The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday March 31, 2017 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 16-17

Passover celebration

16 Wait for the month of Abib,[a] at which time you must perform the Passover for the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt at nighttime during the month of Abib. Offer a Passover sacrifice from the flock or herd to the Lord your God at the location the Lord selects for his name to reside. You must not eat anything containing yeast along with it.[b] Instead, for seven days you must eat unleavened bread, bread symbolizing misery, along with it because you fled Egypt in a great hurry. Do this so you remember the day you fled Egypt for as long as you live. No dough with yeast should appear in any of your territory for seven days. Furthermore, none of the meat that you sacrificed on the first night should remain until morning. You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice in any of the cities that the Lord your God is giving you. Instead, you must offer the Passover sacrifice at the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside, at evening time, when the sun sets, which was the time you fled Egypt. Cook it and eat it in the location that the Lord your God selects. The next morning you can return to your tents. For six days you will eat unleavened bread. The seventh day will be a celebration for the Lord your God. Don’t do any work.

Festival of Weeks

Count out seven weeks, starting the count from the beginning of the grain harvest. 10 At that point, perform the Festival of Weeks for the Lord your God. Offer a spontaneous gift in precise measure with the blessing the Lord your God gives you. 11 Then celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God—you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites who live in your cities, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—in the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. 12 Remember how each of you was a slave in Egypt, so follow these regulations most carefully.

Festival of Booths

13 Once you have collected the food and drink you need, perform the Festival of Booths for seven days. 14 Celebrate your festival: you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites, the immigrants, the orphans, and the widows who live in your cities. 15 Seven days you must perform the festival for the Lord your God in the location the Lord selects because the Lord your God will bless you in all you do and in all your work. You will be overjoyed.

16 Three times a year every male among you must appear before the presence of the Lord your God in the location he will select: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. They must not appear before the Lord’s presence empty-handed. 17 Each one should have his gift in hand, in precise measure with the blessing the Lord your God gives you.

Judges and officials

18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every city that the Lord your God gives you. They must judge the people fairly. 19 Don’t delay justice; don’t show favoritism. Don’t take bribes because bribery blinds the vision of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. 20 Righteousness! Pursue righteousness so that you live long and take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Rules for worship

21 Don’t plant any tree to serve as a sacred pole[c] next to the altar you make for the Lord your God. 22 Don’t set up any sacred stone either, because the Lord your God hates such things.

17 Don’t sacrifice to the Lord your God any oxen or sheep that have defects of any kind, because that is detestable to the Lord your God.

Capital punishment

If someone, whether male or female, is found in your community—in one of the cities the Lord your God is giving you—who does evil in the Lord your God’s eyes, by breaking God’s covenant, by following and serving other gods, and by bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly bodies that I haven’t permitted— and you hear news about it, then you must look into this situation very carefully. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in Israel, then you must bring out the man or woman who has done this evil thing to the gates of the city. Stone that person until he or she is dead.

Capital punishment must be decided by two or three witnesses. No one may be executed on the basis of only one testimony. In the execution, the hands of the witnesses must be against the guilty person from the start; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. Remove[d] such evil from your community!

Legal disputes

If some legal dispute in your cities is too difficult for you to decide—say, between different kinds of bloodshed, different kinds of legal ruling, or different kinds of injury—then take it to the location the Lord your God selects. Go to the levitical priests and to the head judge in office at that time and look into things there. They will announce to you the correct ruling. 10 You must then act according to the ruling they announced to you from that location, the one the Lord selects. You must follow very carefully everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act precisely according to the instruction they give you and the ruling they announce to you. Don’t deviate even a bit from the word they announce. 12 And whoever acts rashly by not listening to the priest who is in office serving the Lord your God or to the head judge will die. Remove[e] such evil from Israel! 13 All the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t act arrogantly anymore.

Law of the king

14 Once you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you and you have taken possession of it and settled down in it, you might say: “Let’s appoint a king over us, as all our neighboring nations have done.” 15 You can indeed appoint over you a king that the Lord your God selects. You can appoint over you a king who is one of your fellow Israelites. You are not allowed to appoint over you a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 16 That granted, the king must not acquire too many horses, and he must not return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, because the Lord told you: “You will never go back by that road again.” 17 The king must not take numerous wives so that his heart doesn’t go astray. Nor can the king acquire too much silver and gold. 18 Instead, when he sits on his royal throne, he himself must write a copy of this Instruction on a scroll in the presence of the levitical priests. 19 That Instruction must remain with him, and he must read in it every day of his life so that he learns to revere the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this Instruction and these regulations, by doing them, 20 by not being overbearing toward his fellow Israelites, and by not deviating even a bit from the commandment. If the king does all that, he will ensure lasting rule in Israel for himself and for his successors.

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 16:1 March–April; called Nisan in post-exilic period
  2. Deuteronomy 16:3 It, the Passover sacrifice
  3. Deuteronomy 16:21 Heb asherah, perhaps an object devoted to the goddess Asherah
  4. Deuteronomy 17:7 Or burn
  5. Deuteronomy 17:12 Or burn
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Luke 9:7-27

Herod’s confusion

Herod the ruler[a] heard about everything that was happening. He was confused because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. Herod said, “I beheaded John, so now who am I hearing about?” Herod wanted to see him.

Jesus feeds the five thousand

10 When the apostles returned, they described for Jesus what they had done. Taking them with him, Jesus withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds figured it out, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about God’s kingdom, and healed those who were sick.

12 When the day was almost over, the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a deserted place.”

13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said, “We have no more than five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 (They said this because about five thousand men were present.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Seat them in groups of about fifty.” 15 They did so, and everyone was seated. 16 He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 Everyone ate until they were full, and the disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.

Following Christ

18 Once when Jesus was praying by himself, the disciples joined him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

19 They answered, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life.”

20 He asked them, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ sent from God.”

21 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. 22 He said, “The Human One[b] must suffer many things and be rejected—by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts—and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

23 Jesus said to everyone, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. 24  All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. 25  What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives? 26  Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Human One[c] will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27  I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see God’s kingdom.”

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 9:7 Or tetrarch
  2. Luke 9:22 Or Son of Man
  3. Luke 9:26 Or Son of Man
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 72

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

72 God, give your judgments to the king.
Give your righteousness to the king’s son.
Let him judge your people with righteousness
and your poor ones with justice.
Let the mountains bring peace to the people;
let the hills bring righteousness.
Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
let him save the children of those who are needy,
but let him crush oppressors!
Let the king live[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon,
generation to generation.
Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass,
like showers that water the earth.
Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives,
and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
Let the king rule from sea to sea,
from the river to the ends of the earth.
Let the desert dwellers bow low before him;
let his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute;
let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts.
11 Let all the kings bow down before him;
let all the nations serve him.

12 Let it be so, because he delivers the needy who cry out,
the poor, and those who have no helper.
13 He has compassion on the weak and the needy;
he saves the lives of those who are in need.
14 He redeems their lives from oppression and violence;
their blood is precious in his eyes.

15 Let the king live long!
Let Sheba’s gold be given to him!
Let him be prayed for always!
Let him be blessed all day long!
16 Let there be abundant grain in the land.
Let it wave on the mountaintops.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon.
Let it thrive like grass on the land.
17 Let the king’s name last forever.
Let his name endure as long as the sun.
Let all the nations be blessed through him and call him happy.

18 Bless the Lord God, the God of Israel—
the only one who does wondrous things!
19 Bless God’s glorious name forever;
let his glory fill all the earth!
Amen and Amen!

20 The prayers of David, Jesse’s son, are ended.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 72:5 LXX; MT May they fear you.
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 12:8-9

A person is praised for his insight,
but a warped mind leads to contempt.
Better to be held in low regard and have a servant
than to be conceited and lack food.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

03/30/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23 ~ Luke 8:40-9:6 ~ Psalm 71:1-24 ~ Proverbs 12:5-7

Today is March 30th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and we’re sneaking up on the end of another week, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  We certainly are sneaking up on the end of a month, though, tomorrow being the last day of March, so we’re clearly making progress on our adventure through the scriptures this year.  We’ll take the next step forward now.  We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week, Deuteronomy chapter 13, verse 1 through 15, verse 23 today.  

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for another day in your word and we invite your Holy Spirit to continue tilling into the soil of our lives everything that we’re learning every day.  Father, even as we learned of the intentionality and the deliberateness of removing from us anything that would pull us away from you in the law today in the book of Deuteronomy, we ask you to help us examine our own lives.  What are the things that are seducing us away from you?  We surrender that to you, Lord.  Nothing is more important to us than you.  Come, Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It’s where you find out what is going on around here, so check it out and stay connected.    

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, that can also be done at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  I thank you humbly and profoundly for those of you who have clicked that link.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. 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 you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi, this is Victorious Soldier.  I’m calling to speak with Rick.  Rick, I just want to pray with you and I just want to give you some words of encouragement.  If you made it through 500 days, God can take you through the rest.  Don’t take the sobriety as one time fallen, as __________ of falling down.  Remember the Bible says that the righteous will fall many times and get up, but only one time for the wicked.  You are not the wicked.  You are the righteous.  You stand up and you grab ahold of it again and don’t let go.  I know what addiction is like because I had a strong addiction to gambling.  And God broke that stronghold.  Don’t call it an addiction but call it a stronghold.  Trust the God that we serve, that he can break it that it can never be built up again.  I just encourage you, my brother.  Don’t give up.  You grab ahold of those reigns and you pick up and you get up and you move toward the mark of the higher calling.  You are a overcomer.  You are a victorious soldier.  Continue on. Lord, in the name of Jesus, you touch Rick.  You let him know that it is for you.  You let him know that you love him.  And you let him know that you are right there to pick him up.  You are right there to pick him up and run on and see what the end is going to be.  Lord, you have your way in Rick’s mind and Rick’s life.  Rick, you are an overcomer.  Rick, you are a winner.  Rick, you can do it.  We can do all things through Christ which strengthens us.  Continue to bless him, Lord.  Continue to bless your people.  Lord, touch __________ who was having problems with his job and his marriage, Lord. You bring it about.  O Father, in the name of Jesus, you bring them together, Father.  In the mighty name of Jesus.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  It’s Beth calling from Canada.  I haven’t called in a while and I was actually beating myself up about it until I heard Asia’s comment and I know that really did good for me because you know you call in when you get the prompting and this morning, after listening to some of the prayer requests, I wanted to just call in and say a word of prayer.  Holy Father, Lord God Almighty, I thank you for this day, Lord God, and I thank you for the Daily Audio Bible, for Brian and Jill and for their service to you and how it affects our lives on a daily basis.  I just thank you, Lord, for just being there for us and just being our comforter, being comforter for so many of us who really need you, Lord.  I think about Candace at this moment, Lord God, and I cannot imagine what she is going through. I have no words, Lord God, but Father, you have everything.  You know everything, Lord.  And Lord, you know what she needs.  I pray for your holy anointing on her and their family, Father God.  Also think about Salvation is Mine and all the things she’s been going through lately.  Dear God, I just ask for anointing as well for her, Father God.  You are God.  You are sovereign.  We go through these things in life, but the good thing, Lord, is we know that you are there for us, that you are never far away, Lord God.  So just help us, Lord, God, to be able to hang onto you, Lord, to keep our focus on you.  Father, I also remember Ellie.  Jordan called about his best friend’s mom.  

