Month: May 2018

Judges 13:1-14:20, John 1:29-51, Psalms 102:1-28, Proverbs 14:15-16

Today is the 1^st day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you at the beginning of a shiny sparkly new month. Today is the 121^st day of the year. So, we are moving right along. And it’s exciting to be here with you today for the next step forward, which will lead us back into the book of Judges in the old testament and then into the gospel of John that we began yesterday when we get to the new testament. We’re reading from the Names of God Bible this week. Judges chapter 13 and 14 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so in the book of Judges we’ve obviously met a famous character in the Scriptures, Samson. And we’re getting going in his story.

And in the book of John, Jesus is calling together a group of friends that will follow him throughout his ministry. We’ll later know them as the disciples.

And then we get to Psalm 102. And it is a cry of the heart from a person who is certainly suffering. I mean, the kinds of language that are being used here are likely things that we can relate to at some point or another in our lives. Don’t hide your face from me when I’m in trouble. Turn your ear toward me. Answer me quickly when I call. May my days disappear like smoke. My bones burn like hot coals. My heart is beaten down and writhed like grass. I’m nothing but skin and bones because of my loud groans. I’m like a desert owl, like an owl living in the ruins. I lie awake. I’m like a lonely bird on a rooftop.  And this person is describing a depressed, hopeless state of being. And I know that there are many within our community who are feeling that way at this point in time. Have we ever stopped to consider Psalm 102 though? Have we ever considered that this was written with us who are reading it now in mind? Because it is.  The writer of this psalm certainly pours out their heart. Definitely, lets us know how they’re feeling. We can immediately associate those feelings with things that we’ve gone through. But the whole thing takes a turn once we get to verse 12 - You, O God, remain forever. You are remembered throughout every generation. You will rise and have compassion on Zion because it is time to grant a favor to it. Indeed, the appointed time has come. When we get to verse 18, this will be written down - speaking of this psalm - this will be written down for a future generation so that a people yet to be created may praise God.  God looked down from his holy place high above from heaven. He looked at the earth, he heard the groans of the prisoners and set free those who were condemned to death. So, this writer is in a lot of pain emotionally. It’s being described for us vividly. But his choice is to turn to worship and look forward. Look forward into the future in order to find hope. What he or she is going through isn’t going to last forever and as difficult and as hard as it is to find hope in the situation that’s being described in this psalm, the writer looks way, way out into the future, knowing that this isn’t going to last forever. And hope is out there. Hope is still available. May we take comfort in that as we move into this new month.

Prayer:

Father, you remain the same. You will never end. From beginning to end, you will be there and beyond. There is always hope. And, yes, a lot of times we get trapped in our own circumstances. In the spinning vortex that is our lives, we get stuck and we can’t see our way out.  And it seems like we’re sinking, sinking, sinking. And we forget to reach with hope to the future, understanding that even what we’re going through now affects future generations as we see in this psalm today. So, come Holy Spirit.  Bring us hope, we pray.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base.  It’s where you connect and find out what’s going on around here. So be sure to check in.

