Isaiah 41:17-43:13, Ephesians 2:1-22, Psalms 67:1-7, Proverbs 23:29-35
Today is the 23rd day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy to be here with you today as we come around the Global Campfire together and just…well…like we say…let it go, release. Whatever the cares of this world are we can pick them up at the door when we leave if that’s what we want to do. But it’s possible, it’s just possible that as we orient ourselves to God through the Scriptures, we…we may leave this space looking at things a little bit differently and that may give us what we need to navigate. So, let’s just kind of leave it. Let’s exhale. Let’s just take a deep breath and let it go as we enter into our time in the Scriptures today. So, we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version working our way through the book of Isaiah. Today, Isaiah chapter 41 verse 17 through 43 verse 13.
Commentary:
Okay. So, I have been on top of many mountains in my life. I have…you may have too. Some of you live on top of mountains or live in mountains somewhere in the world. But if you’ve ever been to the top of a mountain, like you are actually at the summit of the mountain well then you can kind of look…like you can do a 360. Like there’s nothing above you anymore and you may be able to look 100 miles or you may be able to look way down into that city you are in, you know, so long ago before you drove up or hiked up or whatever. You…you may be able to look far off into the mountain wilderness and see peak after peak after peak just cascading off into the distance. And to me, Ephesians is kind of like that mountain top experience in the Bible or even the journey. Like if you drive up to the top of a mountain there’s gonna be a lot of turnoffs along the way where you can kinda get a vantage point on your way to the summit and everywhere you look you’re just like, “this can’t be real, this is so beautiful. Like, this is a postcard. This is unbelievable.” And that’s kinda how Ephesians reads to me. So, like just reading from what we…what we read from the letter today, “you were saved by faith in God who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you not anything you have done on your own. It isn’t something you have earned. So, there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as He has always wanted us to live. That’s why He sent Christ to make us what we are.” Okay. We could be like, “okay. Yup. Theologically I understand that. That's…that is kind of laying out the good news in a nice bite-size morsel” or we could slow down and understand we are on a journey and this is a vista and what’s being said here is that God wants us. Like we’re not earning our way into anything. He wants us and there’s nothing we can do to puff ourselves up like we’re super spiritual. He can see right through that obviously but so can everybody else. We haven’t earned anything. We can’t earn this. It was bestowed upon us. It’s a gift because He wants us. He planned for our lives and sent Jesus to make it possible. Okay. So, there…there’s no…there’s like little chart with stars on it for good behavior that we can earn, and if we get enough stars then we get to the next level of heaven or something or even get there at all. This is a gift. It’s something that we receive by faith, which…which basically at its essential core simply means that we believe that it’s true. We didn’t God. God found us. Like, we didn’t choose God He chose us personally. He came near and we reached out and He reached back, and we embraced, and this fantastic gift of salvation was given. We didn’t earn it and He’s not gonna take it back and nobody can take it from us. We can reject it, but it can’t be taken from us. No one can steal it from us. And since we can’t earn then we have…like there’s nothing to be puffed up about. The only thing we can rightfully be is humbled, humbled with such unbelievable undeserved kindness. So, I know that you know because we sing songs about it and you might hear it in church and might recite it, that God knows who you are, that you are His child, that He knows your name. But have you ever just like slowed down enough to think about what we are talking about. The most-high God, the Creator of all things…I mean just look around you…just look at the trees…just look around and understand that all of this was set in motion by God, the most-high God. This isn’t our planet or our nation. This is God’s creation. He owns all of it and we fight over which part of it we get to steward. This is His, He made it and we are here because He loves us. That is a lot to take in when you slow down enough to see how good the Good News is. And, so, may we…well…may we relax. Remember those cares of the world we were talking about at the beginning, like we can pick all that stuff up when we leave the Global Campfire here but what good is that gonna do? The most-high God has come for us and chosen us. Certainly, whatever we’re carrying around that’s bringing us stress and anxiety right now pales in comparison to that. The most-high God, who created the world that we live on and this place is His, He can handle whatever is we’re draggin’ around. And maybe we’re draggin’ around a bunch of stuff because we think it gives us some sort of value or some sort of identity when there is no greater identity than to be the child of the most-high God. Like that’s winning the lottery. That’s the cosmic lottery. There is nothing ever that’s going to be better than that. So, whatever’s leaning by the door that we can pick up when we leave, we need to look at it with a whole new set of eyes, eyes to see and ears to hear.
Prayer:
Father we thank You that You have chosen us, that You came to find us. We keep thinking we found God, we found Jesus…we…You came for us. You were always there. Just one day we had eyes to see and things have never been the same because we can’t unsee Your goodness. We can be blinded to it and be distracted away from it. That is the work of the world. You have called us to rise above it all and see hundreds of miles to see the grand vista peak after peak after peak of Your glory. And we will move from glory to glory because we are Your children. Come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth. Come Holy Spirit and give us eyes to see and ears to hear. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
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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:
Hello this is Smiley Gail from Canada I’m calling today to…for the first time and I’d like to lift up Terry the Trucker to You Lord. He’s lonely and he’s hurting, and he’s worried about his family, but I just pray that You would heal his granddaughter and make his home safe for him to return to. And Lord while he’s in his truck isolating, I just pray that You would meet his every need. I pray also for all the people who are in AA and Al-Anon and groups like that who are suffering during this pandemic because they can’t get together like they usually do. And I pray those who aren’t in those groups but should be, that You would lead them in. And Lord I pray for my own family members who are struggling with addictions to alcohol and other substances, that You would help them to find freedom and put them in touch with other people who would support them. And I just ask Your blessing on the woman who called in who was a special needs children worker and that you would restore her to her job in Jesus’ name I pray this. Amen.
