Isaiah 62:6-65:25, Philippians 2:19-3:3, Psalms 73:1-28, Proverbs 24:13-14
Today is the 1st day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you. Welcome to the fourth quarter of the year, three quarters of the year behind us, yeah. It…it’s weird when you just start thinking about it isn’t it? It’s like we crossed through the new year and we got into the new year and then it…well…we went to Israel and then…then we got back from Israel and there was this virus going around the world and things were closing down and…and then it’s just, you know, been a number of things that have dominated the conversation and dominated and even change the way that we do things around the world since then. And, so, now we find ourselves kind of on the home stretch. Three months is a long time so we’ve got a lot of territory to cover in the Bible and quite a bit of territory to cover in our lives but knowing that we are turning into the home stretch gets us…well…starts getting us to think about how we want to finish this year, or it should. We can just go…we can go stumbling like a tumbleweed through into the new year or we can be firmly rooted and planted as we move into the new year. It’s like we say at the beginning of every week, it’s shiny, sparkly, new week, and we get to choose how we’re going to live into it. Well, we have a shiny, sparkly, final quarter of the year and how next year is gonna look is gonna, in part, be dependent on how we live this final quarter of the year. And, so, that's…I mean that should hold some gravity. It’s weighty. It’s not scary. It’s just a reality. The daily choices that we make are gonna…are gonna tell the story of how we end our year. And, so, just being aware of that, knowing that starting something new means…well…is best accomplished by finishing well what we are already doing. And, so, let’s band together brothers and sisters. We’re on the same ship here and let’s finish well in our lives and in the Scriptures. And one other thing, when we’re done with our reading today, I have something to announce, I have something to tell you. And, so, make sure you stay tuned for that. Okay, we got a new month and a new quarter and all that but we’re in the same week that we were in so we’re reading from the Lexham English Bible this week and picking up where we left off yesterday. Isaiah chapter 62 verse 6 through 65 verse 25 today.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we’ve got a brand-new month and we’ve got a brand-new quarter and it’s the final quarter of the year. So, it’s kind of the home stretch. And we find ourselves in the book of Psalms today seeing a crossroads, something very appropriate with this transition into the new quarter into the new month to consider the crossroads. And we’ve talked about crossroads many times on our journey through the Scriptures this year, especially when it comes to wisdom, when it comes to Proverbs and understanding that wisdom is at every crossroads yelling to all of humanity, “hey this is the way to go. That’s not the way to go.” And it’s always available if we’re paying attention. So, we kinda have a picture of a crossroads today in the book of Psalms. So, Psalm 73 is what we read. And Asaph, he’s not feeling strong. He’…he’s completely down about what he’s seeing. It’s perplexing to him. It's…it's…it’s supremely frustrating. And his frustration, although we are reading this back by thousands of years, his frustrations are still frustrations on the earth today because what he was seeing is, basically that he’s trying to be a righteous person among righteous people but when he looks out across his culture it’s like the evil ones are the ones that are…are rising to the top. It's…it’s like those who are corrupt are the ones who are actually prospering and seem…seemingly having such a very, very nice life. And, so, he’s like, “I was at a precipice”, basically, “I was about to fall off the wagon. I was about to slip. I…I…it almost happened. I almost went overboard. I envied the proud. I saw them prospering and even though they were wicked and I envied them.” And he’s asking himself, “what is it all for. I’m disciplining myself. I’m trying to be righteous. I’m trying to live into a holy life. And its hard and all of the things that could possibly go wrong seem to but I look out and I see people prospering who couldn’t care less about you Lord, couldn’t care less about where this is all going, couldn’t care at all what you might have to say to the…to Earth’s people.” And, so, he says and I’m quoting, “surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence and I have been plagued all day and rebuked every morning. If I had said I will speak with us,” in other words, “if I had been willing to say this out loud in front of people behold, I would’ve acted treacherously against your children’s generation. When I thought about how to understand this it was troubling in my eyes until” and we’ll get back to that in a second because the “until” is the crossroads. So, like we’re probably tracking with what Asaph is saying here. We probably have felt that way in one way or another. We may feel that way continually right now going through