Month: December 2021

Hosea 4:1-5:15, 2 John 1:1-13, Psalms 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11

Today is the 6^th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today continuing our journey taking the next step forward in the Scriptures. And that next step will lead us back to the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. When we get to the New Testament we’ve got a brand-new letter and we’ll talk about that. It’s known as second John, and we’ll read the whole letter today, but we’ll talk about that when we get there. First, Hosea chapters 4 and 5. And we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.

Introduction to second John:

Alright. So, we finished first John yesterday which brings us to second John today. And we will read the entirety of this letter today, which means third John is up on deck for tomorrow. Second, John’s pretty short and it was probably written pretty shortly after the first letter. And it seems like it’s written to the same people. There are a lot of similarities and these similarities of language, style, and theme make biblical scholars and linguists have conviction that this was written by the same author, John. And it’s traditionally held that John spent the latter part of his life in the city of Ephesus. And, so, second John is likely to have been penned in Ephesus. There are a total of 13 versus. And, so, the first three verses are greeting and the next three verses after that remind us of the importance of love and loving one another. And then the next three verses speak against the false teaching of Docetism something that we covered in the first letter. People following that, that way of believing in Jesus did indeed believe in Jesus as the Savior, but this idea of Jesus being God and man in the flesh at the same time, this was…this is an formation, this doctrine. People following a Docetic view believed Jesus indeed was God but His human appearance wasn’t actual humanity. He appears to be human and live human but kind of more like a ghost, like a tangible ghost or an apparition, a visible spirit. And, so, there are three more verses about that. And then there are a couple of verses that give instruction that aren’t found in the first letter and those verses sort of establish the posture to take toward a…a person who is a…a false teacher. So, like an itinerant speaker who is not teaching in the churched what is being taught in the churches, John tells them that they…they shouldn’t encourage that, they should not offer hospitality to that. And then there two final verses that are concluding words as the letter comes to its end. And we’re gonna read this in one sitting, so it’d be kinda easy to just go like, well this could have been kind of contained in the other letter. It’s dealing with the same kind of stuff. But if what if we imagine that it’s almost like a one-two punch, almost, like the first letter arrived, and then a couple months later, the second note arrives, that simply reiterating what the first one did then it would give kind of a wave. Like you got the initial information, you got to process that and then boom here comes the encouragement and reminder. And we are certainly a people that need to be reminded of things. And, so, if we take it that way then we can understand more of what’s going on here. And with that, let’s read the whole letter. Second, John.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. And we thank You that each and every day is a new day to go deeper, deeper in our understanding, deeper in our relationship with You. And we are grateful and humbled. And, so, we thank You for allowing us to enter…encounter second John today. And as we continue to move forward, we will certainly be encountering some of the more shorter additions that are found in the Bible. So, often will be moving through them in their entirety in a day. And, so, Holy Spirit, we invite You to help us latch onto things that we need to hear and understand the things that You are speaking to us so that even as we move rapidly we move intentionally through the remaining days and weeks that we have in the Scriptures this year. Come Holy Spirit into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And it’s just impossible to ignore because as the day goes by we draw closer and closer to Christmas time. And, so, it’s Christmas time around here. And we celebrate in a number of ways.

Each year we have a virtual Christmas party for the entire community, the family around the Global Campfire who’s been taking the journey all year and it’s easy to participate. So, if you’ve been here all year or even for a little stretch of time you know about the Hotline button in the app and you know about 877-942-4253. These are the prayer and encouragement lines. That is their only purpose except for this one week out of the year. And there’s only a couple of days left where you can use those same lines, either press the Hotline button in the app or you can dial-in, and you can offer a holiday greeting to the community here that you’ve been sharing all year long.  And this is one of the most heartwarming things that we do. It’s something that I look forward to all year long. And, so, don’t leave your voice unheard. If you’re planning to call in, don’t procrastinate. Just a couple more days. But you can use the Hotline, or you can use the phone numbers and call in. Just don’t combine a prayer request and a holiday greeting in the same call. Make those separate.

And we also have a number of resources for Christmas this year. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas box for 2021, Family Christmas 2021 is available. That can be found in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Christmas category. And we’ve packed the box full of a bunch of resources from the Daily Audio Bible and you can check them all out in the Shop in the Christmas section. So, check it out.

Also, Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible. And that can be found in the Christmas section as well. But this is our brand-new book, photographs that have been taken from…well…all of my nine seasons that I have been in Israel. So, thousands of photographs taken over a decade were finally, painstakingly curated and pulled together and all the different regions of the land and in an attempt to bring the land closer and bring the Bible closer and sort of attaches to the fact that these stories that we’re reading happened somewhere and to be able to look at the where, the where these things happened and just get a sense of geography, get a sense of the feel, the essence of the place. That has been quite a revolutionary thing for me. Having visited these places and our reading these…these stories that happen in these places, I can see them. I can see how the story could unfold and why, because of being able to be there in the geography. And, so, this new book of photography is intended to…to bring that a little bit nearer. So, for those of you who have been to the land of the Bible this would be like a homecoming. For those of you who have never been or can’t go or don’t desire to go but do desire a deeper connection to the Scriptures than this is a way to kind of peer into the land of the Bible to the places where so many of these really really pivotal stories took place. And, so, again that’s available…that’s available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And then we have also released a brand-new Christmas album for this year. It’s called Christmas Time and this was produced and arranged by my son Maxwell and it is…it is a lovely piece. It is a lovely work. I enjoy it so much. It is the kind Christmas album that I gravitate toward actually. I love all of the classics. I love all of the new records that are coming out. I love all the different renditions of the carols, but when I come across an album that makes me feel the atmosphere and just kinda feel the spirit of Christmas for I guess for lack of a better word, the kind of record…the records that I like are the kind that I turn off everything but the Christmas lights and just relax and just soak it all in. And this project really really does a good job setting the atmosphere. So, it is available now wherever you go to get your music for your device. Just search for Maxwell Hardin and look for Christmas Time and should be able to find it. So, it’s Christmas time around here. And check these items out if you have a chance.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if the mission to bring the spoken Scriptures every single day offered freely openhandedly to anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that, that rhythm every day showing up step-by-step day by day, the next step forward together, what we call the Global Campfire. If that has been life-giving and a light in your life than thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t here together. So, there is a link at dailyaudiobible.com 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, of course, as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, we are a community that…that loves one another through prayer very well and we pray for one another constantly. And, so, there’s always a way to reach out. You can hit the Hotline button in the app and share from wherever you are in the world, or you can dial 877-942-4253. And I’ve been mentioning that this…well…just a few more days, just a couple more days, this is the time where we are preparing for the Daily Audio Bible Global Campfire Christmas party which is a virtual party but it’s something that we release each year. Jill and I get together, and we share some thoughts and reflections back upon the year and then we settle in and just hear holiday wishes and season’s greetings and Merry Christmas’s from all over the world throughout this community. And, so, you can call those in now for the next couple of days just like we’ve been talking about…well…for the last better part of week. So, typically the Hotline and the phone numbers they are specifically for prayer requests and encouragements. This is the one time of the year where those lines can be used as well for holiday greetings among the community here. The one rule about it is that you not combine a holiday greeting and a prayer request in the same call. Make them separate. This is one of those rare times where that’s okay to pick up and dial again. If you have a prayer request and call that in and then if you have a holiday greeting than go ahead and call that in and we can keep them separate if they’re combined, then they won’t have a place to go. So, if you’ve kind of been thinking about it over the last several days and you’re going to call in, then don’t procrastinate. There’s only a couple more days that we’ll be able to receive them, and then we’ll get to the business of putting it all together and getting the production for our family Christmas party together. And I love it. It’s one of my favorite things. There’s so many things that I love and adore as we go through a year together and when we reach this time of year, this…I love this. I have never since we started it well over a decade ago have never been able to move through it without tears in my eyes. It just warms my heart. And, so, I’m looking forward to that. But don’t procrastinate. Call now.