Hey DAB family, this is Byron out in Florida.  On some of the longer car rides that my family has been having lately, we started listening to DAB Teen for the benefit of my children, mostly for my oldest son Caleb who is 10, and in listening to China read, they are doing a chronological read through the Bible, I have just been astounded at the insight that this young woman has.  She is every bit her father’s daughter.  Today I happened to be listening and she was going through the portion and I think it is Numbers where they divvy out the promised land, and even my son who usually doesn’t like to listen with me for some reason was like, “Dad, why was all this __________ the Bible?”  I was just trying to explain to him why __________ with him and that continued on.  __________ when it got to the point where his namesake Caleb was described and his land and stuff like that.  But then afterwards, somehow China takes this dry portion of scripture and just turns it into this compelling thing about how we can __________ in the Bible.  It’s astounding.  If you have time or you have kids, I recommend you to put them on the DAB Teen and they will get tremendous edification in the word.  Just continue to pray for China.  She is able to bring awesome insight.  So I love you all.  I’ll talk to you later.  Bye.  

Hi everyone.  This is Reginald M., also known as Keeper of the Earth, also known as A New Creation.  It’s been a long while since I’ve called the DAB prayer line and the reason I’ve been waiting this long is for God’s perfect timing.  I just finished sending Blind Tony a very long email and I apologize for the length of it, Tony.  I hope you see my heart in all that.  And I also was led to call to thank Asia from Munich.  Asia, you did your best to encourage me when my divorce was getting started over three years ago and you reached out to me in an email and several other people did too, for which I’m truly thankful.  Now it’s my turn.  Asia, what you had to say on the March 16th podcast, which I only listened tonight, or last night,  now being the 27th of March.  This is my new habit that I told Tony about of listening to the podcast two or three times before I completely understand what God is saying to me.  What you had to say about people not calling and reasons why was a huge blessing to me.  I just simply want to take this opportunity to say well done, sister.  And God bless.  I pray for each and every one of you every single day even though I find myself about 10 days behind right now.  God bless you all.  I love you all, especially you, Brian and Jill, for doing this podcast.  God bless.  Bye for now.

Hi, my name is Rinnie from the Chicago area.  I’m a two-year listener and it’s my first time calling in.  I’m wanting prayer for a very good friend of mine who is suffering with pancreatic cancer.  If you would please pray for her.  Her name is Polly.  She is in dire need of prayer.  I thank you all very much.  Bye-bye.

Hello Dabbers.  My name is Alberta.  I’m calling from Harlow in Essex, UK.  I’ve been listening to DAB for about six months now and I feel so connected to you all. I listen.  I say a little prayer.  I shed a tear.  In my heart I wish I could do so much for some of you.  I know that I can’t do a lot for a lot of you, but I’m calling really just to say thank you for such wonderful prayers, for all of you and for your lives and just to thank God for all of you and thank God for Brian.  He reads wonderfully.  I love to listen to his voice.  He said once it was like a warm hug and I do feel like I’m receiving a warm hug when I listen.  I just want to say, Blind Tony, you are so talented.  I love to hear your poems.  Thank you so much.  I’ll be calling again.  Thank you.  Bye. 

03/29/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32 ~ Luke 8:22-39 ~ Psalm 70:1-5 ~ Proverbs 12:4

Today is March 29th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. How are you today?  We just have two days left in this month and it is exciting. We’re making progress as we move our way through the scriptures this year.  So we’ll move back into the book of Deuteronomy, back out to the edge of the Jordan River where the children of Israel are listening to Moses speak the last things that he wants to say before he transfers leadership of the children of Israel on and moves away from these people that he’s led for so long.  So we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week, Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 1 through 12:32.  

Commentary

As Moses continues to recount the story of how the children of Israel became the children of Israel and how it is that they find themselves on the precipice of entering the promised land once again, over and over and over what he is trying to instill in them is that when they get there they must not forget their history.  They must not forget how they got here.  They must not forget the Lord their God who brought them here.  So he tells them, “Place these words I’m speaking on your heart and in your very being.  Tie them on your hand as a sign.  They should be on your forehead as a symbol.  Teach them to your children by talking about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you’re lying down and when you’re getting up.  Write them on your houses’ doorframes and on your cities’ gates.  Do all that so your days and your children’s days in the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors are many, indeed, as many as the number of days as the sky has been over the earth.  In other words, forever.”

So even today if you are among the Jewish community, I mean, it is still part of their custom.  Even people who don’t believe any of this still have this woven into their culture so it is not unusual to see, in an orthodox way, to have these things tied around their hands or attached to their foreheads, on the doorposts of their homes. I mean, you can’t go to a hotel practically in Israel that it is not on the doorpost in your room, in this little thing attached to the doorframe.  

So does that mean we need to go get all that stuff and start walking around that way?  No, not unless it is going to remind you, because that was the point.  The point wasn’t that you just do all of this and not remember. The point was to remember.  So whatever it is that will remind us, whatever it is that will keep us constantly present to what the Lord is saying and how he is leading and to his presence, that is important because it is easy for us to forget how we got here.  And if we don’t like where we are, it is easy to start blaming anything we can find for it rather than admitting our own culpability in it.  So remembering is no less of a big deal.  It is no less important now than it was then.  

As you see as we go through these laws, at first blush we’re like ‘why is this in the Bible?’  And then at second blush, we’re like ‘man, there’s just a lot to this.’  And at third blush, it is kind of like ‘some of this stuff is kind of bloody’ and we get lost on the surface, when the point is everything about this law and custom and ritual, everything about everything in this culture is a reminder of who they are, who God is, where they’ve come from, and where they’re going if they will simply stay true and present to God, if they will love him with all that they are.  If they will interweave conversation about the Lord into everything that they do, they will stay present to him.  And as they stay present to him, they are intertwined with him in relationship.  This is the point and it is no less true right now, this very second.  So may we consider the things in our lives that are those reminders, the things that we go to daily that create a rhythm in our lives, that are reminding us, because we forget and we are seduced away so easily.

Prayer

Father, we invite you into that.  One of these things is certainly the rhythm of coming to your word every day, but show us the other things that match our relationship, that match the lifestyle that you have allowed us to have and that we are grateful for.  Show us the things that are constant reminders of your presence.  Show us how to be mindful and present to you in every second of every day, in every decision, in every word and every thought, in all that we are so that we never lose sight of the fact that you are near and we must be near you if we ever hope to have the intimacy with you that we desire.  So come, Holy Spirit, into this, we pray.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It’s where you find out what is going on around here, so be sure to check it out. Check out the Prayer Wall.  Pray for your brothers and sisters.  These little lifestyle things are important and so being mindful of each other and praying for each other, this is one of the ways that, even though we’re a virtual community, we are continually talking about the goodness of God and that we are encouraging one another through those difficult times.  This is one of the ways that looks now.  So the Prayer Wall is a great place for that.  DAB Friends on Facebook is a great place for that.  There are lots of places for that in our lives, but we’re trying to find practical ways and these things plug into the community that we share here, and so, yeah, check it out.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you.  That is how we have a community in the first place. We are all in this together and we’re constantly reminded that we’re in this together so that no one has to feel alone on this faith journey, isolated and completely abandoned.  There is no need for that.  It is not true.  So thank you for your partnership.  If you’re using the app, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner. If you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

And 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi, it’s Lourdes from Canada and I’m just calling in.  I just heard Rich from Arkansas.  He’s 500 days sober and you said you went to the USA for a job interview and you “fell on your feet,” and I just wanted to say to you, Rich, that we hear you, that God hears you, and I want to encourage you, that yes, he can set you free and it is his desire to do so.  Our God is no respecter of person and what you saw him do and heal in the word, he will do for you.  I agree with you.  He is a one-step God.  So let’s go to prayer.  God of all hope, comfort and peace, thank you that you are able to heal and that it is your desire to give us the kingdom.  I’m praying that you would make this bumpy road straight for my brother and that you would sanctify his life as he abides in your word.  Thy word have I hidden in my heart that I would not sin against you.  Father, remind my brother that your work is a finished work on the cross.  It is done.  That he has moved from darkness to light, he is a new creation in Christ Jesus, and that he has all power right now to live in righteousness and be set free from this sin.  But Father, as he walks on this earth and as he is sanctified and, Father, as you are with him by your Holy Spirit in this battle, I pray, Holy Spirit, that you would strengthen my brother as he battles this addiction here on earth.  And we give you thanks and we give you all the glory for the healing that you will accomplish in this man’s life.  You said that the work that you have begun, that you would complete.  And so we stand on your precious promises and we lift our arms in prayer on behalf of our brother.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hello, this is my first time calling.  This is Belinda from Georgia.  I just heard a man who said he had been free from using alcohol for over 500 days and he had a relapse when he went to New York City for a job interview. My heart was just touched by this man. I just want to encourage you and tell you that yes, Jesus did heal the blind man and he was not blind.  He could see from that time on, but sometimes God does not work in our lives and other people’s lives in the same way.  I just want to say that all my life I struggled with my weight and about two years ago I lost over 50 pounds.  I’ve lost probably close to 70 pounds in all and it is a struggle every single day to keep that off.  Sometimes God wants us just to trust him every single day, every moment of every day and know that he is all the strength and all the power that we need.  And that may be God’s plan for you.  I know that has been God’s plan for me.  But just know that I will be praying for you, that God will just really grab hold of your life and that you will know that in Jesus you have everything that you need. Thanks.  Bye-bye.  

Hi, my name is Sharon and I live in Red Deer County in Alberta, Canada.  I’m just calling today for all of the people that I guess are struggling or even those that just need a little encouragement. I just want to pass along one of my favorite Bible verses.  It is in Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 6:  His left hand cradles my head and his right arm encircles my waist.  To me it’s just a beautiful picture of how God just holds onto us.  He is our beloved and we are his.  Just hold onto the fact that no matter what you do and where you are, he is right there and he’s holding us.  Thanks.

Hi, this is Bonnie from Virginia.  I am calling to encourage brother, I think he said his name is Tony from California and he is a correction officer and is having some family issues.  But I hear whatever you shared, that I can see your confession and you are realizing your mistake.  I believe that making mistake is not a problem, but not learning a lesson from mistake is a problem.  But I am not a preacher, but I have experience of teaching for 12 years as a teacher.  Still, whatever I learn from the Bible I just want to share with you and encourage you with this message.  We all are not perfect,  As the book of Romans says, there are none righteous person.  Otherwise, we would not need Christ and cross.  So you have confessed your sin, brother.  I will be praying for you and keep your heart strong and just go to the cross and always pray to God, asking wisdom what you should be doing for your family.  Thank you. I will be praying for you. Bye.  

