Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32, Luke 8:22-39, Psalms 70:1-5, Proverbs 12:4
Today is the 29th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today. It’s great to be here with you every day. It’s great to have a place to come together. It’s wonderful to be around the Global Campfire as we take the next step forward. And we are reading from the New International version this week, moving our way through the book of Deuteronomy and the final things that Moses has to say. Today chapters 11 and 12.
Commentary:
Okay. A couple of things for us to consider today. Let’s go to the book of Deuteronomy first. Of course, we’ve said it many times, but so as to be redundant so that we don’t forget, Deuteronomy is three discourses given by Moses and these are the last things he has to say to the children of Israel. And, so, in today’s reading that somewhat gets encapsulated because he’s doing a lot of reviews of laws, a lot of the customs and rituals and how they should be done once the children of Israel leave the wilderness and go into the promised land. And of course, he is speaking this to the second generation, the children that grew up wandering in the wilderness. So, there is some review here, but it’s all aimed at something. And he says and I quote, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from the way that I command you today by following other gods which you have not known.” But of course, he is referring to idolatry, which in this context is turning to another God and asking that God to rescue you from what the most high God is doing. Sort of to take over and carry the people forward. And there are many different gods in the land that they are going into. This morning we could be like, “dah, of course, they get it. They get it they’ve learned in the wilderness. They understand.” But as we see this warning was important and they did not listen to this morning. But Moses has been really clear about what they need to look out for, what they really need to be vigilant about. And of course, that is to obey the commands that have been revealed. But beyond that their most dangerous moments will be once they have conquered this promised land and are at peace and experiencing prosperity. That is the moment where they will find themselves most vulnerable to turning to false gods or to declaring that they accomplished all of it in their own strength by their own ingenuity. They are just that awesome. Of course, we’ve got a lot of the story left to tell and we’ll see how this goes. We’ll be seeing how this goes most of the rest of the year. But it does give us a moment of pause and reflection because when we’re in a wilderness season we may be learning to be utterly dependent upon the Lord but what we want is to get out of the wilderness and into the promised land, into a place where there is peace and prosperity. Without having this background here watching the children of Israel as they are approaching the time that they will leave the wilderness and go into the promised land we can walk into these situations blind as well. And we can find that we experience God’s blessing in our lives and then, suddenly, over time, claim glory for it as if we did it or turn to something else that we are depending on to sustain the prosperity as if it is our God and sustainer and hope, which is catastrophic, as we’ll see in this story. And, so, we should take this to heart. What are we turning to for life and sustenance? What has our loyalty and allegiance? Maybe even more directly, what would we give our heart to in exchange for the promise of blessing and prosperity? And if we would say we would give our hearts to the Lord in exchange for that, then we have simply exposed that God is a transaction for us. Our good behavior in exchange for His raining down blessings upon us, that’s not really how relationships work.
There’s also something really riveting, and it really does become a mirror in our lives in the gospel of Luke today. So, Jesus has been doing a lot of ministry and He’s tired, maybe even exhausted, and He has asked to be taken to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and He’s resting in this boat, sleeping when this storm comes up and they’re waking Him up and they’re going to drown, and He calms the storm and asked them where their faith is. And they eventually get to the other side where Jesus steps ashore and is greeted by a demon possessed man. And it’s a famous enough story. The demons are thrown out of the man into a herd of pigs who drown in the sea of Galilee. I don’t pass this story ever. without it penetrating my heart. Jesus had been ministering on the other side of the lake. He’s tired, exhausted, He calms a storm on His way. He gets to the other side, meets this demon possessed man, sets Him free. News spreads to all of the countryside. They come swarming down to the sea of Galilee and see this man is in his right mind and has put on some clothes and they ask Jesus to leave. That’s how the story goes. They saw the power of God to deliver and set free. Obviously miraculous things have happened, and they are afraid, and they ask Jesus to leave. That penetrates my heart every year that we read through this gospel of Luke because we come to this story, this set of passages, and I look back over the last year and I can find places that I’ve done that where I’ve been afraid and in thought, word or deed, in some fashion turned away and effectively asked Jesus to stop doing what He’s doing because I’m afraid or because I don’t understand. And I don’t think I’m alone. I think that’s pretty much all of our stories in one way or another. And, so, this story allows us to examine that. Like on the one hand, in the book of Deuteronomy we can think about what it looks like to be blessed and prosperous and to slowly, subtly, slide away into our own strength. And in the gospel of Luke, we can see God coming and delivering and the response being fear and asking Jesus to leave. The truth is, those are probably both experiences that we’ve had, and they each set us on a path that we don’t want to walk. And, so, we have plenty to think about and plenty of advice from the Scriptures today.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit come. Come into all of this, what we’re learning in the Old Testament, what we’re learning in the New Testament, plant it deep in our lives. Help us to contemplate these things. In what way have we seen You working and responded in fear and turned away and asked You to leave? In what way have we finally, after getting out of the wilderness found a moment of serenity, only to see that we’re sliding away, we’re sliding away and doing things in our own strength again, which just ends up being a big circle. Come Holy Spirit because we want to change, which is in effect what repentance is. So, we repent and turn and move in another direction. But maintaining this course, ahh, we see how we’re unable we are to maintain it without Your Holy Spirit’s guidance. And, so, come Holy Spirit and the lead us into all truth. And it’s not as if You aren’t doing that all the time but come Holy Spirit and help us pay attention. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hello, my family DAB this is New Envision Growth from New York and I’m calling for a praise report. I was listening to the March 24th podcast when Brian was talking about forgiveness and not being judged and still thinking about the call that came in about the bully and dealing with my own situation in work. And, you know, sometimes it’s so difficult when you’re working with people who don’t believe or people just…especially when you can discern and just the weight and the heaviness of it all. And that’s the case for me where I literally have to deal with almost like darts of attack. But hearing that podcast on March 24th I did something different. And I just prayed that God would change me, change my heart. If…if it is not going to be done for the person who tries to torment me then change me. And after listening to the podcast, I went inside and I looked at the individual and I actually asked a person for a hug. And I’m telling you it was like yokes were broken. And the whole…it shifted the entire atmosphere because I had to remember at the end of the day that this person is just a vessel. I can love them with the love of Christ and just hate the spirit that operates. But I left no room for the devil to torment me anymore. And I just felt so light. So, I’m praying that that might be or help someone else use that same method because it truly does work. Pray that God would change you, change your heart and then remember that that person is just a vessel for the evil one to use. Anyway, that’s it. Thank you I love you guys I love this. Thank you, Brian and the Hardin family.
