Isaiah 39:1-41:16, Ephesians 1:1-23, Psalm 66:1-20, Proverbs 23:25-28
Today is the 22nd day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is wonderful to be with you today, around the Global Campfire. My campfire is here in the rolling hills of Tennessee and yours is wherever you are, and we are gathered together for the next step forward. Our next step leads us back into the book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament. When we reach the New Testament today, we have a brand-new territory to move into, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, Isaiah chapter 39 verse 1, through 41 verse 16.
Introduction to the Book of Ephesians:
Okay so, as I was saying at the beginning, we are now at the New Testament portion of our reading and that leads us to the threshold of the letter to the Ephesians. And we’re working through all of these different letters that are found in the New Testament, this letter of Ephesians is quite a bit different than Paul’s other letters. Even including the letter that we just read, which is Galatians, and that has sparked enormous amounts of biblical, scholarly debates over very, very long periods of time. Some propose that this letter is so different in tone from Paul’s other letters that it’s probably written by somebody else, written in Paul’s name. Other scholars would argue no, that’s not how it is, this is a letter of Paul’s, the circumstances around the letter to the Ephesians are simply different and we have to remember that when these letters were written, they weren’t, like they weren’t the New Testament, they were letters that were sent to churches, that were then copied and sent to other churches so that, a collection of letters was collected along the way. So, some of those circumstances have more to do with the tone, than the actual writer. These kinds of things are not uncommon in biblical scholarship or literary scholarship or historical scholarship. What we know is that Paul spent about three years in Ephesus, among the Ephesians, among the church in Ephesus that he had established. And at that time, the city of Ephesus was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. So, it’s a cosmopolitan city, it’s a port city and because of that, many people from many places are moving in and out of Ephesus. So, there’s definitely a melting pot or mixture of ideas and culture. This letter is a little different though, because Paul’s not writing to set things straight or to have to defend himself with bragging or any of that kind of stuff, or even to try to correct behavior that’s in the church. Paul knew the readers, he’d spent a lot of time with them, and they knew Paul, and that makes Ephesians incredibly compelling because Ephesians gives us this big picture, like we’ve reached the mountain top, and we can see, can see the whole world. This letter to the Ephesians, kind of takes us on that trail, we see all these vistas, we can stop, and we can look out at the view and it’s unbelievable. It’s almost like that’s, that can’t be real. I have stood in places on this earth, looking at a view that my mind cannot quite drink in. It’s like this can’t be real. And like, living in a postcard somehow and some of the things that are said in Ephesians, feel like that way. This is so good. This is such good news it’s hard to believe this, these are the implications because that’s what Paul is going into in so much of Ephesians is, is the implications of what God is doing among us. And what’s even maybe more compelling, is that Paul had been arrested, as we know from Acts. Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, and many people were trying to assassinate him. He was eventually carried away to Caesarea, where he appealed to Caesar and then eventually through shipwreck and all kinds of trial ended up in Rome. It’s likely that Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians from Rome, from prison. And so, knowing Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, when he speaks of these vistas and these implications of our faith, knowing that he’s in prison makes a really poignant. Paul being in prison at all, as one of the major forces in leadership in this emerging thing, the church of Jesus, would have definitely, at least brought a little bit it out into the people’s minds who we’re considering Jesus because the leader, Paul, he’s in prison over this. So, that doesn’t make people sign up because they don’t want to end up in prison like Paul. Paul is right, writing way beyond his imprisonment and way beyond his personal circumstance and offering us a glimpse, a spiritual awareness that imprisonment or hardship or trial can’t touch. And if we’ll just really, just really lock in, really pay attention as we move through Ephesians and listen to what Paul is saying, there are things that we may have to pause and consider and should consider. Not necessarily the kinds of things that we should stop and look inside of our heart and see where we are getting off track, but rather no matter where we are right now, we should look at what Paul is describing, that is going on inside of us and where this is all leading. And so, with that, we begin Ephesians chapter 1.
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for Your word. Thank You for bringing us this far, as we are now in the letter to the Ephesians. As we move through the New Testament, Holy Spirit, come give us eyes to see and ears to hear, may we be deeply encouraged the words written in this letter and the implications for us. We love You, we adore You, we worship You, we pour our hearts out before You. There is none like You. There is no other hope, besides You. You are our God and we trust in You. Lead us in the ways that we should go, we pray, in the 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.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hey Daily Audio Bible family, this is Travis from Alberta, Canada. I’m just calling in again for my friend Lindsey. She lost her mom a month or two back in a really bad car accident that her whole family was in. And she’s just having a really, really hard time coping. And she’s having a really hard time dealing with PTSD from the crash itself. It was a pretty traumatic thing. And yeah, she just needs your prayers. And yeah, thank you so much for your prayers in the past, not just for me but for my friends. And yeah, God Bless you family.
