Category: DAB Transcripts

Judges 15:1-16:31, John 2:1-25, Psalms 103:1-22, Proverbs 14:17-19

Today is the 2^nd day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue to move in and settle into this 5^th month of the year. So, this May 2^nd, 2^nd day of May, but it’s the first day of the week and it’s the first day of the first full week in the month of May. So, let’s dive in. And we’ll read from the New International Version this week. We began the story of the judge Samson yesterday in the book of Judges and so we’ll continue with his story today. Judges, chapters 15 and 16.

Prayer:

Father once again, we thank you for bringing us safely into this new month that we’re getting moved into. And as we begin this brand-new, shiny, sparkly week right at the beginning of this brand-new, shiny, sparkly new month, we feel the reset of it even as we move fully into the changing of the seasons. We feel the shift of it, the new beginning, the new life of it. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Breathe into our souls the breath of life. Open our eyes that we might see your kingdom. Open our ears that we might hear. Lead us on the narrow path. Illuminate that path. Light our way. Your word is a lamp to our feet. It shows us where we’re stepping. It’s a light to our path. So, come illuminate the way forward we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, my name’s Megan and I’m calling from the southern Illinois. Today is April 27^th and on April the 8^th I lost my dad very unexpectedly. He died in his sleep, which I know is a way that we all hope that we could go. He was a believer. He had faith in God. I have no doubt where he is, but I am really struggling with the sudden nature of his passing. He was an only child. I was an only child. We were extremely close. I’m so thankful for the 41 years that I had with him. A lot of kids don’t have that type of relationship with their dad. I call myself a kid because that’s what I feel like. I feel like a 5-year-old girl who’s just lost her dad. It’s left my mother alone, obviously. And with me not having any other siblings besides the grief and the sadness there’s a huge amount of responsibility that comes along with it and we’re all feeling the heaviness of this loss. My dad was someone who could do anything. The community loved him. Our little town, we’ve all felt a big loss with his sudden passing. If you could just keep our family in your prayers. I have two young children at home who, this has been a devastating loss for them. My son goes and sits at my dad’s grave site every evening and talks to him. If you could just keep our family in prayer, I would really appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Good morning DABber family this is the Burning Bush that will not be Devoured for the Glory of our God and our King. I am calling today for all the other burning bushes out there, those who feel like their lives are constantly on fire. And you may or may not understand what’s going on, but I just want to remind you that you are not being devoured, that God is holding onto you and you are…that you’re living for a purpose. There is purpose in your pain. As I say this, I think about our sister Margot and Liberia. Margot, I heard your call today and my heart…my heart just breaks for you. I admire your obedience to the Lord, that you’re out there away from your home, away from your comfort and you’re suffering because of what you know the Lord called you to do. Being a native of Liberia I cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice. My heart longs to be there. And, so, you are living where I would want to live. You’re doing what I know my heart desires to do. And, so, I want you to know that I am praying for you and I’m calling all the prayer warriors to pray for Margot and her husband. The spiritual warfare that exists in Liberia, I cannot even begin to verbalize what happens there but I’m so, so grateful for your sacrifice and I pray that the Lord will protect you, that He will provide for you, that He will consistently guide you, and…and continually show you the next steps and give you favor in Jesus’ name. I love you all. May the Lord bless and keep you in Jesus’ name.

Hello DAB family I hope you’ve all had a blessed weekend. It’s the 27^th of April at 1:29 PM. We just thank God for all your lives. We thank God for this amazing ministry. And I have just finished listening to the DAB and I just wanted to say congratulations to China and Ben and also the Hardin family for this amazing, blessed news. We just thank God for the safe delivery of her baby and just to let you know that I’m praying and thinking of you and the family. God bless you all and may you have a blessed day. This is Sarah from London.

Yahoo congratulations! China, Ben you’re a mom and a dad now, your first born. And Jill Ann Brian congratulations. This is This Girl is Mine. Congratulations from Toowoomba Kinta in Australia. Woo Hoo.

Hi DAB family this is Ashley from California and I am reaching out in prayer because I need prayer for my dad. My dad is just one of the most loving men you will meet. He would give somebody the shirt off his back. And I’m just feeling a little stirred right now because he had a mild stroke and he’s admitted in the hospital right now, but I am feeling scared and just asking God to help my dad and to take care of him and to give him strength. I know in the book of Isaiah when it talks about God giving comfort, He doesn’t send comfort like a pillow or pity or anything like that. He sends comfort in the form of strength. So, if you could lift my dad, my family, and I up and ask God to come and comfort us with His strength and fill us with that I would greatly appreciate it. And DAB family I’m lifting you all up. So, please I appreciate you and congratulations China. Reagan is beautiful and congratulations Brian and Jill on becoming grandparents. And I just appreciate everything that you guys do. Thank you and have a great rest of your day. Bye.

Hey family it’s Jesse from Washington. I know I’ve been calling in a lot lately. And I don’t want to call and ask for this prayer right now, but God has been on me all afternoon to do it. I know some of you know kind of my story since October. I reported my wife for being abusive to my kids and hurting my daughter and she’s had a history of this. I had Child Protective Services release a 530-page document over the last 20 years…I have a 17-year-old stepdaughter and 21…21-year-old stepdaughter that this…similar things have been happening too as well for 20 years. So, counselors, caretakers, family members have all reported her. Nothing happens. I reported her and filed a protection order but she, as retaliation, filed a protection order against me saying that she feared for her life and the kids life from me while simultaneously saying __ that Jesse’s never done anything to hurt her or her children. But the judge granted her or order. So, she’s had the power to keep me from my kids. I have limited visitation. And then when I go to see my kid’s she, when I get there, I’ll get to the door and then she’ll tell me I can’t see them. The kids are screaming and crying. It’s a weekly thing. I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to be negative. She’s an awful, awful, abusive person. She’s on multiple medications for bipolar, for anxiety, for depression. She…I don't…I don’t want to complain. I don’t even want to make this call. I don’t know what to do. I can’t afford an attorney. If I have to start a new career…she fired me from my own business. She sold our house. I had to sell all my belongings to represent myself and I’m living with family now at 38 starting my life over. So, I just need help. I need representation and I need your prayers. Love you.

Good morning DAB family this is T from Texas and I’ve just been listening for many, many years but lately I’ve been listening to the people that are suffering from depression and from fear and I just want to lift all of them up to you Lord Jesus today to say Lord I just pray a hedge of angels around their mind. Lord give them the ability to know that they are children of the kingdom and that You love them. I myself suffer Lord and I know how hard it is and how it hurts. So, Lord God I pray that for all these people I believe his name was Trent, there was another young man that was in the deep, Lord I just pray Your blessings and Your peace over them today. Thank you, DAB family.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family I’m Jesse I’m 13 and I’m calling from Santa Barbara CA. It’s wonderful here. The weather is really nice. We just found out that my cousin who is 23, I believe. I don’t really know his age. He has had to grand mal seizures in a row, and we just need your prayer right now. I mean…I mean he’s going through so much right now. I mean he…he and his girlfriend just broke up and he’s all by himself unemployed and on top of that he’s all of a sudden having seizures. So, everybody would just pray that we lift him up so that he would be healed and that he would just relax. And there’s not much more to say. I thank you for all your prayer and encouragement. And please, in the name of the Lord help him get better. Amen.

Hello, my name is Karan and I have been listening to the Daily Audio Bible for a few years now. This is the first time that I’ve called in. I’m asking for prayer for my son Sebastian. He is 22 years old. He’s currently living on the streets. He has been on the streets on and off since he was a teenager. He is a brain malformation that makes him be much more like a 13-year-old then his actual age. He’s regularly taken advantage of financially and in other ways by people. And on top of that he has type one diabetes. I found him today and saw him and it breaks my heart every time I do because he is in such rough shape and he’s not taking care of himself. He suffers from mental health problems and uses drugs as well. He was raised in the church but has walked away from that. He has struggled his entire life and has had one issue after another placed on him. I always try to put him in God’s hands, but sometimes it’s really hard and I just would like prayer for him. Thank you.

Congratulations on the birth of Reagan the Brave and God bless you all.

Judges 13:1-14:20, John 1:29-51, Psalms 102:1-28, Proverbs 14:15-16.

Today is the 1^st day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today on the first day of the fifth month. We have concluded four full months of our journey and so we end our week by having a brand-new beginning, beginning of a brand-new month. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week and we’re about to meet a brand-new judge in the book of Judges. His name will be Samson. Judges chapters 13 and 14 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us through four full months day by day step-by-step around this Global Campfire. We have journeyed these four months and You have spoken to us, You have challenged us, You’ve rearranged us, and it’s just the beginning, this lifelong process of sanctification. And, so, we take this moment and we try to draw attention all kinds of moments because they allow us to be rooted in what’s actually happening and be grateful for what is going on right now. And, so, as we transition from last month, the fourth month into this month, the fifth month, as we stand here looking out over this brand-new month we are eager with anticipation for all that You will do within us and within this community over the next month. And, so, we open ourselves to You and say come Holy Spirit. We are open to Your leadership. Lead us deeper into Jesus. Lead us into all truth. Lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. Light our path before us we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app you can get to all these things as well. So, yeah, the Daily Audio Bible app makes for the most comprehensive experience of going through the Bible like this in a year because it helps keep track of where we are and the different sections that we’re moving through. And, so, definitely check that out.

Be familiar with the Community section of the website or the app. That’s where the Prayer Wall lives. That’s where we can always go day or night and ask for prayer. Maybe if we’re up tossing and turning and there is anxiousness in the night, and it’s confusing then sometimes when we turn our hearts and prayer towards others that are experiencing these kinds of emotions it just helps change the atmosphere in our own outlook. And, so, there’s always somebody to pray for at the Prayer Wall. And, so, be familiar. Certainly, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. 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 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.

Judges 11:1-12:15, John 1:1-28, Psalms 101:1-8, Proverbs 14:13-14

Today is the 30^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it’s great to be here with you today, it being the 30^th day of April. That makes it the last day of April. So, here we are, the last day of the fourth month of our 12-month journey. We are well underway. Today is the 120^th day of the year. So, we’ve taken 120 steps out of 365 steps. We are well underway way, out in the deep now as we sail across the year and through the Scriptures. So, in the Old Testament we’re in the book of Judges right now. Yesterday in the New Testament, we concluded the gospel of Luke, which will bring us once we get to the New Testament today to the final gospel, the gospel of John. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first Judges chapters 11 and 12

Introduction to the Gospel of John:

Okay, as we talked about at the beginning today, we have now reached the New Testament, which leads us into some brand-new territory, the final gospel, the gospel of John. And as we talked about before the gospel of John is different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are the first three Gospels in the New Testament and they’re known as the synoptic Gospels because even…even though they are written to be read by different audiences they have a lot of the same material, a lot of the same stories. The gospel of John is very different than the first three, the synoptic Gospels. It’s like it has some things that are similar but it’s like 90% different from the other Gospels. And, so, this brings us a completely different perspective for Jesus’ life and ministry. It actually even looks at Jesus differently. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we…we see Jesus being a human being, doing His earthly ministry. And it’s not that we won’t see that in the gospel of John. It’s just that John’s conclusions, his Christology, right, his view of Jesus is…is a very elevated. So, the gospel of John we will perceive Jesus as divine, as God in these stories a little bit more explicitly than we see in the synoptic Gospels. And the thing is, John…this is this is John, the apostle…the apostle John that we’re…that we’re talking about here. And, so, he would’ve been aware. This is the final gospel to be written, the last of the Gospels in time to be written, probably roughly 30 years maybe after the gospel of Mark. So, you now, Mark comes first and then Matthew and Luke and then you and then John and there’s a span of about 30-ish years there roughly and all of these writings all of the gospel narratives were written after the letters of Paul. Paul’s writings are the…the earliest Christian documents that are preserved. But we’ll talk about that when we get to Paul and we’ve got a ways to go. But whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke are written to be compelling descriptions of Jesus and His life and His sacrifice and what His purpose was, they were written to compel a person to believe whereas John is writing aware of the other Gospels already. He knows the parts of the stories that have been told. He knows the whole story because he was there in the ministry with Jesus watching Jesus do His ministry. And, so, John is writing to people who already do believe. He wrote it to build up their faith, to strengthen them that they might come to know Jesus in a deeper, more profound way. And, so, with that we begin the final gospel. John chapter 1 verses 1 through 28.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have entered into the gospel of John and, you know, we’re just taking our first step in and just getting our toes wet. And our toes are wet by the Jordan River. That’s where we find ourselves today, with John baptizing. And, so, that’s the lay of the land there and we’ve kind of talked about where were going as we go into this final gospel.

