Month: December 2022

Hosea 6:1-9:17, 3 John 1:1-15, Psalm 126:1-6, Proverbs 29:12-14

Today is the seventh day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s great to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together. Our next step will lead us back into the book of Hosea in the Old Testament. Yesterday, we read in its entirety second John. Today we will read in its entirety third John, and we’ll talk about third John we get there. But first, Hosea chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another step forward together. We thank You for the territory that we’re moving through in the minor prophets and in these last short letters in the New Testament, before reaching the final book. And even as we move through third John today, we are once again reminded of an overarching theme that we have been reminded about a thousand times or more, and that is we should care for each other, that we will be known by our love for one another. Our animosity against each other isn’t healthy; we are to be known by our love and not by our power or a power grabbing. The stuff that we heard about in third John today, these kinds of things continue to happen in Your church today. Forgive us Lord. Forgive us for ever having participated in shunning somebody that You sent our way because other people were doing it. Help us to learn from our earliest brothers and sisters, as these letters have been preserved for us to apply to our lives, even as we learn of our spiritual ancestors. Come, Holy Spirit, help us to care for one another, help us to remember to care for one another, first and foremost, before we react with indifference or hostility. This and all things we need Your help on, none of these things are we capable of doing in our own strength in any kind of consistent way. Only by Your power and Your transforming our hearts can these things happen. So, we open our hearts to You, humble ourselves before You, and invite You to lead us into the truth. We pray this in the mighty, powerful, precious name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is where you find out what is going on around here and it’s very, very Christmas time all around here, like everywhere. And so, several things. First of all, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas box, our family Christmas for 2022, is available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, and it is packed full of goodies, things for you to keep things for you to maybe give away you get to choose. And you can find the Christmas box either on the web or in the Daily Audio Bible app. Just look for Shop and in the Shop, you’ll find the Christmas category and the Christmas box is in the Christmas category. So, check that out. That is available. Second, we are preparing for our annual Christmas party that we do each year, and you get to participate in. That by calling in your holiday greetings to the community that you have been traveling with all year through the Bible, page-by-page, step-by-step, book-by-book and we will begin putting that together here and so be sure to call it in. If you plan to, the way you can participate is to hit the Hotline button in the app or dial 877-942-4253. And that is the prayer and encouragements lines and so that’s what they’re there for. But this time a year for week, week and ½, we get to call in our holiday greetings as well. As I’ve been saying, the rule is don’t call in a prayer request mixed with a holiday greeting. It won’t have any place to go; call in your holiday greeting and then call in your prayer request or encouragement. And then lastly the soundtrack for the season around here, there are number of Christmas releases that you can stream and bring into your home. Three of them in particular, first would be Jill’s single, O Holy Night and that is available to stream anywhere in wherever it is your listening to music. Just look for Jill Parr and O Holy Night. And then there are couple instrumental albums, Family Christmas, which you would look up my name for that, or just Family Christmas, you can stream that into your home, and it is, it’s the kind of project that you drink some hot cocoa with, turn off the lights and just leave the Christmas lights on and…and relax. And then there is Christmas Time by Maxwell Hardin, our son and we released last year to great, great appreciation. And definitely heard from lots of people that continue to listen throughout the year, even because it’s a real contemplative just really kinda captures the mood of Christmas. And so those projects are available for you to stream, however, is that you get your music, just check those out, incorporate them into the soundtrack of…of your season.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, humbly, thank you deeply, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together and we are so, thank you. There is a link on the homepage 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 you have a prayer request or encouragement or holiday greeting right now, you can hit the Hotline button in the app 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, this is People on the Water from Indiana. I’m calling in today, on December 2nd and I’m at a loss. I just, I feel like I’m in a loss in life. In about 7 days I’m gonna be quitting school and doing, excuse my language but God knows what. I am struggling big time, struggling in what I want to do with my life. I’m 19 years old and I know, you don’t have to have it all figured out. I know that. And I know what the right thing is to do, to turn to God, to read the scriptures but I can’t do that. There is too much turmoil going on within inside of me, where I can’t lift my eyes off of my struggle and I am hurting deeply. I was journaling the other month, I’ve been in college for two months and it was like, I kind of got this word and it’s like some mental anguish. And I’ll tell you what, it’s been some mental anguish. I am hurting, hurting. And I feel like a failure. My self-confidence is not here. I need, I need help. I’m sorry to keep babbling but I need some help. So, please family, pray for me. And pray that my heart might connect to God. And help me understand what the heck I’m gonna do. Thank you, guys. And I love you.

Hey dear friends, this is Adopted Son in Spokane Washington. I just listened to Brian’s reflection on 2nd Peter on December 3rd and was deeply, deeply touch by it and I just find myself incredibly grateful for the family around us. The family that God has provided. And feeling the need to, to confess and to be just more deeply touched and grounded in the reality of God’s patience with us and the need for us to be, to be outgoingly patient, proactively patient and merciful to those around us. So, that we collaborate with, with our Lord in His mission of mercy. So, I just love you all. And thank you Brian for bringing, bringing the Word powerfully to life, both with your reading and then with your reflection. And I’m sure, I know I say this with the rest of the DAB brothers and sisters, we’re with you in that. For those, I’ve heard several calls recently of people struggling with substance abuse and addiction. Boy, I’m, in Jesus name, I pray over you, that you would find the strength to cut off that hand. Just to find the way to…to end that. And maybe that means checking into rehab for six months and upending your life. Maybe it means humbling yourself …

