A Walk Through The Word

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

Today is the 4^th day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian. Here we are friends at the threshold of a shiny, sparkly, new week that we are entering into. Whether we like it or not there’s only one way to go and that’s forward into this week and this is our first full week of the 10^th month of the year. So, we are well on our way in our journey although there are some tremendous miles in front of us. We began the book of Jeremiah and we’ll continue with that today. We concluded the letter to the Philippians yesterday and so when we get to the New Testament, we will begin the letter to the Colossians. But first we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Jeremiah chapter 2:31 through 4:18.

Introduction to the letter to the Colossians:

Okay. So, as…as I said at the beginning, we are now at the New Testament so we’re moving into some new territory, another letter, another epistle from the apostle Paul, this one to the Colossians. And the city of Colossae, this is a place that Paul frequented. It was like 100 miles maybe from Ephesus and Paul spent years even in Ephesus. So…so, Colossae wasn’t unfamiliar, and the people weren’t unfamiliar to Paul. And the ancient ruins of Colossae, they exist. They’re in the western part of modern-day Turkey, but they’re largely unexcavated to this point. But during Paul’s life Colossae, like so many of the other urban centers…and we notice that…we notice the early church, at least under Paul’s ministry is more of an urban center thing. Like you don’t see a lot of churches being planted in rural areas. He’s is going into these cities and so the Roman cities, they…all…although they have their own personality like every city even today does, they had a lot of similarities. It was a stew of people and a lot of the philosophical and religious ideas being thrown around and argued about and wrestled with. And, so, some of this had made its way into the Colossian church. And, so, Paul writes this letter in response, because he’s been there, he’s given the gospel. But then, now it's…you know, now it’s being made into theology, now the philosophy is getting involved. And, so…and this isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a thing and this is what’s going on. And, so, Paul is responding to things that they’re asking about, responding to things that he’s hearing. And like the letter to the Ephesians and the letter to the Philippians, Colossians is another of the letters that are considered prison epistles, letters that would’ve been written while Paul was awaiting trial before the Emperor And basically we got…we got two sections to this letter. We have the first doctrinal issue. Like, people were coming into the church and they were bringing in, kind of like…well like we’ve said before. At the time of this writing of this letter there was no New Testament, right? There is nothing…there was nothing to go like, “well, this is this is the baseline.” So, lots of people thought lots of things about Jesus and lots of writings and lots of basically early denominations were happening. And some people had come into the church and they were teaching angel worship and some other rituals. And, so, Paul has to basically address this by making them understand that no matter what lesser thing you might try to give yourself to there is only the most-high God and Christ is supreme over all things. And it’s in this letter that hear Paul saying the universe itself was created by and through Jesus and remains sustained by and through Jesus. And then there’s this issue that…ahh…I mean we’ve seen this issue so many times. It’s the circumcised versus uncircumcised controversy that seems to permeate the early church writings from Paul. And, so, once again we’ll see Paul comment on that very issue. And of course, that issue goes back to the very very beginning – does a person need to be Hebrew and obey the Mosaic law to become a follower of the rabbi, teacher, wisdom teacher, miracle worker, Jesus or is God in fact doing a new thing in the world, one in which He is inviting everybody who believes to be a part of no longer needing to be under the law, but realizing freedom has come from the law? A direct relationship with God is possible. There is no chasm because righteousness has been bestowed upon us, which was the purpose of the law like to lead a person to become righteous. But Paul’s argument is that Jesus made that possible. We are righteous. And, so, these rituals especially, or the one that seems to crop up the most is circumcision. And, so, with that said, we begin. Colossians chapter 1 verses 1 through 17.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us into this shiny sparkly new week. We thank You for bringing us into the new letter of Colossians. We thank You for the journey that we are on. We thank You for one another. And although we don’t see each other we feel each other’s presence and we have…we have become allies we have become brothers and sisters in this journey. And, so, we are thankful for the gift of community, thankful for Your Holy Spirit that binds us together. And, as we move fully into this first full week of this final quarter of the year we pay attention we become aware, we have eyes to see and ears to hear all that You are saying to us and all that You are leading us into. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base its where out find out what’s going on around here as I a say most every day as a reminder that we should know what’s going on around here. What’s going on at the Prayer Wall? Pray for people. Ask for prayer. Stay connected.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop is another great place to visit. There are resources there. And, yeah, it’s a shop. So, certainly, certainly it all goes to help keep the servers spinning so that all over the world the Daily Audio Bible is served up fresh every day, but the resources weren’t really invented or…or sourced for that. They…they were brought together over all of these years to be a companion to the journey, to take the journey to the next level, to take the journey deeper, to take that journey wider, to feel more connected to the journey. And, so, you can check that all out at…at the Shop at dailyaudiobible.com.  Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can access all of this by pressing the little Drawer icon that’s in the upper left-hand corner of the app and that’ll get you to where you’re going.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission that we share in common to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and given freely to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night time zones are irrelevant, if that has been something that’s brought life into your life than thank you for your partnership. There is a link. It lives on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button it’s in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address if that’s your preference, is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement 877-942-4253 is the number to call or you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top and that makes it so convenient no matter where you are. You have a hotline in your pocket. You can always reach out.