And, like I’ve been saying, visit the prayer wall and find out other ways to connect.  Check out the resources that are available in the shop as we continue our journey through the Scriptures.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. Thank you. We wouldn’t be here every day fresh every day if we didn’t do this in community together.  And it’s one of the beautiful things about our community is that we do it together. And we move forward through the Scriptures every single day together.  And so much happens.  Like even if we look back, here we are in May already. If we just look back, so much, so much has happened in our lives, so much counsel that the Scriptures has given us. It just changes us.  So, it’s a beautiful thing that we can do this in community. But we must do this in community to continue forward 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 P.O Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Linda from Alberta calling. I hope everybody is having a wonderful day today. Right now, I am on the, kind of, back roads of southern Alberta driving home. I was away for a few days and such a beautiful morning. I was listening to the prayer line and just thought I’d give a quick call in now. And I don’t have really an exact intention as to why I am calling in. I just felt that I needed to call in. My daughter, she still has her, you know, her life of mental health and addiction. And it’s improved immensely since I first started listening several years ago and had the whole family praying for us. On the other hand, my other daughter had her first baby. So, my husband and I are now grandparents and that’s super-duper exciting. She had a baby boy. So, even though at times, I was thinking, things are kind of bittersweet and sometimes I shouldn’t feel as good as I do, but for a few weeks now, I’ve been really feeling like just everything is as it should be. I just feel like so content and at peace. And I just know it’s such a special gift from God. And I know He’s always there and present but I just wanted to share that. And occasionally I wonder about Scott from Alaska. I remember when I first started phoning in, I think he might’ve even prayed for my family, but I haven’t heard from him in a long time and maybe I’ve just missed him. Also, Brian the truck driver, thank you for your message. I just heard it today. Today’s the 28^th. I’m a couple of days behind but thank you for that. I really enjoyed what you had to say. And I did  want to say God bless everybody. Bye-bye.

Good morning this is Princess Sarah in Tulsa. Today is April 28^th and I just love, so much, that I get to pray for you guys from all over the world. And some of you all I’m starting to recognize your voices before you say your name. And, so, that’s just super fun. So, today, I’m just calling on behalf of, I’m going to call the Mr. and Mrs. Smith, because I haven’t asked their permission to talk about them, but they are a young military couple with three little kiddos. And Mr. Smith has done several tours in Iraq and probably has a dose of PTSD. And he’s been a tough guy and he’ll admit that now. And his wife has now kind of hardened her heart. And she’s kind of giving up on their marriage and he is doing their love __. He’s trying to make a go of it and trying to become a better man and I’m not even sure that either one of them really have ever met the Lord. They know about God and believe in God but here is my prayer request. They have the opportunity this summer to go to Operation Heal Our Patriots. They have a week with a go to Alaska and it’s put on by Samaritans Purse and they have fun and the see bears and they, you know, see all sorts of adventures, but they also have lots of counseling and marriage…opportunities to grow their marriage and to forgive and then they can even renew their vows and be baptized. __ is there. I’m just asking that you guys would pray they would go. I think that Mr. Smith is now willing and now Mrs. Smith is kind of vacillating, thinking maybe it’s just too late for them. Would you just pray they go? And also, if you’re a military couple who has had some struggles, man I suggest you get online and apply for this amazing opportunity. It’s all paid for. You just get there and be blessed. And, so, I just look forward to hearing that Mr. and Mrs. Smith take this opportunity…

[Singing] My strength is surely failing. This trial’s come both left and right. And in the center I am lost in being. Not a trace of hope insight. And if tears were only raindrops the universe would be flooding now. Lord, I call You today. Please don’t pass me by. A storm of fear now surrounds me. The failing heart is all I see. Broken dreams with painful memories. Request for help abides in me. Still I know you’re standing near me but I just need your hand in mine. So, Lord I ask You today, please hear my cry. Hold my hand today lest I fall. Guide my steps all the way. Please hear my cry for the tears of life is all I know see. Please walk me through them. That’s all I ask of you [singing ends]. I hope this ministers to somebody today. God bless you.

Hi everyone. It’s Margo from Australia. I was just listening to the community prayer line and I just had to call in. I want to say something to Mark Street, my fellow Aussie from Australia. I heard that it was once mention this already and I perhaps have missed it but you seem quite downtrodden at the moment by that whole incident with the dating site that happened. And, you know, I can understand. It’s an awful thing to happen but you know why that happened don’t you? It’s because you were doing the challenge about calling in for sexual sin. That’s why it happened because Satan went, ‘no way, now I’m gonna get  him.’ You know, Satan has had a small victory. Don’t let him turn it into a big victory. I think you should go back to your challenge of calling in for sexual sin. The whole reason Satan did that is because he liked what you were doing. And he will be so happy to see that you are discouraged and downtrodden. That’s what Satan wants. You know what? Put it behind you. Move on. You are no worse than any other human on the face of the earth. We all make mistakes. And you know what? God loves you. We love you. Don’t let Satan have a big victory in your life. Anyway, hope that is encouraging. Hope that everybody has a lovely day. I have been at work and I’m just driving into the evening service at my church. So, off I go. Have a great day everyone. Bye.

