Leviticus 14:1-57, Mark 6:30-56, Psalms 40:1-10, Proverbs 10:11-12
Today is the 23rd day of February I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you. This is the Daily Audio Bible by the way. I just had like a complete brain freeze. There’s a lot to keep my brain right now. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible coming to you from the shores of the Sea of Galilee as we continue our pilgrimage through the land of the Bible for this year. It is wonderful to be here with you as we greet a brand-new shiny, sparkly week and walk into it together. And lots of times at the beginnings of the week I remind us, hey, the week is in front of us. It’s not been lived yet. Like all of the choices that we make are gonna make up the story of this week and we’re out in front of it. We can set our hearts in the right direction to make the right choices and follow the voice of wisdom this week. So, let's…let’s live into that. And let’s also do what we have come around the Global Campfire today to do, let’s allow God’s word to speak into our lives. So, it’s a brand-new week. We’ll read from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Leviticus chapter 14.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for bringing us safely into this brand-new week. And we were mentioning that we mark this time most every week and just pay attention to the fact that this is a reset and restart no matter how off-track last week may have gotten or for that matter, no matter how perfectly it may have been for us. This a new week and if we walk with You into this week, if we listen to Your word and pay attention to what You’re bringing up in it, if we meditate on what You’re saying to us, and we live into these things we will slow down enough to hear the voice of wisdom at every crossroads. And that’s what we want because we don’t want it to just be one week. We want it to start stacking up week after week after week after week walking in wisdom and…and be…be transformed by it in the process. And, so, we’re thankful that we get a reset, just a moment to reflect on where we are where we’re going. And Father, for those of us here in the land of Israel as we spend the next few days around the Galilee here walking in Your footsteps like we’re reading out of the Bible places like Bethsaida today knowing that before we leave the Galilea we’re going there. And, so, thank You for…for letting us find ourselves all of the sudden in the Bible. We thank You for that. We thank You for…that we live at a time that we can share that, we can share these experiences and allow everyone in the community who wants to kind of see and go deeper and understand deeper…more…deeper…what these places look like, what it was like when You ministered on earth because these hills are the same hills and this Sea of Galilee is huge. Like this is the same one. And, so, it's…it’s riveting, and we thank You for this. Come Holy Spirit into this week, into all of our decisions, into all of our thoughts that are gonna form those decisions and from all the things that come out of our mouth, all the conversations that we’re gonna have that are also gonna inform those decisions. Come into every aspect of our lives. We invite You fully. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
Okay. So, here in the land of Israel we are…we are well underway on our pilgrimage and we’re here in the Galilee and we had our first day kind of in the Galilea although we…we haven’t been centered around the Sea of Galilee yet. We have seen plenty of the have the Galilee region and its very, very, very, very different than the wilderness and we ran into some rain today but not…not too bad, a little mud today, which is always a good time. And…but…but we did have a wonderful, wonderful day.
We began our day at the valley of the doves. This is part of the ancient road system, part of the…the trail way that would’ve led from places like Nazareth down to the Sea of Galilee and it’s a beautiful place to just kind of find some serenity. It…it can be challenging to find it. And, so, we found it and we centered ourselves into it and made it kind of like a little oasis in our mind and heart, a place we can go back to.
And we just invited Jesus into the day before making our way then further westward to Cana, where there is a church that’s been there for a very very long time since a Byzantine era and commemorating the spot of Jesus first miracle, which happened to take place at a wedding. And, so, many of the couples that are on this trip participated in renewing…in a vow renewal ceremony there at Cana of Galilee. It’s always a moving thing. It’s always an honor. It’s always a beautiful thing to just look out over all of the couples and realize how many years of marriage that we’re talking about, how many years of just staying faithful that we’re talking about and adding it up and realizing probably centuries are involved. And just seeing God’s goodness through the highs and the lows and the rocky times and the dark times and the in the wonderful times. And, you know, just all that marriage is. So, just commemorating the moment there where Jesus turned water into wine and just realizing that it’s a miracle that…that we can stay together, that we can do life together in the highs and the lows and just honoring God in all of it is beautiful. And, so, we did…we did that, and it was that, it was beautiful.
