12/1/2022 DAB Transcript

Daniel 8:1-27, 1 John 2:1-17, Psalm 120:1-7, Proverbs 28:25-26

Today is the first day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and we have clicked over, we have entered the brand-new, shiny, sparkly month of December, the final month of the year. Today is our 335th day of the year, 335/365, and it’s tremendously exciting to be here, to greet the month of December together and take the next step forward. That next step leads us to where we left off and that happens to be, at this point in time, the book of Daniel. And today, we will read Daniel chapter 8.

Commentary:

Okay so, in our reading from first John today, we saw John doing something that’s very similar to what James had done in his letter and what Peter had done in his writings, and they come to similar conclusions, that you can say anything but if you are claiming to be a person of faith, then the evidence for that is beyond your words, it’s in, its and being able to view your transformed and transforming life. You can say what you want to say but if that isn’t borne out in your actual life, the way you live what you say, then you’re making a claim that’s not true. Very poignant, very repetitive here, a theme that has emerged along with the theme of endurance, as we move through the New Testament. This something that we’ve got a pay attention to. If we don’t know anything in this world, we should know that talk is cheap and not everybody that says words, actually means those words or does what they say and that’s a problem that has been going on, obviously a very long time, because it’s going all the way back to this letter in the New Testament, first John. And so, rather than me paraphrasing let’s just read it from first John. John says, “if someone claims, I am in an intimate relationship with Him, but this big talker doesn’t live out his commands, then this individual is a liar and a stranger to the truth. But if someone responds to and obeys His word, then God’s love has truly taken root and filled him. This is how we know we are in an intimate relationship with Him, anyone who says I live in intimacy with Him, should walk the path Jesus walked.” Right, so again, you can say anything. In fact, you can say all the right things and that may show that you have an awareness of what is right. But if that isn’t borne out in your transformed life, if, if we’re claiming to be a disciple of Jesus and we’re not walking the path of Jesus, then according to John, according to Peter, according to James, that’s a lie. And we would have to step back, at least a little bit and say, what is the goal of all this, what do I believe in this for, like what am I supposed to be doing? And what were supposed to be doing is surrendering and allowing our lives to be transformed so that we do walk the path of Jesus, so that we are becoming Christlike, so that in our thoughts, words and deeds, not just our words, that we are being Christlike, that we are acting like Jesus would in this world. This is what intimacy with Jesus will look like, that we are following Him as our Master and we, as His disciples, knowing how much He has loved us, and knowing how much power He has bestowed upon us to do the work that He has instructed us to do. Which is to go tell everybody that there’s a better way and to be the hands and feet, to be Jesus with skin on. We hear that phrase a lot because we want that. But at some point, we have to realize, we are that we’re supposed to be that. And this, this transforms and touches everything about our identity. It’s not only in what we say. Or let me just quote from John again. “Anyone who says, I live in the light but hates his brother or sister, is still living in the shadows. Anyone who loves his brother or sister lives in the light and will not trip because his conscience is clear. But anyone who hates his brother is in the darkness, stumbling around with no idea where he is going, blinded by the darkness.” So, again, we can say all the right things all that we want, but if the claims aren’t a part of our actual life, then we aren’t being truthful. And so, obviously change, repentance has to happen. But why do we keep getting pulled in these directions of duplicity where we’re like, all over the map, depending on the category or the event that we are attending or whatever. Why are we pulled in the directions that we’re pulled in? According to John, it’s because we put our faith in the world, which is not to say we put our faith in planet Earth. John is describing the world as mankind’s continual attempt to make life work, to make the world work, as if we were our own sovereign, as if we were the gods of the world, as if we were the gods of our own destiny. And that gives us a finite amount of power and resources, like what’s on the earth. When we have a Father who created the earth and all that is in it. But when we put our faith and hope in lesser things, then we are pulled in those directions. And I will quote one last time from our reading from first John today. “Don’t fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer. Those who love its corrupt ways, don’t have the Father’s love living within them. All the things the world can offer you, the allure of pleasure, the passion to have things, and the pompous sense of superiority, do not come from the Father, these are the rotten fruits of the world. This corrupt world is already wasting away, as our it’s selfish desires. But the person really doing God’s will, that person will never cease to be.” So basically, if we are going to bow down and worship in a system that exalts man, then this is where our faith lies. This is what we are going for. And if we are exalting ourselves, we aren’t exalting Go. And there is plenty for us to consider today, and we should meditate upon the things that we read each and every day and allow them to seep deep into the soil of our lives. But if we’re thinking this through today, the place that we begin to look is where there are discrepancies in what we say and what we do. And then we begin to ask the question, what is that about? What is going on there? Why am I behaving in this way, what is actually going on here? Because once we get beneath the surface, then we begin to see how this is affecting our heart and what we are being pulled toward and what it is that we may need to lay down. And certainly, what we need to bring before the Holy Spirit and ask for guidance and direction in. This isn’t John or Peter or James heaping condemnation upon the church for all time, even 2000 years into the future. This is about being true. That is one of the things that we are invited into, that is one of the ways that we would be Christ like, that we would be true, that there would not be false within us, that we would have an undivided heart that was true toward God. The idea here is that to be true is to be free. So, the invitation of the Gospel isn’t that we will be free from things that must be endured or that we would be free from some sort of marginalization, or that we would be free from any kind of challenge in our lives. It's…it’s that we would be free from what is false, so that we could be true and experience real freedom, that we’re not hiding anything, that we are completely free before man and God. The place we have to start, is to examine whether what we say and what we do are in alignment with each other. Are we true in this area?

