1 Samuel 2:22-4:22, John 5:24-47, Psalm 106:1-12, Proverbs 14:30-31
Today is the eighth day of May, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, it’s great to be here with you today as we gather, yet again, around the Global Campfire, and move forward together. We have transitioned into the Book of First Samuel and so, we’re taking that journey now and learning about Samuel and his life and how he became the final judge of Israel. And then, before were done with…with First Samuel, we will be introduced to Israel’s first king, but that’s a little bit later in Samuel. Right now, we are learning about his life. And so, let’s dive in, we’re reading from the New English Translation this week, First Samuel chapter 2 verse 22 through 4 verse 22.
Commentary:
Today, okay so, in the book of First Samuel today, we now get a pretty good glimpse of how Samuel grew up and how he would become a leader. So, we knew about his mom Hannah and her dedication to the Lord and her prayers for Samuel in her dedication of Samuel to the Lord so that he would be raised at the Tabernacle in Shiloh, under the high priest Eli. So, we watch that all happen. We also learned about Eli, his sons Hophni and Phineas, and the kinds of goings-on that they were involved in, and that it was evil in the Lord site. And so, the first prophetic word that Samuel receives is about judgment on the high priest’s house, which we subsequently saw happen. The children of Israel went into battle with the Philistines, they were losing, they got the ark of the covenant, along with Hophni and Phineas to kind of guard it. The ark was captured by the Philistines, Hophni and Phineas were killed, the Israelite army was routed, and they’ve all fled the Philistines. Word got back to Shiloh, the high priest Eli was waiting, he was a big man. He was an older man and a heavy man and when he got the news about his sons and then that the ark of the covenant had been lost, he fell over and broke his neck and died. And we will see Samuel leading forward.
Then we flip over into the Gospel of John and Jesus says a couple of really important things today. The first one really encapsulates the Gospel from the lips of the Savior, in one sentence. I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. That is the good news, that those of us who hear Jesus words and believe in the God who sent his Son, will not be condemned for sin, like ever. That is good news, that is what we are to be living in our lives as believers and that is what we are to be revealing through our thoughts, words and deeds into this world. So, Jesus is saying this to the elite scholars of the time, the teachers of religious law, the scribes, the Pharisees who have been antagonistic toward Him and he says another thing directly to them that is poignant. And so, I quote Jesus, “you study the Scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life and it is these same Scriptures that testify about me, but you are not willing to come to me, so that you may have life. So, what is Jesus saying here? You can’t hold God in your mind, nor can you figure Him out on your own, in your own understanding, you can pour over the Scriptures and turn them into your own idle thinking that your faith in those Scriptures is what will bring you eternal life. We can do the dance and jump through the hoops and do everything that we think that we know, short of actually coming to Jesus. When it is the Scriptures introduce us to Jesus, but through faith we step into that relationship. A relationship informed by the Scriptures, but a relationship that becomes a dynamic part of our lives. Think of it like this. If you have a spouse and I know everybody doesn’t have a spouse, but we know what a spouse is. And so, imagine that you can have a book delivered to you, that is the book of your spouse and it's…it’s all the details. Maybe it’s even bigger than the Bible. It’s all the childhood details. It’s all the adolescent details, it’s all the college years, it’s all the young adulthood, it’s all that exists and its thorough and it’s full and you study this book. That wouldn’t be the same as being in a relationship with the person that the book is about. And so, once again, we get clues to what God is like, through Jesus, by understanding that it is relationship, it is. And we are made this way, we are made for relationship, and it is a relationship that God seeks because this is what He is like. And please don’t get me wrong here. There is no way that I’m saying that the Scriptures aren’t valuable in our lives, they’ve changed my life utterly and that is why every day we are coming around the Global Campfire to take the next step forward. The Bible teaches us so much about God, but it teaches us so much about ourselves. And one of the things that the Bible is showing us today, from the lips of Jesus, is that relationship with God is not only possible but necessary. And a relationship doesn’t boil down to scholarship about the one with whom you are in love and the Scriptures reveal what God is like and who He is that we might love Him. And so, that gives us some things to think about today in terms of our relationship, that we, we’re trying to study from a distance the subject that we want to become an expert in or are we trying to learn what we need to know that we might step into a first-person, always on, never off, actual relationship.
