Month: January 2022

Exodus 12:14-13:16, Matthew 20:29-21:22, Psalms 25:16-22, Proverbs 6:12-15

Today is the 31^st day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today. It’s kind of a little mini celebration day, right? Because here we are about to complete the first of 12 months. And there has never been a January 31^st…well…I shouldn’t say ever cause I can’t remember every January 31^st but in the last long while many many many years we get to January 31^st and I’m like, “how did we get here so fast. We just…it was just Christmas.” And the funny thing, at least for me in this rhythm is that we get to December and I’m like, “how did we get here so fast?” Where did the year go? It’s almost Christmas.” And time…sometimes it feels less linear and more porous…like it’s sometimes moving fast and sometimes moving slow but however it is we got here. Here we are, the last day of the first month of the year. And as we approach the last day of this first month of the year, we are reaching the conclusion of one of the episodes in this long story of the children of Israel. There’s been this showdown because the children of Israel have been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, for four centuries. There’s nobody alive there that has any other identity than that of a slave. And God has decided to set His people free and continue forward the story of the promise of a land for His chosen people. And, so, we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Exodus chapter 12 verse 14 through 13 verse 16.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we end our first month together of this year let’s just kind of look back at where we’ve come from, especially in the book of Genesis and Exodus. And we’ve kind of recapped all along the way because it’s so important, as I’ve said the number of times, to remember this is the same story, the story of a family of people. And, so, we know that that begins with Abraham. And then we know Isaac and Jacob and we’ll probably recall that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and Israel had children. The children of Israel. And then went all the way through the story of Joseph with a lot for us to consider about our own lives and we followed all the way through Joseph’s life until his death. And then we flip the page out of Genesis and into Exodus, but we flipped the page a couple hundred years into the future. Now this is a massive amount of people. They’ve been in one place for centuries and they have procreated. They have replicated. They have grown in numbers tremendously until the Egyptians were afraid. They enslaved the children of Israel, and they were slaves. So, when Moses shows up on the scene, a little baby in the Nile River, and is raised up and educated as a royal but then has to flee for killing an Egyptian and he meets God in a burning bush, it’s a different chapter, but it’s the same story of the same people. And we watched Moses try to get out of his assignment, but he has obeyed and he has confronted Pharaoh and things only got worse before they got better, which is often a recurring theme in the stories found in the Scriptures. We, in a time in the world and in cultures where instant gratification is like pounded down our throats as something that’s a right, something that we deserve, often miss the fact that there is a long view, there is a lot going on, there is much going on that we don’t understand. And, so, we are compelled to trust, to humble ourselves and follow. And, so, we have watched the showdown between Pharaoh and God, and we have watched Pharaoh be very obstinate. “Who is the Lord? I don’t know the Lord. I’m not listening to you.” And even once he knows who the Lord is he’s constantly going back on his promise to let the people go or he’s trying to change the terms of how they’re go, or when they’re gonna, or how long they’re gonna be gone because Pharaoh’s in an awkward position. Pharaoh has been raised to believe that he is a son of the gods, that he is a deity to be worshiped himself. And although Egypt may have many gods, the God of the Hebrews isn’t one of the gods of Egypt. So, there is no foreign lesser God coming into Egypt and demanding things. And this hardens Pharaoh’s heart in the same way that our hearts can grow hard when somebody comes in and tells us what we’re going to do, somebody we don’t know, somebody we may not have any respect for and they demand we’re going to do something a certain way, our hearts can become hard, like resistant. “No. you’re not going to tell me what to do.” And, so, Pharaoh carries that out all the way until the end, until final plaque and the firstborn of Egypt die. And then they throw this family, the Israelites, the children of Israel, they throw them out, of Egypt. And as they’re leaving, they ask for things and they are loaded down with the riches as they pillage Egypt on their way out the door. And that is the ground that we have covered in the Old Testament in the first month of the year. And as I’ve said we’re paying close attention to this so that we can understand, this is the same family, this is the same story.

Even when we go into the book of Matthew and go millennia into the future, it’s still the same people. It’s still the same family. Jesus has come to this family, the children of Israel. And their religious leaders are opposed to the very one who set them free from slavery.

As we continue into our second month we will see these children of Israel move into the wilderness. And the wilderness is such a stark thing but it’s also a major backdrop for so many of the pivotal and developmental things that happen in the Bible. And, so, as we go forward we’ll be heading to the wilderness.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for this first month of the year and that we’ve been able to be here every day and that we’ve been able to take steps forward together. And just looking back over this month You have spoken so much. So much has been challenged. So much has been comforted. So much in one month. And, so, we are eager. We are hungry and thirsty for more and we ask that You lead and guide us into all truth and we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here, which you can also find out using the Daily Audio Bible app. And if you’re not using that you can download that for free from wherever you…whatever app store you use. So, check that out. There are a number of features in the Daily Audio Bible app that allow us to…to get the sense of the progress that we are making. We can check off every day that we’ve listened to. And when we move through the different sections of the Bible, we’ll be alerted that we have completed a certain section of the Bible. We’ll be able to see the percentages, how far into the Bible, how much left there is. Check that all out. It’s available in your…in your app store, wherever you get your apps.

