Isaiah 51:1-53:12, Ephesians 5:1-33, Psalms 69:19-36, Proverbs 24:7
Today is the 27th day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today and, of course, every day. And we come together around this global campfire every day for, well, probably for more than one reason, but for one primary reason, that is to take the next step forward as we move our way through the Bible this year. So, we have a ways to go in the book of Isaiah. So, we’ll go back out to Isaiah for our Old Testament reading and working our way through Ephesians in the New Testament. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Isaiah chapter 51, 52, and 53 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the book of Isaiah we spent almost the entire reading, reading prophetic utterances about Jesus and depictions of Jesus that are well known and certainly often quoted. And we can probably quote some of what we read today, right? He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own, yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all. That’s a pretty stark portrait. Sometimes with well-known passages of Scripture we lose their impact out of repetition. This is a pretty stark picture and it spills over into what Paul is talking about in Ephesians today about living in the light. We begin to realize that the grand vista and gift of eternal life and collaboration and relationship with God right now. This didn’t just happen. It was offered to us at a great cost. And, so, the outflow of realizing this should compel us forward into the life God envisions for us.
Paul said it like this, imitate God. Okay. So, let’s just stop there. That’s a big thing to say. Imitate God therefore, in everything you do because you are His dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Okay. So, on the one hand the idea that we are God’s dear children and we can imitate the Almighty in everything we do is like mind blowing stuff. On the other hand, this came at a price, the sacrifice of our beloved Jesus. We can joyously partake of all of the awe-inspiring gifts that God has bestowed upon us that is being described in the book of Ephesians because they are ours for the taking, but the outpouring of love that made this possible should…should humble us and give us a view of what unconditional, true love really looks like. And where does the rubber meet the road on most of this? And we keep bringing this up as we move forward. It shows up in our marriages. This is where we would experience it first and most immediately, which is where Paul took the discussion today, right? Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord, for a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. And then for husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. Okay, so like for years this particular portion of Ephesians has been used in all kinds of ways and some of them have been unhealthy and controlling. So, so husbands consider what we read in Isaiah that began everything that we’re talking about today. That is what Jesus did for you. His desire and love for you compelled Him to sacrifice Himself. You husbands, including me, are to love our wives like that, as Christ loved the church. That is a totally different thing than being manipulative and controlling and power crazy. Instead, what Ephesians reveals is that you as a husband tangibly bring the love of Jesus to your wife. Like that is a big deal. And wives, think about the same portrait we read in as Isaiah. That is what Jesus did for you. And His desire and love for you compelled Him to sacrifice Himself on your behalf. You are to submit to your husband as to the Lord, right? This doesn’t mean you’re to be abused. That’s a different thing. What Ephesians is talking about is, if your husband is loving you as Christ loved the church, then you must respond to that respectfully as you would to Jesus. And it’s not such a stretch to consider submitting and trusting in a love so deep that it’s willing to die for you, which means that we are in a way talking about abuse or control. We are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, which means we are to love each other with the love of Christ as we imitate God. And, you know, the phrase is common enough to be cliché, right? Love one another with the love of Christ. But think about the implications, right? These clichés, they lose their impact. Think about what we’re saying. We are to love each other with the love of Christ that is within us as we imitate the Almighty God who has given us a new nature and dwells within us. We have some significant power. I mean, the reality we’re talking about touches everything about us and if we would pay attention to the implications and actually live into this is a reality, we would eliminate the turmoil, right? And we would find the joy of living in the light that Paul talked about today. If we won’t, then…then we’ll remain in the darkness. So, Paul put it best, live as people of light for this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that by first acknowledging the price that You were willing to pay to offer this to us. We acknowledge this, that it was foretold long ago and that we have the benefit of seeing that prophecy fulfilled and participating in eternal life and collaboration and relationship with You. We acknowledge that. We acknowledge that we’ve been living less than that significantly, and that it manifests or materializes in our lives in profound ways. And somehow we have diminished this and chosen not to live in the fullness of what You’ve offered us. And we see this showing up in our relationships like our marriages. We invite You Holy Spirit. This is not about dominance. This is not about being controlled or being controlling. This is about loving each other the way that You have modeled for us in laying our lives down for each other. And we confess, that’s hard and we don’t always do it well. In fact, we fail more than we succeed. And yet, our marriages, this is the unit that best shows us what intimacy with You looks like. So, we can look at the condition of our marriage and we can look at the condition of our spiritual life and find striking parallels. So, we invite You Holy Spirit into all of this. Come Jesus. Less of us, more of You. 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:
Hello my DAB family, this is Mark Street from Sydney Australia. Today is Monday, the 24th of September and I’m calling in for a few things today. I just started listening to this week’s community prayer and but God just popped a name into my mind as I was on the bus today, Arjun. I can’t even remember where you’re from but, you know what Arjun, God put you in my mind because He wants to let you know He’s thinking of you Arjun. We haven’t heard from you for a long time. And Arjun, I’m sure you’re gonna get this message because this is what God wants you to hear. So, Arjun, you’re well loved by God because He’s thinking of you. I wanted to pray for Candace from Oregon. I heard how exhausted you were and I’m praying for you too my dear sister as well and also Terry the trucker. I can feel the…the dismay in your voice to __. So, I’m going to pray for these three people. Heavenly Father, we come to You with lots of worries and __ and it’s bringing us down to the point of exhaustion in our life Lord. And I feel this as well Lord. So, I empathize with our dear brothers and sisters here. Lord, sometimes life can get so hard that we don’t feel that there’s a way out and we thank You Lord that You’ve given us this community that we can come to, to unload our burdens to You dear Jesus. And Candace and Terry are coming to You feeling exhausted as well. And Lord we ask You to please God give Candace that rest she needs. __ her birthday as well Father. And give her life __. Bless her son as well as Candace said he has improved, but sometimes, we so want our children to…
Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family this is Anita out of Ohio. It is September 23rd, Sunday 10:12 PM and I’m calling in regards to my mother. She has stage IV cancer and it’s really looking like it’s at its final stages. And all the way up until this point a few days ago before she came really lethargic and not being able to move, she held onto a lot of resentment and anger up until this point. So, I’m asking that you guys keep her lifted in prayer and that God, you know, softens her heart because she can’t really speak right now. So, it’s not good at all if she holds onto this. And I’m pretty sure this is what helped to feed the cancer as well. So, any of you who are holding onto anger or resentment, just know that a result of this, it affects your body and it’s not for the better. It really, really makes you sick and you start to see it through the symptoms. It plays out in the symptoms that you experience, such as cancer, heart disease, and almost lot of other things __. But anyway, if you could just keep her lifted in prayer. Pray for her heart. And I’m praying that she could be healed. I believe God; however I still trust Him. Whatever He chooses to do with her. And just keep praying. Thank you. Love you all and I am praying with you daily.
This is Michelle from Gettysburg. Good morning daily Bible. I am calling on the 24th of September for a gentleman, I missed his name, calling about his teen. And she’s got a new phone and just parenting teenagers. I would say to you and to all of us, myself included, God has their hearts and we can’t live in fear. How many times do we hear do not fear, do not be afraid? And if we would look those scriptures up we would see that God just doesn’t drop us at do not be afraid. He gives us more. When Peter’s stepping out of the boat He says, be encouraged, be courageous, do not be afraid. So, look up those “do not be afraid” and see what the follow-on part is because God has our heart He has our teenagers. I would also say, in lessons learned, I’ve never been a 51-year-old with an 18-year-old. So, all of that is new to us, right? We lean on God and they see our strength leaning on God. But it’s also a time where they want to talk and they want to have their opinion heard. And we’ve learned that if we do what Jesus did, ask questions that don’t end in the yes or no answers. If we do what Jesus did in looking for just the right words, He asked so many questions because He knew that each one of us has the answer within and He’s drawing it out. And in Proverbs, we’re to draw out those things, mostly in our teenagers I have found. Let them answer so they hear their answer and they don’t block out our words because they don’t hear us. They have to hear it. Draw out of them by asking questions cause God has already put the answer within them. And, of course, always directing them back to Jesus who is our strength. As the will see us lean on Him they too will lean on. So, I would say, parents of teenagers, do not be afraid. Be courageous and brave.
He DAB family this is Jocelyn and Atlanta. I just…I want to call and pray for everyone. And when I say everyone, I…I honestly…I mean everyone on this planet. I just…I know myself and my family we’re experiencing a lot of challenges right now and I know we’re not alone in that. And, so, I just want to lift everyone up in prayer right now. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much that we can come before You and ask for Your encouragement and for Your protection. And Lord, I just pray against any attacks of the enemy that would come against anyone, spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, financially. God I just…I lay this all that Your feet and we bind the attack of the enemy with the blood of Jesus because we know that He paid that price to protect us, to keep us safe, to watch over us, and to give us the opportunity to rely on You and Your strength and not our own strength and that we don’t have to figure this all out, that You’ve got it all figured out. We already know how this ends. You win and the enemy is defeated. And we take comfort and solace and we are inspired in knowing that we do not need to feel overwhelmed and that we are loved by You and that we are called by You to show Your love to others and even in the most challenging and different cult of circumstances. Lord we love You and we ask that You would bring to our attention anything that needs to be dealt with on our part to be able to make us whole and You. And I thank You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Love You DAB family. Have a great day.