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07/28/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21, Romans 11:13-36 , Psalms 22:1-18, Proverbs 20:7

Today is the 28th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we move into the close of another one of our weeks together.  And this week we have read from the New Living Translation, which is what we’ll do today. And of course, we’ll be picking up where we left off yesterday. 2 Chronicles 21:1-23:21 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week. We look back over the weeks and we see Your faithfulness to us day by day, step by step, week by week, month by month. And each day that we come back here to allow Your word to come into our lives and wash over us, we are continually, continually reminded of Your faithfulness in our lives. So we thank You, God, for this week. And we look forward with great anticipation to all that You will say and do in our lives in the week ahead. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name, we ask. Amen.

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dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, certainly do check in and check it out. Stay connected.

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And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, there are a number of numbers that you can dial depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the Americas,  877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you’re in the UK or Europe 44-2036-088-078 is the number to dial. And if you in Australia or that part of the world, the lands down under, 613-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian and I’ll be waiting for you next week, which is, of course, tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Candace in Oregon, Pastor Gene, Cherry Chase, Markus, Viv in Canada, Ardenia and everyone else who heard my call last week, I want to thank you for your prayers and I tell you I am feeling a renewed Spirit. I am feeling that God is working in me through circumstances, through this community. But I want to let you all know that I am praying for you all and I just want to say, Lee in New Jersey, you have been talking about anger. And, you know, I’m like, this is his thing, this is what he’s dealing with but let me tell you, I am realizing too that I am very angry. I am very angry about what’s going on in the world. I’m very angry about just certain situations and things in my life. And on September 26th of last year, Brian had a message on anger and it was don’t allow anger to rage inside you. Let all bitterness and karma and wrath go. Be the best version of God, moment by moment being remade in his image. Hold this to be true and not false. Give no opportunity to the devil. Help us speak with grace, mercy, and kindness. Release bitterness. I am releasing this over our entire DAB family. I know that God is still on the throne. We walk by faith, not by sight. And we’re two or more are in agreement, ask and it will be given to you. These are things that I am relying on. These are Scriptures that I am going back to. And I just want to let you all know that while I may not sound like myself while I am, you know, struggling, as many of you are struggling, I am singing the praises and counting my blessings and thanking God for changing things in my favor and I am speaking it for all of you to. I love you DAB family, Brian and Jill, everyone behind the scenes. Cheers. Asia in Munich.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. I’m a first time caller but I’ve been listening for a couple of years now. And I just…I need some prayer for…I have a wedding coming up but I’m missing a lot of joy for that’s supposed to come with the family and everything. I just…I want some prayer and some…some just reassurance that all the stress will be gone after the wedding and everything but it’s…it’s really just being able to sit with my family and discuss stuff without everybody being so stressed about what they think is best for the wedding. And I just ask that you guys pray for me, that there can be peace in __ that I’m in and that there can be a lot more agreement when we bring up matters due to the wedding. And I thank you for listening to me and being able to listen to you guys and your prayers. It’s always so comforting every single day. Love you guys. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Divina from Ohio. I am calling to ask for prayers for my family. My dad unexpectedly, it was the end of May, I meant to call in way sooner but if you could keep my family lifted up in prayer, especially my mom. And also if you can pray for her she’s ill. She has her stage IV cancer and she’s tired. It’s not going away…if anything it’s getting worse. So, if you guys could keep her lifted in prayer. And also I ask you to pray for my friend’s father who is in the hospital. His name is Robert James Alexander. It’s not looking too good for him. He has multiple things wrong with him. So, if you can keep him lifted in prayer. Pray for me. I’m praying for all of you guys. I listen every day. So, I want to thank everyone, you know, for just coming together and just being in the family that a lot of us don’t have. God bless you all. Love you all. It’s July the 24th. You guys have a good night. Take care.

Hi there, this is Judith from the UK. This is the 25th of July. I just heard Brian talking about his son, Ezekiel, which I loved hearing about. It inspired me to call in again. I called in before about my adopted younger brother whose name I can’t say because of security reasons. He has a lot of needs. He has special needs in terms of learning difficulties and disabilities and he also has autism and fetal alcohol syndrome and also ADHD. So, several things going on because of his past and also the trauma that he’s experienced as a young child and baby that effect’s him even now. He’s 11. I’m sorry, he’s 13. Anyway, I called before. He has issues around the school he goes to and my parents want to move him but because the way things are in the UK, where the state funds things, it’s very difficult to move. And doing things privately is impossible because it’s so expensive. Basically, please be praying for him. I was with him in the past in the car a couple weeks ago. He got really upset and was saying how no one can help me, even Jesus can’t help me. He has given his life to the Lord and obviously his understanding is limited because of his needs but I do believe God can intervene for him in himself and for my parents because they really need help. It’s becoming unmanageable. They don’t how to manage his needs. He kind of knows they don’t know how to manage his needs. And, so, it feels out of control. And they have been in contact with multiple people so they do have things in the pipeline but it’s just slow and difficult and they’re in contact with solicitor now to see if they can do some stuff with the, what we call the local authorities, the part of the government there that helps with funding. So, he’s specialized to help them deal with what might come up in that area. So, please be praying for wisdom…

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The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday July 28, 2018 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 21-23

Jehoram Rules in Judah

21 When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoram became the next king.

2 Jehoram’s brothers—the other sons of Jehoshaphat—were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.[a] 3 Their father had given each of them valuable gifts of silver, gold, and costly items, and also some of Judah’s fortified towns. However, he designated Jehoram as the next king because he was the oldest. 4 But when Jehoram had become solidly established as king, he killed all his brothers and some of the other leaders of Judah.

5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 6 But Jehoram followed the example of the kings of Israel and was as wicked as King Ahab, for he had married one of Ahab’s daughters. So Jehoram did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy David’s dynasty, for he had made a covenant with David and promised that his descendants would continue to rule, shining like a lamp forever.

8 During Jehoram’s reign, the Edomites revolted against Judah and crowned their own king. 9 So Jehoram went out with his full army and all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he went out at night and attacked them[b] under cover of darkness. 10 Even so, Edom has been independent from Judah to this day. The town of Libnah also revolted about that same time. All this happened because Jehoram had abandoned the Lord, the God of his ancestors. 11 He had built pagan shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.

12 Then Elijah the prophet wrote Jehoram this letter:

“This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: You have not followed the good example of your father, Jehoshaphat, or your grandfather King Asa of Judah. 13 Instead, you have been as evil as the kings of Israel. You have led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship idols, just as King Ahab did in Israel. And you have even killed your own brothers, men who were better than you. 14 So now the Lord is about to strike you, your people, your children, your wives, and all that is yours with a heavy blow. 15 You yourself will suffer with a severe intestinal disease that will get worse each day until your bowels come out.”

16 Then the Lord stirred up the Philistines and the Arabs, who lived near the Ethiopians,[c] to attack Jehoram. 17 They marched against Judah, broke down its defenses, and carried away everything of value in the royal palace, including the king’s sons and his wives. Only his youngest son, Ahaziah,[d] was spared.

18 After all this, the Lord struck Jehoram with an incurable intestinal disease. 19 The disease grew worse and worse, and at the end of two years it caused his bowels to come out, and he died in agony. His people did not build a great funeral fire to honor him as they had done for his ancestors.

20 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. No one was sorry when he died. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the royal cemetery.

Ahaziah Rules in Judah

22 Then the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, their next king, since the marauding bands who came with the Arabs[e] had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigned as king of Judah.

2 Ahaziah was twenty-two[f] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri. 3 Ahaziah also followed the evil example of King Ahab’s family, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. 4 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Ahab’s family had done. They even became his advisers after the death of his father, and they led him to ruin.

5 Following their evil advice, Ahaziah joined Joram,[g] the son of King Ahab of Israel, in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans[h] wounded Joram in the battle, 6 he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramoth.[i] Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah[j] of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him.

7 But God had decided that this visit would be Ahaziah’s downfall. While he was there, Ahaziah went out with Joram to meet Jehu grandson of Nimshi,[k] whom the Lord had appointed to destroy the dynasty of Ahab.

8 While Jehu was executing judgment against the family of Ahab, he happened to meet some of Judah’s officials and Ahaziah’s relatives[l] who were traveling with Ahaziah. So Jehu killed them all. 9 Then Jehu’s men searched for Ahaziah, and they found him hiding in the city of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Ahaziah was given a decent burial because the people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a man who sought the Lord with all his heart.” But none of the surviving members of Ahaziah’s family was capable of ruling the kingdom.

Queen Athaliah Rules in Judah

10 When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of Judah’s royal family. 11 But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba,[m] the daughter of King Jehoram, took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and stole him away from among the rest of the king’s children, who were about to be killed. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom. In this way, Jehosheba, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid the child so that Athaliah could not murder him. 12 Joash remained hidden in the Temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.

Revolt against Athaliah

23 In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest decided to act. He summoned his courage and made a pact with five army commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. 2 These men traveled secretly throughout Judah and summoned the Levites and clan leaders in all the towns to come to Jerusalem. 3 They all gathered at the Temple of God, where they made a solemn pact with Joash, the young king.