And then we moved on to Nazareth and Mount Precipice, which is a fantastic view…like you look out over that view and it’s like all Bible related, Like you look in so many stories of the Bible from there, like Mount Tabor where…where it is believed the Transfiguration of Jesus happened and Mount Gilboa where Saul lost his life and with his sons in the battle with the Philistines. And then down just below Mount Gilboa the story of Gideon. And it’s a huge valley. So, it’s the Jezreel Valley. And the city of Jezreel is down there with its ruins. The story of Jezebel. And then way across the valley you can see all the way to Mount Carmel today. So, there’s so many biblical stories. And standing there on Mount Precipice in Nazareth, this is believed to be the place where Jesus was…where He came out of the wilderness after being tempted, He came back to Nazareth and opened the scroll from Isaiah and essentially announced what He intended to do, that a prophecy was being fulfilled. And as it turns out this is His hometown and in the end there gonna throw Him off a cliff and He just passes right through them and moves on His way and we talked about that a little bit in our own lives before grabbing a little bit of lunch before moving back toward the…the Sea of Galilee for baptism.
And, so, we all got ready to be baptized in the Jordan River. We couldn't…we normally do it outside of Jericho. It’s just…the Jordan River is flooded. This has been a very, very wet rainy winter for them. Apparently one of the biggest if not the largest on record which is…which is a good thing. Like the Sea of Galilee, we’ve been coming here for many, many years now and I haven’t seen it is this full, like it’s been receding and now it’s filling back up. So, that’s a wonderful thing that the countryside has the blessing of rain. And it’s green and it’s lush and it’s beautiful and it’s coming alive with blossoms and wildflowers and it’s gorgeous. So, we talked about baptism and then we got into the cold water and baptized many and what an honor. That’s one of the greatest honors that I get to feel as a minister, just to…to share that moment of transformation and what it represents in our lives. It’s something that we don’t ever forget. And I don’t forget it either. It’s just an amazing, reverent, holy moment.
And then from there we moved up onto the Golan Heights and looked out at over…over one of the Decapolis cities, the ruins of the Decapolis city called Hippos-Sussita, it’s on the side of the lake where the Gerasene’s lived. So, Jesus came over and three are stories here like casting the evil spirits into the swine and we’ll…we’ll get more into that story a little bit later in this trip, but it’s also just a pretty breathtaking view of the Sea of Galilea…very unique view of the Sea of Galilee from way up above.
So, we took some pictures there and then made our way down to dinner and then…then our live broadcast last night which is…which is always a wonderful time went. I mean by this point we’re pretty tired but it’s just good to be able to give voice, to hear other stories, to give voice, to like let some of it out because we’ve been at it for several days now and each day is very full. And, so, it’s nice to just kind of exhale and release some of that and get some sleep. So, it was a wonderful first day in the galley.
And today we’ll be going up into the Golan Heights, spending our day up in that region, making our way all the way as far north as we can go and as far east as we can go. So, indeed looking for that but it hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll have to tell you about it after it does which will be tomorrow.
Thank you for your continued prayers for us. We feel it, we sense it, we appreciate it, we love you for it. We love being involved in this together. We just love posting all the pictures and the different things that we’re doing and just and being involved in this as a community as the Bible really begins to come to life for us as we see the places where these stories that we’re reading about in the Scriptures where they happened and rooting ourselves there. And, so, we thank you for your continued prayers
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. Thank you humbly, thank you profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do this together. And, so, it’s awe inspiring thing that we are doing this together and that it’s such a rich community that we share as we go through the Scriptures. So, thank you for your partnership.
Also reminding you that the pilgrimage that is planned for 2021 is open for registration. You can check out all of the details about it dailyaudiobible.com in the initiatives section. Just look for Israel 2021 and you can read all about it there.
And I guess that’s about it for today.
If you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit that Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.
