A Walk Through The Word

Jeremiah 6:16-8:7, Colossians 2:8-23, Psalm 78:1-31, Proverbs 24:26

Today is the sixth day of the month of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today, as we continue our journey into and through the fourth quarter of the year. And the changing of the seasons as. Well, here in the northern hemisphere things begin to cool down and get ready to rest for the winter. Yeah it’s, here in the rolling hills of Tennessee, the leaves will really do their magic and it can be really, really lovely during this month. And into next month of course, and depends on where you are in the world. It could be just about time to turn springtime, if you’re in the southern hemisphere. And if you’re in the northern hemisphere, depending where you are, if you’re up north it’s like, yeah, about time to snow. Like, it will be nice and warm and leaves changing and everything here in the rolling hills of Tennessee for another month, into November, but by November it snows plenty of places in the northern hemisphere. So anyway, I don’t know how we got on a big thing about weather, I’m not really a weather man. I guess, I’m just looking outside, as we prepare to take our next step forward and let’s do more than just prepare, let’s take the next step forward. We are working our way through the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, and today Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 16 through 8 verse 7.

Commentary:

Okay, I wanna reread for us a small paragraph, a few verses out of the letter to the Colossians today, because this is a very concise description of who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and who we are because of what He has done. In other words, this is a very concise spiritual description of our reality. And so, Paul says, “in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form”, right. So, in Jesus the fullness of God exists in bodily form, “and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority,” right. So, in other words, He is the most high. There is none above Him. “In him you were also circumcised with the circumcision not performed by human hands, your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Paul saying like, we were utterly changed because of Jesus. Fundamentally and profoundly changed, changed from death to life, a new creature. Paul unpacks this by saying and I quote, “when you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ,” right. So, when you were dead, God made you alive. “He forgave us all our sins. Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross and having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” So, I mean, I realize these are foundational pieces of theology, that describe the Christian faith and describe the spiritual reality of our lives. So, well I know we’ve heard some of this before because we’ve read it other letters and we’re pretty far into the Bible. So, we understand these precepts and concepts. The question is do we live like this is the truth? Is it our actual functional reality. This is something that the Colossians were struggling with, and Paul tells them, and I quote, “since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules?” And that right there is a big question. The question that we need to meditate upon today and invite God into. If Jesus is the most high God wrapped in flash, who has come and put us back together, what was broken is restored, and what was old is gone and we are new. If that’s true then Paul’s question is fair, since you died with Christ, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to it?

Prayer:

And Holy Spirit come into that question as we spend time going through the question and contemplating it today. If what you have done for us is so fundamentally shifting, why would we choose anything less than total freedom. A freedom that you, that you offered to us. Why do we choose to be less then who we are in You? And the truth is, there are so many stories and so many ways to try to answer that. The woundings of our lives, the way we were raised, the experiences that we’ve had, the fact that were rarely paying attention. And even the fact that sometimes we live as if this weren’t true and enter into doubt. There’s all kinds of reasons that we would choose to be less, but may we begin to understand that we are choosing this. The reality that you have presented to us, is that we have been made new, who we were died, who we are is a resurrected child of God. May we not only contemplate why we would choose less but also give us the resolve to choose all that You have for us. We ask this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus, in whom all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. And You have brought us to fullness, and we accept. Help us to walk in fullness, we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is home, home base, home of the Global Campfire. It’s where you can find out what’s going on around here. As I mentioned most every day. So, certainly check it out. Check out the Daily Audio Bible app. If you haven’t, just search for Daily Audio Bible in the App Store that works with your device and then all this will be in the palm of your hand. Check out the different sections like the Community Section or the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Just kind of browse around and get familiar and get connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If having a place around the Global Campfire to come to each and every day. This little oasis that we make of peace and serenity together each day. If that is life-giving to you, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, no matter where you are in the world. That’s the little red button up at the top or there are a number of numbers that you can call: in the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial, if you are in the UK or Europe 44 2036 088078 is the number call, and if you are in Australia or that part of the world 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.

Prayer and Encouragement:

Hi, this is Toni from Germany, and this message is for Rebecca from Michigan. It’s so nice to hear you again. Yeah, I would say that in your situation, my though is, where is the commonality in your experiences with what other people feel? Yeah, you can go to church and be sitting alone but you know ahead of you can be a family together. But maybe one of those individuals sitting with the family, feels completely alone. I remember going to a retreat once when I was younger and when we first arrived everybody was so joyful and I’m thinking these guys just don’t know what suffering is. I was kind of ignorant. And in the week, in the weekend retreat suddenly people started to let down their mask and share what they were fighting with, what they were contending with. Oh my God, to see the individual trials, challenges, their vulnerability. So, I would just say, you know, you may not see it but a lot of things you’re contending with, many, many, many, many other people, more than not, are contending with. For example, I don’t think anyone here has ever not said something that another person considered inappropriate. Also, no one wants to be treated badly by others. Most people are protective in that regard. And then I would just encourage you to look for Bible figures that can inspire you on your journey. God Bless you.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, this is Travis from Alberta, Canada. Rebecca from Michigan, I just heard your message today. I relate so much to what you’re going through. You know, I, for 8 years, I didn’t go to church. This was before COVID. Eight years I didn’t go to church because, you know, I was hurt by the church, and I didn’t know how to trust people. And so, I literally just stand in my house and did church from online or just read my Bible, listened to the Daily Audio Bible and for many years, the Daily Audio Bible was my church family. And I know how scary it can be when you’re in that mindset of seclusion and then you try to go back to church. And then you just feel more scared and things like that. But I just want to say that, keep trying. Like, we were created by God to do this, this life, this life of faith in community. And I just wanted to encourage you. I’m a guy that also deals with anxiety and depression. And I just, if the church that you’re going to right now doesn’t, doesn’t make you feel safe or anything like that, maybe it’s time to start and looking for a different church. But I just want to encourage you to not give up, to get back out there and to find a church that you can feel at home. And just know that you have a home here at the Daily Audio Bible. God bless you all. Bye.

