Job 12:1-15:35, 1 Corinthians 15:29-58, Psalms 39:1-13, Proverbs
21:30-31
Today is August 24th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible
I’m Brian it is a joy to be here with you this week. I’m looking forward to the
territory we’re going through in this week. And even though we’re kind of in
more serious territory, kinda dealing with suffering and the kind of topics
that we try to avoid if…if we can help it. I just have this sense of optimism that
if we embrace this season that we’re going through in the Scriptures and in our
lives so much cleaning out can happen, so much restructuring can happen over
the next little season. And as we go into the latter part of the year the world
may be chaotic but we just…we don’t have to participate, like that’s our
prerogative. We have to participate in life, but we don’t have to get swept
into divisiveness and we don’t have to get swept into chaos. That’s a choice
and when we’re willing to face our own junk, when we’re willing to our own, which
these books, these books like Job and Ecclesiastes, they have a way of asking
us to face our own stuff. When we do than we’re getting honest and when we get
honest God can move. So, let’s dive in. Let’s take the next step. We’re reading
from the voice translation this week. Job chapter 12, 13, 14 and 15 today.
Commentary:
Okay. We spent a good amount of time today reading from Job and hearing
Job pour out his heart and it’s brutal and it’s honest and it’s how he’s
feeling and it’s what he’s sensing and it's…his frustration. And we got…we have
in Job what we would call cognitive dissonance. And we feel this way when we
believe something to be true or we’ve always functioned in a certain way only
to find out it may not be that way, right, which we can bring us into doubt or
we reject…or like we were like, “the way I thought things were are not how they
are” and that creates a dissonance that we have to wrestle with and try to
settle the score so that we can move forward, so that we can understand what we’re
dealing with. So, what we have is Job’s friends trying to reason with Job
basically saying, “God is good. Everybody knows that. God is just. Everybody knows
that. He’s righteous. Like He’s not going to punish a person for no reason, He’s
not gonna to judge somebody for nothing. So, Job your plight must be that
there’s something…something going on and you just keep trying to say your
innocent, which only proves your guilt”, right? Because the cognitive
dissonance for Job’s friends and…and Job are that the baseline is, “God is good.
God is good.” So, Job has this problem of feeling like truly he hasn’t done
anything wrong, truly he’s righteous, which leaves no explanation for his
suffering if in fact he’s being judged by God, which Job believes to be the case.
Job’s friends have the dissonance because they’re listening to their trusted
friend, but there’s no way they can believe Job over what they think that they
know about God. And, so, they’re basically just trying to help Job follow the
path to discovering his own sinfulness so that he can repent and maybe God
would restore him. So, this is why there’s all this back-and-forth. This is why
there’s all this wrestling and this is why we say the things that we do to people
who are going through things that we don’t understand. I mean because this
creates a tension that needs to be resolved. Job wants to solve the tension but
it’s not gonna come through the advice of his friends. Like they’re wise people
and he’s a wise man and he doesn’t feel like they know anything that he doesn’t
know and he’s listened to them, but he knows everything that they’re telling
them. The only place he’s gonna actually get the answer he’s looking for is
from God. He wants an audience with God but he knows that if he were able to
get that audience with God than even his own mouth would condemn him. Like it’s
a tension that he’s trying to resolve and, in some ways, where Job is going,
like where he is keeping his heart close and true, this thing he is focusing on
is revealed today. And honestly, again, one of the most beautiful, difficult,
and true statements in the Bible is found in our reading today. I mean when we
started Job we saw Job have his life destroyed systematically and we watched
him respond by falling down, certainly grieving, mourning, but falling down in
worship to God. Job today says something that is a continuum, basically, of
that posture of heart through all of this. Job is basically saying, “I have got
to find God and I may find that when I do, if I do, that I am not innocent
after all and God might kill me for it. Even if he slays me, still I will hope
in him.” O man, that posture is so deep. It’s Job acknowledging that he does
not understand at all what is going on. And what he does understand or what he
thinks he understands about himself, maybe he doesn’t. But he’s got what he’s got,
He’s got his convictions and nobody is gonna talk him out of it, nobody’s gonna
say the right thing or give the right reference. He wants God and if can find
God and God kills him then he’s still gonna hope in God because there’s no