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Cheryl in Arizona.  I am calling specifically today to respond to something Pastor Gene said.  I have been listening to the Community Prayer.  Today is Sunday, March 26th, and Pastor Gene was talking about that it is wonderful to feel emotions when we are worshipping and praising God, but that we won’t always feel God and sometimes we’ll feel bad or sad or lonely.  And to remember the scripture that we walk by faith and not by sight.  And that we are in command of our emotions instead of our emotions ruling our lives.  You said that was for someone and, Pastor Gene, I just want to say that immediately when I heard you say that, I felt very strongly that it was for me.  And then right following it, tears came to my eyes, so I felt.  It is like that sting that happens when we hear something that we know is for us. It may be painful.  But I just want to say thank you and I love you and I appreciate you.  I appreciate your prayers and your faithfulness.  So thank you for that.  Just wanted to say so and I love all of you so very much and am truly grateful to be a part of such a wonderful community of people.  Brian and Jill, I love you both so very much and appreciate you more than words.  Thank you so much for your faithfulness and your commitment and your love.  I hope you all have a wonderful day and week ahead.  Talk to you next time.  Bye-bye.

This is for McKenzie.  McKenzie, it is so good to hear your voice.  The exuberance that you spoke with warmed my heart.  I have had you on my prayer list and I’ve been praying that the Lord would bless and heal you of your anxiety.  Praise God. Thank you, Lord, for touching so many at that youth camp.  May all the seeds that were planted come to fruition and may McKenzie grow closer and trust you more and share her faith as she defeats any anxiety that tries to come against her.  Thank you, Father.  Rich from Arkansas, may the Lord strengthen you and heal you of your addiction.  Cast all your cares, all your fears on him because he cares for you, Rich.  Alleah, Alleah, Alleah, God loves you.  You are loved.  I’m praying for you and I know many are praying for you.  You are loved, Alleah.  This is Sue from Costa Rica.  Love never fails.  

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday March 30, 2017 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 13-15

False prophets and false gods

13 [a] Now if a prophet or a dream interpreter appears among you and performs a sign or wonder for you, and the sign or wonder that was spoken actually occurs; if he says: “Come on! We should follow other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced—“and we should worship them,” you must not listen to that prophet’s or dream interpreter’s words, because the Lord your God is testing you to see if you love the Lord your God with all your mind and all your being. You must follow the Lord your God alone! Revere him! Follow his commandments! Obey his voice! Worship him! Cling to him—no other! That prophet or dream interpreter must be executed because he encouraged you to turn away from the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, who redeemed you from the house of slavery; they tried to lead you away from the path the Lord your God commanded you to take. Remove[b] such evil from your community!

Similarly, if one of your relatives—even one of your own siblings—or your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend entices you secretly, if someone like that says: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones that neither you nor your ancestors have experienced, gods from all the neighboring peoples, whether nearby or far away, from one end of the earth to the other— don’t give in to them! Don’t obey them! Don’t have any mercy on them! Don’t have compassion on them and don’t protect them! Instead, you must execute them. Your own hand must be against them from the beginning of the execution; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. 10 Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again.

12 Or if you hear about one of your towns the Lord your God is giving you to inhabit, that 13 certain wicked people have gone out from your community and they’ve led the citizens of their town astray by saying: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced before; 14 at that point you must look into this situation very carefully to see if it’s true. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in your community, 15 you must completely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Place it and all that is in it under the ban.[c] Put its animals to the sword. 16 Gather all the plunder into the middle of the town’s square. Then burn the city and all of its plunder as an entirely burned offering to the Lord your God. It must remain a heap of rubble forever. It must not be rebuilt. 17 Don’t hold on to any of the banned items—this will ensure that the Lord turns from his great anger and is compassionate to you, showing you mercy and multiplying you just like he swore to your ancestors. 18 You must definitely obey the Lord your God’s voice, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, by doing what is right in the Lord your God’s eyes!

Complete devotion to the Lord

14 You are the Lord’s children. Don’t cut yourselves and don’t shave your foreheads for the dead, because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. You are the ones whom the Lord selected to be his own, to be a treasured people out of all other people on earth.

Dietary laws

Don’t eat any detestable thing. Here’s a list of animals you are allowed to eat: ox, sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. You are also allowed to eat any animal with a divided hoof—the hoof being divided into two parts—and that rechews food among the various kinds of animals. However, here’s a list of animals that either rechew food or have hooves divided in two parts that you are not allowed to eat:

the camel, the hare, and the rock badger—because these rechew food but don’t have divided hoofs, they are off-limits for you;

and the pig—because it has a divided hoof but doesn’t rechew food, it’s off-limits for you.

You may not eat these animals’ meat, and you must not touch their carcasses.

Here’s a list of the water animals you are allowed to eat: you can eat anything that has fins and scales. 10 But you aren’t allowed to eat anything that lacks scales or fins. These are off-limits for you.

11 You are allowed to eat any clean bird. 12 Here’s a list of those you are not allowed to eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 13 the red kite, the black kite, and any kind of bird of prey, 14 any kind of raven, 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, any kind of hawk, 16 the small owl and the large owl, the water hen, 17 the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.[d]

19 Also, all winged insects are off-limits for you. They are not to be eaten. 20 Any clean winged creature can be eaten, however.

21 You must not eat any decayed animal flesh because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. You can give decayed animal flesh to the immigrants who live in your cities, and they can eat it; or you can sell it to foreigners.

Don’t cook a lamb in its own mother’s milk.

Tenth part

22 You must reserve a tenth part of whatever your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tenth part of your grain, wine, oil, oldest offspring of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God in the location he selects for his name to reside so that you learn to fear the Lord your God at all times. 24 But if the trip is too long, because the location the Lord your God has selected to put his name is far away from where you live so that you can’t transport the tenth part—because the Lord your God will certainly bless you— 25 then you can convert it to money. Take the money with you and go to the location the Lord your God selects. 26 Then you can use the money for anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever else you might like. Then you should feast there and celebrate in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your entire household. 27 Only make sure not to neglect the Levites who are living in your cities because they don’t have a designated inheritance like you do.

28 Every third year you must bring the tenth part of your produce from that year and leave it at your city gates. 29 Then the Levites, who have no designated inheritance like you do, along with the immigrants, orphans, and widows who live in your cities, will come and feast until they are full. Do this so that the Lord your God might bless you in everything you do.

Year of canceled debts

15 Every seventh year you must cancel all debts. This is how the cancellation is to be handled: Creditors will forgive the loans of their fellow Israelites. They won’t demand repayment from their neighbors or their relatives because the Lord’s year of debt cancellation has been announced. You are allowed to demand payment from foreigners, but whatever is owed you from your fellow Israelites you must forgive. Of course there won’t be any poor persons among you because the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, but only if you carefully obey the Lord your God’s voice, by carefully doing every bit of this commandment that I’m giving you right now. Once the Lord your God has blessed you, exactly as he said he would, you will end up lending to many different peoples but won’t need to borrow a thing. You will dominate many different peoples, but they won’t dominate you.

Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need. But watch yourself! Make sure no wicked thought crosses your mind, such as, The seventh year is coming—the year of debt cancellation—so that you resent your poor fellow Israelites and don’t give them anything. If you do that, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 10 No, give generously to needy persons. Don’t resent giving to them because it is this very thing that will lead to the Lord your God’s blessing you in all you do and work at. 11 Poor persons will never disappear from the earth. That’s why I’m giving you this command: you must open your hand generously to your fellow Israelites, to the needy among you, and to the poor who live with you in your land.

12 If any of your fellow Hebrews, male or female, sell themselves into your service, they can work for you for six years, but in the seventh year you must set them free from your service. 13 Furthermore, when you set them free from your service, you must not let them go empty-handed. 14 Instead, provide for them fully from your flock, food, and wine. You must give to them from that with which the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember how each of you were slaves in Egypt and how the Lord your God saved you. That’s why I am commanding you to do this right now. (16 Now if your male servant says to you: “I don’t want to leave your service” because he loves you and your family and because life is good for him in your service, 17 then you may take a needle and pierce his ear with it into the doorframe. From that point on, he will be your permanent servant. Do the same thing for female servants.) 18 Don’t consider it a hardship to set these servants free from your service, because they worked for you for six years—at a value double that of a paid worker. The Lord your God will bless you in everything that you do.

19 You must devote every oldest male animal from your herds or flocks to the Lord your God. Don’t plow with your oldest male ox and don’t shear your oldest male sheep. 20 Year after year, you and your family are allowed to eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God, in the location the Lord selects. 21 But if there is any defect in it, lameness, blindness, any flaw whatsoever, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You are allowed to eat those in your own cities, whether you are polluted or purified, just as you would eat gazelle or deer. 23 Even so, don’t consume any blood. Pour it out on the ground, like water.

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 13:1 13:2 in Heb
  2. Deuteronomy 13:5 Or burn
  3. Deuteronomy 13:15 See note at 2:34.
  4. Deuteronomy 14:18 The species of many of the birds in 14:12-18 is uncertain.
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Luke 8:40-9:6

Jesus heals two women

40 When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they had been waiting for him. 41 A man named Jairus, who was a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a twelve-year-old, was dying.

As Jesus moved forward, he faced smothering crowds. 43 A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent her entire livelihood on doctors, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the hem of his clothes, and at once her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you!”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me. I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 When the woman saw that she couldn’t escape notice, she came trembling and fell before Jesus. In front of everyone, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.

48 “Daughter, your faith has healed you,” Jesus said. “Go in peace.”

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house, saying to Jairus, “Your daughter has died. Don’t bother the teacher any longer.”

50 When Jesus heard this, he responded, “Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting, and she will be healed.”

51 When he came to the house, he didn’t allow anyone to enter with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 They were all crying and mourning for her, but Jesus said, “Don’t cry. She isn’t dead. She’s only sleeping.”

53 They laughed at him because they knew she was dead.

54 Taking her hand, Jesus called out, “Child, get up.” 55 Her life returned and she got up at once. He directed them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were beside themselves with joy, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

The Twelve sent out

Jesus called the Twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses. He sent them out to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. He told them, “Take nothing for the journey—no walking stick, no bag, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, remain there until you leave that place. Wherever they don’t welcome you, as you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against them.” They departed and went through the villages proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 71

Psalm 71

71 I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
Bend your ear toward me and save me!
Be my rock of refuge
where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved
because you are my rock and my fortress.

My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
because you are my hope, Lord.
You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
I’ve depended on you from birth—
you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about you.
I’ve become an example to many people
because you are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with your praise,
glorifying you all day long.
Don’t cast me off in old age.
Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!

10 Yes, my enemies have been talking about me;
those who stalk me plot together:
11 “God has abandoned him!
Pursue him!
Grab him because no one will deliver him!”
12 Don’t be far from me, God!
My God, hurry to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame,
completely finished off!
Let those who seek my downfall
be dressed in insults and disgrace!