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

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’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we bring to a conclusion another one of our weeks together. And I guess we’re preparing as we move forward from here to encounter the first full week of this 4^th quarter of the year beginning tomorrow, but we are here. And we concluded the book of Isaiah yesterday which brings us to another book in the grouping known as the major prophets.

Introduction to the Book of Jeremiah:

This is called Jeremiah. And it’s an intriguing book, a lot because…because of Jeremiah. Like he didn’t…he didn’t really want to be a prophet. This wasn’t like his most exciting time and he’s authentic about it because God tells him to do things that he doesn’t exactly want to do and there’s plenty of times he just wants to walk away because nobody’s paying any attention to him and his prophetic words, like the ministry that he’s doing on behalf of God, speaking for God is only getting him persecuted because things have been going pretty well in the society. And, so, for a prophetic voice to come and say, ‘hey where this is going isn’t going to end well.” When nobody can see any evidence of he’s just dismissed or harassed or persecuted. And he gets very much persecuted before the story is over. I mean it’s just…it’s not good for…it’s not good for the economy to have somebody like Jeremiah out in the streets of Jerusalem prophesying that things are gonna get bad. But Jeremiah was faithful and as it turned out what he was saying was accurate. And, so, in 587 BC…so we’re looking back a long ways as we go into this story…but in 587 Babylon invaded and the Babylonian empire conquered Jerusalem and the city fell. And much of the…the development from Solomon’s era, including the temple, the temple of God was destroyed in that conquest. But if we put ourselves in sort of the mindset where things are prosperous, things are going well, we’re generally at peace, economy’s doing well, people are prospering, like we have ourselves kind of in that mindset and listen to Jeremiah we’ll see like why they would want him out of circulation and we’ll see that what he was saying was the truth and it allows us to kind of examine our own hearts in our own time. So, we’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week, which is today. Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 30.

Prayer:

Thank You, Father for Your word. Thank You for another week in Your word. And as we get ourselves moved into this new quarter, we are grateful and hopeful, and we rest in You. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that’s home base, it’s certainly where you find out everything, everything that…that guides the Global Campfire and what we do together.

The Community section is there. That is how to get connected. That’s where the Prayer Wall is. So, if you’ve never been, that’s probably the place to start and get connected. 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 profoundly and humbly for your partnership. I say…similar things every day because they’re always true. It's…it’s a community endeavor that we’re on and we…we need to be in it daily. And, so, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always is the case, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, if it’s pretty dark inside your head right now or the circumstances in your life are looking like you can’t carry this load, there’s a place to reach out. Like, you may still have to move through these things, but you don’t have to go by yourself. Just knowing that there are people thousands by the thousands all over the world that are going through this too, that are going through these kinds of things too, but that we’re in this together. That makes a difference. And, so, you can reach out. There’s the Hotline 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 I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Isaiah 66:1-24, Philippians 3:4-21, Psalms 74:1-23, Proverbs 24:15-16

