Isaiah 45:11-48:11, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalms 68:19-35, Proverbs 24:3-4
Today is the 27th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian and of course it is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together. And moving forward together looks pretty much the same every day. We pick up wherever we left off and move forward from there. And, so, that’s what we’ll be doing today, which leads us back into the book of Isaiah. We are reading from the Good News translation this week. And today Isaiah chapters 51, 52, and 53.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we covered some pretty well-known territory in the letter to the Ephesians today about wives and husbands, probably territory that we have been through before at some point in our lives. I’ve heard this passage about wives and husbands my whole life actually, well before I ever knew anything about having a wife. And kinda as I came up hearing this, this being in church world culture, sort of the dominant piece was that the husband is the head of the wife. And, so, basically the way that everything was distilled down was…I mean…out of all of this the takeaway was the husband, the man of the house has the final. And, so, many years ago, a very long time ago now in the first few years of the Daily Audio Bible we come through this passage and I would read this passage and say, wait a second, and then kinda read it again…wait a second. Like that’s not really the takeaway here. This isn’t the proof text for the power of the man of the house. Because so often I had just kinda heard it in this context that made it feel like, okay ladies, you know, stop griping and complaining and get on board. You’re not the boss. What I began to realize just from reading this over and over is that husbands have an unbelievable role to play in this equation. And, so, let’s just take a look at this. “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord.” Okay, that’s a big deal. “As to the Lord.” That’s a big deal. “For”…Paul says…“a husband has authority over his wife, just as Christ has authority over the church.” Okay, that’s a big deal too. “And Christ himself is the Savior of the church’s body. And, so, wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.” So, since it comes first and it’s shorter than the husband piece it was like that’s where the whole conversation begins and almost that’s where the conversation ends. But my goodness, let’s continue now to the husbands. And I quote. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.” Okay, that’s a big deal. And then jumping forward. “Men ought to love their wives, just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.” And, so, one take away from looking at the entire passage is that wives should submit themselves to their husbands as to the Lord and that husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it. So, basically if she’s supposed to submit herself to her husband as to the Lord well than the husband needs to act like Jesus, laying his life down for her. What Paul is discussing here is a beautiful submission to one another. And I need to just take kinda take a sidestep for just a quick minute because I’ve been around church culture for all my life like I said. And, so, invariably being in ministry you encounter situations that are actually abusive situations. Submitting harder doesn’t make abuse end. And if you are in a situation and you’re just trying to submit yourself to the Lord and so you submit and you’re being beaten or you’re being abused in some sort of way, then someone’s not acting like Jesus. I mean to make that work out and say I just need to…to submit harder would…would force us to believe that Jesus would be willing to be abusive to us. Because the husband is supposed to love his wife just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it. We don’t have any examples at all of Jesus being abusive to anybody and there’s good reason for that. He wasn’t abusive. And, so, like pulling us back on track here, let’s take another sidestep and backtrack into what we read in the book of Isaiah today. And…and…and I’m a husband. And, so, I can…I can call of us husbands to pay attention to this for a second because it’s important that we do. And I quote from Isaiah, with clear allusions to Jesus here. “But He endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should’ve borne. All the while, we thought that His suffering was punishment sent by God. Because of our sins He was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received. All of us were like sheep that were lost each of us going his own way, but the Lord made the punishment fall on Him, the punishment all of us deserved.” Okay, that is how Christ loved the church. That is how we husbands…I mean with that level of commitment and endurance are to love our wives or quoting from Paul again, “husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.” It’s way easier considering submitting to someone that you know has your best interest, that you know loves you with all of their heart, that you know would lay down their life to keep you safe. It’s very difficult to think about submitting to an abuser. So, when I read this passage of…passage of Ephesians I see that it is mutual submission, but I see that the husband has to lead the way by being Christ, by being Jesus in his home, and I don’t mean that in some sort of weird way. But in so many ways because we are part of the body, we become the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. And if we are a husband, is there anyone we should be Jesus to more than our wife? And, so, let’s give that some thought today.
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that. Anybody who’s married knows that it’s complicated and has many many layers at any given moment, and there’s all kinds of stuff going on as we try to intermingle our lives and allow that marriage to shape us into something different instead of us always trying to fill our brokenness with someone else. And, so, we acknowledge the complexity. We also acknowledge Your word. We also acknowledge Holy Spirit, Your presence. This is like everything else in our faith. We can’t do this on our own. We can keep ourselves on the best behavior we possibly can. And it…it’s easy when it’s easy. But when it’s not easy and it’s complicated well then, it’s complicated and hard. And usually in those times we are paying the least amount of attention. May we pay attention to our love for one another. May we love each other as You have loved us. We pray this 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. The Daily Audio Bible app does that as well and you can search for that on the app store that is connected to your phone or your tablet or whatever device. So, check that out.
Check out the different sections like the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources in that Shop in different categories that are for the journey that we are on through the Bible in a year. And, so, certainly check into it. Check it out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if being around the Global Campfire is meaningful and life-giving to you then thank you profoundly and humbly 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 at the Hotline button in the app. That’s 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:
I’m calling to respond to Big Dog. He called in and talked about the spiritual battles that are waged against him. And, so, I just want to call and give him some encouragement. My names Delta Alpha Foxtrot. I’m from a little town called that’s just West of Corpus Christi, Robstown and just wanna encourage Big Dog that I…I understand where he’s coming from. I know what he’s talking about, and that know God is going to give him the strength to overcome all of those things. __ is a thing that, you know, is unfortunately out there in the world. It’s just like witchcraft and we can overcome it through the blood of…the blood of Jesus and the power of the cross. And, so, Big Dog I’m out there, I know where you’re coming from I’m praying for you I’m going to send you a prayer that…that helps every day if you pray that prayer. You’ll get that spiritual protection over your…over yourself, over your household, over your kingdom, over your domain. This is Delta Alpha Foxtrot calling from the southern Texas front. God bless you.