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 Daily Audio Bible this is Jimmy from the East Coast. I was just calling to pray for one of the DABbers. I’m a little bit behind about a month and I’m just praying for the disciple who he loved and just heartbroken to hear a parent talk about a child not wanting to be here at such a young age. And I have a daughter that’s a little bit older and I’d do anything for her. And just…I…I suffered with those feelings a lot in my life and having a special kind of brain and I just can’t imagine a child going through the things that I’ve gone through and feeling the feelings that I felt. And I just…just…just pray for your daughter and you. And you can keep asking every single day multiple times a day as much as you need. Any parent, anybody out there, we…just…this is a place to be and to ask. And I just pray right now for your little one, just blessing in the name of Jesus and just to lighten that load and to remove completely as far as the east is from the west whatever’s holding her down and whatever is just eating at her. So, I just pray that light and joy just flood in, like just flood in your life and her life and that God will just whisp you two away on a journey of just complete bliss in Jesus’ name.

Yes, this is Whitney from Alabama. I’m calling in asking for prayer for me and my children. We lost my mom in November of 2016, and we lost my dad September 24^th of this year and it’s been really hard to deal with. And it’s not only that but my kids’ dad’s not really in their lives. So, I pray also that…that you…you pray that God softens his heart. My dad was like my kids’ dad. He was the closest thing that they had to him and to a father and it’s just been really hard especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas and Christmas being his favorite time of the year. And we even played two Christmas carols at his memorial because that’s just how much he loved Christmas. So, it’s going to be really difficult for me and the kids this year. So, if…if you all don’t mind, please just send up a prayer for us and for my children’s father and, you know, that we can just get a Christmas miracle and that He…He allows us to feel my dad’s and my mom’s presence here with us for Christmas because it’s been really really hard. Thank you so much. Thank you, Brian and Jill and the family and to everyone that’s prayed for us before. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Martha, and this is the first time I’m calling. I just wanted to pray for the man who called and said they had COVID, and he was worried about his wife who’s pregnant. And I just wanted to tell you do not fear. Do not fear. God is with you. And Lord I pray for him and for his family. I pray that You bring your healing to them and that You take away all fear in the name of Jesus.

Hello my DAB family this is Mark Street from Sydney Australia today is Friday the 3^rd of December and I’ve just finished listening to today’s podcast. And…and Brian was talking about how we need to give God’s love to everybody. And it is so pertinent in my life as well and understanding than more we give the more we receive. And I was looking back on our word this year which was mend and was feeling a bit depressed because my body, my physical body has actually got a lot worse. But then it impressed on my heart and mind that something that has miraculously changed is my mind and spirit have become so much closer to Him. And my mind is healing so much more. My anxiety, God has gifted me that my anxiety has probably left by about 75% now through practicing His love. So, I realize now that healing as spiritual and mental is much more important than healing the physical body. And…and also too, and this is not for boasting or saying how good I am, but the closer I’ve got to 10% of the income that I give the more God seems to give me as well. And I have witnessed that firsthand. I have never been left short. The more I’ve given the more God has given me. And I just wanted to confirm what Brian is saying. In my life I have certainly noticed the more that I share love…

Hi this is Victoria Soldier could just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I want to pray for Irene who was…you wanted to pray for…that she do not have fear and I want to pray with you my sister, that God do not you have fear. God doesn’t give us fear but He gives us peace, power, love, and a sound mind. I want to pray for Cynthia. She wants to pray for her friend to receive Christ. I want to pray for Ashland for a friend of hers that she do not know,,,that do not know Jesus. I want to pray for Tammy in the Adirondacks and her husband they’re going through some…some…some highs and lows that I want to pray for…for my precious sister Tammy. I also want to…want to…want to…just…just say happy Thanksgiving and also I forgot to give a happy birthday to Blind Tony and to my precious sisters that…that’s been going through in the hospital, those who’s been going through with the…with the coronavirus and…and those who kids who are suffering in the depression and…and…and the strongholds. Gracious Father we just praise You and we lift You up. I thank You so much for the Daily Audio Bible. I thank You for my sisters and my brothers. Oh Lord that…that are…that are going through the challenges, but we’re praying for one another and that You are in the midst Lord and that You are answering prayers and that You are healing and that You are delivering and that You are opening doors. We just ask You to have Your way. Give life and favor to Your DABbers Lord and let them see Your work and know that our God is able to do exceedingly abundantly up of all we ask for or think. Lord my sisters thinking that her fear is trying to come on her. I want you to know my sister that fear is what they call false evidence appearing real and then the devil try to give you the fear. You…

Hosea 1:1-3:5, 1 John 5:1-21, Psalm 124:1-8, Proverbs 29:5-8

Today is the fifth day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today as we step into this brand-new shiny, sparkly week and understand that things are all being made new. This day is out in front of us, as well as every other day this week. It’s in our future and we get to pick how we’re going to live these days. We don’t have too many more of these left, three more times we will come to the beginning of a new week and then this year will come to an end. Today is also the second Sunday in the season of Advent and Advent always has four Sunday’s, the four Sundays before Christmas day. This is the second Sunday in Advent, a season, a season of longing, a season of waiting, a season to ponder and to put our hearts in the proper position as we approach Christmas. And so often our hearts posture is last-minute shopping, wrapping, cooking, the excitement and joy of family gifts. All these things and that’s wonderful. It’s beautiful. The season of Advent leads us to that day and it is intended to give us a sense of longing, we put ourselves in the position of those, who long ago were waiting for a Redeemer, waiting for a deliver, expecting a Messiah, waiting for the Savior to come, so that when Christmas does arrive, and the arrival of the Savior is something that we’ve been waiting for and longing for and this gives our hearts the opportunity to consider what it was like before he came, longing for him to come but we also put ourselves in a position along with our ancestor brothers and sisters who were waiting, understanding that we are waiting, we are waiting for the second Advent. Advent means arrival and so we too are longing and waiting for the arrival of the Savior, and so this is why, these seasons of the year in the Christian calendar are here and they’re very, very meaningful if we want to participate. So, this is the second Sunday of Advent and the irony is I feel like I just said this but it was a year ago and here we have gone through another year and I have found ourselves in another Christmas season and a beautiful one it is. And in terms of our journey through the Scriptures we concluded the book of Daniel yesterday and so we begin this brand-new week, moving into some new territory and we will be moving fairly rapidly, especially in the Old Testament as we move toward the end of the year. We have come to the final grouping of books that is in the Old Testament known as the minor prophets and there are 12 books in the minor prophets, so we have 12 books to go before the end of this year. Beginning today with a Hosea and then of course ending with Malachi. And as I said, we’ll be moving through them rather quickly. There…there quite short, so if we have 12 books to cover before the end of the year than they would need to be quite short and they are, so some of them we’ll encounter over the, over the course of a couple of days. Some will read in one sitting and one day.

