always touch me on such a deep level and I’m always finding myself agreeing to them in the Spirit. So, Michaela I just want…I’m just asking God on your behalf today to lift you up. And I want you to know that you mean something to this community, if that helps. So, thank you Lord for Michaela. Thank you, Lord for the gift that you’ve given her of prayer. May that gift increase. May her hard times be made less and may she grow stronger through them with your help and by your grace. And then there was God’s Girl, all your anxiety. Lord I just lift up God’s Girl to You. My God, may her…may she find strength to push through that anxiety, strength in You Lord and may she also become stronger as she works through this latest attack or this latest whatever that’s gripping her. May she also become stronger as she works through it with You Lord. May she have eyes to see and ears to hear what You are showing her Lord, the truth of what You are showing her. May Your truth shine through. Hey…and His little Cherry, that description of that pink sunrise and how it made you think of Pink Paint was beautiful. Pink Paint you are loved. His little Cherry you are loved. Be blessed family. Amen.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family my name is Julian Miller and I am from Atlanta Georgia and I’m calling in today because I heard from a podcast a couple days ago from Veronica from Oklahoma or Oklahoma City. And I just want to say that my heart went out to you after hearing your voice and hearing your call for help. And I just want you to know that I feel for you and I’m praying for you. I’m praying that these impulses and these binges and this…this feeling that you feel like you can’t control or like you’re trapped, I just…I just ask that the Lord would continue to release you of that and that you would not fall into despair or feel like there’s no way out. I am a fitness coach here in Atlanta Georgia and I meet people all the time that are…feel like there over weight or in a situation where they can’t get back from it and it’s part of my job to reignite encouragement and life in them, to know that there is more life for them, that there is a future, there is a way to lose weight and to become more healthy. And I just hope that you’re not ashamed for calling in. I heard that in your voice, “like, I can’t believe that I’m saying this.” And I just want to say that we…you…you have a family here. It doesn’t matter what the problem in your life is, that you can always call in and ask for prayer. I love you sister. I’m continuing to pray…pray for you and lift you up. Please do not despair. Hope is on its way. God has so much for you. Release that to Him.

Hi Candace, this is Dorothy out in California. I just wanted to call and let you know that I’m so glad you’re calling in and I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s passing. You are very loved, and you are not alone. We are here for you, your Daily Audio Bible family. Keep calling in. We love you.

Hey guys this is Val from Vegas. I’m calling in because I…I made a promise that I was gonna call in on the 15^th of every month. I’m in the hospital. I just got out of isolation. I have double pneumonia and I need your prayers. __ to ask it makes me feel so selfish when there’s so many other needs in the world but I could really use your prayers that the doctors will figure out how to treat me and that I can get out of here and that it can be a testimony and that God can get the glory. Honestly, I feel so defeated and I’m trying to understand and recognize that God loves me, but have you ever felt like he’s mad at you? Please pray that I can get out of the hospital soon.

Good morning. Blessings Flow here again. I also wanted to say, God’s girl in Canada, God bless you sister. I’m praying for you. Thank you so much for calling in. And I’m in agreement with you that anxiety and depression will not prevail in your life in the name Jesus. And that God will have God’s way in your life. I’m praying for you this morning and I just wanted to say, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you God’s girl and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon and give you peace. I’m praying for you also my sister called and with PCOS and was requesting prayer about losing 100 pounds. I’m so proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. We’re in agreement with you. Nobody is looking down at you. No one is saying, “how could you call in with that. That’s so silly.” Yes, and amen. We are in agreement. We are proud of you. We’re cheering on. And I just thank you for your boldness to call in about that. This is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania and I don’t know why I’m up at six something a.m. but many of you are on my heart and I know it’s…it’s not about me. It’s about the Lord and you and God’s love for us DAB family. And I’m so humbled just even in these last couple months to be a part of this family. God bless you. Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania.

Good morning DAB this is Judy I’m from Delaware. I just want to express my love and appreciation for all you who pray every day for everyone. I’d just like to see some extra special prayers for my family, that we are able to keep our love for one another together, that we are able to maintain our prayer life in the midst of all this turmoil. I’d just like to also see some special prayers to everyone who listens to DAB and brings forth prayers for the world every day. Brian thank you so much. Thank you to you and your family for all that you bring to the table for us every morning in spite of…I know there must be days where your heart is heavy as ours. But you still and enlighten us with the Bible, with the words. And I’m just so thankful to have you and to have a place where I can come and listen and know that there’s so many others listening with me. Thank you again. And everyone be blessed and be safe.