Hello DABbers, this is Joseph from Southeast Asia I’m a first time caller but I’ve been part of the community for the past 2 ½ years and I’m calling in for a prayer request. I call myself Joseph because just like Joseph and Genesis went through being sold off as a slave and eventually through his persistence and faithfulness God turned it around, I’m praying that that would be the case for me. The year started off quite promising with a new business and partners but just turned horribly wrong and not as expected even though it’s a good company and does a lot of good for the community. We have a good product. And I’ve just been completely caught off guard by this as well as the death of my father with the impact that financial pressures have on my family as well. I just pray your prayers. I also want to give a praise report. I’ve asked God to help me with wisdom and he’s done that through your very good teaching and some of that may help some of the other prayer requests that came in. Patrick from Seattle. __ as well as Lisa the Encourager and Isaac from Saskatchewan. I’ve really learned the valuable lessons in the company that’s taken me about 20 years of breakthrough prayer and hopefully it will be a blessing to you as it was to me. I pray for my brothers. I pray for Isaac and I…I pray that there would be a breakthrough in wisdom for you just as there was for me and I pray for Lisa the Encourage just as the passing away of a family member of yours. I pray that you may be encouraged just as I pray for encouragement. Bless you all. Thank you.
Hey Val in Vegas this is your sister and voice Annette Allison from Oklahoma City. You know, you don’t know how many times I got asked if I was going by a different name because people thought I was you or you were me. It’s pretty funny. But anyways. Hey sister, oh I’ve been there, I’ve been there, I’ve been there, I’ve been there having surgery after surgery after surgery and years and years of sickness that nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. And boy you get that down in the dumps feeling and…and you just feel like you can’t take another day. And sister, you can, and God would not put it on you if you couldn’t get through it. And He’s got some light at the end of the tunnel. I just know it’s for you and I just want you to know you’re not going through this struggle alone by yourself. Your sister Annette out here is praying for you, and I’ve got you covered, and it just warms my heart every time I hear your voice. You inspire me and I want you to know that I’m out here pulling for you, okay. And I was even looking at a trip to go to Vegas and I was hoping that you and I would someday get to meet, and I we just think that would just be the best. Alright. So, anyways. I love you I love you I love you I’m sending great big hugs and whenever you’re having a hard time do you just think about me sitting right next to you holding your hand, okay? When it’s hard I say Annette, I know you’re there. I know you’re with me. The Lord is with us all. Okay? And he’s there too. I love you and take good care and you’ll get through it. Okay? Bye-bye.
This is Peggy in Dallas and tonight I’m praying with Christy and with Tim in Kentucky. I heard the message as so many of us did and it’s good to know that many of us are praying right now, that we are with You in heart, and we are seeking the Lord. Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that You will be with Tim in a very special way. We thank You for him and we thank You for Christy and we thank You Lord that they are seeking You. I ask though Father that the suspicion that the doctor has that there’s a neurological problem that it will not be so. I’m asking for You complete healing over his body. I pray Father that You will touch him in such a way that his hands will not…will not have these symptoms, that You will minister to him in a very real way blessing him with health. And I ask this for Your honor and Your glory trusting You knowing that all things are possible with You. And Father, I pray for the young couple in Dubai and the mother who requested prayer for them and knowing all the stress that they’re going through with the new baby and work and trying to get ahead and the great job and all that…all the pressure that they are…
Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Connie and Walla Walla WA southeast Washington and I’ve been listening consistently this year and on and off for five years. I was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the last couple days, and I am…just turned 50 this year. Three children, two of which are teenagers and one of which is 20 years old and married to my husband for more than 20 years and together 25 years. I need your prayers. I need your prayers to help me continue to take this new condition I’ve been suffering for a few months I just found out now in the last couple days what the diagnosis is. And the prognosis isn’t great. So, I need your prayers to deal with continuing and growing pain, numbing pain, an inability to eat. I haven’t been unable to eat anything of substance for more than two months. I’m getting weaker. I’m going to have tests and to consult with a surgeon on the 28th and 29th of September at the best possible cancer center for pancreatic cancer. I suffer with the fear of leaving my family behind. I…I feel regretful and sorry and guilty for that, of the thought that my children won’t grow up without their mother. And I want to combat those feelings and believe in the potential of healing and the potential for…
Hi DAB family this is Celeste I’m on here asking for prayer for myself today. I’m pretty lost. My hearts really hurting right now because there’s a lot of people that are trying to hurt me from my past mistakes. And they’re…I just think the enemy is recruiting people and they’re using my children to hurt me. You know, about five years ago I made a mistake and it hurt, you know, my family and me and I’ve repented of those things, but I just feel like I’m still being punished for those things. And I’m in…I’m new in my faith, fairly new, about one or two years following Jesus but I feel like I’ve been lukewarm. And I just want so badly to just to be close to God and be obedient but in my flesh it’s hard. I’m in an abusive marriage and I’ve been fighting, you know, just to see my children for a couple of years. And I’m all alone and it’s been so hard. So, please can you just pray for my faith and that I may be strengthened through Jesus. Thank you. I love you guys.