Month: August 2021

Job 1:1-3:26, 1 Corinthians 14:1-17, Psalm 37:12-29, Proverbs 21:25-26

Today is the 21st day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as we bring to the close another one of our weeks together and even as we do that, we’re opening the books on a brand-new book, and some brand-new territory that we haven’t been in yet. So, we wound our way all the way in the book, from the book of Genesis and met Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all their children and the tribes and we’ve gone the journey with Moses. We have learned of the kings, we have met some of the prophets, we have learned of the exile, we have even learned of the return from exile and we have moved through the short story, but the potent story of Esther which we finished up yesterday and so now were turning into a new genre and some new territory.

Introduction to the Book of Job:

We’re moving into the book of Job, and Job is a part of a collection of books in the Bible, known as wisdom literature underneath its narrative are lessons for us to mind and meditate upon and this territory that we’re going into deals with some of the more difficult things that we face in life be, unexplained things. The things that leave us going, why? Why me and how is this just and how is this fair. And if God is all-powerful and why can this kind of evil exist? Theologically, this is known as the Odyssey, like the defense of the goodness and the power and might of God in the face of evil, unspeakable evil. And, this has obviously, since this is very old texts, then wrestled with for thousands and thousands and thousands of years and we continue to wrestle until today in an attempt to understand and even as we moved through Job, we still end up with plenty of questions about plenty of things but we’re given perspective and a place to aim our hearts in these situations. But as tragic as some of the story of Job is, is it is still considered one of the most beautiful pieces of literature in the Bible for sure, but it’s well-respected external to the Bible as well. And for as important of a topic where this text came from is disputed, mostly because there's…there’s not a lot, I mean, there’s plenty in the book but there’s not a lot of historical context, and there’s not a lot of names, there are names, but they’re hard to find historically to pinpoint, to have something to hold onto historically, which then leads to a lot of conjecture which happens so often in so many different parts of the Bible. So, some scholars accept that Job could be one of the more ancient books in the Bible if not the most ancient book in the Bible. But even in the Hebrew Jewish tradition, the opinions are varying. Some think that there’s archaic Hebrew being used, and so it’s very, very ancient. A lot of words are used in the book of Job. Hebrew words that aren’t found anywhere else in the Bible. So, some have concluded maybe this is old as Abraham. This is a story that goes back that far. Then there are other scholars that believe this was probably written from the exile, or just after, like a returning exile who…who didn’t speak Hebrew, might’ve been a Hebrew person but had grown up in exile and so didn’t speak Hebrew as native tongue. And so, that would explain this…this word use. Other scholars will hold to the tradition that Job was collected, or are even written by Moses and if that were the case then maybe he was writing down oral traditions like a story that had been passed down orally throughout the generations to deal with the issue of unexpected suffering and tragedy and evil. There aren’t a ton of characters in the book of Job, so we’ll meet the people as…as they, as they come to the story. We’ll meet some friends of Job who traveled pretty distant to comfort their friend who has really gone through worst things pretty much any of us ever, ever will. So, the bulk of the narrative really is a conversation between Job and his friends. And, Job will insist until the very end that he has done nothing wrong and that this is not just, and that he needs an explanation and he doesn’t want an explanation from his friends. He doesn’t want an explanation from another human being for that matter, he feels like he’s a human being and he’s not stupid, he’s wise, he’s always been considered wise and so he knows as much, as his friends who are also wise, have to tell him, and it’s not sufficient. He needs an answer from God and he doesn’t know how to get that or even what he would do if he did get that. And, his friends are counseling him and we’ll notice that the things that they say they don’t, it doesn’t seem like they’re crazy, it’s the kind of stuff that we might find ourselves saying as well, but it does get contentious and argumentative. Because Job will not relent that he is innocent and they can’t find any grid that would allow him to be innocent and his stories still make sense. And so, with all of that we dive into this new territory. Job chapters 1 through 3 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for bringing us through another week successfully together and as we turn into this new territory and Job, we invite Your Holy Spirit to come, speak to us, guide us, direct us, correct us, comfort us, lead us forward into all truth, we pray in the mighty name of Jesus we ask expectantly. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is, well, that’s ground zero, that’s home base, that’s where the Daily Audio Bible lives on the Internet. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can access all of the stuff on the web within the app as well, pretty much. And so, that makes it convenient if you’re using the app, check that out, but that’s the home of the Global Campfire. That’s where we find out what’s going on around here. So certainly, want to be aware of the Community section, this is where to get connected. Be aware of the Daily Audio Bible Shop. This is where there are a number of resources in a number of categories more than fun things to wear and, just things to carry around with us to remind us that we’re a part of a Community moving through the Bible in a year, but there are also resources for taking the journey deeper, resources for journaling and that sort of things and so, certainly check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, we thank you from the depths of our hearts from a grateful place. We thank you, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t together as a community taking this journey and well, for all these years we have been exactly that. And so, thank you for your partnership, especially as we navigate the heat of the summer. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayers and Encouragements:

This is Protected by His Wings in Eastern Tennessee. Dear heavenly Father we pray for the country of Afghanistan today. Lord, we plead Your hand of mercy upon the people of Afghanistan who are fleeing for their lives. The government and security forces who are fleeing. Those who were assisting and helping Western governments and militaries in the past decades who now are in fear of their lives. If not, who are already fleeing for their lives. Lord, we ask Your hand of protection over these people. May Your will be done on earth as it is heaven and the country of Afghanistan. Lord, we pray that the countries of the world, including Afghanistan would seek Your face for the answers to the questions that they have on what to do next and how to rule such a country. Lord, protect Your people, provide a way where we see no way, provide a way, provide hope where we don’t see any hope. We pray this in Jesus precious name. Amen.

Hi this is Bonnie from Virginia. Today is Saturday August 14th. I just listened to the prayer request that Jonathan from Denmark called. I was so amazed to hear someone who is only 20-years-old and being so honest, expecting and requesting prayer from the group. And he said he has only started listening to DAB for about a month or over a month. But thank you for trusting us and requesting for your praise. We will be praying for you, my son. There are so many young adults or kids of your age who are still ___ and not realizing their sin or mistake. But you are at the right place now everyone will be praying for you and thank you for being honest. God loves those children. So, every time if you are being tempted to look at the pornography just think about God saying to that prostitute lady when pharisees brought her over to Jesus and told Jesus to stone her but Jesus did not stone her and told her that go and do not sin anymore. So, you just think of those words also anytime you get tempted. And I hope that will help you. We will be praying for you.

