The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday April 30, 2018 (NIV)

Judges 11-12

Jephthah Called to Be Judge

11 Jephthah was a soldier from the region of Gilead. Jephthah’s father was named Gilead. His mother was a prostitute. Gilead’s wife also gave birth to sons. When his wife’s sons grew up, they threw Jephthah out. They told him, “You’ll get no inheritance from our father. You’re the son of that other woman.” Jephthah fled from his brothers. He went to live in the land of Tob. Worthless men gathered around Jephthah and went out on raids with him.

Later, Ammon waged war with Israel. When the Ammonites attacked Israel, Gilead’s leaders went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. They said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander so that we can wage war against Ammon.”

But Jephthah replied to Gilead’s leaders, “Don’t you hate me? Didn’t you throw me out of my father’s house? So why are you coming to me now when you’re in trouble?”

Gilead’s leaders answered Jephthah, “The reason we’ve turned to you now is that we want you to go with us and wage war against Ammon. You will be the ruler of everyone who lives in Gilead.”

Jephthah told them, “If you take me back to fight against Ammonites and Yahweh gives them to me, I will be your leader.”

10 Gilead’s leaders said to Jephthah, “Yahweh is a witness between us. We will certainly do what you say.” 11 Jephthah went with them, and the people made him their leader and commander. So Jephthah went to Mizpah and repeated all these things in the presence of Yahweh.

The King of Ammon Refuses to Deal with Jephthah

12 Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon. They asked the king, “Why did you invade my land and wage war against me?”

13 The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the people of Israel left Egypt, they took my land. It stretched from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and the Jordan River. Now give it back peacefully.”

14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of Ammon. 15 They said, “This is what Jephthah says: The people of Israel didn’t take away the land belonging to Moab or Ammon. 16 When the people of Israel left Egypt, they went through the desert to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 The people of Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom. They said, ‘Please let us go through your country.’ But the king of Edom wouldn’t listen to them. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab. But he wouldn’t allow it, either. So the people of Israel remained at Kadesh.

18 “Then they went through the desert, by-passing Edom and Moab. They camped east of Moab—east of the Arnon River. They did not cross the Arnon River because it was Moab’s border.

19 “Then the people of Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites. Sihon ruled from Heshbon. The people of Israel said to him, ‘Please let us go through your land to our own.’ 20 But Sihon did not trust the Israelites enough to let them go through his territory. Sihon assembled all his troops. He camped at Jahaz and attacked Israel. 21 But Yahweh Elohim of Israel handed Sihon and all his people over to Israel. Israel defeated them and took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived there. 22 Israel took all the Amorite territory from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and from the desert to the Jordan River.

23 Yahweh Elohim of Israel forced the Amorites out of the way of his people Israel. So what right do you have to take it back? 24 Shouldn’t you take possession of what your god Chemosh took for you? Shouldn’t we take everything Yahweh our Elohim took for us? 25 You’re not any better than Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, are you? Did he ever have a case against Israel? Or did he ever fight against Israel? 26 Israel has now lived in Heshbon, Aroer, all their villages, and in all the cities along the Arnon River for 300 years. Why didn’t you recapture these cities during that time? 27 I haven’t sinned against you. But you have done wrong by waging war against me. Yahweh is the Shophet who will decide today whether Israel or Ammon is right.”

28 But the king of Ammon didn’t listen to the message Jephthah sent him.

Jephthah’s Vow

29 Then the Ruach Yahweh came over Jephthah. Jephthah went through Gilead, Manasseh, and Mizpah in Gilead to gather an army. From Mizpah in Gilead Jephthah went to attack Ammon.

30 Jephthah made a vow to Yahweh. He said, “If you will really hand Ammon over to me, 31 then whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return safely from Ammon will belong to Yahweh. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

32 So Jephthah went to fight against Ammon. Yahweh handed the people of Ammon over to him. 33 He defeated them from Aroer to Minnith and on to Abel Keramim, 20 cities in all. It was a decisive defeat. So the Ammonites were crushed by the people of Israel.

34 When Jephthah went to his home in Mizpah, he saw his daughter coming out to meet him. She was dancing with tambourines in her hands. She was his only child. Jephthah had no other sons or daughters. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes in grief and said, “Oh no, Daughter! You’ve brought me to my knees! What disaster you’ve brought me! I made a foolish promise to Yahweh. Now I can’t break it.”

36 She said to him, “Father, you made a promise to Yahweh. Do to me whatever you promised since Yahweh has punished your enemy Ammon.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Do me a favor. Give me two months for my friends and me to walk in the mountains and mourn that I will never have an opportunity to get married.”

38 “Go!” he said, and he sent her off for two months. She and her friends went to the mountains, and she cried about never being able to get married. 39 At the end of those two months she came back to her father. He did to her what he had vowed, and she never had a husband. So the custom began in Israel 40 that for four days every year the girls in Israel would go out to sing the praises of the daughter of Jephthah, the man from Gilead.

Ephraim’s Jealousy

12 The men of Ephraim were summoned to fight. They crossed the Jordan River to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you fight against Ammon without inviting us to go with you? Now we’re going to burn your house down with you in it.”

Jephthah answered, “My people and I were involved in a legal dispute with Ammon. I asked you for help, but you didn’t rescue me from them. When I saw that you would not rescue me, I risked my life and went to fight the people of Ammon. Yahweh handed them over to me. So why did you come to fight against me today?”

Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim. They did this because Ephraim had said, “You people from Gilead are nothing but fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.”

The men of Gilead captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River leading back to Ephraim. Whenever a fugitive from Ephraim said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask, “Are you from Ephraim?” If he answered, “No,” they would tell him, “Say the word shibboleth.” If the fugitive would say sibboleth, because he couldn’t pronounce the word correctly, they would grab him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River. At that time 42,000 men from Ephraim died.

Jephthah judged Israel for six years. Then Jephthah of Gilead died and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Ibzan Serves as Judge

After Jephthah, Ibzan from Bethlehem judged Israel. He had 30 sons and 30 daughters. His sons and daughters married people from outside their own families. He judged Israel for seven years. 10 When Ibzan died, he was buried in Bethlehem.

Elon Serves as Judge

11 After Ibzan, Elon from the tribe of Zebulun judged Israel. He judged Israel for ten years. 12 When Elon died, he was buried in Aijalon in the territory of Zebulun.

Abdon Serves as Judge

13 After Elon, Abdon, son of Hillel, from Pirathon judged Israel. 14 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years. 15 When Abdon died, he was buried in Pirathon, in the territory of Ephraim, in the mountains of Amalek.

Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

John 1:1-28

The Word Becomes Human

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was already with God in the beginning.

Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him.

He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity.

The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.[a]

God sent a man named John to be his messenger. John came to declare the truth about the light so that everyone would become believers through his message. John was not the light, but he came to declare the truth about the light.

The real light, which shines on everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into existence through him. Yet, the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He went to his own people, and his own people didn’t accept him. 12 However, he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. 13 These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way—from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born from God.

14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness[b] and truth.

15 (John declared the truth about him when he said loudly, “This is the person about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me was before me because he existed before I did.’”)

16 Each of us has received one gift after another because of all that the Word is. 17 Laws were given through Moses, but kindness and truth came into existence through Yeshua Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. God’s only Son, the one who is closest to the Father’s heart, has made him known.

John Prepares the Way(A)

19 This was John’s answer when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 John didn’t refuse to answer. He told them clearly, “I’m not the Messiah.”

21 They asked him, “Well, are you Elijah?”

John answered, “No, I’m not.”

Then they asked, “Are you the prophet?”

John replied, “No.”

22 So they asked him, “Who are you? Tell us so that we can take an answer back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John said, “I’m a voice crying out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees. 25 They asked John, “Why do you baptize if you’re not the Messiah or Elijah or the prophet?”

26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Someone you don’t know is standing among you. 27 He’s the one who comes after me. I am not worthy to untie his sandal strap.”

28 This happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

Footnotes:

  1. John 1:5 English equivalent difficult.
  2. John 1:14 Or “grace.”
Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

Psalm 101

Psalm 101

A psalm by David.

I will sing about mercy and justice.
O Yahweh, I will make music to praise you.
I want to understand the path to integrity.
When will you come to me?

I will live in my own home with integrity.
I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes.
I hate what unfaithful people do.
I want no part of it.
I will keep far away from devious minds.
I will have nothing to do with evil.
I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor.
I will not tolerate anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart.
My eyes will be watching the faithful people in the land
so that they may live with me.
The person who lives with integrity will serve me.

The one who does deceitful things will not stay in my home.
The one who tells lies will not remain in my presence.

Every morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land
to rid Yahweh’s city of all troublemakers.

Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

Proverbs 14:13-14

13 Even while laughing a heart can ache,
and joy can end in grief.

14 A heart that turns from God becomes bored with its own ways,
but a good person is satisfied with Yahweh’s ways.

Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

04/29/2018 DAB Transcript

Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalms 100:1-5, Proverbs 14:11-12

Today is the 29th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you as we open the door and step through the threshold into a brand-new, shiny, sparkly, week. And we’ve got a big week out in front of us in the Scriptures. Not only will we be changing into a new month this week, we’ll also conclude the book of Judges as we get to the end of this week. And in the New Testament we’ll be concluding the gospel of Luke today and then moving forward into the week into the gospel of John. And this week we’ll be reading from the names of God Bible. And we do this from time to time. The distinction of the Names of God Bible is that when we come to a name referring to God we’ll be going back to the original language that it was spoken in coming. I mean, we, as English speakers, are used to the term, God. But God is referred to using several names in the Bible, things like Jehovah, Elohim, Yahweh, Father, God. Sometimes it’s helpful to just go back to the original name that was used in that portion of Scripture, what people were referring to the Lord as that time. Because God is referred…I mean…God has many names around the world depending on the language that we’re using. But all languages have some sort of reference to the Almighty, the Almighty God. But if we were speaking a different language we would have a different term. Like if we were speaking French we would say Duo. Or if we were Gaelic or Irish we’d say Dia. Or if we were speaking Spanish we’d say Dios. And there’s terms that have all kinds of associations with Him, like Alla. It carries some baggage with it but it’s simply the Arabic term for God. So, Ala is what Arabic Christians and Jewish people, as well as Muslims, use as the term to refer to God. So, we get really comfortable in our own language in our own way of saying things and sometimes it’s good to go back to the original language and refer to the Lord in the in the terms that were used in the original manuscripts of the Bible. And, so, that’s what we’ll be doing as we read from the names of God Bible this week. So, with all that said we’ll pick up where we left off last week, which was yesterday, with Judges chapter 9 verse 22 through 10:18. And we’re still kind of moving our way through the story of Gideon. Of course, Gideon has died. But what happened afterward has become a bit of a mess because Gideon’s sons were all killed by one of his sons, Abimelech. And we’re continuing with that story. Judges chapter 9.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this brand-new week, this week that will transition us into another month. And we see that the days go by and we keep taking steps forward and we’ve journeyed far into the Scriptures this year. And You have spoken volumes into us, into our hearts, shifting things, transforming things, making us new again, as You’ve promised to do. So, we thank You and look forward to all that You have for us in the Scriptures this week, even as we prepare to move into new territory in the Scriptures. Come Holy Spirit. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family. This is Sally from Massachusetts. Would you please pray with me? Heavenly Father, we come to You as a community from all over the world. And we gather together and we listen to the Daily Audio Bible to hear Your word and to pray for one another. Father God, there are so many of us that call in on almost a daily basis. And there are so many of us who just listen. And Father God, we pray for every single person that listens to the Daily Audio Bible. You know the needs of every single one of us. You have counted the hairs on all our heads. Father God, we pray for every single person in our family. Lord, You know those of us who are struggling with our marriages. You know those of us with financial needs. You know those of us with health problems and those of us who are struggling to study for a test that will help us take one step more, one step further in our life, closer to our goals. Lord, You know that child that has gotten away from us that we just can’t reach. We need You to intervene for all of these things Lord, the people that are looking for jobs, the people that need a car, the people that are just so lonely they just long for connection with another human. Father God, we reach out to You as a community. We come to You in prayer because we believe in the power of prayer. We wrap our arms around each other even though we don’t lay eyes on each other and we love each other so much because we are Your children.

