Job 20:1-22:30, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, Psalms 40:11-17, Proverbs 22:2-4
Today is the 26th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a privilege and an honor and a joy, and an all-around good time to be here with you around the Global Campfire as we find our places and just relax and allow the Scriptures to speak into our lives. We are reading from the New Living Translation this week and working…working our way through the book of Job. Also, we concluded the book of first Corinthians yesterday in our reading and so today we will begin the letter, the second…the letter to the Corinthians known as second Corinthians. But first, Job 20 through 22.
Introduction to second Corinthians:
Alright. So, as we mentioned at the beginning of our time together today, when we get to the New Testament, which is where we are, we’ll be getting to some new territory. So, we read a letter to the Corinthians that we know as first Corinthians, and concluded that yesterday, which brings us to a letter known as second Corinthians. Even though it’s probably at least Paul’s third letter to the Corinthian church, because in first Corinthians a letter was referenced that we don’t have. It’s not preserved, it hasn’t been discovered, it doesn’t seem to exist still. But there was another letter. And, so, this could be third Corinthians, but it’s second Corinthians. And among biblical scholars the authenticity of this letter is…is pretty secure. Most scholars agree there is some…some disagreement about whether it’s a complete letter or maybe it’s a combination of more than one letter. Some scholars even think maybe that first letter that was referred to is contained in second Corinthians, but this is conjecture. I mean there are reasons for these thoughts, but it’s not 100%. There’s no way to guarantee that any of these theories are correct. It’s just…there’s a very, very big difference between the beginning, the first part of this letter and then the…the last half of the letter. So, some have thought, well maybe this is more than one letter. So, second Corinthians, what we’re about to read probably was written on Paul’s third missionary journey and that would put it somewhere in the late 50s A.D. Again, just reminding us, the writings of Paul are the earliest Christian documents that we have, and they’re preserved in the New Testament, but there earlier. They were written before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written. And, so, they’re earlier than that. But anyway, Paul had a son in the faith, known as Timothy, but he also the son of faith known as Titus and Titus had visited the Corinthians and then met up with Paul while he was traveling and that let Paul get feedback both how the church in Corinth was doing, but also the impact of the letter that he had written, the one that we just read. And that feedback from Titus prompted Paul to write the letter that we’re about to start reading. No let’s just remember that Corinth, it is a cosmopolitan Roman Empire city, very secular, very sensual, a lot of ideas, a lot of persuasions, very secular, rebellious in a lot of ways. I mean, basically what you would expect of any metropolitan area where a lot of people are, especially if they’re a lot of people from all over the place. You got a kind of melting pot of ideas. And, so, some of that rebellion, though, was finding its way into the church. Some of the world was seeping in and there’s plenty of division. Paul talks about the division in first Corinthians, and I mean he has to talk about it again because there’s a small group of influential members in the church in Corinth that…just playin’ straight up church politics. Imagine that? I mean we think like 2000 years later, like that stuff goes on, but it certainly didn’t happen in the early church, but it did. It has always been a part of the story and we’ll read about that some in this letter. These influential members wanted power and they questioned Paul’s authority and the rules that he was putting down and whether or not he was really an apostle. And for that matter, even questions about what he taught, the gospel itself. So, that’s kind of the backdrop here. That’s what’s going on as Paul writes this letter. And, so, that’s how we need to read it. And we’ll find out that it’s an old letter that has pretty modern issues. I mean some things that are going…that were going on are going on now. It…it’s different, the cultures different. But it's…it’s the posture of heart, right? It’s the issues of our hearts that Paul talks about that are still with us until…until today. And, so, with that, we begin that second Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1 through 11.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for where we are at in the Scriptures. Each new day, each new season, each new month, so many different complexions, so many different angles, so many different stories, so many different people to get to know. And in each instance, we find humanity and we find You in the middle of it all. Even when in our humanness we are crying out in agony or in question or in uncertainty, as we see the book of Job You are with us. So come Holy Spirit and plant what we’ve read. And even as we get going in the letter to the Corinthians, second Corinthians we ask that You encourage and rebuke, comfort and correct so that we might walk the narrow path that leads to life. 