This is a word of encouragement for Dr. John. I am a Dr. John in Illinois and I pray for my brother; I pray for my fellow DABer and I ask Lord that he provide you supernatural healing restoration in your eyes. I pray for peace, sometimes even we grow weary and working with our patients, always being in the business of trying to help others and sometimes neglect of ourselves. So, I asked fellow DABers let’s stand together for our brother-in-the Lord, for this doctor. So often he has called in and prayed for the needs and concern for the needs of others in his practice and just in the business of supporting us. So, let’s lift our brother up and I say to you, Dr. John, God Bless you brother for your gifts that you willingly give to the Lord in your heart that you give to us and I pray the Lord will make you well from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. He provide you freedom from fear and freedom from pain and misery and that He can do all things. His timing is perfect in His ways are right so we trust in that above all else. God bless your brother and know that there’ll be a lot of __ praying for you daily and we pray for a good report. And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus and for His sake. Amen.

Hi, it’s Deborah, Sheltered in Maine. Oh, my word. So, I did not listen to the Daily Audio Bible for almost four months. A little intermittently in between. About five days ago I realized that I felt empty, I was empty. So, I started back listening and I tell you I am so grateful for this…this place because I felt like I was coming home. This is where is home. You guys, you…you…you help to fill me up. I don’t even know how to explain it. Jessica from California, God Bless you, my sister. I so love you; you are like, I don’t even know how to explain how I reacted to your message. I’m just so proud of you and so proud of what God is doing in you. And I pray my sister that you would continue in your walk and rejoice in all that He’s given you. Thank you, my family. You are wonderful. And I don’t think I’m gonna be able to leave this again for a very long. Praise the Lord in all you do, rejoice and be glad in Him. Thank you.

Good morning my DAB family. This is…I was getting ready to say DAB-C…good morning my DAB family, this is Lady of Victory. And it is Tuesday morning August 17th about 6:37 central standard time. Just wanted to come on, I know it has been way, way, way, way long. But I wanted to come on just to thank all of the DAB-Cs and the DABers for just all of your love, your prayers, your support. During a very, very, very, very difficult time for myself and Kingdom Seeker Daniel at the loss of my son on July 10th unexpectedly. And, just wanted to say I could not have and cannot walk this journey without your guy’s prayers and so I appreciate them. The support, the love and the care that you guys have expressed to Kingdom Seeker that he has expressed to me the journey is still long it’s only been about 6 weeks. Three weeks since we actually funeralized him on July 24th, so the journey is very, very long, very, very fresh. And so, I still need your guy’s prayers and just want you to know how much I appreciate you. Don’t want you to think that it’s gone unnoticed even though I have been MIA. Certainly, you can understand. But again, thank you so much for all of your prayers, your support and your concern and we appreciate you guys more than you’ll ever know. Be encouraged. And God Bless you.  

Esther 8:1-10:3, 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, Psalms 37:1-11, Proverbs 21:23-24

Today is the 20^th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today as we come in out of the…well…here in the rolling hills of Tennessee it’s coming in out of the heat and not coming in out of the cold at all, but we’re coming out of the heat into this oasis, this cool place around this Global Campfire where we can let it all go and focus on the Scriptures as they inform the choices and decisions and steps that we will continue to make each moment by moment in each day by day. So, we have…in the Old Testament been working our way through the book of Esther. We will conclude the book of Esther today.  It’s been a high drama story. Haman the antagonist met his end yesterday. His plot to annihilate the Jewish people though is still intact. And, so, let’s reach our conclusion on the book of Esther by reading chapters 8, 9, and 10 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, yesterday we were talking about this…the Holy Spirit, the gifts that are bestowed by the Holy Spirit, that they are to serve the body and that they are to serve the Lord and that we are all part of a body and no one part can say to any other part that I don’t need you or I don’t want you because we collectively make a whole, a body, and every parts needed to make of that body, whether it’s a seen part or an unseen part, whether it’s pretty part or a hidden part. No matter what, it’s a part, a necessary part of a body, the body of Christ in this world. And, so, we can seek the Holy Spirit and seek the giftings of the Spirit and serve the Lord through them, but when it’s really about our attention…like drawing attention to ourselves then we’re forgetting that we’re a part of a whole and that comparison leads us nowhere, which leads us to what Paul just lays out in the 13^th chapter of first Corinthians. We can have all these gifts that we want. We can jump up and down and draw attention to ourselves. We can do noble things we can do impressive things, but if we do not do these things in love they do not do or mean anything. And that’s kind of a line in the sand. For example, can you be jealous in love or envious in love or raging in love. That gives us a bit of a plumb line to inquire of ourselves. Am I doing this in love or am I doing this in selfishness or envy or some other thing that is not going to serve God or the body, is only gonna serve ourselves? Love is the currency, or maybe…maybe the blood of the body. Love is the blood flowing through the body. A necessary irreplaceable piece. We’re dead without blood, right? Paul says, without love, I am nothing. So, let’s think about that and let’s go into the rest of our day loving and loving well.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we can’t on our own in our own strength. Certainly, we can love those who love us and we can be patient, we can be extra kind. But to just embody love, to just be Your love in this world and to try to in some way offer love wherever we go, we don’t have the capacity. Only through the power of Your Holy Spirit can we achieve anything even approaching this. But as we think about it, as we just consider, man what would it be like to just love. That is such a serene and peaceful place to think about because it overlooks so many of the things that we get so entangled in, so much of the bitterness and resentment, so much of the depression, so much of the anxiety comes from places that we feel wronged or wounded. And if love could fill those spaces. So, Holy Spirit come into our brokenness, the places that we find it really difficult to operate in love and fill those spaces with Your love. Help us to understand that, that it’s not…it’s not by brute force that we’re just acting like we’re loving, it’s that we need You to fill us in those spaces so that it’s not our will or our love, it is Your love flowing through us, filling us, healing us, restoring us, and then going out into the world. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that is the website, that is where you get connected and find out what’s going on around here. And all of these things can be found inside the Daily Audio Bible app as well.

