01/29/2018 DAB Transcript

Exodus 7:25-9:35, Matthew 19:13-30, Psalms 24:1-10 Proverbs 6:1-5

Today is the 29th day of January. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we move into our work week and as we approach the end of the month. So, let’s take the next step forward as we move through the Scriptures this year. And we are in the book of Exodus and things are about to get quite uncomfortable for the Egyptians. Exodus chapter 7 verse 25 through 9:35 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so let’s go into the Psalms today. And I want to show you something that, if we can come clear on this one thing, it can absolutely change our lives. And I almost feel like I’ve understated that. This one thing is a key thing to understanding the battle for our hearts that we are in. If we can expose this one thing in our lives, it can change everything. So, the Psalm poses a question, a couple of them: who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? right? So, the question is who can go to where God is and stand in His presence? And isn’t that ultimately what we’re trying to do? Isn’t union with God and living life within His presence what we’re really after? Isn’t that, ultimately, the deepest soul craving that we have? So, the psalmist asks, who gets to do that? And the answer is given. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. So, if we boil that all down what are we saying? We’re saying that the person who wants to go into God’s presence and remain there is the person who is true. So, if we were to look at Jesus in the Gospels as we’re working our way through, one of the things that we should be able to see crystal clear about Jesus is that He is true. There is nothing false within Him. He doesn’t speak out of both sides of His mouth. He doesn’t speak situationally, where His answer might be one thing to one person, but different, nuanced, and manipulative to another. He’s simply living true inside and outside and it comes spilling out in His words and actions. He is true that is very, very important to recognize. Because the one living in deception isn’t the one that can go into God’s presence and dwell there. It’s the one who is true. So, let’s expose the thief here and talk about the one thing that if the thief, the evil one, is able to be successful in your life can take you down. I mean, you may be going through a hard patch right now and say words like, I’m being attacked right now, or the warfare has been severe against me these days. Those kinds of things. At the core of all of that is one thing and that one thing is deception. The primary thing that the evil one is attempting to do in your life and in all of humanity is to deceive. This is the primary weapon, to deceive you with something that is false and get you to believe that it’s true. Once you believe that what is false is true you will live as if it were true. And once that’s happened enough times, there is sufficient deception to alter the course of your very life. If you carry that out in your life far enough, then you’ll become a deceiver, too. Now, lest you think that I’m just sitting here making stuff up or like these are truths that I’ve just come to, that these are just my personal convictions as a Bible teacher. That is not what’s going on here. That is not the case. This is borne out throughout the entire Bible. We’ve already encountered it. We will encounter it all the way until the end of the Bible.

So, let’s just go back a couple weeks to Genesis chapter 3. Right? The fall of man. How did that happen in the first place? Everything was perfect. What was the one thing that got through that perfection and actually upended everything? Deception. I mean, we can just stop there and say, okay the thing that destroyed shalom was deception and call it good. But it’s all throughout the Bible. Jesus is baptized. He goes into the wilderness for 40 days, he’s tempted by the devil. What tactic is the devil using? Deception. The evil one offers a picture of a different reality to Adam and Eve. The evil one offers the picture of a different reality to Jesus, a quick fix. If you do this, then that will be yours. Nobody has to get hurt. You can be your own God. You can be in complete control.

In Jesus’ life we see all kinds of antagonism toward Him from the religious leaders because Jesus is flying in the face of some of their core traditions and reinterpreting them and He’s on the hot seat and they’re plotting against Him. But what is Jesus trying to do? He’s trying to remove deception. He’s is trying to show them what they made of God’s law, that they’ve been deceived for so long that now the deception has become true to them and they’re living as if it were true to the point that they’re so discombobulated that they are plotting against the God who wrote the law in the first place. That’s how twisted deception can get. That’s how twisted we can get.

And we can go on and on and on but if we skip all the way to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation what we will find is that the primary thing going on in the world that causes such turmoil and catastrophe and such trying and difficult times for those who are staying true is deception. So, if you’ll watch as we move through the stories of the Bible and we encounter all of the decisions and choices, all of the forks in the road that we reach, and then we watch decisions being made and paths being followed, we will see clearly where the road of deception leads and where the path that is true leads. And one way to look at how much maybe deception has been a part of our lives and affected the course of our lives is to simply look at how deceptive we are willing to be. And I’m not necessarily talking about the blackest of lies, like the boldfaced out-right lies. How much deception are we sowing in alongside the truth when we say things? Because that is exactly…that is the primary tool of the evil one, to sow deception in along with something true and make it plausible and let it grow. When we replicate that, we are perpetuating the problem. And we most certainly are not imitating Jesus, who is modeling for us, in the Gospels, what our lives can and must and should look like.

So, imagine yourself having a cup of coffee with Jesus at a nice café somewhere in, I don’t know, Tel Aviv, and He’s counseling you on your life. Do you think you’d have to sit there and go, what part of this is for His own gain? What part of…like…what is the story behind the story here? How am I being manipulated here? How is this suggestion cloaked so that Jesus can get something out of me? How is He manipulating me? Can you imagine having a conversation like that with Jesus? Probably not, because you do not believe Jesus would do that to you. Well then why would you try to do that to Jesus? Why would you try to do that to anyone? Why would we try to do anything to anyone that Jesus wouldn’t? If Jesus is a picture of what humanity can be, even in a fallen world, and if that’s what we truly, truly want for our lives, why would we behave differently then, except for the presence of deception?

