Genesis 37:1-38:30, Matthew 12:22-45, Psalm 16:1-11, Proverbs 3:27-32
Today is the 18th day of January, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is fantastic to be here with you today. Got a nice steamy cup of Wind Farm coffee to my left, as is the normal way of things. Looking out over the day, coming in and centering ourselves here at the Global Campfire, allowing the cares of this life to just take a break. Just kind of leave them outside the circle. We can go grab all the cares of this life all we want; we can drag around worries that aren’t even ours if we want. But we need a break from it, and this is that break. So, we come in here and it’s safe and we allow the Scriptures to speak to us and then we can go deal with those cares of life. We can pick them back up and drag them around or we can approach them with maybe some new clarity that the Scriptures bring into our story. And so, it is wonderful to be here with you today as we take the next step forward, which leads us back into the book of Genesis. We’ve been moving through Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel and then we learned of his children, who will one day be the tribes of Israel. Yesterday, we also learned about Esau’s family tree and his family line because he becomes the Edomites. We have not seen the last of the Edomites. And although the brothers have kind of reconciled, there is enmity between the Edomites and the Israelites, although they are brothers. And we’ll see this pickup along the way, as we continue the story. But now, we are about to meet one of Israel’s or Jacob’s sons and immerse ourselves fully in his story for a while, his name is Joseph. So, we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week, Genesis chapter 37 and 38.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the gospel of Matthew today, Jesus talks about something that is, that…that won’t be forgiven. And so, we should probably like go wait, what and pay attention to what is being said here and what is going on here. Specifically, like we’ll just start at the statement that Jesus makes. “Therefore, I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy. But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come.” That is intense. And you know, I grew up as a church kid, I grew up as a pastor’s kid. I’ve been around this my entire life. And so, this particular passage really haunted me as a child, really badly. Like really badly. Enough to have me at the altar every time the altar was available, worrying about this unpardonable, this unforgivable thing that is somehow blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. As a kid, I didn’t know what that meant but I was terrified that I had done it. And I was much too afraid to talk to anybody, like my parents about it, in case well, in case I had done it. Ironically, it’s a bit different in context. It’s a bit different what Jesus is saying. And it’s more near then we then we understand. I can remember, like maybe a decade ago, maybe a decade ago, I came across this website where people who had been hurt or people who were just atheist or whatever, like they were literally like taping or recording their confessions and posting them like this was them getting on camera saying I deny the Holy Spirit. And that was going to be the unpardonable sin, so like you can’t go back from that, you’re damned after that. If there is a God, you’re damned and so that clears it all up. I deny the Holy Spirit. I am doomed, if there is an afterlife but I don’t believe there is one. And that’s kind of what was going on there. I thought man this is dark, but man, this is sad. What would…would bring somebody to that place that they would do this. And the irony is that some of them were doing it because someone else had blasphemed the Holy Spirit and destroyed what that could be for another person, who in turn denied it all together, which is generally what Jesus is talking about here. So, we started our story today, Jesus is healing, and the Pharisees are upset about him healing on the Sabbath day and even plotting to destroy him. But Jesus continues to do what Jesus is doing, to reveal God’s kingdom and to bring the benefits of God’s kingdom into the lives of people. And so, people were finding wholeness again. They were being healed and as the Bible tells us that the crowds were astounded and said could this be the son of David. In response, the Pharisees say it’s not, he’s not the son of David. He throws out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by the power of the evil one, by the ruler of demons, he casts out demons. So let us pause there for second. Was Jesus bringing healing and wholeness and restoration to the people, by the power of the ruler of demons? Like were the Pharisees telling the truth? That’s kind of a softball question, we can all say no, they weren’t telling the truth. No, He wasn’t throwing out demons by the power of the ruler of the demons, He’s God, He was throwing them out. He was doing what He’s doing under the power of God, or we might say by the Spirit of God, or we might say, the power of the Holy Spirit. So, it’s either the prince of demons or the power of the Holy Spirit, which is