Prayer:

And so, Holy Spirit, come, we all need Your help here. We live in a world that is full of the false, so full of the false, that trying to find what’s real can be an incredible treasure hunt. And so, we are swimming in this. And so, the idea of being true and the idea of being free and not entangled in all of this mess, is extraordinary. But the application of it, actually living it out and knowing which way to go. We, we’re not gonna make it the next five minutes. We need You to lead and guide us and we need to hold onto You for dear life. Lead us into all truth, You have promised You would do this, and we are asking for it, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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It’s Christmas time around here. It’s Christmas time everywhere and so Christmas things are going on. Now, it is, well we’re in this moment where we gather together and prepare for our Annual Family Christmas party, virtual as it might be, it is one of the most heartwarming parts of my Christmas season and I have loved it for all of these years. And so, it, here’s how it works. You call in your holiday greetings to the community. We gather those altogether and we make a Christmas party out of it and we’ll release that probably, week after next. Just before we hit Christmas time, we’ll have our Christmas party together. So, you can call in your holiday greetings, now the way that you do that is to use the…the Hotline in the app or call 877-942-4253. Obviously, those of the prayer and encouragements lines but for the next week they will also be a place where we can call in our holiday greetings. A couple of rules do not call in a holiday greeting and a prayer request or encouragement that are combined in the same call. Like, if you’re calling in a holiday greeting just call that in and if you have a prayer or encouragement, then call that in separate. It’s a rare time that we can do that. The other rule is just call in one holiday greeting. Don’t call in like 10 of them just call in one holiday greeting, per person. And we gather those altogether and we’ll have our Christmas party.

And then the other thing about Christmas that is going on right now, is the Annual Family Christmas Box for 2022. And that is packed full of resources, things that you will want to keep, maybe things that you will want to give away, you get to choose. We have put the Promised Land, Photographs from the Land of the Bible, coffee table book, in the box this year, as well as the God of Your Story and Sneezing Jesus and Reframe: From the God We’ve Made to God With Us. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2022, which is exclusive to the Christmas Box each year, is in the box. The Global Campfire candle is in the box. Your choice of Wind Farm DAB blend coffee or our Honey Bush and Rooibos tea. We have a Global Campfire pop socket, as well as a couple Global Campfire stickers, in the box. And so, check it out. It is in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, in the Christmas Section, you should be able to find it pretty easy. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if what has been happening around the Global campfire each day, step-by-step, day-by-day, has been life-giving and meaningful, then thank you, humbly, for your partnership, as we approach the closing of another year. 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 P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if ever prayer request or encouragement, you can hit 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 is it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey family, it’s Sparky. I wanted to take a minute, one person that’s been ringing out for, for the last bit. Is Anonymous on Purpose, and all of our DAB Family, I just, I wanted to tell you and your son’s situation, I just, be patient, be loving, be kind. And don’t try to force your will. Because if you force your will, it’s not gonna work. And many of these people know my story. But I’m the same guy that has a wonderful wife and the last time I got thrown in jail; I was set free. And, literally, with no charges and I should have had a lot. And the next morning, the preacher was preaching about Barrabas, and my life was changed. Then I found this app. I want you to know that nobodies too far gone, no child is too far gone. I was the same guy that was looking at a ten-year prison sentence for shooting a motorcycler guy that cheated with my ex. And now, I’m a man of God. You’re never too far gone; your children are never too far gone. God is a miracle worker. He is more powerful than anything in this life. His will, not ours, be done. Please keep guiding him towards the Lord. I love you; I pray for all of ya’ll. Probably my last time calling this week. Ya’ll have a good one.