Good morning, September 19th 533am. Hey, my name’s Big Dog. I’m out here in Corpus Christi, Texas. And I’m kind of going through some I mean just everything’s attacking me in different directions. I got a job, everything alright. Financially, I’m stuck, I’ll get out of it, of course. My wife left me, she chose somebody else after years and years and it’s kind of hard to kinda let go. I am and that’s fine but regardless, I was recently told that being from South Texas close to the other side of our neighbors down to the south that there are entities that are against us, and I’ve been put in a situation that, well, they’ve hexed me. You know, they have some voodoo on me. I don’t believe it but it’s like saying you don’t believe in the Holy Spirit, but it still exists. I’m lost, I pray, I listen to the Bible, I read, I say my prayers as much as I can for what I know. Not that I’m extently knowledged in what I’m supposed to be doing. But I have a communication, I have constant communication with God, with Jesus. I’m just tired of crying, I’m hurting, I’m lost. I have no idea what I have to do here. But whatever I have to do, I’m gonna do it with God, of course. And I would greatly appreciate it if, you know, if anybody can come back its dawg1637@gmail.com. Thank you, God Bless.
Hi all, my name is Kevin, probably my second time putting in my prayer. But I’d just like to have some prayer for me. I was quote/unquote born again a little, about maybe a year to about 15 months now. I’ve been struggling with an ex-marriage; I got a divorce earlier in the year. It seemed everything in my life has reset. I’ve prayed for it, I prayed for it in the beginning when I prayed for my life to just restart. And it’s reset and I have a daughter from the marriage. Beautiful, looking after her. I’m in a different country because of it. I’m originally from America and I’m in England. I’m just struggling with the fact that; I just feel lonely. You know, it’s just me and the Lord. I just feel like, some parts of me feels like that He’s forgotten me. And I pray to Him every day and hope that He hears my prayers and that He would renew me, so I can be married again, the right way biblically. And I hope that the people who do see me, you know, day-to-day people who stare at me, I hope that they see me, the light of God rather than a broken person. So, I pray, I ask for prayer for all those out there that hear this, pray for me. Thanks.
Hi this is Victorious Soldier, just calling to pray for some of the DABers. I wanna pray for Rob the one on the mission trip in Peru. I wanna pray for their heath. I also wanna pray for Mitchell, the gentleman who son Mitchell needs a really serious with the courts and with the judges. His mental health and the drug addiction. I also want to pray for the lady who wants to adopt the precious baby. And I also want to pray for the lady whose husband is got a drinking problem and I’ve had those in my family and my father was a miraculous one and he gave up drinking and for his family. And we’ve had generations of drinking problems. And I’m just praying that God works a way. Father, in the name of Jesus I ask You to call, I ask You to knight on those who called. Those who called on this line and needed Your help. That precious Mitchell Lord, that needs some help Father, in the name of Jesus. We just ask that You have Your way. You give them everything they need, that Mitchell will be able to break that stronghold. Father, we ask You to break that father, with a drinking problem. Break that stronghold. We ask You Lord for direction for my sister who wants to adopt that precious baby. Oh Father, in the name of Jesus, instead of giving them to another foster parent. Father, we just ask You to have Your way, in the name of Jesus. We ask you to let Your children find, will be done. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. And Lord, we just ask You to work that miracle, Father, in the lives of these precious souls. You have Your way Father, in the name of Jesus. I give You glory and give You the honor and the praise. In Jesus name. Have a good day. Love you all.
Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is People on the Water from Indiana. And I’m calling in today to say that I love you. In secondly, to echo a prayer request that was called in on the 16th of today. Being the 16th of September, actually. There was a fellow who called in, his name was Steven and he was invited to a health, social health, wealth table. And he echoed the prayers of what his heart was pondering as he heard that this generation, those born after the cutoff date of 2000 are dealing with addiction, depression, loneliness, isolation. For those born in 2003 and 2002 and 2004, those kids, they are young adults. And I identify as one of those. I think we call them Gen Z nowadays. But we do have foundational people in our lives, who are around our age, who have a good faith, a solid faith. So, please continue to pray for Rhenzo, for I. And for all the other young adults now on the Daily Audio Bible and around the world. That we might be readily equipped with the Gospel, to change the world. To restore the world back to its order, not in our power but in Gods. It’s gonna be good. You guys have done well. And as you grow a child up in righteousness, he and she …
Hello, my name is Monica. I’m calling to request prayer because I have third reoccurrence of cancer. And I wake up every day feeling sick, and I wonder why I’m still here if I’m gonna be feeling sick every day. I wonder why the good Lord hasn’t taken me home yet. Instead of having me here suffering. So, I’m requesting prayer for healing.