Hi DAB family, this is Dorothy out in California. Just wanted to reach out to some of the DABers. Biola of Maryland, I’m so sorry for your loss. I pray that God comforts you. And Anne out in California, don’t feel guilty, I pray that God guides you. And Renzo, thank you for being an inspiration in following God’s conviction and calling in your life. It’s inspiring to me to follow God, even when his instructions are difficult or unusual. I love you DAB family so much, all of you. And I pray that God blesses you and guides you and comforts you and heals you and just meets you were all your needs are. I pray that God, blesses you and makes His face shine upon you and gives you peace. I love you DAB family.

I’m calling because I heard a prayer request from our brother on September 26th and you didn’t leave your name, but you said that you are struggling with your faith, and you don’t even know if you’re a Christian. And I just want to share a little bit about my story, and I hope it will encourage you. I…I was not raised in a Christian home; I was raised with Atheism, really indoctrinated in Atheism. So, I didn’t even believe in God. But God loves us so much and He has an amazing and really just wonderful ways of drawing me to Him all my life. And I didn’t even recognize it a lot of times. But He’s just, I can look back and see how He’s been working in my life. And my walk with Him, my journey has been really a rough road. I’ve drawn near to Him, as He’s drawn me to himself but then I’ve also walked away. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and I’ve been on a lot of detours, some small, some big. But at one point I was sitting at my kitchen table, and I was reading my Bible in the morning at breakfast. And I just said to God very honestly, I just said, I don’t even know if I believe this is Your word. I don’t even know if I know You. I don’t even know if I believe in You. And I told Him I really want too though. And it was, it’s just been so amazing. Ever since then He has just lead me into a much deeper relationship with Him and helped me to really know Him and really understand Him and really opened His word to me. So, I just pray brother, be honest with yourself but also, be honest with God and He will lead you to Him. God bless you. I’ll be praying for you.

Recently I’ve been reflecting on a picture I received from my brother Mike, it was taken a little over ten years ago. And in this picture, he and I are standing in the back yard, under a big pecan tree, beaming with pride. Smiling our mother and father’s smile. His son, little Mike was there, my grandson, Denzel was there. Two young men, strong, full of promise, ready to face the challenges that the world would offer. My daughter Niecey is also in this picture. A beautiful young princess, Denzel’s mother, another person, full of promise. Also, in this picture was my little dog Kimey, an all-American mix, that doesn’t know that humans can be cruel. When I think about this picture, I think about Job and how quickly life can change. Job’s life was abundantly blessed. Until God gave Satan permission to touch it. And then his before and after was dramatic. And the people in this picture, the before and after, was pretty dramatic too. I am now blind, my brother Mike is dead, little Mike and Denzel both are incarcerated and my daughter Niecey, suffered a massive stroke that left her with severe limitations, when it comes to speech and mobility. My little dog Kimey was stolen right out of the yard and has never been seen since. But just like Job, I to say, even if He slay me, yet will I serve Him. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to David Michael Thice and Darlene, know you’re very much loved and thought of often. And once again Brian and the Hardin Family, thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin ya’ll. Alright, bye bye.

Ozzy Bear, this is from Treasure to Treasure. And I was going to wait to call in after I had finished listening to all the community prayers and had something else, I was going to say after my first time back the other day. But God has prompted me go ahead and reach out to you. I am over the edge of the cliff also. But I’m hanging on and here’s my hand. Ozzy Bear reach out and grab ahold and climb up over me. And reach up to the DAB who are on the top of the mountain, reaching down to help us. Grab ahold of them and pull them up in their strength and then grab ahold and pull me up and all of the others who are over the edge and suffering and just hanging on for dear life. I understand fully how you feel, cause I’ve even said with my own mouth, if this is just existing, why, it’s not living. But there’s just something that keeps me going and all of the prayers and the messages going out from the DAB community who call me back and tell me they miss me. Those prayers are what have kept me from just totally just walking away and saying it’s not worth it. I don’t know your complete situation any better than you know mine but the hellish circumstances that I have been dealing with, I understand. So, grab ahold sister. Help me, help others.

Jerimiah 4:19-6:15, Colossians 1:18-2:7, Psalms 77:1-20, Proverbs 24:23-25

Today is the 5^th day of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward. And our next step forward on the journey will lead us back into the book of Jeremiah. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. And today Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 19 through 6 verse 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there is something profoundly helpful for us that can be found in our reading from Psalm 77 today. And the psalmist Asaph, who wrote this song asked six questions and they are questions that circle around our lives. Like, they are questions that are really difficult spiritual questions, but they’re questions that creep into our lives, especially when we’re facing a season of endurance or hardship. And, so Asaph asks, “will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show His favor again?” Like, I don’t know if this all starts sounding…we’re just two questions in, but they start sounding familiar. “Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger, withheld His compassion?” We find these questions in the Bible and we may think, you’re not supposed to ask questions like that, you’re not supposed to say things like that but we’re just quoting the Bible. The Bible is asking these questions so that we might read them and ask them ourselves. They’re there for us to ponder and consider. It’s just when these kinds of questions arise in our lives there’s already usually something going on that’s making us uneasy because something isn’t working the way we thought it was supposed to work. So, first of all let’s just simply acknowledge. These questions are in the Psalms which are in the Bible. They’re being asked out loud. We just read them out loud. They’re fair questions to ponder but when those type of questions arise in our lives, we have the answers or the ability to conceive of the answers directly from the psalm. And, so, Asaph says, after he asks these questions, he says, “to this I will appeal; the years when the most high stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. So, basically what we see here is when these questions…and again…repeating them, “will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show his favor again? Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger, withheld His compassion?” Asaph suggests that when we face those kinds of questions in our lives that the response is to stop and remember what God has already done. So, like this becomes super helpful to those of us who like journal our way through the Scriptures or journal our way through life because we are literally setting up a memorial stone for ourselves and for future generations. We are writing the story of what happened. And as with Asaph, we can look back into our own lives and see that God…like we’re still here. God brought us through the thing we didn’t think we were going to go through. He brought us through in the way that He brought us through. It was counterintuitive as He normally is, and all of our expectations were met in ways that we never expected and we see God’s hand in our lives through looking back and remembering what God has done in our life. And the Scriptures give us the same thing, a broad ability to look back and see what God has done so that we know that the answers to these questions are that God has not rejected forever, that He will show His favor, that His unfailing love has not vanished, that His promises have not failed, that He has not forgotten to be merciful, and that He is not withholding His compassion because we can look back into our own lives and get clarity for the fog we are facing now. Because these kinds of questions come up when were in the fog. We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know which…which we way is up in which way is down. We’re confused. And, so, these questions arise. But when we stop and review and look back at God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the Scripture over thousands of years then we begin to understand, yeah, I can’t see right now, it’s foggy right now, I’m confused right now but that’s not all that’s really going on. I will continue to trust in the Lord and move through this season and when I can look back on the season, I will see that God had never departed from me and was compassionate and merciful to me, did show me his favor, did not reject me, but brought me through. So, let’s remember this lesson. It’s not a problem to ask the questions, but in order to find the answers to the questions we have to be willing to stop, to stop what we’re doing, the frantic behavior that we’re doing. Stop and remember what God has done and then we can begin to see what God is doing.