Today is October 2^nd welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we move forward and take the next step through the Scriptures, and yeah we’re at the beginning of a new month and a new quarter. And, so, we’re just getting oved in and an understanding of where we are and doing what we talked about yesterday, thinking about finishing well, finishing strong in a…in a year that has done a lot to challenge us. So, let’s dive in. And we’re working our way through the book of Isaiah, and we’ve actually reached the conclusion. Today will be our final day in the book of Isaiah for this year. We’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week. Isaiah chapter 66.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in Philippians today we kinda dropped into the middle of something that was being said that we had finished up with yesterday. And, so, we see Paul kind of doing the boasting thing again where he’s like…he’s kinda forced to boast in order to defend himself from things that people are saying. So, he’d rather not be doing this at all, but he has to do it. And, so, he’s saying what he’s done. Like, “I was circumcised on the eighth day. I…I’m from…I’m an Israeli. Like, I’m a natural born Hebrew from the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Pharisee. I was so zealous about it I persecuted the church. I was blameless in keeping the law trying to be righteous before God.” And then Pals says, “but all the stuff that I did, it doesn’t mean anything to me. It…it's…it’s a loss. Like, I count it as a loss because of what I have gained in Christ.” And that juxtaposition is Paul again saying what he has always said in his letters. “I was trying to obey the rules. I threw myself at it wholeheartedly. I wanted to be able to be righteous before God, so that I could one day be welcomed by God, so that one day I would be righteous before God. And, so, I did all the right stuff, but it wasn’t going to me there. So, now I realize it was a loss, like I count it as a loss because of what Jesus has shown me since I’ve met the Lord.” And once again this is Paul trying to say, “the rules are not the relationship. The rules do not come before the relationship to gauge whether there is a relationship.” For Paul that’s like backwards, for Jesus as well. The spirit of the whole thing had been lost and so all that was left were rules when the rules were actually a byproduct of a relationship. And basically…I means…here’s a way of looking at it. If you’re married…even if you’re not married you’re gonna understand this…if you’re married you don't…you don’t dig out your marriage covenant and read it every time you have a fight, right? Every time you have a disagreement you don’t dig out your marriage license and begin reading and say, “wait a minute. These were our vows. This is what we said.” I mean there are times that this needs to happen, but this isn’t what defines the relationship. Love defines the relationship. And when two people are in love than the rules become apparent and you don’t have to like study and ritualize and try to make the relationship work by the rules. If there’s no love there it’s going to be pretty tough to do. And this is what Paul is trying to argue. Like he had tried to do this, always knowing his failures because the law showed him his failures, always having an understanding of God being displeased because of his failures. Everybody felt that way. Like nobody could live up to the law. Everybody felt that way on a continual basis just looking for the other shoe to drop. And that’s what Paul is trying to say. Like that’s not freedom, that’s not freedom. Christ came, fulfilled the law, God began a new thing by raising Him from the dead, faith in Jesus makes us righteous before God, fulfills all of those requirements that we think we have to live up to. We are free to be in love with God, free to be in love with God as He is in love with us. Rather than understanding him as an angry deity we now see Him as Father as our Papa as a loving child would refer to their parents. That’s what Paul has been after today. And, so, he says something very famous. “I haven’t achieved that. That’s where this is going. We are all on that path. Why would you want to turn from that path and go back into bondage because somebody’s telling you something different than what I’ve been telling you. Let me tell you my credentials.” And then he goes through his credentials. “I have done this.” That’s his point. “I have done this with all of my heart, and it cannot be achieved, but Jesus came and revealed Himself to me and revealed how this actually works. It’s a leap of faith and I have not achieved this. I can’t achieve this, it can only be achieved inside me by God”, which is the same for all of us. We can’t achieve anything. Everything that we have is a gift from God. “So, I haven’t achieved it” Paul says, “but I am trying. Like I am doing one thing. I am forgetting the things that have gone behind me and I am pressing toward the things that are ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” And that should do for us what it would’ve done for the Philippians and what it did for the Philippians. And it encouraged to them. It reminded them. And, so, yeah most of what we just talked about are things we have talked about before, but Paul repeats these things in the letters and the letters got passed around from church to church so people were being continually reminded in those early days, just like we are continually being reminded now because we forget. And in the same way we get back to the rules. We know our failures. We know we can go to the Father and ask forgiveness but we know our failures. And, so, we live sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. We live feeling as if we don’t keep our act together something bad’s going to happen when that’s simply…at least according to Paul, at least according to Jesus, that’s not how this works. And, so, once again we are reminded of God’s mercy and grace and we need to press forward because of the deep and growing love of the relationship that we have with God. The rules become apparent. There are things we wouldn’t do against our spouse because we love them, and we wouldn’t want to break their heart and we wouldn’t want to cause them pain and suffering. There are things that we wouldn’t or shouldn’t do in our relationship with God for the same reasons because we are committed in a covenantal relationship and in love. Let’s remember that as we head into the end of the week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You. We thank You that You loved us first. There is nothing we can do. There is nothing we have done to earn that. You have loved us and come for us. And this salvation that we are working out in fear and trembling isn’t about how often we step out of line. It’s about us being aware of what we will not do because we are committed to You, because we are in love with the creator of our souls, with the lover of our souls. So, Holy Spirit come. Make this a reality. May we live into this fully in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Still reeling, not reeling, just still kind of floating from the announcement we made yesterday about China and Ben expecting their first child, their first baby. And the outpouring of love and good wishes and prayers is so encouraging. It’s like a lifting…lifting spirit and we need that. We need…we need our spirits lifted in these days. And, so, thank you for…for that. And thank you for your continued prayers and…and…and just joy we go through this process and through…then through the winter months and into the spring and then as spring brings new life and this spring will bring really new life into our family and so we’re very excited. And thank you. Thank you for your…your love and being a part of life here in community as…as we move forward.

I remind you that the website is home base. And, so, and it’s not very complicated. It’s actually made to be pretty simple.