Introduction to the Book of Hosea:

Today, we are diving into Hosea who lived about eight centuries before Jesus and was able to witness the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. He was from the northern kingdom of Israel and if we remember our stories that we passed through, it was the northern kingdom of Israel that was conquered first and they were conquered by the Assyrian Empire and those 10 tribes in the northern kingdom were deported and taken into exile and then disappeared. Literally disappeared from history, they have never been a cohesive group of tribes ever again. So that is the period that we are moving back into, Hosea was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel and bore witness to the destruction of the northern kingdom. Many biblical scholars believe that these prophecies, the prophecies of Hosea were gathered together and collected in the southern kingdom of Judah after the destruction of the northern kingdom. One of the things that we will notice moving through Hosea is this…this marital language. This theme of the covenant of marriage. And that being used to reveal God’s heart for his people, and this book really does bring it front and center in the language that we can understand. We have watched God’s people in the Scriptures chase after other gods and we have seen many, many times through the prophets how God feels about that. That…that is like adultery, that is like cheating, giving yourself to another when you are in covenant with someone and when this marital language begins to enter the equation, we really should begin to get an understanding. We can read many things in the Old Testament and go this is a vengeful, angry God who is just so mad all the time but anyone who’s ever experienced adultery, and even if you haven’t experienced adultery and I don’t mean like participated in adultery, I mean anyone who’s been cheated on, will be able to tell you that that brings about some of the most erratic emotions that that are possible within a human being. And yes, anger can be part of that. But, sadness, betrayal, brokenness, God articulates more clearly what this spiritual adultery is like and we’ll see that Hosea was instructed essentially to use his own life as a living prophecy. He was…he was told to marry a prostitute. Her name is Gomer. This act represents the idolatry, the adultery, the whoredom, the harlotry of Israel and then Hosea and Gomer had children together and at God’s instruction, each was given a name that was to be prophetic and spoke directly to Israel and then eventually Gomer is unfaithful to Hosea and he divorces her which represents God’s casting away of the adulterous Israel. And then in an about-face, Hosea was sent to get Gomer back again and as it turns out he had to buy his former wife back again and she’s the one who would that been a harlot and then went back to harlotry and had committed adultery, and he went and bought her back, which represents the length God is willing to go to in order to be reunited with his love, which is us. So, on the one hand, we can marvel at the depth of God’s love, unspeakable in in nature. It’s so in comprehendible, we will never experience a love like the love of God, but it also gives us a chance to examine our own lives and wonder in what ways we are betraying that love and in what ways we’re…we’re willing to be the adulterer in the scenario. So, let’s dive in, we’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week. Hosea chapters 1, 2 and 3.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for a brand-new shiny sparkly week, we thank You for this season, the holiday season, certainly with the season of Advent that allows us to ponder and contemplate, and get quiet and consider what Your arrival meant and how it has changed everything and how we continue to long for Your arrival or Your return but also how Your presence is here upon this earth in us, in our lives. And so, as we move into this week and continue this journey through the year may we spread light and love from Your heart through us to those around us. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Greetings from a wintery Coke Island. This is Mandy and I have been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for two years now. This is my first year being a double DABer and I’ve really enjoyed it. Thank you Jill and I look forward to continuing as a double DABer next year and having China and Jill share the responsibility. And Brian, thank you very much for the Daily Audio Bible, I’ve enjoyed going through the bible for a second time this year. And to all those who call, thank you for the praise reports, thank you for the prayer requests, it’s always lovely to hear people being honest and vulnerable and please know that I do pray for you, even though I don’t always phone in, you are in my thoughts and my prayers. Wishing you all a Happy end of the year and that you would enjoy time with your family and that it wouldn’t be too stressful. And that you would embrace the new year as it comes around, these have been difficult two years but that 2022 would be a good new year and that we will all be blessed. God Bless and I love you, and Brian I love hearing you say I love you; it does warm my heart every time I hear you say, I love you. God Bless and I love you.

Good morning, this is Debbie. Debbie from Washington and I’m just gonna call, I’m calling to pray for the man who just called in on December 3rd, was weak and got COVID, has a toddler at home who is not feeling well and his wife is pregnant with another child and he fears that she may get it. So, I’m lifting you up in prayer because my daughter just called and she and her husband both are diagnosed with COVID and she is very sick and she also is six months pregnant with their child and they have twin, twin babies, twin one-year-olds at home as well. And they are starting to get a fever so I’m praying, I’m praying for you and I’m asking the community to please, please pray for my daughter and her family to have a quick and swift recovery from this horrible virus. A complete recovery. And I’m praying for you sir, for a complete recovery, a swift recovery, in the name of Jesus. And that your wife would be enveloped in the protective covering of the blood of Jesus against this virus. And that your baby toddler, your toddler would, would be instantly healed, in the name of Jesus, I pray and I decree this be done. In Jesus name. And I thank you for your prayers for my daughter, Melanie and her husband and her family. In Jesus name.

Good morning DAB family. This is Longing to be God’s Delight in Pennsylvania. And I’m calling in this morning for, to pray for the father who has been diagnosed with COVID and his two-year-old is not feeling well and is throwing up and his wife is pregnant and he’s praying that she doesn’t contract the disease. And I’m praying Lord, that You would pass Your hand over this family and preserve and safe and heal him and his little toddler child completely, quickly and smoothly. And protect his wife and unborn child. And for all of those who are suffering with affliction, with COVID, with disabilities and problems and can’t breathe; O Lord, I ask for Your healing. I ask for Your hope and protection and I pray Lord, I thank Brian this morning for his story, his illustration. Let me not be a Dead Sea but rather a Sea of Galilee. Lord, today while I hear Your voice, let me not harden my heart, let afflictions not choke me and prevent unfruitfulness. Holy Spirit, pour Your power into me and any who are praying and just struggling with problems that don’t seem to end. And let Your love flow through us, make us fruitful, let your light shine. In Jesus name.

Hi, this is Radiant Rachel and I just listened to December 2nd and I want to thank Brian for his message and just the willingness to speak what the Holy Spirit is, putting on his heart. I just really loved how you went through and you know, brought it back to if we’re not believing then that’s anti-Christ and our doubts can bring us to, bring us to a place where we’re anti-Christ and I just thank you for just, just speaking that out to us. Because I think some of us, I think need to hear that and maybe I, you know, I love God and maybe I do need to hear it for myself but maybe I needed those words to be able to send them out to the next people I’m talking to. So, just thank you for that. I want to lift up all the callers who called in on the 2nd. A couple girls called in for their friends and I’m really bad with names especially when I’m driving so, I didn’t write them down but Lord, I just pray that You would surround these girls who called in for their friends and their friends Lord. I pray that You would give them wisdom and guidance and that they will have veils lifted and that they will make good choices Lord. And I pray for those who called in who are just lonely and leaning on You Lord. I just thank you for the blessings in their life and just thank You for showing them to them. And I pray that You will give them just, let them feel Your love. In Jesus name. Amen.  