Hey DAB family. This is Christy in New York. I’ve been busy with my new puppy, so I haven’t called in from the home because I don’t get to listen to much at home because I’m listening to see if he’s doing something. So, anyways, I’m listening a lot more in the car and I think it was on the April 14^th community podcast that there was somebody who called in and I couldn’t really tell what you are saying, but I did catch that you kept saying I love you. And I’m sure there was a lot of people that kept saying, ‘I love you’ back. So, I just want you to know that I love you back. I’m sure that the rest of us at the DAB family love you back to. And we appreciate that your listening and bring along with us. I also wanted to thank Brian because April 16^th was my birthday and, although I did listen to that podcast on that day, it was a nice birthday gift anyway to hear the adorable voice of your son answering your questions. So, thank you for that. And I just want to pray right now in general for everybody in the DAB community. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this community. We thank You for the gift of each other, the gift of Yourself offered through these people offering their stories and their time in prayer, to be a part of this community. We thank You for the privilege, we thank You for the chance to do this through Your servant Brian and his family. We ask for You to answer the prayers of all the DABbers, the ones that are on that we can hear and the ones that we can’t hear, the ones that we haven’t even thought of to pray for ourselves, Lord Please, meet all the DABbers needs, emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially. And we love You and we thank You. Kristi in New York. Bye.

Judges 9:22-10:1, John 1:1-28 , Psalms 101:1-8, Proverbs 14:13-14

Today is the 30^th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. And it is great to be here with you today. So, we just got started into a new week. And here we are ending a month. This is going to complete four straight months together moving day by day through the Scriptures and we’ll leaving the month of April behind us after this and move into May. So, it’s great to be here with you today. And not only are we closing a month, we’re opening a book. When we get to the New Testament portion of our reading today, we will launch ourselves into the final gospel, the gospel of John. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But before all of that, let’s pick up where we left off in the book of Judges. And today we’ll read Judges 11 and 12. We’re reading from the Names of God Bible this week.

Introduction to the book of John:

Okay. So, we concluded the book of Luke, which is the third of the gospels yesterday, which means we have arrived at the book of John, which is the final of the grouping of books known as the gospels. And those books are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And as we’ve talked about in the past, while we went through Matthew, Mark and Luke, we mentioned that these are known as the synoptic gospels largely because there’s a definite harmony to them. In many ways, they cover very similar ground. And they seem to be sharing the same traditions and stories. Now that we’ve come to the gospel of John, John is quite a bit different. It’s about 90% different in fact. There’s only about 10% of John that refers back to any of the material in the synoptic gospels. John, of course, was one of Jesus disciples and there really isn’t any contention over who wrote the book of John. There are many compelling facts, even in other church histories, that John was the author of the gospel of John, and that he wrote these things down after he moved from Jerusalem to Ephesus during the latter part of his life. After Jesus died and was raised from the dead ascended back to heaven, John went on to be a church leader in Jerusalem. He was known as a pillar of the church in Jerusalem. A core leader. But he did leave Jerusalem somewhere around AD 66. And in AD 70, so four years later, the Romans…I mean, they just had had enough of the uprisings and they came and completed leveled Jerusalem. But it’s believed that John left a few years before that happened and moved to Ephesus where he was a church leader there. And there’s quite a bit of historical evidence to prove this. There were many young disciples of the older John who went on to live lives after he died and wrote stories of his life and of the early church and some of those stories still survive today. John wrote his gospel, then, probably in Ephesus later in his life and he refers to some of the other stories in the synoptic gospels. And, so, it seems that he had knowledge of them. And that this, then, would be the last gospel written. Because, I mean, we can think, Ah, I read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and they kind of all were written at the same time, and, you know, everybody got together and had a writing party and wrote these things down. But that’s not how it happened. Mark would have been the first gospel written. And then it would have been about fifteen years before Matthew and Luke found there place in the story. And then about fifteen years after that is when we get to John. So, John is the final gospel written and he knew the traditions of the gospel. Obviously he was a disciple of Jesus. So, he knew the stories because he was there. But he also knew what had already been written down. And rather than telling the same stories, he, in effect, wrote the rest of the story. This is important because, whereas the other gospels were meant to give the story of Jesus and a compelling reason to believe in Jesus, John wrote his gospel to people who already believed. He wrote it to strengthen, deepen the faith of those who had already come to know Jesus. So, we’ll notice as we go through that John has an interesting writing style. It’s very, very unlike Luke, which is very linear. John is more stream of consciousness in a way. It’s not written in a linear fashion. It’s not A to Z. John may make a point that he comes back to later on. In fact, he does this a lot. So, if we embrace this, we’ll find that the language is conversational and beautiful, rather than just historical account of events. He’s putting his heart, his feeling, his feelings about what he’s saying into the gospel. And we’ll find that the spirit of the book is very passionate and very and very careful. And it’s a beautiful experience following the synoptic gospels. John’s gospel is more intimately written. And reading it gives us the sense of kind of being one of those early followers of John. Maybe sitting at the feet of the old saint and listening to him tell the stories. Stories of his life, stories that he actually witnessed and participated in. Stories that had shaped him and that had grown sweet with age told by a great man who had experienced these fantastic things about this man named Jesus. And so we begin the final gospel. John chapter 1 verses 1 to 28.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we are ending a month. We have also begun the book of John. And we’ve already spent some time talking about that. But it’s hard to just blow by what’s going on in the book of Judges with the judge Jephthah because it’s like he sacrifices his daughter to God, right? So, what’s that all about? And each year when we come to these particular passages we talk about them for a second rather than just kind of tip-toeing, you know, beyond like they don’t exist. There are some stories in the Bible where you’re like, wait a minute. What in the world is happening? It’s very easy to just read through the story and go like, this doesn’t work. Like, why is this in the Bible, why is God condoning this? And it kind of leaves us uneasy. So, rather than just dancing around it, we need to just go there for a second and talk about it. We’re in the book of Judges, so we’re watching generation after generation after Joshua in the Promised Land. And we’re watching what the people are doing. And we’re seeing that they’re doing everything they were warned not to do. And we’re seeing the repercussions of that. So, the people have not obeyed Moses teachings. They have not obeyed Joshua’s leadership. They have strayed as they were warned and they are chasing after other gods, they are chasing after other people. They are mingling and they are becoming something different than what they were designed to be. And so they’re mixing the worship of Yahweh, the worship of God with the Baals, the Asherah’s and it’s becoming something else. So,me hybrid thing. And there’s definitely archaeological evidence to this fact that still exists today. People worshipping Yahweh while worshipping a goddess of some sort, usually Asherah, at the same time. So, as we go through the book of Judges, we can safely say the train has come off the tracks and we are in a season where God is still around, certainly, but the people have largely abandoned relationship with him. So, this Jephthah story that we just read. You know, he’s sent away because he’s the son of a prostitute and he’s brought back so he can fight a battle. And we can see that his upbringing hasn’t… He hasn’t been raised in the ways of the Lord. He’s been raised in the ways of the culture that he’s in. And the Bible describes the culture that he’s in as one in which people were doing what they pleased. Whatever was right in their own eyes. So, when Jephthah makes this interesting vow, whatever comes out my front door when I come back as I’m victorious in battle, I’ll sacrifice that to the Lord. I mean, what kind of a vow is that, right? What are you hoping comes out your front door? A goat? The family dog? But as it turns out, it’s his only child who happens to be a daughter. And when he realizes what he’s done, he’s made this vow to God and now his daughter is the one that he’s promised to God he’s gonna sacrifice, he doesn’t know how to get out of that and so he is heartbroken. His daughter goes away for a couple months, comes back. And I’ve studied this. I’ve gone through this passage extensively just to see is that really what happened? And, I mean, it seems like that’s really what happened. He sacrificed his daughter. She willingly gave herself up. So, we can be revolted cause that’s a revolving thing. And then we can have questions about why God wanted this or why he let this happen. And that’s also very very problematic, if not revolting, right? So, then we have to go back to the text and try to find God in it. And then we find out, oh, he didn’t tell Jephthah to do this. He didn’t ask for it. He didn’t make any promises over it, he has nothing to do with this. And, in fact, although God is not giving any instructions to Jephthah in this whole scenario, he does have some thoughts about human sacrifice. And on multiple occasions, God speaks about that. And he says, that isn’t something that even ever crossed my mind. I didn’t invent this. In fact, it’s one of the behaviors that were happening in the Promised Land that God was trying to eradicate by allowing Israel to come into and take over the Promised Land. So, now what we have is a look at how sideways things have gotten for the culture, for the people in the book of Judges. They’re doing things to honor God that God has already declared he despises. This is how backwards things have gotten for the children of Israel after Joshua and the generations that follow, the centuries that follow. But this is how sideways we can get in our mixed culture and our mixed religious beliefs. And when we get trapped in our religion and forget that what we’re actually here to be is in a relationship. So, we can go back to the story of Jephthah and realize there were no angels instructing any of this. God wasn’t present in any way asking for this. And it’s a heartbreaking story that never needed to happen. And then all of the sudden, well then all of the sudden things can bubble up out of our own heart. Because there’s a lot of things that we thought we should do or? be done or whatever that didn’t need to happen. And there is no point trying to blame God for what he had nothing to do with. And our lives are in the story that we read today.