Prayer:
Father, even as we contemplate that, we must begin by, by just acknowledging that that You would even want to be in a relationship with us is a remarkable thing, that is goodness beyond words. We don’t deserve this, that the God of all, that the Most High, even has an awareness of who we are, is mind blowing. And that this most high God, who knows who we are and knows our names and sees us, would like to guide us through life on an adventure called a relationship in such a way where you get to show us the hidden things in this world, that we get to be on mission and on adventure with you to enjoy your creation and to enjoy our brothers and sisters and to reveal You. This is good news. Help this good news sink into the soil of our hearts, yielding the fruit of the spirit necessary for us to navigate this life revealing You to our brothers and sisters around us. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that’s the website, that’s where you can find out what’s going on around here. So, certainly check that out. Check out the resources that are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. I probably should mention the resource, the book called Reframe: From the God We’ve Made, To God With Us, which is a bit of a deeper dive on what we were just now talking about with relationship and invitation and Jesus. Because frankly, my brothers and sisters, I am a thinker and so by default if I could, I would hold God in my mind. It’s just that my mind cannot contain anywhere near. And so, I began to ask myself, ask the Lord these questions, what does it even mean to be in a relationship with You? What is that even look like? What shape does that even take in our lives? How do we live in it? How do we grow in it? So, I had the opportunity to write some of that stuff down and that can be found in Reframe, and so, check that out.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if being here every day around the Global Campfire, brings life and good news into your life then 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, 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:
Hello, DABers, this is Brandon from Texas and I want to pray for all the incarcerated DABers. And Lord, I just ask that You be with these men and women, and I ask for Your blessing on them, I ask for Your peace on them. And Lord, I ask that You grant them favor with You, favor amongst the guards, the prison officials, the prison employees and the other inmates, Lord. And I ask that Your love and wisdom, flowing through them, would flow through in such a powerful way that it would draw others in, Lord. And I just ask that You’d bring revival through these men and women. And just bring revival that starts behind the walls of those prisons and flows out through the entire country, Lord. And just ask for Your protection on these men and women and that Your hand just be on them, Lord. It’s in the name of Jesus I pray.
Hi, my name is Mary. I’m calling in for a sister who called on May 2nd. And I’m just calling to encourage you and to pray for you, pray with you, dear sister. And you did not leave your name, but you did mention that you’re 65, completely lost and just at your wits end because you just don’t know what to pray for anymore. And the very fact that you called in is, in itself, crying out for help. That is, you, asking for help. So, don’t know about not knowing what to say, sis. Jesus knows what you need. Please pray with me. Father God, it is Jesus name I come before You, along with my brothers and sisters, to ask that Your truth, wisdom and love, meet our sister and her state of uncertainty. Lord, I ask that You send her the reassurance as she needs it. Let Your presence be known to her and let her be guided through this trial that she’s facing. May Your love and Your grace reach her even where she is. And as she seeks Lord, I’m sure she shall find. I just pray that Your love and Your grace will meet her, and we will continue to pray for her and her peace of mind. Dear sister, you are going to be okay. May your tears be dried by the Lord, Jesus Christ. Be encouraged, be encouraged really. You know this is going to pass through. I’m so sorry that you’re going through this but I’m also so sure that the Lord will send you answers. Be encouraged. Love you.