Prayer:

Father, we welcome you into that. We find ourselves confused more than we would care to admit and more than we would like. And when we find ourselves tremendously uncomfortable, we start to wonder about where you went and whether or not you still are powerful and whether or not you still love us and have compassion and mercy upon us when the truth is those things will never fail. You haven’t gone anywhere. We’ve just lost our site. Restore our site by helping us remember what you have brought us through so that we can look at what we are going through knowing that this too shall pass, and we will navigate this, and you will direct us. We ask this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base, that is where you can find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app does the same thing and you can get that from the app store that works with your phone or your tablet. Just search for Daily Audio Bible and you’ll be able to find it.

Check out the different sections like the Initiatives section. See what’s going on there. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources in a number of categories that live there in the Shop and they’re for us around the Global Campfire to take this journey deeper. Check out the Community section. There are links there to get connected on social media. It’s also, where the Prayer Wall lives. And, so, check that out as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to whoever will listen wherever they may be on this planet whatever time of day or night it may be, and to build community around this rhythm of being around the Global Campfire together so that as we take this journey we do not wander alone, we journey together, if that is life-giving to you then thank you profoundly and humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or 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. That’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Coming soon…

Jerimiah 4:19-6:15, Colossians 1:18-2:7, Psalms 77:1-20, Proverbs 24:23-25

Today is the 5^th day of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward. And our next step forward on the journey will lead us back into the book of Jeremiah. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. And today Jeremiah chapter 4 verse 19 through 6 verse 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there is something profoundly helpful for us that can be found in our reading from Psalm 77 today. And the psalmist Asaph, who wrote this song asked six questions and they are questions that circle around our lives. Like, they are questions that are really difficult spiritual questions, but they’re questions that creep into our lives, especially when we’re facing a season of endurance or hardship. And, so Asaph asks, “will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show His favor again?” Like, I don’t know if this all starts sounding…we’re just two questions in, but they start sounding familiar. “Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger, withheld His compassion?” We find these questions in the Bible and we may think, you’re not supposed to ask questions like that, you’re not supposed to say things like that but we’re just quoting the Bible. The Bible is asking these questions so that we might read them and ask them ourselves. They’re there for us to ponder and consider. It’s just when these kinds of questions arise in our lives there’s already usually something going on that’s making us uneasy because something isn’t working the way we thought it was supposed to work. So, first of all let’s just simply acknowledge. These questions are in the Psalms which are in the Bible. They’re being asked out loud. We just read them out loud. They’re fair questions to ponder but when those type of questions arise in our lives, we have the answers or the ability to conceive of the answers directly from the psalm. And, so, Asaph says, after he asks these questions, he says, “to this I will appeal; the years when the most high stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. So, basically what we see here is when these questions…and again…repeating them, “will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show his favor again? Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger, withheld His compassion?” Asaph suggests that when we face those kinds of questions in our lives that the response is to stop and remember what God has already done. So, like this becomes super helpful to those of us who like journal our way through the Scriptures or journal our way through life because we are literally setting up a memorial stone for ourselves and for future generations. We are writing the story of what happened. And as with Asaph, we can look back into our own lives and see that God…like we’re still here. God brought us through the thing we didn’t think we were going to go through. He brought us through in the way that He brought us through. It was counterintuitive as He normally is, and all of our expectations were met in ways that we never expected and we see God’s hand in our lives through looking back and remembering what God has done in our life. And the Scriptures give us the same thing, a broad ability to look back and see what God has done so that we know that the answers to these questions are that God has not rejected forever, that He will show His favor, that His unfailing love has not vanished, that His promises have not failed, that He has not forgotten to be merciful, and that He is not withholding His compassion because we can look back into our own lives and get clarity for the fog we are facing now. Because these kinds of questions come up when were in the fog. We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t know which…which we way is up in which way is down. We’re confused. And, so, these questions arise. But when we stop and review and look back at God’s faithfulness in our lives and in the Scripture over thousands of years then we begin to understand, yeah, I can’t see right now, it’s foggy right now, I’m confused right now but that’s not all that’s really going on. I will continue to trust in the Lord and move through this season and when I can look back on the season, I will see that God had never departed from me and was compassionate and merciful to me, did show me his favor, did not reject me, but brought me through. So, let’s remember this lesson. It’s not a problem to ask the questions, but in order to find the answers to the questions we have to be willing to stop, to stop what we’re doing, the frantic behavior that we’re doing. Stop and remember what God has done and then we can begin to see what God is doing.

Prayer:

Father, we welcome you into that. We find ourselves confused more than we would care to admit and more than we would like. And when we find ourselves tremendously uncomfortable, we start to wonder about where you went and whether or not you still are powerful and whether or not you still love us and have compassion and mercy upon us when the truth is those things will never fail. You haven’t gone anywhere. We’ve just lost our site. Restore our site by helping us remember what you have brought us through so that we can look at what we are going through knowing that this too shall pass, and we will navigate this, and you will direct us. We ask this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base, that is where you can find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app does the same thing and you can get that from the app store that works with your phone or your tablet. Just search for Daily Audio Bible and you’ll be able to find it.