There’s a Community section, that’s where you can get connected on social media and that’s where the Prayer Wall is. There is a Shop full of resources for the journey through the Bible in a year. And there’s Initiatives, things that are going on around here. So, be…be aware. Check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can’t thank you enough because the reality is if we didn’t do this together, we wouldn’t be doing this at all. And, so, so grateful, so humbled that we can take this journey, day by day step-by-step fresh every day moving forward in life together in community. Like this is really happening, we’re really doing this together. And what a joy that is but it wouldn’t happen if we didn’t do it together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a Give button in the Daily Audio Bible app 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 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app…and if you’re not you should…you should be…this is the portal into community, there’s a Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top, No matter where you are in the world you can…I mean that’s sittin’ in your pocket. You got a Hotline, you got a way to reach out at any point when your shouldering things that you just can’t carry anymore or when you’re so full of joy that you just have to tell somebody because that’s community. That’s the friendships that we have forged as we’ve just gone verse by verse page by page, chapter by chapter book by book all the way to here in the Bible. So, you can always reach out there.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello this is Lacey from Cape Cod Massachusetts I’m an elderly woman alone in the world with no family. It’s just me and my precious dog and Jesus and I’ve had some serious serious health issues with my back and I’m severely arthritic but my dear precious dog has been very sick and I beg your prayers that…for healing for her and mercy for me because I just cannot imagine life without her. The loneliness and isolation is just so painful. And before Covid…but now with Covid it’s 10 times worse. She’s my baby and my precious companion and I need her, and I love her. Please pray for mercy. Thank you in Jesus’ name. God bless you all. Thank you. I’ve been listening for over a year…about a year. Bye-bye.

It is September 26^th this is joyful Jay from the Everglades. I just want to say thank you DABbers. Thank you, Brian, Jill, China and all who make this daily campfire happen. I’m a longtime listener and very rare caller. Change is coming. My fear of saying the wrong thing is less than my fear of not being known by a community of believers who live fearlessly in loving each other and want to be known by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Oh Lord to let people in, to let people know me, you know this is my struggle. Thank you for opening my year and opening my heart. Thank you to all of those who call in on a regular basis. Your voices, your accents, the cadence in your speech. This is how I’m getting to know you. I will not know you because I can see you, but I will know you because I know your voice. Your words bring me joy and at times lay a heaviness on my heart. Just hearing the different tones, the tunes of all your voices and songs. I am crying as I listen to people saying they prayers. Hearing the songs, hearing the prayers, hearing the encouragement is nourishing to my spirit, leaving me wanting more of this community and a desire to change and desire to be known by you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. This is JB saying thank you for all of you calling in and setting an example of caring for each other in prayer. Have a great day. Blessings in the Lord Jesus. Bye.

Good morning DAB family this is Dawn of a New Day from California calling to lift up our sister Tammy from Canada. Tammy God has you in the palm of His hand as your reaching out, your crying out, your trusting and believing even in the face of not feeling like you can still hold on and trust God. In the name of Jesus, you will not crack, you will not fold, you will not lose your mind. You will get the best sleep you have ever received ever. And Father we give You praise, we give You glory, and we give You honor right here and right now not just for Tammy’s sweet sleep but for every person that has insomnia for every person that feels as if their sleep deprivation is cracking their life God. We trust You are Lord. We lift this ministry up to You God. We lift up every prayer request. We lift up our sister who was invited by her two brothers who is excited to be a part of our DAB family God. We lift up each and every heart the grows in Your word that loves Your word. We lift up every single person that listens and absolutely believes and trusts You more God. I pray that we will spread this word of this ministry, that we would then learn and grow and serve, believe God that we would reach out and reach in and…and absolutely not give up. We love You like never before, and we thank You now for loving us back. We love you Tammy. Your DAB family is calling out your name and glory not just this day but in all the days to come and we will hear your testimony of your breakthrough and sweet sleep. God bless you sister. Thank you for calling in for the first time. DAB family sew a seed of support today. God bless you all.

Good afternoon DAB family this is Lady of Victory on Monday, the 28^th of September calling in for Jody who called in for prayer for Desiree, a 15-year-old, I believe, who has been diagnosed with cancer that has metastasized to her lungs and other parts of her body. So, we want to lift her up in prayer. God, we thank You, we glorify You, we magnify You because You alone are worthy to be praised. God what a report to have said about someone so Young who is dealing with all that she’s dealing with God. And yet according to Jodi she is not lost for Jesus joy. Some of us have been diagnosed with a lot less God and we have turned our backs on You. And, so, God we thank You for the joy that Desiree has in You in spite of God the diagnosis. Now God our prayer is that You would heal her on this side of every disease God. We recognize that cancer is a name and You said that at the name of Jesus every knee is going to bow. And, so, God we tell cancer to bow in the name of Jesus. God, and we lift her up before You. We ask that a miracle will be performed for Your daughter. God but if that is not Your perfect will for Desiree’s life God it sounds like she’s ready to meet You and to hear those words good and faithful servant well done. And that’s not what we want God while ultimately that’s all of our desires. God but we want her healed on this side, but we also want Your perfect will to be done and established. Comfort the hearts of those around her God who are lifting her up who have to see her suffer. Do it for Your glory.