But in the book of Judges today we are in this story that’s so disconcerting. It’s like so disruptive. Like what is going on here with the story of Jephthah one of the judges of Israel who makes a vow to God that if God does what he wants, and what he wants is to be victorious in battle, but if God gives him what he wants that he’s gonna sacrifice the first thing that comes out his front door to God. And that's…I mean…that’s probably gonna be a person, right? If you think, “the first thing that comes out my front door” I mean…that…that’s likely to not be an animal. Like, it could be but like what kind of vow is that? Can you imagine, “Lord, you know, if you give me a raise this week, I’ll sacrifice the first thing that comes out my front door. So, we’re upside down even as we begin. Jephthah is victorious in battle and when he comes home it’s his daughter that comes out the front door and his heart is broken as we see from the narrative in the Scriptures that now he’s made a vow to God that he can’t break a vow to God. Now he regrets the vow he made. And, so, when the daughter really understands that it's…it’s her…like she’s gonna die, she asks for a couple months. And there’s all kinds of ways to try to make this story different than the story is. Like, he didn’t really sacrifice her. She didn’t really die. She just had to remain like childless. Like, there’s…there’s ways that we try to make things different than they are when they’re not how we…how we want them to be. And this is a story that we wouldn’t like…we’d rather this be a different kind of story. But that’s just not how it reads. And, so, we have to just read it as it reads. She goes away for two months, she comes back. Her father sacrifices her to God and then a tradition is born from that point forward that moves on throughout Israel where some days are spent each year kind of reliving that story and wandering around. We look at that and it’s like I head scratcher, it’s confusing. What’s going on here? Why is this in the Bible? Here’s another one of these encounters with a story that’s just a tragedy. The thing that…that we have to see is that God didn’t ask Jephthah for that kind of vow in any way in any shape. Jephthah made this vow and then once everything came to fruition, he kept his vow. God didn’t ask for the vow. God didn’t send his angel and say, “Jephthah, I will give you victory in battle if you will sacrifice the first thing that comes out of your door” and then Jephthah makes an agreement, and this is all on God. This is all on Jephthah. When it comes to human sacrifice, God’s pretty explicit in the Bible, that He had never asked for any of that from anyone. In fact, God says in the Scriptures that it had never entered His mind. Like He never even thought of that. So, we have to understand the time that we are in. Moses is dead. Joshua is dead. The entire generation that walked with Joshua is dead. We have moved centuries forward. Everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. Israel has fallen away to worship all kinds of other gods, the God’s of the regions around them, precisely what they were warned against. And, so, now they are a convoluted mess. That’s how “something like the first person that walks out my front door will be a sacrifice to God” could even happen. It’s not in the Mosaic law. It’s never a commandment anywhere in the Bible. This is what doing what’s right in your own eyes leads to. The people have become tribal even toward each other. They aren’t a cohesive unit. They are fragmenting the underpinning of what held them together, which is the law, which is not being adhered to and they are committing spiritual adultery by giving themselves, giving their hearts in worship to another God. This is idolatry. It was God who rescued them and came to them and said, “I am your God. I am the only. There is no other.” And yet, here they are chasing after false gods. That’s how things get the way that they are. So, we can look at this story and it can turn our stomach, or it can tip us upside down or it can tip us sideways and we’re like blaming God for all this. We have to understand, God didn’t do this, didn’t ask for this, has no part in this. And from here we just keep watching. We just keep watching what the children of Israel did. We wandered in the wilderness with them. We came out of slavery with them. We’ve been with them all along and we saw how they were knit together to be a people. But they are completely a fragmented tribal society at this point. It’s falling apart and there are judges that come, and they bring people back and then there are judges that do things like Jephthah and then there are judges that are just simply mentioned. We don’t know anything about them or what they did. What we do know is that this tight unit of people that were on the same page, following their God across the Jordan River, we’re not gonna see anything like that again. The slide that we begin to see here in the book of Judges continues all the way until we get to the place where these very same people that have been rescued from slavery kill the one who rescued them and didn’t even see it. That’s how blind. And, so, we’re watching this slide from here in Judges and it will continue forward. It’s a back-and-forth. There will be definitely generations that return to God with all kinds of vigor and God will bless them. But it’s this kind of continual downward slide where two steps forward, one step back toward their own destruction.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We don’t like disruptive stories. But we thank You that we…we can engage, we can learn, we can look into those stories because some of the reasons that we don’t like them is that they’re in the Bible. And, so, it makes us feel weird, like why would You want this in there? It’s so that we can see how bad things can get. It’s a warning to us not to follow the same pathways because they only lead to destruction. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Probably not any one of us have made any kind of vow like Jephthah and we never will but we do have all kinds of expectations and we need to reset those. We need to align our expectations with Yours instead of trying to fit You into our expectations. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. And, so, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected.

Little baby Reagan just got here and we’re about to move into a new month. And, so, she’ll be experiencing her first full month of life in the month of May, which is exciting. I had made it all the way through this day without saying anything, but I can’t help it. It’s a joyous time around here. And, so, thank you for your continued prayers over all the adjustments that are necessary to welcome new life into a…into your family. We appreciate that very much and the outpouring of love over this new life.

So, that is a lot of what’s going on around here right now, but certainly at in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com that’s where the Prayer Wall is and there are always things going on there as well. Always things to pray for and pray over and invite prayer over in your life. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. Thank you profoundly, humbly for your partnership. We just simply wouldn’t exist. We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t in this together. And, so, thank you, thank you deeply for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible 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’ve 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.

Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalms 100:1-5, Proverbs 14:11-12

Today is the 29^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a joy and an honor, a true privilege to be here with you today around the Global Campfire, where we are still gushing about the arrival of our new little baby in our family. Reagan, China, and Ben are doing great and I’m trying to think how many days canI get away with talking about her in a row, but everything is adjusting well as it should, and we are excited. So, let's…let’s…let’s move to what we’ve come here, what we’ve come here every day to do. Let’s move toward the Scriptures. So, we just to center ourselves. Lot’s is going on. There’s plenty of stuff we can find to be anxious about or fear or doubt or worry about. There’s plenty of things in the world that if we need to seek out these emotions, we can find things to be stressed out about. And we can still do that when were done here if that’s what we want but let’s set it all aside and just come into this oasis around this Global Campfire together and take the next step forward because so…so often the next step forward is the next step we need to take and it’s taking that step in the right direction that matters. And, so, let's…let’s invite the Scriptures into our day and into our lives. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. We’re working our way through the book of Judges. Today chapter 9 verse 22 through 10 verse 18. And we are beginning to transition out of the Gideon story by hearing a little bit about his son Abimelech who killed all of his brothers to become the ruler. So, we’ll…we’ll pick up from there. Judges chapter 9 verse 22 through 10 verse 18.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the gospel of Luke today we finished the gospel of Luke today by reading the final chapter. And, so, that concludes the gospel of Luke. Tomorrow we will begin to…to move into the last, the final of the four Gospels, the gospel of John and we’ll talk about that. It’s very different than these first three Gospels that we’ve read – Matthew, Mark, and Luke - which are the synoptic Gospels. They share a lot of the same material and the same stories although told a little bit differently in each of the Gospels. But today we have this…this story of Cleopas and they’re walking out of the city of Jerusalem, 7 miles to another village called Emmaus, when Jesus comes up alongside of them. And it’s such a fascinating story. It’s such a fascinating story, the way Jesus reveals Himself to his friends. It's…it’s like He’s there and they don’t recognize Him or He’s there and they recognize Him, and He disappears. It’s kinda confusing on one level. Like, why wouldn’t He just reveal Himself as He looked? And why is it that they…that He looked different? Like, how is it that they didn’t recognize Him after spending so much time with Him? But it was like, once their eyes were opened then they could see, which had sort of been the…one of the fundamental things Jesus had been saying all along throughout His entire ministry. For me personally as I’ve looked at that, like how did they not recognize Him, just begun to realize that they did need their eyes opened because they were going to need to see Him differently. He was returning to the Father. It was His Spirit that would remain with them. They were going to need to see through the eyes of the Spirit. They were going to need to begin to be able to see Him in each other because they were to become a body, the body of Christ. They were beginning to understand that they were a part of Christ. And we need the same thing. We are a part of that same body. And we look at the story like the road to Emmaus. I love that story. I think I love that story. Well Emmaus…Emmaus is a place, although to be honest there are several candidates, I think two or three candidates for where that place might actually be, but we visit one of those places every time we go to Israel. It’s called Emmaus Acropolis. And, so, there’s a Byzantine monastery, an ancient Byzantine monastery there. And I love to stop there because there’s a little…small little loop trail and you can just walk…it’s like a 15-minute walk if you’re going slow. Just really contemplative, where you just kind of walk and you put yourself in that position of walking down the road and then…then Jesus just kinda comes up alongside of you and begins to open your eyes. And I love when they speak about this. They say, “weren’t our hearts burning inside of us when He was opening up the Scriptures.” It’s like their eyes…the eyes of their hearts were being awakened. They were waking up to a new reality that everything had changed even though everything looked pretty much the same. Things had shifted and that shift changed the world. Like we were talking about yesterday, that…that shift brought us to this moment, but how often have we been walking along the road to life and Jesus comes up alongside of us, maybe not in bodily form, but the spirit leads, and we are unaware of it. We don’t recognize. We’ve gone back to sleep. Our eyes are closed, when we have been awakened into a new reality. And certainly, when get into the writings of Paul we’ll be talking plenty about that new reality that we are to live into, that is to change the world, that is to reveal God’s kingdom, that is to shift everything toward its intended order. But here as we stand in the in between, between the third and fourth of the Gospels that we will read and encounter it’s important for us to stick with what the final story that we got the gospel of Luke looked like and just examine our own hearts for the ways in which we just don’t recognize what God’s doing. It just doesn’t look the same. And yet if we would open our eyes, the eyes of our hearts we would see so clearly.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that, but we first thank You. We first thank You for the example of Your life that shows us what it looks like to be human, what it’s supposed to be like, how it can be for us because of You, how we have permission to be true even in a culture that is so false, even in a world that is so false and so full of darkness. It is still also full of light and we are part of that light. We just…we just don’t always have eyes to see, we just don’t always recognize it. And, so, Holy Spirit come. Open the eyes of our hearts that we might see You and that we might see what You are at work in and that we might see what we are invited to collaborate with You in on this earth we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base and this is where you find out what’s going on around here. This is how you get connected.

