Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25, Luke 7:11-35, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31
Today is the 26th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you moving…moving rapidly toward the end of another month, but I’m super excited that we can spend today and everyday step-by-step one day at a time. One step forward each and every day leads us on this journey and what a journey it has been so far. And man, what a journey it’s going to be. There’s so much out in front of us to see. So, I’m excited that we can be here together around the Global Campfire taking the next step forward. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Deuteronomy 5 and 6 today. And as I’ve mentioned a couple times, Deuteronomy’s three discourses, the final words of Moses and we read the first one, we concluded it and began the second talk today. And, so, that’s where we’re picking up. Deuteronomy 5 and 6.
Commentary:
Okay. Let’s look at what Jesus was talking about today in the gospel of Luke but let’s start at the end of what He was saying and just kind of work our way backwards and look at this. The final thing that Jesus spoke in our reading today is this, “but wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” And we’ve spent time on our journey this year talking about wisdom, wisdom from the book of Proverbs, this voice, the feminine voice that tells us that she’s a companion of God and was there from the…from the very beginning of creation and was delighted at all God had made. And we’ve also explored Jesus and some of the different ways that He was known. Like, He’s our Savior, like we look at him a certain way because we have an understanding of Him, but as He was just coming into His ministry and moving around the countryside, how did people look at Him? They looked at Him as a prophet, which we saw in our reading today, like a major prophet as well as John. Like, God was speaking to them again. But He was also known as a wisdom teacher. And we talked about that and it’s borne out in the way that He uses parables to sort of get around the façade of things, like to strip away the mask of a thing so that what’s really happening can be revealed. So, what’s happening today is Jesus is talking specifically about wisdom. “Wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” In other words, if you’re gonna walk the path of wisdom then that’s gonna be borne out in your life. You’re gonna become wise, which would change the way you do things. Why did Jesus make that statement though? Working backwards, He was commenting on the generation that was around Him. “How do I describe this generation? How do I describe the state of the world that I am in? They’re like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends. We played wedding songs you didn’t dance, we played funeral songs you didn’t weep. John comes and he doesn’t eat bread or drink wine and then you’d call him demon possessed. I come and I feast, and I drink, and you say I’m a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” Jesus is in effect making the commentary on the generation saying, “you are never satisfied.” John comes looking like a prophet of old. He’s the right clothes. Like the whole nine. He looks the part. You think he might be a prophet but then you’re not happy with that because he’s crazy and you call him demon possessed. So, then I come looking much more normal and you kinda…you’re not happy either with that. God’s coming to you and you’re missing it because you’re never happy with what you have. That’s kinda Jesus commentary on the generation of His time, but…but how different, how different is this time? Like we have an incredible amount of technology and knowledge and awareness and the ability to move about the earth and transport our…like we can do things that they…they wouldn’t have been able to get their minds around. But is it any different? We’re never satisfied. But why was He saying all that? Working backwards, it was because John’s disciples came to Him, sent by John asking Jesus if He’s the one or not. That’s why He comments on the generation and that’s why He speaks of wisdom because He’s basically like what kind of a question are you asking me? Am I the one or should you be looking for someone else? “Don’t you…like are you unclear about what’s happening here? The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured. The deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is being preached to the poor.” So, basically, it’s like, what else do you need to know? This is exactly what the prophets said would happen. This is exactly what’s being fulfilled. What kind of question is it? Are you the one or should we be looking for someone else? They wanted somebody to come along and defeat the Roman empire by a mighty act of God. Instead, God came and said there’s a way to be in this world no matter what is going on, no matter how oppressed you might feel. There is a whole world within you. It’s called the kingdom of God. That’s where it is and when it’s within you. It can’t help but spill out of you, but you’re never satisfied. You got it backwards. Your hearing the wedding song but you’re not dancing. You’re questioning everything, even though it’s right in front of your face, but wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those follow it.
Prayer:
So, Jesus we invite You into that. It…it's…it’s at times when You can see it, You can see that the heart of man is kind of an unchanging thing and that we’re just wearing different clothes now, but our dissatisfaction and our unrest is the same. And, so, You may say of the generation that we are living in now the same things that You would…that You spoke of the generation when You were ministering here. One of the things that You continually…continually reveal in the Gospels is that it’s all right here if You have eyes to see. Like, it’s all here. What we need to move about the world and navigate in collaboration and confident with You, we have it. We just keep thinking that we don’t, but we do, and wisdom shows that path to us. And we acknowledge once again that she’s at every crossroads. And so often we are just blowing through every choice just dissatisfied in everything, that we’re missing that You are indeed at work in us. It is a slow process. It’s called sanctification. It’s a process and the process isn’t really gonna build up anything without a solid foundation. And so often we’re trying to put the roof on without the foundation of our lives. So, come Holy Spirit. We hear Your words as if they were spoken to John, like “look at what I’m doing in the world. Look at what You are seeing. If you’ll have eyes to see you can see that this is going on and it has always been going on. So, come Holy Spirit and give us eyes to see and ears to hear. And I don’t know how many times we’ve asked for that. And I don’t how many times we will ask that. We’ll keep asking, we’ll keep knocking, we’ll keep seeking. Give us eyes to see this kingdom within and among us we pray in Your mighty and holy name. Amen.