Jehoiada said to them, “Here is the king’s son! The time has come for him to reign! The Lord has promised that a descendant of David will be our king. 4 This is what you must do. When you priests and Levites come on duty on the Sabbath, a third of you will serve as gatekeepers. 5 Another third will go over to the royal palace, and the final third will be at the Foundation Gate. Everyone else should stay in the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 Remember, only the priests and Levites on duty may enter the Temple of the Lord, for they are set apart as holy. The rest of the people must obey the Lord’s instructions and stay outside. 7 You Levites, form a bodyguard around the king and keep your weapons in hand. Kill anyone who tries to enter the Temple. Stay with the king wherever he goes.”

8 So the Levites and all the people of Judah did everything as Jehoiada the priest ordered. The commanders took charge of the men reporting for duty that Sabbath, as well as those who were going off duty. Jehoiada the priest did not let anyone go home after their shift ended. 9 Then Jehoiada supplied the commanders with the spears and the large and small shields that had once belonged to King David and were stored in the Temple of God. 10 He stationed all the people around the king, with their weapons ready. They formed a line from the south side of the Temple around to the north side and all around the altar.

11 Then Jehoiada and his sons brought out Joash, the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, and presented him with a copy of God’s laws.[n] They anointed him and proclaimed him king, and everyone shouted, “Long live the king!”

The Death of Athaliah

12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and the shouts of praise to the king, she hurried to the Lord’s Temple to see what was happening. 13 When she arrived, she saw the newly crowned king standing in his place of authority by the pillar at the Temple entrance. The commanders and trumpeters were surrounding him, and people from all over the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Singers with musical instruments were leading the people in a great celebration. When Athaliah saw all this, she tore her clothes in despair and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

14 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders who were in charge of the troops, “Take her to the soldiers in front of the Temple,[o] and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” For the priest had said, “She must not be killed in the Temple of the Lord.” 15 So they seized her and led her out to the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and they killed her there.

Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms

16 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. 17 And all the people went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

18 Jehoiada now put the priests and Levites in charge of the Temple of the Lord, following all the directions given by David. He also commanded them to present burnt offerings to the Lord, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, and to sing and rejoice as David had instructed. 19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s Temple to keep out those who for any reason were ceremonially unclean.

20 Then the commanders, nobles, rulers, and all the people of the land escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord. They went through the upper gate and into the palace, and they seated the king on the royal throne. 21 So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was peaceful because Athaliah had been killed.

Footnotes:

  1. 21:2 Masoretic Text reads of Israel; also in 21:4. The author of Chronicles sees Judah as representative of the true Israel. (Some Hebrew manuscripts, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate read of Judah.)
  2. 21:9 Or he went out and escaped. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  3. 21:16 Hebrew the Cushites.
  4. 21:17 Hebrew Jehoahaz, a variant spelling of Ahaziah; compare 22:1.
  5. 22:1 Or marauding bands of Arabs.
  6. 22:2 As in some Greek manuscripts and Syriac version (see also 2 Kgs 8:26); Hebrew reads forty-two.
  7. 22:5a Hebrew Jehoram, a variant spelling of Joram; also in 22:6, 7.
  8. 22:5b As in two Hebrew manuscripts and Latin Vulgate (see also 2 Kgs 8:28); Masoretic Text reads the archers.
  9. 22:6a Hebrew Ramah, a variant spelling of Ramoth.
  10. 22:6b As in some Hebrew manuscripts, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate (see also 2 Kgs 8:29); most Hebrew manuscripts read Azariah.
  11. 22:7 Hebrew descendant of Nimshi; compare 2 Kgs 9:2, 14.
  12. 22:8 As in Greek version (see also 2 Kgs 10:13); Hebrew reads and sons of the brothers of Ahaziah.
  13. 22:11 As in parallel text at 2 Kgs 11:2; Hebrew lacks Ahaziah’s sister and reads Jehoshabeath [a variant spelling of Jehosheba].
  14. 23:11 Or a copy of the covenant.
  15. 23:14 Or Bring her out from between the ranks; or Take her out of the Temple precincts. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Romans 11:13-36

13 I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, 14 for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. 15 For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead! 16 And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.

17 But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. 18 But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root.

19 “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.” 20 Yes, but remember—those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen. 21 For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t[a] spare you either.

22 Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. 23 And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 24 You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.

God’s Mercy Is for Everyone

25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters,[b] so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26 And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say,

“The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem,[c]
and he will turn Israel[d] away from ungodliness.
27 And this is my covenant with them,
that I will take away their sins.”[e]

28 Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn. 30 Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead. 31 Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share[f] in God’s mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.

33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

34 For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?[g]
35 And who has given him so much
that he needs to pay it back?[h]

36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

Footnotes:

  1. 11:21 Some manuscripts read perhaps he won’t.
  2. 11:25 Greek brothers.
  3. 11:26a Greek from Zion.
  4. 11:26b Greek Jacob.
  5. 11:26-27 Isa 59:20-21; 27:9 (Greek version).
  6. 11:31 Other manuscripts read will now share; still others read will someday share.
  7. 11:34 Isa 40:13 (Greek version).
  8. 11:35 See Job 41:11.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 22:1-18

Psalm 22

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Doe of the Dawn.”

1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
2 Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer.
Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.

3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you,
and you rescued them.
5 They cried out to you and were saved.
They trusted in you and were never disgraced.

6 But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
8 “Is this the one who relies on the Lord?
Then let the Lord save him!
If the Lord loves him so much,
let the Lord rescue him!”

9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
You have been my God from the moment I was born.

11 Do not stay so far from me,
for trouble is near,
and no one else can help me.
12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls;
fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in!
13 Like lions they open their jaws against me,
roaring and tearing into their prey.
14 My life is poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced[a] my hands and feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
My enemies stare at me and gloat.
18 They divide my garments among themselves
and throw dice[b] for my clothing.

Footnotes:

  1. 22:16 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Greek and Syriac versions; most Hebrew manuscripts read They are like a lion at.
  2. 22:18 Hebrew cast lots.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 20:7

7 The godly walk with integrity;
blessed are their children who follow them.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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07/27/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 19:1-20:37, Romans 10:13-11:12 , Psalms 21:1-13, Proverbs 20:4-6

Today is the 27th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. And we’re creeping up on another week, yeah, man, we’re creeping up on another month, but if there’s one thing that the passing of time will show us is that we’re making progress as we take this journey through the Scriptures. And, so, we’ll take the next step. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Second Chronicles chapter 19 verse 1 through 20, verse 37.

Commentary:

Okay. In the book of 2 Chronicles today we encounter quite the story, one that is overwhelmingly encouraging, but one that we should actually examine and apply to our own lives, because we’ve probably all felt hemmed in and surrounded and threatened before in some way in our lives. And that’s what’s going on with Jerusalem. So, the story to place out in the Judean desert with the Dead Sea as this central landmark. And three armies from the other side of the Dead Sea had crossed over and they were assembling at the oasis of En-gedi, a place where they could get freshwater. And we’ve encountered it before, I’ve mentioned it before, it’s a real place that still exists. We’ve filmed this place. It’s in the Promised Land films. So, their assembling there. They can get freshwater. And Jehoshaphat, he was a God-fearing king and had done a lot to restore the people to God. But in spite of all the good he’d done, he got this bad news that a horde was coming to attack Jerusalem and they didn’t have time to prepare for this. They didn’t have the resources to fend this off. So, the king was terrified. And we should…we should acknowledge that when we feel we’re in a similar circumstance. We also may find ourselves in a state of terror or panic or maybe a panic attack. It’s what happened next in the story that can give us guidance. Jehoshaphat didn’t have a meltdown and runaway. Right? He didn’t go into overdrive and whip everybody into shape attempting to reinforce the defenses. He didn’t go down and negotiate a surrender. Instead, he begged the Lord for guidance and he called all the people together to fast before God and seek God’s direction. Right? Because any of the wheel spinning wasn’t gonna work. So, we should pay attention to this posture because often we feel threatened God becomes the last ditch effort rather than the first place that we go for guidance. So, king Jehoshaphat prayed before the people. He said, we can cry out to You to save us, and You will hear us and rescue us. So, what Jehoshaphat wasn’t doing was just trying to get everybody together, knowing that doom was upon them so they were going to just get together and have a worship service and try to encourage each other and build up and encourage within to go face insurmountable odds. No, his posture was to humble himself before God, acknowledging that the situation was hopeless. And that’s what he said. Oh God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to You for help. And of course a prophetic message came out of that one that told the people that the battle wasn’t theirs, that the battle was the Lord’s. And that’s exactly how it played out. The invading armies attacked each other and destroyed each other and the Israeli army simply watched and then collected day after day after day of plunder. So, what looked like impossible odds and incredible loss actually became no loss and enrichment. So, when we’re walking with God and we find ourselves surprised by something that we did not walk into, some type of invasion that we didn’t see coming, may this story come back to mind before we start thrashing around trying to save ourselves, which may be unnecessary and may be unsuccessful. We can find ourselves surrounded with no way out at times, and yeah, we’ll have to surrender. Rather than surrendering to our enemy, we must surrender to God. Be still, worship, and watch what He will do.

Prayer:

Father, as we move through the final hours of this week we take great encouragement in that and we look back over the ways that we’ve responded to these unexpected things and we see that, usually we’re not humbling ourselves and moving into worship and asking you what to do. We’re thrashing around trying to fix things, wasting precious energy and time. Come, Holy Spirit, we repent of that and we seek Your counsel and we seek your direction because we trust You. Come Jesus we pray. In your precious name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here like I say all of the time because it is. So, check in, check it out.