Daniel 11:36-12:13, 1 John 4:1-21, Psalms 123:1-4, Proverbs 29:2-4

Today is the 4^th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a joy to be here with you today as we bring to a close another of the weeks that we have to spend together this year. Obviously, not too many more weeks to spend together this year before it comes to a conclusion and we reach the final paragraphs of the Bible. But we do have a lot of interesting territory to cover between now and then the way we cover it is step-by-step day by day together around the Global Campfire. And, so, we have been reading from the New Living Translation this week. That’s what we’ll do today. Daniel chapter 11 verse 36 through 12 verse 13.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week. Now we have concluded another one of our weeks with just a few remaining and we are so grateful. We are so thankful. All of the gifts that simply surround this…this simple exercise of daily being here. You have deeply touched places in our lives through the Scriptures. You have deeply spoken to us about our convictions and our behaviors and our words and everything. You’ve touched so much of our hearts. You’ve given us this gift of each other to take this journey on so that when something hits us between the eyes we’re quite sure that’s happening all over the world through the Scriptures because so many of the things that we face as humans are spoken of in the Scriptures. Thank You for this gift. It shows us how to live. It shows us how to be true and as we continue that path we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that is where you find out what’s going on around here. If you’re using the app then that’s all available inside the app. There’s a little drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner that opens up a Drawer to the different categories. And, so, check that out.

Right now it’s Christmas time around the world. And, so, it’s Christmas time in our world here around the Global Campfire as well.

And, so, we have quite a Global Campfire Christmas. So, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box, family Christmas 2021 is available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop in the Christmas category, and we packed it full of resources that maybe want to keep all of them maybe want to pick some to give away, some for you, some to give away. There’s a number of things in there. Like, the God of Your Story is in there, Daily Audio Bible Journal, our 3.0 version is in there, Global Campfire candle, your choice of coffee or tea fresh roasted sent to you from…from the Windfarm, from the Windfarm which is the Daily Audio Bible. Our Christmas ornament only available in the Christmas box is in the Christmas box and that is for 2021, and it’s got our word for the year which is “mend” and it says Daily Audio Bible, 2021 on it. I’ve got these from all of the years we’ve been doing this on my tree. Reminds me…well…reminds me lots of things. Reminds me of the community. It brings the community right into my home. But every single one of those that I look at reminds me of an entire journey through the Bible in the course of an entire year. And, so, I love it and that’s in the Christmas box as well as a number of other things. You can check that out in the Christmas section at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop or using the app going into the Shop in the Christmas section.

Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible is also available now. Makes for a fantastic Christmas gift and allows us to peer into the different regions of the land of the Bible and…and actually into the locations where some of the most pivotal stories in the Bible happened. So, that is available as well as our brand-new Christmas album for this year. It’s called Christmas Time and this one was produced and arranged by my son Maxwell. So, if you search for Maxwell Hardin and find the Christmas Time album that has just been released this week. And, so, check that out.

And then lastly, we are preparing for our Global Campfire Christmas party, our virtual Christmas party that we hold each year that is all of the voices of the community wishing one another happy Christmas, happy holidays, Joy to the world. So, here’s how it works. We have the hotline button that we talk about most every day and then we have phone numbers that we talk about most every day as well. Those are the prayer and encouragement lines and that is what there for, but they have an additional purpose from one week out of the year. That’s now. And that is that we can use those numbers and that hotline to call in our holiday wishes to the community that we’ve been sharing all year as we’ve moved through the Bible together. The one trick is that you don’t combine a holiday wish and a prayer request in the same call. Make those separate. And we’ll go on until…until the 8^th and then we’ll stop doing that. We will have gathered what we’re going to use and pull it all together for the Christmas party. So, don’t delay or procrastinate if…if you want to call in.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you, humbly. Thank you. There is a link on the homepage of 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, or a holiday greeting you can hit 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:

Father, we want to pray for Tyler I believe from Oregon called in on…on the podcast on the 1^st of December. Father we pray for Tyler. We just thank You that the beginnings of transformation are in his hands when You’ve given him a new heart to seek genuine forgiveness. And yeah we believe with him Lord that You are more than able to give us the strength to…to be able to forgive not just in…on a surface level Lord but in a way that, yeah, really changes our heart, makes us able to, yeah, move past the hurts of life. I pray a huge blessing on Tyler. I pray that, yeah, in his relationships and everything that he puts his hands to Lord that You just bless him and give him genuine joy from You and that, yes, in such a way that the enemy would have no power over him in the way that he perhaps has been trying to. And yeah, we just plead the blood of Jesus over his life and we just thank You that You’re able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask for or __ for. So, bless Tyler in Jesus’ name. And yeah, we…we give this to You Lord. Thank You for Your love and hope you all have an amazing day. Bye.

Good morning, everybody this is Susan from Canada God’s Yellow Flower calling and today is December 2^nd. And today is one of those days where I hear the prayer and praise reports and I’m sort of paralyzed. That’s the only way I can describe it. I wish I could pray for you all. I can’t even write down your names because I am legally blind, and it would be very difficult for me to read them back. So, I try and do it all by memory. But when I say I’m paralyzed I mean I listen to the request and then that little bit of music that is played at the end is such a beautiful thing to meditate with and pray for you all. And then there’s quiet, absolute quiet and that’s where we meet with God, and we sit with God. And my prayers for you go very deep. So, I just want you to know that even if your name isn’t mentioned the prayers are going up. I love you all so much. Take care and God bless.

I’m calling from my porch in Georgia with my dog. It’s not even 6:00 AM yet and I’m out here spending time with God and the Daily Audio Bible. And I just wanted to reach out today and ask as many of you as you to pray to pray for my son. Like many of us, we have children that grow into teenagers, they get to that senior year in high school, and your heart just really starts to break. You know that adulthood’s coming, they’re leaving your house, you’re praying for them to have wisdom, you’re praying for their safety, you’re praying for their relationship, and you’re praying for them to have favor and their life. And, so, I just wanted to reach out and remind us all to be praying for those parents and those seniors, those young adults and just asking God to continue to keep them close and may they continue to want to be close. I love the Psalm where it says created in me a new heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. So, I just ask us to remember those kids, remember my son. We ask all these things in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