Numbers 28:16-29:40, Luke 3:23-38, Psalms 62:1-12, Proverbs 11:18-19

Today is the 19^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today around the Global Campfire where we show up. Day after day we show up and in community take the next step forward through the Scriptures. We’ve been working our way through the book of Numbers for a while now, and few more days. I think we’ll finish the book of Numbers next week. So, let’s take that next step forward. Today we’ll read numbers chapter 28 versus 16 to 29 verse 40 and we’re reading from the Message this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We read a lot of names in Your word today. We were tracing back the family line from which You came into the world and we read these names and their funny and interesting names and hard to pronounce names but every one of those names is…is a life and family and a story and laughter and weeping and joy and sadness like everyone else’s life. Every one of those names was a life lived carrying the story forward. And as we moved back through the story, back through those lines there were names we recognized, people that we’ve met in the Bible. Their stories have become known to us and they carried the story forward. And even as we continue to go back, we realized we were going all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to You. You are the giver of life and every single one of us were we able could read name after name after name after name after name after name after name leading all the way until us. We got here through millions and millions of choices of people who would’ve gone before us, but we have all come from You. We are Your children. You are our Father. We acknowledge You. We are nothing without You. You have given us life and You gave life to all the generations before us. And, so, we honor that. It’s how we got here. And yes, life can be confusing and we can feel disoriented a lot of the time not knowing exactly what’s going on, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer as we have eyes to see and ears to hear and we are grateful for this gift to be here now. And may we meditate on that today - the gift that we are here and what it took to get us here over all of the generations. Thank You for allowing us to be. And Father we give our lives to You and ask that we might honor the gift of life today. Come Holy Spirits we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you find what’s going on around here. And, of course, you can access all of that, all of this, all of whatever I’m gonna say in the app as well.

Reminding you of the Prayer Wall that lives at dailyaudiobible.com and is constantly underway, constantly. It’s a germ-free prayer space by the way. So, don’t hesitate.

And while you’re there you can explore some of the other aspects of the website including the Daily Audio Bible Shop where there are number of resources that are…are there. They’ve been created for the journey that were on the including some of the…the different books and writings and maybe for slowing down a little bit. We have some time for that. I…I would suggest I think right now Sneezing Jesus, short little book that explores the life of Jesus, but also the way in which the gospel that we take for granted often, it’s just like all around us, how it spread, like a virus, how it was transmitted person to person who then infected more people who then infected people so that it spread all over the world and has come to us easily, but that wasn’t always so. Many, many, many millions of people suffered along the way for us to have what we have. And instead of spreading an infection or instead of infecting the world with darkness, what would our lives look like if we were completely contagious with the kingdom of light? Not a bad exploration for the times that we’re in. That’s available at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop or anywhere…anywhere you can get a book. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. We wouldn’t have a roaring Global Campfire that we can come around every day if we weren’t in this together. And. so, I thank you. Thank you that we are. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Numbers 26:52-28:15, Luke 3:1-22, Psalms 61:1-8, Proverbs 11:16-17

Today is the 18^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you as we move ourselves through the center of a week. And I guess we’ve passed the center of the month, but not too far. So, we’re kind of in the middle of things right now. And it’s great to be here in the middle of it all with you. But we can’t stay here. We gotta take the next step forward. And, so, let’s do that. We’re continuing our journey through the book of numbers and today we will read chapter 26 verse 52 through 28 verse 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, let's…so let’s keep filling in all the surrounding stories we’re moving through with…with some context because some interesting things happening in both Old and New Testaments today. So…so…so Moses, and we’ve been traveling with Moses for a while now, and he’s gone through a bunch…and we’re not done with him…but here in the book of Numbers God has told him, “this is your time, your time has come. Your leadership is coming to an end. It’s time for you to be gathered to your ancestors to die.” Moses won’t be leading the children of Israel into the Promise Land, and they just done this big census revealing that that generation that needed to wander passed. And, so, it looks like it might be time now to consider going into the Promise Land, but Moses won’t be leading them. A new leader will need to be appointed and that new leader was named today. His name is Joshua. And he’s kind of been Moses right hand for a while. So, what we see happening then is the consecration of Joshua as this new leader. Moses is preparing the way for Joshua so that Joshua can lead the people into freedom.