Visit the prayer wall. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Visit the Daily Audio Bible Shop. We have some resources there for the journey, including Promised Land, which has, you know, the film of En-gedi. This is one of the locations that we mentioned today included, and also the Dead Sea, which we read about today. So, you can see these places which, yeah, I mean, it takes things out of imagination and allows you to just really see where these stories unfolded and what that was like and what it looked like. So, that’s the Promised Land films and that’s in the Daily Audio Bible shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that it dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link, it’s on the homepage. Thank you. 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, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Salvation is Mine in San Angelo California. God bless each and every one of you for this day and the coming week, that it may be blessed by God and you will see His hand over everything in your life. I’m calling in today to pray for some of the DABbers. I definitely want to pray for Scott in regards to the loss he has experienced and now that his son is ill with a brain tumor. Dear God, we come before You right now lifting up Scott and his family and his son Joey who has a brain tumor right now. Lord God we know You are the Father of all things. You died on the cross so that way we may be healed. And by Your stripes we are healed if we stand in faith and know that You are God Almighty. Lord Jesus, this family needs You so much right now. He’s been through so much and I know his heart has been broken and he probably has not even had time to grieve for his son and his father because he has to be strong for his son. But let him find his strength in You Lord. Let him lean on You. Let him lean into Your breathe Lord and hear Your heart beat for him, hear that You are taking over all his burdens Lord God, know that You are God Almighty and You will deliver him from these trials and tribulations that the enemy has heaped upon him one after another after another Lord God. This is not of You Father God. This is of the enemy. And the enemy wants to break him but we know Scott can be strong Lord God. We know that he has found favor in Your eyes Lord God and we bless You for that Lord God. Lord God just lift him up today. Lift his son up today for one more doctor visit, one more miracle cure Lord God that will be coming their way. And I pray this in the blessed name of Jesus Christ. Thank you family. Scott, thinking of you, praying for you and your son and I will continue to do so. God bless you. This is Salvation is Mine and San Angelo California.

Good morning DAB family it is Sunday, July 23rd. __. A couple of things are on my mind. I haven’t even gotten halfway through the community prayer but I just had to stop and call. Victoria Soldier you really touched my heart. I’m feeling very weepy today. Fighting another audit at work. And I feel in my Spirit exactly what you said. I am so tired of this. I am so tired of this process. I never feel encouraged after these audits and they tell us that were not supposed to feel like they’re punitive but at 90% anywhere else I would feel encouraged but with my job is failing. So, I need your prayers for God to intervene tomorrow as we meet my manager and my auditor. I need God’s provision. I need His grace. And then also, my heart is really heavy today. My daughter’s birthday is today and it’s also the anniversary of my dad’s going home. And I miss both of them terribly. My daughter is in Denver with her new job. But I know that there are several of us going through stuff at work and just life changes. And it’s so overwhelming some days. Going through Romans has been such a blessing because it has restored my faith. And I know that the battle is not over yet but I also know that God is in the mix and he knows what’s going on. So, would you all please just continue to pray for me and for my family as I continue to pray for you and yours. I love you all. Have a great week.

Hi. This is Mary and I am calling from the Nashville area. I’ve been listening for about seven years now. I’m a first time caller. I want to thank you, say thank you to all of my DAB family. And I love all you guys. I’m praying for all of you all the time. But I’m calling for my 19-year-old niece Angela. She had her baby. She had him prematurely at __six weeks, little baby and Aria and she was in the hospital for a while but she’s okay now. However, Angela has suffered from heart damage. She has what’s called cardiomyopathy and she has to have surgery tomorrow, on July 24th on her heart to have some stents put in there. But that’s not the only thing that’s going on. Her dad had taken some FMLA time so that he could take care of Angela in the hospital and little baby Aria and her little daughter Erin but now, yesterday, her dad suffered a stroke and now he’s in the hospital. So, his name is Robert. Now his wife, Suzanne, is trying to hold down the fort with everything, bless her. But if you could please be praying for them. We are needing a lot of prayers. And we appreciate the time that you take to do that for us. And again, I still pray for you guys. Love you guys. Thank you. Bye-bye.

This message is for our brother Brady. I’m praying for you, your mother, and your daughter. I know that it must be a very difficult challenge for you to go through something so new all of a sudden. Only you and the Lord know the emotions that are welling up inside of you right now. But know that you are not alone for our God is always by your side, always. And I am praying in agreement with you for your mother and your daughter and you. And I’ll leave you with Romans 5 verse 3-5 from the Amplified Bible. And not only this but with joy let us exalt in our suffering and rejoice with our hardships knowing that hardship, the stress that you’re in trouble, produces patient endurance and endurance proven character, spiritual maturity, and proven character, hope and confidence, assurance of eternal salvation. Such hope in God’s promises never disappoints us because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. That same Holy Spirit, Brady, that Brian has been talking about, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead has been given freely to us and I pray that Holy Spirit is revealed in your life along with your mother and daughter. Sean 316. God bless.

Posted on

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday July 27, 2018 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 19-20

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

19 When King Jehoshaphat of Judah arrived safely home in Jerusalem, 2 Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. “Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” he asked the king. “Because of what you have done, the Lord is very angry with you. 3 Even so, there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles throughout the land, and you have committed yourself to seeking God.”

4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, but he went out among the people, traveling from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, encouraging the people to return to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges throughout the nation in all the fortified towns, 6 and he said to them, “Always think carefully before pronouncing judgment. Remember that you do not judge to please people but to please the Lord. He will be with you when you render the verdict in each case. 7 Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.”

8 In Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat appointed some of the Levites and priests and clan leaders in Israel to serve as judges[a] for cases involving the Lord’s regulations and for civil disputes. 9 These were his instructions to them: “You must always act in the fear of the Lord, with faithfulness and an undivided heart. 10 Whenever a case comes to you from fellow citizens in an outlying town, whether a murder case or some other violation of God’s laws, commands, decrees, or regulations, you must warn them not to sin against the Lord, so that he will not be angry with you and them. Do this and you will not be guilty.

11 “Amariah the high priest will have final say in all cases involving the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael, a leader from the tribe of Judah, will have final say in all civil cases. The Levites will assist you in making sure that justice is served. Take courage as you fulfill your duties, and may the Lord be with those who do what is right.”

War with Surrounding Nations

20 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[b] declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom[c] is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.[d] They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.)

3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. 4 So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.

5 Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah and Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the Temple of the Lord. 6 He prayed, “O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who is in heaven. You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth. You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! 7 O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people Israel arrived? And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? 8 Your people settled here and built this Temple to honor your name. 9 They said, ‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war,[e] plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’

10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance. 12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

13 As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, 14 the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.

15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the Lord;
his faithful love endures forever!”

22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing,[f] and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,[g] which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.

27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies. 28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the Lord.

29 When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them. 30 So Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign

31 So Jehoshaphat ruled over the land of Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

32 Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the ways of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. 33 During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people never fully committed themselves to follow the God of their ancestors.

34 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Jehu Son of Hanani, which is included in The Book of the Kings of Israel.

35 Some time later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was very wicked.[h] 36 Together they built a fleet of trading ships[i] at the port of Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, “Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your work.” So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea.[j]

Footnotes:

  1. 19:8 As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
  2. 20:1 As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 26:7); Hebrew repeats Ammonites.
  3. 20:2a As in one Hebrew manuscript; most Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions read Aram.
  4. 20:2b Hebrew the sea.
  5. 20:9 Or sword of judgment; or sword, judgment.
  6. 20:25 As in some Hebrew manuscripts and Latin Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts read corpses.
  7. 20:26 Hebrew valley of Beracah.
  8. 20:35 Or who made him do what was wicked.
  9. 20:36 Hebrew fleet of ships that could go to Tarshish.
  10. 20:37 Hebrew never set sail for Tarshish.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Romans 10:14-11:12

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”[a]

16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[b] 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. 18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have:

“The message has gone throughout the earth,
and the words to all the world.”[c]

19 But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said,

“I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation.
I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.”[d]

20 And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying,

“I was found by people who were not looking for me.
I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”[e]

21 But regarding Israel, God said,

“All day long I opened my arms to them,
but they were disobedient and rebellious.”[f]

God’s Mercy on Israel

11 I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

2 No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”[g]

4 And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”[h]

5 It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel[i] have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. 6 And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.

7 So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened. 8 As the Scriptures say,

“God has put them into a deep sleep.
To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see,
and closed their ears so they do not hear.”[j]

9 Likewise, David said,

“Let their bountiful table become a snare,
a trap that makes them think all is well.
Let their blessings cause them to stumble,
and let them get what they deserve.
10 Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see,
and let their backs be bent forever.”[k]

11 Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. 12 Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.

Footnotes:

  1. 10:15 Isa 52:7.
  2. 10:16 Isa 53:1.
  3. 10:18 Ps 19:4.
  4. 10:19 Deut 32:21.
  5. 10:20 Isa 65:1 (Greek version).
  6. 10:21 Isa 65:2 (Greek version).
  7. 11:3 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.
  8. 11:4 1 Kgs 19:18.
  9. 11:5 Greek for a remnant.
  10. 11:8 Isa 29:10; Deut 29:4.
  11. 11:9-10 Ps 69:22-23 (Greek version).
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 21

Psalm 21

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord!
He shouts with joy because you give him victory.
2 For you have given him his heart’s desire;
you have withheld nothing he requested. Interlude

3 You welcomed him back with success and prosperity.
You placed a crown of finest gold on his head.
4 He asked you to preserve his life,
and you granted his request.
The days of his life stretch on forever.
5 Your victory brings him great honor,
and you have clothed him with splendor and majesty.
6 You have endowed him with eternal blessings
and given him the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord.
The unfailing love of the Most High will keep him from stumbling.

