2 Kings 15:1-16:20, Acts 19:13-41, Psalms 147:1-20, Proverbs 18:4-5
Today is the 29th day of the month of June welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today, today and every day as we gather around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together. And of course that next step leads us…well…to where our previous step ended and that is in the book of second Kings where we keep watching this kind of steady decline. There are generations of kings who do evil in the sight of the Lord and there’s a king that comes along and does what is right in the eyes of the Lord and then there’s another king that does evil in the eyes of the Lord for several generations. And it seems like there are more kings who led the people away into idolatry than those who restored people’s hearts to God. But let’s pick up the story. We’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Second Kings, chapters 15 and 16.
Commentary:
We had a pretty interesting story that we encountered in the book of Acts, and within that story is a profound lesson that we must all become aware of and that is basically this. Is their power in the name of Jesus? And probably the majority of us would say, of course, there’s power in the name of Jesus, but is there power in the name of Jesus without Jesus? Like is there power in the name itself without the person of Jesus? In other words, can the name of Jesus be used indiscriminately for anything by anyone to make commands and demands or to assume some sort of authority? So, basically what we saw today is that the name of Jesus in the mouths of people who knew Jesus had authority to get things done including casting out evil spirits. And, so, some Jewish people who were practiced in exorcisms known as the Sons of Siva decided to use the name of Jesus to cast away an evil spirit. And, so, they used the name of Jesus to cast away this evil spirit. Evil spirit be gone in the name of Jesus and the evil spirit didn’t go anywhere. Instead, it made a couple of declarations and then asked a question. The declarations were, Jesus I know, and I’ve heard of Paul but then the question was, but who are you? And then the spirit within this person leapt upon them and beat them up and then tore off their clothes. And they ran away naked. So, is there power in the name of Jesus without Jesus? It’s kind of a striking lesson because the name of Jesus gets used for all kinds of purposes, whether that be to curse something or to bless something. But it seems like just reciting the name as some sort of incantation doesn’t really work. Jesus needs to be there, and Jesus indwells His followers, but He does not seem to allow his name to be used as some sort of magic. So, those who offer themselves and surrender to Jesus and move about this world as a living sacrifice to move about this world in order to be available to Jim and His work in this world, Jesus is present. But for those who want to fake it, who want all of the benefits and authority that Jesus brings, but do not know Jesus simply want to use His name. And really, is there any other name to name drop, right? To act as if you are a certain way, that doesn’t work. There is power and authority in the name of Jesus nut not without Jesus. As the story goes in the book of Acts, after this happened and those seven sons of Siva Arana way bruised and broken and naked, reverence found all around the name of Jesus. Many people who were trying to find authority in other ways, and spirituality among other gods decided to turn to the power of Jesus within them and got rid of all of the things that they were doing and all of the materials that gave them instruction in how to do it and burned it all. There is power in the name of Jesus, you just don’t get to walk in that power without Jesus because it’s not our power to wield. We are simply the vessel for the power to flow through to go about doing what Jesus wants to do in this world. It’s not us that gets to walk around like some superhuman just making commands about things that will make our lives easier. We become a vessel for Jesus to do what he wants to do through us. It’s a big difference and something to ponder today.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. Is our relationship with You in name only? Ah…that’s a hard question. We want nothing like that to be true of us. We want to know You more and more and more each and every day as we draw near and walk with You in fellowship and companionship and in service. Holy Spirit come and Help us to become aware that we are a vessel for Your power to do Your work in this world. You haven’t given us power so that we can go around and do what we want. We are here is Your servants. Holy Spirit, come. Help us to ponder this today and help it to settle into our Spirits changing the way that we look at just about everything. We pray this in the precious name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com, that is home base. The other homebase is the Daily Audio Bible app which you can download from your app store, whatever app store is connected to your phone or tablet. And that’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And there are a couple of things going on that are sizable things.