Also check out the Community section, whether in the app or on the web. That is where the Prayer Wall lives and that is an always on, never offer resource available to us, no matter what’s going on. We can always pray for our brothers and sisters. We can always uphold them in the spirit and reach out in prayer. But we can also always share what’s going on in our lives, what burdens we are shouldering that are crushing us and find that we never had to be alone. And that is a beautiful thing. That is a beautiful beautiful thing about this community. And, so, be familiar with the Prayer Wall. That is in the Community section.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you, humbly, humbly, with humble gratitude. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together around the Global Campfire. And, so, 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 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 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, God’s awesome warriors it’s Sparky. I wanted to call in a praise report in a…in a weird way. I’d called in about not going and helping across the alley and I got a phone call last night and it was pretty late, and it was my friend that I’d grown up with my entire life. We’re from Texas and we were…we used to ride bulls together and we just grew up together. But when my life kind of went South we…we didn’t talk much after that. And it’s been probably a good four or five years since I’ve spoken to him. And he had an electrical problem. And, so, went out and got he and his wife fixed up and their new baby. And the heater wasn’t running. And he just thought the world of that. But I’ll tell you what, I thought the world of getting to see my friend. And we sat there and caught up and he talked about how I’d kind of gotten myself into mess. And I said, yeah, I can take that now. And I tell him, it’s God’s blessings. Sometimes things just happen that are really cool and it’s not a “praise me”, it’s “praise him” to get to see a friend.

Hi Daily Audio Bible I am really struggling today. My father passed away Friday a few days ago. Today’s Tuesday and we’re burying him on Saturday, and I have school all week. And my mom passed away two years ago. And I’m just feeling so alone and overwhelmed. I’ve got an important test on Friday before his visitation and funeral this following weekend and work and I just ask for your prayers. I’m just feeling like I don’t know what I’m supposed to do and that really questioning my life that I’ve done anything close to what God had for me. So, just pray that I can find the path for what God has for me to do next and that I will end this will life well myself. Thank you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible chronological family I’m calling from Oregon and I would like to get prayer for a trailer that I need to have sold. I cosigned for someone for a camp trailer and a family member that passed away. So now the responsibility has fallen on me. And I’m retired on a limited income and I’m believing the Lord to help me get this sold. It's…it’s in an RV place on consignment. So, I would appreciate prayer for that. This is my first time of evert calling in and my first time of following this group. So, thank you and God bless you. Bye-bye.

Hello DAB family DABalonians it is doctor John from Jordan New York. I just want to put a word out to all the new DABbers and welcome you and tell you great job getting here. This is a fantastic journey. For those of you that are new Christians, this is the best place to be. There’s nothing better in your Christian walk than learning the Bible. So, back in the day, way way way way way back when, when we were young DABalonians and Brian was talking a lot about the process, he called it, “the journey is the destination.” So, that as we go through the Bible, and…and those of you who’ve been through it know, that the destination is not December 31^st and just getting through the Bible. The destination is the journey of going through the whole Bible. So, stay with it. Stick with it. You will not be the same. I am not the same as I was when I started in this 15 years ago. So, you love you DAB. Love you family. Make it a great day. Keep it real y'all. Bye-bye.

Hey DAB family I’m just calling to say praise the Lord. I just feel so alive and happy, and the Spirit has just filled me full of happiness. I have no idea why. I’m just feeling like life is just full of whatever you want it to be. Just stepping outside breathing in the negative 14 degree weather here in Minnesota just makes you smile. God bless you all. This is Faith from Minnesota.