Hello, this is Bill from Garland and I was calling to uplift Shannon in Texas and Victorious or Victoria in Ohio. Both of you have called, you know, over the past number of weeks, going back a month and at different times and it sounded deep down. And I wanted to both of you know that I’m praying for you. I don’t necessarily have the, you know, great advise or steps but other people have that. I just want you to know that both of you will get through the, you know, the trials that you’re dealing with at the moment. And, also, Prosperous Pam, I just wanted to let you know that I hear you. I am praying for you and I’m glad that you are calling. All right. Thanks guys. That’s all.

Hi family it’s His Little Sharee in Canada and I have a long list of people that I’m praying for and I want to try and mention as many as possible. Gale in Hawaii phoned in. I’m praying for Taylor who has brain cancer and his wife Connie. Debbie from Canada, I’m praying for your friend Rowena who has lupus. And Kathy, you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and am praying that God will give you the strength to exercise and to eat the way you need to, that you would be healed from that. And Deb called in, she’s been asked to speak at a women’s conference. God bless you Deb. I’m praying for you. Krista in Minnesota, I am praying with you for your son that he would be delivered and that God would bring good influences into his life. Sally in the UK, praise the Lord that your daughter has had an experience with God. I’m praying that He will continue to draw Him to himself. Janice in Goodyear Arizona, I’m praying for healing for your back, that you would completely recover from the surgery that you had. Mary and Texas, I’m praying for a miracle of healing for you as your body fights cancer. And Shannon, my friend in just sale in Oregon, I’m praying for guidance for your family. Richard, Strong in his Grace, praise the Lord that your book has been published, that you’re happy with how it’s been produced, and I know God will use that. God bless you as you minister and share your story with many people. Salvation is Mine, I’m praying for you for healing, complete healing. Burning Bush, I think you said your mother is in hospice. I’m praying for her and for your whole family. EZ, thank you for reconnecting with our community. We are better because you are here. God bless you all family. Bye for now.

Hi everyone. It’s Kristi from Kentucky, actually still in Florida. Something happened today I wanted to share with you. I was outside working on my prayer wall, I call my war room, where when you call in your prayers, I, actually, I’m working, right now it’s an nautical theme and I’m coloring it with ink and I’m listening and is a beautiful day, just at peace and listening to everyone’s prayers and all the sudden this large drop of water falls from I am not sure where, but all of a sudden it falls right on my paper and as you know when water hits ink, well, you know, it spreads. I am so bummed because in thinking it just ruined my prayer wall but we’re I noticed where it fell, it fell precisely on a wave, but not only that, but it fell right on your dad’s name Caroline from Tennessee. You called in on April 4th and said that your father was actively in the process of going home to Jesus. And I just had to stop for a moment because in my heart I just saw a tear fall from heaven and land on your daddy’s name. So, Caroline I pray that your hearing this message and I want you to know sweet sister that I’m praying for you and your family. I’m not sure, I’m a little behind on my prayers, so I’m not sure if you’ve called in since the 4th of April but sister, I am praying for you and I love you. All right everyone. I love you guys so very much and I’m praying for you and I’ll post this. Whether it looks ruined or not, it’s not, because I don’t believe that there is any coincidence when it comes to God and our prayers. I love you so much. Have a blessed and lovely day everyone.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday April 29, 2018 (NIV)

Judges 9:22-10:18

Abimelech’s Battles

22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23 Then Elohim sent an evil spirit to cause problems between Abimelech and citizens of Shechem. So citizens of Shechem turned against Abimelech. 24 God did this so that the bloody violence committed against Jerubbaal’s 70 sons would happen to Abimelech and citizens of Shechem. Citizens of Shechem had helped Abimelech execute his brothers.

25 So citizens of Shechem set ambushes for Abimelech on top of the mountains. They also robbed everyone who passed by them on the road. This was reported to Abimelech.

26 Then Gaal (son of Ebed) and his brothers moved into Shechem. Citizens of Shechem trusted him. 27 They went into the country and harvested grapes in the vineyards to make wine. Then they made an offering of praise in the temple of their gods. They ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech. 28 Gaal (son of Ebed) said, “Who’s Abimelech, and who are we, the people of Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he Jerubbaal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the descendants of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelech? 29 How I wish I controlled these people! Then I’d get rid of Abimelech. I would tell him,[a] ‘Get yourself a big army and come out.’”

30 Zebul, Shechem’s ruler, heard what Gaal (son of Ebed) had said, and he became angry. 31 He secretly sent messengers to Abimelech. “Watch out! Gaal (son of Ebed) and his brothers have come to Shechem. They have turned the city against you. 32 You and your men must start out tonight. Set an ambush for them in the fields around Shechem. 33 In the morning, when the sun rises, get up quickly and raid the city. When Gaal and his men come out to attack you, do whatever you want to him.”

34 Abimelech and all his troops started out at night. He used four companies to set ambushes around Shechem. 35 Gaal (son of Ebed) went out and stood at the entrance to the city. Then Abimelech and his troops rose from their ambush. 36 When Gaal saw the troops, he said to Zebul, “Look, troops are coming down from the mountaintops!”

Zebul replied, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.”

37 Gaal spoke again, “No, there are troops coming down from Tabbur Haares. One company is coming along the road by the Fortunetellers’ Tree.”

38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your big mouth now? You were the one who said, ‘Who’s Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Aren’t these the troops whose ruler you despised? Now go out and fight him.”

39 Then Gaal led citizens of Shechem out to fight Abimelech. 40 Abimelech chased Gaal so that he ran away from him. Many were killed at the entrance of the city. 41 Abimelech continued to live at Arumah. Zebul threw Gaal and his brothers out and would not let them live in Shechem.

42 The next day the people of Shechem went into the fields. Abimelech was told about it. 43 So he took his troops, divided them into three companies, and set an ambush in the fields. He watched and saw the people coming out of the city. Then he began to attack them. 44 Abimelech and his company charged the city and captured its entrance. The other two companies charged at everyone in the fields and attacked them. 45 Abimelech attacked the city all day long. He captured the city and killed the people in it. He also tore down the city and scattered salt all over the land.

46 All the citizens of Shechem’s Tower heard about it and went into the basement of the temple of El Berith. 47 When Abimelech was told that they had gathered there, 48 he and all his men went to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took an ax, cut some brushwood, and carried it on his shoulder. He told his men, “Hurry and do what you’ve seen me do!” 49 So all his troops also cut brushwood and followed Abimelech. They piled the brushwood on top of the basement and set it on fire with the people inside. So all the people in Shechem’s Tower died too. There were about a thousand men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped there, and captured it. 51 Now, there was a strong tower inside the town. All the men, women, and leaders of the town fled to it. They locked the door behind them and went up on the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came to the tower. He began to fight against it and went near the entrance of the tower to burn it down. 53 Then a woman threw a small millstone that hit Abimelech on the head and cracked his skull. 54 He quickly called his armorbearer. He told him, “Take your sword and kill me! I don’t want anyone to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.’” His armorbearer did as he said, so Abimelech died. 55 When the people of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they all went home.

56 So Elohim paid back Abimelech for the evil he had done to his father when he killed his 70 brothers. 57 Elohim also paid back the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham, son of Jerubbaal, came true.

Tola Serves as Judge

10 After Abimelech, Tola, who was the son of Puah and grandson of Dodo, came to rescue Israel. Tola was from Issachar and lived in Shamir in the mountains of Ephraim. He judged Israel for 23 years. Tola died and was buried in Shamir.

Jair Serves as Judge

After Tola, Jair from Gilead became a judge. He judged Israel for 22 years. Jair had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys. He also had 30 towns that are still called Havvoth Jair to this day. They are in the region of Gilead. Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Israel Sins Again

The people of Israel again did what Yahweh considered evil. They began to serve other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Astartes—and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned Yahweh and did not serve him.

Yahweh became angry with the people of Israel. So he used the Philistines and Ammonites to defeat them. They oppressed and crushed the people of Israel that year. For 18 years they oppressed all who lived east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites in Gilead. Ammon also crossed the Jordan River to fight the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. So Israel suffered a great deal.

10 Then the people of Israel cried out to Yahweh for help. They said, “We have sinned against you. We have abandoned our Elohim and served other gods—the Baals.”

11 Yahweh said to the people of Israel, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to me for help. Didn’t I rescue you from them? 13 But you still abandoned me and served other gods. That’s why I won’t rescue you again. 14 Cry out for help to the gods you chose. Let them rescue you when you’re in trouble.”

15 The people of Israel said to Yahweh, “We have sinned. Do to us whatever you think is right. But please rescue us today!” 16 Then they got rid of the foreign gods they had and served Yahweh. So Yahweh could not bear to have Israel suffer any longer.

17 The troops of Ammon were summoned to fight, and they camped at Gilead. The people of Israel also gathered together and camped at Mizpah. 18 The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, “Whoever starts the fight against Ammon will rule everyone who lives in Gilead.”

Footnotes:

  1. Judges 9:29 Greek; Masoretic Text “So he said to Abimelech.”
Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

Luke 24:13-53

Jesus Appears to Disciples on a Road to Emmaus

13 On the same day, two of Yeshua’s disciples were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about everything that had happened.

15 While they were talking, Yeshua approached them and began walking with them. 16 Although they saw him, they didn’t recognize him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing?”

They stopped and looked very sad. 18 One of them, Cleopas, replied, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has happened recently?”

19 “What happened?” he asked.

They said to him, “We were discussing what happened to Yeshua from Nazareth. He was a powerful prophet in what he did and said in the sight of God and all the people. 20 Our chief priests and rulers had him condemned to death and crucified. 21 We were hoping that he was the one who would free Israel. What’s more, this is now the third day since everything happened. 22 Some of the women from our group startled us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 and didn’t find his body. They told us that they had seen angels who said that he’s alive. 24 Some of our men went to the tomb and found it empty, as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

25 Then Yeshua said to them, “How foolish you are! You’re so slow to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then he began with Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets to explain to them what was said about him throughout the Scriptures.

28 When they came near the village where they were going, Yeshua acted as if he were going farther. 29 They urged him, “Stay with us! It’s getting late, and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them.

30 While he was at the table with them, he took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he vanished from their sight.

32 They said to each other, “Weren’t we excited when he talked with us on the road and opened up the meaning of the Scriptures for us?”

33 That same hour they went back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven apostles and those who were with them gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has really come back to life and has appeared to Simon.”

35 Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road and how they had recognized Yeshua when he broke the bread.

Jesus Appears to the Apostles(A)

36 While they were talking about what had happened, Yeshua stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you!” 37 They were terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost.

38 He asked them, “Why are you afraid? Why do you have doubts? 39 Look at my hands and feet, and see that it’s really me. Touch me, and see for yourselves. Ghosts don’t have flesh and bones, but you can see that I do.” 40 As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.