the year and the seasons that we’re going through. The thing to understand is that we’re at a crossroads. Life always brings us to a crossroads and life brought Asaph to a crossroads. So, he’s like, “when I thought about how to understand what I’m seeing it was troubling to even try to understand until”, the crossroads, “until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their fate.” So, what we see is Asaph being honest in his human perception. He’s not…there’s like no sugar coating to what he’s saying. He’s crying out. He doesn’t understand. It doesn’t make sense. And, so, rather than just going on a bender and some sort of way like, just going, “forget it. I’m not being righteous anymore. These guys have the easy way. I’m going the easy path.” He…he didn’t do that. He went into the presence of God instead. And in the presence of God he was reoriented in the way that he was looking at things, right? Because he went into the presence of God and the world didn’t change when he left the sanctuary. Like it was all the same thing. It was his perspective, the way that he saw, the way that he had eyes to see and ears to hear that it changed. And what he realized was there is more going on than I understand, which is something that we learned so clearly in the book of Job, but it’s something that we learned so clearly in so many of the stories of the Bible. What he began to realize with this was that the foundation that the wicked had built their lives upon was frivolous and wasn’t a foundation at all and had no eternal value and was nothing in the grand scheme of things, that their security, although they might’ve felt secure wasn’t gonna help them at all. In light of eternity they were completely exposed and completely unprotected. And one of the ways that the lights went on for Asaph, like one of the ways that he got eyes to see was that it wasn’t about other people prospering and him not. It was about his envy of what they had that he longed for that he didn’t have, which led him into the tornado of comparison that was spinning him around so that he couldn’t see up from down anymore. But once he got his feet back on the ground in the presence of God, he could see how he was behaving and confess. And I’m quoting, “when my heart was embittered, and I felt stabbed in my kidneys then I was brutish and ignorant. With you I was like the beasts”, right? was acting like an animal. Once he had gotten reoriented he was able to see. He was able to see clearly what was really happening. And he said, “I’m continually with you. You have hold of my right hand. You will guide me with your advice and afterward you will take me into honor. Who do I have in the heavens, except you? And with you I have no other desire on earth,” right? There it is. He’s made the choice at the crossroads. The envy has been released. “With you I have no other desire on earth. My flesh and heart failed but God is the strength of my heart and my reward forever.” A beautiful picture of repentance. And repentance as we’ve talked about so many times, like it sounds religious and it sounds hard but it’s changing your mind. It’s like just opening your eyes and seeing things clearly and going, “ahh…I was looking at this wrong and changing your mind and moving in a different direction. That is repentance and that’s what we see here. Asaph had first of all, noticed some discrepancies, some inequities that were bothering him. He was watching people prosper that he felt like they shouldn’t because they don’t honor God in any way. And yet God’s people are here still slogging along any he becomes envious, which is poison to the soul. And once envy and comparison get inside of us, kind of all bets are off, right? Have we not had the same experience? Like, once you go there all you can do is come up short or if you’re doing better and you’re making comparisons to people who are doing worse than you then all you can do is become proud, which is disaster in the making, as we know. And, so, to come back into God’s presence, say the truth, say what it looks like and then be humble before God knowing, “I don’t know all there is to know and I am certainly not looking at the big picture. I am looking at the little picture. The big picture is that I am a child of the most-high God. I am a joint heir with Jesus to the kingdom of God. I’m not lacking here. I don’t have to be better than anybody else. All I need is God’s presence.
Prayer:
Father, that leads us into this new month and thank You for that. We need it badly, badly. And, so, Holy Spirit we invite You to plant it deeply in our lives in the soil of our hearts. We need You. God, we need You. You are all that we need. When we are in Your presence and we are aware of it we realize we lack nothing. We have all that we need. We are going in the right direction. We are going somewhere good and we love You and we trust You and we invite Your Holy Spirit to continually bring this back to mind, that we might continually reorient ourselves to You by repenting. When we find our feet are about to slip and we’re about to go off the deep end we run do You. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.
