Joshua 24:1-33, Luke 21:1-28, Psalms 89:38-52, Proverbs 13:20-23
Today is the 22nd day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s always great to be here with you. Always great to see everybody coming in around the Global Campfire just settling in as we take our next step forward. We have been reading in the Old Testament from the book of Joshua for a little bit. Today we will conclude the book of Joshua and move into some brand-new territory tomorrow as we begin the book of Judges but let’s finish the book of Joshua strong. We’re reading from the New Living translation this week. Joshua chapter 24.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the gospel of Luke today we saw this very very brief story just a very very brief couple lines. Jesus is in the temple complex and this is all before His disciples are admiring the temple and all the buildings of downtown Jerusalem. And this is where Jesus is like, “this is all coming down. Like, there won’t be any stone left unturned. The whole thing is coming down.” And of course, this is referring to what will happen in the future within the next 50 years. Jerusalem will be destroyed by the Romans. We’ve talked about this. They were looking for a Messiah. Jesus came. They got rid of Him and then they decide to take matters into their own hands later and rose up and revolted against Rome and were…were crushed in that process. So, we’ve talked about that. But just before all of that Jesus is in the temple, and there’s this…well…there’s a collection box. So, the offering is being given and they’re just watching people put money into the collection box to care for the temple. And it’s here that we learn something really interesting about the way God looks at things because they’re watching people give plenty of money and then they watch a poor widow give 2 minas…2 small…like pennies…2 small kinda…kinda coins, the smallest amount of currency. Jesus comments on that, that the poor woman who put the two tiny little coins, like really hardly any money at all, that…that she had given more than everybody else because everyone else had given out of their surplus. They still had plenty in their own control, but she had given all that she had to God. In other words, she put all of her trust about her existence in the future, including the next day in God’s hands. And, so, as Jesus comments on this this tells us how God is looking at things. It’s not like, “o, you can stroke the million-dollar check because you’re so wealthy and God’s so impressed with that that somehow you’ve gotta have high honor when stroking that million-dollar check is way more than almost any of us could do. If that’s your surplus, if you worth a hundred million dollars and you give a million dollars, certainly that’s more than almost anybody else could give but the person who gives two cents and that’s all that they have and they are completely and utterly dependent upon God from that point forward. God sees that.” So, it’s not about how much you can accumulate it’s about how much you’re willing to trust God with what you have. And that brings out quite a bit of clarity when Jesus is like, “it’s very difficult for rich person enter the kingdom of heaven”, right? Because a rich person has a lot under their control, and they feel a lot of control about what they have. So, if they give a bunch of money that’s a bunch of money, that’s great and it’s a blessing to the kingdom and everything but they still have a surplus that’s way way way more…like everything is…nothing has changed. Like they’re still in control, when entering into the kingdom is the profound awareness of complete and utter surrender, and dependence on God for the next breath and everything else. And, so, that’s definitely some things to think about from the gospel of Luke today.
Then in the book of Joshua, we concluded the book of Joshua today. And, so, we will be turning into the book of Judges tomorrow and that is sort of the story that comes next and it’s a very very different story than the one we’ve been reading. So. we’ll get to that tomorrow. But we remember when we said goodbye to Moses, and we took a minute just to honor that. Like we traveled a long way with Moses, went through a lot of stuff and bore witness to the wandering in the wilderness and the message of the wilderness and just the story of the wilderness. And then Joshua led the people across into the promised land and settled the promised land and now we’re saying goodbye to Joshua. He was 110 years old and Joshua did similar things to what his mentor Moses had done. He gathered all the people together to…to essentially give them a final charge. He reminded them of where they came from and how they had gotten to where they are and who God was and then he said something that is very very famous, “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” And that was sort of the…the apex of what he was trying to say, the pinnacle of what he was trying to stress to the people, and they responded in kind, that they would serve the Lord as well, that they would remain in the covenant that the Lord had made with them and that they would honor and serve God. Then Joshua said something just profound, profound enough that it echoes all the way into our laps. “You are a witness to your own decision. You have chosen to serve the Lord.” And the people responded, “we are witnesses to what we have said.” Can we just make that immediate? We are witnesses to our own decision. We have chosen to serve the Lord. Our lives are the witness to whether or not we are honoring that covenant. That right there cuts to the chase. Like it…it…it cuts to the bone, like gets to the bedrock after the same fashion that…that Jesus would speak and answer questions with questions and speak into situations that are the bedrock of what’s really going on. If we, if our lives, if the weight of our lives in this world, the influence, the impact of our lives in this world does not serve as a witness to our decision than all we have is words. And we have learned from the Scriptures plenty, but we also already know this, talk is cheap. It can say anything. But how you live, that’s what you believe. And, so, Joshua is bringing that front and center to the children of Israel who are now settled in the promised land, a story that we have been chasing since the book of Genesis basically this whole year. Now they are settled in the promised land and their leader Joshua is bringing things front and center. This is what he wants to stress before he becomes history. It’s that important. And, so, let’s take it from Joshua, let’s take it from the Scriptures as that important. You are a witness to your own decision. You have chosen to serve the Lord.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit come into that declaration. This has been our declaration all along but maybe we’ve never thought that our lives are a witness for or against us, that our lives are a witness for or against You, that often what we say and how we actually live are different. And that should not be. And, so, as we leave the book of Joshua and begin to turn the page into the story that comes next, we will certainly learn plenty. But we’re right here right now being a witness to our own decision. And may we hold it with the gravity and the honor that it deserves. We pray this in the name of Jesus. 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:
Hi fellow DABbers this is Rosanna and I’m from Johnson City TN and this is April 15th, and I just heard the prayer request from Alec and Tyrone. Alec has a wife named Jesse who has terminal cancer and she’s out of treatment options and Tyrone has a wife who is an unbeliever. And, so, I just want to pray for both of these gentlemen. Dear heavenly Father we come to You and we petition to You on behalf of Alec. Lord Jesus You are the giver of good gifts and You bring healing to our bodies. You still do that today and I pray that You would be with Jesse. I pray that You would supernaturally touch her body and I pray that this cancer would fall away from her body in the name of Jesus. I pray that You would bring a full healing, a supernatural healing that brings glory to Your name. I pray for Tyrone. I pray for his wife. I pray that You can open her eyes, open her heart, open her ears so that she can see Your great love for her, and she can see the fact that You are still pursuing her. And I pray that she would strengthen their marriage and that You would just overcome her with Your love and help her to see You. And God, I thank You for the Daily Audio Bible. I thank You for the fact that it helps so many people to know about You and Your…and Your word and Your love for us. And I also pray for my own mother who has terminal cancer and she’s in the exact same position as Jesse. I pray that You would supernaturally heal her and touch her body and bring a complete healing. We love You Jesus. We know You’re in control.
It’s April 16th Friday my name is Ted from California. All week since the weekend I’ve been going through a lot of anxiety spiritual battles depression. Something triggered it. I’m not sure. I’m hurting right now, and I just need a lot of prayer and I’m trusting in God to pull me out of this and to make it better and I just want to tell pastor Brian that without this this app and everyone else in the DAB community I would be lost for sure. And, so, I just ask for your prayers and your support. I love you and I thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Good afternoon today is Friday April 16th, 2021 my name is Shondra Brooks and I’m calling from Maryland and I wanted to leave a two-part message. The first being a song, a simple song that’s always in my heart and just as a reminder for everyone who hears this call and sings. And the song is somebody’s prayed for me, you put them on my mind, you held…I’m sorry…you put me on their mind, they took the time and prayed for me. I’m so glad they prayed. I’m so glad they prayed. I’m so glad they prayed for me. As simple as it is it means so much and it’s a major representation of Daily Audio Bible and I’m grateful for Brian and Jill and everyone who even works in the background because truly just the opening message when I first started listening in 2014, I just felt like crying because I was like wow, you know, someone will be able to hear me, and they’ll be able to…and pray with me and for me. And it is appreciated. I also wanted to say I am so grateful and thankful for this. I haven’t even gotten to the 1st of April as far as the podcast, but God is so faithful and so awesome that the parts that I hear, they directly coincide with where I am and my life and what I need to hear to encourage myself. And in saying all that just to keep it short and sweet, I love you guys. I’m constantly praying for those whose prayers come through and everyone just continue to be faithful even if you feel…feel…feel…feel fearful to call in. God knows your heart. He knows what you stand in need of even…
Good morning family I’m Honeybee from Louisiana. I called in in August expressing my frustration over 20 years of eye surgeries, over 20 eye surgeries but now I’m in a very desperate place for a miracle. I had a macular hole appear the left eye in August and in February there was bleeding in my eye, in the right eye, and the doctor went in and he said there were two blood tumors, and he couldn’t remove them. He did laser them and remove the blood and put it a gas bubble, all that fun stuff, but it’s been two months and he said the eyes full of blood, the pressure is so low that the muscles are starting to lose their shape and what happens is the I caves in and this is the first time in 20 years I said I don’t want to have a surgery. I just want to keep my eye. I’ve lost my sight in my right eye. I can’t see it all for the last two months, but he said you will lose your eye if we do not do this surgery. And then he said if we do it you still might lose the eye. So, please pray for me. I need…I’m discouraged, and I need a miracle. I need God to remove these tumors and restore the pressure and restore the site and I appreciate your prayers. Thank you, my family. I love you.
This is Steve from Branson Mo and I just want to lift up two fellow DABbers in prayer. The first one called in a few weeks ago and I’ve been praying for you daily since. Your name is Jermaine and you’re in upstate New York and you’re incarcerated. And I just want to let you know that I’ve been there. I understand what you’re going through. I’m thinking of you and I’m praying for you. And the second one is a man who didn't…didn’t give a name. He just called in and said that he was not worth anything to anyone and I am praying for you too. I’ve had those feelings and continue to have those feelings. And Father I lift up these two gentlemen to You in the name of Jesus. Touch their lives. Heal them emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically. Father, touch their lives and make them whole. Give them self-worth in the name of Jesus. Amen.