In fact, that would be in the Community section, different links to get connected on social media and that’s where the Prayer Wall lives as well.

Also check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There are resources that have been developed there over the years for the journey, the journey through the Bible in a year. And, so, check that out as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, humbly thank you. Thank you for your partnership. We began on this journey…well…15 ½ years almost ago and we’re moving through year 16 now, seven days a week every day and we’ve been in this together all this time or we wouldn’t have been here at all. And, so, thank you profoundly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible 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 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:

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Renzo in Florida and I just really just wanted to give a little message. You know, sometimes it’s very, very hard to come to the presence of the Lord. One, because we want automatic answers and two, usually we just do all the talking. But I just want to say sometimes just let God speak and just sit in His presence. It can be hard but just sit in His presence and just sit and let Him speak to you. Sometimes in the conversation we do a lot of one way talking but sometimes we just need to quiet down and listen. And it’s so hard but it’s true. And just sit in God’s presence and listened to Him. I’m just praying for you guys and I just want to pray for this lady that said she’s about to lose her right eye and I just really want to pray to God heals her. Father God I just please pray for this lady whose name I can’t remember God, but you know her name Lord. Just please just help her right eye to become completely healed. Please, the tumors be gone, and the blood be gone in the name of Jesus, who will be restored God. I believe in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth it will be healed Lord and we just thank you God. Thank you, God. Just please, just heal her in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. I love you guys. I’m praying for you. Jesus loves you.

Hey this is PG from NC I want to say first off hello to the entire DAB family but specifically today I want to say to hello to Lazarus formerly prodigal. Brother I’ve been listening for years and I’ve never heard you sound this clear - clear minded, clear hearted. Clearly there’s joy, clearly there’s a sense of promise and purpose and I am so excited for you. In fact, I want to pray for you. Lord, I thank you today for Lazarus. I thank you for the work you’ve done in his life over the weekend. And God I just pray that You would continue to do that work. Lord first off, I…I pray that not only would he be empowered but Lord I pray that his life would be a testament to the resurrection power that’s available to us, to live life this way - clear, certain, purposeful, powerful, empowered by Your Spirit. Lord I think You that other people will see it and then just as in the book of John, Lord that because of his life other people will see and believe in You. Lord I also pray that just like the arisen Lazarus, God now that he’s stepped up out of the grave Lord, I pray that You would restore his family. God, I pray that You would put the pieces back together and Lord, I thank You that, God, that You’re not just…You’ve not just done a work but You’re continuing to do a work in him. Lord would You do a work in us in the same way. Lord, I pray blessings over him today. Lord, everything he lays his hands to, God I pray that You would be in. And Lord I pray for the rest of our DAB family. God, would You make us like that - empowered, clear, certain. Amen.

Those of us who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation
yet there are still those who choose to walk away from the path of Salvation
choosing darkness over the light
preferring to do wickedness instead of that which is right
and even though God desires that everyone be saved
our Salvation depends on how we’ve actually behaved
Jesus said that to the extent that you’ve done this to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it also unto me
our faith should produce fruits that benefit those around us for all the world to see
and if our motives are pure and our hearts are filled with love
then we’ll be storing up much treasure in the heavens above
because when we say I want Jesus to walk with me we need to realize
the scripture actually says two cannot walk together unless they agree
so we need to do a brutally honest self-evaluation
and if we find that we’re still in the faith after such close soul searching examination
we need to go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us with those areas we found to be lacking
knowing that we have his word and the holy spirit’s backing
and knowing also that he’s the rewarder of all those earnestly seeking
and that he will give our faith as well as our hearts a much needed tweaking
providing our hearts with a humble posture of continually seeking his face
knowing that he will pour out upon us an abundance of mercy and grace
oh Ye of little faith rest assured today that God will fully equip us to overcome any obstacle placed in our way

blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Annette Allison and also to Sally Young. Know that you are both in my daily prayers and very much loved. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful podcast for God’s Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowing y'all.

Oh, praise God from whom all blessings flow. I just heard Lazarus who has risen from the dead. Oh, my goodness what a wonderful story. We’re so rejoicing with you Lazarus. What a mighty God we serve. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi this is Stew from Irvine CA I wanted to deliver a prayer for Alavia from New Mexico who called in in regard to her challenged relationship that she has right now. She feels herself to be unequally yoked and she’s reconnected with Jesus. And this is a relationship of three years. She’s finding this to be a struggle and her…her relationship partner has recently proposed. And, so, she’s struggling and asking for prayer. So, I first wanted to speak just briefly about the concept of being unequally yoked. That’s from second Corinthians 6:14 and it’s making reference to the physical yoke that used to be put on oxen. There was a small oxen. It was considered the weaker oxen. A larger oxen. And you put this yoke on them they would actually go around in circles and they wouldn’t be able to actually complete anything successfully. So, when we’re unequally yoked we cannot perform a task set before us and certainly a task of God’s plans for us. So, I…my prayer is that heavenly father you would give insight and discernment to Alavia and that she would be in a position to understand that this is very special time, that by reconnecting with you God she has now been given discernment and understands that this is going to be problem for her and that she’d make the right choice in relationship to drawing close to you and in how she attends this relationship. I ask for all this in the name of your son Jesus. Amen.

Hello this is Running Bear and that’s my trail name. So, I’m just asking prayer for my kiddos. My wife passed away four years ago and they, of course, have gone through that strategy of watching mom but the other big tragedy in our life is just how people avoid us. And we’ve learned through many different avenues that this is commonplace within our American culture, that we avoid suffering at all cost. And our family’s presence in other families makes them have to reflect and evaluate and recognize that suffering’s coming no matter what to all of us. And, so, while we can recognize that people are avoiding us because there’s stuff in their own life that they don’t want to deal with, it’s still…there’s so much that I feel like my kids could avoid if the Christian community around us, which is a dynamic group of people, could really love them and follow through with their promises, which for the most part over the past four years has just been abandonment. And, so, just really be praying for my kids as they’re teenagers now and they’re really reflecting upon that and taking measure of all of that. And…and there’s a bunch of stuff for them that…that they really are hurting and wanting God to be the answer but struggling to see that.

Judges 8:18-9:21, Luke 23:44-24:12, Psalms 99:1-9, Proverbs 14:9-10

Today is the 28^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian still pretty much floating on cloud nine and enjoying that there’s a new little princess in our family. So, China and Reagan are doing well and recovering. And sweet little Reagan, she is adjusting to a whole new way of being as she spends her second day, her second day with us outside of the womb. So, thank you for your continued prayers over China and ben and baby Reagan. Those of…of us who have experienced the coming, the arrival of children, then we understand that it's…it’s a game changer, right? The page turns so quickly and all the sudden there’s a whole new reality before us and it’s such a glorious beautiful, meaningful, purposeful time. And, so, thank you for your prayers over this little family as they begin to make these adjustments. And ss for all of us, we’ve gathered around this Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. I could just go off on many, many tangents just gushing. My heart is full right now with this arrival, but my heart is also full that we have gathered around this Global Campfire to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. For the last couple of days, we have been reading the story of the judge Gideon from the book of Judges. And we will continue with Gideon’s story today from the book of Judges. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Judges 8 verse 18 through nine verse 21.

Commentary:

Okay. So, it’s pretty striking, jarring even, the magnitude of what we read in the Bible today. It’s like we’re reading this, and we read it and maybe some of these stories we know, or we’ve heard them many times. And, so, we read them but it’s earth-shattering stuff, earthmoving stuff that we read about today. So, in the book of Judges we kinda reached the conclusion of the Gideon story. So, Gideon did lead the people to overcome the Midianites and brought peace to the land and they tried to make him king and he wouldn’t be King. And he was a judge for another 40 years and there was peace and then he dies. And then the level of injustice that follows this is staggering. So, Gideon has 70 sons. So, that’s a lot of kids and probably they don’t even all know each other but one of his sons, his name’s Abimelech and he’s from a concubine that lives in Shechem. So, he would’ve definitely been considered kind of an outsider in the family, not really a true heir in the family. That’s how his other brothers would’ve looked at him. But once Gideon is dead he goes to his relatives in Shechem and is like, “do you want Gideon’s sons ruling over you or do you want me?” Which…which eventually comes to the execution of the 70 other sons. Very tribal, very violent. I mean we can read it through our modern lenses and see the barbarity of it. And it’s no less barbaric in a tribal time, but it is more common to attempt to completely and utterly wipe out your enemies by killing them and killing all of their heirs so that the very memory of them is lost so that somebody somewhere along the line can’t grow up and come kill you. But one of the sons escaped, Jotham, and eventually went up on Mount Gerizim. This is the amount of blessing by the way, the one that Moses spoke about, “go to mount Gerizim and recite the blessings of the covenant on Mount Ebal and recite the curses of the covenant…covenant. There…there like two mountains, to giant hills. I mean they’re mountains in that region, but they’re not the kind of mountains we would consider the high mountains of the earth. But they’re two mountains and they sit between…well…Shechem is in the middle of them until this very day. Shechem, biblical Shechem, is called Nablus now but Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim are still there. So, Jotham confronts and then he runs for his life and as the story kinda draws to a close, we just see that the people after the judge Gideon dies they just go back and just slide away and go back to worshiping the baals, go back to doing what they think is right in their own eyes. This is the time that there in.

If we turn into the gospel of Luke, I mean the level of injustice at the execution of Jesus is like supreme over all because this is humanity putting God to death. I mean I know that’s a jarring thing to think about, but that’s what’s happening. And, so, we see in the Old and the New Testaments supreme, like just how far humanity can go toward the way of injustice. Like, this is the outcome of just how deeply dark people can go. So, in both of those stories we could say like, there’s…these…this is the level of injustice that is hard to even fathom, but in the same reading today Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead. That’s earthmoving stuff. Like, that's…that’s what has landed our lives here today to be hearing this. This is the victory over the darkness. Jesus rising from the dead is essentially a rebirth into life. In fact, that’s not like a metaphor that I’m using, this is something that the apostle Paul will say, that Jesus is the first born into a new thing that God is doing upon the earth and Jesus is the first born into that new thing among many brethren to follow, which is us. I mean the resurrection is overwhelming to think about in the Bible, and we can see in the news, like when the new starts to spread among Jesus followers it…it's…it’s unsettling, like this is impossible. Even though Jesus said this would happen, this is impossible. And yet, they very soon find out it’s very possible and that affects their lives so profoundly that, although nobody wants to die, they have…they have lost…they’ve seen what’s going to happen and they don’t fear this and they’re willing to give their lives for it, which they eventually do. So, as I was saying to us when we entered into like the garden of Gethsemane and the Last Supper and the arrest and we were moving into this territory gospel of Luke, I mentioned like, let’s not blow by this. This is…this is that story. This is the story that changes everything. This is the story that has catapulted our lives to this moment. And, so, we certainly blow by the resurrection, we…we want to contemplate that and meditate upon it today and understand the implications of it in our faith today. This changes everything forever. That’s not small. That’s big.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You for Your life and for the example, for Your heart and Your compassion and Your kindness, Your willingness to rescue we who You love, even though we don’t deserve Your love, even though we can’t earn Your love. Even while we were Your enemies You still came for us. And it's…it’s just that kind of love, that kind of love is what reveals Your kingdom. And we confess that what we want to participate in that. We’re just not capable of that kind of selfless love without Your spirit within. So, come Holy Spirit and lead us on the pathways of love. Love conquers all, even death we are learning. And we learn from song of Solomon that love is stronger than death. And in our reading from the gospel of Luke You were dead and then You were alive. And we are invited into that story. So, come Holy Spirit Awaken us, that this might settle in the profoundness of it we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And…well…what’s going on around you right now is the arrival of a new member of the family a new Daily Audio baby in our family. And, so, we are certainly thrilled and ecstatic about it and just that this is kind of our prayer request right now, is just the adjustment period and settling in and just all of the transition that goes into bringing a baby into the into the world and into a brand-new family. And, so, that’s what’s going on around here but everything else you can find out at dailyaudiobible.com.