Jesus operating under? We would say, of course, the power of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees were attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the ruler of the demons, that is blasphemy. Elevating anything to the position of or above God is blasphemy. That is what Jesus is saying and going after here. Like, hey Pharisees, you are calling what God is doing of the devil. Like God is doing this and you are attributing it to the forces of evil, you are elevating the forces of evil to the position of God. You don’t want to do that. It doesn’t even make sense, which is why Jesus goes on to say every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan’s driving out Satan, he’s divided against himself, how will that stand. This doesn’t even make any sense. If I throw out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons drive them out? Where this gets really close to home, especially in the Christian subculture is that we can be quite flippant with what we label things as. We can be very flippant and very easily say something is of the devil, and it may be, that may be true but we can be loose enough that to start labeling things of the evil one that we just don’t understand. And that’s not okay. To call something of the evil one, that we just don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s evil or from the evil one. We have this example, right in front of us, clear as day, the Pharisees were certainly envious of Jesus, but they were also calling Jesus of the devil, which means that they were calling God of the devil, which also means that they were calling what God was doing of the devil. And according to Jesus that won’t work, that’s not a good plan. And so, before we start labeling things because we don’t understand them and we can’t imagine that God would work in such and such a way, that we then make it of the devil, then were doing the same thing. God has no problem doing things we don’t understand. God doesn’t really care, He’s going to do what is right and good and He’s going to restore things, even if it breaks the rules, even if it’s on the Sabbath, even if it’s not part of the tradition. Even if nobody’s ever done it that way before. And so, like yesterday, we were talking from the book of Proverbs about how wisdom and discernment are the things we need most as we’re looking at the world. We needed in these times. We can’t just go around labeling things that God might be doing just because we don’t understand them, because we could inadvertently find ourselves calling what God is doing of the devil. I just don’t think any of us want to even be anywhere near that territory. We just have to observe ourselves and realize how close to that territory we get.
Prayer:
And so, Jesus, we are taking what You are saying to heart and examining it in our lives and inviting Your Holy Spirit to come and show us the ways that we’re dancing around things that are dangerous and are not healthy and are not good. We do not want to stand in Your way. We don’t want to stand in Your way, whether we understand what’s going on or not. We want to follow You. So, Holy Spirit, come. Help us see the ways that we label things and dismissed things and deny things, that You may be doing in this world. Help us to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Help us to have wisdom and discernment. We pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I will be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hi, this is Victorious Soldier, just calling to pray for some of the DABers. I want to pray for To Be a Blessing from California, glad to know that you got a miracle of finding a place to live. I’m praying for all of you all in California and the disasters that that are going there. I want to pray for Tony. I want to pray for Victoria who going through with her husband, and I want to also pray for Kathy. I want to pray for Kathy from New York, her friend Natalie over the brain. I want to pray for them in the surgery, even the guiding of the doctor’s hand. I want to pray for Eva who is going through some challenges with the…with the, in the mental hospital. I want to pray for my precious sister. And I want to pray for Debbie. I want to pray for Debbie and also Victoria. Lord in the name of Jesus, the names I called You know everything about them. Father, You’re a miracle working God. You’re a mighty God; You’re a Holy God. We ask You to have Your way. We ask You to open doors that no man can close. We ask You to bless that precious baby, to be the baby that…that you called him to be. We ask You to touch that ___. We ask You to guide that doctor’s hand, let it be a tremendous miracle. And everything be done, and everything being done under one roof, at one time. You guide the doctor’s hand, the doctor’s mind and all of the minds of those that are going through. Father, will You just have Your way in the DABers life. We just ask You to give them life and favor. We ask You to give them mercy. We ask You to have mercy and we ask You to have Your way. We thank You for this podcast. And we just thank you for blessing Your people. We give You the glory and the honor and the praise. In Jesus mighty name, we pray. Amen.