Announcements:
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And I was mentioning yesterday that there’s something to tell you today. And I mentioned earlier before we started reading theirs something to tell you today. And there’s something to tell you today. And I’m telling it with the utmost joy. And I can also tell you that, joy has been in short supply this year, at least for me, maybe for you too, well I know for lots of you too. So, when you get a little something that’s full, just full, seeping, dripping with joy it's…you just want to share it. And, so, I want to tell you this. I guess it was a few weeks ago that we made a discovery, or a discovery was revealed to us and that is this. I don’t even know how…I’ve never actually ever said this before. Jill and myself, we have a daughter. Her name is China and you probably know that, and she’s married and her son-in-law, his name is Ben and they have informed us…you see where this is going? They have informed us that they will be having a baby, yeah, this coming spring, spring of 2021, April of 2021, we are expecting the newest addition. And man, it is such a bright spot. Like when I’m feeling overwhelmed or just bowled over, just to remember there’s a new one coming, a new little baby coming brings so much joy. So, they let us know a couple weeks ago and we had to keep it all under wraps because China is announcing this on Daily Audio Bible Chronological and social media and all of her friends and etc. etc. etc. today. So, I had to wait until today to let you know. But is this exciting or what? I have been wanting to tell for…well…I’ve wanted to tell since the next day after I found out. But here we are, and I get to say it. China that are pregnant. We are so excited. Thank you for your prayers over them. over China. She’s never done this before. It’s a brand-new thing but she glows. She glows…she…they are so happy. We are so happy for them. We were having dinner and she just kind of blurted it out…like it was so nonchalant that I had to…we just stopped and said, “wait. What…what are you talking about?” So, we had to make all the plans, let the rest of the family know and how this is gonna all rollout. Max found out and he’s like, “dude, you impregnated my sister.” And it’s been a really, really, really bright spot in a pretty challenging year. Wouldn’t…wouldn’t you say it’s been…I mean…I know it’s been challenging for just about everybody. So, new life, new life is coming. And I’ve been then thinking about the day that I would announce this since China was like a little girl. And, so, here it is. China, our little sweet baby girl has went and grown up and went find her…found herself a spouse, and now…now they’re beginning their own family and we are rejoicing and there’s really nothing else I could say today to top that. So, I’m just gonn let that stay right here and maybe we can all be lifted and maybe we can all rejoice and pray a prayer of blessing over them. In fact, let’s just end that way today.
Father thank You. Thank You for what You have created in making a community like this one, such a diverse community all over the world. Such a strange new invention, that we could be alive to be a part of this moving through the Bible together in community. And we have gotten to know each other and we have gotten to know so many stories over the course of the year but over the course of all of the years, so many stories so many miles so much joy and so much shouldering of burdens but today is a happy day. And, so, we thank You for China and we thank You for her contribution to the Daily Audio Bible all of these years and all those words and all of those verses all of those times through the Scriptures, and now it comes time for her and Ben to begin a family of their own and we are certainly gushing and we are certainly overjoyed, but we know that You are too, that You’ve been looking forward to this and we are looking forward to this. And, so, we pray blessing over them as they move through this pregnancy as they…as they continue to understand the transition that becoming a parent will be as they begin to live into that as they begin to settle into this idea that new life is coming and we bless them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And we pray these things in the beautiful name of the risen Christ. Amen.
And that’s it for today friends. I’m Brian. I’m very happy today and I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello this is Cheryl from Ontario I just started listening to the DAB earlier this year and I have called in before a couple times, but I especially want to express my appreciation for this podcast and community. I love the way Brian reads the Scriptures slowly and meaningfully and hearing all those who call in. I pray for the requests and rejoice with answered prayers and enjoy hearing those with encouraging words. God is at work and God is so good and gracious. Just to mention a few people. Maria, missionary in Mexico who called in for her coworker Barbara with a tumor. I’m praying for her but I also wanted to…I was also reminded to pray for you and your husband as a missionary pilot because I have known firsthand the blessing and benefits of this ministry and how challenging and stressful it can be. Also, someone had mentioned the groups struggling with addictions. I would like to mention a couple other groups that are struggling as well, those in nursing home facilities who don’t have the usual visitors or programs. I used to go in twice a month to do music programs and I know how important it was to them and it’s hard on families that can’t visit so easily and freely. The other group are those with mental illnesses or the development play challenge for handicapped who depend on social gatherings and activities. I know a few of these folks were really having a hard time. There are others I’d like to mention but my time is about up, so I just want to say for now blessings on you all.
Good morning family I hope you are well it’s Monday it’s a rainy Monday but that’s all right it’s going to be a good Monday because God’s got us. I was listening today…I’m caught up. That’s a “yay! Praise you Jesus!” I’m caught up. And, so, and Brian you’re just your killing it friend. Like this whole idea of maturing. Like the moment I try to point to someone else and say you need to be doing this or why are you doing that, or you need to believe in this. I need to look at the mirror and I need to mature. Wow. That floored me. And then yesterday at church there was a woman who sang and I’m not gonna sing for you, but I will read it to you, and I think that it goes with what Brian has been telling us. I need you you need me where all a part of God’s body. Stand with me agree with me where all a part of God’s body. It is His will that every knee…need should be supplied. You are important to me I need you to survive. You are important to me I need you to survive. I pray for you you pray for me I love you I need you to survive. It goes on to talk about I won’t harm you with words from my mouth. That song is just so beautiful, and I encourage you to go listen to it today. But above all let’s look in the mirror. Let’s tell each other we need each other. But above all let’s point our hearts and minds up to God and say we need you to survive. All right family make it a great week you are loved and appreciated. Peace.
