Numbers 6:1-7:89, Mark 12:38-13:13, Psalms 49:1-20, Proverbs 10:27-28
Today is the 6th day of March. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is so good to be back together with you from the rolling Hills of Tennessee. And I certainly thank my beautiful and lovely and gracious wife Jill for stepping in and driving the ship for a couple of days while I do some recovery fromm returning from Israel. So, like, you know, you’re there and you are on adrenaline quite a bit of the time and you kind of go in tired because your jetlagged. Even if you get a little rest your still on adrenaline and drinking from a fire hose the whole time. And, so, you’re getting enough sleep but you’re still tired, you’re not realizing how tired you are until you come back and then you’re tired and jetlagged. And, so, for me it’s kind of like a couple of days of truly like, what is my purpose in life again, where am I again because it’s like my body is in one place, my heart has still has not arrived. And, so, thanks to Jill for coming in for a couple of days and I’m on my way back to recovery. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and we started reading from this translation from Jerusalem and although that feels like a long time ago to me, that was only a few days ago. And, so, we’ll pick up with the story. Today, Numbers chapter 6 and 7.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for all that You have brought us through all that Your word has given us guidance on in our lives. We thank You for the journey that we’ve just completed and as all of us who were on that pilgrimage are acclimating back to home, we can see that the Bible isn’t the same thing as it used to be because now we see things in vivid color and we thank You for that opportunity and we thank You for the opportunity to do everything that we can as a community to connect us to the geography of the land so that we are rooted where these things happened, but to also begin to understand the context of why they happened when they happened so that these things can begin to inform our lives properly. Thank You, God for Your word. Thank You, Lord for Your Holy Spirit’s guidance. Come Holy Spirit and plant the word of God that we read today in our hearts and lives and may the fruit of Your Spirit be bountiful, a bountiful rich harvest that is shared with the world for Your sake. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
Okay. So today, jetlagged as I might be and confused about where I am, I do know that today is Ash Wednesday. And, so, for many of you, you know that and, I mean, you’ll be attending some sort of Ash Wednesday service today and the ashes of palms will be put on your forehead in the shape of a cross and you’ll walk around with a black mark on your forehead all day understanding exactly what this represents and for others of you, you’re like, I’ve heard of Ash Wednesday, I kinda knew about the black smudge, I don’t really know exactly what Lent or Ash Wednesday’s about so tell me more. So, I’m glad you asked. Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent will lead us all away to Good Friday, which will of course lead us to Easter Sunday. So, the season of Lent is a season, much like the season of Advent that leads up to Christmas, the season of Lent leads us into Easter and it’s a 40 day and it’s traditionally associated with fasting. So, you may meet people who are like, I’ve given up chocolate for Lent, or I’m not watching TV for Lent or whatever and that’s kind of part of the tradition, but it really goes much, much deeper than that. It’s not about really fasting chocolate, although fasting chocolate or fasting television or whatever reminds you that something that is part of your normal life is missing. And, so, you’re continually reminded to consider what Lent means. Lent is the time we sit with the fact that sin kills, sin only leads to destruction, sin only brings about loss. And, so, Lent is actually a season of lamenting what it cost to bring us our salvation and the elimination of sins hold in our lives. And yet at the same time even though we know our sins are forgiven we also know that we willingly turn back into sin and that only goes one place. And the cross is the reminder of where that goes. Sin estranges us from God and destroys us. So, during the season of Lent it’s not only about like fasting chocolate, maybe that’s what the Lord will lead you to do, but the posture of heart is to be, “Father, I surrender everything. Whatever is out of alignment in my life, I ask that during this season while I’m focusing on this, you rearrange my life and the things that are in my life that belong in my life, put them where they belong in my life and the things that do not belong in my life take them from my life. Everything is on display before you and nothing is off limits to you as I sit with the cost, the price, of sin. And, so, often that does include some sort of fasting, depriving ourselves, allowing ourselves to sit with a loss of some sort, a constant reminder of where our heart is focused, leading us, right, into holy week, and Good Friday where we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, which is territory that we’re about to head into the book of Mark. And then often, you know, there are Good Friday services and maybe many of you go to Good Friday services just like you go to Christmas Eve services. And a lot of times traditionally in a Good Friday service there’s a candle and at the end of that service the candle is blown out and you realize Jesus died, the flame of life went out, He grew cold, He was laid in a tomb, He began to stiffen, He began to turn blue…like He was dead. Our Savior, our closest ally was dead in a tomb, right? And then that leads us into understanding the magnitude of what we’re talking about when we talk about Easter. And, of course, Easter will come and we will rejoice but now we begin the season of Lent that moves us toward Easter. And, of course, Lent isn’t a command in the Bible, you’re not even gonna find it in the Bible. So, it’s up to you, you know. But I didn’t grow up observing Lent, but in my adult years, as I began to understand our church history and the context for the different customs and rituals that we have in our faith I began to realize this could be very valuable. And, so, it is. I for sure try to keep my heart’s posture correct going through this season and I have found it rich and in meaningful, as have billionths of our brothers and sisters over the last millennia and a half. So, today is Ash Wednesday and today begins the season of Lent and that is a bit about what the season of Lent commemorates.