And then we flip over into the gospel of Luke for today and we see essentially the same thing happening. John has come out of the wilderness. Now he is baptizing people at the Jordan River, preparing the way of the Lord at a very similar place. According to the Old Testament they’re outside of Jericho on the other side of the Jordan River. So, in modern terms they would be across the Jordan River in the land of Jordan. John the Baptist came in out of the wilderness to the Jordan outside of Jericho, calling the people back to the very place that they had entered the Promise Land, calling them back to their story, calling them back to their identity. And then here comes Jesus down into that same water to be baptized and not to lead his people across the Jordan into a physical Promised Land, but to lead his people into complete and utter spiritual freedom in the kingdom of God, reuniting the promise with the land. Another thing interesting about these parallels is Joshua and Jesus because in Hebrew they’re essentially the same Yehoshua or Yeshua, which means God’s salvation. So, it’s a rare occasion that we find ourselves in the Old and the New Testaments in the same geographical area in the desert at the Jordan River outside of Jericho. So, that’s interesting and fascinating and gives us some depth for the journey that…that we can continue to be on as we walk the path of the Bible

But then,…then Proverbs, of course, offers us concise wisdom for today, as simple as it can possibly be, as true as it can possibly be, “when you’re kind to others you help yourself, when you’re cruel to others you hurt yourself.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into all that we’ve read today, into all we’re learning and have learned today, but we invite You into this proverb as we take it into our day. Help us to remember the simplicity of it, just the bald-faced truth of it. If we’re kind today, we will be helping our self. If we’re cruel today, while we may be hurting other people, but we will also be hurting our self. Help us to realize that. Help us to realize that we are in this together and kindness begets kindness and cruelty gives birth to cruelty. Help us choose the former rather than the latter today we ask by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, always stay connected in whatever way that you can, in whatever…whatever way that you want to.

Of course, the Prayer Wall is at dailyaudiobible.com and that’s always happening. And all these things can be reached from the Daily Audio Bible app as well. So, check them out.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Now in this time where we’re kinda quarantined and isolated and disrupted all the things we were talking about yesterday, the Global Campfire continuing to burn and be this place that we can go is as invaluable, at least to me. And in the Daily Audio Bible Shop we have an entire line of Global Campfire stuff just to remind us that there is this place, that we are in community no matter where we are in the world and no matter what’s going on in the world. So, check those…check that out. There’s a whole section in the Daily Audio Bible Shop called Global Campfire. And, so, check that out.

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

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

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

Numbers 26:1-51, Luke 2:36-52, Psalms 60:1-12, Proverbs 11:15

Today is the 17^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and what a joy it is to be here with you today as we come in and out of whatever is going on and just situate ourselves around the Global Campfire. And I…I just love that image, our…our faces in the firelight and we’re just intently listening to God’s words speak into our lives in this little oasis that we have before reentering our day in the world outside that…that it can be crushing but we come here and we become strong and we center ourselves in God’s word and we know that we’re not alone and that changes the atmosphere of the day. And, so, what a joy…what a joy to be here to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And, so, let’s do that. We’ll pick up where we left off yesterday. Numbers chapter 26 verses 1 through 51.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the gospel of Luke today there is a pretty huge contextual piece for us to understand as we continue our journey through the Gospels and walk alongside Jesus for the first months of this year. And, so, today we have this…well we are given the awareness that Jesus family is a devout family and that He is grown in body and Spirit, but they have an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. And we’ve mentioned it before, that’s a 90 mile walk one way. So, 180 miles on foot or cart. That’s a pretty good-sized journey and the terrain of the journey isn’t the best either. So, we get these little clues, like this is part of the rhythm of Jesus life. He’s accustomed to going to Jerusalem. It’s not a foreign place to him. So, it’s not going to be a foreign place to Him later in His ministry. He knows what’s up there. But the back story that’s apparent in this story gives us a lot of clues about how Jesus was perceived. So, for starters when He was born and He was brought to the temple for the sacrifice according to the law of Moses, there were prophetic voices there, respected ones. An older woman who’d spent over 80 years worshipping God in the temple, she would’ve been known, she would’ve been respected. So, her words would’ve been heard by the common people coming in and out that that would’ve mattered. And the old man, Simeon, same thing. So, there’s like this buzz around this child from the get-go. But now in today’s story Jesus is grown to be 12 years old and they’re making their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover and He stays behind when his family leaves. And they would’ve traveled is…traveled as kind of caravans for safety and just community. It’s a long ways. So, Mary and Joseph don’t figure out Jesus missing until they’ve already gone one of the days that journey. Now they can’t find Jesus and they gotta take another day to get back and search for Him. And, so, they’re gonna be traveling back to Nazareth on their own. And they frantically search the holy city. And this is not like a little village. This is big city. You can only imagine…you can only imagine what that would feel like as a parent, but in the end they do find Jesus and Jesus is in the temple and Jesus is with the religious leaders. He’s with the scribes and the Pharisees. He’s with the priests and they are amazed at Him. That’s very fascinating because two decades later, they’re all going to turn on Him and have Him killed. But let’s not just think that Jesus appeared in a vacuum of the Galilee and did ministry and that part of the region among the common people, a place known for its zealotry. Today we see Jesus at 12 years old before the religious leaders and their amazed by Him. He’s already on the radar. So, when He does get older and does begin His ministry, we see often the Scriptures telling us that religious leaders from Jerusalem take that 90-mile trip up to the Galilee to find out what’s going on with this guy. And some of them would remember that this is that little kid that stayed back here to talk to us. So, it's…it's…it’s interesting to kind of look into these stories and understand that there’s this back story to the way that Jesus came onto the scene and did His ministry.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You for that. We thank…because knowing You and having the benefit of the Scriptures to allow us to observe You and look at You as You did Your ministry on this earth giving us an example for what our lives cam and must look like, we are grateful. And anything that helps us to understand story better is helpful. So, we thank You for that and we invite Your Holy Spirit to plant the words that we’ve read today from the Scriptures into our hearts, minds and lives, that they may yield fruit for Your kingdom. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, our precious Savior. Amen.