41 The disciples were overcome with joy and amazement because this seemed too good to be true. Then Yeshua asked them, “Do you have anything to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish. 43 He took it and ate it while they watched him.

44 Then he said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. I told you that everything written about me in Moses’ Teachings, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “Scripture says that the Messiah would suffer and that he would come back to life on the third day. 47 Scripture also says that by the authority of Yeshua people would be told to turn to God and change the way they think and act so that their sins will be forgiven. This would be told to people from all nations, beginning in the city of Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to these things.

49 “I’m sending you what my Father promised. Wait here in the city until you receive power from heaven.”

50 Then Yeshua took them to a place near Bethany. There he raised his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken to heaven.

52 The disciples worshiped him and were overjoyed as they went back to Jerusalem. 53 They were always in the temple, where they praised God.

Cross references:

  1. Luke 24:36 : John 20:19–23
Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

Psalm 100

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

Shout happily to Yahweh, all the earth.
Serve Yahweh cheerfully.
Come into his presence with a joyful song.
Realize that Yahweh alone is Elohim.
He made us, and we are his.[a]
We are his people and the sheep in his care.
Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving.
Come into his courtyards with a song of praise.
Give thanks to him; praise his name.

Yahweh is good.
His mercy endures forever.
His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 100:3 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Greek, Targum, Latin; other Hebrew manuscripts “and not we ourselves.”
Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

Proverbs 14:11-12

11 The houses of wicked people will be destroyed,
but the tents of decent people will continue to expand.
12 There is a way that seems right to a person,
but eventually it ends in death.

Names of God Bible (NOG)

The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.

04/28/2018 DAB Transcript

Judges 8:17-9:21, Luke 23:44-24:12, Psalms 99:1-9, Proverbs 14:9-10

Today is the 28th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today as we complete another week together. And we’ve been reading from the God’s Word translation this week, which is what we’ll do today and continue our journey through the book of Judges. And we are smack dab in the in the middle of the story of Gideon. Today, Judges chapter 8 verse 18 through 9:21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Judges, with the conclusion of the story of Gideon, not the end of the story of Abimelech, but the end of the story of Gideon, we can kind of see the situation. So, we’ve gone through the story of Moses and the story of Joshua and there’s been a good amount of order because the law has been put fairly clearly before the people’s eyes and they had been in the wilderness. So, they have immediate repercussions. They like, they get it. We’re in a different era now and our strong leaders are gone. And, so, these judges are rising up and restoring the people and delivering the people. And then there’s peace in their lifetime. And usually this is indicated as 40 years. But just to understand kind of how things are going underneath it all in the culture, we see what happens next, right? Gideon had 70 sons. His son Abimelech was born of his concubine in the city of Shechem. And, so, once his father’s dead, and obviously Gideon refused to become the king, to become the leader of the people, instead telling them that God needed to be the leader. And after he dies Abimelech goes to his family in Shechem, basically, to immediately start a battle for the top position in Gideon’s family. And that results in the execution of 70 of his brothers, with only one, Jotham, escaping. And he goes up on Mount Gerazim. And you can go up on top of Mount terrorism, the Mount of Blessing, and look down over Shechem, which is modern day Nablus, even today and understand kind of the situation we’re talking about. And Jotham screams out. Basically, he’s telling a story. But what he’s essentially doing is saying, there has been a massive injustice here and if you are all happy than be happy, but this has been a massive injustice, a massive murder, an extermination of a family, a dishonoring of judge, a person who risked his life. So, we a pretty good glimpse into the culture that we’re dealing with at this point in time. And as the Bible will say, everyone was doing what they thought was right in their own eyes. And they immediately returned to idolatry. They are in the land and they are doing everything they have been warned not to do and we are witnessing the repercussions of that.

Then of course the book of Luke we read the story of Jesus resurrection, the one thing that restores us to God, the one thing that enables us to be who we were created to be, the one thing that leads us away from the kinds of outcomes that were reading in the books of Judges, in the book of Judges, the one thing that leads us away from this kind of anarchy that were seeing. So, we get a pretty strong juxtaposition here today. The Bible gives us pretty clear views of where we as people end up going when we’re going on our own. And, of course, Jesus gives us this picture, this beautiful picture of where we could go if we go with God.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. And we can’t thank You enough and we can’t make the right words to thank You for rescuing our souls and giving us eternal life, something that we cannot do in our own strength, a place that we can’t arrive at on our own, that You came and loved us, forgave us and restored us, and that You continue to do that day by day by day, something that is beyond our power to do on our own, that it is a gift because of Your profound love. What words of thanks could we offer You? And, so, we once again recognize the fact that, it’s everything about us that needs to cry out worship and thank You. Our entire lives are a gift back to You with the gift You have given to us. And, so, come Holy Spirit, into this day. We give ourselves to You and trust You completely. Come, Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

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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 and Praise:

Hi Brian, Jill, Tyler, China, Ezekiel and the DAB family. This is __ from __ UK. In listening to podcasts over the past week, it’s been stated God’s __ not to be yoked to an unbeliever. In __ James __ shared his testimony. His girlfriend’s obedient choice not to be yoked to an unbeliever brought him to Christ but as Victoria S. pointed out over the weekend an unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife. My believing wife has obediently lead to __ sanctify by her unbelieving husband and that brought me to Christ. How do you know which __ of God’s word __ right for life? Are we hearing His word only? Or are we collaborating with God and familiar enough with this path to hear what He wants us to hear and do what He wants us to do? How do you choose life? What is the one thing that is necessary? Choose life by staying submerged in the environment that will keep you in a position to hear what God is saying and see what He wants you to do. Choose life and remain connected to the DAB family whose canopy of prayer will continue to cover you. In time you will become more and more sure of the choices you have to make that will ultimately replace the darkness in your lives with His light. Father, I thank You that You’ve associated Yourself with unbelievers and You’ve have called us from so many diverse backgrounds to be brothers and sisters in Christ. I thank You that You’ve also called us individually to intimately walk with, each in unique ways that only You can ultimately reveal to us. I thank You for this DAB family, where Your unfiltered word, instruction, and guidance flow. Father, just like Moses, You’ve called us by name. Continue to reveal to us Your ways so that we may get to know You better, and know exactly what You want us to do. We ask all this in the name of Your son, Jesus. Amen.

Hey, morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Lee from New Jersey. Today is April 25th and it is a rainy Wednesday morning and traffic is very slow. So, I am calling, of course, from the mobile headquarters, a.k.a. the minivan. And just listening to today’s podcast. And today is April 25th. And towards the end, the community prayer, I heard John from Bethlehem and Miguel from Santa Rosa. And the reason why am bringing them up because they both had encouraging words for everyone. And this is going to tie into my day three for my prayer for anger, not for anger, but against anger. So, John spoke about all the blessings that we receive from God and how God perceives us and how victorious we are in God. And then Miguel took another step by basically saying that even though we are blessed by God, things will happen and God has given us the tools to deal with the situations and our blessings don’t change just because bad things happen in our lives. Again, our blessings from God don’t change just because things happen in our life. Anger is tied into a lot of that stuff because sometimes we are blind to the blessings that God gives us. We don’t feel worthy. We have shame. We feel worthless. We just blame everything and everybody. We are just…the blessings don’t seem present at the moment, something that we can see our grasp or feel. So, that frustration builds and builds and the devil, of course, he works on that. And that turns into some vicious, venomous, toxic anger that can be unleashed on family, friends, in the workplace, just…you name it…it’s gonna come out. So, father we pray for our brother John from Bethlehem, Miguel from Santa Rosa for calling in and guiding us and reminding us of your blessings Lord and how your blessings no matter what the circumstances will still be there and how we have to still deal with life…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Jacob from Maryland. I am hearing a lot of prayer requests from people for their marriages, something dear to my heart. And I just wanted to call in and then just say a prayer over all the marriages. Let us pray. Dear heavenly Father, thank You for all of the marriages that You have blessed and anointed. Your word says, let no man separate what You have put together. And, so, Lord we pray for the marriages. We pray for the healthy marriage. We pray for the marriages that are in trouble. And I pray for my marriage. I pray that these men and women, dear Lord, are able to come together as a couple and pray together. Lord, let them pray endlessly together. If they can’t pray together, dear Lord, I just ask that they pray for each other. Lord, just how can we ever not love someone we are praying with or praying for? So, Lord, I just ask You be within those marriages, draw them closer together as they pray together or pray for each other. Bless that unity. And dear Lord, just be with us all. Heal the pain in all of our hearts that may cause that separation. Let us first fall in love with You Lord. __ spouses. In the name of Jesus’ we pray. Amen.

Hi family. It’s Drew from the bay area. Listen, I just got done, not done, I’m in the process of listening to the community prayer. I’m calling mainly from Mark S. but for others. And here it is brother. And here it is family. I have got a constant battle in my mind and we all do. And what we have to do, Mark, is be able to win that battle by surrendering to the Spirit that’s in us. For you that don’t have the Holy Spirit yet we’ll pray for you. Mark, my brother, imagine yourself the night before Jesus is gonna die on the cross and you’re in the bushes and you’re watching. You’re watching disciples fall asleep while Jesus is asking them to pray for Him. And fast-forward and you’re watching, you’re watching Him walk, carrying that cross and then you see Him. You can’t even distinguish who it is anymore, He’s so badly beaten. But imagine Him being lifted up on the cross after the agonizing nails go through His limbs. And then you’re there, Mark, when the stones rolled away and you’re watching and you see Jesus come out of the tomb. Mark, He’s risen. The battles over. Jesus is now walking among the people. He is with us. Your battle is in your mind. You need to get out. You need to stop looking backwards. You need to take long walks, short walks. You need to think. You need to be with a Spirit. You need to turn down the volume.

Hi guys. How are you doing? It’s Sean the Prodigal. Hey, I’m just calling in response to anonymous. And many of the people have responded to anonymous. I tell you, I felt totally convicted because I am that guy. I was that guy. I was arrogant. I deserve better. I treated myself better than I treated my wife. I was selfish and self-centered. It cost me my marriage. 22 years later it’s over, it’s done, she’s gone. And she said I had a choice, I could stay with you or I could be happy. And, so, your words convicted me down to my soul. And corrected my hardened heart. So, I just wanted to thank you for sharing. And for the women out there, take the time to talk with your husband. If you don’t, your husbands keeping putting up with it. You have a choice to make. And they gotta know what the consequences are of their behaviors. If they’re so insensitive to it like I was then you’re never going to make anything any better. So, you might as well deal with that. Pray on it and deal with that. And men out there, you gotta take a look at how you’re treating your wives. As the mother of your children, your soulmate, your housemate, your bedmate, whatever and they go through a lot. And when we focus on ourselves and our jobs, our heart is on us. Don’t forget that they’re there too, they’re your partners. They’re going through it right there with you. If you lose sight of that you lose your marriage. That’s my story. I’m sticking to it. You guys all have a blessed day. I love you all. Take care. God, bless. Bye-bye.

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

Judges 8:18-9:21

18 He asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men did you kill at Tabor?”

They answered, “They were like you. Each one looked like a king’s son.”

19 Gideon replied, “They were my brothers, my mother’s sons. I solemnly swear, as the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I would not have to kill you now.” 20 Then he told Jether, his firstborn son, “Get up and kill them!” But Jether didn’t draw his sword. He was afraid because he was only a young man.

21 Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Get up and do it yourself! It’s a man’s job!” So Gideon got up and killed them. Then he took the half-moon ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon Makes a Gold Idol

22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “You, then your son, and then your grandson, must rule us. You rescued us from Midian.”