First, being the 7th of July which is a week from tomorrow and that is the Daily Audio Bible long walk, our own little Global Campfire holiday. A day that we set aside in the center of the year to do what it sounds like, go for a long walk. And we’re going for a long walk with God and we’re resetting for the second half of the year. And, so, we go somewhere beautiful, wherever that may be. Whether it’s down the street, or whether we get in the car and drive for hours somewhere meaningful, somewhere beautiful. We go and enjoy a day. No interruptions, no agenda other than to just be with God and pour out our hearts, say everything that we haven’t had time to say, everything that we need to say, catch up on everything that’s going on and allow for space, silence for God to respond into our hearts and give us the comfort that we so desperately need right now and bring us confidence to keep stepping forward, knowing that our steps are going somewhere and that somewhere is good. So, it’s a very solitary, very wonderful thing to experience, but it’s something that we’ll be doing all over the world all at the same time. And, so, we put a post on our Facebook page which…which is facebook.com/dailyaudiobible. We put a post there for the long walk. And wherever it is that you go, like I said, whether it’s down the street or across the field to a creek or whether you drive somewhere that you just love, you probably have your phone with you. The trick will be to stay off the phone during the day but you’ll probably want to commemorate your time, take some pictures of things that you saw that you’ll want to remember. And you can post a picture or a video in that post for the long walk. And all the sudden we have all kinds of windows all over the country all over the world enjoying the beauty of what the day looked like all over the world and getting that sense of connection of something that we’ve done together. And, so, make plans for that. That’s the long walk. The seventh day of July, one week from tomorrow.
The other thing that we’ve got going on is Israel 2023. Just a couple of days ago I spent some time telling the story of how we got to this point where it looks like it’s time to return to the land of the Bible and do another pilgrimage at least one more pilgrimage through the land of the Bible and root ourselves in the soil where the Bible happened. And it’s something that continues to grow inside of me in excitement about it. Looking forward to seeing some of these places again. Looking forward to seeing them with you and watching as…as we really make the connections between the text of the Scripture and the places where those things happened. It is a remarkable experience that changes us, really changes the way we look at the Bible and changes the way we should look at just about everything, giving us the opportunity to kinda reflect on the priorities of our lives. And, so, that’s coming up next year, February 6th through the 19th and you are invited. And you can check it out dailyaudiobible.com. When you get to the website, you’ll see a navigation at the top and look for Initiatives. If you click the Initiatives tab you’ll see Israel 2023 in there. If you are using the app, just push the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll open up a drawer and you’ll find initiatives in there. And if you press the button you’ll find Israel 2023 in there or you just go to dailyaudiobibleisrael.com and that will get you there as well. So, check that out and we’ll look forward to that in the coming months.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible that can be done at dailyudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. And thank you. As we move through summertime thank you humbly for your partnership 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 good morning DAB family this is Joel out in Texas I’m a first-time caller but have been listening for a little while. Thank you so much Brian for this ministry and thank you brothers and sisters for your prayers and encouragement to me. On June 26th I heard Travis call in from beautiful Alberta Canada asking for prayer as he was going back to school to be a pastor and really struggles with whether or not he has the mental bandwidth to do it and also the fact that he is older. Well Travis you spoke to me because I’m in that same boat. I am going back to school to pursue ministry, a different kind but something that I do not feel smart enough to do. I have a large family and I’m definitely a lot older and it’s a struggle. A matter of fact, in a couple days I have to take a test which I must pass, and I feel like I can’t. So, I’m gonna pray for you and our other brothers and sisters. Heavenly Father we just thank You God that You are in control and that You love us and that You have a plan for our lives and that You use us to accomplish Your mission. And Father as Travis has asked for prayer I pray that You would make him wise as we ask for wisdom, the same for myself in our age that You would give us strength, that we would run and not be weary in all our studies and trying to live life at the same time. And Father I just lift up all our brothers and sisters here on DAB who…some are seeking You for health, some are seeking You for finances, some are seeking You for their perspective on life because maybe they’re discouraged. And Father I pray that we would all hope and You that we would soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary. We love You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hey DAB family this is Travis from Alberta Canada calling and I…I’d just been listening to today's…today’s podcast and it’s the 26th and the past week I’ve just been hearing a lot of people just been dealing with…with mental health and, you know, I myself struggled with it for many years. My struggles with it started probably back when I was eight years old. Struggled with anxiety and depression and used to have five to six panic attacks a day. I’m really thankful that that’s not the case anymore. But I just…there’s this quote by Charles Spurgeon that I always love, and it always really helps me when I’m going through depression and it…it says this. Beloved, I find myself frequently depressed perhaps more so than any other person here and I find no better cure for that depression than to trust in the Lord with all my heart and seek to realize how fresh the power of the fresh speaking blood of Jesus in his infinite love and dying upon the cross to put a wall way all my transgressions. Beloved if there’s anyone out there today that are…is dealing with…with depression, with anxiety just know that you are loved and praying for you all. God bless you family.