Exodus 10:1-12:13, Matthew 20:1-28, Psalm 25:1-15, Proverbs 6:6-11

Today is January 30th, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we greet a brand-new shiny sparkly week and remind ourselves yet again that this is a fresh start, this week is before us, it’s in the future. It hasn’t happened yet. And the way that this week shapes out will have everything to do with our thoughts, our words and our deeds and we are out in front of it and can choose wisely right from the get-go and so let’s choose wisely and one of those wise decisions is the rhythm that we are establishing together, showing up every day around the Global Campfire and taking the next step forward in the Scriptures together and so let’s dive into that. We are in the midst of the show down into Egypt between God and Pharaoh. So, we’ll pick up where we left off yesterday, which is what we will always do, Exodus chapter 10 verse 1 through 12 verse 13 and we will read from the Common English Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay, let’s take a minute here as we begin this week in the book of Matthew today, because Jesus now has announced to his disciples that they are headed to Jerusalem, He’s been to Jerusalem before of course, and for that matter, was born just miles away from Jerusalem. But most of his ministry has been 90 miles-ish so, let’s just round it to 100 miles away to the north in the Galilee. This particular trip to Jerusalem is different than any other trips to Jerusalem because you won’t be getting out alive or a more accurate way to say it would be He won’t be getting out of there before He dies and is resurrected. So, let’s remember that for a second but now let’s try to put ourselves into the time. So, we’re in the first century, the land that had been the ancestral homeland of the Israelites is now under Roman rule. It’s a province in the Roman Empire, the province of Syria. For a very long time, for centuries the Hebrew people had been longing for a Savior, a rescuer, a Messiah, they had even looked into the Hebrew Scriptures and seen that this is a foretold thing, they were looking for this because it looked like a good time for the Messiah to come, somebody to set them free from the oppression of their oppressors. To them, the Romans were an occupying entity, they needed to be pushed out of the land, the land needed to be purified and restored to God and a Messiah would come to do this, so this is bubbling under in their culture. It’s just what they know and what they expect and what’s being told to them in their synagogues and they’ve been waiting a long time and there’s been a lot of tragedy. So, Jesus comes along and He pretty much looks like what they’re looking for. He can communicate well, He can draw and inspire a crowd, He is speaking of the kingdom of heaven and saying that it is at hand. He’s saying things like seek first the kingdom and all these things will be added to you and they’re thinking the kingdom of heaven that’s being described is the same one that they’ve been thinking about, a purified Israel with all of their enemies pushed out and the place restored to God. And so, they’re not completely comprehending this invisible spiritual realm and spiritual kingdom that Jesus is describing, one that is from within and spills outward into the world. They just, Jesus fits the bill, they just don’t know whether He’s a militant like, can He get an army together, but we see these thought patterns and the way that these assumptions are being made even in our reading today from book of Matthew, even among Jesus 12 disciples. So, Jesus tells his disciples while they’re going to Jerusalem what’s can happen, that He will be condemned to death, that He will be ridiculed, tortured and crucified. In other words, He will be killed and will be raised on the third day, the very next thing that happens on this journey, after He gives this explanation is that the mother of Zebedee’s sons, and we’re told in the Gospels that the sons of Zebedee are James and John and as a little aside and not to make this more confusing Jesus has a half-brother named James as well, who we will hear from later in the year. But James and John’s mom comes to Jesus as they’re walking along the path toward Jerusalem, where Jesus will be ridiculed, tortured and crucified, as He has told them, their mom comes to Jesus and says they need a favor and Jesus say’s what’s the favor basically and she says I’m asking that my two sons will be on your left hand and on your right hand when you come into your kingdom. And so, regardless of what Jesus has told them, there is this overwhelming expectation and they want to be on the ground floor of this new thing that’s going to be established in Jerusalem. They are obviously in for a tremendous surprise, but it gives us the opportunity to consider why we would follow Jesus. Is it because we think He’s going to beat up the bad guys and make us powerful, is because of what He can do for us because the disciples, they missed it, and thankfully it’s preserved in the Gospels and we can see the twists and turns of the story because they help us realize that so often, we’re…we’re expecting the same kinds of things? Even now, even with the understanding of the story and the Gospels preserved for us to read and pour over and study we still end up with the same kinds of expectations. We believe that Christ will return and beat up the bad guy’s right, which means that all we’re here to do is wait for that to happen, when that is not all we are here to do. The kingdom that Jesus is describing and He will be very explicit with this as we continue to talk about this and encounter it in the Gospels, the kingdom He’s describing is one from within, one that exists, one that is underway, one that is happening and we participate and reveal that kingdom through a transformed life that looks difference than the rest of the world. So, let’s consider that as we move into this shiny sparkly new week.

Prayer:

And Jesus we love You, we love You. We need You more than anything and we need You more than ever. And so we humble ourselves and invite your Holy Spirit to begin to reveal the ways in which we’re kind of assuming what that looks like instead of humbling ourselves in absolute trust for where ever You are leading. Help us to realize the expectations that we’ve placed on You and how similar they are to the people that You ministered to in the first century and then help us to see clearly what the truth is, that You have rescued us and made a distinction between us and the world just, as you made a distinction between Israel and Egypt. We are set apart, but it’s not because we’re so awesome because somehow, we landed as superior humans. Rather, it is that we chose to die to what we were without You and to only live into what we are with You. Your humble servants available at Your command, completely trusting where You are leading. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray, in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family, good morning Brian, God bless you and your family, love you so much, so appreciative. I am rather new, this is Michael Relow by the way, The Intercessor. By the way, I just wanted to…to say I am approaching the Campfire with so much gratitude in my heart, today, so much gratefulness for this family, for the transparency, for the courage to be transparent and open up and share with the community. It’s such a blessing to be a part of it and it’s such a blessing to stand in the gap for all of you and I just want to lift up right now, today is the 24th of January, I joined on the 14th of January, and today I heard a wonderful sister, she called herself The Farmer’s Wife from upstate New York. Her and her husband are having a baby and I just wanted to pray. Father in the name of Jesus, You are the God of all comfort and I just pray Father for Your supernatural comfort to fall upon this beautiful couple. Lord, I just, spiritually, Holy Spirit is telling me that there is so much blessings wrapped up in this little baby that’s about to be born and Father, I just pray in the name of Jesus that You would extend strength to this couple. Strength, not just to handle the baby that’s coming but strength to trust in Your perfect will. You know what You’re doing, Father. This baby is not a surprise to You, nothing is a surprise to You Father. You’re ordaining their steps and something miraculous and amazing is gonna happen.

