Zechariah 9:1-17, Revelation 17:1-18, Psalms 145:1-21, Proverbs 30:32
Today is the 26th day of the December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you one day post-Christmas. How’s everybody recovering? I hope all is well and that the lingering joy that Christmas brings is just like this mist all around you as we continue to enjoy the glow that Christmas is and brings, and that the hope of Christmas is more real than ever. And I guess I also hope that you find some good deals if you’re going shopping. But for and how here we are around the Global Campfire one day post-Christmas coming together all over the world as we have done every day this year to take the next step forward together because there is only one way to go and that is forward and it’s best to do it together. And, so, let’s dive in and take the next step for together which leads us right to that place where we left off yesterday and that would be back in the book of Zechariah. Today, Zechariah chapter 9.
Commentary:
Okay. So, it is the day after Christmas and likely it’s been a busy month. It certainly has been around here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. So, we get like one day past Christmas and there’s still festivities, but we know that Christmas has passed us and so now it’s like cleanup time and maybe some shopping on some deals or to make some exchanges of that sort of thing. We may have had a feast yesterday. We probably had a feast yesterday. And, so, we’re either still really full or it’s leftovers today. Nobody’s gonna be doing the cooking. But some of those day-after Christmas feasts are the best. and maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting back on the plane and going back to our city and back to our home or getting back in the car and driving those hours back to where we live or maybe we hosted everybody and that’s what’s being thought of by everyone else. It’s time to move forward. And we know that. The day after Christmas we move into that, but we know that it’s time to begin to move forward. And, so, over the course of these next several days, this in between week is such an interesting week between Christmas and New Year’s because the disruption of the month of December is still there, like the flow of things, the rhythm of things is still a little bit different. Even if we’re going back to work it’s still a little bit different and we begin to start thinking, wow, this year…this year is almost in the history books. Just a few days left and then we start thinking about next year and what that might look like. And invariably that gets us to setting some goals that we end up calling New Year’s resolutions because there are things, although we have grown this year, there are things in our lives that we look at and think, I can do better. Like, I can handle these situations better or I need to take better care of myself. I want to have a lot many more experiences of Christmas. And, so, into the time of the year that we’re in drops Proverbs today offering us some advice not only for kind of navigating through this week, but as we’re thinking about a fresh start in a fresh ear what that’s gonna look like. And Proverbs speaks to us. If you’ve been foolish and arrogant, if you’ve been scheming put your hand to your mouth. This may feel fairly immediate. We’ve been through Christmas week. We’ve been disrupted and we’ve been around people that we’re probably not around on a daily basis. It’s pretty hard to imagine that we have not seen pride or foolishness or arrogance or even scheming. It wouldn’t be unusual if we haven’t gotten trapped on the corner of a couch listening to a conversation that we don’t necessarily want to be in because it’s a one-sided conversation where we’re getting a huge offload of pride and arrogance or a huge helping of opinion, or maybe…maybe…maybe we’ve offered that unsolicited. What Proverbs is telling us is put your hand to your mouth. In other words, kind of enough with the foolishness. That’s not going to get us anywhere. That's…that’s like in a false way trying to puff ourselves up to be larger and bigger and more dominant than we actually are. But the thing is it’s not true. It's…it’s inflated. It's…it’s puffed up. And, so, we can hear the words from Proverbs and go, put my head on my mouth. Who are you to tell me? Even though it’s the voice of wisdom. We can bristle at that. It seems like, confrontational, especially the day after Christmas. But confrontational as it might be, it’s only confrontational if we need to be confronted. And inside of what we’re being told is a beautiful freedom and that is that we are enough, and we don’t need to falsely inflate ourselves and make fools of ourselves. We can put our hands over our mouth and remember that we don’t have to be anybody else besides who we are. And who we are children of God, which invites us to think about why were…what…what…what are we trying to measure up to when we go down those roads when we puff ourselves up, when we act foolishly, when we’re arrogant and we’re scheming? What is that about? Because if there’s one thing that we’ve learned in the Scriptures is that the truth will set us free, and the truth does matter. And we went through the Gospels, and we watched our Savior be true. We have examples for what it looks like. Wouldn’t it free us if we didn’t have any pressure to be anything but what we are? Wouldn’t it be freeing to be true? And although we may need to lose a few pounds in the coming year and get more healthier or although we may need to make any number of changes and set any number of goals, wouldn’t a foundational principle or goal for our new year be to be true? And, so, as we take this first step forward beyond Christmas and we begin to start to think about what’s coming next for us let’s remember this today. Let’s remember what the proverb is telling us and let’s remember that we are invited, and it is necessary that we be true.