Hey Daily Audio Bible, this is a message to all those teens out there that are struggling voice faith, in the storms of this world, who is a hard place, the struggle of faith. But Bible tells us to be bold. Romans 1:16 I believe, be bold in our faith. I myself am a teenager, I’m 15. And I want to speak encouragement to all of us out there. If we are struggling with our beliefs, it doesn’t matter. We are serving the creator who created all and no one can tell us to do otherwise. Just praise him and spread the Bible. So, if you have a friend that may need help, they’re not that close with God. They’re one heartbeat away, one car crash away from not being with Jesus eternal. So, be bold and spread the faith. Pray for that. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hello fellow DABers this is Wind and Wire from Vancouver Washington and my number one prayer, and I ask for your prayers for my children, who just need to come to know Jesus in their own, each in their own way. And just pray for that and I ask you to pray for that. I’m also asking for prayers for my wife that…that her shoulder will be healed completely. And these are the prayers that I have today. Thank you so much. In Jesus name. Amen.
Hi this is Lorrie from South Carolina. I just wanted to call in a praise report because something happened that is a miracle to me. But tonight, I was driving home from work and my gas tank showed that it was empty, and I didn’t have any gas. So, I got out, I pulled over to a gas station and I prayed, all the way inside. Father, please let me find money in my bill fold that I don’t know about. But instead, the clerk, Tracy. I said, Tracy, let me try my debit card for three dollars. And I tried it and it wouldn’t work. And she said, I’m gonna give you 10 dollars on tank number 10. And I said, no, I can’t take your money and she said yes ma’am you can. And after I fought with her, I gave her my company’s name because she needs to be working at my company as a caregiver too. Because obviously she has the compassion of Jesus. And she paid for my gas home tonight. So, I’m gonna be praising Jesus all the way home tonight. I was saying, Jesus, how was I gonna make it. And He made a way for me. He made a way where there was no way. And that’s what He does in my life every single day. And if there’s people out there who don’t believe all they had to do is call me. I am one living miracle after another. And I pray for all of you, and I love you all. And I pray that you get the same miracles today that I received. I love you Jesus. And I love you Hardin Family. Amen.
Hi DAB family, this is Linza calling from the West Coast. I also go by Philippians 4:6 on the Prayer Wall. Thank you all so much for all your prayers about my cancer. It does turn out that I have stage 4 terminal cancer, stomach cancer. And my health has just deteriorated pretty fast. I could really use your prayers that the hospital that I’m at keeps me admitted until my amazing care takers fly in on Thursday. If you could just pray about that, it’s been kind of a battle to make that happen. And I’m really scared to go home because I’m not able to do basic things like get in and out of bed, dress myself, make food. So, I’m just really praying that God protects me in the week that I have before my caretakers get here. I’m really blessed that my best friend from college is a doctor and she…she and her dad and her mom are gonna have me stay with her parents and they’re a retired nurse and surgeon. And so, they’re medical professionals. And they’re so amazing and kind that they’re opening up their home for me. So, I just have to wait until Thursday when I’ll get there and have somewhere safe where I can be cared for outside of the hospital. So, I’m just blessed and praising God for providing for me in that way. And also, I just really need your prayers urgently. I’ve just been in so much pain and just the procedure gets scarier and more painful. And that I still see God’s light in all of it. So, thank you so much for your prayers. I really appreciate it.
Hello Daily Audio Bible. This is Vicky from the Desert. Please pray with me tonight for all who have cancer and for their healing. Heavenly Father, I come to your throne of grace. I’m grateful for Jesus dying for my sins. Thank you for Jesus shedding His blood, His blood that washes all our sins away and has great healing power. Heavenly Father, I ask that You apply the blood of Jesus over all who have cancer, that You have your healing power blow through them, from the head to the bottom of their feet. Your healing, healing of any cancer in them. I ask this Lord, for all who have this, whether they know they have cancer or not. Whether they go through chemo or not, I ask Lord God. Asking for a miracle. Please heal them Lord with Your healing power. In Jesus name I pray. Thank you, family, for praying with me. Vicky from the Desert. Thank you.