Check out the different sections like the Initiatives section. See what’s going on there. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources in a number of categories that live there in the Shop and they’re for us around the Global Campfire to take this journey deeper. Check out the Community section. There are links there to get connected on social media. It’s also, where the Prayer Wall lives. And, so, check that out as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to whoever will listen wherever they may be on this planet whatever time of day or night it may be, and to build community around this rhythm of being around the Global Campfire together so that as we take this journey we do not wander alone, we journey together, if that is life-giving to you then thank you profoundly and humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or 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. That’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Coming soon…

Jeremiah 6:16-8:7, Colossians 2:8-23, Psalm 78:1-31, Proverbs 24:26

Today is the fourth day of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a joy to be back together, around the Global Campfire again today. Today, and every day. As we center ourselves around the Scriptures, come together in community and allow the Holy Spirit to work through the Scriptures and transforming our lives all over the place, what a joy that this place exists and that we can come here and find a place around the Global Campfire and move forward together. We began the book of Jeremiah yesterday. We talked about that then. And so, we’ll continue that journey today. We also concluded Paul’s letter to the Philippians yesterday, so that means that when we get to the New Testament today, we will move into new territory and that new territory is another of the letters of Paul. This one to the church at Colossae, also known as Colossians and we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, let’s dive back in the Jeremiah. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 31 through 4 verse 18.

Introduction to the Book of Colossians:

Okay, so, we mentioned at the beginning, that we would be moving into another of Paul’s letters, brand-new, fresh and shiny and sparkly today. The letter to the Colossians, which happens to be the 12th book in the New Testament. And Colossae wasn’t a place that Paul had never heard of before. He was obviously writing a letter to people. He was familiar enough; he spent a lot of time in Ephesus, as we know. And Colossae’s about 100 miles from Ephesus, which is in the western part of modern-day Turkey. Actually, Colossae has been discovered; it’s just a mound like so many archaeological sites that have…haven’t been officially excavated professionally. But it has been identified. So, it’s the ruins of what it once was. But during Paul’s life, it wasn’t in ruins. It was a melting pot, a secular city. A lot of mingling of philosophical ideas, a lot of religious exchange. And these things had made their way into the church at Colossae. And so, this letter is a response to that. And it is believed, along with some of the other letters that we have written, this letter to the Colossians was written while Paul was in prison in Rome, making this a prison epistle or a letter written from prison. And we’ve already talked about this, like this trial that Paul is waiting for, is a life and death trial. So, just kind of having that in the back of our minds as the back story, is certainly compelling enough to make us sit up and pay attention. And like most of Paul’s letters, this isn’t an extraordinarily long letter; the letter to the Romans is a pretty long letter, a lot longer than Colossians. But in Colossians, Paul is trying to deal basically with two things. One is an issue of doctrine. It seems that people had visited Colossae and had visited the Colossian church and were teaching the worship of angels and…and other rituals that just were not part of the churches that Paul planted. And so, Paul addresses this by reminding the Colossians that Jesus is supreme over all creation. There is no one, worshiping angels isn’t worshiping God. He tells the Colossians that the whole universe, everything was created by and through Jesus and everything is held together and sustained through the Lordship of Jesus. And then the other issue that Paul’s writing about is an issue that we have seen in other letters. This is the whether or not you have to be circumcised to become a follower of Jesus. And it’s even deeper than that, like circumcision is this outward representation of the idea that one would need to convert to Judaism and come under the…the Mosaic law and follow the rituals and customs and worldview of the Jewish people, and then follow Jesus. Circumcision being this outward sign of that, something that the people were, not to make a pun, that were quite religious about. And from reading other letters, we come to know Paul’s posture about it. We know where he stands. He doesn’t like it and he has, he has similar things to say to the Colossians that we’ve heard before. And it’s good for us to have these letters because these are letters to different communities in different regions, and they have in the space of a similar time period. So, it just kind of reading between the lines, looking at the things that Paul is feeling. Like he needs to tell the church. It allows us then, to look inside the church community of our early brothers and sisters and see what was going on. The kinds of things that they were wrestling with, which then helps us with context, not only to understand the Scriptures, but context to apply to our own lives and the things that we have to wrestle with. So, with that, let’s go ahead and dive in and wrestle together, as we move through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Today chapter 1 verses 1 through 17.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. Once again, thank You for bringing us into this month and we’re settling into some new territory here in the book of Colossians and in the book of Jeremiah. And we open our hearts fully to what You have to speak to us, we thank You for your patience. Thank You for your guidance. Thank You for Your comfort and correction and we want to be transformed too. Sometimes it’s really painful. And sometimes it’s really, really, really hard work. Like we were talking about yesterday, but the peace that passes all understanding and the fact that we have to collaborate in that. So, we simply recognize our own inability to sustain any of this and we cling desperately to what Paul is saying today in Colossians, that You hold it all together and have us. And so, hold it together for us Lord, thank You for your compassion, while we continue to grow and learn. Holy Spirit come, may we mature, may we grow. We confess we act like little toddlers all of the time, stamping our feet and rolling around on the ground when we don’t get our way. We so often get confused as if You are our servant, instead of that we are Your servants. We are Your servant, Lord. Thank You for letting us be a part of Your story. Lead us into all truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the home of the Global Campfire, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here, and so, check it out. The Daily Audio Bible app is available as well. And that puts everything in the palm of your hands and just look for that at the App Store that works with your phone. And check out different sections like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there in and bunch of different categories of the Shop that have been created and crafted for the journey that we are on through the Bible in a year. And so, you can browse all of that in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, either on the web or in the app.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If coming around the Global Campfire is life-giving and meaningful for you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi Daily Audio Bible family, this is Heather in Ohio. I wanted to call in with some encouragement for our sister who is going through with the foster and adoption process. And feels like she has to prove herself to these people, so that they will be impressed and give her a child. Oh, sweet sister, I just want to encourage you to consider shifting your mindset to remember that God has got you. I’m praying that He will give your heart peace. And the verse comes to mind that He fights our battles for us, we need only be still in His presence. I, like you, went through the adoption process and I know it’s filled with so many hoops. But I want to consider, want you to consider to just come at it from just a place of peace, the peace that only Jesus can bring. And the knowledge that He has chosen this child for you from the beginning of before time began, from the beginning of the world. I just imagine Him putting His hands on your face and turning your beautiful face to look in His eyes that are full of peace and strength and know that He’s got you and that you don’t have to perform and jump through hoops and prover yourself because He’s already done that. And so, yes, you will still need to do paperwork and jump through the hoops that are in place in the system. But I just am praying that God’s peace would wash over you, just knowing that He’s got you and He’s chosen the child for you. Love you dear sister. Hang in there. Love you lots. Bye.