14 But me? I will hope. Always.
I will add to all your praise.
15 My mouth will repeat your righteous acts
and your saving deeds all day long.
I don’t even know how many of those there are!
16 I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord.
Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.
17 You’ve taught me since my youth, God,
and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!
18 So, even in my old age with gray hair,
don’t abandon me, God!
Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm,
tell all who are yet to come about your strength,
19 and about your ultimate righteousness, God,
because you’ve done awesome things!
Who can compare to you, God?
20 You, who have shown me many troubles and calamities,
will revive me once more.[a]
From the depths of the earth,
you will raise me up one more time.
21 Please increase my honor
and comfort me all around.
22 Then I’ll give you thanks with a harp—
I will thank you for your faithfulness, my God.
I will make music for you with the lyre, holy one of Israel.
23 My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you;
my whole being,[b] which you saved, will do the same.
24 My tongue, also, will tell of your righteousness all day long,
because those who seek my downfall
have been put to shame and disgraced.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 71:20 Qere; Kethib who have shown us … will revive us
  2. Psalm 71:23 Or soul
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 12:5-7

The plans of the righteous are just,
but the guidance of the wicked is deceptive.
The words of the wicked are a deathtrap,
but the speech of those who do right rescues them.
The wicked are destroyed and are no more,
but the family of the righteous will endure.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday March 29, 2017 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 11-12

11 So love the Lord your God and follow his instruction, his regulations, his case laws, and his commandments always. And know right now what your children haven’t known or yet witnessed:[a]

The Lord your God’s discipline, his power, his mighty hand and outstretched arm;

the signs and the acts that he performed in the heart of Egyptian territory, against Egypt’s King Pharaoh and all his land;

what God did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots—how he made the water of the Reed Sea[b] flow over their heads when they chased after you, but the Lord destroyed them, and that’s how things stand right now;

what the Lord did for you in the desert, until you arrived at this place;

and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the descendants of Eliab the Reubenite, when the ground opened up its mouth and swallowed them, their families, their tents, and every living thing they possessed in the presence of all Israel.

Your own eyes witnessed each of these powerful acts the Lord performed. So keep every part of the commandment that I am giving you today so that you stay strong to enter and take possession of the land that you are crossing over to possess, and so that you might prolong your life on the fertile land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants—a land full of milk and honey.

10 The land you are about to enter and possess is definitely not like the land of Egypt, where you came from, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it by hand[c] like a vegetable garden. 11 No, the land you are entering to possess is a land of hills and valleys, where your drinking water will be rain from heaven. 12 It’s a land that the Lord cares for: the Lord’s eyes are on it constantly from the first of the year until the very end of the year.

13 Now, if you completely obey God’s[d] commandments that I am giving you right now, by loving the Lord your God and by serving him with all your heart and all your being, 14 then he[e] will provide rain for your land at the right time—early rain and late rain—so you can stock up your grain, wine, and oil. 15 He[f] will also make your fields lush for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 But watch yourselves! Otherwise, your heart might be led astray so you stray away, serving other gods and worshipping them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger would burn against you. He will close the sky up tight. There won’t be any rain, and the ground won’t yield any of its crops. You will quickly disappear off the wonderful land the Lord is giving to you.

18 Place these words I’m speaking on your heart and in your very being. Tie them on your hand as a sign. They should be on your forehead as a symbol.[g] 19 Teach them to your children, by talking about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on your house’s doorframes and on your city’s gates. 21 Do all that so your days and your children’s days on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors are many—indeed, as many as the number of days that the sky’s been over the earth!

22 It’s true: if you carefully keep all this commandment that I’m giving you, by doing it, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in all his ways, and by clinging to him, 23 then the Lord will clear out all these nations before you. You will inherit what belonged to nations that are larger and stronger than you are. 24 Every place you set foot on will be yours: your territory will run from the wilderness all the way to the Lebanon range, and from the Euphrates River all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. 25 No one will be able to stand up to you. Just as he promised, the Lord your God will make the entire land deathly afraid of you wherever you advance in it.

Ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal

26 Pay attention! I am setting blessing and curse before you right now: 27 the blessing if you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that I am giving you right now, 28 but the curse if you don’t obey the Lord your God’s commandments and stray from the path that I am giving you today by following other gods that you have not known. 29 Now when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of, put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. (30 Aren’t both of these mountains across the Jordan River, down along the western road in the region of the Canaanites who live in the desert plain, across from Gilgal, next to the Moreh Oak Grove?)

31 So then, once you cross the Jordan River to enter and possess the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you take possession of it, settling down in it, 32 you must carefully follow the regulations and the case laws that I am laying out before you right now.

Regulations and the case laws:

Worship at the location the Lord selects

12 These are the regulations and the case laws that you must carefully keep in the fertile land the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has given to you to possess for as long as you live on that land:

You must completely destroy every place where the nations that you are displacing worshipped their gods—whether on high mountains or hills or under leafy green trees. Rip down their altars and shatter their sacred stones. Burn their sacred poles[h] with fire. Hack their gods’ idols into pieces. Wipe out their names from that place.

Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God!

Instead, you must search for the location the Lord your God will select from all your tribes to put his name there, as his residence, and you must go there. You must bring your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions,[i] your payments for solemn promises, your spontaneous gifts, and the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks to that place. You will have a feast there, each of you and your families, in the Lord your God’s presence, and you will celebrate all you have done because the Lord your God has blessed you. Don’t act like we’ve been acting here lately—everyone doing what seems right to them— because up to this point you haven’t yet reached the place of rest or the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But you are about to cross the Jordan River and will settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. Then he will give you rest from all your enemies on every side so that you live safely and securely. 11 At that point, you must bring all that I am commanding you, your entirely burned offerings, your sacrifices, your tenth-part gifts, your contributions, and all your best payments that you solemnly promised to the Lord, to the location the Lord your God selects for his name to reside. 12 Then you will rejoice in the Lord your God’s presence: each of you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites who dwell in your cities because they have no designated inheritance.

13 But watch yourself! Make sure you don’t offer up your entirely burned offerings in just any place you see. 14 No, only at the location the Lord selects from one of your tribal areas—that’s where you must offer up your entirely burned offerings and that’s where you must perform everything I’m telling you. 15 However, whenever you wish, you may slaughter and eat meat, as the Lord your God sees fit to bless you with such in your cities. People who are polluted and people who are purified can join in the feast, as they would if they were eating gazelle or deer. 16 But you must not consume any of the animals’ blood. Pour it out on the ground, just like water.

17 Within your cities you are not allowed to eat any of the following: your tenth-part gifts of grain, wine, and oil; the oldest offspring of your herds and flocks; any of the payments you have solemnly promised; your spontaneous gifts or your contributions. 18 Only in the presence of the Lord your God, at the location the Lord your God selects, can you eat these things—that holds true for you, your son and daughter, your male and female servant, and the Levite who lives in your city. Then celebrate all you have done in the Lord your God’s presence. 19 But watch yourself: as long as you are on the land, don’t forget about the Levites.

20 Once the Lord your God has enlarged your territory, as he promised you, and you think to yourself, I’d like to eat some meat (because you have the desire to do so), feel free to do so whenever you want. 21 But if the location that the Lord your God will choose to put his name is far away from where you live, then slaughter an animal from your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, just as I have commanded you, and eat it in your cities whenever you wish. 22 But be sure to eat it as if it were gazelle or deer. People who are polluted and people who are purified can feast on it together.

23 Furthermore, make sure that you don’t consume any of the blood, because blood is life. You must not consume the life along with the meat. 24 You must not consume any of it. Pour it out on the ground, just like water. 25 You must not consume any of it so that things go well for you and for your children later because you did what was right in the Lord’s eyes.

26 Note that you must bring your sacred offerings and your payments for solemn promises to the location the Lord selects, 27 offering up your entirely burned sacrifices—both meat and blood—on the Lord your God’s altar. The blood from your sacrifices must be poured out on the Lord your God’s altar, but you are allowed to eat the meat. 28 Observe and obey all these words that I am commanding you so that things always go well for you and your children later because you did what was good and right in the Lord your God’s eyes.

29 Once the Lord your God has removed from before you all the nations that you are entering and taking possession of, and you have displaced them and are living in their land, 30 then watch yourself! Don’t be trapped by following their practices after they’ve been wiped out before you. Don’t go investigating their gods, thinking, How did these nations worship their gods? I want to do the very same thing!

31 Don’t act like they did toward the Lord your God because they did things for their gods that are detestable to the Lord, which he hates. They even burned their own sons and daughters with fire for their gods!

32 [j] Everything I’m commanding you, you must do it with utmost care! Don’t add anything to it or take anything away from it.

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 11:2 Heb uncertain
  2. Deuteronomy 11:4 Or Red Sea
  3. Deuteronomy 11:10 Or foot
  4. Deuteronomy 11:13 LXX his; MT my
  5. Deuteronomy 11:14 Sam, LXX, DSS (8QMez); Heb, Vulg, Syr, Tg, and several DSS I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse.
  6. Deuteronomy 11:15 Sam, LXX, two DSS; Heb, four DSS, Syr, Tg I, in which case the text shifts to direct divine discourse.
  7. Deuteronomy 11:18 Heb uncertain; cf Exod 13:16; Syr sign or mark; Tg phylacteries
  8. Deuteronomy 12:3 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
  9. Deuteronomy 12:6 Or the contribution of your hands; also in 12:11, 17
  10. Deuteronomy 12:32 13:1 in Heb
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Luke 8:22-39

Jesus calms the sea

22 One day Jesus and his disciples boarded a boat. He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail.

23 While they were sailing, he fell asleep. Gale-force winds swept down on the lake. The boat was filling up with water and they were in danger. 24 So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” But he got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm.

25 He said to his disciples, “Where is your faith?”

Filled with awe and wonder, they said to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

Jesus frees a demon-possessed man

26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless. 28 When he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him. Then he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard. But he would break his restraints, and the demon would force him into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had entered him. 31 They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss.[a] 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission, 33 and the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

34 When those who tended the pigs saw what happened, they ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. 35 People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully dressed and completely sane. They were filled with awe. 36 Those people who had actually seen what had happened told them how the demon-possessed man had been delivered. 37 Then everyone gathered from the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their area because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and returned across the lake. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged to come along with Jesus as one of his disciples. Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” So he went throughout the city proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 8:31 Or underworld
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 70

Psalm 70

For the music leader. Of David. For the memorial offering.

70 Hurry, God, to deliver me;
hurry, Lord, to help me!
Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated!
Let them fall back and be disgraced—
those people who delight in my downfall!
Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
stop because of their shameful behavior.
But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you,
and let those who love your saving help say again and again:
“God is great!”
But me? I’m poor and needy.
Hurry to me, God!
You are my helper and my deliverer.
Oh, Lord, don’t delay!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 12:4

A strong woman is a crown to her husband,
but a disgraceful woman is like rot in his bones.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

03/28/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22 ~ Luke 8:4-21 ~ Psalm 69:19-36 ~ Proverbs 12:2-3

Today is the 28th day of March.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It is good to be here with you today for the next step forward in the scriptures, the next step forward in this week, the next step forward in our lives.  We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week, Deuteronomy chapter 9, verse 1 through 10:22.    

Commentary

Moses is saying what we’ve been saying, his last words, these are the last things he is saying, the entire book of Deuteronomy, before he will recede and die on the eastern side of the Jordan River and the children of Israel will cross over without him under new leadership.  Moses is the one person that has been there the whole time, through this entire ordeal of getting out of Egypt and the wilderness and everything we’ve been through in the scriptures over the last little bit.  He is reviewing from his perspective everything that has happened, but today he sums up things for them, like all of the things we’ve been through, all of the commandments, all of the reshaping of this people, all of the new customs, all of the new rituals.  Everything about this can be distilled down into a simple posture of heart:  “What does the Lord your God ask of you?” Moses says.  “Only this, revere the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, by loving him, by serving the Lord your God with all your heart and being and by keeping the Lord’s commandments and his regulations that I’m commanding you right now.  All of this is for your own good.”