23 Gideon replied, “I will not rule you nor will my son. The Lord will rule you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “Do me a favor. Each of you give me the earrings from your loot.” (Their enemies, the Ishmaelites, wore gold earrings.)

25 The men of Israel answered, “Yes, we’ll give them to you.” So they spread out a coat. Each man took the earrings from his loot and dropped them on it. 26 The gold earrings Gideon had asked for weighed 40 pounds. This did not include the half-moon ornaments, the earrings, the purple clothes worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains from their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gideon used the gold to make an idol[a] and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.

28 The power of Midian was crushed by the people of Israel, and Midian never again became a threat. So the land had peace for 40 years during Gideon’s life.

29 Jerubbaal, son of Joash, went home to live. 30 Gideon had 70 sons because he had many wives. 31 His concubine[b] at Shechem also gave birth to a son. That son was named Abimelech.

32 Gideon, son of Joash, died at a very old age. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah, the city belonging to Abiezer’s family.

33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel chased after other gods—the Baals—as though they were prostitutes. They made Baal Berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all the enemies around them. 35 And they were not kind to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) despite all the good he had done for Israel.

Abimelech Kills His Brothers

Abimelech, son of Jerubbaal [Gideon], went to Shechem to see the uncles on his mother’s side of the family. He spoke to them and his mother’s whole family. He said, “Please ask all citizens of Shechem, ‘What seems best to you? Do you really want all of Jerubbaal’s 70 sons to rule you or just one man? Remember, I’m your own flesh and blood.’”

His uncles repeated everything he said to all citizens of Shechem. They were persuaded to follow Abimelech because he was their relative. So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal Berith. With the silver, Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men to follow him. Then he went to his father’s home in Ophrah. There he executed his 70 brothers, Jerubbaal’s sons. But Jotham, Jerubbaal’s youngest son, survived because he hid. All the citizens from Shechem and Beth Millo united. They went to the oak tree that was still standing in Shechem and proclaimed Abimelech king.

Jotham’s Story

When Jotham was told about this, he went to a high spot on Mount Gerizim. He shouted to them, “Listen to me, you citizens of Shechem, so that God might listen to you.

“The trees went to anoint someone to be king over them.
They said to the olive tree,
‘Be our king!’
But the olive tree responded,
‘Should I stop producing oil,
which people use to honor gods and humans,
in order to rule the trees?’
10 Then the trees said to the fig tree,
‘You come and be our king!’
11 But the fig tree responded,
‘Should I stop producing my good, sweet fruit
in order to rule the trees?’
12 Then the trees said to the grapevine,
‘You come and be our king!’
13 But the grapevine responded,
‘Should I stop producing my wine,
which makes gods and humans happy,
in order to rule the trees?’
14 Then all the trees said to the thornbush,
‘You come and be our king!’
15 But the thornbush responded to the trees,
‘If you really want to anoint me to be your king,
then come and take shelter in my shade.
But if not, fire will come out of the thornbush
and burn up the cedars of Lebanon.’

16 “If you acted with sincerity and integrity when you made Abimelech king, be happy. If you treated Jerubbaal and his family well, if you treated him as he deserved, be happy. 17 My father fought for you. He risked his life and rescued you from Midian. 18 But today you have attacked my father’s family. You have executed his 70 sons. You have made Abimelech, who is the son of my father’s slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem just because he’s your brother. 19 So if you are now acting with sincerity and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his family, then be happy with Abimelech and let Abimelech be happy with you. 20 But if that’s not the case, let fire come out of Abimelech and burn up citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo. Also let fire come out of citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo and burn up Abimelech.”

21 Then Jotham ran away quickly. He went to Beerah and lived there to avoid his brother Abimelech.

Footnotes:

  1. Judges 8:27 Or “ephod,” a technical term for a part of the priest’s clothes. Its exact usage and shape are unknown.
  2. Judges 8:31 A concubine is considered a wife except she has fewer rights under the law.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Luke 23:44-24:12

Jesus Dies on the Cross(A)

44 Around noon darkness came over the entire land and lasted until three in the afternoon. 45 The sun had stopped shining. The curtain in the temple was split in two.

46 Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he died.

47 When an army officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Certainly, this man was innocent!” 48 Crowds had gathered to see the sight. But when all of them saw what had happened, they cried and returned to the city. 49 All his friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and watched everything.

Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(B)

50 There was a good man who had God’s approval. His name was Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish council, 51 but he had not agreed with what they had done. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea, and he was waiting for God’s kingdom.

52 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 After he took it down from the cross, he wrapped it in linen. Then he laid the body in a tomb cut in rock, a tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 54 It was Friday, and the day of rest—a holy day, was just beginning.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed closely behind Joseph. They observed the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went back to the city and prepared spices and perfumes. But on the day of rest—a holy day, they rested according to the commandment.

Jesus Comes Back to Life(C)

24 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb. They were carrying the spices that they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzled about this, two men in clothes that were as bright as lightning suddenly stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed to the ground.

The men asked the women, “Why are you looking among the dead for the living one? He’s not here. He has been brought back to life! Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee. He said, ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people, be crucified, and come back to life on the third day.’” Then the women remembered what Jesus had told them.

The women left the tomb and went back to the city. They told everything to the eleven apostles and all the others. 10 The women were Mary from Magdala, Joanna, and Mary (the mother of James). There were also other women with them. They told the apostles everything.

11 The apostles thought that the women’s story didn’t make any sense, and they didn’t believe them.

12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down to look inside and saw only the strips of linen. Then he went away, wondering what had happened.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Psalm 99

Psalm 99

The Lord rules as king.
Let the people tremble.
He is enthroned over the angels.[a]
Let the earth quake.
The Lord is mighty in Zion.
He is high above all people.
Let them give thanks to your great and fearful name.

He is holy!

The king’s strength is that he loves justice.
You have established fairness.
You have done what is fair and right for Jacob.

Highly honor the Lord our God.
Bow down at his footstool.

He is holy!

Moses and Aaron were among his priests.
Samuel was among those who prayed to him.
They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
He spoke to them from a column of smoke.
They obeyed his written instructions and the laws that he gave them.
O Lord, our God, you answered them.
You showed them that you are a forgiving God
and that you are a God who punishes their sinful deeds.

Highly honor the Lord our God.
Bow at his holy mountain.

The Lord our God is holy!

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 99:1 Or “cherubim.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Proverbs 14:9-10

Stubborn fools make fun of guilt,
but there is forgiveness among decent people.

10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
and no stranger can share its joy.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

04/27/2018 DAB Transcript

Judges 7:1-8:16, Luke 23:11-43, Psalms 97:1-98:9, Proverbs 14:7-8

Today is the 27th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is my pleasure to be here with you today. It’s an honor to be here with you today as we lock arms and hearts and take the next step forward into the Scriptures. And we’re getting going pretty strong in the book of Judges at this point and we have begun the story of Gideon. We began that yesterday and we will continue it today. Judges chapter 7 verse one through 8:17. And we’re reading from the God’s word translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay, so, in the book of Judges we continue the story of Gideon. And we can think, oh, the stories over, he defeated Midian, but story the stories not over. It actually has some twists and turns out in front that really begin to show us the condition of the culture, right? So, we went for months from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph to Egypt, out of Egypt, into the wilderness, wandering in the wilderness, finally crossing the Jordan River. Like, it took us months to take this journey. And when we cross the Jordan River with the children of Israel, the beginning of the book of Joshua, we had an intact society with an order of life and laws to live by. And now we’re in the future from that time. There is no Moses there is no Joshua. Things have begun to disintegrate. And as we continue through the book of Judges we’ll be able to see what that looked like and how far they had actually slipped away from where they started. But God did come to Gideon. And we watch the way in which God counterintuitively whittled down an army of 32,000 men to 300, that 1%. And He had gone before them. People had heard what was happening. This army down in the Jezreel Valley wanting to pillage and destroy the crops, they had heard that Gideon was raising up an Army. So, they were afraid. There was actually going to be a battle. This wasn’t just their annual pilgrimage across the Jordan River to pillage the crops of the Israelites and keep them week and subservient. There was going to be a fight. And, so, they were afraid and they were ready. And these 300 men that Gideon had…I mean…when they started blowing rams horns and breaking pottery and waving torches, they looked like a fast horde descending upon the Army and they all fled in fear. They all ran away and fought each other. It’s a brilliant story. It’s a beautiful story, but when we apply it to our lives we look at the obstacles that we’re facing, the battles that may be out in front of us, whether we’re fighting for our own heart, we’re fighting for our family, our job, or whatever. Whatever it is that were facing, we try to get our ducks in a row. We try to get everything in order and navigate and see how well we can do when sometimes the battle is the Lord’s. And we see this so many times portrayed in Scripture, that the battle is the Lord’s. And we don’t just see that with words, we see the story unfold where He has gone before and no one had to do anything but watch. Sometimes we get ourselves into battles that we weren’t meant to fight and we realize that diving into that is actually displaying our lack of faith because it certainly takes a lot more faith to stand still and see the salvation of our God then to rush in and start swinging. And a lot of the time we find the we’ve done a lot more damage to ourselves and to those around us by rushing in when we should’ve stood still and we should’ve taken the time to listen and obey.

Prayer:

Father, we are guilty of that, of rushing in and causing mayhem when we never even asked. We’re guilty of that. And we can see that You have no problem being counterintuitive. Your wisdom is above our wisdom period. And you are all powerful and we are not. And, so, we acknowledge this, that we’ve done this and we invite You into this because we’re all facing something. Come, Holy Spirit, show us the way forward, the next steps, how it is that we can give this to you and rest, rest with You and follow Your lead. Come Jesus. We pray in Your mighty name. We ask. Amen

Announcements:

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So be sure to check it out.

Check out the prayer wall. Maybe you have some things need to pray, have prayed over, or maybe you just want to give back in prayer and lock hearts with your brothers and sisters that are here together as we make this journey through the Scriptures. The prayer wall is a great place to do that. So, check that out.

Check out all the other social media channels that we’re on. Constant conversation is happening somewhere. So, it’s easy enough to reach out and be reached back toward. The community is vast and always on. There’s always a log burning on the global campfire? You can check that all out in the Community section.

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If you want to partner with the daily audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link that lives on the homepage and I thank you because the reality is that we are a community, and the reality is if we didn’t do this together it couldn’t be done. And, so, thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DABbers. This is Slave of Jesus from North Carolina. Alright, Holy Spirit let’s roll. Lord, we amen to all of the prayers for Dylan out there. I also amen all the prayers for Brian with Crohn’s. Lord we ask You to watch over Stuart and his being relieved from drinking. And I think it was Bill W. with great accountability stuff. He left his email of there for anyone who wants to call. Bill if you think you need an accountability partner but, you know, you’re kind of like, well, I don’t know…this whole email thing, you can always make like a Gmail or Hotmail and just have it auto forward to whatever your regular one is. If you’re not quite ready to reach out to the community, give us your real email, you can always do something like that and try it out. But it’s a great way to do accountability. Lord, we ask you to watch over Billy from Montgomery. Amen to his prison ministry for the KIROS Team. Lord we ask you to watch over Gavin in Alabama. Amen to the prayers for his wife and his marriage. Amen for his tennis game. Use it, maybe use as an opportunity to talk to people about God, not to be pushy on it, but just tell them what He’s done in your life. Amen to the story about Mark S. and honoring God with our bodies. You called in and had a ton of Scripture weapons in that one thing. And I use one of those. I don’t use it in a way for sexual addiction but now I realize that I’ve been maybe taking it out of context when I use it…just…just…about taking care of my body. But those Scriptures were really focused on that. Amen to prayers for Paul in Houston in his marriage. Amen for… Amen for the whole Daily Audio Bible. We just love you guys. Amen to Wayne. Amen to his prayers for his son Nicholas. And ask you to watch over all of us so that we can fight till the end. Love you all. Have a great day.

Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Rebecca from Michigan and it’s April 24th. Can you pray for my dad? Because he’s talking about being with his mom. I hear him talk about wanting his mama and wanting to be with his mom. And it’s kind of depressing. And it’s messing my mind up. And his mom passed away in 1980. My dad will be 86 in July and my mom’s 80 years old. They’ve been married like 62 years. And it’s like, I’m like hearing this and it’s like, he’s usually by himself when he’s doing this and I don’t know if he’s praying and telling God that he wants to be with his mom. But his mamma’s not here no more. So, while I’m hearing this I’m kind of like, okay, I’m feeling kind of bad. And, you know, I’m their kid, so I’m feeling like I’m the cause of it or something, you know, making him feel bad or something. So, I’m trying not to let my mind go there. So, if you could just pray for him I would appreciate it. Thank you Daily Audio Bible. Bye.

Hello. My name is Teria. I am fairly new to Daily Audio Bible about, I don’t know, maybe four months now. And my sister and her fiancé just had a baby about 2 ½ weeks ago and she was born with pretty serious health issues. She’s been in the hospital in the NICU for two weeks and I’m just asking for prayer because my sister is having a real hard time. It’s hard to see your child go through something. They said she has MMA. So, it’s a metabolic disorder where she can’t process proteins or fat. So, she can’t process any food. It becomes poison to her body. So, please lift them up in prayer and I just pray that they get closer to Jesus and get closer to God through all of this. They are saved but this is just a tough thing for everybody. The baby’s name is Destiny. My sister’s name is Sheila and her fiancé’s name is DJ. And, so, please everybody, just lift them up in prayer because…sometimes…when I’m so hurt the prayers don’t come out. I don’t…I don’t know what to say when I’m upset. And, so, my mind goes blank when I try to pray for them. Because I…it’s just tough. So, please. Thank you so much. Bye.

Hello beautiful family. This is Sonja from Tampa, a Living Testimony. I heard the broadcast on April 21st and I heard your cry Karen from St. Louis. You said that you were turning 60 and that you pretty much have lost hope in ever finding a partner. While I’m here to tell you sister not to lose hope because God is an awesome God. I just became engaged at age 62 and I have found my true soulmate and love of my life with all the attributes of love, kindness and gentleness. It had been seven months since I had lost my dad and I had the following conversation with God. Lord, it’s time for me to get up and stop grieving so much because my choice in You is my strength. I felt so broken and lonely during my dad’s departure and I told God this, if I never find my soulmate I will be content Lord because I know that You are my God who is always with me and You will never leave me nor forsake me. I’ve been blessed beyond measure with family and friends that I love and cherish but most importantly in my relationship with You God, which is priceless. Karen, two weeks later, unexpectedly, someone I had known for over five years but never paid any mind to came into my life and we have been together for four years now and soon to be married. Karen, my sister, if He did it for me He’ll do it for you. God bless you all.

Hi. My name is Troy I’m from. Amarillo Texas. This is the first time that I’ve called. I’ve been listening for, I guess about a year now. This has been life changing for me and very motivational. And I’m calling today because I have a prayer request for my mom and my stepmom, specifically. My mom has just been diagnosed with RA, Rheumatoid Arthritis, about a month ago, and she’s going downhill really quick. And it is really taken a toll on her spirit. And I just want to reach out and try to get other people praying because I know the power of prayer is…is…is amazing. So, I also want to ask…my stepmom…she had cancer a couple years back. And they are thinking that the radiation treatments really messed with some nerves in her neck and in her head and she’s been in excruciating pain for about three years now and she needs to be delivered from that. So, thank you so much for praying that for me. If you want to reach out to me my email is troy.331@yahoo.com. Thanks again. Bye.

04/26/2018 DAB Transcript

Judges 6:1-40, Luke 22:55-23:10, Psalms 95:1-96:13, Proverbs 14:5-6

Today is April 26th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is good to be here around the global campfire. I just threw another log on. It’s burning bright. I see that I’m not the only one that’s around here. Some logs have been thrown on and we keep this thing going constantly, day and night. So, I’m glad that we can take the next step forward in the Scriptures. We’re moving through the Judges and we’ll read Judges chapter 6 today. And we’ve been reading from the God’s Word translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Judges we read chapter 6 today, which launches us into the story of the Judge, Gideon. And man, it is quite a twisty-turn-y story that is out in front of us. But we laid the groundwork today by just simply understanding where we are in the story. The children of Israel are indeed in the Promised Land but they are indeed doing exactly what they swore to God that they wouldn’t do. Alright, so, all of the effort of the early leaders like Moses and Joshua have come to this. The people were constantly reminded of who they are and where they’ve come from and where they’re going. You know, they’ve built monument stones all over the place to retell the story. They know who they are but they have forgotten who they are. All of a sudden the story starts sounding familiar because we spend time in our lives in the same situation. We know who we are, but we’ve forgotten anyway. And what has subsequently happened is exactly what they were warned against, they have turned to other god’s. They have intermingled with the people around them and have turned to other gods, which was exactly what they were warned about and it. And it has caused their demise. They are no longer strong and feared, right? They’re just being completely taken over. And in this case, at this time, in Gideon’s time it’s Midian who has power over them and they like…they to come in with their friends and destroy the crops every year. This is how they keep the people under control and subservient. So, when we find Gideon he’s down in a wine press not crushing grapes or anything like that, he’s threshing wheat to stay hidden so that they can eat. And this is when God comes to him and says, you’re going to be the catalyst, you’re gonna set the people free. And Gideon’s response is very much like our own responses, I know the old stories but where is God now? And even if God is among us, who am I to do anything like that? Like, I’m the lowest of the low. My family is the least of the families in my tribe and I’m the least of my family. And also in many ways mimics the kinds of things that we say and the kinds of postures of heart that we have when where called. So, as we leave the story today, Gideon’s convinced that he has been visited by God. And God has confirmed to Gideon, strengthening his faith through some signs. Bit what is yet out in front of us is one of the most counterintuitive stories that we’ll find in the Bible and that we will unfold in the coming days.

Of course, in the gospel of Luke we are entering the territory of Christ’s last few days, the story of Jesus passion, the story of his arrest and his accusation and his trial and all of the maneuvering around all of that. And Jesus is sent from Pilate’s presence to King Herod’s presence. And Herod, he's…you know…he’s been wanting to see the magic show around Jesus, but Jesus isn’t doing anything. He’s just…he’s there…and so they mock him just like Pilate’s people had, just like the Jewish people had. I mean, the verbal contempt and abuse that Jesus is enduring is something that we often overlook because we know that he’s going to suffer so unspeakably in his body that we don’t always pay attention to the fact that he was beaten down with words as well. And, so, what we see as we conclude today’s reading is that Herod and all of his friends and soldiers treat Jesus with contempt, that they scorn Him, they make fun of Him, they ridicule Him, and then they throw a royal robe over the top of Him and send Him back to Pilate, which is an inside joke, right? So, the accusation that the Jewish people, the Jewish religious leaders have brought to pilot is that Jesus is guilty of insurrection, that he’s stirring up problems for the Empire. And one of the ways that this is happening is that people are calling Him the king of the Jews. He’s claiming that He’s a king. So, Pilate asks Him about this and then sends Him to Herod and Herod asks Him about this and then at the end of the day, because Jesus is talking much, Herod puts this royal robe on Jesus and sends Him back to Herod. And the joke is that Herod has indeed found Jesus to be the king of the Jews, which would be an inside joke and irony because Herod was the king of the Jews. So, Herod’s sending Jesus back to Pilate to say, oh my gosh, we found the king of the Jews. This is really the king of the Jews. This crazy present from Galilee who won’t say a word, He is the king of the Jews. So, we see just the constant ridicule and verbal abuse that Jesus is undergoing and, I mean, I find it hard to imagine that anyone hasn’t had anything mean ever said to them in their lives. But when you’re in those kind of moments where it’s just beating down upon you, words are coming like fists, I mean, that just…that weakens you and tears you down. And, so, we need to understand that Jesus is suffering. Jesus is suffering in His mind and His body and His Spirit. He is enduring much even before whips start cracking and skin starts being torn. He’s still suffering. He’s watching His friends abandon Him. He’s watching His friends deny Him. It’s important that we don’t skip this stuff. We can we can think, well, I’ve read the story a thousand times. I mean, it’s like, it’s everywhere and we’ve already read it several times this year in the Gospels. And, so, we can kind of tune out, when actually we need to try to tune in, because a slow and careful understanding of all of the different facets of Jesus suffering, the different things that He went through verbally, physically, spiritually, they give us incredible clues about the heart of God and especially about the heart of God toward His people, which means me and you. And we’re watching God in the flesh endure all of this as a human being, which is simply demonstrating clearly that God is willing to go there with us. And there is nothing that he isn’t willing to go through and into with us, that there is nothing, humanly speaking, that he didn’t already endure, which makes it very, very difficult for us to begin shaking our fists at the sky and claiming that He’s abandoned us and doesn’t know what we’re going through. That’s just not the truth. And we believe that we’re literally believing a lie. And that lie is going to do nothing but isolate us from God. So, may we pay attention as we move through this story in Luke’s gospel.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the stories and the people that we meet along the way and the kind of questions that they had because they’re the same kinds of things we’re asking. The same kinds of stories that are being told in the Scriptures are the same kinds of stories that we walk through in our own lives. And Your word gives us such counsel. So, come Holy Spirit, as we continue to take this journey through Your word in community. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And I have to tell you about something that we have in the Daily Audio Bible shop that won’t last long simply because we have so few. But let’s go back to the beginning and let me tell you the story real quick. I’ve told this story every time I talk about the Daily Audio Bible journals because, you know, because December 2016, we were, we were in the final weeks of my mom’s life. And it was Christmas time. It was one of the strangest Christmas celebrations I have…I mean…it’s just the strangest of celebrations ever. My mom, she had been in and out of a mental hospital and that was just a horrible, horrible experience as she declined into becoming less and less tethered to any kind of reality, where, you know, her kind of dementia had kind of spread…I’m not sure of the right terminology…not sure spread is the right word… it’s that she was declining into it and miserable…horrified…having a really hard time. And during this time she finally got out of that hospital was in a regular hospital and the funny thing is, even though she’s intensive care and really failing fast, it was almost a relief because it was so hard to move through that stuff. And, so, it’s the Christmas season and Jill and I are trying to be in the Christmas spirit and we had just gotten back from Israel in November. And, so, iIt was just kind of moving through this Christmas celebration that looked so different. All the materialism that goes along Christmas and all the gift giving and stuff like that juts seemed so much less important than some of the other things were going on. And we went for a drive and went to an art gallery in this little town in the rolling hills here called Leapers Fork and I found these Black Wing pencils. I’ve told that story, how those pencils were a rescue because I found them intriguing. They were just the most interesting pencils I’d ever seen. And I read their story and I was intrigued and I bought a box of them and then I bought another box of them and started journaling with a pencil. And the pencils kind of became a rescue. They were just this cathartic thing. Sharpening a well-crafted pencil with really strong graphite and writing old school. Just kind of going back to childhood almost and writing with a pencil. I fell in love with it. I fell in love with all the tactile aspects of it. And it rejuvenated my journaling process. And I tried…you know…I’ve filled journals over the years with whatever I could write with. And I’ve tried the digital thing, keeping a digital journal, which is not quite as…I don’t know…it’s not quite as satisfying, at least to me. And then I found these and I just began to Journal. And, so, with a pencil I journaled the last weeks of my mom’s life and I’ve captured that and at some point I’ll go back and read all of that, but I captured it all. But it got me thinking. We were in the process of wanting to design specific journals for writing in any way. And, so, we continued that process and made the new Daily Audio Bible journals, which are elegant and really beautiful to fill with the story of your life and all that God is doing in your life and we paired them with the Black Wing pencils, made them available. I called up Black Wing and just asked them, you know, what do we gotta do? And, so, they let us make them available. So, all that story is telling you how we have journals and Black Wing pencils and all the writing paraphernalia in the shop and why, why we have them because they’re just a great thing to write with. And we encourage journaling. We encourage memorial stones as it were from the Bible. We encourage writing things down so that we don’t forget them. But as I was becoming intrigued with these Black Wing pencils, I realized okay, they have these three main pencils and their amazing, but every three months they come out with a special addition. And, so, we started collecting them…I mean…almost a year ago now. And, so, we’ve been collecting these special addition Black Wing pencils. What happens with these things? And I did not realize this. But what happens with these things is there made in limited quantities anyway. And when they’re sold out you can never get them again because Black Wing doesn’t make them again. So, all of the dealers who deal with Black Wing pencils all across the world, if they want these they can get them but that’s all they’re ever going to get. And I had heard these were like collectors additions and I went on eBay and looked and sure enough they are…once…they are like…I mean…people pay hundreds of dollars for a box of certain black wing pencils. And soon as these additions sell out then they escalate and escalate and escalate until there are none left. But those who have them have them. And, so, for the first time…we’re going to make our stash available. So, we have 24 boxes of the black wing 530, which is…which is a gold pencil, because each of these special editions have a specific meaning. So this one represents when gold was discovered in Northern California. And what we here in the United States would call the gold rush began and changed…it would just define California and changed the culture in the United States in the mid-1800s. And back then there was this word, eureka, right? I found it. I found what I was looking for. I stumbled upon gold. Tthat is what this pencil is meant to represent to those who write poems and write songs and draw pictures and write their lives out in words. These gold pencils represent eureka moment we’re you find gold. And as far as I can tell we may be the only place that has…like…I don’t think you can get them anywhere else. They were a special edition a year ago but those of you who have fallen in love with journaling like this, or you’ve just been intrigued by it, we have a couple dozen boxes. That’s all we have, that’s all we can get, that’s all there is. And we’re not jacking them up like collector additions. We’re just making them available. And, I mean, I can only really talk about this today…like I don’t think they’ll be around tomorrow. So, if you’ve been thinking about journaling, this is a good way to jump in and start writing the story of your life. And if you’ve been journaling, how you are journaling, what you are journaling with this part of that story. And you can find all of this, the journals, all of the writing paraphernalia, including for a very limited time, the special edition Black Wing 530, the gold, the Eureka pencil. And these are available in the Daily Audio Bible shop in the lifestyle section. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the common mission that we share as the global campfire continues to burn on and we continue to speak out God’s word out loud, read fresh every day around the world. If this has been life giving and continues to be life giving to you, thank you for being life giving back. That is how we’re here. We’re here because were a community and we’re doing this thing together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey Daily Audio Bible family. This is Andrea D. From Kentucky and I’m calling to ask prayer for my friend and mentor Mark O. Mark O. is overcoming stage IV cancer, was on hospice three times last year. Anyway, he is victorious and I would like for you to agree with me in prayer over him and ask your friends and family to pray for him, that God would give him a second run in life. So, Father right now I just come before you in agreement with your people right here listening on the Daily Audio Bible family. And I ask that they would pray in agreement and that Mark’s body would be completely healed and made whole so that he will not die but live and to declare the works of Yahweh, that he will have a second, third, fourth, fifth run in this life and that he would be glorifying you. I ask that you would send him people that can help him and just minister to him. So, Father, right now we just come into agreement with the global body of Yeshua that he was healed in Jesus name. And if anyone else is suffering stage IV cancer, we come into agreement for their healing as well and we thank you for the testimonies that have already come around for the people who have already been healed in Jesus name from stage IV cancer. So, we plead blood of Jesus, that tumors are shrunk and all the cancer is healed and pray that life would be flooded into his body. And we pray this in Yeshua’s’ name. Thank you for praying with me. Amen.