Hello DAB family, this is Unwavering from North Carolina and I wanted to call in a prayer for those of us who are standing for our marriages and awaiting restoration. Father God, we thank You for Your faithfulness and Your mercy to us. We thank you for Your watch care over us, each and every single moment of our lives. God, You see what’s going on inside and You know the pain that has often been unspeakable. But Father God, we stand in Your promises of restoration. And we give to You are spouses. We know that You hold them in Your hands, right now. And Father God, we know that when we surrender something to You, whatever You have asked for, that You always give us something better. So, Father God, I pray for our spouses, wherever they are. I ask that You would shower them with Your goodness, lead them to repentance, let them bow their knees to Jesus and repent for their sins. Father God, we pray that they will fully surrender their lives to You. Help us Lord, to continue to stand on Your word. Try us and know our thoughts. And Father God, we just thank You that Lord, You withhold no good thing from us. Father God, heal our hearts, deliver us from this situation and put our lives back together as only You can, Father. And restore us better than we were ever before. Thank you, oh Holy One. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Good morning, Daily Audio Bible. This is Mighty Woman of God from Texas. I am calling in with some encouragement because I know my brothers and sisters are needing it because I’m needing it. And my encouragement this morning is that you remember that the Lord is faithful, God is faithful in everything. And no matter your circumstances, no matter what you’re going through, remember that the Lord, the Lord knows who you are, the Lord knows what you’re going through, the Lord see’s you, and the Lord is going to bring you too prosperous. I am specifically, you know, calling to encourage those that are going through some relationship challenges. I, myself, are going through some relationship challenges and it has left me so confused, so very confused. But I know that God has a plan, God has a plan because as the scriptures say, Lord, great is thy faithfulness. And I just, I hear that and it, it is just something that gives me strength because I know that what I’m going through isn’t for, you know, my defeat or destruction but to build me up and to edify me in every way. So, I just want all of you to be encouraged. Be encouraged and continue to pray for me as I continue to pray for you all. Have a blessed day.

Good evening my brothers and sisters of the DAB. This is an encouragement call for Chris-Ann. This is Theresa from Ohio and I want to tell you how much I love you. Let’s go to the Lord. Father God, I lift up Chris-Ann who’s broken heart is bleeding. I know she might be going through her divorce but hold her hand and stroke her forehead and tell her that You will work for her good because she loves You so very much. I pray for her every night and every morning, this verse over her. And I remember that when I meet her in heaven and hold her hand in person, that I will get to hear how He is redeemed her circumstances. In fact, each prayer, when I hear your voice, I think about how I will meet you and get to hear how your circumstances were redeemed. Because we have a lot of circumstances that need redeemed, down here. I love you very much and you have a good evening. Bye Bye.

Hosea 4:1-5:15, 2 John 1:1-13, Psalms 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11

Today is the 6^th sixth day of the December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and move forward together one step at a time, day by day. So, we began the book of Hosea yesterday and we will certainly be continuing our journey through Hosea today and for the next couple of days. And then when we get to the New Testament, we will be reading a letter in its entirety, a whole book of the Bible today called second John. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But let’s dive into Hosea first. Today Hosea chapters 4 and 5.

Commentary:

Okay. So, that brings us to the New Testament like we said at the beginning. And we have an entire book, actually a letter named second John to read today, and this letter was probably written shortly after first John, the one that we concluded yesterday and probably written to the same people even though first John doesn’t say who it’s written to specifically. But it’s probably written to the same people. The letters are very similar. It’s actually the similarities that has biblical scholars arguing that John is the authentic author of all of these letters. And since it’s believed that John spent the latter part of his life pastoring and leading the church in Ephesus, actually leading the church as in Asia, that Ephesus is probably where second John was written just like first John. And this letter that we’re about to read, second, John is short. It’s 13 verses long. The first three verses will be words of greeting, and then then there’ll be three more verses that will remind us of the overwhelming importance of loving each other. And then after that three more verses comments speak against false teaching and specifically Docetism. The first letter of John that we just concluded yesterday also spoke against this false teaching, Docetism, being an early Gnostic teaching that essentially said Jesus wasn’t an actual human being, He was a celestial being, but He wasn’t like a true flesh and blood human being and so His sufferings were not human sufferings. And, so, John devotes three verses to speaking against Docetism again and then to verses after that give instruction that aren’t a part of the first letter. These verses taught the church how to behave toward traveling teachers who came in and wanted hospitality but what they were teaching was false and they were introducing false teachings into the church. So, in those two verses John essentially says don’t encourage them, don’t offer hospitality to them, they’re false teachers. And then two more verses conclude the letter. And it will be easy for us to go, man, there are short, short letters anyway and they all blur together and they’re talking about the same things. But if we’ll at least kind of take a step back and understand at bare minimum months have passed here. And, so, John wrote first John as a letter and sent it out and it landed and began to do its work, and then so several months later another shorter letter, more of a note is penned to reinforce the things that have been said and to clarify, then we can see it probably for what it is, an additional encouragement. And it’s not like we don’t need additional encouragements and our lives. We can be told something that’s true, and we can totally buy into the truth but then living it out, that’s where the work is. And, so, affirmations and encouragements along the way, even if they’re the same affirmations and encouragements are really helpful in bolstering us, which is likely what we have going on here in second John. And, so, let’s dive in and read the entire letter of second John.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You that each and every day we get to spend time in it and that we get to spend time among each other and that we get to move forward in life together. And we thank You that You lead and guide us each in our own stories wherever we may be on this planet. We are so deeply grateful. And we are reminded once again in what we read from second John, that we are to love one another, And, so, we ask Holy Spirit that You help us do that. Help us to remember that this is how we will be known as Your disciples, by our love for one another. May this become something that is always before us and that we think of before we act in haste in an inappropriate and unloving way. We also thank You for all of the new territory that we get to experience in…in rather quick fashion. And Holy Spirit come and help us to stay locked into what we are reading. Even as the year gets more busy and we are covering more territory more rapidly in the Scriptures that we have it any other point in the year, we trust You. We trust that You will lead us to hear and understand the things that You have for us, the things that we need to know, the things that will lead us forward. And, so, Holy Spirit, we open ourselves to You asking for Your leadership , Your comfort, Your direction, Your guidance, and even Your discipline. Lead us into all truth, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and that is where you can find out what’s going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app does that as well. And you get that from the app store that works with your phone or tablet. So, check that out.