Hi, I’m a long-time listener, I’ve rarely left messages over the years. I don’t have a name, so I guess I’ll just go by The Mountain is Higher that I. I need to ask for prayers for my family. For many years I’ve been dealing with sexual addiction. I’ve been in recovering for the better part of a decade. And it seems like it’s better than it used to be but it’s still not good enough. I keep testing the lines of my sobriety. And I am really tired of it, I don’t want to do this anymore. It’s hurting my wife and I know my kids feel the strain between us. I just, I’m asking for prayer. Please, please pray that the Lord will help me to surrender my dishonesty, pride and my will. Pray for my wife as she deals with the hurt from me getting honest with her. And pray for our family, that God will heal the brokenness in our relationships, now, before it gets worse. This is a road that I don’t wanna keep going down. Thank you.

Good morning, Daily Audio Bible this is Delights in Me. And I’m doing my weekly call in, even though this is uncomfortable for me. I’m an introvert by nature. I like standing back and observing. I don’t really like putting myself out there. But I am learning that God’s wants us united, and the devil likes us divided. He likes us feeling isolated and unique in a negative way. Feeling like we’re the only ones that feel this or go through that or whatever. And that’s such a lie. We are designed to a part of a community. And so, even though it feels uncomfortable I encourage you to call and be a part of this community. And so, when you call, just call and speak what’s from your heart. Don’t compare yourself with other people. And the same in church. Someone called recently about feeling like they weren’t part of the church, they didn’t feel accepted, they didn’t feel like they can’t fit it. And again, that’s such a lie. Put yourself out there, invite someone home for dinner or tea or whatever. Try to connect because we need that. And chances are everyone else feels the same way as you. Anyway, time is ticking away. I hope you all have a beautiful day. I’m off for the next few days and am enjoying time with friends. So, I’m looking forward to a beautiful day here in New England of hiking. Love you guys, praying for you. God bless.

Hi everybody, this is Kelly from California. And I’m calling to ask for prayer, this time for myself. I’m gonna be 60 tomorrow, September 30th and I don’t want to feel so lonely. I mean, my close family members, a lot of them passed away, including my sister. She did last year in October. So, October is like a month, cause I lost my dad and my sister in October. But I definitely need prayer, I’ve been having bad memories. I need prayer to help block out those bad memories that keep coming back and haunting me. And to restore a relationship I had with a cousin, I kind of can’t blame him for not wanting to talk to me but this mans supposed to be a Deacon of a church and claimed to be a Christian so, just restore our relationship in the future. And God would bring me a good Christian man. I had a bad relationship with my father in the past. But that got cleared up about 5 years prior to his passing. Because of people on my mom’s side of the family, kept trying to poison me against him. Wasn’t really a lot of what she did, I think they were trying to protect her. As a result, my sister and I got pretty messed up. So, but I just need help in how to block out the bad memories when they come. And take care everybody.

Hey DAB family, this is Beloved in Texas. Sitting here in my car, waiting for my daughter to get out of her voice lesson and a lady pulled up next to me with a little kid in the seat next to her. Baby seat in the back and no back windshield. And the lining is coming off the top of her car. She stopped and asked if there was anything, any work that I had for her to do. Cause she’s, she’s trying to find a place to stay. It’s not my area of town and honestly, we’re trying to get out of a financial bind right now. I was more than happy to hand over the cash I had in my wallet and praise the Lord, she did, let me grab her hand and pray with her. Her name is Meeka and she has two little babies. So, if my DAB family wouldn’t mind lifting her up along with me, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you.

Hey siblings, it’s me, your little sis, His Little Sharee. With a prayer request and a confession. So, to start with the prayer request. As you know, my friend Mirna, Miracle Mirna, as I call her, is dealing with bed bugs, again. And so, they’ve told her that they’re gonna spray in her apartment, the end of next week. She’s looking for a place to stay for a couple of days while they do that. She talked to her friend that she stayed with last time and asked if she could stay there again and the friend said, I don’t think so. Because I have bed bugs now. And so, they figure, Mirna, unknowingly brought bed bugs with her when she stayed there last time. So, Mirna called me today and asked, I don’t have anywhere to go, can I stay at your place? And I said, well, if you can’t find anywhere else to stay, yes, you can stay here. Here comes the confession and you can guess what it is. I don’t want her to stay here. I’m deathly afraid of bed bugs and I’ve had an honest conversation with God about it. I’ve told him point blank; I don’t want Mirna to stay here. And I’ve asked Him if He would please find another place for Mirna to stay. I kind of doubt that He’ll answer that prayer, well, He’ll answer it with a firm no. Because I just feel like, you know, I can’t not take her in when she needs a place to stay. So, please join me in praying that if and when she comes, that she will not bring bed bugs with her. There’s precautions that we’ll take but prayer is the most important one.

Jeremiah 6:16-8:7, Colossians 2:8-23, Psalm 78:1-31, Proverbs 24:26

Today is the fourth day of October, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a joy to be back together, around the Global Campfire again today. Today, and every day. As we center ourselves around the Scriptures, come together in community and allow the Holy Spirit to work through the Scriptures and transforming our lives all over the place, what a joy that this place exists and that we can come here and find a place around the Global Campfire and move forward together. We began the book of Jeremiah yesterday. We talked about that then. And so, we’ll continue that journey today. We also concluded Paul’s letter to the Philippians yesterday, so that means that when we get to the New Testament today, we will move into new territory and that new territory is another of the letters of Paul. This one to the church at Colossae, also known as Colossians and we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, let’s dive back in the Jeremiah. We’re reading from the New International Version this week, Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 31 through 4 verse 18.