Commentary:

Okay, so I don’t know if you noticed or not but there’s this nasty virus going around. And I started paying maybe closer attention to it as we were preparing to depart for the pilgrimage to Israel a few weeks ago. So, I remember landing on the big plane in London and boarding another big plane for Rome. And Italy had seven cases of this virus at the time. And then we moved through there to Tel Aviv and began our journey in like a week later. Italy was beginning to go into lockdown. And then we moved through our pilgrimage and just kind of counted the days and we were all feeling fine. We’re like, “we’re in the clear. This is fine” and we moved through our Israel pilgrimage and then got back home safely and lots of places, including Israel started to lockdown. And then things started to escalate some in the United States and now there’s all kinds of measures to kind of keep us sequestered from each other, so we don’t pass this around. This is working out pretty well for like people like my son Ezekiel who’s been back…we’ve been back from Israel for a couple weeks, he’s been to school for two days because schools been closed and he can’t practically turn television without hearing that the latest update. And I’m not one to usually comment on world or political or the…whether related or these kinds of events and there’s a couple reasons for that. The first reason would be who cares what I have to say about world events? Who am I? Why does it matter what I think? There are so many people who are so smart and have so much to say and there is no shortage of…of ways to find out what people are saying about things. And, so, I just, you know, why add to the noise? I mean, it’s not my…it’s not my role to comment on everything that’s going on and add a Bible verse to it. Secondly, back when the Daily Audio Bible was just getting going and had kinda become this podcasting phenomenon I got a piece of advice that always, always, always has stuck with me and that is fly above it all with what you do. Let the Bible speak for itself. And I’ve tried really, really hard over all of the years to do that, to create this space that we are in right now. Like we are around this Global Campfire. This is a place that we go to every day and it…it’s a space that we have created collectively but individually in our hearts, and it is beyond the reach of all the things that are going on around us. It’s a place where we just come and exhale and allow God’s word to wash into our lives and we leave this place refreshed and able. At least that is the intention. And, so, you know, I thought this morning about 15 years, this, seven days a week, when hasn’t there been some sort of crisis somewhere? When hasn’t there been some sort of election? When hasn’t there been some sort of political maneuvering? When hasn’t there been things to fight about, or debate about? When have there not been things to be afraid of? I mean everything from a previous scares about infectious diseases to the rise of ISIS, we’ve moved through all these things together day by day by day. So, I wouldn’t normally have any words about coronavirus. It’s just that at this point it’s affecting the world and this is an opportune time for us to practice what we’ve been exploring all year long, eyes to see, ears to hear, because at this point this virus is causing all of our governments to in one way or another invite us to isolate ourselves so that this can go away, which is causing a ripple effect of disruption in small or large ways, and it begins…like you can feel the tension of it, the unknown of it. Like for most of us we’re like…we don’t understand. There’s this is very very big reaction. All this news is a very very big thing that…and I feel fine, but we also see a little fraying things in society like, you don't…a run on the grocery store to get cases of toilet paper. And if we have eyes to see and ears to hear we can see the sobering reality of how fragile all of our societies, and even we ourselves really are and how much we actually are in this together whether we like it or not. And what I’d like to say is, as we move through the Bible and many of us here have moved through it several times, what we see is that the Bible is full of stories of disruption, whether created by man or whether it was just a thing that happened. It’s full of the stories of disruption and what people do with it? And what the Bible tells us is that at every crossroads, wisdom is there at every turning point. Wisdom is there. So, I don’t have any advice on whether or not you should have several cases of paper towel. I don’t have any advice on how to kill the virus, or how long we should stay away from each other or what practices we can use to avoid these things. There is plenty of really good advice out there for these things. But what I would like to point out, at least spiritually is this is disruptive, whether it’s in a small way or whether it’s in a big way. This is disruptive. Normally, our course of action in times of disruption is to try to bulldoze it away. Make it go away as quick as possible so that we can return to the status quo. And what I want to suggest here is that we don’t do that. That we embrace the disruption and invite wisdom, invite the Holy Spirit to come into this disruption because it’s a time, it’s an opportunity all over the world to read think some the things. And man, we are in this season called Lent. What…what…I was gonna asay what better time…there is no good time for infectious disease to be racing around the world…and yet, because this is happening, because it is disrupting things and we’re all shaken in some way, this is an opportune time to invite God into it. What needs to change? Not just to make this go away. What needs to change within us that we have this opportunity to see now because we’ve got a glimpse of our fragility? What needs to change so that we might live healthy in body, in mind, in spirit. I hate disruption in life in general always. It's…I never welcome it. Who does? But I’ve learned over these years, God is there in those disruptions. He is there when we get shaken loose of something and He uses these times to right our course. So, like I said a number of times this isn’t normally what I would talk about but I see the disruption and I see it happening globally and if we would awaken, if we would revive, if we would have eyes to see then we will see the kingdom and we will see that God is inviting us forward through this and that this disruption is an opportunity for some things to get shifted, to get rearranged, to be re-prioritized before it all goes away because when it does go all away we’ll forget that it even happened. And yet, this is an opportunity to invite God.