Hey Daily Audio Bible community it’s Eyes of Dove in rainy Snoqualmie Washington. So, I have a little funny story to share, maybe an encouragement to somebody. Anyways…you can hear that bag rumbling in the background. I just went to the local sub shop…jersey…jersey subs and got my family some sub sandwiches because we have a church meeting tonight. But anyways there’s this gal that does the sandwiches and we’re regulars and she always looks like she’s frowning and I’m always a little bit intimidated by her, you know. And, so, here’s the funny thing today. Tonight, so they’re making me my sandwiches for my kids and she's…she’s asking me questions. I keep saying I’m sorry, I’m sorry because I’m listening to the Daily Audio Bible community prayer line. I’m trying to get caught up, you know, after work. And she said something else. I said I’m so sorry it's…it’s not you, it’s me I’m distracted. She said, oh, you taking a phone call. And I said no, I’m just listening to my Bible. And she goes, no way. What…what church do you go to? and I said you know choose on the Ridge here in Snoqualmie. She said I’ve been trying to get connected with the church and…and I just don’t know anybody and I lived here all my life and I tried it once. And, so, because of that conversation I kind of gave her a plug on the DAB but she…she’s really wanting to come to a physical community of believers. And, so, yeah so Long story short, the lady that I was intimidated by, the grumpiest one at the sub turns out to be this…this gal with this lonely and truly just wants to connect with God and she’s coming to church on Sunday. Isn’t that cool guys? And, so, we just never judge a book by its cover you know what I mean. And share and be open with others and make those connections and draw them in. Like someone else said on here, the season is ripe for the picking. There’s a lot of desperate lonely people during the season and with all the COVID and stuff there’s a lot of people that are seeking connections and fellowship. And you just…you would never know who it is that is reaching out it will surprise you. Just be led by the Holy Spirit.

Daniel 11:2-35, 1 John 3:7-24, Psalm 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1

Today is the third day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today as we come in out of the cold, find ourselves around this Global Campfire together, release the tensions, exhale, unshackle ourselves from all kinds of things that can hijack us and just come here into this peaceful oasis that we create together, every single day, knowing that whatever’s going on out there it can wait a few minutes. It’s not all gonna fall apart in a few minutes. These few minutes may change the way that we handle any number of things. I love that, I love that there’s this place. There’s this place that we come together and each day we take the next step forward in that place together. So, this next step forward we’ll be leading us back into the book of Daniel today chapter 11 verse 2 through 35.

Commentary:

I’ll talk about I John again, but let’s first go back to John, the gospel of John, to hear Jesus words that pertain to what I John is telling us today. So, from John chapter 13 Jesus tells us your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples, so let’s, let’s use that as the backdrop for what is being said in I John today. We will be known as a disciple of Jesus by our love for one another. Now, we move to I John and our reading today and I quote “if someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need, but shows no compassion, how can God’s love be in that person.” What we might recognize is, is that we’re right back to this same point that keeps getting pounded and pounded and pounded, from James, from Peter now from John. You have to live what you say you believe; your actions actually matter in the equation. We can’t make a faith claim that has no action to back it up. We can’t claim to walk in the love of God if we don’t love and care for one another. Faith and love aren’t just topics for discussion, this is a way of life. In fact, the way of life because it is the way of Jesus. Here’s how John puts it and I quote “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other. Let us show the truth by our actions, our actions will show that we belong to the truth so we will be confident when we stand before God.” So, our faith in God tells us that His love for us is to be received and given away, when we’re trying to hoard things so that God’s blessings remain in our hands, we are supremely limiting ourselves. If we understand that God’s love has not run dry for the world, for the people on the earth, even after all of these thousands and thousands of years, His compassion and mercy and kindness and love for humanity has not run dry and will not run dry for us than we realize that we can be like a reservoir, receiving and sending out, receiving and sending out, constantly as a way of life. The love that we receive is the love that we give, is the love that we receive, is the love that we give, and it just keeps repeating itself. The best analogy I have ever come up with in the and so I use it often enough is some geographical landmarks that are biblical. The first one being the Dead Sea. We’ve read of the Dead Sea in the Bible, but that there is a Dead Sea and it’s a large lake that collects the water that flows down to the lowest point on the planet. The Dead Sea being the lowest point on planet earth, below sea level. Because it’s at the bottom, like there’s no lower than the Dead Sea, everything that collects there has nowhere to go. It’s run all the way down to the bottom of…of the land on earth and its dead and lifeless. Super cool place to behold but you don’t go into the Dead Sea thinking that you might see the fins of a shark or fish swimming around you. They won’t be, they don’t live there. It’s dead. On the other hand, not that far to the north of the Dead Sea is another famous body of water called the Sea of Galilee. Jesus did a majority of his ministry around the shores of the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Galilee is also a lake below sea level. It’s the lowest freshwater lake in the world below sea level. The Sea of Galilee feeds the Dead Sea. It receives water from the nearby mountains and all of the streams that feed into the Sea of Galilee, it’s a freshwater lake. It’s not dead. It’s alive. I don’t, we know that scientifically, but we know that from the Scriptures. What did Jesus disciples, mostly do? They finished in the Sea of Galilee. It’s alive. The reason is that it has water flowing into it and water flowing out of it, making its way down to the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is not stagnant or dead because of the inflow and the outflow. By the time of the water gets to the Dead Sea, there’s nowhere for it to go. It’s hoarded there at the bottom of the earth, where everything is dead. What I John is essentially telling us is there is no shortage of God’s love. We are either going to be hoarding it and allowing it to become stagnated with in us or we’re going to be a reservoir of inflow and outflow as a way of life. Understanding that there is no shortage of God’s love. It won’t stop flowing so we can give away all of the love in our hearts with corresponding action to back it up, knowing that there is an endless eternal supply. So, as we continue our journey into the holiday season and toward the end of the year, there’s some bombs being dropped here out of the Bible that so affect the way that we live if we would listen to them. There is no shortage of God’s love. We can receive his love and close our hearts and become stagnant or we can have open hands and open hearts and allow ourselves to be a reservoir that love is flowing into and out of. I’ve been at the Sea of Galilee lots of times and it’s been around a long time because it’s mentioned so much in the Bible so that body of water has been there for thousands and thousands of years and it’s not empty. And yet it is sending out billions of gallons from itself. As water flows out of it and yet it’s still there, it’s not empty. It hasn’t run dry. If we envision our hearts after this fashion, we have a good chance of being a lot more clearheaded and open-minded and openhearted, knowing that that love that rains down upon us is there to be temporary and given away because a new supply is constantly flowing in, its extraordinarily idealistic to think about it, but imagine what the world would look like if that were our reality. And then let’s understand that that is where everything is headed. That’s where we’re going because that is what the kingdom of heaven is shaped like according to the Scriptures. So, the quicker that we can transition into living in the kingdom with open hearts and open hands, the quicker that we get to participate in God’s intentions. Nobody should be unloved right; nobody should be unloved and we carry within us an endless continually replenished supply.

