2 Kings 18:13-19:37, Acts 21:1-17, Psalms 149:1-9, Proverbs 18:8
Today is the 1st day of July. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure and a joy, it is an honor to be here with you as we step ourselves into the seventh month of the year. Today is the 182nd day of the year. And, so, we’re one hundred eight days into our journey together and what a journey it’s been. We have been everywhere together in the first six months. We’ve been all the way from the creation of the world, all the way through the stories in the Gospels of Jesus. We’re in the book of Acts now learning of the early church, but we have wandered in the wilderness, we have traveled with Joseph, we have traveled with Moses, we’ve traveled with Abraham, we’ve moved through the time of the judges, we’ve moved through the times of the Kings and spent plenty of time with Israel’s first King Saul and second King David. That’s just scratching the surface. And look at all that God has spoken to us directly into our own spirits and directly into our own lives about our postures and our motives. The Bible is amazing because it’s alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it can penetrate within us to the point where soul and spirit divide. That…I’m not sure exactly where that is but that’s deep because that’s where our identity is. God is speaking to and transforming our identity, which is one of the big themes of the Bible that we’ve seen, right? The children of Israel were slaves. Their identity needed to be changed. The wilderness was used to change their identity from slave to chosen. And perhaps the exact same thing is happening within us. So, here we are launching ourselves into the brand-new seventh month of the year, the month of July and launching ourselves into the back half of the year. And we’ll do that by picking up where we left off yesterday because that’s what we do. Step-by-step day by day we go all the way around the sun and make a revolution around the sun and that’s called a year on planet Earth. But day by day we make a revolution through the Bible, which makes a revolution and in our lives. So, here we go. Second Kings chapter 18 verse 13 through 19 verse 37 and we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.
Commentary:
Okay. So, a few things to point out, a couple things we need to touch on. So, yesterday in our reading from a second Kings we witnessed the destruction, the end of the northern kingdom of Israel. So, those 10 tribes that were Israel, they’ve been hauled in exile and displaced all over the Assyrian Empire and they disappear from history at this point as cohesive tribes, like never see them again. We also see that the Assyrian Empire who conquered the northern kingdom of Israel had its sights set on also simultaneously conquering the southern kingdom of Judah and actually was succeeding because fortified city after fortified city was falling. And, so, the scene that we saw today where king Sennacherib sends his envoys to Jerusalem. This was coming from the city of Lachish. The ruins of Lachish still exist today. That can be seen in the Promised Land films, but this one would’ve been just like the second fortified city only to Jerusalem and it fell. So, the king of Assyria is at a conquered city, Lachish, sending envoys to Jerusalem which is the last city to conquer, taunting and threatening them. And we read the story. King Hezekiah goes before the Lord, and Lord delivers Judah. So, as we go into the second half of the year we go into the second half of the year without 10 of the tribes, they’ve been conquered, and we only have Judah remaining.
And as we mentioned yesterday and saw more today, Paul is on his way back to Jerusalem, the city where he started this journey, right? This guy who affirmed and witnessed the stoning of Stephen in Jerusalem. Once he found Jesus the Jewish people wanted him dead just like he wanted all the other Christians dead and he’s been moving around the empire sharing the good news, but he’s on his way back to Jerusalem and we’re seeing that at every stop he’s stopping and visiting with people that he had brought to the Lord and established churches and their all telling him he shouldn’t go to Jerusalem and he’s saying, “yeah, I know. Like, I have to go to Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit told me to go to Jerusalem, but I know. I know that imprisonment and shackles are in front of me and maybe even death. I don’t know but I have to go.” And, so that’s where we find Paul and that’s the story that we will enter into as we continue into the second half of the year.