Okay. dailyaudiobible.com is the website and its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.
And, as you know, we’re just trying to re-emerge, re-immerse ourselves in the life that we normally live and gotta move past the jet lag and just all of the memories, all of the experiences that come with a pilgrimage like the one that we’ve just done. They just come flooding in. They just…you remember certain places like, oh, when I was standing in the desert and dust was swirling around. Oh when I was standing at the Red Sea and just thinking about what that would be like, or when a I was in Galilee and overlooking the sea of Galilee and all of its splendor and realizing this is the view that Jesus saw every day. This is where he chose to base a ministry that continues to radically change the world. It’s pretty profound. It’s pretty profound to be in Jerusalem at the Wailing Wall or to walk up on top of the Temple Mount or to be in the dungeon where Jesus was held before His crucifixion. I mean all of these things just begin to flood back in and remind, at least me, remind me of the journey and why we’re on this journey and why we show up every day to take the next step forward. It’s because God did some profound things in the world and we can still visit some of these places and just contextualize them and understand that He is continuing to do profound things in the world. And as the body of Christ we are the means by which He does these profound things in the world. And just to begin to understand that we are part of an ongoing story. And yes, we can visit ruins, right? We can look at piles of rocks at locations where things happen thousands of years ago and just walk away from that or we can realize I am a part of the story that began with this pile of rocks right here. I am in the same story and my own rocks are being piled up. How do I carry that story forward because it’s the same story and it profoundly affects the way we live our lives as it should and as the Bible continually reminds us. So, you know, I guess this is kind of the official ending I of this journey and we will continue forward in our year, but if you want to go next year, absolutely, registration is open for 2020. You can find that in the Initiatives section at dailyaudiobible.com. zyo can find out all about all about the trip, everything that you would want to know.
The other thing that we are reminding everyone about is the forthcoming More Gathering in the mountains of North Georgia at Sharp Top Mountain. And it’s about an hour outside of Atlanta and this will be the final More Gathering up on top of that mountain in North Georgia. We have no idea…we are praying into what is next. All we know is this is the end of that. So, I couldn’t tell you that there will be another More Gathering and I couldn’t tell you where that might be until we get some more clarity. We’re just walking in obedience. But as we do that we’re certainly celebrating. If the Lord is bringing us to the end of something He’s bringing us in the beginning of something. And, so, we’re certainly celebrating the milestones that have happened on that mountain, the lives that have been irreversibly changed on that mountain, the way that Jesus has come for every woman in his own way, in a language they can understand. It’s a beautiful thing. So, I hope you can be there. If your lady, I hope you can be there for this memorable time and this monumental event that we’re commemorating. You find all of the details at moregathering.com or just go to dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section, same place you would find Israel 2020, and look for the More Gathering and you can get all the details there and register. Hope to see you.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com there is, of course, 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 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:
Hi, this is Sonja calling from Tampa. I’d like to pray. Lord I ask that You look upon the broken hearted, those that are feeling lonely, those that feel like there’s no direction or hope in their lives, those that are facing financial challenges and medical challenges to reveal Yourself to them Lord so that they may know that You are God Jehovah. I also ask that You look upon Noah and Isa. I bind every demonic principality that has come against them in the name of Jesus. I plead the blood of Jesus upon them and command their bodies to be aligned with Your word, that by Your stripes they are healed. I command the angels of God to encamp all around them and the rest of my DAB family waging war against every fiery dart of the enemy and canceling every assignment that the enemy has set forth against them. Let them know that You are Jehovah Elohim, the powerful and mighty God, Jehovah the Lord that is present, that You are always with us, Jehovah Jira, that You are the Lord of their __, Jehovah Shalom that You are the Lord of peace over their lives, You are Elohim, the most high God and Elohim our everlasting God. My DAB family hold steadfast to God for He will never leave You nor forsake You. And I also want to thank Protected by His Wings who read Psalms 91, one of my favorite Psalms. For many years during spiritual warfare I kept my Bible open to that particular Psalm. Thank You my dear DAB family, and be blessed.