Announcements:
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And it's…I mean what’s going on around here in the world can be scary but what’s going on around here around the Global Campfire, this is exciting because for the next little…little over a week there’s an additional program along with the Daily Audio Bible. So, the Daily Audio Bible is here nonstop every day, seven days a week, but as a gift from my…my publisher NAV Press, as a gift from myself, as a gift from the Daily Audio Bible from which all of this sprang we are releasing the book Sneezing Jesus free, the audio edition of the book free one chapter a day as we go through this time because there is plenty of overwhelming scary news. This is the good news. It’s an exploration of Jesus life and the awareness that this kingdom, the good news that…that we take for granted, it…it spread like a virus. It spreads from person to person. So, it’s poignant for these times. So, we started yesterday and kinda went through the prologue, the premise of everything and the chapter called Advent, this beginning story of why Jesus came and how Jesus came. Today we’re releasing a chapter called Backward, which in many ways uses the Sermon on the Mount as a backdrop for what Jesus was sharing, like this…this idea of eyes to see and ears to hear that we’ve been talking about all year because Jesus says it all of the time is ultimately an invitation to open your eyes and realize that your living almost backward to how you are created. Like the whole world is almost backward to the way it was intended to be. So, that is available, right along with your feed, right where you get the Daily Audio Bible, right in the Daily Audio Bible app. It’s there for your encouragement. And I…I have found encouragement. I mean, it’s been a while since I wrote that book, so it’s been a while since I read the book but when you write a book you read that book like 150 times. So, it’s been, you know, some time has passed since then. And, so, to reacquaint myself with these themes and these messages, especially now, as even encouraged…I’ve encouraged myself…not because of the way I wrote things, but because of what was said. And we’re making it available, giving it to you that you might find encouragement in this time. So, take advantage of that. And my prayers are that God would ignite the…I mean this book was published…we talked about it like the sneeze heard around the world. And man is that appropriate for now? So, check that out.
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And that is it for today. I’m Brian and I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
This message is for Travis. Travis my name is Qu Annie Cotton. I’m actually calling into our DAB family in regards to your son Brady. I understand that Brady is dealing with some seizures. I want to let you know that as a mom of a son that is now nine but from the years of 1 to 4 our son had been dealing with several different stages or different types of seizures and no one could pinpoint or tell us why our son was dealing with those seizures. Our son was in and out of the hospital weeks at a time to the point where the hospital knew us and who we were, but they took very good care of my son when he was in the hospital. Travis, I want to let you know that God is a healer. Our son has been seizure free for the past five years. He has not been on medication. He has not had any signs of any seizures in any of those seizures that he’s dealt with and it’s only by the grace of God. So, Travis I just want to let you know that God is able, God can heal, God is amazing. God is so amazing for the things that He can do. If you hear in the background, that’s my son. He’s on his game. But I just want to tell you right now to trust God. Continue to keep praying, continue to keep trusting God. And when the doctors want to continue to keep medicating Brady or putting him on different medications, ask questions, even get a second opinion because that’s what we did as well. So, Travis I want to let you know that my family will be praying and continuously praying for your family as well as Brady’s family…as for well as Brady, that God would heal him, that God would definitely touch his body, and that God will deliver him, set free of this this…this…this disease. We’re praying for you. We love you. God bless.
I’m calling in response to Asia who called in on the March 22nd Sunday edition. Asia, I love you sister. I feel so bad hearing you talk about feeling scared or upset about people looking at you because your Asian during this coronavirus. I don’t understand the racism going around right now. I don’t see Asian people as being the reason for this virus. I think that’s just ignorant. We were in McDonald’s a week ago and there was one lady up at the counter as I was passing by getting my husband drunk and she was Asian decent of some kind and she was talking on her phone and she wasn’t talking English but you know I just wanted to give her a big hug and I was afraid to do so because, one she was already on the phone, and two I thought I’d scare her. But I just inside my heart I just wanted to give her a big hug because I know that there is bad things going around right now with everybody and this virus. And I had already seen online that there are many young Asian men who’ve been beat up over this. And I just feel for everybody who is Asian regardless whether Chinese or Vietnamese or Taiwanese or Japanese, whatever. There’s no need for this. So, please hang in there and know that we have your back. We love you sister and I hope first off that this virus is soon gone. We all need to pray. All of us Christians need to stand together. And my time is almost up, and I just wanted to call and let you know I love you. This is Kiki in Arizona otherwise known as Lola Marie. Bye.