Okay, this is a pretty big deal. In fact, this is one of the biggest deals. This is such a big deal that if we actually will begin to allow ourselves to consider the ways in which we’ve lived in deception as a deceiver, or as the deceived, we will begin following winding trails back into our own history and we will invariably end up at tremendous difficulties and wounds in our lives, things that were tremendously painful, things that changed us. And we will find messages in those wounds, things said about us, things that we thought about ourselves and agreed with, things like, I deserved that, it was all my fault, I’m really not worth anything, I will never achieve that, I will never become this and on and on we could go. But a lot of times we realize we began to believe that about ourselves and then we lived as if it were true. So, not only are we knocked off the course of our destiny, we live into that deceit and then perpetuate it.

So, this is like one of those things that I could pray right here and, you know, and say whatever announcements that we have going on in the community and just kind of move out. And, so, by the time that the prayer calls are over, we could’ve forgotten all of this and just moved into our day. But this is big, exposing the thief in our lives, the one who has deceived us, the accuser of the brethren, as the Scriptures say, is hard work, and it can be painful. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s very similar to us trying to get our bodies healthy. Right? So, many of you have still kept up with your New Year’s resolution. Right? And, so, you’re working on your spirituality, you’re in the Bible every day, you’re hitting the gym, and you’re eating right. And, so, by now, if you stuck to that regimen you’re feeling better than you were a few weeks ago. Maybe your head is a little bit clearer. You’ve dropped a few pounds, you’re feeling better in your body. It works the same inside the Spirit. This is a day by day process of, first, slowing down enough to ask ourselves, am I being true? Am I being present and true in my life toward everyone around me and toward myself? Am I inviting and opening myself to God in all things? Because when we can say nope, I’m not, we have a trailhead to start wandering back down to find out where this deception came from and we have the Holy Spirit to guide.

The Scriptures promise us that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. And Jesus told us pretty clearly that there is a narrow path that leads to life, and few find it, but it’s there. That narrow path that leads to life leads away from deception and toward shalom. So, this is all available, but it will require a vigilance and commitment to nothing less. And every day that we intentionally fight to be true, it won’t be easy, but we will be gaining endurance and a strength that is beyond us because we will be inviting the strength of our Father within us.

Prayer:

Father, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in Your holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. Make this us, God. Make this us. We’re turning toward You. We won’t be able to uncover everything. Things are flying at us so fast we can’t even comprehend them. All we can do is slow the world down and hold onto Your Holy Spirit for dear life, literally. This is not going to be easy, but we are inviting You to take us back into our lives, we are inviting You to show us the places that we’ve been deceived about ourselves, the lies that we’ve believed about ourselves, and the lies that we’ve been perpetuating into the world in big and small ways, the ways that we’ve participated in deception. And Father, we are weak and You are strong, and we invite Your Holy Spirit to come war against the evil one in the deception that has been planted in our lives, that we might rise up and be true, and war against the deception in this world that is destroying us. Holy Spirit, come. Show us the narrow path that leads to life. Lead us into all truth, where nothing false exists, where deception is not a part of the story, and give us the strength, willingness and vigilance…and we acknowledge that we have to participate in that…that you’re not just going to come and rewire things and all of the sudden we want to be free. We have to want it bad enough that nothing else matters and we want to be free and we want to be true. We want to look like a You, Jesus. So, come, Holy Spirit. We acknowledge that this isn’t easy. We also acknowledge that this is impossible for us to do on our own. So, we are inviting You to indwell us, fill us to overflowing. Make us strong, God, strong enough to face the deceiver and be victorious. We ask this in the mighty and beautiful name of Jesus. Amen.

Song:

Easier

Manic Drive


Every single step

The further I get doesn’t seem to get easier

It doesn’t seem to get easier

I’m running out of breath

But You wouldn’t give me strength if it’s meant to get easier

If it’s meant to get easier

So help me I’m asking please

There’s gotta be another remedy

I’m running out of my options

I’m running out of my options so

So show me how to get

How to get

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

No it doesn’t get easier

So show me how to get

How to get

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to take it easier

Not until You make me stronger

Makeshift happiness

Mistaken for being blessed with artificial exteriors

Fabricated with smoke and mirrors

We can never reach new heights

Without obstacles to climb

No, getting there isn’t effortless

I’m gonna need a hand with this

So help me I’m asking please

There’s gotta be another remedy

I’m running out of my options

I’m running out of my options so

So show me how to get

How to get

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

No it doesn’t get easier

So show me how to get

How to get

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

I’m gonna break through even if it hurts

Don’t want no medication it just makes it worse

Cause if I’m numb to the freedom

I’ll never come through if I’m comfortable

No I’ll never leave this room

I’m gonna break through even if it hurts

Don’t want no medication it just makes it worse

Cause if I’m numb to the freedom

I’ll never come through if I’m comfortable

No I’ll never leave this room

No it doesn’t get easier

No it doesn’t get easier

So show me how to get

How to get

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger

Stronger

Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier

Not until You make me stronger