Hello, DABbers this is Duncan the piano man from Fredericksburg Texas. As I make this recording it is September 28th. On October 2nd we will have marked the first anniversary of the date my wife Sharon went to be with the Lord after 43 years and two months of marriage. That was last year at 8:52 in the evening Central Daylight Time. I want to mark that date not with just sitting here and grieving which I will do but I will also want to mark that date with some sort of celebration of life, of her life just as I did for my anniversary. I’m asking prayer for me, yes for me as I observed that date. I hope to take a very of very, very pleasant and dear friends to a favorite restaurant that Sharon and I would often visit after church for lunch or after…some other time just on a whim. And I’m gonna just do that Friday if nothing else. So, I’m asking you to pray for me. Also, I’ve been very thankful for hospice. They have…the grief counselor has been super but now I’m going to a seminar or weekly support thing at our church now called grief share and so far, I’ve been very impressed. I don’t like pad answers that quote the…quote the Bible ala King James or some other translation and…and say yada yada yada that’s it, as if they don’t really know because they don’t. I like it, I like to work through it and that’s the way it is. Thank you very much. God bless you and any of you who are grieving you got my back too and I have yours, I hope.
Hello, DABbers I’m here with Ben and Hock and we heard the prayer request for Bryson and Desiree and we are praying for them and we know that Jesus can do all things. He can heal both of them. And for Bryson we just pray Lord that you will let him not feel embarrassed about his teeth, that you’ll take away the pain, that he’ll just be filled with joy and the friends and family that he has will just make him happy and that he won’t, you know, feel sad about his teeth and that they will grow back in and be perfect and beautiful and that his body will be healthy and strong. And for Desiree we pray the same thing, that she would just be completely healed, cancer be gone in Jesus’ name because God has all power and is able to do all things and we believe that, right guys? Yeah. And, so, we just wanted to say that we are praying and thank you for putting out those requests so that we can pray and we’re praising God for what he’s going to do and we look forward to hearing the praise reports. And here’s the scripture that I read this morning, “the young lions do grow tired and hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” So, I’m sharing that with you and everyone. Enjoy your day. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Hey guys I just wanted to call in in regards to the prayer request from Janice from Arizona for Desiree who has cancer all over her body and had to amputate her legs when she was younger. And man I just…really…really made me sad and I just want to pray for her and just want to, yeah, lift her up to the Lord. Father God I just want to pray for Desiree Lord. I pray that You would heal her, that You would remove all the tumors, all the cancer cells in a miraculous way in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. God encourage her, continue to just give her the joy that only comes from You. Surround her with the body of Christ to encourage her to look to things that are not seen, the joy that time is not seen when we have suffering all around us, the joy that is in You. So, God I just pray for full healing, for full healing Lord and let it be a glorious…glorious day for You Lord. Let Your name be glorified through all this. God I just pray for everyone that calls in about cancer. I pray that You would bring healing. In Jesus’ name I pray in Your powerful name Lord bring this healing I pray this in Your name Jesus. Amen. And guys I continue to ask for prayers for my wife who also has cancer. Pray for a…a miraculous healing from the Lord Jesus. Thank you all. Bye. And this is Sonny from Florida.
This is the __ calling from Israel I’m enjoying listening to the Scriptures in reading along with Brian on 28 September 2020. It’s Yon Kippur the day of atonement and I wanted to share and encourage DAB listeners of how Ephesians 6 helped me see the light and is my life Scripture, but I always come back to and stand on. I was saved from living in a very dark and sinister life of drugs and sex and witchcraft. Ephesians 6 was the chapter that showed me that I was not struggling against people but the stratagems of Satan, the darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness. I had to put on the armor of God the belt of truth the breast prayed of righteousness the shoes of the gospel of peace holding the shield of faith to extinguish the evil that is coming against me putting on the helmet of salvation to protect my mind and lifting the sword of the Spirit to let God’s word accomplish that which it was sent to do. As I was praying with close friends the other day, I realized that all the attacks my family’s currently experiencing are not with flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness. Getting out a bottle of oil I began anointing my house the doors and gates and in a loud voice commanded the devil to get out of my home and leave my family alone in Yeshua’s name. I then proceeded to slam the door feeling a lift in the spirit and a sense of freedom. So, I pray for all the DAB listeners who are struggling with the confusion of who they are fighting against. I pray that you will become strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength to outwit the enemy and that you will be filled with the Spirit of God so He can help you stand strong fighting through this journey we call life. Hallelujah.