Prayer:

Father, we’re really describing how you are as told in the Scriptures that You are love and we are collaborating with You as Your body has the hands and feet of Jesus in this world when love is the currency of our lives. If we are ridiculed or marginalized, or any negative thing, if we pay that back with love, we have removed the power of darkness from the situation and removed it from the world. Love conquers all we’re told by the Scriptures. Holy Spirit, we ask that You reveal to us what that means to us, to our lives, into our stories. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is a home base and that’s certainly where you find out what’s going on around here anytime. But this is Christmas time. So, there are some special things going on around here. First off, it’s time to get ready for our virtual family Christmas party that we have each year and that happens by us calling in our holiday greetings to the community here that we’ve been sharing a whole year together every day with. And it’s pretty simple. We have a Hotline in our app, and we also have 877-942-4253 as the number that you can call and those are typically for prayer requests and encouragements and that’s how it is always except for this one week of the year when you can also call in your holiday greeting to the Daily Audio Bible Community. So, you can use the same Hotline, you can use the same phone number that you would normally use to call in a prayer request, in fact maybe you have a prayer request and you can use the prayer line or the Hotline to call that in but if you also have a holiday greeting don’t combine it in the call that you’re calling your prayer request in, make those separate. It’s the one time a year where it’s okay to hang up and call right back. And we will take those calls all the way through December 8th and then we will get to the business of putting it all together. So, don’t delay, don’t procrastinate. If you want to participate.

Let’s see, the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas box for 2021 is available now while supplies last. And it is, it is full of resources from Daily Audio Bible, some that you may want to keep, some that you may consider giving away or maybe you just want it all for yourself, but there are a number of items in there from the Daily Audio Bible resources that we’ve handpicked that we think will bring the joy of Christmas into your life as well as a connection to the Global Campfire that we have shared all year long. So, you can check that out, see the contents, look it over in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, in the Christmas section.

We have released Promised Land, Photographs from the Land of the Bible which makes a really fantastic gift. We decided that if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right and it is right. It is beautiful. It will last, it is made of very, very high-quality materials and I think does an honor to the effort that was put into it over many, many, many years. And so, it is a book of photography, obviously. But there are plenty of words in there describing the different regions of the Bible that the photographs are inviting us to look at. And so, it is, it is a wonderful piece. You can check that out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop as well.

And then, our brand-new Christmas album for 2021. It’s called Christmas Time and this resource was produced and arranged by my son Maxwell. So, if you search Maxwell Hardin or Christmas Time, you should be able to find it, that is out now.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts. Thank you for your partnership, we wouldn’t be here without it and we wouldn’t be here if you weren’t in this together. So, thank you. 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 or right now a holiday greeting 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey family, it’s Tony the Truck Driver calling in. I’m calling today for my brother Renzo. I heard his prayer request for his father looking for a job and his mother healing of her ear. And Renzo, I just said a prayer for you, we just lift you up as a family. Lord, we just ask that you bless Renzo’s mother. Lord, that healing would come to her ear in the name of Jesus, that she would come out better then she was before. Father, we pray for Renzo’s father as well that he would find a job better than the one that he had before. Lord God, that he would be able provide for his family. And we praying for you Renzo as well with your ministry, brother, it just helps me cause I wanna get a ministry going since my prison ministry, we can’t go into the prisons right now. So, I’m just trying to find my way and do some street evangelism or something. I know God is with you and the Holy Spirit is with you. So, I just bless you brother and also playing for Crystal and her family, her situation with her husband. I just ask Lord God that You would touch Crystal, her children, mend the relationship between her and her husband if that is Your will Father. And that You would just give her strength and faith in You. She’s waiting on You to move in this situation Father. God, we are praying healing for her and her family. In Jesus name. Amen. Thank you, family. Love you guys. Still listen every day. God Bless you. Tony the Truck Driver.  

Good morning, everyone, it’s Susan from Canada, God’s Yellow Flower calling and I would like to pray for Daniel Johnson Junior. Lord God, just be with him as he is exhausted, and he is wanting to have rest in this Christmas season. I pray Lord God, that he would sit with You, that he would find rest in You, that he would find peace in You. I pray dear God that he would be still with You. And when he needs the energy, I pray that You would give him everything he needs to be Your faithful and good servant. I’d also like to pray for Tyler. I loved that phrase that you used Tyler, plastic forgiveness, that is so descriptive, but I pray dear God that Tyler would receive relief from You from this depression, that it would be lifted up, and that the forgiveness that he needs, would be real. Lord God, forgiveness is an action verb, and we have to decide to forgive, before we can feel forgiveness. So, I pray this on Tyler and that You would watch over him and just lift him out of this fog of gloom and raise him up, Lord God. In Jesus name I pray.

Hi DABers this is Ms. Sandra Florida, prayer going out for Taylor who’s struggling from depression and unforgiveness. Father God, we lift up Taylor to you in the name of Jesus. We plead the blood of Jesus over him Father. We pray that You empower him with Your strength. We come against the enemies, attacks on his thought-life, his imagination life, giving him bitterness and awful thoughts of unforgiveness Lord God. We know that’s not from You. And Father God, we know Your word says if you from your heart don’t forgive your brother, his trespasses, that You won’t forgive ours, Lord. And I know Father God, Your word says our healing begins, it begins with forgiving others. So, Taylor, I pray that you would take one step at a time, journal, write down the things that’s bothering you. Turn them over to the Lord. How big is it? Turn it over to the Lord. Forgive your brother or your sister those wounds that Satan keeps reminding you of, they are not worth carrying around. And after you do that, tell her, you make a journal about forgiving yourself. That’s the beauty, forgive yourself, forgive others. And I pray that God will set you free from bitterness, rage, anger, self-hatred and guilt. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. I will be praying for you; we’ll all be praying for you. We come against this depression and we pray God would just give you a joy that just is incredibly huge in your heart right now. That you wouldn’t be able to stop dancing. I pray that you turn on the radio, the Christian radio and that you start singing and praising and worshiping God. In Jesus name I pray. Keep praying brother.

Hello, Daily Audio Bible family. This is LaChula from Los Angeles. I heard a beautiful prayer request over the man in our families, particularly a husband and I just want to take the time to thank the Lord for my husband. In 2018, we went through a really rough season, particularly me, you know, trying to peel back the layers of my heart, my soul, my thoughts and really let the Lord penetrate into my heart and find the worthiness that I thought I didn’t have and peel away shame and guilt. Everything that, that made me come to just kind of like a breakdown at that time and my husband and I got separated at that time, but he never stopped praying over me. He continued to believe and through that he got closer to the Lord and you know, we did manage to go to counseling and hold onto our faith and rebuild. And so, although we’ve been together for 21 years, it feels like just two years of getting to know each other again. And I just want to say that God restores and God reveals and God is good. And my husband introduced me to the Daily Audio Bible and my life has been so much better for that. Thank you Brian and Jill and China and all your children for pouring into lives daily. I don’t know what my life would be like without the word. The truth the light God’s presence and I just want to say thank you and have a beautiful December, may it bring abundance.

Good evening family, I was recently diagnosed with COVID19 and I’m needing your help and prayer. I have a toddler that was just diagnosed as well, she’s not been feeling good tonight, she’s already thrown up twice. I’m asking for your prayers. My wife is currently pregnant with our newborn and I’m concerned that she might get it too. Calling on your prayers tonight.