And much later Jesus would reiterate the same thing.  “The law and the prophets can be summed up in this, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.”  

So why all of these rules that we’ve spent so much time with?  If you look deeper into all of them, they are connected.  They are all connected to this.  It is as if in everything that they do, in every choice that they make, in all that they are as a people, these things are woven in.  Everything is a reminder of this.  

That is no less true today.  We don’t need to revere the Lord less today than they did then.  We don’t need to walk in his ways less now than then.  We don’t need to love him less now.  We don’t need to serve him less now, with all of our heart and being.  I mean, in part we are participating in the same rhythm.  The reason that we come here every day, for the Bible fresh and alive here every day is that we are oriented to God and reminded, it is one of the reminders that should be built into everything we do and say.  

So may we take heed to that in our own personal lives and may we also watch this play out in the story before us because we’re going to be able to see what it looks like to do this and what it looks like to not do this, as if we don’t already know in our own lives.  But the Bible will remind us.  The Bible will be the mirror that our hearts need to force us to look at ourselves square in the face and own the shape of our lives.  

Prayer

Father, we come into your presence after hearing this and understanding this and invite your Holy Spirit to incorporate this into our lives, that we might live lives that are reverent before you and in awe of you.  And that we choose to walk in your ways not by pure discipline, but by pure love, that we love you and want to be with you and you want to be with us.  So serving you is a joy.  Fellowshipping with you is a joy.  With all of our heart and being we offer ourselves to you.  Come Holy Spirit, because we have many deficits that only you can reconstruct or construct in us.  We have many wounds that need to be reinterpreted and healed.  We have made a mess of things in a lot of areas, but you redeem everything you touch.  So touch us. Touch our hearts.  We open ourselves to you fully and invite you, come Jesus, we pray.  In your name we ask, amen.  

Announcements

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com, the website.  There is a link on the home page.  Thank you, humbly, gratefully, deeply for those of you who have clicked that link.  Thank you. That is how we are here every day. So if you are using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. 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 will be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi there Daily Audio family.  Andre from the UK again.  Hello to everybody and blessings here from Nottingham in the UK.  It is March, clearly.  I just forgot what date it is for a minute, but yeah.  I’m just ringing up really in the __________ really of phoning DAB family because I believe in the power of prayer and the power of agreement. When two or three agree about anything it is done.  Let’s pray for my friend Allie __________.  Had an __________ this morning 4 a.m. in the UK and is still in critical care in ICT in a local hospital in the UK.  Could we pray, please, for him that he would have a full recovery, that the Lord’s hand is on his life?  They are both Christians.  That they’ll have peace, strengthen the family at this time.  I very much appreciate it.  I know my friend Allie would be and speak to you guys soon.  God bless and appreciate the opportunity to tap into this resource.  I really do. God bless you.  Bye now.    

Hi, my name is Angie and I just found out about the Daily Audio Bible this year and I’ve been listening and very much enjoying it and very much __________. I want to ask you all to pray for my son.  His name is Josiah.  He is 8 years old and he is going through a lot of physical problems.  He has been sick off and on since he has been born, but we found out that he is not growing like he should.  He has growth hormone deficiency as well as hypothyroidism, hypopituitarism.  He has very low blood sugars that have been down to 35 and his cortisol levels are really low as well as his thyroid.  He’s going through a lot of battles and he’s gone through a lot of testing for a little guy. The big thing is if we don’t watch him closely, some of the things he’s been diagnosed with can even be fatal. So we’re just praying that God would touch him and heal his body, and I would like to ask you all to pray with us that this 8-year-old would just be healed and that it would bring glory to God through his healing.  Thank you for your program.  I love listening and I really love when you explain the scriptures after you read them. Thank you so much for your program.  I would appreciate your prayers for my son Josiah.  Thank you.  Have a great day.  

Hello.  My name is Jackie and I’m calling in from Columbia, MO.  I’m calling with a request for prayer in this time in my life. Right now I clearly hear God calling me to rest, wait and trust.  For me as a tenacious, fiery person, I latch onto the things I need to go do and it is hard for me to sit and be still as he’s asked me to do.  And so I would ask for support in that and lifting me up in prayer to guide me to that because I know with doing that, it’s the only way to truly be that fiery person that he wants me to be for his kingdom.  I want to be everything for him.  So I need support in this so that I do not get sidetracked by the devil’s schemes because those have taken me down horrible paths that have almost brought me to my own death at my own hands.  So I know this is where I need to be and I know that I need to be still, so pray that I can fight this battle.  If you are interested in contacting me personally, you can email me at fierycircus@gmail.com.  I appreciate all of your love and support.  Thank you all for this community.  Thank you so much.  May you be blessed.  

Hello, my name is __________.  This call is for Candace.  Candace, I’m praying for you and __________.  Candace, please __________ and know that we love you and we are praying for you.  You so often prayed for me, so know that I’m lifting you up.  Victorious Soldier, I love the way you pray.  Please pray for me and lift me up to God.  I’m praying for all the Dabbers.  I love you all.  Brian, Jill, thank you very much.  Stay blessed. Bye, Dabbers.  

Hello, good morning.  This is Ruth. I’m calling from Essex.  I’m just calling to encourage all the ladies out there who are suffering from heartbreak, emotional or mental torment and I just want to say to them that Jesus loves you.  Jesus is with you and he said he will never leave you nor forsake you.  And I just want to leave you with a song.  [Singing.]  Jesus loves you.  Have a beautiful day.  God bless you.  Bye.

In the beginning there was fruit God commanded us not to eat.  And ever since we disobeyed, we’ve winded in defeat. Alone and estranged, we’ve tried to run. We knew we did wrong.  Why is it so hard sometimes for us to just stay where we belong?  Our eyes were opened.  We became like God.  We got to call the shots.  The fruit we ate then putrefied, inside us starts to rot.  We wished that we could throw it up and just undo what has been done.  We tried to hide our face from God, but there is nowhere we can run.  We make excuses, point fingers, 1000 reasons why.  But deep inside we know the truth.  All our excuses are a lie.  Then we hear God call our names.  We think he doesn’t see.  We wish that we could just go back to the way things used to be.  But that isn’t going to happen now.  Our innocence has been lost.  God told us from the very start what our disobedience would cost.  But he loves his children very much and he suffers with us long.  Even when we turn our backs, his love for us stays strong.  We try to sew on fig leaves to cover up what we’ve done.  God takes away the fig leaves and gives instead his Son. Every day we have a choice.  There is fruit we shouldn’t eat, and every day we disobey we experience fresh defeat.  I thank God for Jesus.  Without him I would fail.  Many claim to have the way but it is all to no avail.  What was lost can be regained.  We can walk with God again.  Confess, repent, and sin no more.  It’s the only way to win.  BlindTony1016@gmail.com.  I would like to give a shout-out to Mark C. down under and Mark B. __________, Rumbii and mother and brother.  Hope all of you are doing well.  And once again, my love and protection prayers go out to the Hardin family for this wonderful podcast.  

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday March 28, 2017 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 9-10

Against false piety and immodesty

Listen, Israel! Today you will cross the Jordan River to enter and take possession of nations larger and more powerful than you, along with huge cities with fortifications that reach to the sky. These people are large and tall—they are the Anakim. You know and have heard what people say: “Who can stand up to the Anakim?” Know right now that the Lord your God, who is crossing over before you, is an all-consuming fire! He will wipe them out! He will subdue them before you! Then you will take possession of their land, eliminating them quickly, exactly as the Lord told you.

Once the Lord your God has driven them out before you, don’t think to yourself, It’s because I’m righteous that the Lord brought me in to possess this land. It is instead because of these nations’ wickedness that the Lord is removing them before you. You aren’t entering and taking possession of their land because you are righteous or because your heart is especially virtuous; rather, it is because these nations are wicked—that’s why the Lord your God is removing them before you, and because he wishes to establish the promise he made to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Gold calf

Know then that the Lord your God isn’t giving you this excellent land for you to possess on account of your righteousness—because you are a stubborn people! Remember—don’t ever forget!—how you made the Lord your God furious in the wilderness. From the very first day you stepped out of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebels against the Lord. Even at Horeb you angered the Lord! He was so enraged by you that he threatened to wipe you out. When I went up on the mountain to get the stone tablets, the covenant tablets that the Lord made with you, I was up there forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread, drank no water. 10 The Lord gave me the two stone tablets, written by God’s finger, and on them were all the words that the Lord had said to you on the mountain, out of the very fire itself, on the day we assembled. 11 At the end of those forty days and nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets—the covenant tablets. 12 Then the Lord said to me, “Get going! Get down from here quickly because your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have ruined everything! They couldn’t wait to turn from the path I commanded them! They’ve made themselves an idol out of cast metal.”

13 The Lord said more to me: “I have seen this people. Look! What a stubborn people they are! 14 Now stand back. I am going to wipe them out. I will erase their name from under heaven, then I will make a nation out of you—one stronger and larger than they were.”

15 So I went down the mountain while it was blazing with fire. The two covenant tablets were in my two hands. 16 It was then that I saw how you sinned against the Lord your God: you made yourselves a calf, an idol made of cast metal! You couldn’t wait to turn from the path the Lord commanded you! 17 I grabbed the two tablets and threw them down with my own hands, shattering them while you watched. 18 Then I fell before the Lord as I had done the previous forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water, all because of the sin that you had committed by doing such evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating him. 19 I was afraid of the massive anger and rage the Lord had for you—he was going to wipe you out! However, the Lord listened to me again in that moment.

20 But the Lord was furious with Aaron—he was going to wipe him out! So I also prayed hard for Aaron at that time. 21 And as for that sinful thing you made, that calf, I took it and I burned it with fire. Then I smashed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as dust. Then I dumped the dust into the stream that ran down the mountain.

22 Also at Taberah, again at Massah, and then again at Kibroth-hattaavah, you have been the kind of people who make the Lord angry. 23 And then, when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, telling you: “Go up and take possession of the land that I’m giving you,” you disobeyed the Lord your God’s command. You didn’t trust him. You didn’t obey God’s voice. 24 You’ve been rebellious toward the Lord from the day I[a] met you.

Moses’ intercessory prayer

25 But I fell on my knees in the Lord’s presence forty days and forty nights, lying flat out, because the Lord planned on wiping you out. 26 But I prayed to the Lord! I said: Lord, my Lord! Don’t destroy your people, your own possession, whom you saved by your own power, whom you brought out of Egypt with a strong hand! 27 Remember your servants: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Don’t focus on this people’s stubbornness, wickedness, and sin. 28 Otherwise, that land out of which you brought us will say: The Lord wasn’t strong enough to bring them into the land he’d promised them. Because he didn’t care for them in the least, he brought them out to die in the desert. 29 But these are your people! Your own possession! The people you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm!

New tablets

10 At that time the Lord told me: Carve two stone tablets, just like the first ones, and hike up the mountain to me. Construct a wooden chest as well. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets—the ones you smashed—then you will place them in the chest.