And, so, be aware of places like the Community section, where there are all the different links to the social media avenues that we post on and interact on as well as the home of the Prayer Wall. The Prayer Wall lives in the Community section of the app or the website and it exists as a vehicle that is always on, never off, always available where we can always go and ask for prayer, always or we can…we can go and offer prayers. And we’ve talked about this before but it’s very, very easy when things are hard and we’re having to do some endurance and we’re growing weary and we’re getting weaker and weaker, it’s very easy for us to get very focused on our pain or whatever it is that we’re suffering and whatever the challenge might be. And, so, we focus on the disruption and then we want to talk about it to a lot of people. So, we keep telling the same stories and asking for the same kinds of prayers when as wonderful and helpful as it is as it is to have the body of Christ around us, sometimes focusing outward, especially in the wee hours of the night, right, when you can’t just make the rounds on the phone or whatever. Sometimes, offering prayers, reaching out in prayers for other people who are also in pain who are also enduring something, reaching toward them, feeling connected in that way gets…well…it gets things in perspective and keeps us from becoming so wound up into our own story. And that is an important piece of our spiritual journey, to understand that we are knit together as a body, and when one hurts, we all hurt. And, so, to participate in healing in any way that we can, even just going before the Lord on behalf of someone, that is a beautiful thing that we have done well here at the Daily Audio Bible around the Global Campfire. So, the…the…the Prayer Wall is very important to that equation. So, certainly be aware of it and use it daily, often.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you, thank you humbly and with a heart of gratitude. Thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do this together. And thank you for your partnership as we navigate summertime. Appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can at the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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:

Good evening DABbers please pray for my grandma that has multiple myeloma. Please heal her…I mean please pray that God will heal her and please pray for her that she will have a lot of fun with us in the pool and she will…and she will be…I mean and she will have a lot of energy. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Hello DAbbers this message is for Jonathan from Denver. I’m calling to encourage him and acknowledge him that he just confessed he has a problem with an addiction. And I really wanna tap you on your back man because you’re very brave to do such as this. I suffered the same thing. I…I went through this addiction of pornography and it last for many many years, 25 years in my life and what I had to do, the same as you did. Basically, just surrender to the Lord and He will give you the strength and the self-control to get rid of all this junk, all this material that you have. Just focus…focus on the thing that you have, that you are able to. Focus on what you are able to do and God will provide you the strength and the power and the will and all the self-control to carry on until you completely destroy this out of your life. He will put you…and Jonathan, He will put you good friends that will guide you to a different path. And just rely on the Lord and I’m sure as He did for me and many others He will give you the power to come out of this addiction. And I’ve been praying for you and for all the community, everybody that has any addiction, doesn’t matter if it’s pornography or anorexia or, you know, alcohol, drugs. I’ve been praying for all you guys. Love you all. And thank you Brian for this wonderful podcast. Cheers. Blessings everybody. __ here from Australia. Bye.

Good morning DAB family this is Tito Ramirez calling from Southern California. I wanted to call today and have you guys pray with me over my mom Mara. She is in my life her and Brian Hardin are the two people that I’ve seen just really turn themselves inside out to serve the Lord. My mom came to this country and became a citizen, but she came from Peru and always had a heart for serving the Lord. And she started raising money. All my life all my life I remember my mom raising money and putting in her own money to build churches and Peru. And then she funds out of the money that she raises and her own pocket the pastor’s salary that goes around and preaches at these churches that she built down there because she didn’t want him encumbered by any red tape from any religious institution. And she, once my sisters and I got into Graduate School she partnered with our…with our universities here in Southern California to take the medical and dental schools there and set up free medical care in these churches that she built. And it was a great experience for the medical students and the dental students and the hygiene students. And they would take volunteer doctors and dentists and they would just go serve man, just give away free medical care until they ran out of stuff. And they did that every year. And my poor mum is suffering right now in the hospital. She’s had some small strokes and it sounds like she’s having another one this morning. And I just want to cover her in prayer. She's…she’s a retired nurse and she just reminds me so much of my own kids when I take them to the doctor to get a shot. She’s become so scared, you know, and it just feels so different. But please provide cover her in prayer, that the doctors would diagnose her quickly, that they would treat her effectively, that the Lord would send the Holy Spirit to comfort her and give her peace so she’s not afraid. I love you guys. Thank you so much for praying for my family. You guys are the best.

Hi this is Anonymous. I just wanted to call in and ask for some prayer because…it seems so silly…but my husband and I have very different needs when it comes to intimacy. And in order to not make him feel bad about his drive not being as high as mine is I’ve kind of gotten sucked into porn and I don't…I don’t want to go to that. I…I want that relationship with my husband, but I don’t know how to make that happen or get to a place where I’m content with what we have. So, if you guys could just pray for me, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

Hi, my DAB family this is Julie calling from the UK. I’ve been following the DAB since the beginning of the year. So, I’m doing quite well with it really considering I’ve had such a tough time. And I’m just asking for prayer really because I just cannot get out of this anxious state I’m in. My life is just not there. I just feel I can’t do anything. I just sit in the same chair everyday feeling weak and reading my Bible and listening to the Daily Audio Bible. I’ve had a lot of changes in my life. I’ve moved to a new…a new country and I’m just struggling. I miss my family so much. And I don’t know whether I should be here or go back. I’ve only been here…I’ve been here three years, but I just feel that I need some…some prayer to…to guide me whether I should return or stay. This anxiety is just unbearable. And I’m just praying that you’ll all pray for me or at least one of you will pray for me and that I can trust in God to help me, bring me through this. Thank you.

Esther 4:1-7:10, 1 Corinthians 12:1-26, Psalm 36:1-12, Proverbs 21:21-22

Today is the 19th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian it is wonderful, truly wonderful to be here with you today, as we come together around the Global Campfire to take the next step forward together and that next step will lead us back into the book of Esther which we began yesterday and will conclude tomorrow so it’s, it’s a short story but it’s a powerful story with a ton of drama in it. As we saw sort of shaping up yesterday. So, we saw how Esther became Queen. We learned that her actual Hebrew name is Hadassah and she has not revealed her ethnicity that she is a Jewes and the Queen. And, we also met Hayman who intends to absolutely kill every Jew in the Persian Empire. We also learned of Esther’s uncle who raised her and his name is Mordechai and he spared the king’s life once, he uncovered a conspiracy against the king and he is an official but he will not bow down and pay reverence to Haman. And so, the king, under Haman’s influences, has issued an edict that the Jews on a certain day will be purged and Mordecai is just finding out about this. And that’s where we pick up the story. Esther chapters 4 through 7 today.

Commentary:

Okay, so obviously the drama continues in the book of Esther and so the antagonist Haman now everything’s kind of come into the light and well, he’s no more, and we will conclude the book of Esther tomorrow because even though Haman is…is no more the directive that was sent throughout the Empire and sealed with the royal seal well there’s still a day of doom in front of the Jewish people where they’re supposed to be annihilated and that can’t be undone. It was a royal edict. And so, that’s gotta get sorted out and we’ll work through that in tomorrow’s reading.