Daniel 9:1-11:1, 1 John 2:18-3:6, Psalms 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28

Today is the 2^nd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is a joy, it is really a joy to come around this Global Campfire together, warm ourselves, be together, feel like we’re not alone. I love that so much. I love that on days like today. Today would’ve been my father’s birthday. Today would’ve been his 79^th birthday. He passed away at 58 years old and I have missed him for a couple of decades now. And when his birthday comes up I…well…I think about him the time but his birthday comes and I think about him a lot and I think about all that’s happened in those years since he passed because I wasn't…I wasn’t in ministry…I mean, I’ve been around ministry my whole life. My dad was a pastor. I grew up in the church, but I was in the music industry. That was decades ago with no desire whatsoever and no plan whatsoever to end up in ministry. Was trying to kind of avoid that. And then there was the fateful day that I decided I should read the whole Bible and that decision led to me, thinking maybe I could say the whole Bible, maybe I could read it out loud. And that was 16 years ago around this time thinking. we’ll start at the first of the year, we could do this. Nobody will listen. Maybe a few people, but we could do this. And, so, I just did and haven’t missed a day, like haven’t stopped. And all of that was after my dad passed away and so I really…really would’ve loved…really, really would’ve loved for him to see that…that transformation in my own life. I am thankful that my mom, she was a part of the Daily Audio Bible community for a lot of years. She of course is…is going as well, but when their birthdays come up I feel a swell of gratitude because those are a couple of people that I love her very much and who I owe my very life to. So, I’m grateful today on this second day of December, and I’m really grateful to be around the Global Campfire together with you as we take the next step forward. And the next step will lead us…well…it will lead us to the very point that we left off yesterday, which will lead us back into the book of Daniel. Today chapter 9 verse 1 through 11 verse 1.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in our reading from first John today, in a nutshell we’re talking about the repercussions of unmet expectations. These early believers in Jesus had the apocalyptic worldview that everything is coming to an end and the arrival of Jesus is eminent. Those who believe will be the first in this new kingdom, this kingdom of God that would be established, and they would be the first in it and in so many ways, their fortunes will be reversed and no longer will they be trampled on and marginalized and pressed down, rather they will be members of the kingdom of God and Jesus will return and beat up the bad guys, basically. Those were the expectations. And what happens when you have an expectation that then goes unmet. We can say things like sadness or frustration or something like that. But in terms of our faith, if we’re believing God for something and it’s not happening then often we will endure and we will be patient but eventually we will begin to question and doubt and that is a really really pivotal moment in our faith journey because we start to doubt God as opposed to examining our expectations. And maybe rather than doubting God we should doubt the expectation. The early believers that John is writing to had expectations about the arrival of Jesus and that the whole…the whole script would get flipped, everything would change for them. What they got instead of that expectation was to be ridiculed and marginalized and persecuted. So, that’s not what they were expecting. They got what they were not expecting. And, so, John speaks to that. And I quote. “Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us otherwise they would’ve stayed with us. When they left it proved that they did not belong with us.” So, what would make them leave the fellowship and become anti-Christ? Unmet expectations. It is a little more even complex than that because when we read this letter, we’re reading it as part of the New Testament but as we’ve mentioned many times the people who read this letter in the first place weren’t reading it as the New Testament. They were reading a letter. There was no New Testament, although this letter was very important and passed around and preserved and captain studied and pondered upon it wasn’t really considered Scripture. That happened over time and was eventually canonized hundreds of years later. So, there were all kinds of things being said and taught about Jesus through people who believed just various beliefs, very diverse beliefs. And, so, there were plenty of alternatives, even if you wanted to remain Christian as it were. What we now consider orthodox Christianity, that was in formation. So, some of these people who are hearing what the apostles are saying and to endure and to embrace what’s going on and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and then these unmet expectations happen because Jesus doesn’t come back when they thought he was going to come back, then they would either slink back into Judaism or…or move into another set of teachings. And we can see the apostle John’s frustration. They were never really part of us, or they wouldn’t have left and some of them wouldn’t have become anti-Christs, anti-Jesus, anti-God. And, so, into that swirl, into that unmet expectation and doubt and fading away and backsliding and returning and going away and going over here and learning this teaching, all of this stuff going on. John kind of cuts right through all of it very very simply and very precisely in a way that is still as precise now and can also serve us now. And, so, I quote, and we should hang onto this. “Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father either.” And this is precisely what was going on as people debated and try to figure out the nature of Jesus and what he actually represented to the people of the earth. John simply responds. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. So, look everybody experiences times where they’re not sure. We might call that doubt, but when we are not sure about what you think about something and that you need to maybe press into it deeper understand it better or move away from it because it’s taking you to bad places, but everybody, and it’s not only in spiritual terms, everybody doubts something sometime. If doubt leads us into a place where we deny the Father, and we deny Jesus, then we understand that that is anti-Christ. If that’s not happening but we are pressing into things that we do not understand then we are simply walking in faith. So, asking questions of our faith even when it unsettles us, this is how we grow. And John is basically saying, no matter where you go, and no matter what you think, and no matter what you explore what you’ve heard from the beginning hasn’t changed. The good news hasn’t changed. It’s still the same. If you want to go so far as to deny God and deny Jesus, then that is antichrist, but if in your exploration you understand that things haven’t changed, your changing, but the message the truth hasn’t changed it’s still the same then you always know where your anchor is and would always know that the spirit of truth is here to lead you. And I quote again from John. “I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray, but you have received the Holy Spirit and He lives within you. So, you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true for the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know and what He teaches is true, it is not a lie. So, just as He taught you remain in fellowship with Christ. So, basically if we’re summing this up, unmet expectations can lead us into all kinds of trouble. It can eventually lead us to the point where we become antichrist if we want to follow down that path. But what we’ve been told about the good news hasn’t changed and that is home base. And no matter what we’re thinking and no matter what we’re hearing and no matter what people are saying we have that anchor. It hasn’t changed and we have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit within us who will not lie to us, who will teach us the truth. And, so, we can be led into doubt by other people’s doubt. We can be led into doubt by all kinds of other people’s musings and assumptions but we can return to home base and understand that the Spirit of truth will guide us and we have to trust that even in the face of our unmet expectations.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come into that. This is another really, really big deep thing. This is touching deep things within us and yet we thank You for simplicity, the simplicity of knowing if it denies You, then it is antichrist. If we deny You then that’s what we’re involving ourselves in. And yet the story hasn’t changed. We have a home base to return to. The good news of the gospel is the good news. It hasn’t changed. And, so, we can return to this place, knowing that the Spirit, Your spirit, the Holy Spirit of God will lead us into all truth. And, so, that is our prayer, and it feels like we’ve prayed it a 100 times this year. Holy Spirit come and lead us into all truth. That’s where we’re wanting to be. That’s what we’re wanting to live within, that You are within us and You are speaking truth to us and You will continue to do that if we will continue to pay attention to You and not get sidetracked by our unmet…unmet expectations and doubt and enter into this swirl that could eventually make us become antichrist. Holy Spirit come into all of this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that is where you find out what’s going on around. If you’re using the appl you can find out as well. There’s a little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app screen and that opens up a Drawer. And, so, you can get to things like the Daily Audio Bible Shop from the web or from the app.