David was a shepherd boy the least of all his brothers
But God chose him to be the king ahead of all the others
You think that he was sent to __ he was just a kid that he didn’t have a prayer
Not just against Goliath but against the lion and the bear
God was with him all the way and God never let them down
From the time and he was just a boy till they put them in the ground
He believed in God with all his heart His faith was very strong
He saw God’s feet consistently and would repent when he was wrong
He was a poet and a musician he was a leader who actually took part
He wasn’t afraid to cry and dance yet he still had a warriors heart
He made some bad decisions as a father king and man
But he was humble as he served the Lord and would yield to God’s demand
God, David refused to strike God’s anointed
But he killed a man who did
His son once tried to take his throne
And David ran away and hid
He said that if God is for me he will bring me back again
If not I still accept as will for God’s always been my friend
God said in his word that David was a man after is very own heart
Help me God to be like him, let your spirit not depart
For I too have Goliath and they taught me every day
They speak about your word and your son in a very disrespectful way
I’ll fight them if you want me to I know the victory is mine
How dare they taught the living God are the foolish, nuts, or just blind
Help me be like David and always seek your face
And don’t let my indiscretions turn victory into disgrace
Help me watch where you pray and listen for your voice
My hearts complete with you my God you always be first choice
Make me more like David let your spirit not depart
And make me more like Jesus too they both had your own heart

Blindtony1016@gmail.com. Thank you, Brian for this wonderful…

Good evening Daily Audio Bible family. This is Prosperous Pam from the San Francisco Bay Area. I am just seeking prayer for, and this is hard for me to do, so please, please, please, please keep me lifted. Agree with me in the name of Jesus…this request. I just ask that you all pray for me. I am, it’s very difficult for me to seek out help, seek out prayer requests, seek out anything, to be vulnerable to share what’s going on, but I am trusting in the name of Jesus that the body of Christ is real and that…this is the first time am doing this. Please keep me in prayer. I’m going through a lot and it’s very, very difficult. I’m older. I’m an older woman and I still have not had much support my life. I’m 50 years old, African-American, college-educated woman in Silicon Valley. I’ve done a lot of things, it doesn’t even matter to me about Silicon Valley or anything because. Like, I’ve been out of work for like a year and I’m going through this process of where God…I want to know what God wants for me but it’s hard. I’ve been pressing, pressing through and now, where I am now, it’s like I don’t have any energy anymore. So, I’m praying for, I’m praying, I’m asking for you all to agree with me in prayer that God propels me, He keeps me lifted, and His will, His perfect will will be done. The desire and fire that I have in my heart, that he put in my heart, will continue until His perfect will. And I just need…I pray that you guys agree with me because I don’t…this is very hard for me to do. I have never done this. And, like, I‘m already nervous. Like who’s going to hear it? Because I’m so private, but am lifting this up to Christ in the name of Jesus that you all will agree with me in prayer and that God is going to get me through this.

Hi this is Victoria S. I’m just calling tonight to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanted to pray for my sister, the one whose, I think her name is Melody Faith from Canada, about her son who’s addicted to drugs and her and her husband has been praying for him and everything. I want to pray for him also and I just want to encourage her to continue to pray, continue to trust God because God is a great deliver and the enemy is trying to steal our kids but the Bible says that the prayers of the fervent, the effectual prayers of the righteous avail him much. And we, as mothers and fathers, we can pour into our kids. Let’s trust and ask God to help pour into them so that they can fight the good fight of faith. Gracious Father we praise You today, we magnify You Lord. Oh Lord we glorify Your name. Lord, we ask You to touch this Young man. We ask You to bless him with a haircut Lord in the name of Jesus. Lord we just ask You to heal his body. Oh Lord You take away the desires of those drugs. Oh Lord from them and all the kids that are being affected Lord. You touch him Lord. You give him the strength Lord. You help him to remember what his parents bored into him, that he has a Savior that loves him. Oh Lord in the name of Jesus touch our kids as they go off to school. Touch their minds Lord and keep them father. Touch those that are having depression problems. Touch those who are going through challenges Lord. Oh Lord touch those marriages Lord. Oh Lord in the name of Jesus You work Your miracle Lord. You work it out for the good in those marriages Lord. You bless those husbands. You bless those wives and You bless those kids Lord to receive from their parents that they may be the children Your calling them to be. Oh Lord we continue to thank You for Brian and Jill and all of the DABbers Lord and the Young lady whose little daughter…I think her name is…

Hi. This is Thirsty Charles from Sydney. I’ve given myself that name because of this amazing thing that God’s been doing my life this year. He’s just making me so thirsty for His word and this community and prayer and that’s a real blessing that’s been given through listening to the Daily Audio Bible. So, thank you all for your prayers that you’ve been praying. It’s been an amazing blessing to be a part of that this year. I just started listening in February. And through all of that my husband and I are just desperate to be a part of that and have you guys pray for us. We’re looking at some big life decisions, starting a new family maybe, buying a house, things like this. And we’re just finding a way, starting to lean ourselves financially and our desires and that sort of thing in these decisions. So, we just pray that we would be leaning on God’s will and following His full will when we make these. And just desperately love to have you guys pray for us so that we can be confident that it’s God’s will when we make these choices and not our own. Thank you, thank you, thank you all very much for all of your input. And thank you Brian and the team. This has just been just a life changing, I guess, year and that’s coming from someone who’s been a Christian my entire life. I’m just so blessed. And thank you Lord Jesus for delivering this to me. Thanks for your prayers.

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

Judges 7:1-8:17

Gideon Defeats Midian

Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the troops with him got up early and camped above En Harod. Midian’s camp was north of him at the hill of Moreh in the valley.

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men with you for me to hand Midian over to you. Israel might brag and say, ‘We saved ourselves.’ Announce to the troops, ‘Whoever is scared or frightened should leave Mount Gilead and go back home.’” So 22,000 men went back home, and 10,000 were left.

The Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one will go with you,’ he must go with you. And if I say to you, ‘This one won’t go with you,’ he must not go.”

So Gideon took the men down to the water. The Lord said to him, “Separate those who lap water with their tongues like dogs from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped water with their hands to their mouths. All the rest of the men knelt down to drink water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped water I will save you and hand Midian over to you. All the other men should go home.” So Gideon sent the other men of Israel home, but the 300 men who stayed kept all the supplies and rams’ horns.

The camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Attack! Go into the camp! I will hand it over to you. 10 But if you’re afraid to go, take your servant Purah to the camp with you. 11 Listen to what people are saying. After that, you will have the courage to go into the camp and attack it.”

So Gideon and his servant Purah went to the edge of the camp. 12 Midian, Amalek, and all of Kedem were spread out in the valley like a swarm of locusts. There were so many camels that they could not be counted. They were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.

13 When Gideon got there, he heard a man telling his friend a dream. The man said, “I had a strange dream. There was a loaf of barley bread rolling around in the camp of Midian. When it got to the command post, the loaf of bread hit that tent so hard that the tent collapsed, turned upside down, and fell flat.”