The Community section, as I say often, is where the Prayer Wall lives and that is an always on and never off place to go. If…if you…if you want to pray or if you’re in need of prayer, that's…that’s the place to go. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if…if the mission here to…to keep reading God’s word fresh every day and offering it to anyone who will listen to it, if that has landed in your life and has made a difference than thank you humbly, deeply, truly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage. 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, which is the little red button at the top, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today on Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

This message is for Alivia of New Mexico. I heard you say you wanted to hear from the community regarding how you might consider responding to a marriage proposal from a person you’ve been with for about three years. You mentioned being confused and having a hard time bringing yourself to break up. I hope you will recognize that confusion is a red flag. The enemy of your soul is the source of your confusion and he’s come to steal, kill, and destroy. Being unequally yoked is about two in connection who have separate destinations. One honestly wants to go in one direction and the other honestly wants to go in a different direction. When they are yoked together at best they go in a compromised direction, neither going in the direction they wanted to go. That results in regret and mourning the loss of true life purpose. I encourage you to show your man respect and honor by allowing him to go in the direction of his choice. If he truly loves you, he will want you to live in your calling. I encourage you Alyvia, do not compromise truthfulness. Trust God’s perfect plan for your life. His plans are always better than we know, and we will never regret trusting the one true God and savior. There is so much we don’t know. Maybe your man will come to accept Jesus as a savior and Lord. Regardless of that, it is best not to foolishly rush in but rather wait on the Lord. God is truly good. Father I pray you give Alivia faith to believe your word and courage to follow your direction trusting your love for her and your most excellent perfect plans for her life in place of any other focus. Thank you for seeing us through Jesus loving us and receiving our prayers. We are your children saved and sanctified through Jesus alone. Amen.

Hello daily audio Bible family from London this is Sarah from London and I’m here with my nephews. What’s your name? Malachi. And how old are you? 6 years old. And what’s your name? Simeon. And how old are you? 3. Yes. And I’ve…they’ve just listened to Ezekiel on the Daily Audio Bible family and they want to say hello to Ezekiel. Say hello to Ezekiel. Hello Ezekiel. How are you? How are you? And what do you think of the…his reading? It was really good and lovely. Yeah, Malachi really enjoys it…really enjoyed listening to the reading today. And, yeah, so…gonna say bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I hope you’re all doing well Daily Audio Bible family and stay blessed. Take care. Sarah from London.

Hey DABbers, this is Retaining Honor, and I am calling in this morning with prayers for Alavia from New Mexico. And your message just so touched my heart because that is…that is my story, and I am unequally yoked with my husband and it is the number one thing that I pray about because I am now raising our child and I feel like I am alone in my spiritual journey. And dear sister that choice is yours to make. You can have a good life with this man that you have chosen and that you described but if it is anything like my situation your entire life you may feel like you are having to choose between the man that you love and the God that you love and the God that you serve. And I…I have not always put my savior first. And I urge you to look at your eternity and to look at your heavenly Father and to put Him first in your life and to think about, that…that this will impact your future family. So, I am praying for you as you are deliberating on this decision. And I love you sister. And also, so many people prayed this morning for Ramona from California. And Ramona I am a 32-year-old with a 7-year-old son and your testimony, your prayer request so touched my heart that I am praying for you dear sister. I can see my son also telling me that it would be OK and giving that same advice. He and I are so very close. So, sister I am praying for healing for you, and I am believing in healing for you and…

Hi Alana from New Mexico. Hey this is also my first time calling __ and I’m in Germany. So, I understand what you’re going through. I also myself just got out from a two-year relationship that was really confusing. And one thing that I will share with you is once you’re confused, God is not an author of confusion. Even if you do not have the strength to do it, ask the Holy Spirit for help and trust me He will help you to make the very best decision and as a believer that’s a woman only a man that really loves God can love a believing woman. And, so, you have peace, so you are no longer in a state of confusion where you do not have peace of mind ask the Holy Spirit for help. And I go to God. Father, please help Your daughter make the right decision and help her to see what You are protecting her from and please give her peace of mind that passes all human understanding. I love you all this is also my first-time calling in. I really appreciate this program. You all have a beautiful day. Bye.

Hello everybody. Hey this is Anette Allison from Oklahoma City. It is so good to hear you guys. Let you know surgery on my foot went good. Not sure if I have more surgeries or buy more motorcycles the numbers are quite similar. So, anyways thank you all for…for your many thoughts and prayers from most people and Daysha and Sally. I love you two so much. Thank you. Getting ready to go on the 29^th to go pick up my son Alex from Durango Colorado and I’m going to haul him from there to my house. I’m gonna clean up his legal work but he’s doing super good, and he saved up all the money I mean in like record time to get all the legal stuff handled and he’ll be free and clear real soon and I am so thrilled to have him home here just for even a little while. So, pray that everything goes well, the trip is non- eventful. And we’re gonna bring our dog and we had to put a big dog down and it was just rough. So, anyways have a wonderful day everyone. Take care. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family I am about 3 ½- or 4-year listener calling in from Chicago and requesting prayer. I…for two things. One, I’m faced with a pretty important and quite honestly really tough career decision and I could just use some prayer for clarity and guidance and…and faith and just again a really clear vision on the path that the…the Lord wants me to go as I make this decision. Secondly, just prayers for my son. He continues…he’s 25 and continues grow into adulthood and is also being faced with some pretty important adult decisions and I just pray that he will also seek the guidance and confidence and…and clarity to make the best decisions for now and into his future. I really appreciate it and love you all and love this community. Thank you.

Judges 7:1-8:17, Luke 23:13-43, Psalms 97:1-98:9, Proverbs 14:7-8

Today is the 27^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today a little later than usual. Now for…most everybody’s probably not going to notice that this is a little bit late but those of you in the UK for sure will and those of you early risers on the East Coast will. We’re in the 4 o'clock hour this morning and we’ve been up all night. We’re late a little bit because…well…China went into labor and she’s been in labor all the way around the clock and she has successfully delivered a baby girl that is pretty much as all newborns are, perfect. And once we knew for sure she was in labor and was going to give birth at some point in the night then we’ve been waiting to make this announcement. So, China has had her baby daughter, our granddaughter. I don’t know the weight yet or the length yet. She was born at 4:14 this morning. And we’re gonna have this news out within the hour, the hour of her birth. So, we’ve been…we’ve been keeping vigil. Jill has been with China the whole way here as has Ben of course. And they have decided to name this little girl Reagan Brave Brown and she is a brave little daughter of the king. She’s our little Reagan the Brave and everybody is safe and sound and exhausted and a full of adrenaline and I haven’t even had a cup of coffee yet. I think there’s water boiling in the background here. Just trying to be able to make this announcement. So, I’m sure before the days out we’ll have pictures posted and the details given. But there’s a new daily audio baby and her name is Reagan and she’s eating and she’s sleeping, and we haven’t even…she hasn’t even been weighed yet, but we didn’t want to wait a whole day to tell everybody. So, this is the good news. All is well, the baby has been born, everyone is safe. And, so, let's…let’s now do what we have come here to do and read the Scriptures. And today we read in honor of Reagan the Brave who was born April 27, 2021. Okay. So, yesterday we were introduced to a man named Gideon in the Old Testament in the book of Judges. Gideon becomes one of the judges of Israel and we will continue with his story today. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Judges 7:1 through 8:17.

Commentary:

Okay. So, today in the book of Judges the…the battle for which Gideon was called that was waged today. Although Gideon for his part, he had an army of 32,000 people but ended up confronting the enemy with only 300 people as God whittled down the army so that basically so that Gideon’s early on question could be answered. Gideon early on in this story was asking the angel of the Lord, “where is this mighty God that did things that we’ve heard of from our ancestors, the great things of old?” God was inviting Gideon into one of those stories. And, so, a 300-person army confronted essentially three different armies who had banded together to raid and pillage and destroy. And it’s interesting to see Gideon’s confidence grow. At first, he’s like, “where is the God that did great things”, right? And then it…it went to, “Oh, the God who did great things is right here in front of me and I have borne witness to this. Am I gonna die?” It went from that to, “if you are truly calling me will you just give me confidence through this sign with dew? Can there be dew on this cloth, but not on the ground?” And then he did it the next day. “Can there be due on the ground but not on this cloth?” After that we don’t really see Gideon confused anymore about who he’s following so when this 32,000-person army gets whittled down to 300 Gideon remains confident in the Lord. And let’s be honest, 32,000 people, that’s a lot of people. If you’re going confront another army that’s a lot of people depending on how many people they’ve got. But if they have an army that’s like covering the ground like locusts and their camels are as many as the sands on the seashore, that’s all a lot of people. So, 300 looks more like a suicide mission than a confrontation with an enemy army. But the Lord had come before them and actually did what He said He was going to do, and the Israelites were set free. We’re not done with Gideon’s story. There’s actually a dark chapter in the story to come before us, but it gives us a real sense of the times, times of the judges. So, the tribes of Israel have settled. This is a tribal time. They are tribes of Israel. And as we began the book of Judges, we were told that everyone was doing what they…whatever they thought was right in their own eyes. And we’ll get some glimpses of the different things that that can look like as we continue the journey through the book of Judges.

In the book of Luke today for the third time this year we have encountered the story of Jesus death. This, His trial and execution. And today we read of His crucifixion and that He hung there in agony and…and took more and more verbal abuse, even as He was dying. And in the face of that He displayed forgiveness, which…which really is the centerpiece isn’t it, that God would forgive us and welcome us into his family. And I know, we…we…we celebrated Easter just a few weeks ago. So, this is reasonably fresh in our mind. And we might even think, “yeh. We just made a big to do of that just a couple weeks ago when we were moving through holy week and celebrating Easter. There’s just never a wrong time to meditate upon this though, to consider what kind of love we’re talking about because that’s the kind of love that can change the world, that’s the kind of love that conquers all according to the Scriptures. So, it’s important that we give some time today to just meditate upon the sacrifice of Jesus. We will…well…I mean we…we’ve read through that story, that part of the story three times now - Matthew Mark and Luke - and these are the synoptic Gospels. We only have one gospel left after this, the gospel of John. We will only encounter this story one more time during this year. And, so, it’s always important to just slow things down and become very grateful for what we have because we have been rescued.

