Joshua 11:1-12:24, Luke 17:11-37, Psalms 84:1-12, Proverbs 13:5-6
Today is the 15th day of the month of April. I’m Brian, it’s great to be here with you today. I was just thinking, are we in the middle of the month? And I guess we’re about dead center in the middle of the month of April already. So, three and a half months into this journey together and what an adventure, what a joy to be together with you every day around this global campfire that we call home and let God’s word speak to us. So, let’s get to that. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. We’re working our way through the book of Joshua, which of course is the story of what comes after Moses, right? Moses was responsible for leading people out of slavery and Egypt and through the wilderness for more than a generation, bringing them right to the precipice of the of the Jordan River. And then he stepped back and Joshua took leadership and is taking the people into the land of promise and we have been witnessing all of the intriguing conspiracy about that, how different kings would ally themselves and attack Israel and then Israel would defeat them and take the land. And, so, we are moving our way through of the conquest of the promised land. Today Joshua chapter 11 and 12.
Commentary:
Okay. Today we have the story in the gospel of Luke of Jesus moving through the border between Galilee and Samaria. So, Samaria, Samaritans, right, the remnant of the northern kingdom who were…they were not really accepted as Hebrews at all because they were very, very intermixed and we’ve kind of covered that territory before, but the tension between the two camps was and is apparent in the Scriptures. And, so, there’s these ten lepers, they’re not identifying as Hebrew or Samaritan or anything else, they’re just unclean and outcast because they’ve got a degenerative disease and Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priest, right? And t’s the one, it’s the Samaritan one, it’s the one on the way, who realizes that he’s healed that comes back to talk to Jesus and Jesus asks, “where are the other nine?” And the implications are fairly apparent. It’s a well-known story and yet, I can’t read this well-known story, even though I’ve known this story as long as I can remember. This is a Sunday school story and I grew up in Sunday school. So, this is a flannel board story for sure. I still, even having known this all my life, I’m still struck by why the other nine people would continue forward. Like, they were gonna die from this disease, it was gonna eat them alive, literally waste them away, disfigure them until they were unrecognizable and kill them. So, if you see and you look down and your skin is clean, I mean, on the one hand, I guess you go to the priest and you get declared clean. I guess what maybe picks me a little bit, pricks me little bit about the story is how entitled we can be as believers. We will claim who we are in Christ and we will work on our identity and we will claim and wield our authority and we just expect like, you know, we’ll claim, “I am a child of the most-high God.” And it’s all true. And yes, we are supposed to have that identity. And yes, it’s true nut then we just come to expect God to kind of be the pushover father that just happens to be rich and just really wants…will write the check to keep us from bothering him and so we come to expect this stuff. And, so, easily we can just take and take and take and take and still be dissatisfied, right? Take and take and take the provision of the Lord and it still not be enough and it never is enough, and we’re always dissatisfied and we’re always grumbling to God about what else we need rather than being like the one and looking down and seeing, “hang on a second. I’m clean and I know what filthy feels like inside and out and I’m clean” and just go fall at Jesus feet. We’re clean, we’re not owed something, we’ve received something that is eternal. So, as you go into your day give that some thought. Invite the Holy Spirit into the places that you are overwhelmingly blessed and it’s still not enough and you are ungrateful in spite of it all. And on one level or another that’s probably all of us. Let’s lay that down as we continue through this season of repentance and sitting with what it cost to offer us our salvation as we move toward Easter. Let’s sit with this today.
And then also in the book of Luke today, Jesus kind of drops a bomb. It’s very common, we know it well, but when we sit down and think of the implications it’s pretty huge stuff. Everyone’s asking Jesus about when this kingdom, He keeps talking about when this is gonna happen, when is the kingdom gonna come because they’re looking for this. Like, they are looking for the kingdom of God and they are looking for a messianic leader to usher in the kingdom. And, for them, it’s the restoration of ancient Israel, for them, it’s the reclamation of the land so that they can self-govern and get rid of all the mixture and get the Romans out and try to wash away all the Greek influence in the Hellenistic era that…they want to start over with a Messiah that will lead them back to God and give them their kingdom back. And, so, they are certainly interested in what Jesus is saying because he’s talking about the kingdom of God. And, so, the obvious question is, “okay, you’re saying the right things, when is this going to happen?” And we do kind of wonder the same thing, “when is this gonna finally happen? When’s He gonna show back up? When’s he gonna establish His kingdom upon the earth? When will this happen?” And Jesus answers the question and it should rivet us, it should give us pause. “The kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. Just let that sink in. Won’t be able to say here it is or it’s over there for the kingdom of God is already among you this let that sink in. If this is the first time you can…it’s becoming apparent. It’s already happening. We are it. It’s already upon the earth. We are the sons and daughters of the most-high God. We have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead living within us according to the Scriptures. It’s now. The state of the kingdom is in our hands. Is it on earth as it is in heaven? This is our prayer, but this is also our work. So, although we’re contemplating how we can be ungrateful and how we can be entitled toward God and how we should run back to God because we’re clean be like the one, we also must understand as we take that posture of humility before the Savior realizing we are clean and made new that it is onto something, it is for something, it is because we are here to perpetuate the good news and bring the kingdom, reveal it, make it apparent, make it seen. It’s here and we must reveal it and we do that through our lives. So, at some point we have to decide whether we’re gonna to continue this mixture of light and darkness within ourselves. And that’s going to be the story, is our own personal struggle against our own personal darkness is or if we’re gonna surrender to the light utterly so that all that comes from us, all that emits out of us is light and life and good news because we are like our Savior, we have become Christ like in this world. Big thoughts for today, big thoughts as we head into our workweek.