Hi, DABbers I may first time call inner just started listening to the Daily Audio Bible this January, it is an answer to prayer, truly. I just wanted to call in because after five years of having Ménière’s disease, it’s a…a vestibular disorder a balance disorder, I was able to, little by little, build up an art business but I got very used to working alone, as hard as it was. And since social distancing has occurred, I’m just having a really hard time I find now connecting with people and I’ve always been so gregarious. And there’s so many winds of doctrine out there I…I don’t feel like I fit anywhere anymore. And I…I know that that’s not God’s will for me, that His will is that I live in community but I’m very, very, very confused and I feel very lost and in a real desert place. Not depressed but lonely but yet I feel that there’s this glass around me that I can’t cross over. Also, if you’ll pray for my son. He’s been an addict for 10 years. He’s living in Philly now in a sober home but he’s…he’s using when he can and just so afraid of him dying. God has kept him for 10 years even as a homeless person and he’s had many, many maybe over 40 rehabs. But I really hope that you hold Jesse up in prayer and for his complete deliverance…

Hi family is Purely Pampered of main. I have an answered prayer praise report to call in. Yesterday we helped my son and his fiancée move into a new apartment about an hour away. My future daughter-in-law found a full-time job and today my son started a two-month temporary job. Right before we left their apartment for the last time, I asked them to indulge me and I thanked God for all the wisdom they gained through the challenges they’ve had these past 2 ½ years living there more than I could never go onto and I prayed that as they closed and locked the door they could let go and leave behind all of the pain and look forward to their new beginning. I told them that hundreds of thousands would be rejoicing with them when I called in this praise report. Thanks to each of you prayed for them and thanks to each of you that took the time to call in and pray for them. I won’t list your names, but you know who you are. I so appreciate you. There’s just no explaining how it feels, for others lifting up my family’s needs. Thank you. Please continue to pray for all of us dealing with transgender pansexual and gender spectrum issues in our families. We so need those prayers. I love you family. Bye for now.