And then today we read from first Corinthians chapter 12, which obviously precedes 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is a very famous chapter in the Scriptures, known as the love chapter where Paul describes what love is and what love does and how it behaves and so we’ll get to that. But setting that up is what Paul is doing right now and he is answering some questions. So, 1 Corinthians 12 begins, “now concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit.” So, that one sentence we know that they had written to the apostle Paul for instruction on how the Holy Spirit works and what the Holy Spirit does. And that's…that’s still a question among a lot of people until today kind of depending on the type of congregation you worship at, a primary of prominence is given to certain aspects of the Holy Spirit, or were told to seek as many of them as we can get our hands on, I guess, as many as we can achieve or as many as we can ask for that God might use us or certain gifting’s put people in front of other people and so kind of in the natural order of our culture elevates them as it may be more than we who are less than, who don’t have that particular gifting that is super noticeable and so we look at the super noticeable gifts as something more important or something more desirable. Paul kinda dives into that and we just read the 12th chapter 1 Corinthians, and go back and re-read and kind of digest the essence of what Paul is saying is let’s talk about the Holy Spirit. For starters, the Holy Spirit could never curse Jesus and somebody without the Spirit could never confess that Jesus is Lord. That’s just like a little rule of thumb that’s like this little thing to carry around that he’s giving them so that they have this initial, just observations, little tool to start with. And then he goes further by explaining there are different kinds of spiritual gifts and they all come from the same Holy Spirit. There are different ways to serve the Lord. There are different ways to serve his people. But however, his people serve the Lord, there is only one Lord to serve so, the Lord is being served. I quote Paul, “the Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person, for the good of all.” So, in other words, there are plenty of gifts that the spirit brings to serve the Lord, to serve God’s people and to facilitate the body. Some are more visible than others, but all are necessary and none are more important than any other one. And that’s when Paul then starts describing what we know as the body of Christ and the reason that he’s using that analogy is that there are many gifting’s from the Spirit because there are many parts of the same body, and using the analogy of the body makes it really clear. Some parts are more visible than other parts. Some need modesty. And I can’t say to an ear, I don’t need you, a hand can’t say because I’m not a foot I’m not part of the body; none of these things are true. The body is made up of all kinds of parts, all of them are needed to make all whole body and if one part is hurting every part suffers. So, as we are being led into the love chapter, we are being told nobody’s more important than anybody else. We are all in this together. In fact, if we aren’t all in this together, then that’s a humongous problem because we are all part of one body empowered by one Spirit. This is a really, really wonderful to move through this territory and it’s stuff that we might feel as if we kind of already know, like, cause this isn’t something that’s obscure in the Scriptures. These concepts are, you know, fundamental Christianity. And yet, let’s just take one step back and now let’s take another step back and another and another, so that we can back away from this for a second and ask ourselves, just because I know this does not mean that this is how I live or am I constantly in a game of comparison with somebody else’s gifting’s or somebody else’s part of the body and collectively are we doing this, like, are we all always dissatisfied with the part of the body that we are, so that we have to constantly look at another part and wish that that could be our story. Or, are we lucky to be here? Are we fortunate? Has God given us grace and mercy to include us in what he’s doing? So much so that we are a part of his body, part of God’s body upon this earth, we are the flesh and bone. We are the Jesus with skin on. We are very fortunate to be here at all. Paul’s going after stuff that goes, that was going on in the church in Corinth, but it’s always been going on this game of comparison. Whose more gifted than somebody else and whose more visible than somebody else and what do I got to do to have that many followers. What’s the magic? I cannot literally, cannot tell you how many times that question has been asked to me. And I, for 16 years have been scratching my head to answer that question because I don’t know. I feel lucky or fortunate or blessed to be here at all. And so, every day is a day of wow, wow we get to do this together. But I cannot tell you how many times I’ve taken meetings from people who’ve even flown to Nashville, I’ve stopped taking these kinds of meetings long ago, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t really the Daily Audio Bible stories that people wanted to know, it was “what was the secret sauce?” What was the secret, what was the magic? What was the thing? How can that be replicated? How can I get a following? How can I build a platform? And to those questions, I have to say well, I mean, there’s ways to do it with…with the methods of our culture. Start building something. This is what we do, we start building platforms so that we can get higher and higher and higher above the noise. And so, we can be seen in so that we can have a platform from which to say things. And I’m not so sure that’s how it works in God’s kingdom. Seems like the first place to start is wow, wow I’m invited to be included in this body. Wow, what did I do? How did this happen?  I get to be a part and partner with God on anything. How did that happen? I’m so fortunate. Like, that’s the place to start. And Paul’s giving language, spiritual language to those concepts in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 today. As we move toward the 13th chapter, tomorrow.

Prayer:

And so, Father, let’s, we just want to stay in that place of wow, You even know who we are, You even know how many hairs are on our head. You actually know about us more than we know about ourselves and You have loved us despite the things that we have gotten ourselves into, and have included us. And so, often we are a part of something but we want to be a different part, we want to be, we want to be more visible or we want to be over here. We want to be that or we want to have that gifting. Father, we’re sorry, we’re sorry like, that’s acting kind of like a selfish little kid and sometimes we get glimpses of this and how we behave toward You. Sometimes it comes upon us that maybe it’s time to grow in this area. Maybe we should grow up and that seems to be the invitation here. We don’t need to be compared and we don’t need to compare ourselves because we are uniquely placed in Your body. There is no one else that can fill this space. Thank You for letting us be here at all. Help us Holy Spirit to focus on the good that is being done collectively, rather than us trying to carve out some place where we can be seen and celebrated and worshiped for doing what all of us are doing, which is simply serving and loving You and by extension, loving the world around us, so the light can shine into the darkness. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray, in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website. It’s where you find out what’s happening around here in the Community. So, check it out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can just press the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and access the Community section where the Prayer Wall lives or the Daily Audio Bible Shop where there are a number of categories of resources. So, indeed, check them out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we continue to navigate through summertime. Thank you, thank you for your partnership. If life and light and good news are making their way from the rolling hills of Tennessee here, where I’m standing, through the internet, through modern technology to the far reaches of the earth wherever you might be, if that is good news that’s coming through the Internet into your ears, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app you can press the give button in the upper right hand corner. Or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the Daily Audio Bible app from wherever you are in the world. But there are a number of numbers that you can call depending on where you are in the world as well. If you are in the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call. In the UK or Europe 44 2036 088078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or the Lands Down Under 61 3 8820 5459 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Good morning family this is Pathfinder and I’m calling for prayer for a family member. We call him Uncle Jean. Uncle Jean has been a deacon for 35 years and he’s certainly been in the valley a lot over the last 5 or 6. He lost his wife to ALS, he lost his son to ALS, he lost another daughter to ALS, he has a daughter who has tested positive for the ALS gene and he has two other children that are not getting tested. He, being a deacon for bode the services for his wife and his two children. Recently, he fell, he’s 88 years old, broke a hip, was in rehab. And then they found this huge tumor in his arm. Actually, they found it back when COVID started and they just didn’t do anything about it because they didn’t want him in the hospital because of his age, his frailty. But they finally did an MRI last week and they had to amputate his arm. Him and his family need your prayers. His remaining children are strong and are helping him. I’m praying but as I pray, I still got these questions in my mind as why is this happening to this poor family. And so, I figured I’d turned to the experts in prayer to help me with this. Thank you DABers, I love you all, I pray for you all the time. Thank you.