It’s Christmas time around here. We know that it’s Christmas time all over the world. So, there are a few Christmas things going on around the Global Campfire. First of all, we are preparing for our annual family Christmas party around the Global Campfire. And, so, you are invited to call in your holiday greetings to the community here. And you can do that by pressing the little Hotline button in the app or dialing 877-942-4253. That will sound familiar, because that’s the prayer and encouragement line. This time a year for about a week in the year we open it up and it becomes our Christmas line as well, And, so, just…just don’t call in a prayer request and a holiday greeting inside the same call. There’ll be no place for it to go. This is the rare time where if you have a prayer request and encouragement certainly call that in. It’s always available. But if you’re calling in a holiday greeting, call that in separately so we can keep them separate. And we’ll do that for the next couple of days and then we’ll close that window down and start putting it all together for us. So that’s one Christmas thing that’s going on. Number two, the Daily Audio Bible by the Christmas Box for 2022, the family Christmas Box we do annually is available now and you can find it at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app by going to the Shop and in the Shop you will find a Christmas category and the Christmas Box is there in the Christmas category. So, check that out. And then thirdly, there is Christmas music for the season from the community here, a couple of different Christmas projects that you can purchase or stream wherever it is that you do those things. Whatever service you may use to listen to your music. So, one album is called Family Christmas and you can find that by looking up my name Brian Hardin. And the other one is Christmas Time, and we released that last year and that is by Maxwell Hardin. And these are classic in the community here. And, so, be aware of that and allow that to be a part of the backdrop for your season.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we approach this season and the end of the year, thank you humbly, and with all gratitude. We are in this together and if we weren’t, we wouldn’t be in this at all. And, so, thank you profoundly 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 of course, if you have a prayer request or encouragement or holiday greeting right now you can hit the Hotline button in the app 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:

Hello, it’s Joyfully Joe and it is December 1^st, and it is my first-year anniversary of listening to the DAB of listening to Brian and well, Jill, and China sometimes, and Ezekiel sometimes and all of my beautiful family and my community all of you guys and I’m hoping that you’ll rejoice with me because it is my first year. I…I made it through one whole year of listening to my one-year Bible which before I just read it but it wasn’t as fun and heartbreaking and lovely as hearing Brian and all of you with all of your prayers and prayer requests. It’s been a glorious year of praying for you guys and being prayed for and I just…I just want to say thank you for that and I pray that you’ll rejoice with me. This year what I got…I just about God’s word, I praise Him for His glorious word. It enlightens my mind with wisdom and knowledge and understanding. It is my comfort and by friend and when I don’t have it close at hand the Holy Spirit brings the scriptures to my heart and mind, and I love that. It teaches me, it corrects me. It’s life to me, like breathing or eating or drinking. I can’t go a day without it, and I can’t go a day without you guys. Hallelujah.

I was just gonna share with Brian like what a cool…what a cool way that’s app kinda touches at different times. I was thinking today, and I remember the first year I listened through…all the way through I was just heartbroken and torn up that I wasn’t gonna hear anymore of Jesus. And then it felt like the year after it was Paul and then Peter on the year after and…and this being the 4^th in a weird way the wildest part of the book, and it’s probably where I’m at in life, I’m 36, and in a weird way first John and…and all of the later books have tapped into something in my brain that’s made me sit there going, be careful to call yourself a man of God and I’m not good at memorizing verses but this…this year around I’m repetitively hearing to be careful to say that you’re a man of God. And it got me to thinking. It’s had me thinking this year, you know, like am I…I say I’m a man of God but I’m falling short at certain times. And I know we all fall short but what a weird thing to just click through just repetitively in my head, be careful to say you’re a man of God and not act like one. I think it’s weird for all young men. But I just wanted to say thank you. I thought I’d share that brother.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. Thank you, Brian for bringing up your father. I’m blessed he shares the same birthday as your dad. I lost my dad a couple years ago. By the way, this is Jennifer from Michigan. I don’t know if I mentioned that. I truly miss my dad, but I know he’s in a great place. I love my dad. He was one of my best friends and the Lord has given me comfort in knowing I can seek Him and find joy in Him. I don’t need the world to bring me peace. I praise God. I ask a blessing of the Lord to all my DAB family. I love you guys and I wish you the best day ever in the mighty name of Jesus. [singing starts] I will bless the Lord all my soul. With all that is within me with all that is within me bless His holy name. [singing stops]. Have a great day Dabbers.

Good morning DAB I am the dad of People on the Waters. He is a freshman in college and struggling with his relationship with God he’s finally getting hard to hold himself accountable to do the work that it takes to stay in college. He’s leaving his family behind which has been a huge support system for him and he’s just putting a ton of pressure on himself. If I could ask for prayers to help settle him in and let him realize that he does not have to have his complete life figured out at this time. I pray that he continues to work on his relationship with God and use the tools and foundation that has been put in place for him. He’s a great kid, going to be an awesome leader and could just use some prayers. Please and thank you.

Hi, DAB family this is Helen from Durham NC and I just had to touch this microphone button to just say thank you Brian for your teaching today on unmet expectations. It was just powerfully powerful to me this morning in my own personal life, life of people really close to me. Wow. I had to keep on backing up because enemy of my soul kept diverting my attention but I kept backing up and listening again and thank you, thank you for the good word you spoke today. And I also wanna just say, Sparky I really wanna say thank you for being so transparent about your own life and how God has moved in your life. Thank you so much for that and all of you folks at DAB who are like that, transparent, open in sharing what God is doing in your lives. Thank you. Bye.