Hi DAB family. I’m gonna keep my identity to myself this time because I might be sharing some things that are sensitive and I don’t know if some of the people I have encountered in this pass might be DAB listeners and if they are that would be wonderful. They might be. Anyway, I attended a lot of people and I kind of burned every bridge that I had when it came to getting ministry opportunities. I went to Bible college and graduated a couple years ago and I realized that over the last few years, I sewed some pretty bad seed and I reaped an awful harvest this last year. A lot of that didn’t come back to surface until I started, you know, inquiring for ministry opportunities and I just kept getting no and we don’t trust you, kind of responses from the various organizations that I was with and it’s unfortunate, it’s me. I damaged my own reputation. I mishandled information, I was immature, I did all kinds of things that I shouldn’t of done and I think all this is kind of a huge lesson from God to see if I would be willing to forsake and give up, you know, this big shiny Bible degree that I got from a Bible college and be willing to have him take me in an completely different direction that I wouldn’t expect and I’m terrified of what that might be but I’m looking for Him to reveal to me the true spiritual gifts He has. And instead of the ones I assumed that I had, that I’ve realized I don’t. So, I been in a dry spell, but I also been, have had my vision renewed and I’m grateful for what He’s done and I’m excited to see what comes in the future.

Hello, my DAB family. I’m calling regarding the last caller I just heard on the 24th from Farmers Wife from New York. Let me start by saying a huge congratulations on that news. Your expression is massive within God. And you mentioned you’ve had a history of depression and you haven’t had a job and ya’ll are anxious and you don’t know how, it’s all uncertainty. My dear, focus on God. He has given you that child and He will provide for that child. You shouldn’t allow that worry you. We don’t have control of our tomorrow. We can barely control the next second. Alright so, focus on being heathy, staying well, taking care of you, taking care of that baby and focus on just making yourself available to be a channel for God’s blessings. Because that’s what we are, we’re channels through which He provides for our generation. So, focus on that. And my people will say that God does not bless us with children by looking at what we have in our hands. He blesses us with children because He knows He is able and capable of providing for them. So, do not worry, do not fret about “am I gonna be a good parent” or “will I be able to do this” or “will I not be able to do that” “will I be able to provide” “are we gonna”, no, no do not let the enemy take your joy. This is a joyous moment, enjoy it, be happy. Live in the moment, you are going to be a mom and you will be good one. So, do not let anyone or anything put anything otherwise in your head. God bless you my dear.

Hi, this message is for Jane Ruth from Nebraska. Jane Ruth, this is Reba a nurse from Nebraska. Hey, first I have to say the one thing that causes those worst of us Nebraskans. The weather in January and February. Oh, it’s horrible hun. If you’re like me, the highs and lows and the winds, and the wind, I dare I say the wind, just really reck havoc on our emotional, mental and spiritual health. The sunsets may be beautiful, the sunrises may be beautiful but man, everything in between with that wind and the wind and the snow and the fog just the ups and downs of the weather, just really can make you feel like, I don’t know who I am. And then you’re stuck inside. So, let’s just start there Ms. Jane Ruth. Remember Spring will come. Also, I just want to pray for you for your emptiness. Heavenly Father, I just lift up my sister Jane, Ms. Jane Ruth. I ask for her and as well as everybody else of the Daily Audio Bible, can sometimes feel like, uh, I just want to crawl back in bed and cover my head with a pillow. Father, I ask that You would stir us to go sit in front of a window and let the sun just hit our face to remind us of the beauty of Your creation and to take in as Ecclesiastes 3 says, every time there is a season, you have to have the highs you have to have the lows and everything in between to be truly grateful for everything that You have done for us. Dear Ms. Jane Ruth, I just pray for you in the aspect of if you feel it’s a medical thing or if you feel it’s just a season thing or if it’s loneliness or if it is financial, whatever it is Father, I just pray that You would be with Jane Ruth.

Hi, DAB family, this is Redemption Wings. It’s my first-time calling in. And I’m from Virginia. I’m calling in tonight well, I said I was gonna call for myself but I’m actually calling in tonight to ask the Global Campfire to band together for prayer for my brother Bryant. He’s been making tremendous strides in piecing his life together and I’ve been seeing so much positive transition. And I’ve always had his back throughout our life. But now I’m seeing that he’s doing a lot for himself. So, currently, he and his girlfriend are homeless but he just came into information that there is a hotel close to me, I got him close to me, that has a program that if he’s able to get in, and he do it, that they would cover his hotel costs for 12 weeks, which would be beneficial for him and his lady to get on their feet. And they’ve escaped a lot of things from being in a drug infested area to many demons that exist in the area that they were. And his will power has led, not only him, but he’s also gotten his lady out of that environment by the power of God and the mercy and grace of God. So, if we can band together, please to pray that this is successful for them, I would really appreciate it. And this is my first-time but I don’t believe it would be my last time. And so, thank you everyone, I love you all and I enjoy this platform. In Jesus name, I pray that it all works.  