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:
Hey DABbers this is Mike in Awe in the Kansas City Missouri area. Today while I was listening to Victoria Soldier, her pray for others, I thought to myself how important prayer is in the eyes of God. Like, any of us that are actively engaging in prayer are of so much more importance and significance in the eyes of God than like the wealthiest CEO running the biggest corporation that isn’t engaging in prayer. It’s the most important thing on earth like, maybe next to just like making disciples, but prayer is like involved in that even. So, I just want to encourage all of you who practice prayer or those of you that don’t really but could, prayer is like the highest vocation, the highest art that you can perform on earth in the eyes of God. And the eyes of God are the only thing we should be concerned with, like what He thinks. So, anyway, Lisa I heard your pray for your mom. I’m praying for your mom’s recovery from back pain and good health. And Beth in Auburn, boldness and faithfulness to you to share your faith with you brother. Samuel, protection and strength in front of the judge. I want you to be able to be…I’m praying for you to overcome addiction and healing from your social anxiety. Pink Paint, we share February 10th birthdays and I heard the pain in your voice and I just want hope and joy for you. I’m praying for hope and joy. Laura in South Florida and Victoria Soldier you’re vocational prayer warriors and you’re of the highest order and I thank you and honor you today. Bless you all and have a great day. I love you all.
Thank you
God for love and grace
and for this great big smile that’s on my face
and all this love within my heart
that sanctifies and sets apart
and there’s that sparkle in my eye
and that’s love for you that just won’t die
thank you for the Sabbath day
a time to read your word and pray
a time to stop and introspect
and on your goodness to reflect
thank you God for everything
foods to eat birds that sing
a place that I can lay my head
a mattress I can call my bed
children family friends and foes
good times bad times trouble woes
through it all you’ve walked with me
you’ve loved me as you’ve talked to me
from this world you’ve set me free
and I owe my all dear God to thee
so here upon this Sabbath day
I lift my hands and heart to pray
I acknowledge you in all my ways
and I come to you in total praise
blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Michelle from LA and Drew from the bay area. Love you both and know you’re in my prayers daily. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep flowin’ y’all. All right. Bye-bye.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family it’s Michael Davis again. Just wanted to give another update on my mom and my brother and I. And, so, my mom did end up passing away unfortunately on February 5th at around 10:05 PM but I’m not distressed about it or anything like that because I know she’s in a much better place now, that place being heaven. And, so, as far as my brother and I go, thankfully we’re not separated and my…one of my cousins and aunts are taking care of us and they have been since my mom had been going through cancer basically. And, so, it’s basically like a whole new family right now. But my mom will always be part of my family and I really do miss her. And, so, thank you all so much for your prayers. And speaking of prayers, I listened to the Daily Audio Bible prayer line for February 15th, the weekend prayer line where all the prayers come in. And, so, just thank you all so much for your prayers for my mom especially JoAnn from Happy Valley. Thank you so much for your input as well and I agree 100% with you with everything you said there. And then Michael thank you so much for your prayers well. And just to relay his message, anyone that feels alone and just wants to know that their prayers are being reached out for, just listen to the weekend prayer line. And, so, it’s just very satisfying because, you know, we get to hear each other’s walks of life, what we’re all going through and how we all just need help sometimes. You know, we just need some prayer answered from the Lord. And, so, hallelujah you in Jesus’ name. Thank you all so much. And just continue to pray for my family and I. Just pray that my aunt and cousin will continue to take great care of us that my brother and I won’t be separated, and I will definitely want to update you all on that. Thank you all and have a wonderful blessed day.
Good morning, afternoon, or evening my fellow DABbers this is Cindy from Georgetown. And two years ago, I was so blessed to be one of the pilgrims on the 2018 trip to Israel. That experience was heart changing and I know it will be for those so fortunate to be with Brian and his incredible team. Let us pray. Just Lord we lift up the pilgrims, Brian his family and his team, the tour guides, hotel and travel coordinators, leaders and bus drivers for health, safety, for good weather, for little jetlag - get some sleep Brian - for fellowship and an open heart. You will walk in Christ’s footsteps and hear His voice on the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Beatitudes and in Brian’s challenging messages. We are with you and we love you. God is with you.