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank You, we thank You for the rhythm of Your word and how it will just lull us and comfort us and tell us stories that we can see ourselves in and then it will also confront us head on and force us to actually examine what it is we’re doing here and what it is we believe and what it is Your word is telling us is. And, so, Father, we first humble ourselves and come to You as the one. We know what it’s like to be dirty, filthy, diseased, wasting away, dying inside and You washed us clean, You restored us. We are thankful, and our response is to be in this kingdom that no one can say it’s over there or here it is, because it’s already among us. Come Holy Spirit, may we reveal Your kingdom today in this world. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning Daily Audio Bible friends and family, this is Amazed by Grace in Massachusetts. Actually, my name is Sally, but we have another Sally Massachusetts whom we haven’t heard from for a while. Praying God’s grace in your life Sally. I just want to pray today for our sister Christine in Washington, that God will just give you wisdom sister in how to deal with this abusive marriage and for your children as well for wisdom and grace to them. And I pray today for Paul and others who are singular Lord…who…Paul in Wales who called in. Lord thank You for the grace You give us to be pure and holy before You and the many singles and for married people Like our sister Lord who’s tempted away from her marriage. Lord I lift up to You today Margo in Uganda and her husband as they wait for the next step, may they just to be a light for You right there in Uganda and minister as they wait upon You for their next step. And I would pray today Lord for Blind Tony. Thank You for his poems and his prayers and his faithfulness. Lord we pray Your grace and strength to this brother. Think of JJ and for Jay Lord, for Christie in Kentucky and for Victoria, Lord for Pelham and Molly we pray Your grace. Oh Father, I just thank You and praise You that You are with us as Your children drawing us to Yourself and growing us in grace as we get to know You better and better. Thank You for Brian to and Jill and all the team that makes this possible. We pray Lord for the finances to come in to help this community to…
Hi beautiful family, this is pastor Gene from Bradenton Florida refusing to allow blessings and sadness prevent me from reaching out to family that I love with all of my heart. Please join me in prayer. Father we love You and we praise You. We know that sometimes blessings come through raindrops. We know that healing comes through tears and we know that a thousand sleepless nights sometimes is what it takes to know that You’re near. We know that the greatest disappointments and the aching of this life is but nothing of the revealing of a thirst this world cannot satisfy. We ask that as we go through trials and tribulations we will remember that we have a God that remains faithful and a high priest in You that went through every human emotion we go through so that He would be able to have compassion. Thank You that You came not only to die for us but to lead and show us the way to the Father. Thank You. Father we lift up our sister Cherry Chase and our sister Treasured Possession both of them are going through significant trials of a different nature but both going through physical trials at work. Father in the name of Jesus we take authority over the forces of the enemy that are using this trial to torture our sisters and to keep them sad Father and this causes __ and destruction in their life. And we pray __ forces of darkness and we ask them, order them to go back in the name of Jesus, to withdraw in the name of Jesus. We are asking for the deliverance of both our sisters and for the strengthening of their faith. Father we just love You and praise You and we commit our sisters to You in the mighty name of Your son Jesus. I love you family, pastor…
Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Jared from the Midwest. I just heard…I think her name was Christie…call from Washington who’s praying in faith and remaining hopeful for God’s work in her marriage. Thank you for your call Christie. It gives me great hope as I’m trusting God in my marriage. There was also a woman and maybe it was you too who has been separated for six years on the community prayer and I was also encouraged by your hope and your continued faith in God to work in your marriage. Lord I pray for all of us who are in these situations where our marriages are experiencing discourse and a break of harmony and misunderstanding. Lord I pray for your humility to fill us that we would be able to see our spouses through your eyes and walk with tender forgiveness and understanding and compassion for each other. We pray for all the marriages that are in trouble. We ask your mighty hand of power on them. In Jesus’ name.
Hi this is Jane in New York. I just really need to reach out to my family my DAB family because I don’t have any family air. My son Joshua, 14, he has become an atheist in the past two years since we’ve been here in New York. Last night we just a horrible conversation, how every other word is a curse word and he’s just saying, “how you’re stupid” and, you know, “you push your Christianity on everyone”. And he’s doing a paper in school about his life before America, before he came here. And I said, “well, make sure you include that Christ was part of your life”. He says, “you’ve been forcing me to believe in something that doesn’t exist” and it was really ugly. Though it wasn’t just that…it was really some ugliness that was coming out. I just pray that the Lord would reveal Himself to Him, that he would just continue to keep Him safe and not make decisions that will hurt Him or hurt others. And Father God I ask You to please just bring Him back to You Father. This is so hard to watch, how he has no hope and no joy and no future. “So, I’m going to hell”, that’s what he says God. And we know that You don’t want that. So, Lord I know there will be thousands coming alongside me praying for Joshua. I pray that his heart would be open Father, that he would remember the God that he was served and loved and pray to. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family, this is Alfya calling from Delaware. Let us pray. It is an __ in time that we meet here together for the sake of our sisters and the precious daughters of God in this Daily Audio Bible family. As we dedicate them for the upcoming More Conference Lord Jesus we are humbled for our sisters, Your daughters. You know the struggles that they go through. You know the work that You’re doing in their lives. You know each one of them and every detail of their lives. And Father at the upcoming Daily Audio Bible family More Conference we just want to dedicate the event into Your hands, that the forces of the evil one might be broken down, that Lord Your Spirit might shine and at More You may do a great work that not only will start here at this conference for each and every one who will be in attendance, Father that it will be a legacy that will be carried forward for a better world. We pray that each one of them might leave there clear, with a clear vision of all that You want to do in their lives, of all the places that You want to renovate, of the things You want to maintain. And above all, we pray that not only this work may be started but as the bible says, You will carry it unto completion the good work that You will start. May they be willing to follow Your will…