Hi, my name is Angela, I’m calling from California. I just really still need you guys prayers. I’m still battling this suicide. I have…I’ve just been…it’s on my mind every day and I’ve written letters to my family and everything. I went back and read through it again and I just started bawling and crying because I’m just so upset about it. It’s my mind, it’s my mental status, it’s really got me __ and I just don’t know what to do. And I know my daughter’s about to have a baby and everything and I’ve been trying to live through her happiness and just be happy for her and…but when she’s gone I get back into the same kind of mind that I was in before and it’s so hard on me and I don’t want to leave my family without me but then sometimes I think about it and I just thank I can’t feel my emotions anymore, I feel dead inside and I don’t want to feel that way anymore. I’m sti ll hurting so bad and I don’t know where to turn or what to do. I just need God to come into my heart and fill my heart with love because it’s so hard for me to fill it. I just need you guys to pray for me if you could please. I want to feel the love and the connection again. The doctors say they can’t do anything else for me. So, I just need somebody to pray for me and just keep me in their prayers and just for something to help me. I know that God’s available…
Hi this is Vanessa in Texas and I am calling because this weekend the Lord has shown me an error in my way. Three years ago, I said something that really hurt my best friend and wounded his heart in a way that I had no idea. And this weekend I learned that even though we are still very good friends he still hasn’t forgiven me for offending him back them. And I didn’t mean to. I thought I was making a better choice of the two choices and instead I chose the words that would hurt him the most rather then, choosing the words that would have humbled me back then. So, I’m asking for repentance. I have seen the errors of my way and I’m calling to repent, and I want to move on and learn from this and to ask for his forgiveness. He doesn’t listen to the Daily Audio Bible, but he still hasn’t forgiven me and maybe if you forgive me he will to. I’m so sorry. Thank you. I love you all.
Hi this is Victoria soldier just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I just want to pray for the mother who had a daughter who was molested by her father and the father was also a preacher. Lord, just praying, let you know that I’m praying for you. This is…this is so vicious and so…this is so deep…but you know, it’s good to know that God can handle deep, God can handle anything and I just want you to know I’m praying with your daughter and because God is able to do exceedingly. I’m gonna pray for Tracy from Vancouver and also want to pray for Noah, Noah who has been sick I’m gonna pray for him. I want to pray for Tim because he was talking about changing, let him know that we can try to do everything to change ourselves, but God is the ultimate, God can do anything but fail. We can’t you do nothing to change our self except let God have his way in our lives. I want to talk to the Wolfes who lost their…I think it was their daughter. I’m praying with you, I’m praying with the family, I know it’s difficult and I’m praying for the family of the daughter also and I just wanted to pray for Viola and the son Daniel and Dominic. I want to pray for them. Gracious Father we come before You today, Father in the name of Jesus, Lord we just praise Your name, we magnify You, Lord we have some deep things tonight but we know that nothings impossible for God. Oh Lord we just ask that You Have Your Way. Lord we need Your miracle working power, we need Your grace and Your mercy, oh Lord we need You tonight, we need You to touch those names I called out, Lord we need You to touch the names that I didn’t call out that are going through similar or the same thing or that are just going through. Father, You have Your way. We just touch…Lord just…just…