other hope no matter what. This is saying like, “even if God ends up being a
hopeless waste of time, still I will hope in the Lord and the Lord only.” That
is be on our theology friends. That is beyond any formula we can construct to
try to explain God and God’s movements among people on planet Earth. And it is
beyond any of our circumstances. It’s saying it like it is. There is no other
hope. And, so, even if it’s a vain hope, I’m still going to hope. That’s called
faith. And the thing that we should be wrestling with because it’s what’s being
brought up, this is what we’re supposed to do is wrestle with, is to consider, “do
we love of God for what he can do? Would we love Him if He did nothing?” Is that
what we’ve got going on here, a transactional relationship? Yeah, that gets the
bedrock pretty quick doesn’t it? That like…like cuts to the bone, which is what
the Bible promises to do, that it would…that it would be able to get as deep as
to where soul and spirit divide, that it gets to get to the deepest essence of
who we are. and that’s where we’re at today as we come out of the book of Job.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into this, it’s disruptive, it's…it’s more
fun when our reading is something tremendously encouraging or tremendously
enlightening in a positive way. It’s difficult sometimes when the mirror goes
up and we have to look ourselves in the face and we have to look into our own
eyes because the Scriptures are forcing us to be honest. And we see honesty
today in the Scriptures and it leads us to consider our own lives and our own
seasons of suffering and our own interpretation of what’s going on. So, come
Holy Spirit into that as we continue through this day. We need You and Job is
showing us that he needed You. There was nothing else that was going to be
adequate, no other word, no other circumstance, You and You alone. And that’s
over being led understand - we need You, there is no other hope. And, so, come
into that as we…as it brings up whatever it brings up, as we wrestle with it,
as we consider it, as we embrace it. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus.
Amen.
Commentary:
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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 Prayer and Praise:
Hello DAB family this is Steadfast Stacy in Arizona I’m calling
to pray for Barb in Canada who called basically with regrets about not feeling
like she had not laid a decent adequate foundation for her children. And I’m
praying for her and for myself because I share those regrets and I know that
God is bigger for both of us. Dear heavenly Father thank You for Barb, thank You
for her call and thank You for her vulnerability that is a blessing to me.
Thank You that You are bigger than our regrets, that You know our hearts, that You
know who You placed in our homes, what children You gave us, and that You
promise us that we were adequate for those children. Lord there’s something
about for me in this COVID time, just an awful lot of time to think, an awful
lot of ways to see the choices that my children are making and just my maturity
in beating myself up about my part in my son’s inability to…to see You in their
lives and see their need of You. But Lord this all comes back to my need of You,
my need of You to put all that in perspective and my need of You to…to be able
to trust that I did what I could. And I’ve been seeking and I’m sure Barb is
the same way. I can’t…I…I hear a tenderness in her heart and I pray that You
would help her at this time to be comforted by You, to be…have the right words
to be sprinkled with grace when she interacts with her children in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Good morning family this is Purely Pampered of Maine today is
Wednesday the 19th of August it’s been almost 5 years since I last
called asking for prayers for the situation with my son who came out as a
transgendered female and all of the resulting difficulties surrounding the
breakup of his marriage and the whole situation. We’re basically estranged and
my child and my husband’s choice and have only seen our grandson a few times. The
hole in my heart never stops hurting and I would ask for continued prayers.
Today I’m asking for prayers for my older son and his fiancée. They found out
two weeks ago that their jobs are not coming back and that they have to be out
of their apartment by the end of the month. They have two dogs and three cats
which have been certified as emotional support animals to my future
daughter-in-law. So, considering that and that they’re both unemployed, finding
another place is proving quite difficult and they’re facing homelessness. My
son has been away from the faith for some years now feeling abandoned and like
God cannot be trusted. I am asking that God would intervene in the situation
and reveal His power demonstrating that God is a loving God who cares about the
details of their lives. Will you please lift them up in prayer? Thank you. I pray
for you all each day, the requests that are called in and those that are not. I
love you family. I’d be lost without you. I gain such strength knowing that you
are there.