Exodus 8:1-9:35, Matthew 19:13-30, Psalms 24:1-10, Proverbs 6:1-5

Today is the 29^th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is awesome to be here with you today as we gather and as we move into the Scriptures and take the next step forward together. We are getting ourselves quite moved into the book of Exodus now. And, so, we…we can kinda see that there is a showdown of sorts materializing. One between Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and one between the God of Israel, and there have been some tests along the way, some proofs, some miraculous signs for Pharaoh to see. And he’s been able to replicate some of those with the magic arts of his magicians. But God is about to move things into a way that cannot be replicated. And, so, let’s take the next step. Exodus, chapters 8 and 9.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us these weeks into this brand-new year and all that You are speaking. And as we watch the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart and the devastation that it is bringing upon him, we recognize that You said it would happen, but we also recognize that he could have humbled himself a lot earlier and all of these things didn’t have to come upon the land of Egypt had they humbled themselves before You, which becomes a mirror into our own lives. And we begin to think of all that…that we could’ve avoided, but our rebellion has often…has often brought great devastation into our lives. And even as we read from the Gospel of Matthew today, this very famous story that parable of the rich young ruler, we realize that whatever we are clinging to or holding onto or leaning on or depending on that is between us is not in its proper alignment. Anything that is between us that we are not willing to surrender is in the wrong place. And, so, as we consider these things today, we invite Your Holy Spirit to come and speak to us and surface things and reveal to us the directions that we are headed in and where they are going, that we might humble ourselves before You and return. Come Holy Spirit into this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base, home of the Global Campfire, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app you can do that as well. And if you not, you can find the Daily Audio Bible app in your app store, wherever it is that you download apps. It’s free and you can download it and take the journey from there and stay connected from there. So, check it out.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources in a number of categories in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. And those resources are all aimed and have been created for the Global Campfire community that we are for taking this journey through the Scriptures together. And, so, certainly check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. 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 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Naleen from Dubai again. I…I just want to give a praise report. I called in about a year ago - all the problems at work and a very bad boss - and finally the last couple of months it’s gone well. Got a new boss and he’s so kind and a good general manager. So, thank you God. Thank you, Jesus. Today I’m calling from my brother. He’s in England. He has a family of four, his wife. And he’s a…he’s a good man. He’s a great believer and everything is not too much for him. But now he needs prayers. His name is Lloyd… To find a job. He had a very good job but with the crisis especially in England with COVID they had to downsize the company and…and he's…he’s from south Africa like me but to go back is not possible and I just…his kids are happy in the school. So, please just pray for…for us for him. And whatever God willing has to happen. And just thank you for this this wonderful place. And thank you for all of you. I listen to all of your prayers, and I pray along, and I believe so much in this. Thank you. Have a great day. Bye.

Hi, it’s me Kaylie and I’m praying for my friend Azzahra. God, please help her to feel better soon. Please help her to be able to fight the cancer soon. Please help You to make her well soon and please help her to get better soon. Please help the treatments will help her feel better soon and…

Dear God we lifted the farmer’s wife and the farmer and we pray that You will bless their family, bless their child who…in their womb Lord and pray that they will nurture their child’s spirit as it grows and that they will just give all of their worries and uncertainties and unknowns to You and that they’re in Your hands so that they can rest in You, so that they can grow in You and so their child can also rest and grow in You Lord. I just pray that You will provide for them and that they will just have a blessed marriage and parenthood in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello family this is Harmony in the Hill Country. There are so many in this family that are struggling with thoughts of suicide. Someone I love greatly is struggling with this right now and I’d like to ask you to please pray for them and pray for all of us who are walking with them. The many DABbers that are struggling know that I am praying for you. There are so many people here praying for you and you are not alone. The thing that strikes me is the depth of this spiritual warfare. Satan attacks hardest the greatest threats to his Kingdom of darkness. And how great of a threat to him you must be if he is going after your very life. Think about that. It is less of a threat to him to try to send you to Jesus than to let you say on this earth and mess up his plans. That means that God has great work for you this side of heaven that isn’t done yet. And Satan is scared of you. Please don’t give him that victory. I am still the side of heaven because of therapy and medication and if you are struggling, I beg you to please give that a try. If you tried before and it didn’t work, please try again. Don’t be afraid to call the hotlines. Some even at testing options. A good therapist can help you make a safety plan if you can’t afford it there are even options for help and support. Suicide prevention hotlines are a really great place to start. Please call one today. Keep fighting. We have a lot of work here left to do. And someday I will celebrate with you in heaven, and it will be wonderful. But that time is not now. Don’t let Satan convince you to leave early. Please…please say.

Hi, I’m the first-time caller I’ve been listening to since about 2014 and right now…last year was a really hard. My husband had major surgery on his heart and now I’m just concerned about him in general. I mean, it’s hard to see your husband lose his confidence because of health. Lord, I…I thank You for this podcast. I thank You for everything You do. I need prayer to help us through, make us stronger. And thank You for everything You do. Thank You for this podcast. My…I’m from Virginia. My name’s Kimberly and right now my hope is a little depleted. I just…sometimes I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. Only God can fix this. I need your help. I’m just helpless. I don’t want to feel that way, but I do. I just want the best for him and everybody in my life and people that aren’t in my life. Thank you for your time.

Exodus 5:22-7:25, Matthew 18:21-19:12, Psalm 23:1-6, Proverbs 5:22-23

Today is the 28th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today continuing our journey through the Scriptures this year and continuing our journey in the book of Exodus where God has determined to set his people free from slavery and the enslavers. The Pharaoh of Egypt in particular has no desire for that to happen. Today, Exodus chapter 5 verse 22 through 7 verse 25.