Hi family this is Mary Jo in St. Louis. This message is for Christie in Ohio. I’m so sorry for the loss of your sister. I’ve been praying for you and your family and I wanted to tell you that when you first called in under the name of anonymous to tell us about your sister’s suicide you weren’t anonymous to me. I don’t know you personally, but I heard your voice and I knew you instantly. I said that is Christie. So, I’ve been praying for you. And when you called back in to tell us that that anonymous person was you, I was like, “yes! I knew it was Christie.” Well, it was kind of a revelation to me because a lot of times we feel kind of anonymous in this world. We feel like people might not know us or recognize us, but God knows us. Just as I knew that was Christie’s voice, God knows us, God sees us even when we feel unseen or unknown. I think that was a little reminder to me that God sees, and God knows, and God cares, and God loves us. And it also reminds me of this community, how awesome it is that we know each other just by our voices. And let me tell you, if you ever get an opportunity to meet your fellow DABbers in person it is the coolest thing. Some people look completely different than what you imagine. Like, I always somehow picture Pelham as a blonde and he’s actually a brunette, you look totally different. Some people I’m like, “yeah”. But when you meet them in person and you hear their voices it’s that instant connection, that DAB family connection. It’s so awesome. But even if…there’s no way we could possibly all meet each other on this earth but in heaven someday and Brian will be standing there in the corner with a big DAB sign and we can all connect and see each other and rejoice in the Lord. All right. God bless you everyone.
Hey DAB family this is Tony the Narrator here in England. I want to tell you what my DAB word of the year is. I’ve decided on it and I hope you pray…I hope you get on board with it a little bit. It’s “mine”. So, my word for the year is “mine”. And let me explain. I’ve been listening, I’ve just realized this year for six years to the Daily Audio Bible. This Daily Audio Bible family is mine. You are all mine. When I hear your pain and your suffering, that pain-and-suffering is mine. When I hear your joy and your happiness, that’s mine. So, whether you’re Blind Tony or you’re Brian Hardin or your Toni in Germany or any of you, you’re all mine. And that is such a precious, precious wonderful gift that…that only we get to share because we’re part of the DAB family. I’ve also taken it to my church, and I’ve sent to parents, “you know your kids, their mine. And you know your parents, their mine. And, you know, you too, your mine.” And I’ve actually received a couple of hugs for that. But, yeah, so my word for this year is “mine”.
Good morning DABber family this is Walta the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory Our God and King. I’m praying for Mark today. Mark you called in that you have been a listener since 2019 summer and you’ve been diagnosed with COPD and I heard your prayer request and it broke my heart, especially when you mentioned that part of your treatment required that you have a friend or family to take care of you and you stated that you had no one. I can tell in your voice that Mark, I don’t know you but I can feel that you are a man who has always been independent, a hard-working man, somebody who stands on his own 2 feet. And, so, I know that this situation is more humbling for you than just…just the fact that you’re sick. But I want you to know that just as Jesus told the man who was laying near the pool when He asked him, “do you want to be made whole? Do you want to be healed?” And the guy says to Jesus, “I have no man to put me in that pool”, well, Jesus healed him anyway. And, so, I want you to know that even though you may have no one standing up right now saying, “you know what Mark, go ahead and do the treatment. I got you”, Jesus is your man. He’s got you and He can do above and beyond our expectations and our understanding. So, even though you think you may have one or two or three different choices, you know, options A, B, and C, Jesus is your option C. Christ is your option and He can do exceedingly abundantly above your expectations. So, I just want you to know you’re not alone. I’m praying for you. I’m praying against the spirit of fear in Jesus’ name. I’m praying that God will increase your faith in Jesus’ name. I’m praying for healing over your body and your soul and spirit in Jesus’ name. And I’m even praying that God will wake up those relationships around you so that you know you’re not alone. I will keep praying for you. Love you so much and God bless. Keep us posted. Bye.