Introduction to the Book of Colossians:

Okay, so, we mentioned at the beginning, that we would be moving into another of Paul’s letters, brand-new, fresh and shiny and sparkly today. The letter to the Colossians, which happens to be the 12th book in the New Testament. And Colossae wasn’t a place that Paul had never heard of before. He was obviously writing a letter to people. He was familiar enough; he spent a lot of time in Ephesus, as we know. And Colossae’s about 100 miles from Ephesus, which is in the western part of modern-day Turkey. Actually, Colossae has been discovered; it’s just a mound like so many archaeological sites that have…haven’t been officially excavated professionally. But it has been identified. So, it’s the ruins of what it once was. But during Paul’s life, it wasn’t in ruins. It was a melting pot, a secular city. A lot of mingling of philosophical ideas, a lot of religious exchange. And these things had made their way into the church at Colossae. And so, this letter is a response to that. And it is believed, along with some of the other letters that we have written, this letter to the Colossians was written while Paul was in prison in Rome, making this a prison epistle or a letter written from prison. And we’ve already talked about this, like this trial that Paul is waiting for, is a life and death trial. So, just kind of having that in the back of our minds as the back story, is certainly compelling enough to make us sit up and pay attention. And like most of Paul’s letters, this isn’t an extraordinarily long letter; the letter to the Romans is a pretty long letter, a lot longer than Colossians. But in Colossians, Paul is trying to deal basically with two things. One is an issue of doctrine. It seems that people had visited Colossae and had visited the Colossian church and were teaching the worship of angels and…and other rituals that just were not part of the churches that Paul planted. And so, Paul addresses this by reminding the Colossians that Jesus is supreme over all creation. There is no one, worshiping angels isn’t worshiping God. He tells the Colossians that the whole universe, everything was created by and through Jesus and everything is held together and sustained through the Lordship of Jesus. And then the other issue that Paul’s writing about is an issue that we have seen in other letters. This is the whether or not you have to be circumcised to become a follower of Jesus. And it’s even deeper than that, like circumcision is this outward representation of the idea that one would need to convert to Judaism and come under the…the Mosaic law and follow the rituals and customs and worldview of the Jewish people, and then follow Jesus. Circumcision being this outward sign of that, something that the people were, not to make a pun, that were quite religious about. And from reading other letters, we come to know Paul’s posture about it. We know where he stands. He doesn’t like it and he has, he has similar things to say to the Colossians that we’ve heard before. And it’s good for us to have these letters because these are letters to different communities in different regions, and they have in the space of a similar time period. So, it just kind of reading between the lines, looking at the things that Paul is feeling. Like he needs to tell the church. It allows us then, to look inside the church community of our early brothers and sisters and see what was going on. The kinds of things that they were wrestling with, which then helps us with context, not only to understand the Scriptures, but context to apply to our own lives and the things that we have to wrestle with. So, with that, let’s go ahead and dive in and wrestle together, as we move through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Today chapter 1 verses 1 through 17.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. Once again, thank You for bringing us into this month and we’re settling into some new territory here in the book of Colossians and in the book of Jeremiah. And we open our hearts fully to what You have to speak to us, we thank You for your patience. Thank You for your guidance. Thank You for Your comfort and correction and we want to be transformed too. Sometimes it’s really painful. And sometimes it’s really, really, really hard work. Like we were talking about yesterday, but the peace that passes all understanding and the fact that we have to collaborate in that. So, we simply recognize our own inability to sustain any of this and we cling desperately to what Paul is saying today in Colossians, that You hold it all together and have us. And so, hold it together for us Lord, thank You for your compassion, while we continue to grow and learn. Holy Spirit come, may we mature, may we grow. We confess we act like little toddlers all of the time, stamping our feet and rolling around on the ground when we don’t get our way. We so often get confused as if You are our servant, instead of that we are Your servants. We are Your servant, Lord. Thank You for letting us be a part of Your story. Lead us into all truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the home of the Global Campfire, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here, and so, check it out. The Daily Audio Bible app is available as well. And that puts everything in the palm of your hands and just look for that at the App Store that works with your phone. And check out different sections like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources there in and bunch of different categories of the Shop that have been created and crafted for the journey that we are on through the Bible in a year. And so, you can browse all of that in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, either on the web or in the app.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. If coming around the Global Campfire is life-giving and meaningful for you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Prayer and Encouragements will be posted the evening of 6OCT22.

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30, Philippians 4:1-23, Psalms 75:1-10, Proverbs 24:17-20

Today is the 3^rd day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together. So, we have moved into a new week. We have moved into a new month. Now today because we finished the book of Isaiah yesterday, we’re moving into a new book in the Old Testament. We’ll also be concluding a letter in the New Testament today. So, movement is happening. So, when we get to the New Testament, we’ll finish the book of Philippians.

Introduction to the book of Jeremiah:

But now here at the beginning in the Old Testament, we have reached the beginning of the book of Jeremiah, which is a part of the grouping of books known as the major prophets, just like Isaiah. And Jeremiah is prophesying a couple of decades before and then through the Babylonian attack and conquest things that we read about when we were reading in second Kings and second Chronicles. Jeremiah is a prophetic voice during this time. And as with many prophetic voices and prophetic books that are in the Bible, we have these oracles from God. And so, like with Isaiah, we’re jumping around a lot because the things that he had to say were aimed in different directions at different times. So, it’s not like a linear narrative story - like this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened. Jeremiah is a book of prophecy so it’s like this as well, but it’s intriguing because we…we get a glimpse more into Jeremiah’s mindset and he does not want to be doing some of the things that he’s invited to do, especially at the time that he’s invited to do them. And, so, there is an authenticity to Jeremiah that we get to understand. And we need to see the frustration of a prophet who thinks nobody’s listening and he just wants to be released from the mission. And it wasn’t just making it up. Israel had turned her back on God and for more than two decades Jeremiah was one of the only, if not the only voice of warning the people that the direction they were going in wasn’t going to end anywhere good. They were on the wrong path going in the wrong direction. And this often led Jeremiah to be in conflict with the people. This is a time where there is reasonable prosperity. It doesn’t look like there’s impending doom. And, so, if…you know, if business is good, but there is a doomsayer then the doomsayer probably isn’t good for business. The business people want people to spend their money, right, not be freaked out that something bad is about to happen. And this went up the chain until powerful enough people were just fed up with Jeremiah and all of his interference. And, so, we’ll watch that even though Jeremiah has frustration and even a tremendous amount of sadness his loyalty to God remains true. And as it turns out he was speaking from the Lord and telling the people the truth. Babylon did invade the land in 587 BC. Jerusalem, the holy city, fell. The palace of God that Solomon had made was leveled, completely destroyed. And through it all, Jeremiah is there giving words from the Lord to instruct the people how to navigate what is happening and they’re not listening. So, with that we begin one of the most intriguing prophet in the Bible. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 30 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve already spent some time talking about Jeremiah, this new prophetic book that we are moving into. So, I don’t want to spend a bunch of time right now, but we’ve closed the letter to the Philippians today as well. And Philippians ends with some very, very well worn versus that are very often quoted and probably a good portion of us know them. We’ve all probably heard them but probably know them by heart. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”, which we would maybe more popularly know, “which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And we stand on that. And when somebody in our sphere of influence is going through something oftentimes, we’ll say that “the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” as a way of saying it’s gonna be okay. And there’s literally nothing wrong with encouraging each other in this way. It’s just that that’s not all of it. That’s not all that was being said here. Like there’s a precursor and sort of post reflection on this verse that sits sort of in the middle of an idea or a thought. And, so, when we just lift out, “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” we’re missing most of it. And we can use that verse as a way of encouragement but it’s not some sort of incantation. Like just because we say it doesn’t mean the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds just because we quote this verse. Our participation is actually required. And, so, let’s just look at this again in context so that we see that we have a role to play. And, so, I’m quoting from Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice.” Okay, so there’s part one, “rejoice in the Lord always.” Then Paul goes on, “let your gentleness be evident to all.” That’s part two. “Be aware that the Lord is near.” That’s part three. “Do not to be anxious about anything.” Part four. “In every situation, by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God.” That’s part five. There are five things before we get to, “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.” So, yes, the peace of God that is beyond our understanding that passes our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus. We have to collaborate in activating that. Rejoice, be gentle, be aware of the Lord’s presence, do not be anxious about anything, and in every situation have a thankful heart, be in conversation with God, let Him know what’s going on, present your requests to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds. Let’s just remember we have to participate on our faith journey. And immediately following that, as Paul is closing this letter, we are told how to aim our hearts and minds. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about those things.” So, indeed, life can be chaos and we can’t think clear, and we can’t see clear sometimes. And indeed, the presence of the Holy Spirit when we become aware of it does calm us down, does indeed bring peace. But to cultivate a life where we are living at peace in shalom, peace that passes all understanding that guards us, our heart and our mind then we have to actively incubate these things. An attitude of rejoicing, gentleness, awareness of God’s presence, not being anxious about anything but in everything, praying with Thanksgiving, thinking about what is truly noble and right and pure and lovely, and admirable and excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s like not that much of a leap to simply understand, yeah, I guess if that…if that’s what I’m focusing on, if that’s what I’m seeking and looking for and that’s what I’m observing in this world and in my life, then yes, that would change things considerably based on the sort of things that I obsess about all of the time. So, let’s understand as Paul is closing Philippians and we are closing Philippians and preparing to move forward tomorrow, it’s all available to us. It’s not gonna just fall in our lap’s as if we could take it or leave it as if you don’t even care about the gifts that are being bestowed. We have to interact. We have to collaborate. And when we do God is putting back together what is broken in us and in the world because shalom, the way things are supposed to be is what God is doing. And we get the opportunity to collaborate with that. May we do that, brothers, and sisters. May we begin to realize there really is a better way to be. We can follow the culture. We can obsess about whatever we want to obsess about or numb ourselves in whatever way we want to numb ourselves or we can press into what Paul is saying, understanding that these postures lead somewhere, and that place is good.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and another day. A lot of transition. Transitioning weeks, months, books, and in it all You continue to speak to us and transform us and we are grateful and we need Your help with this. We confess, we’re not rejoicing in You all the time. We’re not being gentle enough to be evident to all all the time. We’re not aware that You are near all the time. Sometimes we can’t figure out where You went, and we certainly can’t claim that we’re anxious about nothing, because we’re anxious about lots of things. And we confess that in every situation we’re not thankful and prayerful. And, so, we realize that we have some work to do in self-discipline, in shifting our orientation, understanding that it is all available. Peace that passes understanding is available but we have to surrender to You and collaborate with You in cultivating what it takes to move in that direction. So, come Holy Spirit into this. May we walk a new path, the path where peace does pass on understanding and guards us we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is…well…that’s home base, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here. Mobile home…mobile home base is the Daily Audio Bible app that sits in the palm of your hand. And you can download that free from whatever app store is connected to your device. And, so, check that out.

And then you can find things like the Community section. And in the Community section there are different links to different social media channels that we participate in. And, so, if there’s an announcement and stuff like that’s good to be following along. But also that is home of the Prayer Wall there in the Community section. And the Prayer Wall is…well…that’s where it lives, and that’s where it stays and its always available day or night. 24 hours a day, rain or shine it is available to us, and we can go there middle of the night, middle of the morning, and share what’s going on and ask our brothers and sisters to come around inside of us because we’re dragging things that are too heavy for us and we need prayer, and we need to know we’re not alone. That’s the place to go. That’s also the place to go to…to offer encouragement, to go and see that brothers and sisters are struggling just like the rest of us and to let each other know, I’ve got you, I’m walking with you. I may be maybe 5000 miles from you. I may be on the other side of the world, but I’ve got you. In spirit we’re knit together, we’re walking together, you’re alone. That makes an awful lot of difference. So, certainly be aware of the Prayer Wall there in the Community section, either on the website at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to anybody, anybody who will listen no matter where they are, no matter what time it is and to build community around this rhythm of showing up for each other every day, showing up to take the next step forward, if that is life to you than thank you for being life-giving. There is a link on the homepage it dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the 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 hit the Hotline button in the app, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Pray and Praise:

Will post very soon. In the process of moving from PA to MA. Stay tuned…

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30, Philippians 4:1-23, Psalms 75:1-10, Proverbs 24:17-20

Today is the 3^rd day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together. So, we have moved into a new week. We have moved into a new month. Now today because we finished the book of Isaiah yesterday, we’re moving into a new book in the Old Testament. We’ll also be concluding a letter in the New Testament today. So, movement is happening. So, when we get to the New Testament, we’ll finish the book of Philippians.