So I built a chest out of acacia wood and carved two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I hiked up the mountain holding the two tablets in my hands. God wrote on the new tablets what had been written on the first set: the Ten Commandments that the Lord spoke to you on the mountain, from the very fire itself, on the day we assembled there. Then the Lord gave them to me.

So I came back down the mountain. I put the tablets in the chest that I’d made, and that’s where they are now, exactly as the Lord commanded me.

(Now, the Israelites had set out from Beeroth-bene-jaakan[b] to Moserah. It was there that Aaron died and was buried. His son Eleazar succeeded him in the priestly role. From there the Israelites traveled to Gudgodah, then from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, which is a land with flowing streams. At that time, the Lord selected the tribe of Levi to carry the chest containing the Lord’s covenant, to minister before the Lord, to serve him, and to offer blessings in his name. That’s the way things are right now. That’s why the Levites don’t have a stake or inheritance with the rest of their relatives. The Lord is the Levites’ inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised them.)

10 Just as the first time, I remained on the mountain forty days and nights. And the Lord listened to me again in this instance. The Lord wasn’t willing to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord told me: Get going. Lead the people so they can enter and take possession of the land that I promised I’d give to their ancestors.

What the Lord requires

12 Now in light of all that, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, by loving him, by serving the Lord your God with all your heart and being, 13 and by keeping the Lord’s commandments and his regulations that I’m commanding you right now. It’s for your own good!

14 Clearly, the Lord owns the sky, the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. 15 But the Lord adored your ancestors, loving them and choosing the descendants that followed them—you!—from all other people. That’s how things still stand now. 16 So circumcise your hearts[c] and stop being so stubborn, 17 because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. 18 He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. 19 That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, swear by his name alone! 21 He is your praise, and he is your God—the one who performed these great and awesome acts that you witnessed with your very own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt with a total of seventy people, but now look! The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the nighttime sky!

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 9:24 LXX, Sam he (God) met you
  2. Deuteronomy 10:6 Or from the wells of the Jaakanites
  3. Deuteronomy 10:16 Or the foreskin of your hearts; cf 30:6
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Luke 8:4-21

Parable of the soils

When a great crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one city after another, he spoke to them in a parable: “A farmer went out to scatter his seed. As he was scattering it, some fell on the path where it was crushed, and the birds in the sky came and ate it. Other seed fell on rock. As it grew, it dried up because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorns grew with the plants and choked them. Still other seed landed on good soil. When it grew, it produced one hundred times more grain than was scattered.” As he said this, he called out, “Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”

His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10 He said, “You have been given the mysteries of God’s kingdom, but these mysteries come to everyone else in parables so that when they see, they can’t see, and when they hear, they can’t understand.[a]

11 “The parable means this: The seed is God’s word. 12 The seed on the path are those who hear, but then the devil comes and steals the word from their hearts so that they won’t believe and be saved. 13 The seed on the rock are those who receive the word joyfully when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while but fall away when they are tempted. 14 As for the seed that fell among thorny plants, these are the ones who, as they go about their lives, are choked by the concerns, riches, and pleasures of life, and their fruit never matures. 15 The seed that fell on good soil are those who hear the word and commit themselves to it with a good and upright heart. Through their resolve, they bear fruit.

Sharing the light

16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand so that those who enter can see the light. 17  Nothing is hidden that won’t be exposed. Nor is anything concealed that won’t be made known and brought to the light. 18  Therefore, listen carefully. Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”

Jesus’ family

19 Jesus’ mother and brothers came to him but were unable to reach him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who listen to God’s word and do it.”

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 8:10 Isa 6:9
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 69:19-36

19 You know full well the insults I’ve received;
you know my shame and my disgrace.
All my adversaries are right there in front of you.
20 Insults have broken my heart.
I’m sick about it.
I hoped for sympathy,
but there wasn’t any;
I hoped for comforters,
but couldn’t find any.
21 They gave me poison for food.
To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let the table before them become a trap,
their offerings a snare.
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see;
make their insides tremble constantly.
24 Pour out your anger on them—
let your burning fury catch them.
25 Let their camp be devastated;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 Because they go after those you’ve already struck;
they talk about the pain of those you’ve already pierced.
27 Pile guilt on top of their guilt!
Don’t let them come into your righteousness!
28 Let them be wiped out of the scroll of life!
Let them not be recorded along with the righteous!
29 And me? I’m afflicted.
I’m full of pain.
Let your salvation keep me safe, God!

30 I will praise God’s name with song;
I will magnify him with thanks
31 because that is more pleasing to the Lord than an ox,
more pleasing than a young bull with full horns and hooves.
32 Let the afflicted see it and be glad!
You who seek God—
let your hearts beat strong again
33 because the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise his captives.

34 Let heaven and earth praise God,
the oceans too, and all that moves within them!
35 God will most certainly save Zion
and will rebuild Judah’s cities
so that God’s servants can live there and possess it.
36 The offspring of God’s servants will inherit Zion,
and those who love God’s name will dwell there.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 12:2-3

The Lord favors good people,
but he condemns schemers.
No one is established by wicked acts,
but the roots of the righteous can’t be disturbed.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

03/27/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20 ~ Luke 7:36-8:3 ~ Psalm 69:1-18 ~ Proverbs 12:1

Today is March 27th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you. Man, we are rounding the corner on another month, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Here we are, the 27th day of the third month of the year and almost since the beginning we’ve been chasing this story of a land of promise and been trying to get there and we are on the banks of the Jordan.  It’s not time to go into the promised land now. We’re listening to the final words of Moses as he speaks from his heart and with a weightiness that is necessary to these people, because he is going to disappear from the story when he is done talking.  So, back out to the banks of the Jordan River.  Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 1 through 8, verse 20 today.  We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.  

Commentary

We are on the eastern side of the Jordan River in what would be modern day Jordan, the ancient land of Moab, across from Jericho.  Moses has the children of Israel assembled.  Like we’ve been saying, he is saying the last things he has to say.  This is the parting shot.  He has been encouraging them in all kinds of areas, basically reviewing the law, basically saying, “Look, if you’ll do this stuff right here, it is going to be perfect. It is going to be exactly like what God wants.  If you don’t, it’s going to be everything but that.”  

He encourages them today.  “When you go into the land, you have to be careful about these other gods that they are worshipping and not fall for it.  You’re not going to go in and take care of all this business in one day. You’re not going to invade this land and it is going to be yours in one day.  It is going to take time.  It is going to be a little by little thing, a bit by bit thing.  Because if you went in and just wiped everything out, you’re not equipped to take possession right now of all this promise anyway.  We’d be giving the land to the wild animals who would become a nuisance for you, and so it is going to be a little by little thing.”

That is important.  It is important to this story, but it is also important to our lives because a lot of times we’ll get a promise, we’ll get an understanding, we’ll get some clarity about where the Lord is leading us and we’ll start filling in the blanks about what that is going to look like, and then we rush across the proverbial Jordan River into the promised land and boom!  It is a little more complicated than we thought.  Then we’re discouraged and we’re like, “Where are you going before me? I thought I was just going to be able to waltz into this thing.”

No, we have to contend for things in this world.  And that is what gives them value.  Think about it.  The things that you have had to contend for, that you have had to stand for, that you have had to fight for, the things that you’ve had to press into, the things that you have had to work through, those are the things that you treasure, right? Those are the things that have built your character.  

So the children of Israel are being admonished that this is how it is going to be when they go into the promised land.  It is going to be systematic, but it is going to be a bit at a time.  We need to remember that.  We need to remember that this is a process.  Life is a process.  It is something that is building one thing upon the next upon the next.  So wherever it is that we are in our lives, if we are following the Lord, then we are on the right path.  The momentary circumstances that would oppose that, that is normal.  That happens. We will be victorious.  That part is done.  So we must stay true and content, little by little until the promise is fulfilled.  

Prayer

Father, impatience is something that is all through this species of humanity, especially in this day and age, because our cultures, they try to sell us instant gratification continually, that if we just have enough money we can buy whatever we want.  And that may be true, but it does not build character and it is not something that we’ve contended for.  It is not something that we’ve stood for.  It’s not something that has been carefully crafted.  So as we move through our lives, may we treat them like the treasure that you do and may we pour into them good things as we stand true and firm and walk with you little by little, step by step, bit by bit, day by day. Come Holy Spirit, we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.  

Announcements

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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 you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  It’s Brian from Costa Mesa.  It’s March 23rd and I just finished listening to the prayer requests. This goes out to Scott from Southern California.  You just had thousands of people around the world hear your plea for prayer.  What you described is heartbreaking and I’m sure we can only understand a small portion of what you’re going through, but first let me just say that you cannot sin more than God is willing to forgive and you have a good hold on who God is and who you are.  Trust in that faith.  Let this body of Christ surround you and lift you up in prayer.  Stay strong.  Stay in the faith and be open and honest.  I don’t know where it will lead, but I know that the Lord is going to restore you.  We pray for you.  We pray for your wife.  We pray for your kids.  We pray for everything surrounding your life.  Just know that you have a family here that is standing strong with you. Keep checking in, let us know how it is going.  

Good morning family.  This is Mary from Melbourne, FL.  I would like to pray.  Precious Father, I pray for the upcoming More Gathering and all of our precious women who will be attending.  I pray that you would draw close to each one in a very special way and reveal yourself to them.  Bring them lots of laughter and lots of tears of joy as they are renewed by your Spirit. Meet them all right where they are, Father, and fill them with your Holy Spirit.  We pray for Jill and Brian, Father, that you would minister to the people through them.  Give them the words to speak and, Father, I pray that you would get them all safely there and safely home and bless them to overflowing.  We know you have so many great things for them, Father, so we just ask you to be with them.  Give them a joy that they will never forget and we praise you and glorify you in Christ’s precious name.  Brian and Jill, we love you so much and we thank you for what you’re doing.  We know that this is going to be a blessing to our women and we lift them all up knowing that God is really going to bless them. He is going to surprise them with the things that he has for them, so thank you so much for all the work that you’ve done to go behind the scenes and in front of everyone to prepare these women for a wonderful, wonderful blessing from God.  We cannot thank you enough.  Hallelujah.  God bless you all and I just want you to know that we’re praying for all of you women, that you will come back excited and renewed by the Spirit of the Lord.  God bless every single one of you.  We love you and we know that this will be a wonderful, wonderful weekend for all of you women.  God bless you.  Goodbye.

Morning DAB.  This is Loralee from Boynton Beach, FL.  For the new people, glad you’re here.  I’m a 10-year listener and I wanted to read something for Candace in Oregon and for Bill B. It’s from The Valley of Vision with a few words changed.  Sovereign Lord, I am a tree of the vineyard you have planted.  Grant me not to be barren with worthless leaves and wild grapes. I’m a voyager across life’s ocean, safe in heaven’s ark.  May I pass through a troubled world into a harbor of eternal rest.  Prune me of useless branches.  Water me with dews of blessing.  I am part of the Lamb’s bride, the church.  Help me to be true, faithful, loving, pure, devoted.  Let no strong affection with the world draw me away. By grace may I live high above a love of things temporal, sanctified, cleansed, unblemished and holy.  Your love my fullness, your glory my joy, your precepts my path, your cross my resting place.  My heart is not always a flame of adoring love but, resting in your Son’s redemption, I look forward to the days of heaven where no apathy shall oppress, no iniquities bite, no cloud of unbelief dim the eye, and no zeal ever tires.  Father, these thoughts are the comfort of my soul.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  You have a blessed day.  We’re thinking of you and praying for you.  