Prayer:

Father, even though we just prayed, we’re coming to You again about this and we do intercede. We do intercede. Lord have mercy on the earth, have mercy on the people of the earth, have mercy on Your children. And yet, we acknowledge that we have a preconceived notion about what that’s supposed to look like. And what we’re doing here is embracing the disruption that is happening, inviting Your Holy Spirit into our lives. What are You saying through this? Now that things, the status quo has been disrupted, what are You saying? How do You want to move us around? How You want to shape us in this? Infection…infectious disease can certainly spread from one person to another, but so can Your kingdom. Show us how to infect the world with light and life and good news and healing and hope and courage. And in this time of disruption may it spread like wildfire to all the ends of the earth, to all the lives that are affected either directly or indirectly. Show us how to be light in the darkness, even as You continue to transform us from within. This is our prayer God. Make us aware of Your Holy Spirit’s movements in the world and in our lives and families. Come Jesus we pray. Nothing is off limits to You. We are open. Change us through this we pray in Your mighty name. Amen.

Song:

Life is Beautiful - The Afters

Through the window
I see you waiting
You are smiling
‘Cause I’m coming
Your eyes are a story
An ocean of memories
Pictures of faces and places

And all of the things
That make us feel like we have it all
All of the times
That make us realize
We have it all
We have it all

Life is beautiful
Life is beautiful

Living and dying
Laughing or crying
If we have the whole world or have nothing
I know there are long nights

But we’ll make it
With every sunrise comes a new light
And all of the things
That make us feel like we have it all

All of the times
That make us realize
We have it all
We have it all

Life is beautiful
Life is beautiful
Life is beautiful

A father’s love
A wedding dance
New Year’s dreams
A toast with friends
A soldier coming home from war
The faith, the hope of so much more

A brand new life, a mother’s prayer
Shooting stars, ocean air
A lover’s kiss, and hard goodbyes
Fireworks, Christmas lights

These are things that make us feel alive
These are the times that make us realize
Life is beautiful
Life is beautiful