Hosea 1:1-3:5, 1 John 5:1-21, Psalm 124:1-8, Proverbs 29:5-8

Today is the fifth day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you today, around the Global Campfire as we gather together in this season of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. And here in the northern hemisphere the colder months, and so, we kind of all get cozy here around this Global Campfire and keep each other warm. Back in the summer it was like more of a campfire right, we’re just kind of all around it, just enjoying the evening. Now we’re kinda all squeezed in together, keeping each other warm as we come around the Global Campfire. Of course, all of you in the southern hemisphere are experiencing more of the warmer time and so it’s, you know what, it is what we make it right. Here we are around the Global Campfire for the next step forward. Our next step forward actually leads us into a brand-new territory in the Old Testament, we’re moving into the prophetic book of Hosea. And as we move into Hosea, we’re moving into the sort of, final grouping of books that we will encounter in the Old Testament. These books are called the minor prophets and we’ve moved through the major prophets, and we talked about…about it back then, that the major prophets aren’t more important than the minor prophets. It’s not like these are the minor league prophets and we already read the professional prophets. It has more to do with the material that is contained within the writing and so these minor prophets are much shorter than the major prophets, which means that we will move through them at a reasonably quick clip. There are 12 books in the minor prophets, beginning with Hosea and then ending with the final book in the Old Testament, Malachi. So, think about it, this is the fifth day of December, there are 31 days in December, which unless I’m counting wrong, leads us 26 days left in the year and we will move through 12 books, this is just the Old Testament, we will move through 12 books in the Old Testament in the next 26 days. So, pretty quick and we’ll be moving pretty quickly, but we’ll keep ourselves oriented and we’ll talk about all the different things that we’re reading and why we’re reading them, but we’ll be moving pretty quick. We some territory to move through in the New Testament as well, fairly quickly. But then, we will eventually, actually just days from now, arrive at the final book in the New Testament, the book of Revelation and that will carry us to the end of the year.

Introduction to the Book of Hosea:

But now, we are opening the threshold and stepping into the book of Hosea. And Hosea probably lived somewhere around the eighth century BC. He was from the northern kingdom. So, we have to kind of remember back…back through our journey through first and second Kings, first and second Chronicles. We remember the disintegration of the United monarchy of Israel as one cohesive nation made up of 12 tribes. After King Solomon’s reign, the nation of Israel split into two different nations, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom was defeated and taken into exile by the Assyrian Empire and then century, a century and ½ later the Babylonian Empire was able to conquer and destroy Jerusalem, carrying the kingdom of Judah off into exile. Hosea probably saw the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. This was his homeland. Although there are many scholars that believe that even though that’s true, Hosea’s prophecies may not have been collected together cohesively until later, and that may have actually happened in the southern kingdom of Judah, after Assyria had taken over the northern kingdom and carried Israel, the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom and exile. One of the things that we’re going to notice, and it’s one of the most compelling things in the Bible to me like, there are things in the book of Hosea that are some of the most riveting things in all of the Bible to me. There’s a theme in the book of Hosea. I mean, there’s a theme throughout the Scriptures that has covenantal language to it and marriage is a covenantal thing that we all understand, and this theme of marriage, that is often used in the Bible to represent God’s love for his people with whom He has a covenant, is in the book of Hosea in a way that is not only compelling, but very revealing, revealing about God’s heart toward His people. We have watched people in the Scriptures all this year, and we have watched them be up and down and back and forth. We have watched them run to God, and we have watched them reject God. We have watched them beg God for assistance and then we have watched them give themselves to other gods over and over and over. And for God, this is the breaking of the covenant, this is adultery, and that, whether we’ve experienced it or participated in it, or just know about it, we understand that that is the breaking of a covenant and be pretty hard to live in this world today without having been touched, not necessarily by adultery but by the shattering of a relationship. And we know when adultery is present, entire lives, people’s entire worlds, their whole life trajectory, gets spun out of whack and blown apart, adultery is bad, it really, really destroys profoundly. And if you’ve ever had a experience with this, like even probably going back and remembering is painful. But moving along in life and all the sudden we get up ended by information of betrayal and cheating and it’s like, you woke up one day and you’re going through your day and by that evening you get this information and the world that you knew seems to be over, like everything has changed. And it’s just back and forth and back and forth, back and forth of emotions, these ups and downs, this anger, this rage, this jealousy, then this empathy, and this compassion and love flowing out and being expressed in anger and in empathy and it’s just about as disorienting a thing, as there is, because you were in covenant, you were depending on each other to be faithful and loyal, you were depending on each other to build a life together that would last for your lifetimes. We’re building a life together. And so, faith and hope had been placed in that covenant of marriage with no expectation that was ever going to change. And so, when adultery becomes visible, when it’s exposed and all kinds of erratic things can happen inside of a person and inside of a person’s life, God uses this metaphor to describe the way he feels. And so, all of a sudden, we move from this angry, vengeful God, who just can’t seem to get His moods under control, to what we better understand as a person who would love, profoundly, and gave their all to a relationship, only to find out that they have been cheated on and disrespected and scorned and their heart is broken. Nowhere in the Bible is this more clear than in the Book of Hosea, in part because God asks Hosea, as his mouthpiece, as his voice, as his prophet, to not just go and say things, but to actually use his life as a demonstration, as a living parable as theater, to depict not only with words, but with actions, what God is saying. And so, we’ll see that God instructs Hosea to get married, which is great, but he is to marry a prostitute and her name is Gomer and this represents the adultery, and the harlotry and idolatry of Israel. And Hosea and Gomer had children together and God instructs that each child have a specific name and each child’s name is a prophetic name, that speaks directly to Israel. And then eventually Gomer is unfaithful to Hosea and so he divorces her, and this represents God’s casting away Israel, his beloved because she has been unfaithful. But then God instructs Hosea to go find Gomer, to go find where she’s gone and get her back. And as it turns out, he has to buy her back, he has to buy his wife back, she doesn’t deserve that, she doesn’t deserve to be rescued, she played the harlot, she committed adultery, she broke the covenant, but Hosea bought her back and this represents the lengths God has been willing to go to, to win back what He loves, even though those that He loves have cheated on him. Even me telling the story, like describing or what we’re going to read is so compelling. We of all fallen a way and gone astray. And God has not been willing to surrender and give up on our love. It’s the kind of love that we can’t really express without God’s help, but it should also challenge us, profoundly, the next time we’re about to do something that we absolutely know is wrong. And if we ask ourselves, can I do this as an ambassador of my king, can I do this in the name of my Savior, can I do this in honor of God? And we know the answer is no. And we do it anyway. Then we have to understand that it’s not okay to just think well, he’ll forgive me, it’s not that big of a deal. Hosea shows us that cheating, breaking covenant, being disloyal is heartbreaking. And so, let’s dive in together. We’re reading from the New Living translation this week, Hosea chapters 1, 2, and 3 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for it every single day. We are grateful every single day. Thank You for leading us into this new territory in the book of Hosea. And the way that you reveal Your heart. We may have not experienced adultery in our lives, but we sure understand what the concept is and it’s very unlikely that any of us have never experienced betrayal or what it feels like to have a broken heart. And yet so often Lord, we think that You are just aloof and above all of that and yet You loved us enough to come for us and die for us. And so, you are obviously profoundly invested in us, beyond our comprehension, why you would care so deeply is beyond our comprehension, but we believe that you do. And Hosea describes this depth of love in ways that we can begin to grasp and so, we thank You that You will never give up. And Lord, we are ashamed of the ways that we have betrayed You in the past but as our understanding continues to grow and our love for you continues to grow, and as we fall deeper and deeper into this relationship that is more intimate than anything else in our lives, and as we are profoundly transformed, it becomes more and more clear to us. So, Holy Spirit, please come and plant in our hearts what we’ve read today about Your heart toward us. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the websites, it is where you find out what is going on around here. A few things are going on around here Christmas related, if you haven’t noticed it is Christmas time all around the world. So, it’s Christmas time here as well. So, couple things. First, we are preparing for our annual Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas party and the way that you participate is that you can call in a holiday greeting, share your story, share your Christmas wishes to that community that is been traveling together this entire year through the Bible. And so, I will do that for the next couple of days still, say Wednesday, and then we will need to start compiling that together so that we can hopefully release that next week. So, call in your holiday greetings and you do that by pushing the Hotline button in or dialing 877-942-4253. And that number might some familiar and that Hotline button my some familiar because that is the prayer and encouragements lines for the Daily Audio Bible and that’s what they do. That’s what they’re there for. But for about a week out of the year, we also allow them to be for our Christmas party. So, here are the rules, number one: don’t call in a prayer request or encouragement, and a holiday greeting in the same call, make those separate. This is one of the rare times, you can hang up and call back. So, call in your holiday greeting and if you have a prayer request or encouragement, call that in separately, keep those separate. And then secondly: just call in once for the holiday party so that everybody gets to get heard.