Prayer:

And, so, Father, we thank You for Your word. And we thank You for the things that it brings up. sometimes it tears the scab off. sometimes it pricks us. sometimes it comforts and soothes us. But it is always pulling us forward. It’s always inviting us deeper into relationship with You. And, so, we invite You, Lord, to plant the words spoken today from the Scriptures in our hearts and lead us into all truth as You’ve promised. 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 in these parts and around the global campfire. So, be sure to check it out.

Visit the prayer wall while you’re at it. Maybe say some prayers for some brothers and sisters that are in need of prayer. Maybe you’re in need of prayer. The prayer wall’s a great place to interact that way. So, check that out while you’re visiting. Check out the Daily Audio Bible shop, where we have a collection of resources that are intended to help guide this journey forward as we move day by day, making this rhythm of life that we’re a part of as we go through the Scriptures meaningful. So, check out the Daily Audio Bible shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that is on the homepage. And I thank you truly, humbly, honestly. I thank you that this is even happening. That we get to do this every day. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174. And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey everybody. Hey, this is Annette Allison from Oklahoma City. You guys crack me up. Hey, standing out here by the fire. I’ve got some roasty, toasty marshmallows I’m fixing to throw on the campfire. And maybe a nice pot of stew in a big old cast-iron pot with a nice lid all smoked up in the fire. It’s gonna taste great. Hey, I just want to give glory to God today. Woo hoo! All of my project that I’ve been working on for __ and bought by the company, by the Air Force, and by my base, and by my superiors, and the shop is coming in line. And I want to thank all of you people who have maybe thought about that and thought about me and supported me through prayer and nice emails and things like that because it’s been a big situation. So, through God’s help and just helped me out with all of the things that had to be done in the knowledge that I had to learn to even do the job in the first place. That’s great. I am just thankful, thankful, thankful. In the end of…oh…in another week I am going to go see my sons Ricky and Alex up there in Greeley and Loveland Colorado. So, I’m looking forward to that. And the week after that I have a thousand mile ride that I’m going to be completing with my husband. Woo hoo! And we’re going to be doing the four corners area. And, so, what I understand is there’s gonna be like a couple thousand people on the ride. So, hey, pray that maybe I get to talk to Jesus, talk to people about Jesus, and I might get to talk to Jesus. And just pray for everybody’s safety because that’s a lot of people and a lot of coordination. I love you guys. I’ll talk to you all soon.