These are things that make us feel alive

Life is beautiful

These are the times that make us realize

Numbers 24:1-25:18, Luke 2:1-35, Psalms 59:1-17, Proverbs 11:14

Today is the 16^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian what a joy it is to be here with you as we get ourselves going into this new week. So, let’s continue our journey. We’re moving our way through the book of Numbers and we’re also just getting moved into the gospel of Luke. So, we’re reading from the Message this week. Numbers chapters 24 and 25 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Numbers we’ve had quite the dramatic story unfolding over the last couple of days. The children of Israel have moved north and there’s been some battles. They’ve been attacked, they’ve been victorious. So, they kind of carved out a little space for them to be in but they’re freaking out their neighbors. And, so, the king of Moab, whose name was Balak…and Moab is modern day…the modern-day country of Jordan, at least the area that we’re talking about in this story. And, so, Balak, he’s already seen what happened and he can kind of get the idea of what might come next for him and his people if these Israelites aren’t stopped. So, he sends a way for this prophetic kind of figure, this person who can bless and curse named Balaam. And from the biblical narrative we see that Balaam hears from God and God tells Balaam when Balak’s people come not to go. And, so, he doesn’t go. And, so, the king Balak sends more…more important people to get Balaam and this time God says you can go with them but only say what I tell you to say. This is a super fascinating story because Balaam does go riding on his donkey that he’s had for years. And this is the time that the donkey veers off the path or the donkey just sits down in the middle of the road or the donkey crushes his foot against a wall and he’s beating the donkey until the donkey speaks to him. “What have I ever done to you? Have I ever done anything to deserve this?” And Balaam’s so mad he’s like, “I would kill you if I had a sword”, which I always every year find funny because it’s like, you’re talking to a donkey. Are you…I mean how do you get so mad that you don’t realize you’re talking to a donkey? So, there’s this interesting thing that’s going on and its bizarre because it’s like all Balaam’s doing is obeying God. Why is an angel of the Lord standing in front of the path with a sword that only the donkey can see? What’s going on here in this story very quickly becomes about how we try to manipulate situations and try to call it God’s will for our lives. So, when Balaam and was first approached to come and curse the Israelites, God spoke to him very clearly, “do not go. Don’t go.” When they came back again, God said, “you can go but only say what I tell you to say.” So, this looks like opportunity for Balaam. God wouldn’t let him go do the job and get paid the first time, but now He’s letting him go, just telling him to only speak what he is told to speak. And so, he’s on his way. And then there’s this incident with the angel and the donkey three times over. When the donkey asks Balaam why he’s being so mean, he reveals his heart, he was embarrassed in front of these important people. So, God is sending Balaam a very strong message. “You might think this is gonna be a big payday. You may think this is gonna be a big moment of honor for you but don’t be seduced. Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare say anything that you aren’t told to say.” And we do this kind of stuff. We’ll ask God for His direction and say, “I only want what you want in my life. I’m tired of all of the messes that I make. I just want to follow the narrow path. Just show me the narrow path.” But we reveal our own hearts and our motivations because there are things that we desire to happen. And when God begins to open those doors we feel like every doors been open and we know the way and we’re just gonna blast through it all, when all God gave Balaam permission to do was go and say what he was told to say. That’s it. So, Balaam gets to Balak and there’s some sacrifices and there’s some viewing of the camp of the Israelites. And Balaam’s got the message at this point and he goes and hears from God that…that Israel is not gonna be cursed. Israel is only gonna be blessed. So, the king Balak’s like, “let’s go to another place and look at them from a different angle”, right? And, so, they do when they make sacrifices and this all happens again. And, so, Balak the king is like. let’s go to another place.” Basically, “let’s keep looking at this from different angles until we get the answer that we’re looking for from God.” And then boom, now we’re in the story, now this is our life too because we have a tendency to do the same thing. We want something and God’s saying, “no.” We wait. We look from a different view. God says, “no.” We wait. We look from a different…we’re just looking for the answer that we want. But Balaam had been severely warned about that. And, so, he blessed Israel. And then we exit that story and it seems like we’ve switched gears because now we’re back in the Israelite camp, and many of the Israelite men were fraternizing with the Midianite women which they were forbidden to do because it was doing exactly what they had been warned against. It was leading them through sex to idolatry, the worship of the false gods of the neighboring countries. And these are the Midianites and not the Moabites so it’s like we’re talking to different…we’re like in it completely different story when apparently, we’re in the same story. Balaam, in the book of Numbers says he’s going home. Like, he can only do what God told him to do. He’s going home. He said that from the from the beginning. What it appears that happened after that is that the king of Moab allied himself with the Midianites and hatched this plan to seduce men away through the Midianite women, which is a heck of seductive plot and it was working. Where did that idea come from? Balaam isn’t that big of a biblical figure, but he shows up again in the book of Revelation in the letter to Pergamum, the church in Pergamum. And, so, I’m quoting from Revelation here, “there are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. So, that appears to be the rest of the story. Balaam only spoke what God told him to speak in terms of blessing and cursing. But it seems that as he’s leaving, he offered a tip. But before we exit the book of Numbers will find out that things didn’t go so well for Balaam after all. He was killed in a battle…a battle with the Midianites. So, there are, you know, it’s a long sprawling story and there are many facets to it and many ways to look at it, that’s the nature of the Bible. But fundamentally, I think this story brings front and center into our own lives, our mixed motives and the ways that we try to play both sides of a story sometimes undetected, and the damage that that can do to those around us when we’re not true and the damage that it can ultimately do to our lives because it’s not wise.