Hi lovely family.  This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL.  Here are a few words that gripped my heart as I was listening to the word of God in Numbers. God saying this about his people: How much longer will they reject me? Why won’t they trust me after all they have seen?  How much longer will they complain about me?  Father, these words pierce my heart as I recognize myself in them.  How many times have I said why did you bring me into this world?  How many times have I said why did you place me in this situation?  Please forgive me and forgive us when we declare that we don’t appreciate the gifts that you’ve given us, when we doubt you after you have brought us through so many situations.  Forgive us, O Lord, and help us to love you.  Help us to trust you.  As __________ from you in the word says, we believe.  God, help our unbelief.  Father, we come before you asking that you will fill our brother Dean with hope. That you will let him know how much you love him.  That you will let him know you are not going to quit on him.  Please bless our brother Dean __________ and let him know how much you love him and how much he __________ this community.  Father, I pray for our brother Pastor Tom from the UK who is currently in hospice battling terminal cancer.  We believe that just as you have brought him through for the last two and a half years, you’re able to touch his body with the power of your Son’s resurrection and heal him completely.  And Father, we are believing and expecting a miracle.  And finally, Lord, I pray for all the victims of the terrorist attack in London, whether they are from the UK or whether they are from a different country and were visiting.  O God, have mercy.  Touch them. Lift them up and deter the evil that has overcome us.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton, FL.  Bye.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Dee from Virginia.  I’m a new listener since November 2016 and a first-time caller.  I just want to say I appreciate Daily Audio Bible greatly and thank you. I also want to let you know that I’m agreeing in prayer with the prayers that are being lifted up daily on behalf of those calling in and I’m just praising and thanking God for answering in the way that he knows is best.  Please join me in praying for Stanley who called in around the 18th or 19th.  Isaiah 40:31 says they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  They shall mount up on wings as eagles.  They shall run and not be weary.  They shall walk and not faint.  And Galatians 6:9 says so don’t get tired of doing what is good.  Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.  Father, thank you for your word and how it will reassure Stanley in his role as an educator.  Thank you for giving him the wisdom, the understanding and knowledge he needs for the opportunity you have given him.  Help him to seek your face for guidance and direction.  May he be encouraged and know, Lord God, that you love him and you care about the things that are concerning him.  Please, Father, give him courage, confidence, strength, and peace.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Jay calling from New Jersey.  God bless you.  God bless you.  God bless you.  Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, God, we praise you and we bless the mighty name of Jesus Christ this morning.  Father, we thank you for life.  We thank you for health.  And we thank you for the strength that you give us every day.  Father, we confess now of any sins that we’ve committed in our hearts, with our flesh, with our minds.  We repent, Father.  We turn away from it.  Father, we come to you because we’re dealing with so much that we need to lean on you, God. Father, we’re dealing with anxiety. God, we’re dealing with depression. Jesus, we’re dealing with isolation from friends and family.  Father, we’re dealing with financial issues that just seem to be too much.  God, we’re dealing with pornography.  Father, we’re struggling with our flesh.  God, we’re dealing with alcoholism and drug abuse. Father, we’re dealing with emotional and physical abuse.  God, some of us have been raped.  Some of us have been mugged and robbed and stolen from and lied on and cheated on. So God, we’re coming to you.  Jesus, we need you.  Holy Spirit, come now.  Comfort us in our time of need.  We thank you, Father, for your word that says that you give us the peace which passes all understanding.  We pray for that peace now, God, as we go to your word each and every day.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday March 27, 2017 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 7-8

Dealing with foreign worship

Now once the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to take possession of, and he drives out numerous nations before you—the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: seven nations that are larger and stronger than you— once the Lord your God lays them before you, you must strike them down, placing them under the ban.[a] Don’t make any covenants with them, and don’t be merciful to them. Don’t intermarry with them. Don’t give your daughter to one of their sons to marry, and don’t take one of their daughters to marry your son, because they will turn your child away from following me so that they end up serving other gods. That will make the Lord’s anger burn against you, and he will quickly annihilate you.

Instead, this is what you must do with these nations: rip down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their sacred poles,[b] and burn their idols because you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God chose you to be his own treasured people beyond all others on the fertile land. It was not because you were greater than all other people that the Lord loved you and chose you. In fact, you were the smallest of peoples! No, it is because the Lord loved you and because he kept the solemn pledge he swore to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and saved you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. Know now then that the Lord your God is the only true God! He is the faithful God, who keeps the covenant and proves loyal to everyone who loves him and keeps his commands—even to the thousandth generation! 10 He is the God who personally repays anyone who hates him, ultimately destroying that kind of person. The Lord does not waste time with anyone who hates him; he repays them personally. 11 So make sure you carefully keep the commandment, the regulations, and the case laws that I am commanding you right now.

12 If you listen to these case laws and follow them carefully, the Lord your God will keep the covenant and display the loyalty that he promised your ancestors. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your wombs and the fruit of your fertile land—all your grain, your wine, your oil, and the offspring of your cattle and flocks—upon the very fertile land that he swore to your ancestors to give to you. 14 You will be more blessed than any other group of people. No one will be sterile or infertile—not among you or your animals. 15 The Lord will remove all sickness from you. As for all those dreadful Egyptian diseases you experienced, the Lord won’t put them on you but will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You will destroy all the peoples that the Lord your God is handing over to you. Show them no pity. And don’t serve their gods because that would be a trap for you.

Against power and lack of trust

17 If you happen to think to yourself, These nations are greater than we are; how can we possibly possess their land? 18 don’t be afraid of them! Remember, instead, what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt: 19 the great trials that you saw with your own eyes, the signs and wonders, and the strong hand and outstretched arm the Lord your God used to rescue you. That’s what the Lord your God will do to any people you fear. 20 The Lord your God will send terror[c] on them until even the survivors and those hiding from you are destroyed. 21 Don’t dread these nations because the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is with you and among you. (22 The Lord your God will drive out these nations before you bit by bit. You won’t be able to finish them off quickly; otherwise, the wild animals would become too much for you to handle.) 23 The Lord your God will lay these nations before you, throwing them into a huge panic until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe their names out from under the skies. No one will be able to stand before you; you will crush them.

25 Burn the images of their gods. Don’t desire the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, or you will be trapped by it. That is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Don’t bring any detestable thing into your house, or you will be placed under the ban too, just like it is! You must utterly detest these kinds of things, despising them completely, because they are under the ban.

You must carefully perform all of the commandment that I am commanding you right now so you can live and multiply and enter and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors. Remember the long road on which the Lord your God led you during these forty years in the desert so he could humble you, testing you to find out what was in your heart: whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you the manna that neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced, so he could teach you that people don’t live on bread alone. No, they live based on whatever the Lord says.[d] During these forty years, your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t swell up. Know then in your heart that the Lord your God has been disciplining you just as a father disciplines his children. Keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him, because the Lord your God is bringing you to a wonderful land, a land with streams of water, springs, and wells that gush up in the valleys and on the hills; a land of wheat and barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without any shortage—you won’t lack a thing there—a land where stone is hard as iron and where you will mine copper from the hills. 10 You will eat, you will be satisfied, and you will bless the Lord your God in the wonderful land that he’s given you.

Against wealth and overconfidence

11 But watch yourself! Don’t forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commands or his case laws or his regulations that I am commanding you right now. 12 When you eat, get full, build nice houses, and settle down, 13 and when your herds and your flocks are growing large, your silver and gold are multiplying, and everything you have is thriving, 14 don’t become arrogant, forgetting the Lord your God:

the one who rescued you from Egypt, from the house of slavery;

15 the one who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water;

the one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock;

16 the one who fed you manna in the wilderness, which your ancestors had never experienced, in order to humble and test you, but in order to do good to you in the end.

17 Don’t think to yourself, My own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. 18 Remember the Lord your God! He’s the one who gives you the strength to be prosperous in order to establish the covenant he made with your ancestors—and that’s how things stand right now. 19 But if you do, in fact, forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, serving and bowing down to them, I swear to you right now that you will be completely destroyed. 20 Just like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, that’s exactly how you will be destroyed—all because you didn’t obey the Lord your God’s voice.

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2 See note at 2:34.
  2. Deuteronomy 7:5 Heb asherim, perhaps objects devoted to the goddess Asherah
  3. Deuteronomy 7:20 Heb uncertain; perhaps wasp, plague, or pestilence
  4. Deuteronomy 8:3 Or whatever comes out of the Lord’s mouth
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Luke 7:36-8:3

Forgiveness and gratitude

36 One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. After he entered the Pharisee’s home, he took his place at the table. 37 Meanwhile, a woman from the city, a sinner, discovered that Jesus was dining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought perfumed oil in a vase made of alabaster. 38 Standing behind him at his feet and crying, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured the oil on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw what was happening, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. He would know that she is a sinner.

40 Jesus replied, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher, speak,” he said.

41 “A certain lender had two debtors. One owed enough money to pay five hundred people for a day’s work.[a] The other owed enough money for fifty. 42  When they couldn’t pay, the lender forgave the debts of them both. Which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the largest debt canceled.”

Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.”

44 Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your home, you didn’t give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. 45  You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. 46  You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has poured perfumed oil on my feet. 47  This is why I tell you that her many sins have been forgiven; so she has shown great love. The one who is forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other table guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this person that even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Women who followed Jesus

Soon afterward, Jesus traveled through the cities and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom. The Twelve were with him, along with some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Among them were Mary Magdalene (from whom seven demons had been thrown out), Joanna (the wife of Herod’s servant Chuza), Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 7:41 Or five hundred denaria
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 69:1-18

Psalm 69

For the music leader. According to “The Lilies.” Of David.

69 Save me, God,
because the waters have reached my neck!
I have sunk into deep mud.
My feet can’t touch the bottom!
I have entered deep water;
the flood has swept me up.
I am tired of crying.
My throat is hoarse.
My eyes are exhausted with waiting for my God.

More numerous than the hairs on my head
are those who hate me for no reason.
My treacherous enemies,
those who would destroy me, are countless.
Must I now give back
what I didn’t steal in the first place?
God, you know my foolishness;
my wrongdoings aren’t hidden from you.

Lord God of heavenly forces!—
don’t let those who hope in you
be put to shame because of me.
God of Israel!—
don’t let those who seek you
be disgraced because of me.
I am insulted because of you.
Shame covers my face.
I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
an immigrant to my mother’s children.
Because passion for your house has consumed me,
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me!
10 I wept while I fasted—
even for that I was insulted.
11 When I wore funeral clothes,
people made fun of me.
12 Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me;
drunkards made up rude songs.