14 His friend replied, “That can only be the sword of Gideon, son of Joash, from Israel. God is going to hand Midian and the whole camp over to him.”

15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped the Lord. Then he went back to the camp of Israel and said, “Attack! The Lord will hand Midian’s camp over to you.”

16 Gideon divided the 300 men into three companies. He gave them each rams’ horns and jars with torches inside. 17 He said to them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When I come to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and those with me blow our rams’ horns, then the rest of you around the camp do the same and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”

19 Gideon and his 100 men came to the edge of the camp. It was the beginning of the midnight watch just at the change of the guards. They blew their rams’ horns and smashed the jars they were holding in their hands. 20 The three companies also blew their rams’ horns and broke their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the rams’ horns in their right hands so that they could blow them. They shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 While each man kept his position around the camp, everyone in the Midianite camp began to run away, screaming as they fled. 22 The 300 men kept on blowing their rams’ horns, and the Lord caused the whole camp of Midian to fight among themselves. They fled as far as Beth Shittah, toward Zererah, and as far as the bank of the stream at Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

23 The men of Israel were summoned from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh to help pursue the troops of Midian. 24 Gideon also sent messengers to the whole mountain region of Ephraim with this message, “Go into battle against Midian. Capture the watering holes as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan River.” All the men of Ephraim were also summoned to help. They captured the watering holes as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan River. 25 They also captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders. They killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the Winepress of Zeeb and kept on pursuing Midian. Then they brought the severed heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan River.

The men from Ephraim strongly protested Gideon’s actions. They said, “Why did you do this to us? You didn’t invite us to go fight Midian with you.”

Gideon replied, “I haven’t done anything compared with what you have done. Aren’t the grapes that Ephraim picked after the harvest better than all the grapes in Abiezer’s entire harvest? God handed Oreb and Zeeb, Midian’s commanders, over to you. What have I done compared with that?” When they heard what Gideon said, they weren’t angry with him anymore.

Gideon and his 300 men headed toward the Jordan River. They were exhausted when they crossed it, but they kept pursuing the enemy. So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give me some food for the men under my command. They’re exhausted, and I’m pursuing King Zebah and King Zalmunna of Midian.”

The generals at Succoth replied, “We shouldn’t give your army food. You haven’t captured Zebah and Zalmunna yet.”

Gideon responded, “Alright, then. When the Lord hands Zebah and Zalmunna over to me, I’ll whip your bodies with thorns and thistles from the desert.”

Then Gideon went to Penuel and asked the people there for the same help. But they gave him the same reply that the men of Succoth gave. So he told them, “When I come back after my victory, I’ll tear down this tower.”

10 Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with an army of about 15,000 men. This was all that was left of Kedem’s entire army. In the battle, 120,000 soldiers died. 11 So Gideon went up Tent Dwellers Road, east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and defeated the unsuspecting Midianite army. 12 Zebah and Zalmunna fled as Gideon pursued them. He captured King Zebah and King Zalmunna of Midian, and the whole Midianite army panicked.

13 Gideon, son of Joash, returned from the battle through the Heres Pass 14 and captured a young man from Succoth. He questioned him, and the young man wrote down for him the names of the 77 officials and leaders of Succoth. 15 Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna! You insulted me when you said, ‘We shouldn’t give your exhausted men food before you’ve captured Zebah and Zalmunna.’” 16 So Gideon took the leaders of the city and taught them a lesson using thorns and thistles from the desert. 17 Then he tore down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of that city.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Luke 23:13-43

13 Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people. 14 He told them, “You brought me this man as someone who turns the people against the government. I’ve questioned him in front of you and haven’t found this man guilty of the crimes of which you accuse him. 15 Neither could Herod. So he sent this man back to us. This man hasn’t done anything to deserve the death penalty. 16 So I’m going to have him whipped and set free.”[a]

The Crowd Rejects Jesus(A)

18 The whole crowd then shouted, “Take him away! Free Barabbas for us.” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for his involvement in a riot that had taken place in the city and for murder.)

20 But because Pilate wanted to free Jesus, he spoke to the people again.

21 They began yelling, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

22 A third time Pilate spoke to them. He asked, “Why? What has he done wrong? I haven’t found this man deserving of the death penalty. So I’m going to have him whipped and set free.”

23 But the crowd pressured Pilate. They shouted that Jesus had to be crucified, and they finally won. 24 Pilate decided to give in to their demand. 25 He freed Barabbas, who had been put in prison for rioting and murdering, because that’s what they wanted. But he let them do what they wanted to Jesus.

Jesus Is Led Away to Be Crucified

26 As the soldiers led Jesus away, they grabbed a man named Simon, who was from the city of Cyrene. Simon was coming into Jerusalem. They laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

27 A large crowd followed Jesus. The women in the crowd cried and sang funeral songs for him. 28 Jesus turned to them and said, “You women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me! Rather, cry for yourselves and your children! 29 The time is coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the women who couldn’t get pregnant, who couldn’t give birth, and who couldn’t nurse a child.’ 30 Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ 31 If people do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?”

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be executed with him.

The Crucifixion(B)

33 When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him. The criminals were also crucified, one on his right and the other on his left.

34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”[b]

Meanwhile, the soldiers divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice.

35 The people stood there watching. But the rulers were making sarcastic remarks. They said, “He saved others. If he’s the Messiah that God has chosen, let him save himself!” 36 The soldiers also made fun of him. They would go up to him, offer him some vinegar, 37 and say, “If you’re the king of the Jews, save yourself!”

38 A written notice was placed above him. It said, “This is the king of the Jews.”

Criminals Talk to Jesus

39 One of the criminals hanging there insulted Jesus by saying, “So you’re really the Messiah, are you? Well, save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal scolded him: “Don’t you fear God at all? Can’t you see that you’re condemned in the same way that he is? 41 Our punishment is fair. We’re getting what we deserve. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”

43 Jesus said to him, “I can guarantee this truth: Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Footnotes:

  1. Luke 23:16 Some manuscripts and translations add verse 17: “At every Passover festival the governor had to set someone free for them.”
  2. Luke 23:34 Some manuscripts and translations omit “Then . . . doing.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Psalm 97-98

Psalm 97

The Lord rules as king.
Let the earth rejoice.
Let all the islands be joyful.
Clouds and darkness surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
Fire spreads ahead of him.
It burns his enemies who surround him.
His flashes of lightning light up the world.
The earth sees them and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord,
in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The heavens tell about his righteousness,
and all the people of the world see his glory.

Everyone who worships idols
and brags about false gods will be put to shame.
All the gods will bow to him.

Zion hears about this and rejoices.
The people of Judah are delighted with your judgments, O Lord.
You, O Lord, the Most High, are above the whole earth.
You are highest. You are above all the gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil.
The one who guards the lives of his godly ones
will rescue them from the power of wicked people.
11 Light dawns for righteous people[a]
and joy for those whose motives are decent.
12 Find joy in the Lord, you righteous people.
Give thanks to him as you remember how holy he is.

Psalm 98

A psalm.

Sing a new song to the Lord
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
The Lord has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our God saves them.

Shout happily to the Lord, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
Make music to the Lord with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the king, the Lord.

Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
in the Lord’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 97:11 One Hebrew manuscript, Greek, Syriac, Latin; other Hebrew manuscripts “Light is planted for righteous people.”
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Proverbs 14:7-8

Stay away from a fool,
because you will not receive knowledge from his lips.
The wisdom of a sensible person guides his way of life,
but the stupidity of fools misleads them.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

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

Judges 6

Israel Sins Again

The people of Israel did what the Lord considered evil. So the Lord handed them over to Midian for seven years. Midian’s power was too strong for Israel. The Israelites made hiding places in the mountains, caves, and mountain strongholds to protect themselves from Midian. Whenever Israel planted crops, Midian, Amalek, and Kedem came and damaged the crops. The enemy used to camp on the land and destroy the crops all the way to Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to live on—not one sheep, cow, or donkey. Like swarms of locusts, they came with their livestock and their tents. They and their camels could not be counted. They came into the land only to ruin it. So the Israelites became very poor because of Midian and cried out to the Lord for help.

When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help because of what the Midianites had done to them, the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says:

I brought you out of Egypt.
I took you away from slavery.
I rescued you from the power of the Egyptians
and from the power of those who oppressed you.
I forced people out of your way.
I gave you their land.
10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God.
You must never fear the gods of the Amorites
in whose land you will live.’
But you have not obeyed me.”

Gideon Is Chosen to Be a Judge

11 The Messenger of the Lord came and sat under the oak tree in Ophrah that belonged to Joash from Abiezer’s family. Joash’s son Gideon was beating out wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The Messenger of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, brave man.”

13 Gideon responded, “Excuse me, sir! But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors have told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and has handed us over to Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “You will rescue Israel from Midian with the strength you have. I am sending you.”

15 Gideon said to him, “Excuse me, sir! How can I rescue Israel? Look at my whole family. It’s the weakest one in Manasseh. And me? I’m the least important member of my family.”

16 The Lord replied, “I will be with you. You will defeat Midian as if it were only one man.”

17 Gideon said to him, “If you find me acceptable, give me a sign that it is really you speaking to me. 18 Don’t leave until I come back. I want to bring my gift and set it in front of you.”

“I will stay until you come back,” he said.

19 Then Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread made with 18 quarts of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. Then he went out and presented them to the Messenger of the Lord under the oak tree.

20 The Messenger of the Lord told him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” Gideon did so. 21 Then the Messenger of the Lord touched the meat and the bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared up from the rock and burned the meat and the bread. Then the Messenger of the Lord disappeared. 22 That’s when Gideon realized that this had been the Messenger of the Lord. So he said, “Lord God! I have seen the Messenger of the Lord face to face.”

23 The Lord said to him, “Calm down! Don’t be afraid. You will not die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord. He called it The Lord Calms. To this day it is still in Ophrah, which belongs to Abiezer’s family.

Gideon Destroys an Altar Dedicated to Baal

25 That same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take a bull from your father’s herd, a bull that is seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar dedicated to the god Baal and cut down the pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah that is next to it. 26 Then, in the proper way, build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this fortified place. Take this second bull and sacrifice it as a burnt offering on the wood from the Asherah pole that you have cut down.”

27 Gideon took ten of his servants and did what the Lord had told him to do. However, he didn’t do anything during the day. He was too afraid of his father’s family and the men of the city, so he did it at night. 28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, they saw that the Baal altar had been torn down. The Asherah pole next to it had also been cut down. They saw that the second bull had been sacrificed as a burnt offering on the altar that had been built. 29 They asked each other, “Who did this?” While they were investigating the matter, someone said, “Gideon, son of Joash, did this.”

30 Then the men of the city told Joash, “Bring your son out. He must die. He has torn down the Baal altar and cut down the Asherah pole that was beside it.”

31 But Joash said to everyone standing around him, “You’re not going to defend Baal, are you? Do you think you should save him? Whoever defends him will be put to death in the morning. If he’s a god, let him defend himself when someone tears down his altar.” 32 So that day they nicknamed Gideon “Jerubbaal” [Let Baal Defend Himself], because they said, “When someone tears down Baal’s altar, let Baal defend himself.”

Gideon Summons an Army

33 All of Midian, Amalek, and Kedem combined their armies, crossed the Jordan River, and camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Lord’s Spirit gave Gideon strength. So Gideon blew the ram’s horn to summon Abiezer’s family to follow him. 35 He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh to summon the people to follow him. The tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali were also summoned to follow him, and they went to meet the enemy in battle.

