Daniel 5:1-31, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Psalms 119:113-128, Proverbs 28:19-20
Today is the 28th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today as we gather and continue our journey forward, the next step. And that next step leads us…well…exactly where we left off, which happens to be at this point in the year in the book of Daniel. And today we will read Daniel chapter 5.
Commentary:
Okay. In second Peter today Peter is going after false teachers, which is…I mean this is not that long of a letter…and so there aren’t that many themes in the letter and this is one of them and he is after false teachers. Which isn’t to say that he’s just trying to get people to say and think what he’s thinking. Actually, it’s not even really the…the false teachers or what he’s calling false teachers that are really driving what he’s saying, it’s what they can do to people. And not just like a teaching that is incorrect that leads a person to maybe believe something that’s incorrect. Certainly, it’s those things. But it’s people using their position of authority or their position as a teacher or a position of power than to manipulate other people. So, these people were once believers. They can talk the talk. They know the language, but they’re falling away from the essentials of the gospel and leading other people to do the same thing, but also at the same time exploiting their people, like using their gifting to exploit and manipulate or let me just read it out of second Peter. “These people who speak ill of what they do not understand are no different than animals without sense, operating only on their instincts born to be captured and killed. And they will be destroyed just like those animals receiving the penalty for their evil acts. They waste their days and parties and carousing. As they feast with you these stains and blemishes on your community are feasting on their deceptions. Their eyes are always looking for their next adulterous conquest. Their appetites for sin cannot be satisfied. They seduce the unwary soul and greed is the only lesson they have learned by heart. God’s curse lies upon them.” So, I guess it’s pretty clear how Peter feels about this and I think it’s important to point out, because the concept of a false teacher that’s not a new concept, and that really gets thrown around a lot in our Christian culture. People get labeled false teachers because they simply don’t adhere to a certain denominational statement of doctrine or something like that. And, so, a lot of mislabeling happens. So, we’re not talking about people who are asking questions in order to grow in faith or to test their faith or wrestle with their faith in the pursuit of better understanding and deeper revelation. That has always been part of the Christian tradition. Peter’s talking about people who are intentionally deceiving God’s people for their own personal gain. Or again, just reading from second Peter, because it’s pretty clear what he’s saying. “These people I’m talking about”, Peter says, “these people I’m talking about are nothing but dried up springs, mists driven by fierce winds. The deepest darkness has been set aside for them. They speak in loud voices, empty and arrogant. They exploit the desires of the flesh, take advantage of sensual natures to entangle people who have just escaped from those who live by deception. They claim to offer them freedom, but they themselves are enslaved by corruption because whatever a person gives into soon becomes his master. Those who have been pulled out of the cesspool of worldly desires through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the anointed one, yet have found themselves mired in it again are worse off than they were before. They would’ve been better off never knowing the way of righteousness then to have known it and then abandoned the sacred commandment they had previously received and dived right back into the muck. In their cases, the words from Proverbs hold true, the dog goes back to his own vomit. And as the Greeks say, the sow is washed to wallow in the mud.” That…well…first of all, that’s very direct, but the imagery. Think about it. The dog going back to its own vomit. Probably most of us have had the wonderful opportunity to even see that happen if we’re dog lovers or we’ve ever been around dogs. And I can just see one of my dogs. I won’t name her. Both girls. I won’t name her. I don’t want to embarrass her or shame and she’s not feeling well and so she starts breathing deeply right and just kind of like making funny noises and arching her back back and forth until finally…blah…all over the floor, right? And then she may walk away and then come back, put her nose in it, smell it, sniff it and then maybe eat it. It’s disgusting. And the imagery here that Peter’s using is disgusting because what he’s talking about in his view is disgusting. And, so, Peter doesn’t want people to be taught to return to their disgusting ways, ways that they lived before they knew Jesus. And, so, Peter’s certainly concerned about people who would instruct others and manipulate others along these lines, but he’s also very concerned about what it looks like to know Jesus and walk in freedom and return to sin. It’s as disgusting as a dog returning to its vomit, sniffing it, and eating it. If we think about our dog returning to its own vomit and smelling eat and eating it, that’s disgusting and it’s so gross, then we should understand that when we return to what we know is wrong we’re doing the same thing. So, let’s give it some thought today because I don’t think we want to be doing that. So, we need to think about it. What sewage do we keep coming back to and smelling and thinking about lapping it up and eating it down? What do we return to that we know is wrong and that is not healthy for us and that is toxic for us, but we go back and eat it anyway? And what influence do we have over people to persuade them to do the same thing along with us? And as we think about that we are getting out what Peter is trying to teach us. We have been set free. Why would we go back and revisit the cesspool of who we used to be?