13 But me? My prayer reaches you, Lord,
at just the right time.
God, in your great and faithful love,
answer me with your certain salvation!
14 Save me from the mud!
Don’t let me drown!
Let me be saved from those who hate me
and from these watery depths!
15 Don’t let me be swept away by the floodwaters!
Don’t let the abyss swallow me up!
Don’t let the pit close its mouth over me!
16 Answer me, Lord, for your faithful love is good!
Turn to me in your great compassion!
17 Don’t hide your face from me, your servant,
because I’m in deep trouble.
Answer me quickly!
18 Come close to me!
Redeem me!
Save me because of my enemies!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 12:1

12 Those who love discipline love knowledge,
and those who hate correction are stupid.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

03/26/2017 DAB Transcript

Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25 ~ Luke 7:11-35 ~ Psalm 68:19-35 ~ Proverbs 11:29-31

Today is the 26th day of March.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’ is great to be here with you as we turn the knob, open the door, step through the threshold into a brand new week, releasing everything that is behind us and looking forward to everything that is to come.  This week we’ll read from the Common English Bible and pick up where we’ve left off in the book of Deuteronomy where Moses is giving his final three talks, the final things that he will say to the children of Israel, the way he will charge them as they go forward before he recedes into history.  Deuteronomy chapter 5, verse 1 through 6:25.  

Commentary

As Moses speaks to the children of Israel and puts a weightiness behind his words, because these are the last things he is going to say and he will pass the torch of leadership on, we can see the urgency, the urgency that he has for the people that he has led out of Egypt through the wilderness to the precipice once again of crossing the Jordan into the promised land.  So he is certainly reviewing their history and the law and it is great review for us because we’ve spent ample time working our way to this point.  But what he is telling them is timeless.  He is saying, “Look, the wilderness has been long and we have stayed here longer than we needed to.  We have seen God in his glory on our behalf in so many ways, in so many situations. He has sustained us.  We are still here.  After a whole generation of wandering in the desert, we’re still here and we’re ready to go in.  But you need to think about what that is going to look like.  Because it has been the point we have focused on for so long, just getting across the Jordan out of the wilderness, into the land of promise.”

“When you get there, you’re going to find that the land is beautiful and it has wonderful towns that you didn’t have to build and houses that have stuff in them that you didn’t put there and cisterns for your water that you didn’t dig and vineyards and olive groves that you didn’t plant, so all of a sudden things will rapidly shift.  You’ll move out of the wilderness into the promised land and he will have to fight for that promised land but you will be victorious.  And then it is going to get easy.  You’ll be at peace.  You’ll have homes.  You’ll have plenty.  You won’t be wandering anymore, wondering if one of the nearby nations might attack you, wondering where the next meal is coming from, wondering what the future might look like.  That will have been answered.  It is then that you find your great test.”  

“Watch yourself,” Moses said.  “Don’t forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Revere the Lord your God.  Serve him.  Take your solemn pledges in his name.  Don’t chase other gods, those gods of the people around you because the Lord your God who is with you and among you is a passionate god.  The Lord your God’s anger will burn against you.  Don’t test the Lord your God.  You must carefully follow him.”

That is timeless.  And if we will look at our lives, and maybe some of us are in the wilderness right now, longing for that point, focusing on that point where we can cross over out of the wilderness and into promise, but we’ve all gone through those seasons, isn’t it true that once we get out of that season, out of focusing all of our attention on God and walking through that season, that, yes, indeed, things get easy, comfortable, and we forget and then we keep forgetting until we have walked right back into the wilderness again?  

Moses has the foresight to warn these people of what will be the greatest challenge, a greater challenge than the wilderness itself, the challenge of remembering the Lord their God when everything is going wonderful.  

And this is our challenge and so may we take heed.  We can remember this moment of contemplation now.  We can remember this.  We can remember to remember God.  We’re going to get to see what this actually looks like both ways, with God and without God.  So may we remember this moment, this moment of warning that Moses gave the children of Israel and through them is giving us because the paths will be laid out for us and we are continually choosing one or the other.  

Prayer

Holy Spirit, we invite you into that now because we’re going to see this greater theme unfold before us in the coming weeks and months.  We invite you into this now because we can look at our own lives and see that this is true.  Help us, God, to not forget.  We stay so close to you in the wilderness just asking for relief and then you come in your mercy and kindness and rescue us and we have a bad habit of abandoning you and that is so sad.  It is so heartbreaking.  And that isn’t the story we want to be telling.  That is not the story we want to be telling to the world and it is not the story we want to be telling while we’re in the world.  The story we want to be involved in is one of intimacy with you in all things, at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, that we are intertwined and inseparable.  So forgive us for the ways that we have abandoned you in thought, word, and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone.  Forgive us.  Have mercy upon us.  We return to you.  We walk with you.  You are the hope of the world.  You are the hope of our lives and the story we want to be telling is one of friendship, one of intimacy, one of awe, one of reverence, one that never ends, one that is not waiting to begin, one that has begun and will never end.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray.  In Jesus’ name we ask, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s the website.  It’s where you find out what is up, what is going on around here, resources that are available, ways to connect.  The Prayer Wall is there and it is there always on, never off, so be sure to check it out.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website as well.  There is a link.  It’s on the home page.  Thank you profoundly for clicking that link.  That is how we’re here.  Thank you. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. 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 you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi.  It’s McKenzie calling from California.  I just wanted to let all of you guys know that I’m praying for you and that there are people hearing your experiences and just wishing that God would __________ your lives in those hard times.  I just wanted to share a quick experience with you guys and some quick words of knowledge.  I recently attended a youth camp with our church and it was so eye-opening to me. I’m a believer and I love God and have always loved God since I was really little, but it was just such a different experience and I got to see God in a whole other way.  I got to see him move within young people.  I got to see him move within youth pastors, within older people.  I got to pray for people.  I saw kids who at the beginning of the camp refused to worship God, would cuss, talk inappropriately, dress inappropriately, by the end they wanted to get baptized and were worshipping God with all of their hearts.  People were healed and it was so incredible. You can’t experience something like that and think that God is not alive and here with us.  So sometimes that is easy to forget.  Super easy to forget.  Extremely, with difficult things going on in our lives.  Like I have really bad anxiety so it was super difficult for me to go but I’m so happy I did because I just really got to experience God in a whole new way.  I just want you guys to just always continue to love him and worship him through everything and just remember that God is there with you and he is there.  With everything, call on him.  Thank you guys.  Love you.  Bye.  

Hey, Brian.  This is Rich from Arkansas.  First off, I wanted to say hello to Blind Tony who has been my friend since January 1st.  Brian, I want to ask the family to reach out for me.  I did 500 days’ sobriety and I went to New York for a job interview, guys, and I kind of fell on my feet and I don’t understand.  Five hundred days of being sober and now I’m off.  I’ve been following the Daily Audio Bible because, I mean, for anyone that deals with addiction, I would tell you that I believe there is a healing and I totally believe that Jesus can heal.  This 12-step thing, I mean, I don’t know.  I’m fighting with it, but I know that Jesus healed the blind in one step, so I think he can heal me too.  So I hope this gets played.  I’ve been following.  Brian, you’ve been encouraging me.  After your mom passed, I’ve been following through the book of Moses and the story about how Joseph was so in trouble.  

Good morning family.  This is Biola from Maryland.  I hope you’re all doing well.  Brian and Jill, God bless you.  Know that you’ve been in my prayers every single day.  And Lord, I just want to thank you for that More Conference.  I thank you, O God, because your power and your anointing will be evident.  Every woman that will be going, O Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that they will not remain the same.  Holy Spirit, that you will come for your daughter’s hearts, in the name of Jesus. Teri from Delaware, I was so happy to hear all your testimonies and I pray that God will continue to put testimonies in your mouth, in the name of Jesus.  Candace from Oregon, my sister, know that I prayed for you when I heard your prayer request and your heart’s cry.  And I just prayed that God would comfort you, he would wrap his arms around you and your family, he would give you your heart’s desire at this time. Know that your husband is with the Lord and the Lord has a heart for the brokenhearted and he is there with you, sister, and he is grieving with you.  God bless you, my sister.  Valerie from Dallas, TX.  I heard your prayer request with deep hurts in my heart.  Father Lord, I pray for this sister, O God, Lord, and whatever is going on in her family, I arrest, O God, Lord, the work of the enemy even in that family, in the name of Jesus.  Father, Lord, you said, O God, Lord, that they will come against us, O God. They will gather against us, O Lord, but every one that is gathered, every demon that is gathered against Valerie, O God, and her family in Texas, O God, and __________ will fall for her sake. I bind every work of evil in that family, in the name of Jesus, and release your grace, O God, your power even into that family.  In Jesus’ name.  Nicki from North Vancouver, I’m praying for your grandson Leif, that God would touch him in his heart of hearts that respects God, that respects authority, in Jesus’ name.  Sidney, I prayed for your situation and I prayed for that young man.  I arrest even that spirit of evil that you think is harassing him right now and I decree that it will be delivered, in the name of Jesus. God bless you.  

Hi there, this is Jerrie from Wyoming, also known as __________.  I’m currently in Orem, UT on my travels and just got done listening to Daily Audio Bible.  It is March the 23rd I believe, 22nd, 23rd? Oh, I travel too much.  I’ve just discovered how love works __________ through Daily Audio Bible.  Oh my goodness, just to hear the beautiful voices of you all.  It’s just such a blessing to me.  And __________ just hearing the whole story of Candace.  I’ve only been listening for a few months and hearing the beautiful voice of Candace sing and just hearing her and who she is, that is the voice of love.  And then to have her go through what she has gone through with the death of her husband, but on the other side of that hearing the voice of love from you all in condolences and lifting her up and singing to her and blessing her and touching her family, that is the voice of love.  It’s just taken me such a long time to learn how to love and be a love to others.  The more I listen and the more I hear your voices speak out to others, I’m learning about love.  And then hearing Candace rejoice in praise with you all and thanking you all for all the wonderful words that you have given her, that is the voice of love.  It is wonderful to see the cycle of love given out and received and given back in return.  I’m learning about love and it is through you all and…

Hi fellow Dabbers.  It’s Joe the Protector from Georgia.  It’s March 23rd, 8:00 in the morning.  Just been listening to the prayers for our precious Candace from Oregon. Candace, I just want to lift you up as well and just cover you with many prayers over your loss.  I’m sure it is such a heartache losing a close loved one like that and just going through the pain.  You know in the end you are going to see him again.  He is in a better place and so we just lift you up right now, though, as you’re going through the heartaches of it and your family.  Just keep up those sweet songs you phone in. We all enjoy them.  So anyhow, Tony from California, I believe, called in. Brother, want to lift you up in this time and struggle you’re going through as your career as a correctional officer is causing issues in your marriage.  I can totally relate.  As a 16-year law enforcement veteran, I went through the same issues, I’m sure.  I was a correctional officer at one time and I know how they train you and how they teach you to react to situations.  The way you’re taught to do that isn’t biblically based.  I’m not saying that it is wrong, but it is just not…I don’t believe it is a godly thing to do.  Anyhow, if you want to contact me, KellyJMcClendon@yahoo.com.  

Good morning, this is Inez calling from Arizona.  I just called to send my condolences to Candace and her family. I’m so sorry to hear about the loss in your family.  I know that your husband is now in heaven and I rejoice with you in that, but I also am feeling a little bit sorrowful because of that loss.  I don’t know you, but through Daily Audio Bible I do. Because you always share with us a song, I’m going to share a song with you also, Wonderful Peace.  I’m going to sing the first part of it in Navajo.  [Singing]