And then the other thing that’s going on is the Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas box for 2022. We have packed this as full as we can get and have packed it full of resources for you and maybe some resources in there to give away. So, Promised Land, Photographs from the Land of the Bible, the coffee table addition is included in the box this year. The God of Your Story, a beautiful hardbound edition, is included in the box. Reframe and Sneezing Jesus are in the box. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2022, which is an exclusive to the box each year, is included. Your choice of Wind Farm coffee or tea, the Global Campfire candle is included in the box this year, as well as a Global Campfire pop socket and a couple Global Campfire stickers. And so, check that out. You can see it all in the Shop. Whether on the web or in the Daily Audio Bible app, there is a Christmas Section in the Shop right now and the Christmas box can be found there so, check that out.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, as we move through the final month of the year, thank you, humbly thank you deeply for your partnership. We wouldn’t be in this if we weren’t in it together. So, thank you. 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 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey family, this is Maleesa from Albertville, Alabama. I have a prayer request, one of my coworkers, her name is Tania. She has a son who is a disabled veteran, and he has all kind of health problems, and his wife left him, and she wanted me to pray that God will send him someone who would love him, like Jesus loves him and like she loves him. Ya’ll please pray for them. I don’t know his name, but I told her I would pray and ask my family to pray. I love ya’ll. Thank you, Brian, you have been off the chain with these teachings, and I got kinda upset with somebody and I’m like. Be holy for I am holy, and it does work. Thank you, Brian, you taught us so much. I love ya’ll very much. Keep praying for me cause I’m still having breathing problems from this COVID and pneumonia. Thank you ya’ll. Bye Bye.

Hello Manita from Lambart. I just heard your prayer right now, today is December 1st. This is Vivienne from South Texas. And I wanted to pray for you. Father God, I hold up my sister, Manita. Father, and I pray that You would give her the courage to forgive those who have hurt her. Father, I pray that she would understand that forgiveness is for her to move forward, Father. And sometimes, that first step of forgiveness is…is really hard. And sometimes, saying I forgive you is…is strictly because God says we should. But every day, if you say that it will get easier because I’ve done it. And I’ve seen God work miracles, when I’ve forgiven those who’ve hurt me. So, I pray for you, my sister. Have a good day.