Prayer:

Jesus is impossible to use words whether there roughly hewn or whether there just beautifully ornate words. There are no words that actually can add up to the description of what You’ve done for us. And, so, it would be maybe easier for us to just stay here in silence just in attitude that is grateful from the bottom of our hearts. And we plan to do today, just spend some time thinking this through and being in a space of gratitude and silence before You, thanking You, thanking You, knowing that our words fall short. And, so, we stand before You silent, not because we can’t find words to say but because this is the most honest thing we can do, present ourselves before You without a bunch of explanation. We are here and we are here because You saved us, and we are grateful, and we are expressing that. And, so, come Holy Spirit into this we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

What’s going on around here right now is Reagan’s birth and we will work to get pictures, all…all of that. We’re like really delirious, kind of right now we’re really focused on what we’re doing and one foot in front of the other. That’s kinda how it gets when there’s a severe lack of sleep going on but we’ll definitely…we’ll deftly get the word out on social media as soon as…as soon as China says we can. And we’ve had a running…how long…how long will this baby be, what will this baby’s birthday be, what will the baby weigh…in our family for a long time…so we don’t even know who’s going to win that one. We’ll post that stuff too as soon as we…as soon as we know. But we couldn’t wait any longer, wanted to get the news out and literally you’re hearing this within the hour of her birth. So, thank you for your prayers over everything that goes into bringing a new baby into the world over this little family, over her mommy and her healing, over this little girl who has had to trust and be thrust into a whole new existence that she’s never known before. And she’s been experiencing it for less than an hour, so she’s safe with her mommy and she knows that, and she knows the voice of her father. And this is a good place to start. So, thank you for your prayers.

That’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Jackie from Oregon I called to pray for Honeybee from Louisiana who’s had twenty eye surgeries. I feel in my spirit the need to pray for you. Just talking on this podcast, I know God has a way of healing. I know it’s come to a place where that’s your only option and I really pray very hard for you in the name of Jesus that this eye be completely healed and restored. I know Jesus can do it. I know it’s up to him. And I pray for that to happen. Thank you.

Hey, this call is for honeybee from Louisiana. Your call played today Thursday April 22^nd and right away you caught my attention honeybee because my name is Melissa and that means honeybee. And, so, I have another friend who is also named Melissa and we call each other honeybee. So, right away you had my attention. But just listening to your request for your eyes for your site for the multiple surgeries you’ve endured and just the difficult spot you’re at, I just want you to know that I…I’m praying for you now and I will continue to pray for you as the Holy Spirit brings you to my mind. And I’m just praying for God to do a miracle. I just kept thinking of the story of Jesus healing the blind men, how He just did it in different ways. You know, all the stories of the blind men healed in the Bible, they’re done differently. And He heals differently but He does heal. He’s got the power to do that. And while you’re waiting for that healing, I’m just praying for the peace of the Holy Spirit to surround you and encourage you. Be encouraged and blessed my sister, my fellow honeybee.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this is Tony the truck driver. I haven’t called in in probably two or three years, but I still listen every day and support in partnership with the DAB. And today I just called with a heavy heart. One of my fellow truck drivers at my job was tragically killed today. Just pumping fuel in his truck, a guy came and just shot him for no reason and then took his own life. His name was Raymond Ramirez. He’s from Allentown PA. He leaves behind a wife and three young children. So, I’ve just been in prayer for him and his family…for his family all day. Everybody at the job has a heavy heart. So, I’m just asking you family to pray for his family. Just pray for the peace that Christ can give him…give his family Lord and that they would…He would just be with him, be with their family in this time, that they would have the peace that surpasses all understanding our Lord and saver can give. Thank you, family. Love you. Still listening. I’m definitely gonna try to call more often. Blind Tony I heard you one day still talk…shouting out me and my son AJ. He’s doing great. He’s actually gonna be 20 in a week or so. So, thank you for all you guys prayers. I’ll be talking to you. God bless.

Hi, Olivia this is Dawn Rising in Michigan. I’m so glad you’re in our community now and I just wanted to pray for you in your situation. I know it can be very confusing when you love somebody. You wanted to hear from people. So, I took that as an open invitation to give my opinion. I too was in an unequally yoked relationship for three years and I loved the person, but God gave me the foresight to be able to think of ahead of my current situation and how I wanted to raise my children and it didn’t match up with the person that I was with. So, you know, if you want to look forward into your life and see how your life goals and how God’s will for you could be obtained with the current person. So, just take a look at that and if, you know, and look into his heart and if there’s room for change, but don’t yoke yourself to somebody, you know, that will not want to change because it will be forever an uphill battle. And, you know, it’ll be like the idols in…with the Canaanites. You’ll be tempted to sway his way unfortunately. So, anyway, praying for you my friend and it's…it’s not easy and I…I don’t envy your situation because I’ve been in it. Anyway, we love you. We’ll pray for you.

Hi guys my name is Kimmy I’m calling in because Olivia from New Mexico, I’m sorry if I did not pronounce that right, your ask for prayer really, really spoke to me as my best friend of two…just broke up with her boyfriend of two years because they were unequally yoked. And, so, your stories were similar, and I just wanted to encourage you to continue to pursue the Lord and just pray, be in constant prayer to know what to do. But I wanted to encourage you with the words that my best friend had spoken to me was that she broke up with her boyfriend not out of a lack of love for him but out of a greater love for the Lord. And, so, whatever the will of the Lord is, I think being open and willing to hear it and to obey it is really important and I’ll be praying for you no matter what the Lord…no matter what you decide to do. But I wanted to read to you Philippians 3 versus 7 through 11 which says, “but whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and may share His sufferings becoming like Him __ that by any means possible I may obtain the resurrection from the dead. I hope this has been an encouragement. And yeah, just keep pursuing the Lord. Be in constant prayer to know what to do because He’s right there with you and He holds your heart in His hands and I’m praying for you.

Hi, I’m Ethan from Indiana and I just wanted to say thank you guys for doing this. And it really helps me because I can listen to the Bible while I’m in the shower or something like that and I can listen to the word of God. Thank you for everything. And I just pray that you guys are…have a blessed life and I pray that you guys have great days while you guys are in…

Judges 6:1-40, Luke 22:54-23:12, Psalms 95:1-96:13, Proverbs 14:5-6

Today is the 26^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful as it always is, wonderful to be around the Global Campfire together with you as we move into our workweek, take the next step forward and…and let the Scriptures speak into our lives. So, we’re in the book of Judges as we read through the Old Testament. Yesterday we read about the leader of Israel, the female judge Deborah. Today we’re going to begin a story of the judge, of famous judge actually, a very famous story, the judge Gideon. We’re reading from the Good News Translation this week. Judges chapter 6.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Judges today we have met Gideon and we’ll move all the way through that story as we continue to read forward. And certainly, we’ll have things to talk about as…as we do move forward through that story. But as the stories kinda getting set up today couple things that…that are interest…interesting, anyway interesting enough to point out. In this story, the angel of the Lord or the Lord’s angel comes to Gideon. And it’s interesting because we’ve seen the angel of the Lord before already and will continue to see the angel of the Lord or Yahweh’s angel or the Lord’s angel. We’ll see this reference throughout the Bible. And we can read this and just go, “yeah. It’s an angel of God. There…I mean…there’s. Some of them have names like Gabriel or Michael and this one’s just the angel of the Lord. So, it’s an unnamed angel.” Actually though, this angel speaks like first person as if He is the Lord. Like, let me just quote a passage. This…this is after…after the angel of the Lord disappeared, after Gideon brought the meal and fire came out of the rock and the angel disappeared. “Gideon”, so I’m quoting, “Gideon then realized that it was the Lord’s angel he had seen. And he said, in terror sovereign Lord I have seen your angel face-to-face but what the Lord told him peace. Don’t be afraid you will not die.” It’s interesting that the angel of the Lord is another way of understanding that this is the Lord. This is the Lord’s presence. The angel of the Lord is different than other angels in other words. The angel of the Lord speaking in first person as the Lord. I mean this is the stuff theologians will love to examine from all kinds of angles and have for centuries and centuries and centuries, but general consensus is when the angel speaks in first person, even though they are referred to as the angel of the Lord, this is the Lord appearing and speaking with people. The other thing that’s interesting as this story begins to get set up is how Gideon refers to himself and who it is that God goes to to rescue his people. So, we know the lay of the land. The Midianites are oppressing the people and they have to hideout just to try to make enough food to survive. When the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon Gideons basically like, “whatever happened to the God that our fathers told us about who did mighty acts?” And the Lord speaks to Gideon telling him, “I’m calling you to set Israel free. Like you’re gonna do one of these mighty acts.” Gideon is then like, “who am I? Like my tribe is the smallest tribe and I’m an inconsequential member of a small family in this tribe. Like I’m nothing. Who am I?” After the period of the judges when we enter into the time of the monarchy and we meet Israel’s first king whose name is Saul, he’s gonna say with very similar things, “my tribes the smallest tribe and I’m the least important member of the smallest family of this tribe.” And when we look at the example of Jesus and see that He was born into a normal existence not like born into high-ranking royalty, we begin to see these threads that God really isn’t interested in our earthly power or resources to get done what He wants to get done. Like He demonstrates all the time that He can go to the very least of these and do unbelievably earth changing powerful things. And, so, it should be no wonder to us than that we are continually focused in our faith toward “the least of these.”

Another thing like this…is this little like incidental in the gospel of Luke today. So, we have entered the passion narrative and Jesus has been arrested is being questioned has been brought before the Roman prefect, Pilate, who has determined that Jesus is Galilean, so he sends Him to Herod. And often we can think like they had to bind Jesus and put Him on a cart and carry Him by donkey for several days to wherever Herod was. But that was…they were in the same complex in Jerusalem. So, he sent Him to Herod’s palace, to Herod’s quarters to be examined by Herod. Of course, Herod wondered whether Jesus was a resurrected John the Baptist, what was going on there. So, he’s eager to meet Jesus, but Jesus wouldn’t even really talk to him. This encounter actually becomes a catalyst to…to bring Herod and Pilate together in like friendly relations. Before that they weren’t friendly. Herod was the king of the Jews. He was installed there. He was a client kind of puppet king loyal to Rome and Herod and Pilate didn’t get along. The…the thing that sort of drew them together is Herod’s making fun of Jesus. So, Herod asked Jesus a bunch of questions. Jesus doesn’t answer. The people accusing Jesus, the religious leaders are making all kinds of accusations that Jesus isn’t responding to. The soldiers are there on guard. They’re making fun of Jesus and one of the ways that they make fun of Jesus is to put a royal robe on His back, right? Sort of like they’re making fun like, “Oh. Now we see that you actually are the king of the Jews. Hail King of the Jews.” So, they put this robe on Him and we know from other narratives that the crown, right, the crown of thorns. “Okay. So, you’re the king of the Jews. So, let us bow down before your authority.” That’s what’s going on here. Pilate sent Jesus to Herod because He was Galilean because and He claimed to be the king of the Jews. So, he sent the king of the Jews to the king of the Jews for him to sort it out. Herod ultimately doesn’t get the answers. He just thinks Jesus is a peasant crazy person, whatever. And, so, this robe, this royal robe is put on Jesus and then Jesus is sent back to Pilate where Pilate would then see the joke. “oh the king of the Jews has figured out that this Jesus guy actually is the king of the Jews because now He’s got a royal robe on Him.” And that little bit of mockery of Jesus, that joke pulled them together when they had been enemies in the past. So, just a couple, kinda little vistas, little viewpoints off the side of the path here. As we continue our journey all of these things become so fascinating over time as the context of the story that we are telling from the Scriptures becomes more and more personal, more and more part of the story of our lives.