Introduction to the book of Jeremiah:

But now here at the beginning in the Old Testament, we have reached the beginning of the book of Jeremiah, which is a part of the grouping of books known as the major prophets, just like Isaiah. And Jeremiah is prophesying a couple of decades before and then through the Babylonian attack and conquest things that we read about when we were reading in second Kings and second Chronicles. Jeremiah is a prophetic voice during this time. And as with many prophetic voices and prophetic books that are in the Bible, we have these oracles from God. And so, like with Isaiah, we’re jumping around a lot because the things that he had to say were aimed in different directions at different times. So, it’s not like a linear narrative story - like this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened. Jeremiah is a book of prophecy so it’s like this as well, but it’s intriguing because we…we get a glimpse more into Jeremiah’s mindset and he does not want to be doing some of the things that he’s invited to do, especially at the time that he’s invited to do them. And, so, there is an authenticity to Jeremiah that we get to understand. And we need to see the frustration of a prophet who thinks nobody’s listening and he just wants to be released from the mission. And it wasn’t just making it up. Israel had turned her back on God and for more than two decades Jeremiah was one of the only, if not the only voice of warning the people that the direction they were going in wasn’t going to end anywhere good. They were on the wrong path going in the wrong direction. And this often led Jeremiah to be in conflict with the people. This is a time where there is reasonable prosperity. It doesn’t look like there’s impending doom. And, so, if…you know, if business is good, but there is a doomsayer then the doomsayer probably isn’t good for business. The business people want people to spend their money, right, not be freaked out that something bad is about to happen. And this went up the chain until powerful enough people were just fed up with Jeremiah and all of his interference. And, so, we’ll watch that even though Jeremiah has frustration and even a tremendous amount of sadness his loyalty to God remains true. And as it turns out he was speaking from the Lord and telling the people the truth. Babylon did invade the land in 587 BC. Jerusalem, the holy city, fell. The palace of God that Solomon had made was leveled, completely destroyed. And through it all, Jeremiah is there giving words from the Lord to instruct the people how to navigate what is happening and they’re not listening. So, with that we begin one of the most intriguing prophet in the Bible. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 30 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve already spent some time talking about Jeremiah, this new prophetic book that we are moving into. So, I don’t want to spend a bunch of time right now, but we’ve closed the letter to the Philippians today as well. And Philippians ends with some very, very well worn versus that are very often quoted and probably a good portion of us know them. We’ve all probably heard them but probably know them by heart. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”, which we would maybe more popularly know, “which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” And we stand on that. And when somebody in our sphere of influence is going through something oftentimes, we’ll say that “the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” as a way of saying it’s gonna be okay. And there’s literally nothing wrong with encouraging each other in this way. It’s just that that’s not all of it. That’s not all that was being said here. Like there’s a precursor and sort of post reflection on this verse that sits sort of in the middle of an idea or a thought. And, so, when we just lift out, “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” we’re missing most of it. And we can use that verse as a way of encouragement but it’s not some sort of incantation. Like just because we say it doesn’t mean the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds just because we quote this verse. Our participation is actually required. And, so, let’s just look at this again in context so that we see that we have a role to play. And, so, I’m quoting from Paul. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice.” Okay, so there’s part one, “rejoice in the Lord always.” Then Paul goes on, “let your gentleness be evident to all.” That’s part two. “Be aware that the Lord is near.” That’s part three. “Do not to be anxious about anything.” Part four. “In every situation, by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving present your requests to God.” That’s part five. There are five things before we get to, “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.” So, yes, the peace of God that is beyond our understanding that passes our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus. We have to collaborate in activating that. Rejoice, be gentle, be aware of the Lord’s presence, do not be anxious about anything, and in every situation have a thankful heart, be in conversation with God, let Him know what’s going on, present your requests to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds. Let’s just remember we have to participate on our faith journey. And immediately following that, as Paul is closing this letter, we are told how to aim our hearts and minds. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about those things.” So, indeed, life can be chaos and we can’t think clear, and we can’t see clear sometimes. And indeed, the presence of the Holy Spirit when we become aware of it does calm us down, does indeed bring peace. But to cultivate a life where we are living at peace in shalom, peace that passes all understanding that guards us, our heart and our mind then we have to actively incubate these things. An attitude of rejoicing, gentleness, awareness of God’s presence, not being anxious about anything but in everything, praying with Thanksgiving, thinking about what is truly noble and right and pure and lovely, and admirable and excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s like not that much of a leap to simply understand, yeah, I guess if that…if that’s what I’m focusing on, if that’s what I’m seeking and looking for and that’s what I’m observing in this world and in my life, then yes, that would change things considerably based on the sort of things that I obsess about all of the time. So, let’s understand as Paul is closing Philippians and we are closing Philippians and preparing to move forward tomorrow, it’s all available to us. It’s not gonna just fall in our lap’s as if we could take it or leave it as if you don’t even care about the gifts that are being bestowed. We have to interact. We have to collaborate. And when we do God is putting back together what is broken in us and in the world because shalom, the way things are supposed to be is what God is doing. And we get the opportunity to collaborate with that. May we do that, brothers, and sisters. May we begin to realize there really is a better way to be. We can follow the culture. We can obsess about whatever we want to obsess about or numb ourselves in whatever way we want to numb ourselves or we can press into what Paul is saying, understanding that these postures lead somewhere, and that place is good.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and another day. A lot of transition. Transitioning weeks, months, books, and in it all You continue to speak to us and transform us and we are grateful and we need Your help with this. We confess, we’re not rejoicing in You all the time. We’re not being gentle enough to be evident to all all the time. We’re not aware that You are near all the time. Sometimes we can’t figure out where You went, and we certainly can’t claim that we’re anxious about nothing, because we’re anxious about lots of things. And we confess that in every situation we’re not thankful and prayerful. And, so, we realize that we have some work to do in self-discipline, in shifting our orientation, understanding that it is all available. Peace that passes understanding is available but we have to surrender to You and collaborate with You in cultivating what it takes to move in that direction. So, come Holy Spirit into this. May we walk a new path, the path where peace does pass on understanding and guards us we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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

Community Pray and Praise:

Will post very soon. In the process of moving from PA to MA. Stay tuned…