Morning, Daily Audio Bible family, just calling out here on the morning walk in the woods. On a cool and crisp December morning. Got some bad news, my boss passed away yesterday. He was only 50 years old. So, calling to ask for prayers for the family, for comfort, for direction. There’s a lot of uncertainty at this time regarding, you know, the business and family matters. I know there, there’s a lot of things going on. So, I just ask that you lift them up, in this time that they’re grieving and this time of uncertainty. Thank you. This is Delta Alpha Foxtrot, calling from the Central Texas Front.

Hey family, it’s Radiant Rachel. I am just calling to ask you guys for prayer. I’m looking for direction in my journey, in my calling. And I feel that God is calling me to make some changes and I think it include my work. So, if you guys would pray for me about that, I think there’s gonna be a major shift and a major change. I don’t know what that is. I need confirmation from God and open doors. Just I wanna make sure that you now, I go where He wants me to go. So, also there is inner healing included in this journey. And yeah, so, prayers all around for that. I would appreciate it. And I love you guys and I want to lift you all up today. Lord, I just pray for my brothers and sisters, I bless them. I thank You for them. I speak life and love, and joy, and peace and healing over them, over their bodies, over their souls, over their minds, over their spirits. And I ask You, Holy Spirit, to come, to be prevalent, present, active, and just show Your love to them. Lord, remove the veils from our eyes, from our ears, Lord, so that we can see You, so that we can see you working. In Jesus’s name. Amen. Love you guys.

Hi DAB family, this is Laura in Colorado. I’m the NICU nurse who’s trying to adopt the abandoned baby and we’re still in the process. She’s 10 months now and if you would please continue to pray, we would so greatly appreciate it. There is such a spiritual battle over this baby and I wish I could give you all the details. But if you would just pray for the judge and pray for truth to be revealed and pray for her protection through all of this, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. I’m praying for so many of you. Vincent, who called in, I pray daily for you and so many others. And I pray along with all of you every single day. And I just wanted to say too, to Brian, thank you for the Sleep album that you put out. I kind of was slow to listen to it. I downloaded it or I got it on my Spotify, right away but I don’t really like listening to things as I’m falling asleep and so, I was just never finding the right time. And then, there was a point and time where I was driving to a meeting that was gonna be anxiety ridden, I knew. And I just decided to put that on and so, I kind of was like, should I be listening to Sleep while I’m driving. But honestly, it was just so comforting, so, if you’re not a person who wants to listen to something to fall asleep, just know that there is so many other uses and that, if you just need a space and a calm, that’s what Brian has given us. And so, I’m just grateful and thankful for all and each and every one of you. God bless you. Bye.

Daniel 11:2-35, 1 John 3:7-24, Psalm 122:1-9, Proverbs 29:1

Today is the third day of the December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today, as we continue our journey into the first end of the week of the month of December. And we have been camped out in the book of Daniel for a minute here and we will continue that journey in the Old Testament. And then we’ll move into the New Testament, as is our custom around here, and pick up where we left off in first John. So, let’s dive in Daniel chapter 11 verse 2 through 35 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for today, and we thank You for this day in Your word. And even as we bring a week to a close, we recognize that time definitely goes on, but this year as an ending point and it’s something that we can see. We have been sailing this journey nearly a year now. We departed many, many months ago and set sail and it wasn’t long before we were out in the deep. But now, we have been out in the deep a long time and we can see the horizon and we can see the landing point, and so we’re excited but we want to finish well and receive from You everything that we needed this year. So that we finish strong and begin well, the next adventure, the adventure of next year. And so, come Holy Spirit implant the words Your words, the words that lead to life, deep into the soil of our hearts and may we work with You in weeding and nurturing what You have planted in us, so that the fruit of the Spirit may abound. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is where you find out what is going on around here. The Daily Audio Bible app will do that in the palm of your hand, and you can get that from the App Store that works with your device. So, check that out.

It’s Christmas time around here and so there’s a couple Christmas things going on. First, we’re preparing for our annual family Christmas party, a virtual party that we get to share together. One of the most heartwarming things in the year as we go through the year together, at least for me, I am always brought to tears, I guess it’s happening at the end of the year, just all the voices. I love it with all of my heart, and you can participate and so, yeah call in your holiday greetings in now, by pressing the little Hotline button in the app or dialing 877-942-4253. Obviously, that is the prayer and encouragement line and that is primarily what that is for, but for this week, out of the year, we also take all of the holiday calls. So here are the rules, one: don’t call in a prayer request mixed with a holiday greeting, if you want to call in a holiday greeting do that. And if you have a prayer and encouragement, call that in separate, some of the rare times we can do that. So, keep them separate. Otherwise, there won’t be any place for them to go. So, just make sure you do that. Second rule is that just call in once for the holiday, for the holiday party, so that everyone has a chance to be heard.

And then also, going on right now for Christmas, is our Annual Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas box for 2022. And we have packed it full of resources. Some things that you want to keep maybe, some things that you want to give away as gifts and you can find the Christmas box in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, and you can access that either from the web or from the app. And when you get to the Daily Audio Bible Shop you see there’s a Christmas section and the Christmas box is in that Christmas section. So, we’ve packed it full of like Promised Land, Photographs from the Land of the Bible, a beautiful coffee table addition. The God of Your Story, also a beautiful hardbound addition. Reframe and Sneezing Jesus are included. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2022, an exclusive to the Christmas box each year, that’s included. Your choice of Wind Farm coffee or tea, the Global Campfire candle is and, I love, I love it because it smells like a campfire, is included in the box, as well as Global Campfire pop socket and a couple Global Campfire stickers. So, check that out in the Christmas section of the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in these remaining days of the year, thank you humbly, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together and that is the reality. And so, thank you, 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 P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement or holiday greeting right now, you can hit the Hotline button in the app 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.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hey Daily Audio Bible, this is Trina from Washington. And I am home sick today but I’m thankful for time to rest and to pray and just, excuse me, just thinking about how thankful I am for this community and for each of you, for how encouraging you are. And I feel like the Holy Spirit brought to mind our brothers and sisters here, who are serving time in jail or prison. And I think the Lord wants to just let you know that He loves you, He sees you, He cares about you, and we feel the same. We love you and we care about you, we’re so thankful for your prayers, we’re so thankful for the times when you call in and let us know how you’re doing. And, yeah, I wanted you to know that I’m praying for you all today. And hope you are all well. Okay, talk to you later. Bye.