Good morning DAB family this is Danny from Southern Oregon just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. Cat from Denver you called in on February 26th and you were praying for parents who have lost their children to the legal system. And I so resonated with your prayer request. We are two plus years into the legal system and you’re so right. It is not the justice system. And we thought we were in the clear but now we have a notice to appear on April 11th. And, so, if everybody could pray for my son Isaiah. This is something that happened last fall and the juvenile department decided not to prosecute but the DA’s office picked it up and wants it prosecuted. He got in a fight with another kid. And anyway they’re charging him with an assault 3 and that’s a felony and I think it could be up to two years in jail. And Isaiah’s just been doing so amazingly well. He’s been working full time. He’s starting a college welding class on Tuesday, and he’s really matured and grown up. And, so, I just I know that everything that happens to him is just one step closer to him submitting his life to the Lord. And, so, I just pray for this path also to, you know, just be going straight towards surrendering his life to the Lord. Candace from Oregon I am just praying for you sister, praying for Micah and thank you for calling in. And Cleverly Sati in Tennessee, you also called in and you said that you had lost your dad and you were in pain, and you stopped listening but you’re a back. And I’m so glad. Welcome back and we love you and stick with it. Love you all DABbers. This is Danny. Bye.
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening DAB family wherever you are all over the world. This is Matthew from the United Kingdom. I am here to pray especially for Grace. It’s been in my heart and it’s heavy on my heart to pray for you. I have been praying in the background, but I believe the Lord wants you to hear me pray for you. Let us pray Family. Father in the name of Jesus I lift up Grace before You. Father, just as her name goes, let Your grace be with her. Father, I lift up Grace before You against the power of fear. Father Grace will go forth and the Spirit of power of love and have sound mind against her enemies, against her bullies. Father for You have not given us a spirit of fear, You’ve given us a spirit of power and love and of sound mind. I go in offensive against her bullies, and I declare, and I release the rock of David that crushes every Goliath in the life of Grace, that Grace Lord will enjoy love, will enjoy peace wherever she is in the name of Jesus. Father I also lift up those bullies before You that Lord that You’ll change their heart and fill them with Your love, that they will live together with Grace and dwell together in love with Grace in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord for…
Hi this is Donna from California and today is March 25th I just finished listening to today’s podcast with the…the beautiful story in the gospel of Luke about the Roman soldier who told Jesus don’t bother coming to my house, I don’t deserve it, I’m unworthy. And then Brian her commentary was so apt about the posture of heart that we need to cultivate and…and have. No, I don’t deserve anything other than eternal separation from God. And I’m calling today to ask for prayers for myself. I’ve been trying and continue to strive toward forgiving someone who hurt me very deeply many years ago. It’s been 10 years now; a decade and the memories are still very much there of being deceived and lied to and feeling worthless because of that. I’m seeing myself through that experience as worthless. And every time the memories come up, which is daily, I say to the Lord I forgive you, I forgive this person, help me to forgive this person. Help me in my unbelief that that I can forgive this person. Help me to remember that I’m unworthy of…of…of your forgiveness. And, so, it’s very very difficult and I asked for my brothers and sisters to please hold me up in prayer as I…as I continue. And I thank you so much. Thank You, Jesus. I love You and I praise You for You alone are worthy. Thank You. Amen.
Hi this is Victoria Soldier calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I wanna pray for Claribel. I wanna pray for Renee who’s going through in her marriage. And I also wanna pray for Emmy…Emmy in Illinois on the update of her marriage. I just want to pray for them and I want to also pray for someone else but I want to pray for the marriages and those who are going through and those who are wanting to have babies and I want to pray for that young woman who wanted to be married but right now I’m gonna start praying for the marriages. Gracious Father we just ask You today to touch these marriages Father. You be in the midst. You said a sanctified woman sanctifies her husband. You said a sanctified man sanctifies his wife. Father You be in the middle Lord. You sanctify them and You come into that marriage Lord. You bless in a mighty and special way. Let Your Holy Spirit reign. You said what You put together Lord no don’t let no man put asunder. Father, You have Your way in the name of Jesus. You teach man to be the man You’re calling him to be and the woman the one You’re calling them to be and bring them together as one Lord. Continue and even in the marriages Lord, You bless them, Lord and You touch them You bless them that they will be blessed by their children in the name of Jesus. Lord, we just thank You Lord. We just ask You to touch the…the one that is going through with…with the nodules in their neck. The ones that are sick with the nodules in their neck I just ask You to touch right now…