And then as we enter into this brand-new month and this back half of the year we have some striking words from the book from the book of Proverbs. “A gossips words are like choice food.” Okay. So, gossip is like a currency, it’s like information currency. It’s a secret currency that we carry around. We witness things, we hear things, we see things, and then we don’t hold onto them in confidence. We then go and use the currency to make ourselves look more like we’re in the know and we share it with other people. Like, we talk about people behind their backs and they don’t have the benefit of being there to tell the story correctly or to defend themselves or whatever, to be a part of the conversation. And, so, we’re kind of consuming them behind their back to each other and it’s dark and it’s a community killer because along with gossip…like you get a tasty morsel of gossip and you call up your friend or you meet for coffee and you’re gonna lay out the story and share the gossip, you’re gonna have to make up a bunch of stuff along the way, right? You heard this little bit of information and you’re gonna have to say, “so, I think what’s happening here is…” And then you’ve gotta give your interpretation of it when you are not involved, and you do not know what you’re talking about. Gossip gives us little portions of information that we then flesh out with assumptions and we create false realities about people. And if you’ve been on the receiving end of this before, if you’ve been gossiped about you know how destructive it can be because we are peddling half-truths and made-up things. We are carrying falseness around and infecting our communities like cancer with this stuff. So, you have to listen to the proverb and wonder if it matters to you. “A gossips words are like choice food that goes down into one’s innermost being.” Do you want all that stuff down in your innermost being? Because that’s what you’re doing when you listen to it. That’s what you’re peddling when you offer it, poison that goes down to one’s innermost being. So, let’s think about that as we move through this new week and as we move into this new month and as we move into the second half of the year.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We often find ourselves sharing things we shouldn’t be sharing, telling things we shouldn’t be telling, filling in blanks we have no business filling in because we don’t know what we’re talking about and consuming each other. And this is not helpful to Your body. It’s like cancer in Your body. So, Holy Spirit come. Help us to understand the power of our words and the power that rests behind our teeth to make those words. And may we bring light and life and good news through our words this day and every day. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.
So, this coming Sunday, the most immediate thing that’s going on around here. This coming Sunday is the 7th of July and the 7th of July is kind of our own little Daily Audio Bible holiday that we have together. It’s the day we do the Daily Audio Bible long walk and this has been a tradition over a decade now. It’s a day that wherever you are, no matter where you are, this doesn’t have to be all that complicated. You can go somewhere as close as next-door. Like, just go for walk down your sidewalk. Wherever you find beautiful, that’s where you want to go. Whether you drive for hours, or whether you just go for a walk, it’s a long walk with God. It’s a day set aside to truly honestly rest in Him. Like, to truly take everything off of our plates altogether. This happens on a Sunday, this coming Sunday. So, this happens on the weekend, which will make it a little easier scheduling wise, but take everything off your plates, every obligation, like it can wait for a day, especially when it’s a day that your giving to God, where you really are going to rest in Him. You’re going to go somewhere beautiful and hear life happening all around you. I mean, if you go to a local park, if you go somewhere and sit down and just start listening, you realize that life is exploding everywhere. It’s all around us and we’re missing it. I mean, you spend 10 minutes just listening to nature and you realize I’m missing a lot because I’m running, running, running, running running, but I don’t know why. I’m accumulating, accumulating, accumulating, but I don’t know why exactly, it’s just that everybody else is. But what if you slow the world out enough to hear your heart beat again? What if you had a day that there was no agenda other than to say everything, everything, everything in your heart to God and to let Him say everything He’s been waiting to say back to you for the longest of times? But you’re just so busy and when conversation happens with Him it’s one-sided, it’s you, you’re doing all talking. What if you had space to listen? That’s what the Daily Audio Bible long walk is about and that is one wonderful way of resetting and moving into the second half of the year. So, make plans for that this Sunday. It’s very individual. It’s a solitary endeavor but it’s also a community event because we’re doing it together at the same time on the same day. So, wherever you go just take a picture, take a video, post it back to Daily Audio Bible’s Facebook page, which is facebook.com/dailyaaudiobible and then we just watch it all unfold. We see the beauty of the earth all around the world all in one day. It’s magnificent. So, that’s coming up this Sunday. Make plans for that.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. Thank you profoundly for your partnership as we are here in the thick of the summer now. Thank you for your partnership. So, the link is on the homepage. If you’re using the 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.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Sacrifices his only Son to save our sins. And Jesus hanging on the cross for our sins. The gift of the Holy Spirit. And my heart is full of joy today, hence the smile. What I did want to share is even though my heart is full of love and am lifted up by the Holy Spirit, the world we live in would tell me otherwise because I can share that my life is not perfect and far from it. I have a prodigal son who has not spoken to me or any type of communication going on for years now, grandbabies I have not seen. And the world would tell me otherwise, that I should just be broken, but thank God, thank God for His grace and His mercy and His love that keeps me lifted. So, I wanted to share that family, that we’re all…we all have something that the world will tell us that we should be broken. Hang on to the promise of Jesus and He will see us through. You can think back if you have something in your life that He has lifted you, He has pulled you up, why would He not do that again for your family? I’m keeping my eyes on Christ and I’m praying for each one of you as it’s been every day. Thank you. Amen.