Hello DAB family, this is TAC from Atlantis, I’m the Pray without Ceasing. Today, is November 29th and Brian, your message after the readings today, has just really spoken to me. You know, I am married, and I’ve been having some thoughts and, and, and I don’t know, judgement towards my parent in-laws, they were not raised how I was raised, in the word, in the teachings. Putting into operation everything I do and I just, it discouraged me so much, it always discouraged me. Just how you said today, it’s like, would if God didn’t have that patience and mercy with me. And it really, really speaks to, to how I’m not patient or I’m not trusting in Him. They’re on a collision course with Jesus, just like you said, that was amazing message. And to the brother that called recently about having impatience and he’s not been practicing in his word often. I, I understand you completely. It’s very, very, especially if you’re from where I think you’re from, if we’re from the same background. It’s difficult for sure but possible, all thanks to Him. It takes practice every single day. We get better, every single day. Don’t be discouraged, continue to fight the good fight. I love you all, DAB family. God Bless.

Hi, Daily Audio Bible family, this is Karen and I’m in North Carolina. And first, I just wanna say thank you to Brian for all the years that you have been building this community. And one of the reasons I’m calling today, it may seem a little weird but it’s about Brian’s voice. And when I read in Psalm 139, how God knit us together in our mother’s womb in wonders and secret, I just really can’t help but think about how God gave Brian, his love, his wife Jill, their beautiful and unique voices. He knew us before we were born, and He knew what Brian and Jill’s would be doing and their voices are huge part of their ministry. So basically, I just wanna say, all of you, that I find it simply amazing that God is so purposeful in our lives. And if any of us are struggling, we need to remember that He knit us together for this place. My second reason for calling is to ask for prayer for my daughter. He names Alissa, she’s a recovering alcoholic and for 6 years she hasn’t contacted our family. But recently, she’s called me to renew our relationship with my prayers. But my prayer request is for her salvation. She’s in AA and even though she talks about a higher power, she wants nothing to do with Jesus. She’s involved in a very sinful lifestyle. And I just want to ask you all to pray that God would show her His truth about Jesus. When I listened to Brian today, talk about how we’re all waiting for Christ to return but God is patiently waiting for others to come to know His love. And one of those He’s waiting for is my daughter, along with all the other prodigals. So, I’m glad you’re praying to come to His saving grace. So, thank you for letting me share. Please keep all the prodigals in your prayers as well as us moms, whose heart is burdened for our children. Thank you, thank you guys for letting me share.

Morning Daily Audio Bible community, this is JV in Kansas. It’s been a while since I’ve called in. I don’t know, it just been a while. I know, earlier this year, I had surgery, I called about that. The surgery ended up going well, hospital visit, not so well. But a lot has happened since then. But I got a new job and just been trying to recover and get things back in order. And I think, part of it is, is I’m calling today to pray for prayer, it’s just, feeling very lost, very angry, very alone. And trying to reach out, trying to pray, trying to stay faithful. And it’s just, it feels like, everything is going wrong. I just feel so alone. And not sure what to do about it. I pray, I pray, I pray, and I pray, and I ask for help, ask for guidance and I’ve been feeling very alone and knocked down in the cold right now. It’s just a lot of things going on that I don’t feel like I’m in control and I, I need the help of the Lord. I’m running out of time so, please pray for me. Thank you.