Prayer:

Father we thank You. Every day, nearly every day we thank You for Your word because we are eternally grateful. We are always thankful for the gift that You’ve given us, that we might pour over it, that we might learn from it, that we might learn of it and about it, that its context begins to lay out before us in a way that we can understand and live into. We are grateful that we can do this together in community all over the world. And, so, we pray. Come Holy Spirit continue to lead us into all truth. This is what You’ve promised. This is what we believe. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that’s home, that’s home base. Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app that’s home base in your hand. And, so, yeah, it’s good to know where home base is. Check it out whether on the web or in the app.

Check out the Community section. This is where to get connected on social media, places that we are connected. The Prayer Wall lives there and that that’s always happening, always, always, we can reach out for prayer, always, always, we can reach back in prayer for one another in the Community section. So, check that out.

The Daily Audio Bible Shop, that’s another resource to check out whether in the app or on the web. There are resources there, whether they be things to wear, things to read, things to listen to, or things to write on, or things to write with, things to drink and enjoy, just things for the journey. The DAB Shop is kind of like the outfitter for this year-long journey through the Bible that we are on together. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to keep reading God’s word fresh every day and…and offering into the world to anyone willing to listen to it, if that has found its way into your world and has been life-giving to you than thank you. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t in this together. And that is a fact. And, so, I'm…I’m humbled every day that we are here, and I thank you for your partnership. So, there is a link on the homepage. 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, which is the little red button up top 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:

Family it’s Jesse from Washington. It is Wednesday the 21^st. I just wanted to update everyone who’s praying for my grandma. She’s not really doing that awesome. I think I mentioned she can’t really move anymore. I mean she can barely lift her hands to her face to eat and she’s very claustrophobic too. So, she can’t just sit and place or just be in a bed or a chair. And it’s even worse now that she can’t move herself. And then the last couple times, the last few days I’ve gone over to talk to her she's…she's…her eyesight’s getting worse, she can move less and less. She has like neuropathy in her hands that she’s had since before all this stuff happened. So, she can’t really feel her hands either. So, and I don’t know what to tell her or how to make her feel better than, you know, other than to tell her people are praying for her. But it seems, you know, pretty bleak. She just keeps getting worse and worse and the last couple days she kept saying, you know, she doesn’t want to be here anymore and, you know, she wishes she could just take a pill and just, you know, be done with it all. So, I don't…I don’t know what to tell her, I don’t know how to make her feel better. Like I can’t imagine being in that situation myself. And then I guess the other thing too quickly is that it’s very sad for…she’s the only real person in my life. Like I don’t…I have parents, but I wasn’t close with them. So, I know it’s very sad and it’s…it hurts me, but I don’t know that I’m dealing with it properly because I kind of numb out these things. So, just prayers for that as well. Love you. Thank you. Bye.

Hey this is Troy in Texas. I think I called around Easter about my mom being in a reck and being in the hospital. I want to thank everybody for your prayers. She fought hard but she did pass away, and things have been really tough. Please continue to pray for our family. Pray for my stepdad. He’s really, really having a tough time accepting it and being alone. I love this family. I listen to my Daily Audio Bible every morning and it helps me a lot. If you would also pray for my marriage. Things have kind of been a struggle and I want more than anything to connect with my wife, you know, the way that God wants us to connect. So, thank you guys so much for all your prayers and love. I pray for you all. Thank you.

Hello DABbers, this is Vonnie in Northern California and I feel urged to pray for a couple of colors. A few days ago, a man I believe his name was Chad called in with…battling depression and anxiety and this morning a man named Ted called in with the same issues. And my son battles with these same things right now. I wanted to read a portion of Psalm 30. And it was a very meaningful psalm for my husband who also dealt with depression and anxiety. Psalm 30 says, “I will exult you Lord for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemy’s triumph over me. O Lord my God I cried to you for help, and you restored by health. You brought me up from the grave oh Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. I cried out to you O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, and you have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You’ve taken away my clothes of mourning and closed me with joy that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” So, I just want to pray, Father please in the name of Jesus rebuke the enemy in these men’s lives. We ask You to bring them out from this painful time of battling depression and anxiety. I ask You God to overwhelm them with Your joy and peace and security and confidence. Bring them out in Jesus’ name we ask You. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Egbert from California by the way of Believe city. I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I called this morning for your prayers to allow God to continue to work in my life and to continue to use me as only He can. I thank the community for all of the work and the effort that is shown in communicating with each other and supporting each other and prayers. I want to say thank you to the Hardin family for all they do and for the prayer warriors. There is so many people that I would need to thank so I would just say thank you for all the new members, the elders of the community. Continue to pray, continue to trust God knowing that His soon return is so near and we continue to do our part as the body and allow Him to use us in whatever capacity He sees fit. So, thank you and I pray that God blessings would continue to permeate your circumstances and your situation in spite of God is good and He is in control and…

good morning DAB family this is Gwynne from Texas and it is Thursday April the 22^nd and I want to lift up a young lady that called in this morning from Louisiana. She’s gonna have surgery in her right eye. She has two tumors and they’re bleeding, and the doctor says she needs surgery and they’re not sure of the outcome. But I know a God that is sure, a God in heaven. And, so, I’m gonna lift you up right now in the name of Jesus. Lord You know what this surgery means to this lady Lord, that she wants to see just like Lord the…the blind man called out to You, “son of David I just want to see” and You touched him and he was able to see Lord. And I pray for this lady, that You would touch her, she would call out and that You would…she would say son of God. Jesus have mercy upon her that she would be able to see and that the effort the doctors go before her right now Lord that You would anoint their hands and that…that they’re going to do what they need to do but You are going to oversee it Lord in the name of Jesus and she’s gonna come out giving You glory because they’re going to tell her that the surgery was successful. And, so, Father I’m believing and trusting in the name of Jesus for this lady that she will be able to have her sight back 2020 Lord, that she will have her sight back and she will be able to see and that…and that she will give You the glory and the honor. So, Lord, I thank You for what You’re gonna do right now. It’s in Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

Good morning DAB family this is La Chula coming to you from Los Angeles and I just want to say that this Daily Audio Bible has been such a blessing to me. This morning April 22^nd it just really spoke to my heart. Every day I text my daughters and I say pastor Brian’s on fire today’s amazing. But today's…what stayed with me today is how you live, that’s what you believe. And it’s so powerful. How I live is what I believe. May my heart be open every day to God’s word, to doing His service and living in His will. I actually want to kind of just share that God is not surprised by any actions taken against me. God is in control of my life and He promises His word will never leave me nor forsake me. So, I choose him every day. Every day I choose Him and I just encourage you to do that as well. Choose Him on a daily basis. I lift up my…my family to you, my daughter especially. She’s going through a trying time and I know that she’s gonna breakthrough because the Lord promises that, and His word is faithful. So, I love you pastor Brian, your entire family, the DABbers that tune in and pray for each other. And I just want to say that, from the bottom of my heart, this is…the Global Campfire is a real thing and I just love you…I love you all. Thank you so much.

Judges 4:1-5:31, Luke 22:35-53, Psalms 94:1-23, Proverbs 14:3-4

Today is the 25^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you as we throw open the windows and the doors and look out into this brand-new week and step into it together. This week we will read from the Good News Translation and pick up where we left off, which is what we do every day. We’re just getting ourselves moved into the book of Judges which…which is the centuries following Joshua’s death and the rise of the judges. When people fall away and cry out to God He sends a judge to lead them. And today we will learn of Israel’s female judge Deborah. Judges, chapters 4 and 5.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for a brand-new week to enter and engage and interact with Your word as it enters into and engages and interacts with our lives, with the choices that we make that tell the story of our lives. And even now we acknowledge had we not engaged with this rhythm from the beginning of the year, the story would be a different story that we would be telling. And, so, we are so grateful that You have given us the gift of the Scriptures. And, so, Holy Spirit into these final days of this fourth month of the year. Before we finish this week, we will leave this month behind us and press forward into a new month. And, so, we are engaging, we are paying close attention to what You are saying to us through the Scriptures. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

This is a message to Oliver in India. And my brother we are praying for you and your family who are in isolation with covid and we are with you and feel for you and are praying for you. God bless you.

Hello this is Wynn Kramer and I want to thank you guys for praying for my friend Kate. She is coming home from the hospital today and today’s April 20^th. And I hope you are having a great day and my mom’s probably gonna try to plan a date for me and her to have a little play date. So, again I want to thank you all for praying for her and I hope you are…are doing well and please pray that she will come home safely.

Hey DAB family this is Dan from Maryland just calling in. Just wanted to pray for Chad who called in with a really heavy heart. And you can just hear it in his voice he’s suffering. And brother just want you to know that we are with you. I know you called in…I think you called in a week or so ago as well. And didn’t leave your name at the time but you just said that you felt like you were worth nothing to anyone. And I just want you to know that Jesus loves you and sees you as precious in your community here. Your family here loves you as well and we’re going to…we’re going to mourn with you because it sounds like you got something to mourn about. But we’re also going to pray for you. We’re going to ask God to heal the situations in your life and to even work inside of your mind and inside of your heart to bring new life and a sense of hope to you. Heavenly Father we just want to lift up our brother. And Lord I just…I know You’re someone who makes all things new, and our brother Chad needs his…needs areas of his life made new. Lord, he’s suffering from anxiety and depression and fear and Lord You’re the master of all those things and You give us hope, You give us joy, and You give us a spirit of confidence. And Lord we don't…I don’t know what’s going on with him right now but I just pray that Your spirit would minister to him in a real way right now, that he would feel Your love, that he would have a sense of peace that goes beyond what he can understand, and Lord that You would pull him out of this dark place that he finds himself in right now. I pray this all in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi everyone, it’s Margo from Australia. And for those of those who don’t know me I am a missionary in Liberia. My husband is a pilot. We’re here with a missionary aviation fellowship and I am a nurse. And I just thought it’s been a while since I called, and I should touch base. Wanted to let you know I’m still here. We were in Australia for a few months last year while my husband did some training and we’ve been back in Liberia a couple months. I’m not going to lie it’s been a bumpy landing. Just readjusting to the dysfunction that exists here, the corruption, the hopelessness, the poverty, the health issues. It’s very confronting. But as always, I have felt His comfort. And I guess what I want to say today is don’t be afraid of suffering. Why are we all so desperate to flee from suffering when the Bible tells us we will see it? Serving Jesus is not easy but it’s so worth it. We only have one life to live. We do not get a do over. Last week a precious friend of mine in Australia died and being so far away here has been terribly difficult. But yesterday a friend and I took a carload of food and supplies out to an old folk’s home where there are 13 near starving residents. And driving back I thought nothing compares to the joy there is in serving the Lord. I will give my life as a sacrifice and I hope that you can do the same. It’s doable. Don’t think you’re not good enough or smart enough or capable enough. If I can do it anyone can. Love you guys. Bye.