Hello family this is Angel. You didn’t know me yet but I’m your
sister in Christ and I don’t know exactly how long I’ve been listening but I
know it was before Zeke was born, so it’s been at least nine years but I’ve
been growing with you, learning with you, praying with you, crying with you. So,
I want to just say hi and say I’m here. And I’m here also today to ask for your
help. Jesus said some things come only with fasting and prayer. And I’ve been
fasting and I’m going to continue fasting and I’m asking you to continue praying
with me. My 15-year-old is in dire need of your prayers her name is Elyse,
which means consecrated to God and I know that He has such good plans for her.
I know that she’s going to come through this is gold but for the last year and a
half she’s been suffering so badly with PTSD, with depression, with not being
able to get out of bed or function even the smallest level. Yes, she’s seeing
counseling, yes, we have a psychiatrist and those things do and will help but
they are not the answer. Christ is the answer. Please pray for my precious one
Elyse who is consecrated to God. Pray that the anxiety will leave her, that she
will grow, that she will thrive, that she will be able to speak truth to
herself and that she will know God’s presence in a…in a new…in a new way, that
no depression can touch her, that generational bonds would not have any…
Good morning DAB family this is Tina from Ohio thank you Brian
and all of my DAB family for all of your guy’s faithfulness and your prayers. I
just want to say a Jewish prayer, but I will not be saying it in Hebrew I will
be just saying it in English. May the one who blessed our fathers and our
mothers -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah bless and
heal those who are ill. May their blessed holy one be filled with compassion
for their health to be restored and their strength to be revived. Blessed be
the holy one. May God swiftly send them a complete renewal of body and spirit,
complete healing from the heavens, healing of the spirit of the body speedily
and soon and let us say amen. God bless each and every one of you and may the
Lord’s face shine upon you and may His continence rise upon you and be gracious
unto all of you and give you all peace today. Be blessed and encourage my
brothers and sisters.
Hi neighbors it’s Lisa the Encourager I hope you’re having a
most blessed day. I pray God’s blessings upon you and your life. I’m praying
today for your children and stress. So, whatever stress is in their life that’s
what I want to pray for and pray away from. Dear God, I thank You again so much
for Brian and his ministry with the Daily Audio Bible to each and every one of
us God. I pray special blessings over Brian so that he doesn’t have stress God,
that You eliminate any stress in his life and in addition to that I pray for
the Daily Audio Bible children God, any and all of our children whether they
are dealing with stresses in relationships, work, marriage, children, teenagers
Lord, whatever stresses are coming into their lives bombarding them and keeping
them, their minds away from You because their minds are so focused on the
stress God. I pray that You will swoop in and just take it away from them and just
give them peace, give them love, give them direction, and just help them Lord
God to rely on You in all things and give it all to You and not trying to beat
themselves up…up about it and help them to know that You are the Almighty
conquer and that they can surrender that stress over to You, You will take it
from them Lord God. Help them to know that, see that, feel that, touch that,
understand that in a mighty, mighty way. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.
Hello Daily Audio Bible
family this is Treasured Possession and let’s pray. Father God, I love You so
much. I thank You for all of the blessings and all of the power and all of the
goodness and all of the joy and peace in the patience and the kindness and for
self-control Father God, all of the fruits of the spirit that are ours in
Christ. And more than anything Father I thank You that our identity is found in
You, that when we place our hopes, our dreams, our desires in Your hands than
those around us that are in pain, those around us that show up in ways that are
quite disappointing, when those around us show up in ways that just baffle and
astound as Father God You never change. You are right there, and You love us with
a love that is so far beyond what we can ask, think, or imagine. Father God, the
words of first Corinthians 13 talk about Your love. That is Your love and it is
so far from our human heart, but You Father God can fill us with that love and
help us see that love and show that love. Help us Father God to love one
another that way. Help us Father God to love more than we need to be right. I
ask Father God that You would strengthen and empower those who are going
through relationships today that are hard, that are difficult, that are
challenging their very knowledge of who they are in Christ. And I thank You
Lord that You love beyond that we can never know with a peace that passes
understanding. And it’s in Jesus’ name I ask these things and I praise you for
these things. Amen.