Daniel 11:36-12:13, 1 John 4:1-21, Psalms 123:1-4, Proverbs 29:2-4

Today is the 4^th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we greet a brand-new week, first time we get to do this in the month of December which means we’re moving into our first full week in the month of December. We’re also in the season of Advent moving our way toward Christmas. And that is probably hard to ignore around the world right now, that we are headed toward Christmas. We talked about Advent last week. This is the second Sunday in the season of Advent. Advent of course, means arrival. And, so, this is a season where we prepare our hearts for the arrival of the Savior, putting ourselves in the position of those were longing and waiting for a Savior to come, while understanding that we find ourselves in the same position. We are longing and waiting for the second Advent for Jesus to return. And, so, this entire season prepares our hearts by allowing us to appreciate the longing that we feel deep inside of us. And, so, this is the second of four, the second Sunday in Advent. Typically, this is the Sunday of peace. And if your church is lighting Advent calendar…candles or you are lighting Advent calendar…I keep wanting to say calendar…candles at your home, then this is like the peace candle, and it represents peace on earth. This declaration, peace on earth, goodwill toward men, the announcement of the Angels at the arrival of the Savior. And, so, that’s where we focus our hearts. Peace on earth on earth as it is in heaven, goodwill to men. The entire human story has changed because of Jesus. And, so, happy second Sunday of Advent. And again, I said it last week, I’ll say it all the way through the season, you may not have grown up observing Advent. I didn’t. Didn’t have any meaning to me other than I had heard of it and thought it was weird because we didn’t do it and everything that we didn’t do was weird. But then I grew up and realized wow some of these traditions of the faith that have been developed over a couple of thousand years are a treasure trove of ways to point our hearts and immerse ourselves in the stories that have changed the world and changed our very lives. Advent is one of them. And, so, whether you observe Advent or not, it’s not in the Bible and it’s up to you if it…if it brings meaning to your life, great. Nevertheless, we’re all over the world and so many of us have observed ads in our entire lives. Many of us have never given it a second thought. No matter who we are, happy second Sunday of Advent. And let’s dive in. We have been working through the book of Daniel, which we will continue to do. We have also been working through first John, which we will continue to do. We will actually conclude the book of Daniel today and then we will conclude the letter, first John, tomorrow. And that’s going to be kind of a trend as we continue our way through the Scriptures and move our way toward the conclusion of the year. We have a lot of territory to cover, a lot of shorter letters and books to cover and so we’re going to be encountering new territory quite a few of the days that we have left but we’ll stay rooted in what we’re doing, and we’ll talk about everything that we’re reading as we go. And what we’re going to do right now is continue forward in the book of Daniel and conclude the book of Daniel today. We’ll read from the New Living Translation this week. Daniel chapter 11 verse 36 through 12 verse 13 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for a brand-new shiny sparkly week to move into. We thank You for this season of Advent that we observe that prepares our hearts. And Holy Spirit, come prepare our hearts, whether it’s an Advent thing or not. Prepare our hearts. Let us not move into Christmas and it just be a fiasco where we don’t ever remember what’s going on and what it represents until everything is cleaned up and thrown away and our bellies are so full that we can’t move. May everything we do be a celebration that You came for us. As we learned in first John today, the overwhelming good news, that this is real love, not that we loved You but You loved us, and sent Jesus to take away our sins. May our hearts be prepared for understanding that reality deeper and deeper as we consider that You came under the cover of night as a helpless baby and changed everything forever. There is so much to think about. And, so, Holy Spirit lead us as we contemplate, as we prepare, as we engage with the longing for Your return. We pray this in Your name, the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey there Daily Audio Bible family this is John Corrado calling from…I’m calling from my car actually but, you know, normally I’m in Westminster MA and it’s great to be talking with you guys. I just wanted to reach out because I know tonight, it happens to be the 29^th of November, I know tonight right now there’s somebody out there in this community…and I know that this could be the morning when you’re hearing this or the afternoon, that there’s somebody out there that’s feeling hopeless, they’re feeling betrayed, they’re feeling lost, they’re feeling alone. And they may be feeling all sorts of other things as well. You're…you’re my family, you’re my brothers and sisters in Christ and I know those are at least a few of the things that you’re experiencing right now. And I just wanted to say something really encouraging for everybody that’s feeling one of those things or experiencing one of those things or more, that your greatest season is about to commence. That you’re just around the corner from spectacular, supernatural, abundant grace and mercy and healing. And all that it’s gonna take from you is a little bit of faith, just a little bit of faith. God is moving in your life right now in a miraculous way. He’s got His hand on you. He’s sent out an army of angels to go before you. He is behind you and beside you, He is all around you. He is in front of you, and He is with you. Family, I want you to know that anything that you’re going through will be God’s victory, it will be your testimony, and you’re going to be…you’re gonna be blown away by all he has in store for you. Just wait. Be still.

Hello DAB family, this is Lorraine from Cheryl, New York, I hope all is well with you. I’d like to speak to Carol from Lincoln NE. She and her granddaughters were sexually abused as children. I am so glad to hear that you are healing. I too was sexually abused by my father as a child. One of the things that helped me was forgiveness. It took me a while but it totally set me free and I am no longer a victim. I tell myself that God is my true Father, and He is perfect in His love period now Brian’s sleep to help has helped me with PTSD. It is so soothing and helps me focus on the Lord instead of myself. Carol, I am praying for your healing and the healing of your granddaughters. May God be with you. I love you. Lorraine from Cheryl, New York.

Father Gower lifting up Carol in Nebraska for the grandchildren that are missing their father because he is in prison because of abuse. And we’re asking that Carol and the grandchildren can find in their hearts through the working of the Holy Spirit forgiveness toward him. We’re asking for a healing for Carol because of her PTSD. And Lord God pour out a healing psychologically over these children so that they don’t have to have any horrible side effects from this abuse later on years to come. Just heal their minds completely from the devil’s work against them that would cause them to hold on to resentment and pain and psychologically that they would be stuck in strongholds Lord. We just ask for your mighty hand to do a miraculous work in this family and bring this son if he hasn’t already come to repentance. Lord bring him to repentance and let him seek Your face. We lift up Joyful Joe because of her struggle with being kind towards her mother with dementia and all the people who are caregivers Father. We ask for You just pour out a special measure of grace for them when they’re being a caregiver in these situations Lord. That they can also find peace. And we’re lifting up one beloved daughter, for a covering for Jasmine who’s struggling with all these family issues dear Lord that Your hand will go forth and bring healing, restoration, forgiveness, and a peace that passes all understanding. And we’re asking…

Good day brother and sister DABbers this is God’s Gal Minnesota and I have a praise report today that I’d like to share. First of all, I look out the window today and there is a blanket, a thick blanket of white snow that covers absolutely everything insight here in Minnesota and it’s just beautiful. And I think of how God covers us with that snow. And I’m grateful for that. So, I praise God for that. And also, I think of how God has brought balance to this DAB community. And here’s an example. I listened to a call in from Valiant Val from Vegas and she was so happy she had listened to the…the project from Brian, the Sleep album and she had gotten good sleep. And she was so happy and funny and joking and calling us out to keep praying and be together in that. And I just laughed and laughed in her jokes, and it was…it was delightful and it taught me to remember or to…to enjoy the good too. So, I thank You Lord for the balance You bring to this community and the good things too, the sunshine, the blanket of snow, the jokes, the poems written, the music saying and songs. And, so, Lord I…I just praise You today and thank You for this community and how You’re working. OK this is God’s Gal Minnesota and I’m signing off with love. Goodbye.