Prayer:

Father we invite You into that because it hits close to home. We all have areas of our lives where we’ve experienced mixed motivations, conflicts in which we try to participate in the light and the darkness at the same time. And although we may be able to keep up the façade for a while it ends badly every time. it’s not true, it’s not wise, it’s not healthy, it’s not godly, it’s not holy. And if there’s one thing that we’re seeing as we move through the Tora, as we move through the law, it’s that You are holy, and You are drawing Your people into holiness. And, so, we ask Your forgiveness for the way we’ve mishandled our motivations and submit our hearts desires to You. Come Holy Spirit, as we go through this day and bring these things up in our lives as we meditate upon the Scriptures today. Show us the areas that we’re playing in too close to the edge, that we’re running along the cliffs edge and we’re gonna fall off. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Stay connected at the Prayer Wall. Constantly people are asking for prayer. Constantly people are offering prayers. It’s a fantastic resource. Any time that you’re feeling like you…you’re about to get overwhelmed, you’re not alone. There’s a way to reach out but one of the ways that kind of brings our equilibrium back in those moments is to realize that we have become very, very self-focused in this because it’s painful or it’s difficult. And often when we face outward, when we realize we’re not the only one suffering right now in some way, we’re not the only one struggling somehow in some way. Everybody is struggling in some way all the time. There always challenges. There’s always obstacles. So, facing outward and just praying…praying for them, that is so beautiful, so noble, so right, so good. And often it changes the atmosphere in our own lives. It changes the way we’re looking at what’s overwhelming us. So, yeah, let’s pray for each other and the Prayer Wall is a great place for that. So, check it out.

And there are resources in the Daily Audio Bible Shop for this journey like the Daily Audio Bible Journal and all of the writing utensils that we have. All of these beautiful pencils and all of the paraphernalia just make it…just a loving ritual, something…something that we have and we write down the story of our days even if it’s just a paragraph or a couple sentences on some days and pages on other days where we just in our own hand, like not some digital copy, which is fine. I did that for years, but I found like writing things down in my own hand with a pencil I sharpened. I’m taking the time to slow things down and process because life is flying at me and us at warp…there’s no way to keep up with it all. So, to almost revolt and go like old tech, old school and go like, I’m gonna sharpen a pencil, I’m gonna sit down here for a few minutes and it’s not gona take me hours. I’m gonna give 10 minutes. I’m gonna give 15 minutes to just slowing things down and processing, like writing it…like writing it out, allowing it to be committed to paper in my own hand and out of me so I’m not carrying it around anymore. And we we begin to see the thread of God’s faithfulness as we do that faithfully. All that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, created for this community for exactly this purpose. Everything that we can do to build in all of the rhythms of the daily reading of the word and to strengthen that and make it go deeper in us. That’s what we’re trying to do. And, so, these resources are available. Check them out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link that is on the homepage and my humblest, deepest gratitude for everyone who has ever clicked that link. Thank you. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the given button in the upper right-hand corner. And if you prefer…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 a number to dial.

