2 Kings 15:1-16:20, Acts 19:13-41, Psalms 147:1-20, Proverbs 18:4-5
Today is the 29th day of June, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and I am happy…happy to be here with you today, happy to be in this place that we make every day, the Global Campfire that we gather around and take the next step forward today. I am grateful. It is wonderful to be here with you and excited to take the next step forward. And that next step forward leads us back to where we left off and that happens to be the book of second Kings right now. Today we will read second Kings, chapters 15 and 16. And we are reading from the New English Translation this week.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we have a fascinating story that we encountered in the book of Acts today that invites us to explore the power of the name of Jesus. And this story surrounds seven sons of a Hebrew priest named Sceva. So, we can…we can fairly reliably assume that these seven sons of the priest Sceva knew their Hebrew tradition. They were the son of a priest. They very very likely knew the Hebrew Scriptures. And they weren’t doing anything bad. They were going from town to town, attempting to practice exorcisms. So, the forcible removal of the daemonic presence from a person’s life, setting them free. This is a good thing. But then they started attempting to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. And there’s a bit of an irony in that that allows us to get a glimpse of how disruptive the times were around the message of The Way, the way of Jesus. Because we have traveled long dusty miles with the apostle Paul over the place and we’ve watched that most of the places that he went he faced very aggressive opposition to the message of Jesus and that opposition was always instigated by the Jewish religious people. So, it’s ironic that we get a picture of Jewish religious people attempting to co-opt and use the name of Jesus in an exorcism. So, we have this picture. The seven sons are attempting to cast out a demon in the name of Jesus when they had an unexpected turn of events. The demon began to speak back to them saying I…I know Jesus and I am familiar with this Paul, but I am not familiar with you. Who are you? And then the demon possessed person leapt upon the seven sons and they got a straight up beat down. So, here’s the thing. The name of Jesus has been used in all kinds of contacts for all kinds of reasons, even to invoke curses, but the name of Jesus doesn’t carry within the syllables some sort of magic. There is power in the name of Jesus, but not without Jesus. And once the news of this encounter with these seven sons of Sceva started to spread around the villages and into the towns reverence for the name of Jesus fell upon the people. Many of whom knew plenty about sorcery and magic and spells and incantations, but it became clear that the name of Jesus wasn’t in some form or fashion casting a spell to get something done. It was way beyond magic. And according to the book of Acts many came and confessed their different sinful practices and sorceries and surrendered their lives to Jesus, like burning their books of magic and instructions for the dark arts. And Bible makes sure to tell us the value of what was burned up - 50,000 pieces of silver. It’s actually 50,000 drachmas. And, so, just to like to have an idea. Like the drachma would be the price at this time of a sheep. So, like the value of a flock of 50,000 sheep. Or a drachma is like a day’s wage. So, 50,000 workdays. So, the Bible is…is…is going to great lengths to show us that reverence for the name of Jesus fell upon the people in such a way that they were willing to walk away from what they had considered extraordinarily valuable. So, once again, there is power in the name of our Savior in the name of Jesus our Lord. Yes indeed. But the authority of Jesus comes into our lives in our true and utter surrender to His power and authority.
Prayer:
Jesus, we love you and indeed, there…your name is the name above every other name. And, so, we indeed believe that nothing is impossible in your name. But what is done in your name represents you. And, so, we cannot use your name to do things that you would not be involved. In the book of Acts today reverence fell upon the people. May reverence for your name fall upon us today we ask in your name, the name of Jesus. Amen.
Announcements:
dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that is indeed where you can find out what’s going on around here.
And we got something coming up that is going on around here and I’ve been talking about it for the last couple of days. A week from tomorrow…tomorrow is the last day of June, guys. That’s crazy. That’s six months down. So, tomorrow’s the last day of June. A week from tomorrow will be the seventh day of July and that is our special day here in the Global Campfire community. It is a day that we call the long walk. And I’ve kinda talking about it. I mean, basically you carve out the day, we all do, I am, we all do and go somewhere beautiful. This is not a day that’s a throwaway. This is not a day that’s just a day off to get caught up on some things. This isn’t anything like that. It’s like a different kind of day than any other day of the year for most of us. It’s a day to say this one, this day is for Jesus. This day is for my heart to spend with the one who loves me enough to lay down His life. I’m not going to find love like that anywhere else. I’m not gonna find that kind of commitment and loyalty in my technology or in my work, or in my job. I’m gonna go and I’m gonna say everything that’s in my heart and I’m gonna listen. I’m gonna listen because maybe Jesus has been waiting all year for this one chance to have you without distractions. Give it to Him. Give it to yourself. Go somewhere beautiful. Go for a long walk. Let time stands still. Remember what it was like when you fell in love and you would go for long walks with your spouse or your significant. You go to these long walks all times of day or night. It can be 150° outside. It can be below zero. Like, we’ll do anything to be with the one we love. Time stands still. We’ll go out in the rain and make fools of ourselves as if this is fun because it is when you’re playing with the one that you love. Go do that with God. See what happens. And while you are wherever you go, whether that be a couple of hours of driving to somewhere beautiful or whether that be a short walk or short little drive to a park, wherever you go, go somewhere beautiful. Go somewhere that you find beautiful. And as you’re spending your day maybe you take a picture, or you shoot a little video or something. You can come back at the end of your day, which we will all do…like we’ll come back to facebook.com/dailyaudiobible, they’ll be a post in there for the long walk and we post our pictures and videos and stories inside that post and all the sudden we got like…I’ve been seeing it…because it’s how I’ve seen it…I’ve seen it this way for years, I have sat and scrolled…like I don’t do a whole lot of social media scrolling, but this is one special day and I scroll through all of them and it feels like the windows are opening up. Like, I get to see the day as it happened all over the world through the eyes of my brothers and sisters that I love. It’s remarkable. So, make plans for that seventh day of July, a week from tomorrow.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, humble humble humble thanks. Humble thanks. We couldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. 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, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or there are a number of numbers you can call. In the Americas 877-942-4253. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078. And in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.