8 You will capture all your enemies.
Your strong right hand will seize all who hate you.
9 You will throw them in a flaming furnace
when you appear.
The Lord will consume them in his anger;
fire will devour them.
10 You will wipe their children from the face of the earth;
they will never have descendants.
11 Although they plot against you,
their evil schemes will never succeed.
12 For they will turn and run
when they see your arrows aimed at them.
13 Rise up, O Lord, in all your power.
With music and singing we celebrate your mighty acts.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 20:4-6

4 Those too lazy to plow in the right season
will have no food at the harvest.

5 Though good advice lies deep within the heart,
a person with understanding will draw it out.

6 Many will say they are loyal friends,
but who can find one who is truly reliable?

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Posted on

07/26/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34, Romans 9:25-10:12 , Psalms 20:1-9, Proverbs 20:2-3

Today is the 26th day of July, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you for another day as we take another step forward through the Scriptures on our journey this year. So, as is customary every day, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday and that will take us back into the book of 2 Chronicles. Today we’ll read chapter 17 verse 1 through 18 verse 34. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we’ve been following the path that Paul has been leading us on as we move through the letter to the Romans, we can see that Paul wasn’t attempting to throw the religion he was raised in, which was Judaism, out the window in favor of some kind of new belief system that he was inventing that would one day be called Christianity. That’s not what he was going for it all. He was attempting to reveal that Jesus was the continuation of a story that came through Abraham’s children so that the people of the whole world might find their way to God. Right? Because Paul had been a deeply devoted Pharisee. So, he had done everything humanly possible in his own strength to obey the law. And he had that attempted to find his way to God that way only to discover that it’s impossible, like, there was no way to become perfect in his own strength. So, Paul began to realize the essence of Jesus teachings, that God’s people had lost the plot of the story and they were trying to obey a set of rules that were no longer connected to the spiritual realities underpinning it all. And, so, for Paul, realizing this, had to realize that the law had become a shell of what it was supposed to be. In his own words he said, the people of Israel tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in Him. So, for Paul, as it had been for Jesus, this is this is where the train came off the tracks. The law was to be a continual reminder of what God had brought them out of and to lead them into complete dependence on and true intimacy with God. Instead, the law had become a source of power and control that lead people to believe they could achieve righteousness before God on their own if they just obey it perfect, which no one could. And, so, again Paul said, I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal, for they don’t understand God’s way of making people write with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. Paul was trying to reveal that Jesus was somebody that needed to be a paid attention to because He was the first person actually fulfill the law, the first portrait of a person who was perfect. And it didn’t happen through strict adherence to ritual. It happened through utter dependence on God and intimacy with God. And that can only happen as Paul continues to point out, through faith.

Prayer:

Father, we come into Your presence by faith. And all of the good news of the gospel, we receive it by faith. But because of their faith it becomes a reality. Our eyes open. We wake up to what is really going on around us, and it’s better than we had ever hoped for. You have drawn near, and You have invited us into Your family that we might draw near as Your sons and daughters. And we receive this by faith. So, come Holy Spirit, strengthen and engage our faith in this reality today as we navigate the issues of life. We ask for Your counsel and direction in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

So, as I say most every day, be sure to check it out.

Stop by the prayer wall and pray for your brothers and sisters. Check out the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop for this journey through the Scriptures in a year. Check out the Community section and see all the different links to where you can connect on social media, and generally, just stay up with what’s going on in the community.

If you are a partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link right on the homepage. And I thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership while we move through the summer time. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi brothers and sisters with the Daily Audio Bible, this is Rich from Arkansas. Many of you may have recalled my calling in for prayer requests in a state of bondage to alcohol. I just…I felt…you know…the need to share with you guys and I’ve been sober eight months. I ended up checking into a facility that was Christian-based, involved members of the military that were dealing with PTSD and things like that. And I have a whole lot of root issues. The Lord I felt like guided me down there and, you know, maybe, Blind Tony and some of you guys I’ve been in touch with. And Brian, it happened around the time your mother passed. But praise God, I have a whole new direction. My voice is different, obviously. But the Lord…I mean the Lord Jesus has been my guide and my friend through this whole process. And job opportunities are opening up for me again. You know…it’s just…I can imagine or begin to explain how my life has changed. And it’s all, you know, I feel like this is a done deal with me. It’s hard to even imagine ever being in that state. But, you know, He can use me now and I have every one of you to thank as far as your fervent prayer. And I covet that still because it is a daily battle. But praise God. We have a reason to rejoice. If any of you out there have family relatives with addictions, I can give what I’ve taken and I’ll be online on Facebook and, of course, listening in. God bless you guys. I love you. Thanks.

Good morning DAB family. This is Walking by Faith from New York City. Asia from Munich, I heard you today. I’m a little behind, today’s the 22nd…nope the 23rd…and I think you called last week but you’ve been on my mind and I’ve missed you and I so understand what you talking about. It’s like…we’re all walking by faith. And I just wanted you to know you’re in my thoughts and prayers and I will continue to pray for you and your family. And it is what the Lord has told us about in the Scriptures, things will only get better and he’s coming soon. And Cherry Chase Cherry pie, I needed to hear that, that you loved me and I love you back. We don’t say it enough and not enough people say it. You know, I guess I’m so grateful that you put that out there and I needed to hear it today. I love you. God bless you family and we’ll talk to you soon but my prayers are for all of you. And again, Asia, I love you. God bless you. Bye from New York City. Walking by Faith.

Good morning this is Stephen from Alabama. This is July 23rd. I’m on my morning walk. I called a couple of weeks ago encouraging all of us to keep doing this…this walk. And I just want you to declare this with me. I kind of personalized Romans…couple of verses…Romans 8:11 and 8:14-16 today. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in me and just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead He will give life to my mortal body by the same Spirit living within me. I am a lead by the Spirit of God and I am a child of God. I’ve not received a Spirit that makes me fearful slave. Instead, I received God’s spirit when He adopted me as His own child. Now I call him Abba Father for His Spirit joins with my Spirit to affirm that I am a child of God. Lord, I thank You so much for Brian and this ministry. The words that he said today, the encouragement, so many days, I’m so thankful for that. Always live by this decree more and more every day in Jesus’ name. Amen. Mark this day down. Save it on the app. You’ve got a star there. Save it for those days when you doubt or you fear. Love you. God bless.

Dear Lord, we pray for our brother who called, I believe his name is I Choose Jesus who is going to have an exam on August 4, which is an act of Your sovereign grace to change that date for him. Lord, thank You that You’ve revealed for him by Your Holy Spirit who You are. And, so, he chooses You. We thank You that, even more amazing, You have chosen us who are completely undeserving of it. And yet You rejoice over us and love us so dearly. Thanks Lord for Your attention to every detail of our lives. I pray that this dear brothers anniversary with his wife will be completely without distraction, a time of just complete enjoyment Lord, of this marriage that’s ordained by You and that You want him to participate in completely, freely, and undistracted, filled with Your love. Thank You Lord Jesus for everything You’re doing and may this exam go exceptionally well. Help them to look to You, to rest in You, to believe You for all things. I pray that You will just bless him Lord from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and that this path that he is on will come to great, great good for him, for his family, and for everyone in his life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Posted on

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday July 26, 2018 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 17-18

Jehoshaphat Rules in Judah

17 Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. 2 He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had captured.

3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father’s early years[a] and did not worship the images of Baal. 4 He sought his father’s God and obeyed his commands instead of following the evil practices of the kingdom of Israel. 5 So the Lord established Jehoshaphat’s control over the kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed. 6 He was deeply committed to[b] the ways of the Lord. He removed the pagan shrines and Asherah poles from Judah.

7 In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent his officials to teach in all the towns of Judah. These officials included Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. 8 He sent Levites along with them, including Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent out the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 They took copies of the Book of the Law of the Lord and traveled around through all the towns of Judah, teaching the people.

10 Then the fear of the Lord fell over all the surrounding kingdoms so that none of them wanted to declare war on Jehoshaphat. 11 Some of the Philistines brought him gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought 7,700 rams and 7,700 male goats.

12 So Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful and built fortresses and storage cities throughout Judah. 13 He stored numerous supplies in Judah’s towns and stationed an army of seasoned troops at Jerusalem. 14 His army was enrolled according to ancestral clans.

From Judah there were 300,000 troops organized in units of 1,000, under the command of Adnah. 15 Next in command was Jehohanan, who commanded 280,000 troops. 16 Next was Amasiah son of Zicri, who volunteered for the Lord’s service, with 200,000 troops under his command.

17 From Benjamin there were 200,000 troops equipped with bows and shields. They were under the command of Eliada, a veteran soldier. 18 Next in command was Jehozabad, who commanded 180,000 armed men.

19 These were the troops stationed in Jerusalem to serve the king, besides those Jehoshaphat stationed in the fortified towns throughout Judah.