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

Numbers 22:21-23:30, Luke 1:57-80, Psalms 58:1-11, Proverbs 11:12-13

Today is the 15^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, welcome to the center of the month of March I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we greet the new week. And at least for me, I always picture this…for me…it’s like this stone threshold that’s very old and there’s this beautiful wooden door, old handle, old hardware and we just turn the knob and swing the door open and there on the other side is the new week and we step into the new week and it’s all bright and sparkly, it's…it’s just waiting for us to live into. And one of the ways we live into it well is to allow God’s word to speak to us each and every day. So, here we are at the threshold of a new week. And we’ll pick up where we left off. This week we’ll read from the Message. Numbers 22 verse 21 to 23 verse 30.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this brand-new shiny sparkly week that we’re walking into and we thank You for all that You will speak to us in this week every way that You will challenge us, challenge our hearts, motives. Give us eyes to see and this is what we’re asking for. And, so, we thank You in advance for that. And we thank You for what we’re learning in the book of Numbers today, You will not curse what You have blessed and no one can curse what You have blessed and You have blessed us and we are thankful. So, come Holy Spirit into this week. May we walk with You. May we have eyes and ears to see and hear Your kingdom. May we recognize it. May we participate in it. May we bring good and light we ask in Your precious and holy name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And we’re at the beginning of the week. It’s a good time to jump into community if you haven’t yet. So, the Community section of the website gives you different links of the different social media channels that we are participating in. It’s good…it’s a good place to…well…it’s a good thing to follow and that way if we’re announcing something or are mentioning a song that got played, that’s where we post these things, that’s where you find out like, “what was that song” that’s where you find out. We post that on social media. So, be sure to do that. Check it out and while you’re in the Community section the Prayer Wall is there as well. So, stop by. And maybe you have some things you want prayer or maybe you’re just stopping by for a second just to lend your heart and…and…and your mind and to send your prayers over one that catches your eye and maybe they’ll know and maybe you’ll respond or maybe you won’t but there’s never a shortage, like it's…it’s always on, it’s never off, there’s always something to pray for. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. I thank you with all of my heart for clicking that link. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, it’s a little different link, it’s a Give link in the upper right-hand corner of the app screen or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Numbers 21:1-22:20, Luke 1:26-56, Psalms 57:1-11, Proverbs 11:9-11

Today is the 14^th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s wonderful to be here with you as we close down another of the weeks that we have to share together. This will end our 11^th week of the year, So, we are 11 weeks in of 52 and we are well on our way. So, let’s dive in and take that next step forward. We’re continuing our journey through the book of Numbers and we kind of contextualized where we are. The Edomites will not let the children of Israel go through their land. They won’t their own family go through their land. Aaron has passed away on Mont Hor and Moses won’t be the one to lead the children of Israel into the land of promise. And that was just yesterday. So, we’re reading from the contemporary English version this week. Numbers chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for the 11 weeks that we have journeyed into this year and we can look back and we’re well beyond the shore now. We’re sailing out into the deep, and we can feel it because You are calling to the deep things in our hearts and so much is shifting inside. And what’s happening is that we are becoming good soil for Your word, that it might yield fruit in our lives, and through our lives may minister to the world, that we might be light in the darkness, that we might have eyes to see. And, so, we’re seeing now our place in this story and we’re beginning to see that the stories in the Bible are not dissimilar to our own story. They’re just wearing different clothes. They’re just at a different time. They have different customs, but the motivations of the heart are identical. It’s our story. It’s the story of God with us. And even as we are revisiting this story in depth in the gospel of Luke, we invite You to awaken it in us. Come Holy Spirit. As we release this week the only way is forward. And, so, we release this week as it becomes a part of our history and we look forward to all that You will do in the coming week. Come Jesus we pray. In Your mighty name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base if you hadn’t figured that out. I remind us every day. It’s home base for the Global Campfire for a virtual community like ours. This is the place, this is the jumping off place, this is the landing place, this is where you find out what’s going on around here. It’s where you connect with community, it’s where you reach the Prayer Wall, it’s where you find resources for the journey. It’s home base, so be sure to check it out.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website as well. There’s a link on the homepage and I humbly and deeply thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. That is a fact. That has always been the reality and I’m grateful that we keep taken steps forward together. So, thank you for your partnership. So, there’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996. Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can press the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top and just start sharing no matter where you are in the world. That’s why we built it. No matter where you are there’s a hotline. We’re never in this alone. We’re in this together. So, you can hit that Hotline button or there are a number of phone numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. In the Americas 877- 942-4253. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078. And if you are in the lands down under in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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