And in the Daily Audio Bible Shop is a Christmas category. And, so, the…the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas box for 2021 is in that category. And you can go there and see the contents. The God of Your Story is in there. The Daily Audio Bible Journal, 3.0 is in there. Your choice of Windfarm, coffee, fresh roasted and sent to you or our Windfarm boutique tea sourced and sent to you. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2021, which is only available in the box is in the box as well as a Global Campfire candle and it smells beautiful, like a…like a campfire. It brings the atmosphere, brings the aroma that we are connected around this Global Campfire each and every day. That’s in the box. A Global Campfire pop socket, a couple of Global Campfire stickers and a series of five Global Campfire postcards and a mystery item from the vault will be included in the Christmas box this year. So, you can see all that in the Shop at dailyaudiobible.com.

We have been talking about the new Christmas album, the new Christmas music release for this year that is released and fully available and rolling out, but you can for sure get it at the iTunes store or the Amazon music store. So, check that out. The entire album is now available.

And then there’s also Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible, which is a beautiful coffee table book, the kind of book that you would put on a coffee table or an end table and it’s beautiful in its craftsmanship. It looks beautiful on a coffee table, but it’s what’s inside - beautiful panoramas of the land of the Bible and where these story, some of these pivotal stories that we’ve read actually happened in all of the different regions of the land. It is a beautiful thing to immerse ourselves in the land of the Bible and realize this happened and it happened somewhere and here is the somewhere. This is what it looks like there. That story that I’ve known since Sunday school or that have imagined in my mind from going to the Scriptures, this is what it looks like and it kinda connects the dots in so many ways. So, check that out. It’s available as well for this holiday season - Promised Land, photographs from the land of the Bible. That can be found in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And then lastly, it is time to prepare for our Global Campfire Christmas party all around the world, our virtual Christmas party where we get to hear holiday wishes from all over the world, one of the most enriching things I look forward to all year long. And, so, if you want to participate, what we do…here…here’s how it works. We have a Hotline in the app that we talk about just about every day and we have phone numbers that we talk about that you can call in an encouragement or a prayer request and that’s what those lines are for. That’s all that, there for, except for one week out of the year we also open up and say you can call in your holiday wishes to the Daily Audio Bible community here, all of us who have been traveling through the year together. The only trick is that you don’t combine a prayer request and the holiday greeting in the same call. This is the one time of the year where it’s okay to hang up and call back and lets us keep things separate and put them where they need to go so that we can prepare. But we will be taking calls through next Wednesday. And, so, you can think, okay, yeah, I’m gonna think about that and procrastinate, but that happens every year. Don’t procrastinate. And I’m looking forward…I’m looking forward… every year I…we…when I hear the Christmas calls coming in it warms my heart so much. And, so, don’t leave your voice out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we do when we come around the Global Campfire every day, if that is life-giving to you than thank you humbly for being life-giving back. We wouldn’t be able to do this if we didn’t do this together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com in the app or 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 or right now a holiday greeting you can hit 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:

Hey Daily Audio Bible this is Irene calling in. I wanted to say thank you to the lady who called in saying she was praying for me and gave me that Psalm. It just really encouraged me. And I am actively every day coming back to the Lord and trusting Him. So, thank you for praying for me. And for those who didn’t call in and are praying, thank you. Today I ask that you would continue to pray that I would not fear man, just that I wouldn’t fear what man can do to me. I think it’s easier said than done. But Lord…just help me…help me to trust the Lord. But I also have another prayer request. I have this friend her name is Sophia. She’s a very sweet person. She is someone who I feel like is very…I don’t feel like…I know…she’s very confused. You know, she has encouraged me to stay pure. You know, as a woman in high school she’s always told me, you know Irene you’re doing the right thing by not putting yourself with other guys, you’re doing the right thing by staying a virgin and I encourage you on that path. And this girl is not a Christian herself. She is not a virgin herself; however, you know, today I had a conversation with her, and I just realized that she was actively, you know, sleeping with different guys. She’s been making really poor decisions and she still encourages me not to do it. She says you’re right and she knows what the right path is, that she keeps choosing the wrong path. She seems open to the gospel. She has been open to wanting to come to youth groups but hasn’t come. So, I just ask that you pray for her that maybe this year I could open up Christ or her. She wants to go into the military and I just I really want to be a light to her in this short period of time. So, please pray for Sophia. Love you guys. Bye.

Hi DAB family this is your sister Ashley from California. I’m coming on here to ask for prayer for a friend of mine. It’s a very interesting stroke of providence. God has blessed me with an opportunity to speak life into a relationship I thought I didn’t have with this friend, someone I thought hated me years ago. But I’m coming on here to ask you all to join me in prayer. This friend doesn’t know Jesus and God is allowing me to plant seeds in our conversations. She’s allowing me into pray for her. My friend is sharing her hurts in her heart. She says she doesn’t feel God or that He isn’t listening, but I see her seeking, knocking, and crying out. I want to ask my DAB family to join me in prayer for my friend, that she would have eyes to see Him working, ears to hear Him speaking and a heart softened to receive the truth. Her name is Abby. Thank you DAB family. Love your sister Ashley from California.

Hi, my DAB family this is Tammy from the Adirondacks and I just…I call often asking for myself and I thank you all. I guess this community…I’m so grateful to my aunt for showing me this app and…and giving me this this entire community of brothers and sisters to carry me and my husband and be there for us and pray for us. And I just…I guess instead of asking for prayer I just wanted to tell you all that I love you and that I thank you and this is a new…his journey…I’ve been on this journey with the Lord for a year now I’ve been saved and I’m learning and I’m growing and it all takes time and I’m learning how to process, sometimes not a comfortable one, but it’s a process. But He’s healed me and He’s showed me so many miracles and so many blessings in so many ways and I just wanted to all to know that you and Brian and Jill and China and I’ve listened to Ezekiel one time, but the entire Hardin family you are such a blessing in my life and I thank you that every day because I question whether I read the word enough and but every day I…or every evening my husband and I listen to the word. We listen to Brian and we listen to Jill and I have it every day and I have you all and I pray for you all and I love you all and I hope God blesses each and every one of you. I love you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Carla from east Texas and I thought I would call in to ask for prayer. I’m a single mom and loneliness makes my heart heavy often. Doing the best I can though. Take care of my daughter. Her dad is pretty…he's…he’s in our life. I’m just lonely and it hurts sometimes. So, yeah, if you could just lift me up in prayer. I don't…not…I’m not typically vulnerable about myself. I’ve taken in my great niece and she’s going back with her dad and I'm…I’m sad about that but their lives have been updated and changed. Things are looking good for them right now. So, prayers for Chloe. And my daughter’s doing great. I’m just having a hard time. Maybe it’s the season of holidays. But anyway, love you guys and thank you so much for the prayers. Thank you so much for this podcast. I love you all and God loves you more.

Hello, I am calling from Ohio and I have never called in to the Daily Audio Bible before. I’ve just recently become a listener and I am asking for prayer request for myself and my family. I have a very big decision that needs to be made by December 6^th and I really just don’t know what to do. I feel completely cornered and defeated I’m not sure where God is leading and what’s gonna happen next. I just need His guidance and His will to know what to do come Friday. Thank you so much for listening and for your prayers. They are very much needed. God bless everyone. Thank you. Bye.