Month: December 2022

Daniel 9:1-11:1, 1 John 2:18-3:6, Psalms 121:1-8, Proverbs 28:27-28

Today is the 2^nd day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today. Today would’ve been my…well…it is my dad’s birthday. He is no longer with us. Today would’ve been his 80^th. He only made it to his 58^th birthday. And, so, he’s shockingly missed on some days, and this being one of them since it’s his birthday and I’m thinking about him. And I can still hear his voice in my head. It’s been a long long time since we’ve had a conversation. I’m very, very different person than the last time I got to talk to him. But it’s funny. And those of you who lost a parent and you love them very very much and you kinda walk with a limp after you lose them and I lost both my parents and that has been really hard to feel like an orphan on some days. It's…it’s definitely…grief is an interesting thing how it sneaks up on you even after you’ve been doing well for a while. But I..I can hear so many of the things that my father taught me and that he showed me and one of the things he showed me was a love for the Scriptures. Even though I wasn’t paying all that much attention it was sinking in. And I do indeed love the Scriptures and I can still hear his voice in my head, giving plenty of advice that I did follow and plenty of advice that I didn’t but ultimately learned how right he was. And, so, yeah, I could sit here and talk about my dad, but we have some scripture to get to. But it is a happy birthday and a commemoration. I do like to arrive at these days, birthdays and stuff and think back and appreciate the moment that we’re in and appreciate that we got here somehow. And how we got here is on the backs of those who came before us. And, so, I don’t think there could be a Daily Audio Bible without my mom and there could be one without my dad. At least I wouldn’t be involved in it. I wouldn’t be here. And, so, I am grateful to have been escorted into this world by such giants of people who even though their lives have ended on earth, and I can’t text or call them the reverberations of their lives echo around in my heart and mind every single day. So, happy birthday dad. And now let’s dive into Scriptures, something that he would very much have loved to do together with us. And, so, we’ll do it in his honor. We’ve been reading from the book of Daniel as we’ve navigated through the Old Testament at this portion of the year. That’s what we’ll do, and we’re also moving through first John in the New Testament, which is what we’ll do when we get there. But first, Daniel chapter 9 verse 1 through 11 verse 1 today.

Commentary:

Okay. Let’s talk about unmet expectations because that seems to really be at the heart of what John is saying today in first John. So, think about a time when you had an expectation, and it went unmet and you were counting on that. You were counting on that relationship, or you are counting on that money, or you were counting on that opportunity, or whatever and you had kind of put your heart in that direction. You are counting on it and it didn’t happen. The expectation went unmet. Nobody likes that kind of scenario. Everybody tries to reduce those sorts of scenarios in our lives. In fact, like we can go crazy when our expectations are unmet even like with a…with a store. We ordered a product, and it was defective and we had waited or it didn’t work right or it was on that expectation. We can fire off really nasty emails or say were really nasty things to customer service people or whatever when…when our expectations aren’t met. We’ll say things like I’m never shopping at this establishment again, ever. I’ll take my patronage somewhere else. And underneath that we’re questioning the integrity of the establishment of the business or whatever. We’re beginning to doubt that they will deliver our can deliver. Think about how we do this spiritually because so much of the doubt that we can experience on the faith journey really does have its roots and orientation in unmet expectations. We became a Jesus follower and that changed our lives and then we began to learn, and we were taught all kinds of things that we should be expecting. And we were taught how to believe in faith for things and when those expectations go unmet. Then we wonder, does this really work and that can lead to doubt and doubt can lead us into deception until we want to chuck the whole thing, throw it by the wayside and continue walking down the path and leave faith behind, or at least our version of it. But some people don’t just chuck it to the side and walk away from it and say that just didn’t work for me. Some people become antagonistic, antagonistic toward other believers, antagonistic toward Jesus. They become anti-Jesus, they become as the Bible puts it, antichrist, and that’s kind of where we pick up in John’s letter today. And I quote. “My children, this is the final hour. You have heard that the antichrist, the greatest enemy to his kingdom is coming, but in fact many antichrists are already here. This development tells us how late it really is. A group has left us, but they were not part of our family. If they were truly our brothers and sisters, they would’ve remained for the duration with us. When they left, they made it ever so obvious that they were not part of us.” As we look at the story that’s going on behind the story, the con…the contextual story, we begin to understand that unmet expectations play heavily. Our earliest brothers and sisters who came to believe in Jesus also believed that the end was near. And by near that’s like not metaphorically near, its imminent, it’s any moment, it’s any day now. The end is coming, the age is changing. Christ is returning. They will be a part of ushering this all in. They are on the ground floor of the establishment of the kingdom of God in this world and that was the expectation, and it went unmet. They got other things instead. They got persecuted, they got marginalized. They were verbally ridiculed. And maybe they were holding on because this is the ground floor or of the kingdom of God. But then it just didn’t happen that way. And many abandoned their faith returning to traditional Judaism or just kind of disappearing into the woodwork, continuing to follow Jesus, but staying out of the fray. And then as they began to realize that instead that instead of this grand kingdom suffering and endurance were what they were going to need to do. Well…then some got mad because we tend to get mad when we have unmet expectations. John says, “when they left they made it ever so obvious that they were not a part of us.” And in the thick of it while there is marginalization and persecution happening, while there is a verbal abuse happening, while people are being pushed into the margins, while awaiting the arrival of Jesus all kinds of teachings are being said about Jesus. All kinds of different versions and nuances about who Jesus was and how Jesus was and what Jesus was doing began to swirl. What is the true nature of Jesus? Was Jesus a human being or was Jesus a divine being, a God or was He both so? And, so, as people are dealing with unmet expectations they’re hearing some of these other teachings and beginning to wonder, is what we were told the truth? Did these apostles tell us the truth? Do we believe the truth or a lie? And John is stepping into the middle of that with this letter. And, so, I quote. “You have been given an anointing a special touch from the Holy One. You know the truth. I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it. You know that no lie belongs to the truth. The liar is the one who says Jesus is not really the Anointed One. This is the antichrist, the one denying both the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not know the Father. The one affirming the Son enjoys an intimate relationship with the Father as well.” And then he goes on to say. “I also am writing to warn you about some who are attempting to deceive you. You have an anointing. You received it from Him, and His anointing remains on you. You do not need any other teacher. But as His anointing instructs you and all the essentials, all the truth uncontaminated by darkness and lies, it teaches you this, remain connected to Him.” So, John is aware of what is going on and he is speaking to what is going on. He is watching this swirl and the confusion that is going on and he’s saying, look, what you were told from the get go is the gospel. You were told the truth from the beginning. Nothing has changed. No matter who comes and tells you totally different stories, nothing is changed. And then that becomes the lesson for us. We’ve all experienced unmet expectations. We don’t like it. We react in all kinds of ways when it happens to us but then when we look spiritually at unmet expectations, we realize that we may have bitterness that just lives inside of us. We may have all kinds of stuff swirling around, all kinds of doubt, all kinds of questions because it’s not the way we thought it was supposed to be. We were going to pay our tithes and get a hundredfold back. It was just gonna be nonstop. Like this is gonna be awesome and now…and instead…instead we’re suffering, we’re enduring, and we’re questioning everything. And believe me, questions aren’t the problem. Asking questions of our faith, that like…that’s part of the faith tradition from the very very beginning - wondering learning, growing, stretching, asking. That’s just fine. But when we do that with the spirit of bitterness, then it’s the bitterness it’s doing the talking basically. It’s the unmet expectations that are usually guiding the way here. What we need to remember, first of all is, that it’s been 2000 years. This was going on a long time ago. But the truth of what John is saying hasn’t changed. The gospel is still the same. The truth is still the same. We talked about this when we were moving to the letters of Peter, the same unlet expectations. People expected the eminent arrival of Jesus, and it didn’t happen, and they were having to endure. And Peter is like, is God delaying or are we being impatient? And that opens up so many things that we talked about then, like the patients of the Lord and our endurance is collaborating with God. He doesn’t want to lose anybody. When we have these unmet expectations in our spiritual journey John is essentially warning us that the story hasn’t changed, the truth hasn’t changed and if we fall into a swirl of deception, we could very easily find ourselves abandoning our faith and becoming anti-Christ. And I doubt that that’s any of our goal.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. We invite You into the idea of unmet expectations. We…we’re in a fallen and broken human world and there are plenty of unmet expectations but when we apply those to You as if You have withheld from us or that You’re not even aware of us we see how quickly, how easily we can go spinning off into all kinds of deception. Holy Spirit, come. We’re asking what we have asked so many times this year, to lead us into all truth. We believe that is Your desire for us and we believe that that is what we need, the truth, that You would lead us into the truth and not lead us to the threshold of the truth and then abandon us, that that You would lead us continually on the pathways of truth on the pathways of righteousness and that we would not become weary with unmet expectations. May we hold onto You. You have certainly held on to us even when we did not deserve it at all. Yu haven’t stopped hoping for us. You haven’t stopped believing in us. May we hold on to You for dear life following the examples of our brothers and sisters who have gone before us. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you find out what is going on around here unless, of course, you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app. And that would put everything in the palm of your hand. It is Christmas time around here. So, there are a couple Christmas things going on.

We are preparing for our annual Daily Audio Bible family Christmas party that we have each year. One of my most heartwarming Christmas traditions since…since the Daily Audio Bible began. And, so, how this works is you get to call in your holiday greetings and holiday wishes to the community that you’ve been step-by-step day by day with all year. And the way that you do that is either hit the Hotline button in the top or dial 877-942-4253. And all of those instructions may sound familiar, because yes, that is the prayer request and encouragement lines that we use each and every day. Right now, they’re doubling also as a way for us to gather all of the holiday greetings that come in each year. And, so, two rules about it. One, do not call in a holiday greeting combined with a prayer request or encouragement in the same call. Call in your holiday greeting and then if you have a prayer request or encouragement call that in separately. Make them separate. It’s one of the only times that we can do that. And then the second rule is just…just call in one holiday greeting. Like, don’t call in 10 of them or five of them or whatever. Just call in one holiday greeting. It is a large large production but it is also a lengthy party that we have. It’s beautiful. I love it. I can’t wait for it. And, so, very much looking forward to it. So, call in.

The other thing is…the other Christmas related thing is that the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2022 is available and it is packed full of resources for the journey that we are on. Some resources you’ll want to keep. Maybe some you’ll want to give away as gifts. But you can check it all out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Shop or using the app by pushing the little icon in the upper left-hand corner and then going into the Shop and you’ll find a Christmas section there and you’ll find the Christmas Box in the Christmas section. And, so, check that out.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you. If by what’s happening around the Global Campfire is life-giving then thank you humbly for your partnership here at the end of the 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174. And if you have a prayer request or encouragement or holiday greeting you can hit 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:

Coming soon…

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:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is where you find out what is going on around here, unless you have the Daily Audio Bible app and that puts all of this, in the palm of your hand.

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.