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 everybody it’s Donna from California and it’s August 20th. I just listened to the podcast and the prayers and heard…the last prayer request was from Julie from the UK. And Julie, I want you to know that I will be praying for you. I’m sure many others will be too. I heard…I just heard the cry of loneliness and anxiety and despair coming out. And the verse…the…a verse just kept coming to my mind I thought well, I’ve gotta call this in. So, this is Psalm 34 verse 18. The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saved…saves the crushed in spirit. I just want you to know that we are praying for you and most importantly the Lord is close to you. He is close to you in your…whatever it is you’re going through, missing your family, having to move to a new…a new country. It’s just a very difficult time all over the world with everything that’s been going on. So many things. And Lord Jesus please, please rush to Julie’s side. Please let her know that You are close to her and that You love her with a love that is so deep and so far, and so wide. Let her know that You are there and that she is Your beloved child. Lord Jesus, we thank You for…for coming to us in the…in these moments. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
Good morning DAB family this is Ashley from California and I just wanted to give you a little update. I reached out for prayer in May for my dad who had a stroke, and it was a mini one, but he was in recovery for that and then come July he had another series of strokes. I took him to the hospital and then they released him and then he had another series of strokes and then he was in the hospital for about two or three weeks and then in rehab and it’s been an adventure to say the least. But I wanted to come on here and say thank you to all of you. You have blessed my heart; you have blessed my family by uplifting us in prayer and I just want to say thank you to all of you. You have been so good to us, and God has been so good to us by giving us the DAB and the community that comes along with it. So, DAB family I just want to thank you. And I am so grateful to Brian and Jill and your family for this ministry. And like Brian says, when we are able to get out of our own situation for a minute and lift others up, I feel like you’re able to take some of that anxiety that you have about your own situation and give it to God, and it’s worked out in a way that is honoring to Him. So, I love you DAB family. Have a great week.
Good morning DABbers this is my song that I sang on the first day of school and my grandma really wants me to sing it for you. So, here it is. [singing starts] when it feels like nothing’s there, when it feels like nothing’s there to protect you, you have the ore. Just start roaming the ore. Cause no matter how big the mountain __ you’re always gonna make it through and I will too because I know this very well. I know that God is with me. Even when I’m stuck in the middle of the valley and trying to go down. But cheetahs and hyenas and maybe even bobcats are all around me. But then Jehovah the great lion comes, his mentality scares them away and are ready to show that what I can do is nothing without God because no matter where I am I’ve seen the prettiest valleys and shadows. Sometimes God can be dark to hide what the devils to trying to show you. And no matter of what I have in my hand I can always trust in God…
Hello, my DAB family it is Doctor John from Jordan NY this is the glaucoma surgery sequel and I’m titling this one miracle number two. I…it’s just…it’s just flat out unbelievable. One of the brothers was talking about feeling undeserving and…and I know the feeling. So, long story. I was having headaches and the headaches were really high eye pressures and it was causing swelling in the cornea and that was excruciatingly painful over the course of a week or so. The ophthalmologist put in a contact lens which helped to calm down the cornea and helped immensely in terms of the headaches, but the problems was the pressure. And what had happened is that when I went blind the tube had gotten stuck in the iris and gotten plugged. So, there was this plug of iris material in the tube and the tube was not working. It wasn’t draining the way it was supposed to. So, I went back this Friday fully anticipating that the tube was still going to be plugged, I was going to need a second surgery to fix the plug. And she says your pressure is 11 and the tube is clear. God is so good. Your prayers have resulted in miracle number…miracle number two. There is no way that that cleared other than your prayers. I love you guys I’m running out of time.
Good morning DAB listeners I am Jen, and I am new to this community but I’m so thankful for it. It’s such an encouragement. I love hearing the scriptures daily, particularly the context of them. It just helps encourage my faith so much. And I love hearing the call ins both for prayer requests and encouragements and praise reports. I am calling in to say thank you to both of those of you who call in and vulnerable…vulnerably express your request to this community. Those are sources of encouragement. And for those of you who respond by praying for individuals, those are sources of encouragement as well. So, thank you to everyone who is listening to the Holy Spirit inside of you, the breath of God as I’ve recently learned it to be called, that is always with us and can never be lost. So, I just pray that you’re encouraged today where you’re at in your situation and know that the breath that is with you is the Holy Spirit inside of you and you’re never alone. Have a great day.