Good morning, family, this is Christine from North Carolina. It is May 2nd, and this is somewhat of a impromptu prayer request in that, I wasn’t expecting to call and ask for prayer about this. But it is definitely something that I’ve been needing to ask for prayer about for quite a while. So, just a little context about me. I’m a mom of 5 and new to the faith. I’ve called in, I believe, once before. So, my voice might be familiar but about a year and a half, I think is when I first accepting Jesus into my life and my heart. And so, I wasn’t raised with any sort of religious context, background, anything. So, everything is just very new and I’m just starting to just become more and more aware and wanting to implement the power of prayer in my daily life. So, here goes. And as a community as well, I know how important it is to lift each other up. So, specifically I’m asking for prayer with my relationship, my marriage, my relationship with my husband. And for prayer around not falling back into old habits that are destructive to our marriage. I’m learning fresh about how to be a godly wife. Having to tear down years of feminism, contextual thinking and my husband is also not walking with Jesus. So, that makes things complicated. Sometimes I get stuck in a self-righteous place and often times my anger can be that. So, thank you for your prayers. Bye.
Good morning, everybody, this is God’s Smile here. This has been going through my heart for the last couple of hours and I feel strongly that I should call it in. I want to pray for those people who listen. Those people who are lonely. Those people who are, for whatever reason, cannot call in, whether they’re fearful of responses or being judged or worried about how they’d be perceived or misunderstood. People who are lonely in life, in the church, in their family, in sickness and in pain. Father God, You see, You hold and I would, oh Lord, pain is an awful enemy of any sort. And I would ask Lord, that Your Holy Spirit, would flow through. This community, to those who are listening who need a friend, who need a gentle arm around their shoulders, who need a hug and a smile. And Father, allow this community to be that to them. Father, we pray for them, and we hold them and we ask, Lord, that Your will be done, and Your kingdom come, into their lives, as it is in heaven. Father, encourage them this day, this week, this year, that they may call in and just share what the Lord has done in response to His love and His grace and mercy. And time is ticking away. Kiss, kiss.
I’m Kurt and I’m calling to pray for the woman that called in, I don’t believe she left her name, but she did say she was 65 years old and didn’t know what to do. Needed help but didn’t know what to do or where to turn. So, I’m just gonna lift you up right now. I thank You, Holy Ghost, that You remind her, You show her, that You are her helper, You are her comforter, just as You said Jesus in John 16, 15, 16, 17 that You would send the helper, that You would send the comforter, or the Message Translation says You would send the friend to come. He comes along side us; He goes before us. So, I thank You, whoever you are, lady, that you receive the Holy Ghost as your helper, as your comforter, as your guide. He comes along beside you; He goes before you. To receive Him, cause He’s the only one that can truly help you. And remember that Jesus loves you more than anything in the creation. You are His favorite. You are His favorite. So, just remember that. Ask Him to show you, ask Him to guide you and He will. Thank you in Jesus name. Amen.
Good morning, DABers. Today’s May 2nd, 2023. This is Alyssa Marie Proverbs 31 Woman. I heard a woman coming on there on May 2nd her prayer request was played, and she is in much distress. She is at the end of herself. She didn’t say her name, she’s 65, she doesn’t have any parents, no children. She’s tired of doing things on her own, she spoke about pride and I immediately, my heart went out to you, sister. I don’t know who you are, but God knows you, God is hearing you, God see’s you and He wants you to look up to Him. Look up to the hills where your help comes from, Psalms 121. Your help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow you to slip and fall. Run to Him, run to the word. Your answers are found in Jesus. I was once where you are at and many years ago. I’m now 62 but God came to my rescue, and He turned my life around. And so, He can do the same thing for you, sister. So, read Psalms 121, Isaiah 54 came to mind because in there, God taught me that He is my maker, for He is my maker, my husband, the Lord Almighty is His name. That’s Isaiah 54:5. And so, I started, I immediately started praying for you, covering you with the blood of Jesus. I’m asking Holy Spirit, to lead you to a good body of believers that will be able to instruct you in the word of the Lord and in the ways of Jesus and I’m asking that God will bring you a godly woman whose heart can instruct you and be by your side during this time. There is hope. A lot of people are praying for you. And so, just surrender, surrender it all because we cannot do it on our own. Surrender it all. Sister, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.