Isaiah 62:6-65:25, Philippians 2:19-3:3, Psalms 73:1-28, Proverbs 24:13-14

Today is the 1^st day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you. Welcome to the fourth quarter of the year, three quarters of the year behind us, yeah. It…it’s weird when you just start thinking about it isn’t it? It’s like we crossed through the new year and we got into the new year and then it…well…we went to Israel and then…then we got back from Israel and there was this virus going around the world and things were closing down and…and then it’s just, you know, been a number of things that have dominated the conversation and dominated and even change the way that we do things around the world since then. And, so, now we find ourselves kind of on the home stretch. Three months is a long time so we’ve got a lot of territory to cover in the Bible and quite a bit of territory to cover in our lives but knowing that we are turning into the home stretch gets us…well…starts getting us to think about how we want to finish this year, or it should. We can just go…we can go stumbling like a tumbleweed through into the new year or we can be firmly rooted and planted as we move into the new year. It’s like we say at the beginning of every week, it’s shiny, sparkly, new week, and we get to choose how we’re going to live into it. Well, we have a shiny, sparkly, final quarter of the year and how next year is gonna look is gonna, in part, be dependent on how we live this final quarter of the year. And, so, that's…I mean that should hold some gravity. It’s weighty. It’s not scary. It’s just a reality. The daily choices that we make are gonna…are gonna tell the story of how we end our year. And, so, just being aware of that, knowing that starting something new means…well…is best accomplished by finishing well what we are already doing. And, so, let’s band together brothers and sisters. We’re on the same ship here and let’s finish well in our lives and in the Scriptures. And one other thing, when we’re done with our reading today, I have something to announce, I have something to tell you. And, so, make sure you stay tuned for that. Okay, we got a new month and a new quarter and all that but we’re in the same week that we were in so we’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week and picking up where we left off yesterday. Isaiah chapter 62 verse 6 through 65 verse 25 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we’ve got a brand-new month and we’ve got a brand-new quarter and it’s the final quarter of the year. So, it’s kind of the home stretch. And we find ourselves in the book of Psalms today seeing a crossroads, something very appropriate with this transition into the new quarter into the new month to consider the crossroads. And we’ve talked about crossroads many times on our journey through the Scriptures this year, especially when it comes to wisdom, when it comes to Proverbs and understanding that wisdom is at every crossroads yelling to all of humanity, “hey this is the way to go. That’s not the way to go.” And it’s always available if we’re paying attention. So, we kinda have a picture of a crossroads today in the book of Psalms. So, Psalm 73 is what we read. And Asaph, he’s not feeling strong. He’…he’s completely down about what he’s seeing. It’s perplexing to him. It's…it's…it’s supremely frustrating. And his frustration, although we are reading this back by thousands of years, his frustrations are still frustrations on the earth today because what he was seeing is, basically that he’s trying to be a righteous person among righteous people but when he looks out across his culture it’s like the evil ones are the ones that are…are rising to the top. It's…it’s like those who are corrupt are the ones who are actually prospering and seem…seemingly having such a very, very nice life. And, so, he’s like, “I was at a precipice”, basically, “I was about to fall off the wagon. I was about to slip. I…I…it almost happened. I almost went overboard. I envied the proud. I saw them prospering and even though they were wicked and I envied them.” And he’s asking himself, “what is it all for. I’m disciplining myself. I’m trying to be righteous. I’m trying to live into a holy life. And its hard and all of the things that could possibly go wrong seem to but I look out and I see people prospering who couldn’t care less about you Lord, couldn’t care less about where this is all going, couldn’t care at all what you might have to say to the…to Earth’s people.” And, so, he says and I’m quoting, “surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence and I have been plagued all day and rebuked every morning. If I had said I will speak with us,” in other words, “if I had been willing to say this out loud in front of people behold, I would’ve acted treacherously against your children’s generation. When I thought about how to understand this it was troubling in my eyes until” and we’ll get back to that in a second because the “until” is the crossroads. So, like we’re probably tracking with what Asaph is saying here. We probably have felt that way in one way or another. We may feel that way continually right now going through the year and the seasons that we’re going through. The thing to understand is that we’re at a crossroads. Life always brings us to a crossroads and life brought Asaph to a crossroads. So, he’s like, “when I thought about how to understand what I’m seeing it was troubling to even try to understand until”, the crossroads, “until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their fate.” So, what we see is Asaph being honest in his human perception. He’s not…there’s like no sugar coating to what he’s saying. He’s crying out. He doesn’t understand. It doesn’t make sense. And, so, rather than just going on a bender and some sort of way like, just going, “forget it. I’m not being righteous anymore. These guys have the easy way. I’m going the easy path.” He…he didn’t do that. He went into the presence of God instead. And in the presence of God he was reoriented in the way that he was looking at things, right? Because he went into the presence of God and the world didn’t change when he left the sanctuary. Like it was all the same thing. It was his perspective, the way that he saw, the way that he had eyes to see and ears to hear that it changed. And what he realized was there is more going on than I understand, which is something that we learned so clearly in the book of Job, but it’s something that we learned so clearly in so many of the stories of the Bible. What he began to realize with this was that the foundation that the wicked had built their lives upon was frivolous and wasn’t a foundation at all and had no eternal value and was nothing in the grand scheme of things, that their security, although they might’ve felt secure wasn’t gonna help them at all. In light of eternity they were completely exposed and completely unprotected. And one of the ways that the lights went on for Asaph, like one of the ways that he got eyes to see was that it wasn’t about other people prospering and him not. It was about his envy of what they had that he longed for that he didn’t have, which led him into the tornado of comparison that was spinning him around so that he couldn’t see up from down anymore. But once he got his feet back on the ground in the presence of God, he could see how he was behaving and confess. And I’m quoting, “when my heart was embittered, and I felt stabbed in my kidneys then I was brutish and ignorant. With you I was like the beasts”, right? was acting like an animal. Once he had gotten reoriented he was able to see. He was able to see clearly what was really happening. And he said, “I’m continually with you. You have hold of my right hand. You will guide me with your advice and afterward you will take me into honor. Who do I have in the heavens, except you? And with you I have no other desire on earth,” right? There it is. He’s made the choice at the crossroads. The envy has been released. “With you I have no other desire on earth. My flesh and heart failed but God is the strength of my heart and my reward forever.” A beautiful picture of repentance. And repentance as we’ve talked about so many times, like it  sounds religious and it sounds hard but it’s changing your mind. It’s like just opening your eyes and seeing things clearly and going, “ahh…I was looking at this wrong and changing your mind and moving in a different direction. That is repentance and that’s what we see here. Asaph had first of all, noticed some discrepancies, some inequities that were bothering him. He was watching people prosper that he felt like they shouldn’t because they don’t honor God in any way. And yet God’s people are here still slogging along any he becomes envious, which is poison to the soul. And once envy and comparison get inside of us, kind of all bets are off, right? Have we not had the same experience? Like, once you go there all you can do is come up short or if you’re doing better and you’re making comparisons to people who are doing worse than you then all you can do is become proud, which is disaster in the making, as we know. And, so, to come back into God’s presence, say the truth, say what it looks like and then be humble before God knowing, “I don’t know all there is to know and I am certainly not looking at the big picture. I am looking at the little picture. The big picture is that I am a child of the most-high God. I am a joint heir with Jesus to the kingdom of God. I’m not lacking here. I don’t have to be better than anybody else. All I need is God’s presence.

Prayer:

Father, that leads us into this new month and thank You for that. We need it badly, badly. And, so, Holy Spirit we invite You to plant it deeply in our lives in the soil of our hearts. We need You. God, we need You. You are all that we need. When we are in Your presence and we are aware of it we realize we lack nothing. We have all that we need. We are going in the right direction. We are going somewhere good and we love You and we trust You and we invite Your Holy Spirit to continually bring this back to mind, that we might continually reorient ourselves to You by repenting. When we find our feet are about to slip and we’re about to go off the deep end we run do You. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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And I was mentioning yesterday that there’s something to tell you today. And I mentioned earlier before we started reading theirs something to tell you today. And there’s something to tell you today. And I’m telling it with the utmost joy. And I can also tell you that, joy has been in short supply this year, at least for me, maybe for you too, well I know for lots of you too. So, when you get a little something that’s full, just full, seeping, dripping with joy it's…you just want to share it. And, so, I want to tell you this. I guess it was a few weeks ago that we made a discovery, or a discovery was revealed to us and that is this. I don’t even know how…I’ve never actually ever said this before. Jill and myself, we have a daughter. Her name is China and you probably know that, and she’s married and her son-in-law, his name is Ben and they have informed us…you see where this is going? They have informed us that they will be having a baby, yeah, this coming spring, spring of 2021, April of 2021, we are expecting the newest addition. And man, it is such a bright spot. Like when I’m feeling overwhelmed or just bowled over, just to remember there’s a new one coming, a new little baby coming brings so much joy. So, they let us know a couple weeks ago and we had to keep it all under wraps because China is announcing this on Daily Audio Bible Chronological and social media and all of her friends and etc. etc. etc. today. So, I had to wait until today to let you know. But is this exciting or what? I have been wanting to tell for…well…I’ve wanted to tell since the next day after I found out. But here we are, and I get to say it. China that are pregnant. We are so excited. Thank you for your prayers over them. over China. She’s never done this before. It’s a brand-new thing but she glows. She glows…she…they are so happy. We are so happy for them. We were having dinner and she just kind of blurted it out…like it was so nonchalant that I had to…we just stopped and said, “wait. What…what are you talking about?” So, we had to make all the plans, let the rest of the family know and how this is gonna all rollout. Max found out and he’s like, “dude, you impregnated my sister.” And it’s been a really, really, really bright spot in a pretty challenging year. Wouldn’t…wouldn’t you say it’s been…I mean…I know it’s been challenging for just about everybody. So, new life, new life is coming. And I’ve been then thinking about the day that I would announce this since China was like a little girl. And, so, here it is. China, our little sweet baby girl has went and grown up and went find her…found herself a spouse, and now…now they’re beginning their own family and we are rejoicing and there’s really nothing else I could say today to top that. So, I’m just gonn let that stay right here and maybe we can all be lifted and maybe we can all rejoice and pray a prayer of blessing over them. In fact, let’s just end that way today.

Father thank You. Thank You for what You have created in making a community like this one, such a diverse community all over the world. Such a strange new invention, that we could be alive to be a part of this moving through the Bible together in community. And we have gotten to know each other and we have gotten to know so many stories over the course of the year but over the course of all of the years, so many stories so many miles so much joy and so much shouldering of burdens but today is a happy day. And, so, we thank You for China and we thank You for her contribution to the Daily Audio Bible all of these years and all those words and all of those verses all of those times through the Scriptures, and now it comes time for her and Ben to begin a family of their own and we are certainly gushing and we are certainly overjoyed, but we know that You are too, that You’ve been looking forward to this and we are looking forward to this. And, so, we pray blessing over them as they move through this pregnancy as they…as they continue to understand the transition that becoming a parent will be as they begin to live into that as they begin to settle into this idea that new life is coming and we bless them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And we pray these things in the beautiful name of the risen Christ. Amen.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello this is Cheryl from Ontario I just started listening to the DAB earlier this year and I have called in before a couple times, but I especially want to express my appreciation for this podcast and community. I love the way Brian reads the Scriptures slowly and meaningfully and hearing all those who call in. I pray for the requests and rejoice with answered prayers and enjoy hearing those with encouraging words. God is at work and God is so good and gracious. Just to mention a few people. Maria, missionary in Mexico who called in for her coworker Barbara with a tumor. I’m praying for her but I also wanted to…I was also reminded to pray for you and your husband as a missionary pilot because I have known firsthand the blessing and benefits of this ministry and how challenging and stressful it can be. Also, someone had mentioned the groups struggling with addictions. I would like to mention a couple other groups that are struggling as well, those in nursing home facilities who don’t have the usual visitors or programs. I used to go in twice a month to do music programs and I know how important it was to them and it’s hard on families that can’t visit so easily and freely. The other group are those with mental illnesses or the development play challenge for handicapped who depend on social gatherings and activities. I know a few of these folks were really having a hard time. There are others I’d like to mention but my time is about up, so I just want to say for now blessings on you all.

Good morning family I hope you are well it’s Monday it’s a rainy Monday but that’s all right it’s going to be a good Monday because God’s got us. I was listening today…I’m caught up. That’s a “yay! Praise you Jesus!” I’m caught up. And, so, and Brian you’re just your killing it friend. Like this whole idea of maturing. Like the moment I try to point to someone else and say you need to be doing this or why are you doing that, or you need to believe in this. I need to look at the mirror and I need to mature. Wow. That floored me. And then yesterday at church there was a woman who sang and I’m not gonna sing for you, but I will read it to you, and I think that it goes with what Brian has been telling us. I need you you need me where all a part of God’s body. Stand with me agree with me where all a part of God’s body. It is His will that every knee…need should be supplied. You are important to me I need you to survive. You are important to me I need you to survive. I pray for you you pray for me I love you I need you to survive. It goes on to talk about I won’t harm you with words from my mouth. That song is just so beautiful, and I encourage you to go listen to it today. But above all let’s look in the mirror. Let’s tell each other we need each other. But above all let’s point our hearts and minds up to God and say we need you to survive. All right family make it a great week you are loved and appreciated. Peace.