O Lord God who thou has made the heavens and the earth by thy great power. Father Your ruling over all things and it’s Sunday and it’s Your day it’s a day of worship but Lord there’s so many…so many people suffering, so many people in fear and hurt who need You and need Your help. Thank You for the woman who reached out for the first time after listening for seven years to ask for prayer. I pray that her husband will be completely exonerated and that the relationship between him and his family and their extended family will be healed. I pray for the woman who feels like she’s being attacked from all sides that You will give her strength and that You will give her somebody to lean on. I pray for Terry the Trucker who is, I guess You could say, a full-time trucker now. I pray that You will give him courage and give him strength to bear through and bear up and to not be afraid. And I pray that the COVID symptoms and everything will pass, and his family will be clean soon so that he can be with them again. Father I pray that You will renew a right spirit in us all and a spirit of joy and trust in You. Thank You that You’re here. Thank You for this family. And it’s in Jesus’ name that I pray. Amen. This is Mark Turner from New Jersey. I love you all.
Hello from beautiful Cincinnati Ohio this is Daniel Johnson Junior how y’all doing? Thank you to everybody that prayed for me when…after I called in earlier this month…last month. The situation is still very dire for us financially…don’t know exactly how we are going to make ends meet but working out some things to get that happening. Wanted to share something that I kind of…that I was thinking about from Brian’s reading on Friday, September 18th from Galatians chapter…chapter 3 verse 23 through 29. And just to echo what Brian had said…shared the Bible is just a boo. What we do because of it, how we live because of it, that’s what matters. It reveals the extent of God’s love for us and urges us to respond to that love by committing our own styles to His ways. It got me thinking, well, you know, a marriage certificate is just a piece of paper. What we do as married couples because we’re married, how we live in marriage, that’s what matters. Yes, the wedding and may have been awesome and we got that piece of paper to show that were married but unless we live it out in our daily commitment to our spouses it means nothing. The same way, a birth certificate, yes, even a birth certificate is just a piece of paper showing that you were born. By itself it’s only that but what you do because you were born, that’s what matters. And I was reminded about what Paul writes in first Corinthians 15. He says, “by the grace” and this is NIV, “by the grace of God I am what I am and His grace to me is not without effect.” So, brothers and sisters let’s live out what we read in the Bible and what we have understood in the Bible so that God’s grace will not be without effect, that the Bible will be more than just this book that we rely on. God bless you all from beautiful Cincinnati Ohio. Make it a great day.
Hey, my precious DAB family this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel from Chicago. I want to speak to Melissa. Your husband is being wrongfully accused for molesting a family member many years ago. I want to pray for you sis, but I just want you to know I…I know this story all too well. And, so, my heart is right there with you. And, so, family let’s pray for our sister and our brother. Dear God, our Father we thank You that You all the Lord of hosts. You are the God of armies and You are in control of everything. You know our down sitting from our uprising. You know exactly what is taking place with this accusation that’s being formed against Melissa’s husband. God, will You be the judge and the jury O God on this matter and will You expose the works of Satan as he is attempting to bring down a family and a man’s life in particular. God, I pray that You would be the one to rescue our brother from this wrongful accusation. Will You allow truth to prevail. Will You allow justice to prevail. And would You allow mercy to prevail in the name of Jesus. We thank You God that You are the one that vindicates us, and we are believing that You will vindicate Melissa’s husband according to Your divine will. Will You strengthen my sister, encourage her and comfort her to know that all is well because You see all. In Jesus’ name. Be encouraged sis.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Laura in West Palm Beach Florida. I’m calling to pray for Terry the trucker. Terry, I heard your message this morning on this 20th of September that your granddaughter has COVID. And I want to tell you Terry that I’m praying for your granddaughter for healing, for quick recovery, for no one else in the family to have any…any symptoms of this COVID as a result of her sickness and I pray that she would soon be well. I pray that you would be well while you’re waiting and quarantining yourself in your truck and Terry that you would stay well and not get this disease. I pray that your fear would be replaced with faith and I pray Father…heavenly Father that You would just protect his family. Lord I pray they would see Terry’s faith and they would be encouraged, that they would recover from the sickness as a family Father because when one person in the family hurts they all hurt and that’s how we feel about you Terry. This family is praying with you. This family is lifting you up to the Father because He didn’t bring you this far to leave you Terry. We love you.
Hi, DABbers. Hi Brian and thank you for your ministry and thank you DABbers for all your prayers. I’m sorry for my English. It is not my first language. I want to reach out for a prayer for someone I know. He needs very much help because he’s very young in faith and he has to grow a lot as a man to be able to care for the people around him and for himself and to grow towards what God has purposed for him, towards the image of the son of God. Please pray for him because my time and abilities haven’t been as good as I had hoped. Thank you all. Bye.