Jehoshaphat and Ahab

18 Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. 2 A few years later he went to Samaria to visit Ahab, who prepared a great banquet for him and his officials. They butchered great numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle for the feast. Then Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to join forces with him to recover Ramoth-gilead.

3 “Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?” King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

Jehoshaphat replied, “Why, of course! You and I are as one, and my troops are your troops. We will certainly join you in battle.” 4 Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

5 So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, 400 of them, and asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”

They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! God will give the king victory.”

6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here? We should ask him the same question.”

7 The king of Israel replied to Jehoshaphat, “There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him. He never prophesies anything but trouble for me! His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Jehoshaphat replied, “That’s not the way a king should talk! Let’s hear what he has to say.”

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, “Quick! Bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

Micaiah Prophesies against Ahab

9 King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah, dressed in their royal robes, were sitting on thrones at the threshing floor near the gate of Samaria. All of Ahab’s prophets were prophesying there in front of them. 10 One of them, Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, made some iron horns and proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans to death!”

11 All the other prophets agreed. “Yes,” they said, “go up to Ramoth-gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give the king victory!”

12 Meanwhile, the messenger who went to get Micaiah said to him, “Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king. Be sure that you agree with them and promise success.”

13 But Micaiah replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what my God says.”

14 When Micaiah arrived before the king, Ahab asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?”

Micaiah replied sarcastically, “Yes, go up and be victorious, for you will have victory over them!”

15 But the king replied sharply, “How many times must I demand that you speak only the truth to me when you speak for the Lord?”

16 Then Micaiah told him, “In a vision I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘Their master has been killed.[c] Send them home in peace.’”

17 “Didn’t I tell you?” the king of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat. “He never prophesies anything but trouble for me.”

18 Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. 19 And the Lord said, ‘Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’

“There were many suggestions, 20 and finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, ‘I can do it!’

“‘How will you do this?’ the Lord asked.

21 “And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’

“‘You will succeed,’ said the Lord. ‘Go ahead and do it.’

22 “So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. For the Lord has pronounced your doom.”

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah walked up to Micaiah and slapped him across the face. “Since when did the Spirit of the Lord leave me to speak to you?” he demanded.

24 And Micaiah replied, “You will find out soon enough when you are trying to hide in some secret room!”

25 “Arrest him!” the king of Israel ordered. “Take him back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to my son Joash. 26 Give them this order from the king: ‘Put this man in prison, and feed him nothing but bread and water until I return safely from the battle!’”

27 But Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through me!” Then he added to those standing around, “Everyone mark my words!”

The Death of Ahab

28 So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead. 29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

30 Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his chariot commanders: “Attack only the king of Israel! Don’t bother with anyone else.” 31 So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. “There is the king of Israel!” they shouted. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the Lord saved him. God helped him by turning the attackers away from him. 32 As soon as the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.

33 An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at the Israelite troops and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. “Turn the horses[d] and get me out of here!” Ahab groaned to the driver of the chariot. “I’m badly wounded!”

34 The battle raged all that day, and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans. In the evening, just as the sun was setting, he died.

Footnotes:

  1. 17:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts read the example of his father, David.
  2. 17:6 Hebrew His heart was courageous in.
  3. 18:16 Hebrew These people have no master.
  4. 18:33 Hebrew Turn your hand.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Romans 9:25-10:13

25 Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea,

“Those who were not my people,
I will now call my people.
And I will love those
whom I did not love before.”[a]

26 And,

“Then, at the place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called
‘children of the living God.’”[b]

27 And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out,

“Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore,
only a remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth
quickly and with finality.”[c]

29 And Isaiah said the same thing in another place:

“If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
had not spared a few of our children,
we would have been wiped out like Sodom,
destroyed like Gomorrah.”[d]

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law[e] instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem[f] that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”[g]

10 Dear brothers and sisters,[h] the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.[i] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Salvation Is for Everyone

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.[j] 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”[k]

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”[l] 12 Jew and Gentile[m] are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[n]

Footnotes:

  1. 9:25 Hos 2:23.
  2. 9:26 Greek sons of the living God. Hos 1:10.
  3. 9:27-28 Isa 10:22-23 (Greek version).
  4. 9:29 Isa 1:9 (Greek version).
  5. 9:32 Greek by works.
  6. 9:33a Greek in Zion.
  7. 9:33b Isa 8:14; 28:16 (Greek version).
  8. 10:1 Greek Brothers.
  9. 10:4 Or For Christ is the end of the law.
  10. 10:5 See Lev 18:5.
  11. 10:6-8 Deut 30:12-14.
  12. 10:11 Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
  13. 10:12 Greek and Greek.
  14. 10:13 Joel 2:32.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 20

Psalm 20

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 In times of trouble, may the Lord answer your cry.
May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
2 May he send you help from his sanctuary
and strengthen you from Jerusalem.[a]
3 May he remember all your gifts
and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Interlude

4 May he grant your heart’s desires
and make all your plans succeed.
5 May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory
and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
May the Lord answer all your prayers.

6 Now I know that the Lord rescues his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
and rescue him by his great power.
7 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,
but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.
8 Those nations will fall down and collapse,
but we will rise up and stand firm.

9 Give victory to our king, O Lord!
Answer our cry for help.

Footnotes:

  1. 20:2 Hebrew Zion.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 20:2-3

2 The king’s fury is like a lion’s roar;
to rouse his anger is to risk your life.

3 Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor;
only fools insist on quarreling.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Posted on

07/25/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22, Romans 8:24-39 , Psalms 18:35-50, Proverbs 19:27-29

Today is the 25th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today. Today is my little son Ezekiel’s birthday. He turns six today. And his story is one of the great adventure stories of our time together in the Daily Audio Bible. And I’ll talk about that if we can remember when we get to the end. But we are at the beginning and what we do at the beginning is what we’ve come here to do, focus our attention on the word of God, focus our affection on the God who gave us this gift. So we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. And we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday. 2 Chronicles chapter 14, 15 and 16 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. And as we move through Psalm 19 today we echo the words of King David. We make it our prayer. Your instructions, Lord, are perfect. They revive our soul. Your decrees are trustworthy. They make the simple wise. Your commandments are right. They bring joy to our heart. Your commands are clear. They give us insight for how to live our lives. And so we revere You, Lord. We worship You in awe and wonder. May this pure worship last forever. Your laws are true. Each one is fair. They are more valuable to us than riches, even the finest gold. They are sweeter to us in our lives then honey dripping from the honeycomb because they warn us and guide us and lead us into a great reward for those who obey them. Lord, how can we know all of the entanglements we are in? There are sin’s that may be within our lives that we’re generally unaware of. We don’t even see it in ourselves. Cleanse us from these hidden faults. Keep we, Your servants, from deliberate sins. Don’t let them control us and we will be free from guilt and innocent of great sin. Father, may the words of our mouths and the things that we meditate on in our hearts please You. You are our rock and our redeemer. We pray these things in the name of Jesus, our savior. Amen.

Ezekiel Hardin’s Story:

Okay. I mentioned at the beginning today is Ezekiel’s birthday. And I realized I haven’t shared this story in a few years. Ezekiel was born in the most interesting of circumstances. Well, maybe not the most interesting of circumstances, but they were the most interesting for us at the time. Now we were looking forward to greeting what we had planned to be our last of the children. And we had gone through that pregnancy just kind of enjoying all of it. Of course, Jill didn’t enjoy all of it. What woman does enjoy all of pregnancy, especially at the end? But we had just enjoyed this. I had enjoyed seeing my wife with a big bun in the oven out in front of her for the last time. And it wasn’t our first rodeo so we weren’t scared, we’re just enjoying the process and looking forward to a home delivery with a midwife, which is what we had done with several of the kids. And we were ready to go and, to make a long story short, there were complications. And so hours and hours and hours of agony in labor for Jill without the benefit of these high powered medications that are available in a hospital setting was wearing her down and exhausting her and weren’t really getting anywhere. And over hours, this became a matter of concern until the concern got to the point that Ezekiel, the baby, who hadn’t been born yet, his heart rate was dropping. And Jill’s strength was about gone and we still didn’t have a baby. And so the baby’s heart rate got to the point where we were in trouble, we were in a dangerous situation. And we literally had to flee to the hospital. And not the hospital that we had as a backup. We had a backup plan up in Nashville. But we had to go to the nearest hospital. And Jill was in so much pain and so weak she could hardly get out to the vehicle. But we got her in and got her up there and rolled up to emergency and the midwife jumped out and got her in and I went to park. And by the time I got in, which is just a couple minutes later, they had already wheeled her through and by the time I got to her, she was already wired up a lot. And very quickly they were in looking at the baby and checking everything out and the doctor just told us we can continue, but this is probably not gonna get you anywhere. If this continues, you could lose the baby. We need an emergency C-section. Well that happens routinely, but not for my wife. And this was the one thing that she didn’t want to happen. I mean, this was the one fear that she had. This was the one thing she wanted to avoid. But the doctors were telling us if we continued and didn’t make progress, than she was gonna be in danger, too. So they’re getting everything ready and we got a minute to choose and we’re looking at each other and we’re just in this moment, this unexpected moment. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. She felt like we had to move forward with what the doctors were saying. We couldn’t lose… take a chance on losing the baby. She was so tired and scared and her teeth were chattering. And the next thing we knew, a bunch of people came in and she’s being wheeled away and we’re telling each other I love you. It’s just happening so fast and then a few seconds later, I’m sitting there alone. Like, I’m alone. And Jill’s gone into surgery. And so I texted a few allies to pray and then I reached out into this community, just posted it up. This is kind of what we’re going through right now and pray for us. And this community rose up and prayed. And I remember sitting in that hospital room typing that out and just feeling this flood of calm come. It wasn’t that it was any less of a problematic situation. It was that I tapped in and I didn’t feel like I was alone. And that is the power and the beauty of this community and one of the reasons that I’ve worked as hard as I possibly can to protect it. And about a half an hour later, I was holding this new born baby that we named Ezekiel. And because Jill had gone through surgery, she’s out of it but she came around but they needed to keep her in the hospital for a couple of days. So we were camping out at the hospital for a couple of days in the middle of the summer, July 25. Those of you who live in the south know what I’m talking about. It’s a hot steamy time. But the Daily Audio Bible needed to continue, so I had all my stuff out in the family van and I would go out there each day and record the Daily Audio Bible in a 120 degree van with no air conditioning. You have to have silence to be able to do this. So I’d read the Daily Audio Bible and open the side door just to be able to breathe while putting it all together and so it was kind of news flashes every day from the hospital. But eventually mother and child got home and this little guy has grown from an infant all the way up to six years old and starting school. And through all of that, he became the Daily Audio baby. And it wasn’t too long after that that we launched into the Family Gathering Tour, the very thing that has inspired the Family Reunion that we’re doing in September. And we travelled all over the world over the course of eighteen months and the little boy…he’s been more places than most people even though he can’t remember it all. But every evening and every city at the very end of our gathering, we get Ezekiel, (bring) him up on stage, thank everyone. Thank everyone who prayed because we felt very very much surrounded by the community and by the prayers of God’s people. And we attribute…yes, it was a difficult surprise but we attribute the safe delivery and health to the prayers of God’s people in this community. So if you’ve been around for a while, if you’ve been around the Daily Audio Bible that long than you’ll remember this. If not, than there is another chapter in the Daily Audio Bible story and history. One of the key moments for me where I realized what we have here. Yes, it’s different. Yes, it’s on the Internet. Yes, it’s all over the place and decentralized and all of these things. Yes, it doesn’t look like a standard physical community where people can enjoy life in the same region. But that doesn’t make this any less of a community. So thank you to all of you who prayed for us back then and who continue to pray for us now. I have always had the conviction that it is the prayers of God’s people that sustain what we’re doing here. And I am grateful to God for you. This is why I say I love you every day at the end. It’s not gimmick. It’s because I love this community and I’m grateful for it. So happy birthday Ezekiel. Number six.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here in the community. It’s a way to reach out and connect, so be sure to check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the common mission that we share to continue to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every single day so that anyone who might encounter it no matter where they are in this world may enjoy, if that has been a source of life for you, than thank you for your partnership in allowing it to continue forward. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If your using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O.  Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello my DAB family. This is Mark Street from Sydney Australia. Today is Monday, 23rd of July and I’m calling in today because I heard James the teacher from LA on Sunday evening, the 22nd prayer request. James, my friend, your situation really hit me home fairly quick. I went through that exact same situation. My wife was depressed after giving birth and I turned to pornography and sexual sin to comfort myself. And to cut a long story short, I want to pray for You because…keep pressing into God. I got divorced. I didn’t find the DAB until after my divorce. And James I’m praying for ya. Heavenly Father, James is coming to You with a humble heart knowing that he is having trouble on his own and he does not want to do this by himself Lord. He’s coming to You begging You for help Lord. Lord I ask You to soften his heart and just help them hear what You want him to do Father. Lord, I also ask You to soften his wife’s heart Lord and for her to get out of the stigma mental health. Lord there’s so much digging around about mental health Lord and let her open her mind and let her feel comforted that any help that she gets is normal and that depression is a normal part of life sometimes Lord, but help her press into You as well Lord. Lord don’t let James fall down the path I fell down Lord. And Lord I know You’ve open my mind to what I did wrong Lord and keep opening James’s mind. His mind is open Lord and He’s coming to You with a humble heart now. So, strengthen him. Send the Holy Spirit to him Father. And he’s blessed Lord. Bring them close to You and You draw them close to You too Lord so that they will be able to get through the situation and James will be able to finish his Masters Lord and support his family in the way that he wants to support the Lord. Lord and we know that everything is possible through You Lord. And we lift up James to You. In Your name Lord. Amen. Love You family. Talk to You again soon. Bye.

Hey everybody. Hey this is Annette Allison. Just to let you know, hey, hooo, I’m doing okay and trying to go into a city party and I just decided to throw on some praise music and just go for it. And I feel way better. I hope you all enjoyed the ride today. We took a great big ride listening to the community prayer and it was such a beautiful day. And, Lee from New Jersey my brother man you have just broke my heart. You broke my heart this week. It just reminded me so much of when my grandma passed away and it was just the same thing. And I could not even imagine somebody else having to go through the situation of watching somebody die even though we know and we trust they are going to be with the Lord. It’s still painful. And I know for myself as I was listening throughout the whole community prayer, I was praying for you. And I don’t know, I’m sorry if I felt this way, but I was almost hoping that in the midst of the story that you were going to pick some family up from the airport that she passed away while you weren’t there. And I only say that because it just left such…it was hard. And I just didn’t want…I didn’t want that for anybody else. That process is just so painful to watch. And I was just hoping that she just passed away slow…ya know…without pain and transitioned easily. And I just want you to know that I’m praying for you and that I’m very very sorry for the loss of your mom. And heavens again, whorah, that’s great. But I want you to know that I’m praying for you. I’m really really praying for you and I’ve been so happy and when your first call came I was right by that spot where…I call it your spot, and it’s pretty cool. And it’s like right as soon as I passed it your call came. It was pretty neat. You know? So, I love you guys. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. And y’all take care. Bye.

Hi everybody, it’s Margo from Australia. I just wanted to ring today, first of all because I’ve just passed my 12 month anniversary of listening to DAB and I’ve loved every minute of it. And I wish I found it a lot earlier in my life. I wanted to comment. I’ve been thinking all week. About a week ago we read in Chronicles the verse where David says, when he was buying the threshing floor and he was offered it free but he said, no I will not get to the Lord that which costs me nothing. Now, that is one of my all-time favorite Bible verses. And I think it’s really good if we really think about that verse and what it means to us in our life. I will not give to the Lord that which cost me nothing. Wow, that’s powerful and life-changing. And I think it’s a really good verse to remember at those times when we are suffering, when life’s hard, when the Lord asks difficult things of us, when we don’t feel like being Christlike, when we’re angry at God for our lot in life. You know what? That’s okay because I won’t give to the Lord that which is easy. I won’t give to the Lord that which cost me nothing. I am planning, my husband and I, we’re going to Liberia next year and that’s going to involve fairly significant sacrifice for us. But you know it helps me when I have those moments of feeling freaked out about it? You know what? I just think, I will not give to the Lord that which cost me nothing. How powerful is that? What a motto to have that as our life motto. And I hope that you guys really think about that verse, and that it will encourage you and help you as it has me. Because in this life there will be suffering. And that’s okay. That’s how life is. There won’t be suffering in eternity. That’s the deal. Anyway, love you all heaps. Have a great day everyone. Bye.

Hi. This is Sherry Gallagher. This is my first time calling. I’ve been a longtime listener and God’s really been blessing me and I just give Him praise and glory for that but I am in need of some prayer. I just spent my last dollar and I’m living in a hotel because my place just came up with bed bugs and I was getting ready to move. So, now I’m not even sure what I can bring with me, if anything. I may just have to give everything up and start all over. I’m not sure. But I really need a financial breakthrough and I need, ya know, God to do something about these bedbugs to provide a solution. And I need to get out of this hotel. So, if you could just pray for me and just pray that God will bless me and make a way out of no way I would be really grateful. Thanks.

Posted on

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday July 25, 2018 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 14-16

Early Years of Asa’s Reign

14 [a]When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. There was peace in the land for ten years. 2 [b]Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded the people of Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his law and his commands. 5 Asa also removed the pagan shrines, as well as the incense altars from every one of Judah’s towns. So Asa’s kingdom enjoyed a period of peace. 6 During those peaceful years, he was able to build up the fortified towns throughout Judah. No one tried to make war against him at this time, for the Lord was giving him rest from his enemies.

7 Asa told the people of Judah, “Let us build towns and fortify them with walls, towers, gates, and bars. The land is still ours because we sought the Lord our God, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they went ahead with these projects and brought them to completion.

8 King Asa had an army of 300,000 warriors from the tribe of Judah, armed with large shields and spears. He also had an army of 280,000 warriors from the tribe of Benjamin, armed with small shields and bows. Both armies were composed of well-trained fighting men.

9 Once an Ethiopian[c] named Zerah attacked Judah with an army of 1,000,000 men[d] and 300 chariots. They advanced to the town of Mareshah, 10 so Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mareshah.[e] 11 Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, “O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!”

12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians[f] in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled. 13 Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar, and so many Ethiopians fell that they were unable to rally. They were destroyed by the Lord and his army, and the army of Judah carried off a vast amount of plunder.