That’s it for today. I’m Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hey DAB fam this is Jackson from California and I just wanna say I want to pray for the kid…I wanna pray for the kid today on June 22nd 2023 who prayed…or…who prayed…who asked for our prayers for help with their child __ to help his kids. And I just want all of you to pray for him __ leukemia and I __ leukemia. I just want to say thank you for praying for me and I want…and I want God to help that kid to…to make the parent to get strong, stop that parent’s divorce. Alright.
Hi today is the 23rd of June and I just heard the prayer, the woman that called in about her aunt finding her son dead in his car of an overdose with three young children. And my heart goes out to you because we just lost my oldest grandchild, my granddaughter who is 14. We just lost her mother to the same thing. This opioid addiction is…it…it is unreal and I send up prayers right now to all these young people, this generation of people that is addicted to these opioids, that they find strength in Jesus Christ, a new found strength in something other than the next high. They’re leaving behind generations of children without parents, and it is sad. But I cry out to You Lord Jesus Christ that change is coming. Change is coming in the name of Jesus, that they will stand firm in the faith, that they will turn their hearts to You Lord God. And we thank You God and we give You the glory, the praise, and the honor for it in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
Hello DAB family this is Adopted and Loved I’ve called a few times in before. I’m still going through this divorce. Our court date was cancelled, and I am just broken today. Just recognizing the level of rejection and just struggling in everything right now. And I just…I just want some prayer for…prayer for everything that’s going on. Prayer for my wife, prayer for my kids, prayer for my heart, and that God would give me something to look at in the future just being able to have a promise I can stand on. I’m really looking. Thank you.
Hey DAB family this is Braun Phase this my first time ever calling in. I’ve been listening to DAB for about two years now. So, just kind of amazed me that this is my first-time calling in. But I just…I’m on a journey right now to pursue my wife. I currently have a girlfriend in mind who I’ve been with for eight years and right now I’m going through financial struggles and I’m going through…through transformation right now with the Lord. He’s transformed me into a man that He knows I need to be for myself for my woman and just for the people around me. And, so, I’m really just going through a struggling stage right now and I'm…but I’m hearing God give me a huge calling on my heart to go pursue my wife, to go get my wife. So, that’s what I’m doing and it’s hard right now because, you know, my woman deserves everything. She’s been through a lot with me. So, I just want to give her what she…what she deserves, and I just don’t know how to go pursue my wife with little income right now. And I’m trying to get a new job and it’s hard. Things are hard right now. Patience is probably the hardest thing right now but I’m currently fasting. I’m praying, and I just find myself complaining a lot and that’s what He’s showing me in this time of fasting. So, if you guys could just give me a prayer for that that would be spectacular. I really love my god and my woman. So, if you guys could just help me with that that would be great. I really want freedom right now and I’ve earned the forgiveness. Now it’s just time to grasp the freedom. And that’s what I want from God right now most definitely. Love you DAB. Have a good one.
This is…hey my name’s Big Dog and I’m out here and Azula Texas __ Texas. I called in earlier and asked for some help, you know, some prayer for my family and so forth. I got a job. I got a pretty good job. My wife has just recently started reaching out to me. We’ve been separated for about two maybe three years. I last count. I still love her. I __ been married once. But if it’s not meant to be I understand but I’m trying…I’m trying for dear life to make it work. I didn’t invest 26 years for nothing, right? I understand sometimes, you know, it doesn’t work out, but I would like for that to continue. I would like to change that and make it better. I would also like to know if maybe I could get some help for praying for my prayers. My dad’s 78. Cancer. My mom’s 74. Same thing. My dad’s a veteran, agent orange, all that good stuff, right? But I mean it’s inevitable. They’re old. But I’m just asking for just a little bit of support just a little bit. Please. If you guys could do that for me, I would really appreciate that. perogrande9@gmail.com. Love you all. Still listening, still praying. Thank you. Thank you, Brian.