Hello from beautiful Cincinnati OH this is your brother Daniel Johnson junior. How are you? God bless you wherever you are. Today is Tuesday April 21^st, 2021 and I’m standing here in this park. It’s called blue rock park because there’s a…there’s a road that goes by here named blue rock road in the MetroWest area of Cincinnati. And I am standing here on this bridge, this wooden bridge. There’s this babbling Creek right over here you can possibly hear a bird or two in the distance. Really interesting thing is…is yesterday all of this area was green, leaves are green, but today there’s snow on the…on the grass and on the leaves, on the trees, and even on this bridge that I’m walking across. It’s springtime in Cincinnati and in this area of the country and yeah, we got snow on the…snow and it’s…feels like winter. God knows what He wants to do, and God knows what He’s doing. I just trust Him, and I marvel at it because this is beautiful to behold. Nothing on the streets and…but it’s beautiful because it’s in the grass and it’s just…it’s just beautiful to behold. I pray wherever you are you get to spend…go outside and just take in nature. Maybe inhale. Jesus be with us. Exhale. Hey, from beautiful Cincinnati OH God bless you all. I love you. And make it a great day.

Good morning DAB family this is God Lovin’ Girl Lisa from Nebraska. This is my first-time calling in. I’m a new Daily Audio Bible listener this year. Although I’ve been through the Bible a few times I really enjoy this platform and especially the prayers, hearing the prayers and the prayer request and then also it just warms my heart to hear all the people responding to those requests with prayer. I do have a prayer request. My…my dad who’s 73 has cancer. It’s progressed a lot in the past month and it’s in his bones. I really don’t know how long he has but he is in the hospital with uncontrolled pain. He is not afraid of dying. He’s afraid of the pain getting to death and I think he’s starting to give up. My…my prayer also is for my brother Brent who just…we just found out about him. His mom lied to him for years that…and said that…said that his dad had died. He found out through a DNA test through ancestry.com that my dad was also his dad. And, so, we’ve built a relationship. But I’m sad for him that he was robbed of all those years and now his dad is going to be leaving the earth soon and he won’t have him. So, pray for all of us if you would please. I really appreciate this prayer wall and it warms my heart just to see the…the goodness of you all and it gives me hope to for humanity. Thank you have a great day.

Judges 2:10-3:31, Luke 22:14-34, Psalms 92:1-93:5, Proverbs 14:1-2

Today is the 24^th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as we bring to a close another week and we get to share together. So, let’s dive in and take that next step. As we end our week, we’re just getting going in this brand-new territory that we entered yesterday known as the book of Judge. And like I said the book of Judges does take us into new territory. It takes us forward after Joshua but the complexion changes. The people are in the land and they have what is been promised and they get comfortable and that they have not done what God said, which was to force everybody out of the land otherwise it would become a thorn in the side, a stumbling block, and their gods would become a temptation. And…and we see that that’s the truth in the book of Judges. So, let’s dive in. Judges chapter 2 verse 10 through 3 verse 31 today.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week that we’ve been able to spend together day by day step-by-step moving through the Scriptures, allowing them to wash into our lives and hearts and plant seeds, the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We are so grateful, as we mark this time. Even as we draw closer and closer to the end of another month, we look back and see such profound things that You have begun to shift inside of us, and we are grateful. And, so, we mark this time with gratitude as we seal this week, close the books and step forward. And this day and this week become a part of our past, a part of our history, a part of our story. And yet, we look forward to the next chapter, the next week, the next month, all that You are doing in and among us. So, we stay open to You and Your leading. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that's…that’s where our home is in a world…in the world of the Internet. And this is how to find home. If you know dailyaudiobible.com, no matter what’s going on or where you are that's…that’s the home base here for us. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, basically you are on as soon as you turn it on.

But yeah, there are…there are sections in there that allow us to take that journey a little deeper, like the Community section where the Prayer Wall lives or like the Shop where there are resources to just take this deeper in whatever way that you like. And, so, definitely check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible thank you humbly. If having the Scriptures read fresh every day and this showing up, showing up in the app or on the web or wherever you listen, showing up consistently every day, if that is life-giving and makes a difference in your world than thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible 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, the little red button up at the top 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:

This is Saved by His Grace in Happy Valley. Brian I just finished listening to today’s podcast, the 19^th of April and your comments about God crying or Jesus crying over Jerusalem and what might have been truly impacted me. I look back over my life and think what might have been had I not defied Him so often. And yet He’s been patient and loving enough that even now that I’m 80 he is creating a new creature in me and I am so thankful for that. Brian thank you for your…your ministry and think Jill for her readings and China before her and Ezekiel. And then of course Walta called in and was talking about how we allow discouragement to stop us from our mission, which kind of fitted in there ‘cause I just started a business to help families record and save their history for future generations and no one seems to think that’s important, and I do get discouraged. And then of course God’s Smile called and that just was the whipped cream on top of the sundae. As other people have said, every time I hear her voice I break into a smile. She truly is God’s smile for us. I love this community and I ask God to bless you in everything today. Amen.

hey DAB family today is April the 19^th. At the end of today’s broadcast there were two women one who is giving praise for the message of Yeshua in us and the other who was lamenting the tragic suicide of a church member. These two messages seemed to encapsulate the struggle that so many of us are facing in these darkened times. Just yesterday I wrote in my journey how lately all I want to do is die and how I spend so much time imagining ways of ending my life. It’s been a lifelong struggle raging in me, one that’s fueled by nothing less than the sin of idolatry. We’re reminded in John:15 to love one another, to show our love by laying down our lives for our friends. And who is Jesus but our greatest friend. It’s pure idolatry that leads me to believe my life is my own to take. In Job 1 we are reminded that the Lord alone gives, and He takes. So, bless it be the name of the Lord. This my life my right mentality that deludes our society is simply one of the flaming darts friary arrows of the enemy throwing at us every day by any means possible. After all what message does each successful suicide send to the world except that there is no hope and that the promise of God’s grace sustaining us through this life is just a lie. So, friends I’m asking you for your forgiveness for not loving you the way that I’m commanded to do each time that I give free reign to these selfish idolatrous thoughts and I ask for God’s forgiveness for the vanity of my darkened thinking and may He for…forbid that I should ever leave this life by my own hand. May He forgive me for my lack of faith and the idolatry of thinking that my life is my own when He alone has given it and He alone has the right to take it away. Even if I do in fact have that right to choose then Lord, I reject that choice right here and right now and choose instead to give you my life in full trust and believe that Your love for me endures forever and that Your grace is more than sufficient to shine through the darkness that seeks to consume me. I pray for myself and for anyone who is plagued with these same daily struggles. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hi DAB family it’s Hallie from Michigan. I’m going to go with a Hallie Heart because I was born on Valentine’s Day and my grandma always calling me that. After listening to the April 17^th, I heard Chad and Simona and I want to lift them up in prayer. Dear Lord, my God please let Chad feel Your presence. He is filled with anxiety, fear, and depression like so many of our Christian men today. Society wants to silence them because they stand for good, and our society is evil and doesn’t want to be reminded of it. God, You made man in Your image and stand for what is right. Please help them disregard what the enemy is saying and not waiver from the cross of righteousness. Please let them continue to speak out about what is right and keep on speaking the truth even if their own family turns against them. Please do not turn their course from truth and light. Please use this to prepare Chad to be a warrior for You. Give him the strength and the heart of seven men. Lead him out of the darkness with his light shining as bright as a bonfire. Also, Father we heard from Your beloved daughter Simona from So Cal who has long suffered. She is keeping the faith and You just want…we just want to lift her up to You. She understands that we’re nothing without You and she has an 8-year-old who she wants to see grow and come to love You too Father. Please Lord come to her and let her feel Your power rush through her and heal her body completely with Your divine intervention. Please let her have many milestones with her child and time to instill her faith in her child. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Hello DAB family this is Gigi from Gville calling in. I’m asking for prayer from my mom. She’s 69, recently widowed, and feels a new calling on her life to step into something that God has prepared for her and it’s scary, but God has just been lifting her up and her faith has been growing and she’s been getting stronger and she’s been really being renewed every day. So, it’s been awesome. But the enemy has been coming against her with her sleep. She used to struggle with insomnia, and it’s just been hounding her, just three hours a night, not been able to really be consistent and also being attacked by a lot of fears and doubts even though she’s been experiencing so much overcoming power. It’s just been a real like continual battle in her mind and not being able to sleep makes it worse. So, if You guys could all join me in prayer for her. Thank You, Lord, that it says that faith works by love and that Your love never fails. So, we are praying right now that You would reveal Yourself in a deeper new way to mom, that she would understand Your love in…in ways that she never has before and that her faith would become effectual in that understanding and that…that she would be able to…to move her eyes off of the waves and off of the fear enough off of the doubt and have her eyes fixed on You and on the one thing, on Jesus and His faithfulness. And thank You Lord that You are overcoming in her and I pray she be protected in her sleep. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Good morning DABbers this is Brave from New Jersey. Today is April 20 and I’m calling to report a praise report for my daughter, my prodigal who’s 18 and who has ran away out of the house sometime back in the winter time. She’s returned home physically and she’s with me now. I praise God for that, and I would like to ask the family to pray for her for full restoration of her life back to her Father and that Lord will restore her fully and bring her back to His Kingdom and heal her completely. This is my prayer to you family. Thank you for holding her up for me. God bless you.

Hello, my family this is Prodigal no more actually. God gave me a new name this weekend and I’ll tell you a bit about it. But Thursday night I was supposed to be at a John Eldridge site boot camp. And instead, I was sitting here with a bottle of vodka and I had my good old Glock out again because I had just gotten news that I’d been financially crushed and was probably gonna lose…well…be on the street. And, so, I wasn't…just wasn't…I just had no hope of the future. So, right before I was going to do the final act my…my wife called, my estranged wife called and said, “where are you? Why aren’t you at this boot camp?” Because somebody had called her and said that I was not there. I told her why and she said, “don’t you dare do that. Get up there.” Because this was the first night. So, I drove up the next morning.  I didn’t expect much but when I got up there my life totally changed. The Lord shredded me. Halfway through the day one of the guys quoted, speakers quoted, “this is your beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” And that’s a phrase I had never heard in my 68 years on this earth, and it totally shredded me. So, long story short he totally unwound my life, totally stripped me down, told me why I was the way I was and why things happened. And, so, real quick, He spent two nights talking to me nonstop and the second night He gave me a new name. And my new name is Lazarus. So, from now on family I’m Lazarus. Jesus loved him Jesus wept for him Jesus raised him from the grave and Jesus made him the most dangerous man on earth. So, look out Satan and I’m now back, I’m strong and powered by your prayers and your love. God bless you family. I just wanted to give you a celebration for a change. God bless.

