Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29, Luke 6:12-38, Psalms 67:1-7, Proverbs 11:27
Today is the 24th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we gather and take the next step forward on our journey through the Scriptures. Yesterday we navigated ourselves into some new territory, the book of Deuteronomy. And we talked about it. Talked about what we’re moving through here, the final discourses of Moses before Moses becomes a part of the history of the children of Israel, and as the children of Israel prepare to move forward under new leadership without Moses. And, so, Moses has gathered the people to make sure that nothing that needs to be said remains unsaid. And that has become the contents of the book of Deuteronomy. And, so, let’s pick up with Moses speaking to the children of Israel. Today we’ll read Deuteronomy chapters 2 and 3.
Commentary:
Okay. So, in the gospel of Luke today we encounter the Sermon on the Mount again, the…the foundational teaching of Jesus ministry at least as found in the Gospels. This sermon in a more lengthy version can be found in the gospel of Matthew. And, so, we have already read through the gospel of Matthew. And, so, we’ve read that. Certainly go back and read it again, but since we have read some of the other Gospels and we’ve kind of been walking alongside of Jesus and His ministry since the beginning of the year, we can see that what He’s teaching isn’t just something that He’s saying. It’s not something that He’s just teaching. It’s something that is modeling. He’s actually living the way that He’s teaching, it’s how Jesus lived and these teachings in the early days eventually came to be called “The Way” because Jesus is describing a way of being in the world. And the way that He’s describing being in the world was disruptive because the posture of heart required to…to live this message was almost backward to the way that the world is and that is still true today. Like just…just think about your life. Think about the world that we live in. Don’t think about faith or religion or anything. Just about how the world is today, and pretend you’re out for a walk, you’re walking the dog, you’re walking through a park, there’s a group of people over at the side of the park, like maybe 50 people are over there and so you kind of walk over just to see what’s going on. It seems like there’s a conversation or something is happening over there. And, so, you go over to see what’s going on. And when you get…when you get there you find there’s like this small crowd around a person and he’s talking and as you walk up you hear him say, I say to you who are listening, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Like, if we didn’t know all that this was a passage of Scripture and we hadn’t heard this kind of talk before we would probably say yeah, good luck with that. That’s not how the world works, which is pretty much Jesus’ point. The way the world is going is not the way the world works. There is a better way. And one of the things that He’s fundamentally telling us in the Beatitudes is that if you are suffering now that will come to an end and you will be made right again. And the warning is to those who are working the system right now to their own advantage, because that also will come to an end. The way forward, the way to put the world back together, the way to put our lives back together is to love the unlovable. And that’s not just the unlovable like the outcasts of society, to love the ones that we have a hard time loving, to love our enemies. Jesus is saying is love is the absolute most powerful thing in the human experience. When we are acting in love, we are in lockstep with what God is doing. And it’s not like we don’t have an example. We have the example of the Savior, who is doing the teaching here. And, so, Jesus is telling us the world is upside down and backwards. We know that, but to put it right means that we might have to lay down our rights and love. As believers in Jesus we know His compassion upon the world and His mercy in our own lives. We have to align ourselves with that same thing, that God loves our enemies and love is the only thing that can change them from enemies to family. And, so, let’s give it some thought today, maybe revisit the Sermon on the Mount. That was Luke 6 that we are reading today. If you want to go back to Matthew, that’s Matthew 5 through 7 and just spend time with the central message of Jesus.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite You in, into all of this. We like to think that we’re following You well and we know that we have all kinds of missteps every day, but then we read things that are so blatant and so stark in front of us and we realize that we struggle with these things the way the rest of the world struggles because the world is moving in a certain direction and You are showing the way that we were made to be. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit to continue this transformation in us, that we might walk in Your ways and live in Your light. We pray this in Your name. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you not be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning DAB family this is Cheryl and southeastern Washington Princess Warrior of God. Just listened to DAB this morning and heard a prayer request from Blessed Assurance about inflation. Blessed Assurance we are all in this together unfortunately, but God is with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has His ways of helping us and He will continue to help us. We will get through this. We will get through this. And, so, just keep trusting Him. Keep trusting Him. He will not leave you. He will…God has a way of…of blessing us in ways that we don’t even know in our finances and…and getting through what goes on in this world. But just stand firm, cling to psalms 91 which is the protection chapter is what I call it and Ephesians 6 verses 10 through 20. And we just keep going and God is faithful because God is in control and just remember that. We’re praying for one another. Thank you Lord for this community. So, God bless you all and remember God is in control. Bye.
Good morning my beautiful DAB family today is the first day of spring. It’s March 21st. Is it really officially the first day of spring? I know that when I was in school, I learned but…well…actually yesterday was the first day of spring. I just looked at my calendar. Anyway, I just I am calling in to ask for prayer again. I was just reminded by a young woman who said Sparky reminds us to call in and ask for prayer and sometimes we don’t. And I am asking for prayer for my sister, my sister mother as I effectually call her. She’s 12 years older than I. I am 67. She is 79 actually and she’s hurting. In 1999 she had lung cancer in her right lung. She had the lobe removed where the tumor was never had radiation or chemo. She’s been fine all these years. She’s suffering now and has been for many many weeks. I want to say two months or more with this unexplained pain from under her right breast to all the way around her back. Chest x-rays show nothing, but I don’t always trust that stuff. So, I’m just asking for prayer for my sister Joanne. Would you please all pray with me? Lord God if it’s Your will can You please just heal my sister. You know she’s in a neurotic person. In general, it kind of runs in our family and I have learned to trust You and she is a godly woman. She loves You, Lord. I had…she had me baptize her in the pool when I became a born again Christian even though she’s a devout Catholic. But You know her will and her heart Lord and if it’s Your will to heal her could You please do that, and we all pray for her in Jesus’ holy and precious name. Thank you, my DAB family I love you guys.
[singing starts] I, I am in love, a wondrous love and it’s divine. I, I am in love a perfect love and it’s all mine. My fiancé he is the Prince of Peace an heir to the royal throne. His Father is the King of Kings who one day called me to His own. I, I am in love, a wondrous love and it’s divine. I, I am in love a perfect love and it’s all mine [singing stops]. Have a wonderful day everybody. God bless.
Good morning this is Jessica from the Jersey Shore. I just heard Jerry from Wyoming call in and she was called upon to stop drinking but she had some beers and went out and got into an accident and is now facing possibly a 90-day suspension of her license and all that goes along with that. And I want to let you know that I am praying for you, that you will not suffer effects of…negative effects for your job. I apologize. I’m just a little emotional about this. I have been sober, for over 12 years and have had a similar scrape as you’re experiencing right now and I pray that God will deliver you from this and that this is your wakeup call, that He is serious and that you do really need to stop drinking. And I love you and I understand, and I am continuing to pray for you. Thank you all.