Hello everyone this is Lualan in China just calling in, outside of my comfort zone to pray for people with mental illness. There’s been a lot of requests like that recently specifically for Quiet Confidence and for LJ Lavender Dream. Lord, we come to You and we lift these people up to You. Please be with Quiet Confidence give her peace, give her assurance of her salvation. So that she can come to You. Be with Lavender Dreams son, it’s hard when you’re in a mental hospital and you don’t’ want to be there. You feel like people have betrayed you, abandoned you. Help her son to know that she isn’t doing that, she’s doing it because she loves him, to protect him. Be with her, give her strength and peace.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Renzo in Florida and I just want to pray that I heard for, I just want to pray for Jonathan in Denver. Father God, just please pray for Jonathan in the name of Jesus that Jonathan would just be healed on this pornography addiction God. And please help him to remember that there’s no competition on who’s a better believer, we’re all saved by grace. And I was addicted to pornography one time myself. But God completely healed me of that. I’ve been healed from that for two years now and I just thank God for everything. One thing I always remember is no matter your age God can heal you of anything. Don’t…don’t feel, don’t get down on yourself, don’t discourage yourself. Keep walking the word, keep engrossing yourself in Scripture. Keep, like you said, bathing in the Scripture, that’s so important. And God, just please let him to just keep having that fire for You God. Even if the progression is slow, it’s the same thing for me too, it was slow at first. But God, You healed me. And, like it says Joy will come in the morning. And God, we just thank you for everything you do. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Have a blessed rest of your day guys, Jesus loves you.

Hey, this is Jerry calling from Duluth, Minnesota. With a heavy heart today. Last time I called, I think, called regarding our third daughter who is bipolar, drunken and suicidal in the middle of the night. Well, now she’s pregnant with an abusive alcoholic partner. Who, once he found out that she’s pregnant, he took off out of town. So, she’s alone, pregnant, broke, barefoot as they say. Alone. And hurting and has seemingly messed up her life now for the rest of her life. As a parent you don’t know what to do. She, five years ago, was doing very well. She was getting her masters degree, teaching. Then bipolar started to manifest itself. Four years ago, her husband abused their oldest daughter so she left them and started living a incredibly promiscuous lifestyle. Now, is reaping the consequences of it. Appreciate your prayers for a situation that has no easy answers. Thanks. Bye.

Happy Sunday DAB family. It’s August 15th my name is Michael and I’m a first time call in, so to speak. I want to thank you all for responding to prayer requests, it has been so uplifting these last few weeks. As the Lord has brought me back to the DAB app to have that constant word, thank you Brian. And the constant prayers and answers to prayers that are coming through with your responses. I’m asking for prayer for my family. Again, my name is Michael and my child Kirin is 17, biological male and yet struggling with gender dysphoria, depression, anxiety and recently diagnosed with autism. DAB family, I implore you to pray for my child. That he would turn back to the Lord of his upbringing. To embrace Christ as he is walking down a path that we don’t agree with and don’t understand fully. Pray for my child DAB family. Thank you.

Esther 1:1-3:15, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Ps 35:17-28, Proverbs 21:19-20

Today is the 18^th day of August welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we begin some new territory. So, we concluded…well…we read Ezra and then we read Nehemiah. We concluded Nehemiah yesterday and there’s so much in Ezra and Nehemiah for us and we explored that. So, we’re not really leaving stories from the exile, but this is a totally new complexion and it’s so wonderful when we arrive at this place, the book of Esther.

Introduction to the book of Esther:

And what we’ll learn is that…well…the story of a Hebrew girl named Hadassah and she was orphaned in the exile, and her cousin, his name was Mordecai. He took her in and raised her as his own. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. And, so, Hadassah, she is in exile in Persia and so they can have a different language and different naming scheme. And, so, she takes on the name Esther, which means Morning Star or Star in the Hebrew tradition. So, what we will find is that the Persian king has a falling out with Vashti, his Queen. She embarrasses him, really humiliates him and rebels against him in a way, and as it turns out she is put away, which is what eventually allows Esther to come onto the scene. A search throughout the land for beautiful maidens that would qualify, like they would if chosen, become the Queen. And as it turns out Esther is beautiful, like stunningly beautiful, gorgeous. And just inside and out has a quiet temperament and is kindhearted and not arrogant or condescending, and she is chosen to be, you know, kind of in the final group where a lot of different women are being given lots of different beauty treatments and cared for and being taught the ways of the palace and how to be before the king and all of the customs of royalty. And Esther was taken into the harem as it were and began to go through all of this and she found favor everywhere that she went, but she kept the fact that she was Jewish a secret. She didn’t say her ethnicity and that turned out to be pivotal. We’ll also meet someone named Haman who rose to great prominence, basically second in command in the kingdom. He was in Amalekite. He descended from King Agag. He becomes kind of the antagonist in the story because the Amalekites and the Hebrews have been enemies actually all…all the way back to Jacob and Esau. And it was Samuel, the Hebrew prophet that executed the king Agag the Amalekite. It was the Hebrew king Saul that had defeated Agag but had spared him and then…well…Samuel then didn’t spare him. So, much later now Haman’s got this brewing, seething rage towards the Jewish people and he’s risen to prominence in Persia and so he plans the…the extermination of the Jewish people throughout the entire empire. So, this is a short book but it’s pretty high in drama. And in the end it establishes a festival in the Hebrew culture that is lasting until today, the festival of Purim. And we’ll find…we’re gonna love Esther. It’s a great read. It’s a great story. It’s a short story but it’s a beautiful story. But as we overlay it with our lives there’s so much there. God against all odds is present. Circumstances don’t always work out the for the worst or the way that we think that they might. Everybody has a role to play in the story because God brings people into things and assigns them to do things for such a time as this. And, so, let's…let’s dive in and enjoy Esther. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Esther chapters 1 through 3 today.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for Your word. We thank You for this…this new territory, the book of Esther that we find ourselves in. Thank You for the story of a valiant beautiful woman who rescues Your people for such time as this. And we look in our own lives and look for these scenarios where we find ourselves in a situation and maybe we’re not the Queen and maybe we’re not gonna rescue an entire people group, but there are such times that we are the one that’s in the right place to do Your service. Help us to recognize that even as we continue with the story of Esther moving forward tomorrow. Come Holy Spirit we pray into all that we’ve read we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can find out the same things using the app, there’s a little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app screen that opens up a Drawer and then you can access things like the Community section, or the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are a lot of resources in there for the journey through the Bible in a year, things to read, take the journey further, things to write on, things to write with, which also takes the journey deeper as you journal your way in your own hand through a year in your life, as well as things to wear and things to listen to. And…yeah…just check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop and wear your colors proudly as we continue our journey, the adventure of a lifetime through the Bible in a year in community. So, check out the resources in the Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly. Thank you. If this mission to read the Bible, fresh every day and give it to anyone who will listen to it anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and to build community around that rhythm so that in life or in the Scriptures we know we’re not on a solitary endeavor, we’re not alone. We are in this together. If that brings life in your…into your life than thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top, can’t miss it, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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:

Hey guys this is Lazarus calling. For those that have followed me over the years, this is it. Finally losing everything and it’s OK. I’m extreme pain. I put off the surgery on my shoulder for two years and now it’s beyond bearable. I was near suicidal earlier this week from the pain. On a new pain scale, it’s level 17. So, anybody wants to jump on board with that one come on. I’m just putting together a list of all the things that I have to sell with what I have left and try to figure out a way to make it to a surgery that I can’t afford. So…and losing my company, losing everything. So, not sure how to deal with loss but Jesus is there. I can do anything with him. And I’m just trying to reconnect with His fire. So, for those of you who are in pain or loss or whatever, I feel for you. I am there with you. Just know that He’s there and when it’s dark…I’ve been dark…He gives you a flashlight and points you in the right direction. So, please keep the faith. I have no idea where I’m going to be, where I’m going to be living, if on the street or whatever, but I’m in his hands and I’m doing His will. So, I give it all up to Him. So, thank you for your prayers. Over the years and I pray I’m around to talk to you in the near future and with a praise report or any report. God bless you all I love you all. Thank you Brian, I’ve loved you for years brother.

This is Peggy in Texas and as a grandmother I ask you to pray for my 15-year-old grandson. He’s suffering some from some type of trauma. The doctor has told us this. We do not know what it is at this point, nobody does. He has shut down, he’s pulled in, he’s evidently feeling very lonely…is…he’s alone in many ways in this world and he is filled with anxiety. And, of course, all this leads to depression. Will you please ask our Lord to grant his parents and me…he’s staying with me as…beginning in a few hours for now for several days and then his parents are taking a daughter to college. We ask for wisdom, ask for strength ask for peace in the mist of upheaval, please. Ask for direction, that…that we’ll all be able to pull together, and the need will be met, that God will be honored. I am 87 and, of course, you can probably tell in my voice that I’m experiencing some anxiety and restlessness and just longing and for help. Anyway, I thank you for praying with me as I pray with you for your concerns. Oh man…heavenly Father, hear us and direct our paths and heal our hearts and our minds and our…our children for His honor in His glory. Thank you for hearing this request. Thank you for praying with me. Blessings. Bye- bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Sheena from Saskatchewan Canada. I wanted to send a prayer out to Quiet Confidence in Virginia and just…just letting you know that there’s no shame in anxiety and depression. And I get it. But I just wanted to let you know that when the enemy is telling you that you’re backsliding or that you’re going against your faith it’s just…it's…it’s not true. And you are strong, and you are loved, and I just hope that I can provide you some encouragement with that prayer. I called in a little while ago, so thank you to those who prayed for my situation with my boyfriend being wrongfully accused of a crime. We’re doing alright this week. We've…we have our next court date which unfortunately isn’t till February. So, please continue to pray for us as we prepare for this preliminary hearing. Couple people I want to send shoutouts for, Lorenzo, you’re such a blessing to our DAB community. I pray that as you go back to school that God will grant you strength to continue in your faith and wisdom to do well at your new school. Holly Heart your commitment in praying for all of us is inspiring. Thank you, Lord for Holly and her faith and service to You and the rest of us. And Esther from Kissimmee, I pray the Lord continues to shine on you and to be gracious to you. Your passionate prayers for all of us lift my heart and restore my faith in the world and it makes me want to do better. Thanks DAB family. I’m hoping that I can make this a regular thing, calling in and praying. Have a great day. Love you. Bye.

Hi DAB family this is Jessica from California. Tonight, I’m calling in to say a prayer for Dave from Indiana. Actually, the prayers for his son Lucas who has been a rehab for 28 days because he has an alcohol problem, and he has a wife and two children, and he somehow maybe had a relapse. And I just want to say a prayer. So, here we go. Dear heavenly Father, we just come before You Lord. You know what it is that Lucas is trying to drown and what void he’s trying to fill with the alcohol Lord. And I just pray that in his quiet Time Lord that You speak to him and You pour Your love and Your anointing oil all over his mind and his body Lord, that You heal him from the inside out from all that’s troubling him, whatever it is that he’s choosing to use alcohol as a vice for Lord, that You just…You remove that splinter from his heart Lord and You heal him up Lord. And I just pray this on his father’s behalf and also his wife and his children’s behalf Lord because this not only affects him it affects his children and his whole family. I just thank You Lord that You are going to do this for Lucas and because he is a praying father and…and that You love him and You have wonderful dreams for him and I just want to encourage you Dave that the Lord healed me from…in Jesus’ name I pray Amen…that the Lord healed me from a drug addiction. And he had to heal me from emotional things first. So, I just pray that he heals your son from any emotional problems that he has. And…and thanks for calling in and putting your faith in the Lord Dave. Have a nice day. Bye.

Hi, it’s Tom here calling from the UK just calling to ask for prayer for my left eye. I have a condition called recurrent corneal erosions and basically what that means is that wake up in the middle of the night with really excruciating eye pain. It’s red, it’s streaming, and I’ve just got to use eye ointment and eye drops and eye wash and usually it just settles down but for the past two days it just hasn’t and my eyes quite swollen and it’s just very painful. I’m over in Ireland the moment and it’s my godsons christening and I really want to make it for Sunday. It’s Friday today but at the moment I’m contemplating going back to the UK to…to get treatment. On top of it I’m also a doctor myself. I’m a surgeon in training and I need my eyesight. And I just really would covet your prayers, that my eye would be healed and that this condition would go and I’m thanking Jesus already for the healing and I just…yeah…I would just really appreciate prayer for it, that this pain would go and that I would get 2020 vision and this condition would just go away completely. So, thank you once again. Take care.