Commentary:

Okay so, in the gospel of Matthew today, Jesus is talking about something that he talks about often. We have already talked about this right at the end of the Lord’s prayer because immediately after the Lord’s prayer, here in the book of Matthew, Jesus instructs that we must forgive and live in that posture of forgiveness because if we won’t live in that posture of forgiveness, if we live in unforgiveness then we won’t be forgiven our sins and I’m not making that up, you can go look it up and He does the same thing today and so I quote “so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” And that, that line, that sentence is the end of an illustration or a parable to unpack this. There is a great King, in this case this is the Lord, this is God and the great King decides to settle up his accounts and so He starts bringing in people who owe him so that the accounts can be settled one way or another and someone who owes Him a tremendous amount, an overwhelming amount, comes before Him and the king says okay can’t pay so we gotta get the money somehow. And so, you and your family will be sold to settle this debt and then you can worry about it from there. The man falls down before the man and begs mercy, mercy, mercy give me time, mercy I will pay you back. And the great King is moved with compassion toward this person and sends him on his way forgiven of his debt completely. Something he could have never really paid, was forgiven and lifted off of his shoulders in full. So, this man certainly must have the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders and be so relieved that he’s kinda floating off the ground. I mean, and in one scenario he would be taken into custody and sold as a slave, while his family was collected. In this other scenario, he walks away free and there and the debt is forgiven. He ends up running into somebody who owes him and so he wants to settle accounts with himself and the person begs in the same way for mercy and time: I will, I will pay you, have mercy. And the man will not have mercy and throws him into prison. And when the great King finds out about this, things don’t go well for that man, which leads us to what Jesus says, so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. So, one of the things that were supposed to grasp in this parable is the great King who has the right to settle the debts and has the right to offer forgiveness or mercy. He is the great King. So, when this person comes and begs for mercy the great King forgives him, setting the example of how the posture of life is supposed to be lived. This man goes back out into the marketplace and immediately finds somebody who owes him and will not extend mercy. So, if we have a boil this down we’re going to receive what we offer. If we do not show mercy, we are not going to find it. If we will not walk in forgiveness, we will not find forgiveness. And on a topic like this when there are so many caveats like, there are so many nuances, so many little loopholes that we can say well you know this this or that or the other thing that was done to me is unforgivable. The thing is, so is our trespasses against the Lord, the great King, they’re unforgivable, we have no way to repay, we can ask for mercy and for more time but we’re never going to get righteous on our own. But by enacting a posture of forgiveness in our own lives, without just missing the things that have happened like, some things take some time, some things need some help. Some things are very convoluted and twisted but we have to begin to move into a direction that tells ourselves, our very beings that forgiveness is the posture of the kingdom of heaven. This is how it works and it’s super easy to wish this is not how it works. I get it. We human beings have a tendency to do some awful things to each other, often the people we love. But 1001 grudges, 1001 unforgiving moments is not a pathway toward freedom, the lightness of heart and spirit understanding there’s nothing between me and anybody else. I stand here before God as his servant, a living sacrifice, that is where we’re headed. If we are dragging around all of the offenses that we have ever received, that is not the pathway to freedom. That means we are dragging around a bunch a heavyweight that is keeping us in bondage. The move, for every single one of us, is to begin to move into the posture of forgiveness from our heart and sometimes all we can do is say I release this to you and then say it again in 90 seconds and in a minute and in five minutes and keep going and keep going. I release this to you God. Sometimes, that’s all there is to it. And sometimes that is the first of many, many steps. The important thing is that we are moving into a posture that tells us when we find an offense it is not there for our collection. And indeed, we have the opportunity to consider what mercy looks like. The way Jesus is framing this, is for us to look at what we have been forgiven. And so maybe that really is the first step for some of us in our pathway toward forgiveness on certain things, is to truly fully become aware of what we have been forgiven and what we are being forgiven of every day. Like, how much mercy and forgiveness we are consuming every day just to be here. Jesus speaks of this often. He speaks of it in terms of the kingdom of heaven and how it is shaped and how it operates. We all want to be participants in that kingdom and there are no shortcuts. This is how the kingdom of God works, isn’t this at the very center of the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we can come as we are, no matter where we’ve been, no matter what we’ve done and seek mercy and forgiveness and be made new again. You can forgive sins friends. I’m not saying you can forgive sins against God. I’m not saying we get ourselves elevated to the position where we become the judge. Although we sure like to play that role a lot, but we can be forgiven, our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And here we are now approaching the end of the first month that we shared together this year. This becoming the posture of our lives. A focus of attention and awareness. This can change the rest of the year so dramatically that it’s hard to believe. And this can change our lives going forward so dramatically that it might just look like sanctification, it might look like we are moving in the right direction to becoming Christlike because this is Christlike.

Prayer:

And so, Holy Spirit again, we cannot on our own, in our own strength accomplish any of this. We cannot be righteous before you on our own. We understand this and it’s a struggle because we find offense and trespass against us and against others all the time, in big and small ways and so this is a constant. This isn’t an event; this is a posture of life. But in truth we want to be free and although this may be a difficult path, this is a path to freedom. And so, Holy Spirit the great Comforter, come into our brokenness and help us to part from the offense, help us to part from what we are holding on to. We don’t have to pretend any of these things that we may be holding offenses about, we don’t have to pretend they didn’t happen, we have to release the poison of unforgiveness from them. Come, Holy Spirit, we can’t do this without You. Help, help us, we pray in the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what we do here has a mission together to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to whoever will listen to it, any time of day or night, anywhere on this planet and to build community around that rhythm. If that is life-giving to you, 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 ever prayer request or encouragement, 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.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Hi, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Renzo in Florida. And I just want to pray for one of the DABers. Lord God, I just pray for Jane in Nebraska. Lord God, just I pray that she doesn’t give up and Lord God, whatever she’s going through, whatever that’s hindering, whether it’s the depression that’s hindering her or bipolar or whatever is going on, Lord God, whatever it whatever baggage that she claims a hold with those two things that she’s had been diagnosed with, Lord God I just pray that you just let you know that we are who You say we are Lord God, and let her to know that Your with her, Lord God, you never leave nor forsake us and whatever storm, whatever trial, whatever temptation she’s going through Lord God, let her to know that Your with her guide her through this Lord God let her to find that peace that surpasses all understanding from You Lord God when trusting you wholeheartedly if she’s feeling any loneliness or isolation Lord God, let her to find her comfort in You. Let her to keep developing her relationship with you Lord God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. God Bless you guys and I ask if you guys could pray for my family and me that I keep staying into my word and just yeah and thank you guys for everything, thank you Daily Audio Bible. God bless.

Hi, this is Tammy from the Adirondacks, calling in. I believe you said your name was Jane Ruth. You called in on the January 22nd podcast and you just, you touched my heart sister. I know that feeling where you just wanna hide in your bed or hide in the hole and cover and just forget about everything else that’s happening. And I just want to lift you up in prayer today. You’re not alone, you’re so not alone. So, Father God, I ask You to be there for our sister Jane. I ask You to touch her Lord, touch her in the way that only You can Father God. Be that comfort that she needs Father. You are our great Comfort. You are our Healer and our Protector and our Shield. You are our ever presence help in times of trouble Lord. There is nothing that we can do without You Lord and we know that, that You can pull Jane out of this feeling of despair that’s she’s having. We know Lord that You can just raise her up with Your righteous right-hand Lord and heal her heart and heal what’s broken. And help her Father God, in a way that only You can because You are God. You are our Lord of Lord and our King of Kings. So, I just ask you Father to come against whatever this is that is causing such sadness for her. Let her know that she’s loved by the most high God. And that she’s not alone. In your precious name, Jesus we pray. Amen. I love you sister, you’re not alone and God will see you through this. Bye.

Hello, my DAB family this is Jaime in New Jersey Standing on the Word of God. Please pray with me. Dear Father in Heave, we thank you for Your comfort and presence in our lives, we thank You that You are always with us. Today, as we look at the world around us, we see that there are so many that feel alone. The circumstances of the world have isolated so many. There are also those who walk their paths with seemingly no one to call a companion or friends. Father, we have asked to see the world through Your eyes and today, we lift up the lonely and ask that they would experience Your love, faithfulness and compassion. Please come right now and be near them. Let all of us sense Your presence and peace. We invite you to invade our lives and take away the loneliness of Your children. We thank You for the promise of your faithfulness. Help the lonely to remember that You see them even when others don’t. We ask that You would bring along others into their lives that they might experience friendship and love. We pray that the burden of their loneliness would be lifted and that Your presence and blessing would fill their lives. Father, where we have an opportunity to be a friend, don’t let us miss the mark, help us to extend Your love in this lonely world for Your kingdom and glory. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you for praying my brothers and sisters. May none of you feel alone, God is with us and he loves us and so do I.

Hi, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Natalie from Arizona. I’m calling today to pray for the Hardin family and remind the Daily Audio Bible family to keep them lifted up in prayer. I’ve been listening since Jill was pregnant with Ezekiel, Ezekiel, Ezekiel or just before that. And I remember when China announced her baby and it was so exciting and I just thought wow, this is amazing and China’s so fortunate with her husband and her baby and their growing family. And then, it dawned on me that with them being so faithful and serving the Lord and committed to this, the enemy must hate that and attacks. And we know that the devil is not omnipresent but I’m sure he wants their family and the devil probably wouldn’t have too much time for me, I’m pretty simple, I don’t have much going on and what the Hardin family is doing, it is so far-reaching, the enemy wants them and so we have to keep them lifted up in prayer. We have to be committed to supporting this ministry and whatever ways we can. We’re big, we can pray, we can give, we can tell others about the ministry. Let’s be strong in that this year. Keep the Hardin family lifted up. I love you guys. I love you all.

Good morning, Daily Audio Bible community. This is To Be a Blessing in California. Lisa, I wanted to let you know that I heard you this morning as I was listening to the podcast and I hear your needs for a new job, to be in a place where they see you, they get you, you can be yourself, you’re not it a toxic environment, you can thrive. I know what that’s like. God delivered me. I kept wondering what was going on. God created a position for me and it’s the right fit for me. Every time I tell people what I’m doing, everyone says that’s perfect for you, that’s perfect for you. And I know why because I serve a perfect God, as do you. So, He will deliver you. Every no is getting you closer to a yes. Trust Him, hold onto His hand, know who you are and whose you are as you look for your identity, continue to look for it in Him. He’s got you covered. And He has your husband too. Family, I ask that you would pray for Lana, she has extreme abandonment issues, she’s been spiraling out of control recently and it’s been getting worse and worse. Her self-worth has just been hammered from the time that she was a child and her family kicked her out of their home. So, I pray that you would pray for her. As well, if you would pray for my brother. Different situation but he is still getting smaller and smaller and wanting to move all the time and not content. I feel like he’s pulling a geographic and he’s looking for something that only God can give him and he is not interested in God at this time but I know that God is working on his heart. So, thank you for lifting him and lifting Lana up and Lisa we’ve got you too, covered. God bless each and every one of you. To Be a Blessing in California.