Prayer:
Father, we invite You into that. We need You into that. What…what is it that triggers us to do what we know is wrong? And we are grateful for the stark imagery of the dog returning to its own vomit. We definitely all think that’s disgusting. But when we realize spiritually, we have the ability to do the same thing, that brings things very near and helps us understand what we’re being taught. And, so, Holy Spirit, come. Lead us, show us these areas that we’re just leaving it laying on the floor, we’re not cleaning it up, we’re just leaving the filth so that we can come sniff it or eat it anytime we want. It’s time to do some cleanup and we need Your help. And, so, Holy Spirit come into this, we pray in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Father God thank You that You are a loving Father. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for that hope that You give us and thank You for that peace we can find in You. Lord, as Your children we do struggle to feel those things at times. Thank You that we can trust in those things, and I pray that You’d be helping us to remember Your love and that hope and peace that we can find in You that You’d help us to…yeah. But Lord we pray especially for those who…who don’t know that. Praying especially for young people, those who…who have no hope at the moment, have no hope and that all seems dark and there isn’t a way out and there is no hope, You know, and they even…even to the point of thinking about ending it. Lord please break in to those situations. Please be speaking to those hearts and those minds. May they find You, may they see Your and feel Your love and know that hope and that peace. Please be at work in their lives Lord. Please be shining so bright. We commend them to You Lord and trust that You’re watching over them in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Shalom Daily Audio Bible this is Duane from Wisconsin. All praise and glory to our wonderful Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Today is November 25th. Let us pray for Susie and her husband and their missionary work in Haiti. Dear Lord, we want to lift up Susie we want to lift up these children and this organization board. They are desperate. We are on our knees Lord asking You, begging You to protect this community. We’re asking You to intervene to allow the food they need, the resources they need to get to them to keep these children safe Lord. We ask that You were soft on the hearts of those in the gangs that are around this community and that are looking to take over and do things that I’m sure are not Christian and are not God loving. We ask that You protect the children that are there and those that are sick Lord we ask for a healing hand Lord. We ask Your intervention. We ask for understanding Lord. We ask for direction. We want to give You praise and glory that Susie and her husband have had the courage and the faith to do what they have been doing and now Lord, they need You to intervene. They need to lean into You for peace Lord for protection Lord. We ask for this. We beg of this if it is Your will Lord to see them through this, to see the children through this time Lord, through it Lord that it will not stop, that they will continue to be able to live where they live if that is so You will we ask this Lord. In Your name we pray. Amen. And remember the same Lord Savior the saved our children can also save these orphans. God bless and Amen.
Hi, I was asked to send in a prayer request for my mother because she’s unable to send in a prayer request right now. She was arrested yesterday because she was on a property that she wasn’t supposed to be on. But she believed that God would keep her safe from the police and she wanted me to come on here and ask for you all to pray that she gets an OR. She’s in the Delaware County jail and she said that they’ve hurt her there and that she really just needs you all to pray for her. She said if I told you that she…that her username was Disciple that Jesus Loves in Ohio you would know who she was because she’s sent in prayer requests before. And I just wanted to…just wanted to ask you guys to pray for her if you please could. Thank you so much.
Hey Daily Audio Bible this is Redemption Wings reaching out because I need prayer from the community. I’ve fallen short. I’ve been struggling with my faith and just having so much on my mind. But as of late I’ve backslid and regressed into old habits that I’ve worked hard to come out of, temptations and strongholds and things that I haven’t been as active in the faith as I should have been which probably would have kept me from the filth. But just need a handful of prayers to restrengthen me and for me to take this time to back away from so much to refocus my attention on the Lord Jesus and to regenerate my love for the word and for the truth because clearly, I’ve put it on the backside and decided to pursue my will instead of dying to myself and putting His will and bearing my cross. So, DABbers please pray for me, Redemption Wings. I’ll be in touch but right now I have to seek repentance and get back on the narrow road. Alright. Much love to everyone and thank you.
Hi, this is Deborah from the East Coast it is the evening on Thanksgiving Day and prayerfully everyone has a blessed day. First Thessalonians the 5th chapter verses 17 and 18 reminds us to pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. We are so thankful for God answers prayers. Some with yes, some with no, and some with wait. So, we will continue to pray, keep the faith, and hold on to God’s unchanging hand. Thank you so much Brian and family for all that you do in the podcast. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And again, we know every day is a day of Thanksgiving. I love you and God does too.