Hello, DABbers this is Duncan the piano man from Fredericksburg Texas. As I make this recording it is September 28^th. On October 2^nd we will have marked the first anniversary of the date my wife Sharon went to be with the Lord after 43 years and two months of marriage. That was last year at 8:52 in the evening Central Daylight Time. I want to mark that date not with just sitting here and grieving which I will do but I will also want to mark that date with some sort of celebration of life, of her life just as I did for my anniversary. I’m asking prayer for me, yes for me as I observed that date. I hope to take a very of very, very pleasant and dear friends to a favorite restaurant that Sharon and I would often visit after church for lunch or after…some other time just on a whim. And I’m gonna just do that Friday if nothing else. So, I’m asking you to pray for me. Also, I’ve been very thankful for hospice. They have…the grief counselor has been super but now I’m going to a seminar or weekly support thing at our church now called grief share and so far, I’ve been very impressed. I don’t like pad answers that quote the…quote the Bible ala King James or some other translation and…and say yada yada yada that’s it, as if they don’t really know because they don’t. I like it, I like to work through it and that’s the way it is. Thank you very much. God bless you and any of you who are grieving you got my back too and I have yours, I hope.

Hello, DABbers I’m here with Ben and Hock and we heard the prayer request for Bryson and Desiree and we are praying for them and we know that Jesus can do all things. He can heal both of them. And for Bryson we just pray Lord that you will let him not feel embarrassed about his teeth, that you’ll take away the pain, that he’ll just be filled with joy and the friends and family that he has will just make him happy and that he won’t, you know, feel sad about his teeth and that they will grow back in and be perfect and beautiful and that his body will be healthy and strong. And for Desiree we pray the same thing, that she would just be completely healed, cancer be gone in Jesus’ name because God has all power and is able to do all things and we believe that, right guys? Yeah. And, so, we just wanted to say that we are praying and thank you for putting out those requests so that we can pray and we’re praising God for what he’s going to do and we look forward to hearing the praise reports. And here’s the scripture that I read this morning, “the young lions do grow tired and hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” So, I’m sharing that with you and everyone. Enjoy your day. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Hey guys I just wanted to call in in regards to the prayer request from Janice from Arizona for Desiree who has cancer all over her body and had to amputate her legs when she was younger. And man I just…really…really made me sad and I just want to pray for her and just want to, yeah, lift her up to the Lord. Father God I just want to pray for Desiree Lord. I pray that You would heal her, that You would remove all the tumors, all the cancer cells in a miraculous way in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. God encourage her, continue to just give her the joy that only comes from You. Surround her with the body of Christ to encourage her to look to things that are not seen, the joy that time is not seen when we have suffering all around us, the joy that is in You. So, God I just pray for full healing, for full healing Lord and let it be a glorious…glorious day for You Lord. Let Your name be glorified through all this. God I just pray for everyone that calls in about cancer. I pray that You would bring healing. In Jesus’ name I pray in Your powerful name Lord bring this healing I pray this in Your name Jesus. Amen. And guys I continue to ask for prayers for my wife who also has cancer. Pray for a…a miraculous healing from the Lord Jesus. Thank you all. Bye. And this is Sonny from Florida.

This is the __ calling from Israel I’m enjoying listening to the Scriptures in reading along with Brian on 28 September 2020. It’s Yon Kippur the day of atonement and I wanted to share and encourage DAB listeners of how Ephesians 6 helped me see the light and is my life Scripture, but I always come back to and stand on. I was saved from living in a very dark and sinister life of drugs and sex and witchcraft. Ephesians 6 was the chapter that showed me that I was not struggling against people but the stratagems of Satan, the darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness. I had to put on the armor of God the belt of truth the breast prayed of righteousness the shoes of the gospel of peace holding the shield of faith to extinguish the evil that is coming against me putting on the helmet of salvation to protect my mind and lifting the sword of the Spirit to let God’s word accomplish that which it was sent to do. As I was praying with close friends the other day, I realized that all the attacks my family’s currently experiencing are not with flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness. Getting out a bottle of oil I began anointing my house the doors and gates and in a loud voice commanded the devil to get out of my home and leave my family alone in Yeshua’s name. I then proceeded to slam the door feeling a lift in the spirit and a sense of freedom. So, I pray for all the DAB listeners who are struggling with the confusion of who they are fighting against. I pray that you will become strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength to outwit the enemy and that you will be filled with the Spirit of God so He can help you stand strong fighting through this journey we call life. Hallelujah.