14 While they were at Gerar, they attacked all the towns in that area, and terror from the Lord came upon the people there. As a result, a vast amount of plunder was taken from these towns, too. 15 They also attacked the camps of herdsmen and captured many sheep, goats, and camels before finally returning to Jerusalem.

Asa’s Religious Reforms

15 Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you. 3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them. 4 But whenever they were in trouble and turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him out, they found him.

5 “During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land. 6 Nation fought against nation, and city against city, for God was troubling them with every kind of problem. 7 But as for you, be strong and courageous, for your work will be rewarded.”

8 When Asa heard this message from Azariah the prophet,[g] he took courage and removed all the detestable idols from the land of Judah and Benjamin and in the towns he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, which stood in front of the entry room of the Lord’s Temple.

9 Then Asa called together all the people of Judah and Benjamin, along with the people of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them. For many from Israel had moved to Judah during Asa’s reign when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 The people gathered at Jerusalem in late spring,[h] during the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign.

11 On that day they sacrificed to the Lord 700 cattle and 7,000 sheep and goats from the plunder they had taken in the battle. 12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death—whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord with trumpets blaring and rams’ horns sounding. 15 All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.

16 King Asa even deposed his grandmother[i] Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. He cut down her obscene pole, broke it up, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although the pagan shrines were not removed from Israel, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful throughout his life. 18 He brought into the Temple of God the silver and gold and the various items that he and his father had dedicated.

19 So there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign.

Final Years of Asa’s Reign

16 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah.

2 Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message:

3 “Let there be a treaty[j] between you and me like the one between your father and my father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone.”

4 Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa’s request and sent the commanders of his army to attack the towns of Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah,[k] and all the store cities in Naphtali. 5 As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah and stopped all work on it. 6 Then King Asa called out all the men of Judah to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Geba and Mizpah.

7 At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, “Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the Lord your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. 8 Don’t you remember what happened to the Ethiopians[l] and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers?[m] At that time you relied on the Lord, and he handed them over to you. 9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”

10 Asa became so angry with Hanani for saying this that he threw him into prison and put him in stocks. At that time Asa also began to oppress some of his people.

Summary of Asa’s Reign

11 The rest of the events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord’s help but turned only to his physicians. 13 So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor.

Footnotes:

  1. 14:1 Verse 14:1 is numbered 13:23 in Hebrew text.
  2. 14:2 Verses 14:2-15 are numbered 14:1-14 in Hebrew text.
  3. 14:9a Hebrew a Cushite.
  4. 14:9b Or an army of thousands and thousands; Hebrew reads an army of a thousand thousands.
  5. 14:10 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
  6. 14:12 Hebrew Cushites; also in 14:13.
  7. 15:8 As in Syriac version and Latin Vulgate (see also 15:1); Hebrew reads from Oded the prophet.
  8. 15:10 Hebrew in the third month. This month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar usually occurs within the months of May and June.
  9. 15:16 Hebrew his mother.
  10. 16:3 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads There is a treaty.
  11. 16:4 As in parallel text at 1 Kgs 15:20; Hebrew reads Abel-maim, another name for Abel-beth-maacah.
  12. 16:8a Hebrew Cushites.
  13. 16:8b Or and horsemen?
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Romans 9:1-24

God’s Selection of Israel

9 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.[a] I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.[b] God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.[c]

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! 7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,”[d] though Abraham had other children, too. 8 This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”[e]

10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins.[f] 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.”[g] 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”[h]

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”[i]

16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”[j] 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

Footnotes:

  1. 9:3 Greek my brothers.
  2. 9:4 Greek chosen for sonship.
  3. 9:5 Or May God, the one who rules over everything, be praised forever. Amen.
  4. 9:7 Gen 21:12.
  5. 9:9 Gen 18:10, 14.
  6. 9:10 Greek she conceived children through this one man.
  7. 9:12 Gen 25:23.
  8. 9:13 Mal 1:2-3.
  9. 9:15 Exod 33:19.
  10. 9:17 Exod 9:16 (Greek version).
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 19

Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.

God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding.
It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens
and follows its course to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.

7 The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living.
9 Reverence for the Lord is pure,
lasting forever.
The laws of the Lord are true;
each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to your servant,
a great reward for those who obey them.

12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
and innocent of great sin.

14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Footnotes:

  1. 19:3 Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 20:1

20 Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls.
Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


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07/24/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 8:11-10:19, Romans 8:9-23 , Psalms 18:16-24, Proverbs 19:26

Today is the 24th day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. How ya doing, by the way? Hope things are well whatever you might be. And if they’re challenging, well, and I’m sure that they are for all of us. This is our time. The time to set that aside, all those consuming thoughts, and center ourselves in something good. And allow the word of God to wash into our lives. So, let’s do that. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. And picking up where we left off yesterday. 2 Chronicles 11:1-13:22 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, weve entered into the writings of the Apostle Paul. Obviously, we’re working our way through Romans, which is the first of his letters that appears in the Bible but certainly won’t be the last. We’ll be travelling with Paul for a while. And Paul will bring us to these vistas, to these mountain top views from time to time where we can see the scope, the whole horizon of our faith. So, often we’re moving through the Bible, we’re being encouraged every day to endure, we’re being encouraged to press on and we’re being encouraged that this is going somewhere. This helps us. This helps us to keep moving one foot in front of the other forward in our lives and in our relationship with God. But sometimes we come to the implications of what this all means and we can see this horizon and it’s hard to take in. You have to sit with it. And we’re at one of those vistas today. So, Paul was essentially outlining the fact that Jesus was the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. But firstborn of what? What does that mean? Essentially, Paul’s telling us that Jesus’ resurrection began a new thing on planet earth. One that hadn’t been seen since Eden. And this new thing was the reunification of God and man. And we’re not separated from God by sin anymore. Instead, we’ve been reborn into this new family of God, of which Jesus was the firstborn. Where sin no longer has a claim to our soul. It’s the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead that lives in us. So, for believers in Jesus, and we’re reading about ourselves in the Scriptures today. And becoming truly aware of these implications of this horizon is beyond words. And Paul basically says that. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these, the Apostle Paul asked. And then he answered the question, which is also pretty massive. If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Who dares accuse us when God has chosen for his own, Paul wrote. No one. For God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who will then condemn us? No one. For Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us. And he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. I mean, that is so massive. How is it that we can forget this at some point at least every day? What if we took this in, mediated on it, let it sink and seep into our souls and began to live from this place? Live to this day like that was the truth? We can apply these things to what we’re facing and in light of this truth, everything changes. The atmosphere changes. So, it’s not that the wrinkles are gonna disappear from our lives. It’s that we’re going to radically alter our perspective when we truly become aware of what’s really going on. So, let’s remember today nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing.

Prayer:

So, Father, we receive Your love. We invite Your love. We invite You to come now. We become aware of Your presence. We feel You surrounding us. We feel You within us. Nothing can separate us from Your love. And You are for us, so who can be against us? And we realize that this has nothing to do with the challenges that we might face today and everything to do with how we’re going to respond. Come Holy Spirit and let us navigate this day as mature sons and daughters of the Most High God. We ask this in Jesus name, a name that makes this all possible. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check in. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link. It’s on the homepage. And I thank you. 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, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family. It’s Tamika from Carlisle. I was just reaching out because I really need some assistance and prayer for my family and me. My girls…I have four children…and my two oldest want to go live with their dad for a year but I can’t…that’s what they said…but I haven’t seen them in about a month either. So, I get a lot of emotions with that but on top of that I know that I don’t really want them here because of the horrible crimes and things that are happening right here in my neighborhood. I know I don’t want them here either and I can’t provide anything better. So, I agree with it but I know it’s going to set war the rest of my family. Nobody wants me to let him do this because it’s all about money for them. But I just want them to have the best shot. And I haven’t been able to do that. I haven’t been able to give that to them. So, now I’m out of work. I’m trying to go back. I’m trying to go back to Ultra, the only thing that I know that I make good money from and don’t have to train. But I got in trouble. I don’t have a license. I have to pay for transportation for the next year to matter what. So, it’s so much harder. Family please, I never wanted a job so bad in my life and never need to work so bad. By this time next year I want all my kids together in one house. Please. Thank you.

Like Satan I was stubborn and I had to be the best
hard driving impatient and cut above the rest
insensitive self-reliant and chronically independent
I even tried to compete with God
was I crazy or just demented
demented now that’s the perfect word

it has that demonic sound
and demons did control my life
they ran me in the ground
it had to be for self-esteem
that may be independent
independence made me critical egotistical and a cynic
being critical and egotistical has led to isolation
isolation led me into sin and lots of aggravation
once your deep within the sin you’re far away from God
and once again poor self-esteem will start to make you feel odd
the cycle just repeats itself
you know you just can’t win
unless some way you can get to God
and make the cycle end

now how does one get back to God
there are many different theories
I guess that’s where a lot give up
the spirit often wearies
especially if their Spirit isn’t one that’s from the Lord
Satan tries to make it hard for us to get restored
but really it’s quite simple accept and disagree
deliverance is a gift my friend that’s absolutely free
you can learn to be dependent God will always help you too
stay humble and compassionate because love will bring you through
and as your walk in faith get stronger you once again become God’s son
the cycle will be broken and the battle can be one
but there’ll be other battles and other victories too
as long as you stay close to God but the choice is up to you

blindtony1016@gmail.com. Egbert Lopez, Tracy Baker hope you both still hanging in there. Know your loved and thought of and in my prayers every day. And once again, Brian thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flown’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.