Nehemiah 12:27-13:31, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Psalm 35:1-16, Proverbs 21:17-18

Today is the 17th day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian, it is great to be here with you today and every day as we take the next step forward together through…through the Scriptures. In the Old Testament we’ve been spending the last several days in the book of Nehemiah. We will conclude our journey through the book of Nehemiah for this year today and move forward into some new territory tomorrow. So, let’s set let’s finish strong and finish well. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week, Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 27 through 13 verse 31.

Commentary:

Okay, so we…I was gonna say we included the book of Nehemiah, but we concluded the book of Nehemiah today. Over the course the last couple days we’ve had a number of lists to read through, all the different people that were involved in different things. This entire book is given us quite a glimpse into the processes of fulfilling a calling or a mission, or desire and ambition, concluding today with restoration, like how quickly things fall out of alignment and sink, how quickly they have to be maintained. So, let’s just really quickly, take a look back, we remember, Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, so we know Nehemiah would’ve been educated and would’ve understood the ways of the Kingdom, I mean he was in the presence of the king of the umpire on a continual basis, which allowed him to have access to the latest information coming from Judah, from Jerusalem, from the returning exiles. And he learned about the construction of the temple, and he imagined, he imagined that, he thought about that. That’s the place where God dwells and visits with mankind, but he also pictured the fact that it was standing there in Jerusalem with no protection at all. The wall had been destroyed in the Babylonian conquest and so, he begins to have a passion to see the temple of the Lord restored but also protected and that society would begin to move back toward the Mosaic law, the law of God. And so, he begins dreaming this, thinking about it, interceding before the Lord until he gets his opportunity before the king to share what’s in his heart, and the king allows him to go. So, we see that there’s all lots of dreaming but then a lot of planning and intercession really considering what he’s gonna ask and then he gets permission and he gets resourced and he goes to Jerusalem and then he doesn’t tell anybody what he’s gonna do for several days. He inspects, he looks the whole situation over, he sizes up the scope of the labor and the work, what it’s gonna take to get this job done, before he gets a bunch of voices into the mix, and once he’s got the lay of the land and the plan he shares the vision and the people catch fire with it. And the wall is built half its size, like half its height pretty quickly, but we watched. We watched as they made progress, and it looked like they would actually be building something, then the voice of the tauter came: the ridicule, the criticism and the discouragement that comes from and that these voices were coming from outside from the people in the lands but not authorized to be doing what the Hebrew people were doing and so they taunted them. And when that didn’t work then they threatened them. And that actually really slowed down Nehemiah’s vision, probably ½ speed or less because now he had to cut the workforce and half and allow half the people to be working, while the other half were standing guard ready for an imminent attack because they’re building a city wall so there spread out all over where this wall is going to go so, people were vulnerable to sort of like ambush style attacks were enemies to be in the city, there’s no wall right. So, people can be anywhere and then they can be ambushed and then people just disappear. And so…so Nehemiah’s like okay, then we’re going to strap on our swords and we’re going to keep going and that’s what they did, slower, but forward. They did not stop and the then the politics started, letters going back and forth to the king accusing Jerusalem of rebellion, accusing Nehemiah of rebellion. Eventually, even accusing Nehemiah that his ultimate plot is to become the king. They’re gonna get this wall done, fortify the city, he’s gonna pay off some prophets and they’re gonna anoint him the king and that’s a threat, that’s an open letter that Nehemiah read because these people who have been taunting and threatening them are trying to get him to come down off the wall into the valley where they can have a summit meeting about all this stuff. He won’t come down off that wall. So, they sent him an open letter that they’re going to send to the king. And, then there are prophets who have been paid off in Jerusalem to try to convince Nehemiah to flee to God’s temple where he can be protected. But Nehemiah knows that will just discredit him as if he’s done something wrong or sinful that he needs to be protected from like he has to hide and go on the run and ruin his reputation in the process so he won’t do that. But he…he has faced significant challenges to get this done. Finally, we have the scene where it is done and two groups of people are up on top of that wall and they start marching in opposite directions, worshiping and praising and singing with the intention that they’ll meet halfway which will be at the temple’s entrance and a grand celebration. Nehemiah had returned back to the king in Persia, reported to him all that was going on and then he was allowed to return. So, you can only imagine the fulfillment that it would be to return and see this wall but there were problems with in the walls. So, Eliashib who was in charge, kind of, of what was the storerooms, what was being stored in the temple to care for the priesthood, etc. etc. he allowed a man named Tobiah to have personal space in the temple to use as he pleased. This named Tobiah should sound kind of familiar, because he was one of the big instigators and intimidators and threateners and discouragers while they were building the wall and here, he is with Nehemiah gone being given permission to have his own space in the temple because Tobiah and Eliashib were related to each other. So, we watched Nehemiah throw all his crap out right, and then ask God, remember me like, remember what I’ve done here, count this to my credit. And then Nehemiah realizes that the priests and the Levites, the singers, the worshipers, like they had, they’ve departed. They’ve gone back to their ancestral farmlands so they can make food, enough to eat because they’re not being resourced as they perform the duties of…of priests and Levites leading people and the awareness of God, in the worship of God and the adherence to the law they’ve had to leave their duty in order to survive. And so, Nehemiah’s like are you kidding me? And he summons them back and puts them back to work and then he realizes that the Sabbath days has been profaned. There are all kinds of merchants coming into the city on the Sabbath day, and there’s all kinds of work being done on the Sabbath day, that the Sabbath day is not being kept holy, in other words. And so, he has to close the gates and lock them up when the Sabbath day begins. Sabbath would begin on at sundown on Friday and be over at sundown on a Saturday and so they lock the gates and there’s merchants that are still like camping out outside thinking that they’re gonna get in. So, Nehemiah has to be like no I’m back, basically this is not going to happen and you’ll never get in here on the Sabbath, and if you try, you won’t like how this goes down for you so stay away from here on the Sabbath. So, he restores the honor of the Sabbath day, only to realize that the people are intermingling with the surrounding peoples again. The very thing that had destroyed them in the first place and in the end we see Nehemiah offering words of prayer again, which he had done the entire process, at every turn, he acknowledged his need for God, his dependence upon God for success in the mission and so the final words of Nehemiah: remember all this, oh God, and give me credit for it, ring true. Because he didn’t just get a vision and then it just fell into his lap and then it was all done and he got all the glory for it. He had to go through a lot to see this through and in the end he knew, only God, only God provided a way for this to happen. And so, there’s so much we can go back to Nehemiah at any time and go back through the process and the steps just to have a little bit of a template, just a little bit of understanding that just because he had a vision or a dream, or a motivation or a calling from God to get something done, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t going to be challenging. It was extraordinarily challenging but he didn’t stop, he kept going, depending on God, no matter what. Just moving forward even incrementally is still moving forward.