Exodus 4:1-5:21, Matthew 18:1-20, Psalms 22:19-31, Proverbs 5:15-21

Today is the 27^th day of January welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we come in out of the cold and warm ourselves around the Global Campfire together and move into the Scriptures in a peaceful place simply allowing the stories to come alive in our hearts. And, so, let's…let’s move in that direction. We’re reading from the English Standard Version for this week. In the Old Testament in the book of Exodus we’re just…we’re getting to know Moses. We met Moses when he was born. He grew up really fast within a few pages. He has had to flee Egypt. He has become a shepherd and while he is shepherding he sees a bush that is on fire but is not being consumed and he meets God there who tells him He is who He is, “I am who I am.” And God is preparing Moses and instructing Moses to go back to Egypt where his fellow Hebrews have been enslaved and give them the news that God has heard their cry and is going to rescue them. And Moses is kind of having a back and forth with God about how that’s gonna work. And we pick up the story there. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1 through five verse 21.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the gospel of Matthew…I mean we’ve been in the gospel of Matthew since we began on January 1^st so we’re…we’re well on the road. And one of the things in Jesus talks about often is the kingdom of heaven. And, so, it’s not unusual than to think that his disciples would at some point come to Him and say, “who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” because Jesus is talking about a certain kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, but they’re filtering that back through their culture and understanding what this is gonna look like. And they think a restored Israel booting out the Roman Empire and restoring this entire ancestral homeland to God, that’ll be the kingdom. So, what that hierarchy might look like would be of great curiosity to the people who have left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus answered the question poignantly by getting a child and putting him on His lap and essentially saying, “this is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Or to quote Jesus, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” And we can probably understand what He’s saying here specially if we have children, especially if we have small children or can remember back to when we did have small children. You remember when they looked at you as their parents and they trusted you and thought you were superhuman and full of magic and seemed to know everything? Well if we have raised children through that season and into the teen years and through the teen years into adulthood then we know they grow out of that feeling toward us and at some point they think they actually know everything. Jesus is saying we have turn back and become children of our Father the most high God, trusting Him as a beloved child would trust their parents. That’s the posture. That’s how this is supposed to be done. That’s how this life is supposed to be lived. Which isn’t to say that we trust that our Father will come to our rescue every ditch that we go into, every brick wall that we smash into, everything that we annihilate around us. That’s after the fact. That’s when we think we know everything. But a trusting, obedient child, beloved and protected by their parents, they don’t have those kinds of worries. And, so, on the one hand, this is such a relief. On the other hand, it’s a concept that’s easy enough to understand and much more difficult to live into and definitely connects to the concept of being born again, getting to start over and be fathered by God as His child, trusting. It becomes far less interesting who the greatest is when we realize with humble awe that we are in at all, that God looks upon us as a son or daughter.

This contrasts pretty significantly from what we’re reading the book of Exodus because what we read in the book of Exodus today is really really sad. There are a couple of moments in the Bible that every year they’re very very sad for me I guess mostly because they’re my life. In the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit and they’re hiding, God comes and it's…it’s so sad because He says, “what have you done? What did you do?” And we’re all guilty. But in the book of Exodus God, “I am that I am” has come to Moses and explained to him what He’s calling him to do what He has prepared him for. And Moses does all kinds of squirming. They’re not gonna believe me. Who am I gonna tell them? They won’t buy this. How can I prove that you’ve sent me? Who do I say sent me? And the Lord keeps encouraging him and telling him I’m going to go with you. I will be with you. And Moses says something very sad. Could you send somebody else? I can’t come past this story without feeling it in my heart. It’s like, yes, I have done that so many times, but that probably wouldn’t be the posture that I take, or even the resistance that I might have if I actually were living into this with the trust and faith of a child. And, so, there is much for us to consider today from the Scriptures.

Prayer:

Father we hear, we hear clearly and now we have to humble ourselves and actually release control in order to have this faith like a child completely trusts You in all things and will do what You ask of us. So, Holy Spirit come and show us the path that leads in that direction. That is the path that we need to be on. That would be the narrow path that leads to life, and that is the path we want. And forgive us Lord for the many times in thought, word or deed that we simply throw up our hands in the air and say I can’t do this, would You send someone else. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Song:

Send Me – Church of the City

Open these eyes
To see them like You do
Teach this heart
To love like You
Open these hands
To heal the way You do
More than words
Let my life speak truth

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

Open these ears
To hear the Father’s cry
Take up my cross
And lay down my life
Open church doors
And let the streets resound
With songs of hope
As we go out

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

You said what you’ve done for these
You have done for Me
You said what you’ve done for these
You have done for Me

You’re the orphan child
You’re the outsider
You’re the one in need
You’re the least of these

To the orphan child send me send me
To the outsider send me send me
To the one in need send me send me
To the least of these send me send me

To the orphan
To the outsider
To the one in need
To the least of these