Hello my fellow friends, Daily Audio Bible. I am Margaret the Sinner. I have been listening to DAB for the past seven years. I’ve not called in very often. My petition today is I’m having severe stomach issues, don’t know what is going on, praying about it and hoping that you will pray with me that this can be resolved. I also, right now want to reach out to Terry the Truck Driver. Oh my gosh, you are a saint. You are a saint. I’ve been listening for so many years and when I hear your voice and I hear your petitions I am right there with you my brother. I love you and I pray for all of your petitions to our dear Lord Jesus. Annette Allison, it goes without saying. The teacher, James, the teacher from LA I just heard your petition today. My dear brother, I am right there with you. Victoria Soldier, you are my rock. I love you. So wonderful. I love you so much. God bless you all my Daily Audio Bible family. I will call again. Rebecca from Michigan. Let me not stop there. Rebecca from Michigan. You are so awesome I need to hear from you again. Please pray for me, for my stomach issues and I pray for you every day. I listen every day, every day for last seven years. God bless you. Thank you Brian. Thank you Jill. God bless you.

Hey DABbers. This is slave of Jesus from North Carolina. All right, Holy Spirit let’s roll. It is 11:59 PM but I had to take my mask off and pick up the phone and call because I just heard James the teacher in LA calling. He needs prayer for his marriage so let’s do that. Lord, ask You to watch over James in his marriage. I ask You to give him the wisdom of Solomon of how to deal with his wife’s depression but Lord, I ask you to watch him, teach him his ways, that a cancer, that the wondering mind…today on July 22nd I urge you to go back and listen to this Daily Audio Bible. And Brian’s reading so apropos that you’re calling about this issue as he talks about we do what we don’t want to do. And I think it’s in Mark and he talks about this but, yeah, just go back and listen to that and pray to that. He talks about how, you know, it’s dealing with our mind and that is really where it’s at. So, when our mind is elsewhere, it’s not with our marriage, it’s going to destroy it like cancer. You may think about something, I don’t like to give advice or anything but in my experience, in my experience, when my wife is dealing with all kinds of stuff it was going to counseling together, couples counseling. And it’s something I did with her because of my other actions. But eventually I just stopped going and then she kept going. It’s the best 90 bucks per session that we ever spent in our budget that really helps my wife dealing with all kinds of other things. But it started with me agreeing to go with her to a couples counseling. So, I don’t know. That’s what worked for us to get her started. So, love you all best. Have a great day. Bye. __ this call halfway around the world is going through because it was a little bit garbled the first two times I called. Love you all. Have a great day.

Posted on

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday July 24, 2018 (NIV)

2 Chronicles 11-13

Shemaiah’s Prophecy

11 When Rehoboam arrived at Jerusalem, he mobilized the men of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 select troops—to fight against Israel and to restore the kingdom to himself.

2 But the Lord said to Shemaiah, the man of God, 3 “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin: 4 ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not fight against your relatives. Go back home, for what has happened is my doing!’” So they obeyed the message of the Lord and did not fight against Jeroboam.

Rehoboam Fortifies Judah

5 Rehoboam remained in Jerusalem and fortified various towns for the defense of Judah. 6 He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These became the fortified towns of Judah and Benjamin. 11 Rehoboam strengthened their defenses and stationed commanders in them, and he stored supplies of food, olive oil, and wine. 12 He also put shields and spears in these towns as a further safety measure. So only Judah and Benjamin remained under his control.

13 But all the priests and Levites living among the northern tribes of Israel sided with Rehoboam. 14 The Levites even abandoned their pasturelands and property and moved to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons would not allow them to serve the Lord as priests. 15 Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made. 16 From all the tribes of Israel, those who sincerely wanted to worship the Lord, the God of Israel, followed the Levites to Jerusalem, where they could offer sacrifices to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 17 This strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they supported Rehoboam son of Solomon, for during those years they faithfully followed in the footsteps of David and Solomon.

Rehoboam’s Family

18 Rehoboam married his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Eliab son of Jesse. 19 Mahalath had three sons—Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham.

20 Later Rehoboam married another cousin, Maacah, the granddaughter of Absalom. Maacah gave birth to Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 21 Rehoboam loved Maacah more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and they gave birth to twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

22 Rehoboam appointed Maacah’s son Abijah as leader among the princes, making it clear that he would be the next king. 23 Rehoboam also wisely gave responsibilities to his other sons and stationed some of them in the fortified towns throughout the land of Judah and Benjamin. He provided them with generous provisions, and he found many wives for them.

Egypt Invades Judah

12 But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in this sin. 2 Because they were unfaithful to the Lord, King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam’s reign. 3 He came with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horses,[a] and a countless army of foot soldiers, including Libyans, Sukkites, and Ethiopians.[b] 4 Shishak conquered Judah’s fortified towns and then advanced to attack Jerusalem.

5 The prophet Shemaiah then met with Rehoboam and Judah’s leaders, who had all fled to Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah told them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.”

6 Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is right in doing this to us!”

7 When the Lord saw their change of heart, he gave this message to Shemaiah: “Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them and will soon give them some relief. I will not use Shishak to pour out my anger on Jerusalem. 8 But they will become his subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers.”

9 So King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. 10 King Rehoboam later replaced them with bronze shields as substitutes, and he entrusted them to the care of the commanders of the guard who protected the entrance to the royal palace. 11 Whenever the king went to the Temple of the Lord, the guards would also take the shields and then return them to the guardroom. 12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned away, and he did not destroy him completely. There were still some good things in the land of Judah.

Summary of Rehoboam’s Reign

13 King Rehoboam firmly established himself in Jerusalem and continued to rule. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from among all the tribes of Israel as the place to honor his name. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah, a woman from Ammon. 14 But he was an evil king, for he did not seek the Lord with all his heart.

15 The rest of the events of Rehoboam’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded in The Record of Shemaiah the Prophet and The Record of Iddo the Seer, which are part of the genealogical record. Rehoboam and Jeroboam were continually at war with each other. 16 When Rehoboam died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Abijah became the next king.

Abijah’s War with Jeroboam

13 Abijah began to rule over Judah in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign in Israel. 2 He reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother was Maacah,[c] the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah.

Then war broke out between Abijah and Jeroboam. 3 Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded 400,000 select warriors, while Jeroboam mustered 800,000 select troops from Israel.

4 When the army of Judah arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim and shouted to Jeroboam and all Israel: “Listen to me! 5 Don’t you realize that the Lord, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant[d] with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever? 6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a mere servant of David’s son Solomon, rebelled against his master. 7 Then a whole gang of scoundrels joined him, defying Solomon’s son Rehoboam when he was young and inexperienced and could not stand up to them.

8 “Do you really think you can stand against the kingdom of the Lord that is led by the descendants of David? You may have a vast army, and you have those gold calves that Jeroboam made as your gods. 9 But you have chased away the priests of the Lord (the descendants of Aaron) and the Levites, and you have appointed your own priests, just like the pagan nations. You let anyone become a priest these days! Whoever comes to be dedicated with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of these so-called gods of yours!

10 “But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not abandoned him. Only the descendants of Aaron serve the Lord as priests, and the Levites alone may help them in their work. 11 They present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They place the Bread of the Presence on the holy table, and they light the gold lampstand every evening. We are following the instructions of the Lord our God, but you have abandoned him. 12 So you see, God is with us. He is our leader. His priests blow their trumpets and lead us into battle against you. O people of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed!”

13 Meanwhile, Jeroboam had secretly sent part of his army around behind the men of Judah to ambush them. 14 When Judah realized that they were being attacked from the front and the rear, they cried out to the Lord for help. Then the priests blew the trumpets, 15 and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah.

16 The Israelite army fled from Judah, and God handed them over to Judah in defeat. 17 Abijah and his army inflicted heavy losses on them; 500,000 of Israel’s select troops were killed that day. 18 So Judah defeated Israel on that occasion because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 19 Abijah and his army pursued Jeroboam’s troops and captured some of his towns, including Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their surrounding villages.

20 So Jeroboam of Israel never regained his power during Abijah’s lifetime, and finally the Lord struck him down and he died. 21 Meanwhile, Abijah of Judah grew more and more powerful. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

22 The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including his words and deeds, are recorded in The Commentary of Iddo the Prophet.

Footnotes:

  1. 12:3a Or charioteers, or horsemen.
  2. 12:3b Hebrew and Cushites.
  3. 13:2 As in most Greek manuscripts and Syriac version (see also 2 Chr 11:20-21; 1 Kgs 15:2); Hebrew reads Micaiah, a variant spelling of Maacah.
  4. 13:5 Hebrew a covenant of salt.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Romans 8:26-39

26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[a] in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[b] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[c] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[d]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[e] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. 8:27 Greek for God’s holy people.
  2. 8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together.
  3. 8:29 Or would be supreme.
  4. 8:36 Ps 44:22.
  5. 8:38 Greek nor rulers.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 18:37-50

37 I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
38 I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
39 You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
40 You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.
41 They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
42 I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
43 You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.
45 They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.

46 The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 19:27-29

27 If you stop listening to instruction, my child,
you will turn your back on knowledge.

28 A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice;
the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

29 Punishment is made for mockers,
and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.