Judges 1:1-2:9, Luke 21:29-22:13, Psalms 90:1-91:16, Proverbs 13:24-25

Today is the 23^rd day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian, and it is a pleasure and a joy to come around the Global Campfire together and just find our place, do what we do, exhale, settle in to the safe oasis that we create for ourselves as God’s word comes washing into our lives. So, it is a pleasure and joy to be here with you today. And we’re turning the page. We’re actually moving into some new territory in the Old Testament. We conclude the book of Joshua yesterday which leads us to the…well….to the first chapter of the book of Judges.

Introduction to the book of Judges:

And judges is what comes next. We can think from the title of Judges that it’s a big book of judgment, right? Like, this is one of those books in the Bible where you don’t want to read it because it’s nothing but judgment. That's…that’s what’s going on here. Let’s, since we’re moving into new territory, let’s just really briefly look back at where we’ve been. We met Abram. We saw him become Abraham. Abraham’s story is essentially the origin story of the Hebrew people. So, Abraham and then the generation of Isaac and the generation of Jacob. Jacob being Abraham’s grandson. Jacob has a couple of wives and a couple of concubines thrown into the mix and there’s 12 children born. And we remember all that between Rachel and Leah, the battle of the sisters over the children. And these children, they’re going to grow up and become tribes. I mean they will…like they will start tribes. Jacob’s name is changed to Israel. And, so, his children are the children of Israel. One of those kids was named Joseph and we followed a long path with Joseph being trafficked into slavery and ending up in Egypt. And over the course of time ending up second-in-command in Egypt when a famine comes that reunites the family. They thought Joseph was dead. Jacob thought his son was long dead, but they are reunited in life, which is how the children of Israel made it to Egypt. And then after Joseph dies, they flourish in the land of Egypt and become a very populous mighty people, but they are enslaved by the Egyptians. So, four centuries later, so they’re in slavery for 400 years. That’s quite a long time to establish the status quo, this is when we meet the man, Moses. Moses, we met in a basket in the river and Pharaoh’s daughter raises him then he has to flee because he kills an Egyptian. He gets married in the wilderness then he sees a burning Bush that is not consumed, and he meets with God and God sends him back to set the people free. Moses wants nothing to do with it but in the end, he obeys, and Moses and his brother Aaron lead the people. And that’s when we go through all of the plagues and the Exodus from Egypt. And then they began their wilderness journey. And it was supposed to be a lot shorter than it ended up being. But they got to the very very precipice of entering into the promised land and the spies came back and said, “we can’t do it. There’s giants in the land. It's…it’s a great land but we can’t win”, which doomed an entire generation to continue to learn the message of the wilderness. And we spoke a lot about our own…our own wilderness journeys as we wandered in the wilderness with the children of Israel. Then they made it to the banks of the Jordan River. There’s all kinds of stuff that happened in between there, we remember, but then Moses got all the people together and he gave them three discourses, three speeches, that comprise the book of Deuteronomy, the things that Moses’s needs the people to know and that he needs to know that he said out loud before he dies. And, so, they listened to that and then Moses died, became a part of history. Joshua takes the leadership over Israel, leads the people across the Jordan River. The first city of conquest is Jericho. We remember all of this and then they are at war basically. All of the different tribes and kings of the land, they attack Israel, and Israel keeps winning and they begin to settle the land. Then Joshua brings everybody back together at Shechem and that’s where these famous words, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” come from. And the people say they will serve the Lord. They…they renew the covenant and Joshua tells them, “you are a witness…your lives are…are a witness against you if you don’t obey this. That’s what brings us to judges. So, we will begin the book of Judges and realize that judges were what came next in the leadership of Israel. They had had a profit in Moses lead them. They had a profit and Joshua lead them. Once they’re gone and all of the generation that knew them died off, then there’s an emerging generation that doesn’t know exactly what to do. They are all tribes doing whatever seems right in their own eyes. And we will begin to see that some of the things that they’re doing that they think is right in their own eyes isn’t and will see a slide beginning to happen. And, as the people become oppressed, they cry out to God and a judge rises up to lead the people. And some of these judges are our pious and committed to God and some of these judges have some strange ways of doing things but God uses them in this time. So, as we read the book of Judges, we will be passing through several centuries of time. The book of Judges sort of covers an in between period. So, Moses and Joshua are gone, and then there’s the period of the judges, which will lead us to the period of the monarchy. Like, when the period of the judges reaches its end, the people are going to want a king. They don’t want a judge anymore, they don’t want a prophet, they want a king. So, it won’t be too long after we conclude the book of Judges that we will be entering into that, that time of the monarchy of ancient Israel. So, that’s kind of the lay of the land. That’s where we’ve come from, that’s how we got here to page 1 of the book of Judges. So, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Judges chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 9.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. We thank You bringing us into this new territory in the book of Judges. Holy Spirit come. Plant the words of the Scriptures into our lives. Allow them to till the soil and plant good fruit, that the harvest may be bountiful, the fruit of the spirit in our lives may be bountiful. Help us to see ourselves in these stories. Help them to be mirrors into our own souls into the motives and the brokenness in our own lives. And even as we begin to turn into the passion narrative in the gospel of Luke, even as we’ve read of the preparations for this last meal before suffering and the plot to betray You, our Lord, we enter the story once again, the story of a love so profound that it has no equal, a love that is drawn us to it like a moth to a flame. And, so, as we watch this story unfold again Holy Spirit come and help us to enter into it with a profound amount of gratitude. We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it is home, its home base for us. Of course, everything that’s at the website can be accessed using the Daily Audio Bible app as well by using the Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. So, yeah, stay tuned stay connected in any way that you can. This journey that we are on…I mean I say that every day almost because it’s important to remember it every day. This is a year-long journey that we’re on step-by-step day by day. And a year in our lives brings all kinds of triumphs and challenges. And, so, what we’re connected to, what we’re tethered to, what is our anchor is the thing that moors us, or if gives us foundation when winds are blowing pretty strong. And, so, staying connected to the journey day by day step-by-step in the Scriptures brings foundation. And knowing that were not in this alone, that it’s not this solitary endeavor, that thousands, tens of thousands of us, all over the world are on the same page moving through this together it makes the difference. And, so, stay connected in any way that you can.

Check out the Community section either in the app or on the web.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop either place. There are resources for this journey there.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I can’t possibly thank you enough. I can’t possibly like…I’ve tried so many times, the vocabulary fails, the gratefulness, the awe that all of these years all of these days, day by day, step-by-step we’ve been not just doing this for a year, but this is the 16^th year every single day, seven days a week without missing a single day. So, I’m in awe that…that we’re in this together because we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t. So, if that is life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible 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, the little red button at the top 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:

My name is Darla from Pennsylvania this is my first time calling. I just wanted to reach out to the man. I was listening on April 16^th and the man said that he felt like he wasn’t even worthy or able to be helpful or something along those lines and my heart just kind of sank because I know…I know how that feels and I just wanted to let you know that I’m praying for you in Jesus’ name.

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Alobia from New Mexico this is my first time ever reading with you guys and so far, it has been a fantastic time. I’m really happy that I’m here. I’m happy that I found you guys. But this is my first time ever doing this kind of thing, but I do want to ask for some prayers if it’s not too much. I am struggling with my relationship. He’s not equally yoked with me and I recently got back into my religion and I stopped doing the things that I wasn’t supposed to be doing and our relationship changed a lot and we got through it a little bit but now he proposed, and I’m just confused. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what to do anymore. I…I wanna be with this person but I know I shouldn’t be with him when we’re not equally yoked. But at the same time, I can’t bring myself to like break-up with him. This might seem like something that’s not really important, but I’ve been dating this person for three years and I’m confused and I’m not sure what to do. I’ve been praying about it, but I would like to hear from other people too. But I also want to give thanks for this community. I’m not sure if a lot of people will hear it. Well, we’ll see, but I hope that you guys can pray for me and pray for my situation. But thank you. I’m sending my love out to all of you and have a good rest of your day.

Good afternoon DAB family God bless you all. I don’t know your name I think you said Ramona or Mona from South Cali. You’re 32 years old single mom of an 8-year-old boy with stage four kidney failure. You are on dialysis three times a week; 31 surgeries now has cancer. You called in praying for an encouraging because of James from Fort Worth TX who lost his daughter last year January 27^th of 2020 and you’re asking for prayer so that you may have God’s peace, God’s joy, God’s healing because your 8-year-old son told you it’s OK for you to go to heaven so that you don’t suffer anymore. My dear sister I cannot imagine that and I’m standing alongside you in your tears. I’m praying for you and I’m believing that there’s nothing that God cannot do. There is nothing that God cannot do. God can turn this around in the name of Jesus. I am declaring healing over your body inside out I am declaring totally healing in your body. I am declaring functioning kidneys in the name of Jesus. I am binding those cancer cells to be done to be eradicated from your body in its entirety in the name of Jesus. I am declaring you healed by the blood of Christ. I’m loosening the healing powers of Jesus over you from the crown of your head to the soul of your feet in Jesus’ name. Amen. Esther from Orlando.

Hi, I’m calling in to pray for Lacey, Lacey, I believe and the Lilies. Lacey I just listened to the broadcast on the 17^th, and I heard your prayer. I too suffer from a disease that won’t let me fully extend some of my body and I also took hope in that same reading that you did. Keep reaching sister. God will straighten you up. I know that it doesn’t seem possible right now but just keep reaching for heaven and you will reach it. We love you.

Good morning DAB family this is Doctor John from Illinois listening this morning at 4:18. Just wanna pray this morning for Chad who’s suffering depression, anxiety, and fear but he knows enough to call, he knows enough to ask for help. And I listened to this brother pray for his nephew Jeff, the firefighter who’s sick with covid still experiencing troubles with it. And I guess my one encouragement the one…makes my heart just overwhelmed with I believe it’s Ramona from Southern California she’s a 32-year-old woman 8-year-old son, she’s experiencing kidney failure, having some other diagnostic problems. And I’m just overwhelmed at her heart toward other people though. And she said something really sparked my heart. And she said even in the midst of this affliction God is still God. He’s still righteous and He’s still holy and He’s still just. And she’s in desperate straits and yet she cries for help for other people and lifting up other people encouraging other people, that’s her faith. Her joy is in the Lord. So, let’s take a note from this. Family let’s pray for others. Let’s put others above ourselves. God hears every single prayer, and he knows our hearts before we even ask. So, thank you Brian and Jill again for this wonderful place that we can come together, this wonderful family that we share each other’s hearts and needs. This is the love of God acted out.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Stan from Maryland. My heart was impressed to pray for Trent. I believe he was on the August 18^th prayer request. Dear father lift up Trent. He…he said is in a dark abyss of depression and despair and fear. Father God I pray that You would put a hedge of thorns all around Trent so that the influences of the evil one causing him to despair and to be fearful and to be depressed would lose interest and leave him. And Father, You know Trent’s heart. He’s trying to draw near to You. So, I pray Father that You were drawing near to him. When You’re in that dark place it’s hard to see any light. So, I pray Father that You would illuminate Your presence in Trent’s deep soul s0peaking to him as he needs to hear so that he knows that You love him deeply, that You will lift him up and that You…that he can rely on You. As a matter of fact, Father relying on You is the only way because we are all confused Father God about what our future is and about what our perception of reality is. So, I pray these things for Trent in the name of Jesus. Amen.