Prayer:

And so, Father, we thank You for this territory that we’ve been able to be in, in the Scriptures and for the way that it applies so directly to so many aspects of our lives, in so many aspects of the way that we make our choices and decisions that we’re grateful. And we thank You for the opportunity to not only look at the history of the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of the exiles, but leadership and finishing what we’ve started because were a people that are really good at starting things that we don’t finish but then they’re not finished and, in this case, we watched things, it finished well. So come Holy Spirit and show us those things that we need to finish well and that we need to acknowledge You in and understand that we won’t finish them at all, if You weren’t with us. Come Holy Spirit into that we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, home of the Global Campfire, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here and it is also how to get connected and so be aware of things like the Community section, either on the on the website or using the Daily Audio Bible app. The Community section is well, it’s where to get connected, there are different links to the social media channels that we participate on as the Daily Audio Bible and as a community. As well as the home of the Prayer Wall, the Prayer Wall lives in the Community section and that is our own Prayer Wall that is always open, always available, always on, always reachable and so that means we always have an opportunity to ask for prayer. That also means we always have an opportunity to pray for those within the community here taking this journey through the Bible this year. So, certainly, check that out. Be aware of it. Get involved in any way that you can or want to.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174. And thank you, thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. As I say, often, very often because it’s always the truth and so thank you for your partnership.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Jay from Nashville. Oh it’s been a while since I’ve called in. I’ve been listening to the prayers and man, so many of God’s people are just going through it right now, myself included. It’s been, it’s been an interesting year for me to say the least but you know what, God is still good. No matter how depressed I get, no matter how sad I get, no matter how dark it seems, no matter, no matter how many games the enemy plays in my head, I still remember that God is good. He still lets me wake up to even experience and that’s the thing that keeps reverberating in my mind is, we can say things like you’re never alone, which were not. We can say things like sorry to hear that, which we are, we can say things like, you’ve got to change your viewpoint and be positive. You know but the…all that’s true, all of that’s true. So, know that, right now that if you’re in the darkness, you’re not alone and I’m gonna pray for you right now. Father in the name Jesus Christ, Lord God in heaven, creator of all things seen and unseen. God, we bring before You our burdens, our anxieties, our heavy hearts and the pain that has been introduced into our lives. Lord, Your word tells us You wouldn’t give us more than we can bear. So, we give this to you now because we reach out oh God, we reach out and we say we’ve had enough.

Hello DAB family this is BubbaD praying for Rosie. Pray to be free in Jesus and her son Charles. Father God, I pray that You would touch this man’s heart, that You would free him Lord from every addiction that he’s had, that You would show Your mercy and love to him. That You would show up in unexpected places where he would just see You and remember everything, his mom, and his church. People taught him all that he received as a child, Father I pray that it comes back. He would not be able to escape from what You are speaking to him Father. That he would be drawn by Your goodness Father. Bless him with salvation of the knowledge of You in coming back to the fold, coming back to the Father’s house. House of bread in Jesus name. Amen.

Hey my precious DAB fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Today is August 12th and it’s a very special day for me family because nine years ago I was caught in a crossfire of a gang war that was ensuing while driving my work truck. I was working for Frito Lay at the time and while on the westside of Chicago I drove right into a gang war that I didn’t realize, it was under way. Family, I don’t have all the time to tell you the whole story but I’ll try to share it more in detail on the friend’s page but let me just tell you according to the investigators, there were multiple bullets that pierced my truck, my work truck. And a huge gaping hole was made in the windshield right in front of the driver’s seat. The hole was as big as a softball. How those bullets didn’t come through me is a miracle. But they grazed me, I have three holes in my shirt that I still have today. And I’ll try to show you guys. But three holes were made in that shirt by one or more bullets. It grazed me in my upper torso area and it went through my arm and the doctors told me had that bullet gone a millimeter lower it would have hit my major artery. All I’m trying to tell you family God is a miracle working God and He can do anything. Be encouraged.

Good afternoon DAB family, God Bless you all. Quiet Confidence form Virginia, oh I heard you and I just started to recall September 19, 2013. I wanted to commit suicide in my classroom as I was waiting for my kindergarten children to come up from the auditorium and I never got to see them that day I went right from there to the emergency room, to the hospital. And I became a recluse after that, I couldn’t get out but God saved me from that. He saved me from that. I didn’t, you know, I never took any meds, never. So, I know it’s possible but I’m not suggesting you do that, I’m just telling you that it’s possible. But you do what you need to do as the Lord guides you. But you know I am believing that He can get you to where you need to be. You know, but it’s a battle, it’s an uphill fight and you’re gonna have to fight hard for this. You’re gonna have to really fight hard and push though and I had to constantly tell myself as I started to go through that struggle because I wasn’t really saved. Well, I was but I really wasn’t, I was like lukewarm. But I started seeking the Lord and just fighting and just telling Him I can do all things through Christ and telling myself I can do all things through Christ and telling the enemy I can do all things through Christ. And I’m just gonna ask you sister, you can do all things through Christ, you just have to fight. You have to fight. This is not something that God is gonna do on His own. You’re gonna have to fight your way through and you’re gonna persevere, I am believing that in the name of Jesus. I am believing it and declaring it and calling it into existence, right now in the name of Jesus. Esther from Kissimmee.

Good evening family, this is Soaring on Eagles Wings from Canada. Oh Rosie, it was such a delight to hear your voice, I know you pray for our children. And here you are asking for prayer for your son Charles who has been so hurt through rejecting and is now turned aside from God and he’s also being an offender. And God I ask You to deliver him from that behavior and help him to see that You haven’t rejected him. You love him with an everlasting love. I pray that somehow the light of and the love of Christ would infiltrate his life. Doctor John, youyou’re your glaucoma surgery and then you felt the sharp shooting pain and so you went from light to darkness and you think there is bleeding. Father God the giver of life I pray that you would touch Doctor John’s eyes and whatever is causing this will be healed, in the name of Jesus. That he would have vision again Lord God. I think of Quiet Confidence as she has fears and anxieties and depression all upon her and she’s not able to function in her daily life. Lord God, deliver her today. She’s sounds so down and discouraged. Her husband is the only one working and You God are the only one who can meet her where she is. Give her joy, lift her, and the lies that enemy is using to penetrate her brain, may she be delivered in the mighty, powerful name of Jesus.