Hi Brian and Jill hi DAB family. This is Viv from Canada. I’m calling in today because I saw a post from Lisa. And Lisa, my dear sister, I just want to call in and encourage you. Hopefully I can encourage you the way that you have been encouraging so many of us over the past few months. And I just want to let you know that I am really sorry for the loss of Jeff’s dad. And I just want to pray for you and your family right now. So, Father God, Lord Almighty, I lift my sister and husband Jeff and their family to You Lord. And Lord God, I just thank You for being there for them, bringing them through a period of time when they had anxiety for when Jeff’s dad was in the hospital. And now that he’s gone Lord I just pray Father God that You will be there to comfort them Lord to pull them to Your bosom Lord Jesus. I pray Father God that You will bring people alongside them who would help them through this difficult time. Father God You are Savior, You’re a healer, You’re a deliver and I pray Lord God that You will heal and deliver this family through this painful time. Father, I lift them up to You and ask Lord God that You would just shine a light into their life right now, Lord, something that would just let them know that You are there. Father I thank You for what You’re going to do in their life and I pray for healing of their spirit Lord. I lift them up to You Lord Jesus. And I pray Lord God that You’ll just protect them, protect their emotions. And I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Hey DAB family this is Sharon in Chicago. I haven’t called in a little while. I just was listening to some of the prayer requests that I heard Mel from, I believe, Central Florida calling and just kind of tugged at my heart. So, it’s pray. God thanks so much for today. Thank you that you are the one that invented sleep and you don’t need sleep but we do and you know that. So, we ask that you would just give Mel the ability to fall asleep, whatever would create that, that you would just do that in her body in her mind and that you give her the energy that she needs to get through the day and for anybody else that struggles with sleep deprivation. I think…I believe her name is my little Sharee that called about that too. So, we ask that You just do a mighty work in their lives. Thank You that You have brought about some healing in that regard for my brother and I ask that You do that for my dad as well. And thank You that You are powerful and that prayer is powerful. Please help my heart be able to remember that and be willing to acknowledge that You are good and that Your plans are best. Please help our hearts not give up hope. And we ask that You would restore to us the joy of our salvation. Greatness __ Spirit. Amen. Thank You for this prayer line. Thank You the words uttered to not only change the course of future but also just encourage and strengthen our hearts. Amen. Bye guys. Have a good day.

Good morning DAB family this is Paula calling from Albuquerque. I hope you guys are doing well. It’s Friday, the 27^th of April. I just wanted to call in for couple of things that have really touched my heart this week as I’m listening to the podcast and to community prayer from last weekend. Sharon in California, No Longer Victorious. It sounds like you’ve given up hope. Go read Romans 8:24 and 25 and other Scripture you can find on hope. That’s our word for this year, remember? And I know it’s not an accident that my next journal that I started writing in this year is, ‘Dear God give me hope.’ And, so, all the Scriptures in it are about hope. I hope that encourages you. Also want to lift up all the men that are suffering the consequences of sin in their life, that you all are coming forward and you’re taking that power back from Satan. Praise God for you. For Brian and Jill’s marriage, Jacqueline my sister and family in San Angelo California, Salvation is Mine, continuing to lift you up always. Walta, for your mom and hospice, I could hear the heaviness in your voice. Praying for you. Dwayne in and Wisconsin. Karen in St. Louis, you really touched my heart. I’m 60 and went through a divorce 11 years ago and I have felt those same things even though I have been married before, I have felt those same things. And thank you Sonja for your call today to encourage her because God will do whatever He wants to do in His time. We must remember that it’s according to His will not our own. EZ, thank you for your call of encouragement as well. Terria, when you pray, the Holy Spirit knows what you are trying to say even when you don’t have the words. I hope that enco…