Hello DAB family this is Joyful Noise from Southern California. I’m calling in…haven’t called in for quite some time but I do listen or __ listen every single day and if I don’t I try to pay catch up. Isn’t this the most amazing ministry? So, if this ministry has blessed you in any way…like, if you’re listening in as a new listener or…I don’t know that about the Lord and are becoming closer to Him and even understanding like His purpose in your life and His purpose for the world and the universe and even from the beginning, you know, if you’ve been hanging out with us since January 1st, from Genesis onward then kudos. That is awesome! Hang in there. This is my…I think…seventh year through the Bible with Brian and the community. And it is actually amazing how it’s grown me as a Christian and as a community member, as a mom, as a wife, as everything. So, hang in there. And then also, if this ministry blesses you, consider blessing the ministry back, through prayer certainly but also through, you know, your financial contribution. If you think about it this is __ but there’s never a day where I wake up and go, “I wonder if they recorded the…nope for sure, they did it.” Even when Brian’s traveling or the families traveling. Even when…I’m sure…I’m they have birthday parties and, you know, they’ve got stuff in life just like us, but they make it a priority. So, and the team of people. It’s not just Brian of course, it’s a team of people that make this happen in the background. So, consider supporting them. Look. It’s just a thought. Maybe pray about it. So, I’m calling in today to ask all of you to lift up my friend who is an amazing young man, he’s 16 years old, he’s the youngest of our three kids and we really thought until this last fall, whew, we’ve skated…whew we skated this one. We are not going through those tough teen…” Oh no. It came out. And probably as a result of learning disabilities and since he was in about fifth grade just really feeling stupid even though we’re getting accommodations, even though we’re helping him even though we’re trying to convey to him how to, you know, God has a plan for him and you know…
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Jay from Nashville Tennessee. All right, so I wanted to just shoot out a praise report real quick to just thank God for this promotion that I’ve gotten. I went from technician level to engineer level at my job. So, I mean, I’m just, I’m overwhelmed. So, those of you who are in positions that you don’t want to be in or you feel like there beneath you or you feel like you should be doing something different, you know, I started working for this company six years ago and my job was to take out the trash. That was my job. And for six months I did that as effectively, as efficiently, and as professionally as I possibly could all the while praying to God and believing that whatever he had for me that’s what I would do. And today I am an engineer in the same company and, you know, God has just blessed me because…I didn’t want to…but I humbled myself and I did what I had to do. So, let that be a lesson or at least an example to you because I know that there are a lot of people that are not working where they want to work, or they don’t like where they work, or they don’t like what they do. That could very well be an opportunity for you to relax and enjoy the simplicity of a job that really isn’t super complicated. And you can take that time to pray and be with God while you’re at work. I can’t tell you how many times I put my headphones in and listened to sermons, listened to Brian and, you know, just listened to God’s music and just put that time for him. So, I encourage you to find time throughout your day to do that with Jesus. Love you guys. Bye.
Good morning everyone. This is a Christie from Kentucky. I wanted to pray for us of our friends. Daniel Johnson Junior, congratulations on your 24th wedding anniversary on 6/17. I wanted to pray for Slave of Jesus to let you know brother that I’m praying for your work situation. Also praying for Natalie as you go into your inpatient treatment for your anorexia. Praying for you sweet child, for you and your family. Also, I am praying for Victoria Soldier to ask the Lord to bless her with as many blessings as that she gives to all of us. We love you so much Victoria Soldier. Also praying for Christie in Korea for your husband who you say is agnostic. Christ’s Child in New Zealand, I’m praying for your brother who is in a bad relationship and Vera in California, praying for your precious daughter Michelle as she goes through her surgery, which should be done by now. Praying for a good outcome for that and that her Lupus is at bay. We ask for complete healing and restoration on your precious daughter’s body. Not Shaken, I’m praying for your son who is in jail. Also, for your daughter who needs forgiveness from family members, but especially from her daddy. Also praying for you Jerry in Maryland, thinking about what you said about your long walk and I was thinking, just a suggestion, but Jerry, why don’t you take your beautiful wife with you on that long walk? Just pull away from all the noise and confusion of the everyday trials and maybe while you’re on that walk you can share the significance of what it means and maybe have a heart-to-heart talk with her. You are the leader of the household and we just pray for you Jerry. All right everyone. I just want to thank you all for continued prayers. We are healing. We still have a king-sized hole in our house and our heart from the loss of our dog. And today I will go pick up the remains. So, continued prayers are appreciated, and I love you guys so much. Have a blessed and lovely day today.