1/28/2022 DAB Transcript

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.

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

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.