Prayer:
Father, we love you. We thank you for bringing us here. We’re still kind of glowing from Christmas. We’re also kinda tired from it all and this is a time where we begin to think about what comes next and we invite your Holy Spirit into that. Reveal to us in each of our contexts in each of our stories what the next steps are, how it is that we step into the new year together with you. We love you. We trust you. We have asked nearly every day that you would lead us into all truth, and so we ask that, and we ask you to give us a picture of what it might look like if we had nothing to hide, if we were true and the freedom that that would bring. We pray this in the mighty and precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website, and that us where you can find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app will do that as well and you can get the app free from whatever app store works with your device, Just look for Daily Audio Bible and you should find it, be able to download that, get all set up to take the journey in the new year and keep track of your progress and all kinds of stuff. Check it out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in the final days of the year, thank you profoundly, thank you with all humility. The Global Campfire is us, and it wouldn’t be here if us weren’t here if we weren’t here in this together. And, so, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are 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 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’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi Daily Audio Bible family and friends this is a Girl After God’s heart. I am calling in to pray for the dad whose son has autism and he had to place him with the state. My…my dear brother I just…I wanted you to know that you have been on my mind since you called in and I was reminded again today by the prayers of others that I needed to call in and pray for you specifically as well as pray for all of the people that I know who are raising children with special needs. I am a special education teacher of…of severe children those with more challenging…those with more challenging diagnosis. And at any rate, I have met with so many parents over the years and myself being one, a parent of children with special needs, people with specifically developing children sometimes don’t understand exactly how hard it is and raising a child with special needs whether it be ADHD, autism, down syndrome, mental health issues, any of those kind of things can be so very difficult. And sometimes we feel very alone in this world and as if nobody understands. But what I have learned over the years is that we are not alone. We’re not alone on this journey at all. And, so, I just wanted to let you know that I am praying for you and I wanted to lift you up right now. Father God, bless this son and bless his father. Lord, lead them in the path of righteousness for your namesake. Give them peace that passes all understanding Father. Direct their paths to You. In Your son’s name I pray. Amen.
This is Spunky from snowy Michigan calling in a prayer request for the first time. I have been with my employer for three years. In October my manager left and the new one is a challenge to work with. In November she hired her friend, my replacement. It is clear that I need to find other employment and I just ask for your prayers as I do that. Medical insurance is a must for me as my spouse is self-employed. I do lack good references and interview skills. Pray for clear direction for me in my next steps. Thank you.
Hi everybody it’s Susan from Canada God’s Yellow Flower calling, and I’ve been listening to the family Christmas party. I love it, love it, love it. But you know what I…I…I want to lift up in prayer, Sampson Ellis, and all the men and women incarcerated for one thing or another rightly or wrongly. I worked with people who had been in prison for…for 10 years before I retired. And actually I married one. We were married for 18 wonderful years. So, anyways I just want to lift you guys up, guys and gals. I know this is a very difficult season for you. So, Lord God I just lift up all our incarcerated family that need Your presence in their life right now. Help them to remember that Christmas is Your day, where we celebrate Your birth. And I pray a new birth in each and every one of them as they seek Your face Lord God and seek Your wisdom for their life. Be the joy that they need in their hearts, the hope they need in their lives. In Jesus’ precious and holy name, I pray. Amen.
Good morning family it’s Marylynn in New Brunswick and I’m calling just to kind of add a tag line to Rockhound in Georgia. I listened to you and your encouragement for People on the Water on the community prayer and encouragement for December the 17th. And it was so funny because as you were talking about changing locations and following your husband while he’s driving RV and you’re in the personal vehicle. I knew that feeling because while he didn’t…my husband doesn’t drive an RV we both drive motorcycles. And many times, during the summer we will take a road trip together. And one of my biggest pet peeves is when a car will get between us because we like to drive a safe distance between each other. I don’t…I don’t drive abreast like some drivers do because I’m just not confident enough of my own ability. But many many many times we have gotten into a situation where we have 1, 2, maybe 3 cars in between us and I know that anxiety. I can’t see him. And it…and it causes me to make really bad judgment sometimes. I almost had a wreck two summers ago because of that very thing. I couldn’t see him and a car pulled in between us and then another car was backing out and that car in front of me stopped to let him out and I almost rear-ended both of them. Anyway, I'm…I’m telling you all this to say this. Your point was smack on for us to keep our eyes ahead, but you know what I learned is that my husband loves me so much that when he sees that I can’t see him he slows down, sometimes he even pulls over and waits for me. And if I don’t come just when he thinks I should he turns around and he comes and gets me. So, I see Jesus doing that for you People on the Water. So…
Merry Christmas DAB family this is your…your sister Julie and I’m asking you for prayer for my coworker and friend’s daughter Kaylee who has been found in Mazatlán. She’s been under arrest by the government and she is been caught up in…it’s just a tough prayer. I’m sorry. I…it…she’s been caught up in human trafficking and she's…she’s alive but we’re not quite sure how everything’s going to turn out. So, I’m just praying that you would ask for a hedge of protection around her and that a Father would deliver her from this evil that’s going against her right now and that her mom will be able to bring her home safely and that our government would also help at the same time do the right thing to bring her home safely. And it’s just…it’s just really hard for her and it would be really awesome if God could just do a miracle and bring her home safely. So, family, I knew that you guys would be on the horn and that you would pray with me in her deliverance from this evil and to bring her home safely. So, thank you. I love you all and I’m praying for you all. December 20th’s prayers were hard, but I know that God is on the throne and He is in control and as long as He’s in control we have nothing to worry about. I love you. Have a blessed Christmas in Jesus’ name. This is your sister Julie. Have a great day. Bye.
Hi, this is Scott Campbell from Olean NY. I like to wish all…everybody from the Daily Audio Bible a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. And happy birthday Jesus. I’m glad it’s Christmas.