Hello this is Duncan from Fredericksburg Texas and I just feel like praying. Abba Father right now there is a lot of blame going around. I hear the major media blaming the president. I hear people blaming others because they’re…they are Asian – Chinese, Korean, whatever. I hear others blaming the virus on this and that. And yet blaming does not solve anything Jesus, it only creates more anger and panic. And then I hear the news and I get sick of all of that negative news and I have decided I am not going to hear but one maybe newscast a day until there is hope on the horizon and a breakthrough. And that’s what we’re praying for the Lord, a breakthrough. And am praying for Lord that people will quiet down and stop blaming and start trusting in You. Lord Jesus I am totally of blind, I’m a widower right now and I deal with being in my own apartment, but I thank You for a church family Father. And yet I pray also Lord that this…that there will come when we can handshake and a hug again because this healing power in the hug and a handshake. Lord Jesus I thank You for online church, I thank You Lord for people who give …get groceries for us. And Lord but there’s also the impact that is…that all of this has had his work. I’m a musician. I’m a pianist and I play at various local places and their closed and nursing homes won’t let me in and they’re…they’re off limits. Father, we need work. And Father I just come to You. Yes, You meet our needs and I thank You for that, but Lord I am praying Lord for this scourge to be lifted only so that people can have their lives back again. And for others to come to trust You Jesus. I come to You now. Thank You, Lord. In Your precious name. And we kneel in it heavily Jesus.
DAB family this is Linda from Ontario Canada. I am a first-time caller, but my husband Andrew and I have been listening since 2006 after being introduced by a good friend’s. Shout out to Rob and Kiersten. All your voices old and new are precious. Brian, thank you. No one reads the Bible like you do and your commentaries and insights are ever so helpful. Family my sweet love Andrew went home on September 30th. It’s been almost 6 months now that my heart has been morning. And I must say dear Jesus is victorious over death. My family friends and community have been covering me with prayer and support and it’s been incredibly overwhelming how our father’s hand has been holding me up. He is so faithful. Family, you too have been instrumental in his love. You’ve supported me without even knowing I’m here. I listen every day multiple times some days as I fall asleep or can’t sleep or wake up through the early hours. My family is always there with encouragement and hope. Thank you, Jesus. I’ve been hiding in the sidelines but there is a mission ahead. I’m not a widow of a warrior. And warriors are on the frontline. Dabbers Jesus has already one, but we need to join collectively as warriors must. We need to fight for the things that touch each of us individually but most importantly now we need to come together and fight for our nonbelieving family members, friends, neighbors, countries, nations, governments the entire world. Let’s join together this worldwide community and pray for all eyes to see and hearts it will turn to Jesus. Second Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by My name would humble themselves, pray and seek My face, turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven will forgive their sins and heal their land. Thank You, Jesus. My DABber family I love you. Brenda from Ontario Canada.
Hey, DABbers this is Gavin from __ Canada. Today is Saturday, March the 21st I want you guys to pray for my brother especially and the rest of our family. My sister-in-law passed away this morning very unexpectedly. We have no idea what happened. She was only 27 years old. My brother…I’m a firm believer ion praying for others my name. My brother Derik is now left the single father of three. He has a six-year-old named Elvis who is really going to need prayer with this. He has a two-year-old named Clarissa and a one-year-old named Elvis…I’m sorry one-year-old named Zekia. It is a very hard time for them. My brother feels very empty right now and he’s told our pastor that he feels hopeless and feels like he’s just doing lip service to his son. He’s afraid that that’s gonna trickle down. And he really is afraid that it’s not going away. So, praying that the Lord will give the family comfort and he…my brother will speak these words that he knows to be true with conviction and just not feel they are lip service. Thank you very much DABbers. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Blessed are You oh Lord our God King of the universe who forms light and creates darkness who makes peace and creates all things. Father You are sovereign, and we praise You and we bless You and we thank You for the blessings that You give us Lord. We thank You that Your sovereignty also includes Your grace, Your mercy, Your love, Your peace, Your hope Lord God. Father these are just interesting times to say the least. Lord I just want to lift up all of our shepherds that You have given us. Lord may You continue to bless them as they lead us, as they…as they protect us Lord, as a shepherd does as they protect us from the wolves oh Lord our God by giving us Your word. Father we thank You for Your teachers. We thank You for those You have set in government, for no man is in government that You haven’t put their Lord and we just pray that You give them supernatural wisdom during this time oh Lord my God. Father, I lift up of those who are suffering in this time. I think of a caller who said that she was Asian Lord. Forgive us for the behaviors that we exhibit to our fellow man. Father I just lift up all those who are struggling with mental illness at this time. Father give us clarity and remind us that fear in You is the beginning of all wisdom Lord. And remind…thank You for reminding us that fearing You is knowing and resting that You are loving, kind, and merciful. Father, we just….