Hey guys this is Jonathan from Denver. It is Sunday June 26th and I just listened to today’s episode and heard a prayer from Travis from Canada. You’re training to be a pastor which is amazing. You’re feeling some worries about inadequacy about not being smart enough about having started too late and I just wanted to encourage you and say that all of the people that Christ chose to do his work were the most unlikely. They were not seasoned veterans of preaching or anything. They were fishermen, everyday working people and he chose the young and the old to do his work, people who had already had careers doing other things. Heck he even chose Paul who add a career actively opposing the one that he ended up following through on for Christ. So, just know that I’m praying that Christ will give you the power to study rigorously and study well and to learn. And I also am praying that He would multiply the work that you do and use it for the movement of the Holy Spirit in people around you. And just know that He’s taking care of you and He will do great things through you not by anything you do but your faith in Christ. Thank you. Praying for you.
Good evening DAB members. Today is June 26th. Tis the last Sunday in the month of June and I look back to the beginning of this month and where we had no idea what was going to happen. Well, here we are spending the last Sunday of June by His grace and mercy. The Lord has been good. He has kept us all alive. Even though we’ve had difficulties along the way our God has not left any of us unattended too. He wakes us up every morning. He provides for us. He protects us. He’s constantly watching over us and making sure that we do not walk on troubled waters. He allows us to breath fresh good air. He continues to allow us to put food on the table. He covers us the precious blood of His only son Jesus Christ. And when we bring all of our needs before Him, our prayers, He looks at them and He gives us answers to them. All he wants us to do is to show gratitude for everything that He continues to do for us by waking us up every morning, allowing us to have a busy day, sometimes challenging days, but working through us He never leaves us or forsakes us. We have to thank Him again once more for the joy of the salvation that He’s given to us which we cannot buy with money. That’s salvation was paid for with the precious blood of Jesus. So, I thank Him on behalf of all my DAB brothers and sisters, all DAB families, all DAB marriages, all those who are going through difficult times. May His name be praised forever and ever. Amen.
Hey this is for Brian from Florida. This is Nate and North Carolina. Hey man I just wanted to lift you up and offer some encouragement. A couple years ago I was traveling full time for work. I was home rarely and when I was home it was after a long, long period of time without being home, without being near my kids and my wife and it was really, really hard. And it was hard on the family, and it just wasn’t good. The money was great. The experiences and the travel and seeing everything and building the team was great. I loved it and if I were at a single man, I would still be doing it. But I took a pay cut and am working locally doing similar work. It pays a lot less, has a lot less benefits. But it’s ultimately worth it because I’m spending time with my kids, spending time with my wife. I’m investing…investing in my house. And, you know, I don’t know. I’m not God but it was the right move for me, and it might be the right move for you. It can’t be a bad thing. I hope this helps you. Later.