36 Then Gideon said to God, “You said that you would rescue Israel through me. 37 I’ll place some wool on the threshing floor.[a] If there is dew on the wool while all the ground is dry, then I’ll know that you will rescue Israel through me, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. The next morning Gideon got up early. He squeezed out a bowl full of water from the wool.

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me. But let me ask one more thing. Let me make one more test with the wool. Let the wool be dry while all the ground is covered with dew.” 40 During the night, God did what Gideon asked. The wool was dry, but all the ground was covered with dew.

Footnotes:

  1. Judges 6:37 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Luke 22:54-23:12

54 So they arrested Jesus and led him away to the chief priest’s house.

Peter Denies Jesus(A)

Peter followed at a distance.

55 Some men had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard. As they sat together, Peter sat among them. 56 A female servant saw him as he sat facing the glow of the fire. She stared at him and said, “This man was with Jesus.”

57 But Peter denied it by saying, “I don’t know him, woman.”

58 A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You are one of them.”

But Peter said, “Not me!”

59 About an hour later another person insisted, “It’s obvious that this man was with him. He’s a Galilean!”

60 But Peter said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 Then the Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before a rooster crows today, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.

The Trial in Front of the Jewish Council(B)

63 The men who were guarding Jesus made fun of him as they beat him. 64 They blindfolded him and said to him, “Tell us who hit you.” 65 They also insulted him in many other ways.

66 In the morning the council of the people’s leaders, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings, gathered together. They brought Jesus in front of their highest court and asked him, 67 “Tell us, are you the Messiah?”

Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. 68 And if I ask you, you won’t answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne.”

70 Then all of them said, “So you’re the Son of God?”

Jesus answered them, “You’re right to say that I am.”

71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We’ve heard him say it ourselves.”

Pilate Questions Jesus(C)

23 Then the entire assembly stood up and took him to Pilate.

They began to accuse Jesus by saying, “We found that he stirs up trouble among our people: He keeps them from paying taxes to the emperor, and he says that he is Christ, a king.”

Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, I am,” Jesus answered.

Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I can’t find this man guilty of any crime.”

Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod

The priests and the crowd became more forceful. They said, “He stirs up the people throughout Judea with his teachings. He started in Galilee and has come here.”

When Pilate heard that, he asked if the man was from Galilee. When Pilate found out that he was, he sent Jesus to Herod. Herod ruled Galilee and was in Jerusalem at that time.

Herod was very pleased to see Jesus. For a long time he had wanted to see him. He had heard about Jesus and hoped to see him perform some kind of miracle. Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus wouldn’t answer him. 10 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings stood there and shouted their accusations against Jesus.

11 Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and made fun of him. They put a colorful robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12 So Herod and Pilate became friends that day. They had been enemies before this.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Psalm 95-96

Psalm 95

Come, let’s sing joyfully to the Lord.
Let’s shout happily to the rock of our salvation.
Let’s come into his presence with a song of thanksgiving.
Let’s shout happily to him with psalms.
The Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth,
and the mountain peaks are his.
The sea is his.
He made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let’s worship and bow down.
Let’s kneel in front of the Lord, our maker,
because he is our God
and we are the people in his care,
the flock that he leads.

If only you would listen to him today!
“Do not be stubborn like my people were at Meribah,
like the time at Massah in the desert.
Your ancestors challenged me and tested me there,
although they had seen what I had done.
10 For 40 years I was disgusted with those people.
So I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts continue to stray.
They have not learned my ways.’
11 That is why I angrily took this solemn oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”

Psalm 96

Sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord! Praise his name!
Day after day announce that the Lord saves his people.
Tell people about his glory.
Tell all the nations about his miracles.

The Lord is great!
He should be highly praised.
He should be feared more than all other gods
because all the gods of the nations are idols.
The Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are in his presence.
Strength and beauty are in his holy place.

Give to the Lord, you families of the nations.
Give to the Lord glory and power.
Give to the Lord the glory he deserves.
Bring an offering, and come into his courtyards.
Worship the Lord in his holy splendor.
Tremble in his presence, all the earth!

10 Say to the nations, “The Lord rules as king!”
The earth stands firm; it cannot be moved.
He will judge people fairly.
11 Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad.
Let the sea and everything in it roar like thunder.
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees in the forest will sing joyfully
13 in the Lord’s presence because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and its people with his truth.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

Proverbs 14:5-6

A trustworthy witness does not lie,
but a dishonest witness breathes lies.
A mocker searches for wisdom without finding it,
but knowledge comes easily to a person who has understanding.

GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group

04/25/2018 DAB Transcript

Judges 4:1-5:31, Luke 22:35-54, Psalms 94:1-23, Proverbs 14:3-4

Today is the 25th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today as we kind of move through the center of another of our weeks together. We’ve been reading from the God’s word translation this week and where learning about the judges who held great influence over the leadership of the children of Israel after Joshua died. So, today we’ll read Judges, chapters 4 and 5.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, for another day to take a step forward in Your word. We thank You for the way that Your word speaks to our lives each and every day. Just like what we see in the Psalms, my feet are slipping. We’ve seen that so many times but Your mercy Lord continues to hold me up. When I was worried about many things You’re assuring words soothed my soul. And we’re so grateful for that. And it’s so seamlessly connects to what we began to practice yesterday to declare Your mercy in the morning. Your mercy continues to hold us up. And we declare Your faithfulness in the evening. When I worried about many things You’re assuring words soothed my soul. So, we continue this practice Lord. Your mercy is never-ending, Your faithfulness is beyond comprehension. And all we have to do is become aware. And, so, we do. Come, Holy Spirit, plant these things in our lives and allow them to minister to us throughout our days. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible. This is Beth from Delaware and I’m calling to ask your help and support in praying for some dear friends who are dealing with some very serious issues, such as, you know, they had cancer and it’s come back, gallbladder issues, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, and breast cancer. So, at this time if you could just keep in prayer Susan, Diane, Donna, and Alan, who are all dealing with cancer. Lord, we just thank You that You are the great healer Lord and we ask that You would continue to heal these dear people and bring them closer to You as they see and witness Your healing Lord. We pray that You would give them peace and the doctors wisdom. Lord we sing Your promises, that You are the great healer. And, quoting from the Bible, it says ‘and the prayers offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up as they have sinned and they will be forgiven.’ James 5:15. And Lord we especially pray that their sins are forgiven, that their relationship with You would be healed as well as their physical illness, that their sins will be removed and their relationship with You will be deepened and opened, as the case is for some who don’t quite know You yet Lord. Thank you, prayer warriors from Daily Audio Bible. I do appreciate this and I know the Lord has called us all to His honor in lifting others up. Just thank you for praying for Donna, Susan, Diane, and my brother Alan. Thank you, thank you, thank you. God bless you all. Beth.

Hi this is Tracy from Baltimore. I am a long-time listener, but I don’t call in nearly as much as I used to. I just want to take a moment though to call in for anonymous. She called in on April the 16th and I just wanted to say God bless you anonymous. I must admit, you called in about your marriage, and I must admit, I chuckled, you have been married 20 some odd years and you just had confessed that you are tired of your husband. I too have been married for 25 years and I swear I quit my husband, maybe three times a day. I literally cry out to God and say, I cannot take it anymore, I can’t be with this man anymore, I don’t want it. So, I had to chuckle when I heard your message because I absolutely feel and understand exactly where you are. But I just wanted you to know that I am praying for you and I wanted to point out to you that, in 20 some odd years of marriage I know that you have gone before God before in regards to your husband and I will almost bet dollars to donuts that every time God saw it through, He changed your husband or He changed you or changed the situation. And, so, that’s what I hold onto at this point. Every time I feel like I can’t go on anymore I am reminded that God helped my marriage in the past. And, so, I know that He can do it again. Because every relationship needs a hero, and you might need to be the hero in this relationship. I just…I love you anonymous. Thank you for calling in. You made us all feel like we were not alone. God bless you and I am praying for you.

Hello everyone. This is BTD, Brian the Truck Driver. I’ve been listening for about four years. This is my first time calling. And I’m calling mainly because I have heard all the phone calls from all of those that are struggling in their marriages. And, so, I have something I’d like to share. And I think everyone can get something out of this, not just people who are married or marriages that are doing well. This is a message, I think, that everyone can get something out of. But I know how easy it is to get caught up in the pain of dealing with all of the frustration and the hurt and everything that goes on in a marriage that’s struggling. I know this because after 28 years of marriage, my wife and I are in a season right now where we are struggling and it’s the most difficult season that we’ve had. And, so, I do understand this. And, so, I just want to say this. We are told in the Bible that the wages of sin is death. And so, if it wasn’t for what Jesus did for us on the cross we would all be dead. And, so, because of that, because Jesus went to that cross and He took our place and we have life, every day, no matter what the day brings, every day is a gift. And not only that, but when you have someone in your life like a spouse, that person is a gift. And we have the opportunity to partner with God and help God in growing this person into what God intended for them to be. And, so, we get to be a blessing to them and we get to watch them grow. And, so, every day is a gift. And every day with our spouse is a gift for us to be able to…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is John calling from Bethlehem Pennsylvania. It has been a while since I’ve called in but I want you to know that I am here. I am listening to the program daily. Thank you Brian, Jill, China, Hardin family for all you do. Thank you Sarah Jane in the background, Sarah Evans for all the transcription work that you do. You are my partner in crime and I’m blessed to have you. So, thank you so much. Family, I wanted to call in today to provide a word or two of encouragement to you if I could. You know, the promises that God has for all of us are real. And I hear the prayers of so many people call in that are depressed, anxious, and living in fear over so many different things. And my heart, my heart goes out to you. And I want you to know that you are going to accomplish your dreams, that the right people are in your future, that the right opportunities are headed your way, that blessings are chasing you down, that you are the head and not the tail, that you are going to lend and not borrow, that you have a great personality, that you are well-liked, that you’re fun to be around, that you enjoy your life, that you have a positive outlook, that you are going to overcome every obstacle, that you’re going outlast every adversity, that things have shifted in your favor, and what was meant to harm you God is using to your advantage. Folks your future is bright. Your children are mighty in the land. Your legacy will live on to inspire future generations. Folks, I speak this over you. I love you with all my heart. I hear you. I’m praying for you. These are the things that I’m praying over you each and every day.

Hey what’s up everybody. It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa and I have a word today for Sharon the Victorious from Northern California. And to start off, the word of God can do more in just 15 minutes than any person can in 15 years. So, I want to invite you to open the word of God to the book of Habakkuk and to read the three chapters that are there. It’s a short book. And it’s the book of the minor prophet that pours his complaint out directly to God seeking solace directly from God. So, I will just want to invite you to do that, to allow the word of God to speak to you in your circumstance. Second, I want to point out Jesus wept. And the reason why Jesus wept is that He sees the pain that we are in, He sees the effects of a fallen world and all the struggles that we have, and He feels the pain to. To know that Jesus wept, that  Jesus weeps in the body of Christ, weeps with you as you continue in this struggle. And thirdly, I want to remind you about victory, and that just because we are victorious doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle. Just because we’re victorious doesn’t mean that we don’t take hits, that we don’t have hardships. Victory is about the outcome. Victory is about what happens after we passed through the fires. And, so, I want you to hear this. It’s hard. It really is but victory is coming. It really is. You are victorious, not because what you are walking through, but because what you are walking towards. So please, please keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. I’m praying for you. This body is praying for you. You are victorious Sharon. In Jesus name.