Good evening, DABers, this is Running Desperately to Jesus, also known as Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. I’ve started this over and over on how I could speak to the young lady that called in, I believe it was on October 24th, speaking of being physically assaulted by someone that she knew, that was intoxicated. And then in December, it will be a year, I believe you said, on when this attack took place. My sister in Christ, I too was attacked in 2016. My birthday was in March and this attack happened a couple days after my birthday. I can’t say that it is an easy road of healing, but you took the first step, which was to forgive your attacker. Because, otherwise, that attacker will have a stronghold on you. My sister in Christ, I too was a mess, and I could only put it like that. I was off from work for 6 months. I had to go through therapy. I was constantly crying. I was waking up; I was having nightmares. Triggers were happening if a man walked by me or touched me, even if it was someone I knew, I would tense up. So, my sister in Christ, what you are feeling is what is natural. Unfortunately, it comes natural by something that someone did, that violated you. My sister in Christ, what will get you through is the word of God, staying with the DAB family, praying, if you need to get into therapy, so bet it. Do what needs to be done, in order to get you healthy. But what will get you healthy is God’s word. God’s word says that you can do all things with Christ, with strength in you. I love you my sister in Christ. Running Desperately to Jesus.

Hello siblings, this is __ from Lumbart. Please pray for me. I feel a little down, lately. I was listening to everyone, every day, faithfully. And I pray for those that are in need, pray for those that are crying and need prayer. I want you to know that. But this time, I ask you guys to please pray for me, I feel a little disturbed, you know. Something triggered my past hurt. Three years ago, during my divorce. Please pray that I stay strong in my faith and encouraged. Please pray that, that I can forgive and love those that hurt me. Please pray that I, as time and things go by that, they won’t affect me in any way. I need you guys; I need you guys to pray for me. I know there’s a lot of people that are going through worse things. But you know, pain is pain, even if it’s the smallest pain. It hurts. Thank you so much. I love you guys, God bless you.

This is for Redemptions Wings; I believe that’s what you called yourself. Today, is November the 28th and I feel that your request being played today was perfect timing for Brian’s reading of the New Testament, 2nd Peter 2. I would highly recommend going back and reading it if you did not listen to it already. It is powerful. The word is the sword, and it pierces through us. And I’m gonna tell you, I got slayed today, listening to it. I have patterns of thinking that are strongholds in my life, and they tend to rear their ugly head and I find myself going back to them. Just as Brian said, a dog returns to its vomit. So, I encourage you to read it, and read it and read it. And it will pierce your soul and apply it to your life. I, I’m praying for you. I hear your desire to want to do God’s will for your life, the word, the word, daily applied to our lives. Thank you, Brian, that every morning I get up and I can listen to the word and let it apply to my life. So, I encourage you, Redemptions Wings. Get back in the word, get back in the word. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hey siblings Media from Lambart. I’ve been with you guys for 15 years or more. Wow! That’s amazing. But this is the first year that I’ve been calling. The first year that I’ve been faithfully listening to the Bible. And the years almost over and I am super happy, victorious, for doing something. Last year, January, when we began, I said God, help me to stay faithful and consistent, you know. Listening to Brian and his family and everyone here on the Daily Audio Bible. You guys are awesome, I love you all. And I am just so close, closest that I’ve ever been with this community, this year. It’s almost over too. Wow! And I want to thank you all for praying through all the years. Thank you for all those prayer warriors. I love you guys so much. Blind Tony, I love you, I love your poems, Blind Tony. I love you. You encourage us so good. You, we need you. God knows we need you so much in this community. You are the best and I’m praying for you, so much. Okay. We love you. We are praying, oh God. I love the prayers, I love to just turn on my phone on Sundays and listen to all your prayers, God. Oh man, it’s so beautiful. Thank you. God Bless you all, just wanted to say these words. Take care and God bless you. Have a great day. Bye Bye.