Category: DAB Transcripts

2 Samuel 22:1-23:23, Acts 2:1-47, Psalms 122:1-9, Proverbs 16:19-20

Today is the 4^th day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure, it is an honor, it is the joy to come around the global campfire together with you and spend some time stepping away like we do every day from whatever’s going on and just orient ourselves to God through His word. So, that’s exactly what we’ll do. We have been spending time moving through David’s story, King David, in the book of second Samuel, and we have just begun the book of Acts yesterday as we move forward into this story of the formation of the church and what happened right after Jesus ministry. So, we’ll get to that in a minute, but first second Samuel chapter 22 verse 1 through 23 verse 23. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in the book of acts today we witnessed earthmoving monumental things, right, Pentecost the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the birth of the church. So, Jesus followers had been praying together and waiting in one place, and according to tradition, this place is the same upper room where Jesus enjoyed His last supper. And the promised Holy Spirit fell upon them with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and tongs or flames of fire over their heads and those present were given the ability speak in other languages. And then there were pilgrims from all over the known world. And if this upper room is the same upper room then it was on Mount Zion. And, so, pilgrims from all over the world would’ve been around and they heard the testimony of God’s kindness spoken in their native tongue, which caused an incredible stir because these people were Galilean and how could they speak all these different languages and communicate so clearly? But Pentecost in the book of Acts gives us the first clue that the gospel was something that was to be spread throughout the entire world. It wasn’t to be exclusive. It was to be spread to every nation and tongue. So, like, in this day and age we can say, “yeah, dah, like, of course, that’s exactly…isn’t that one of the great missions of our faith?” But what this would mean at that time, like at this flashpoint, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and God’s goodness being spoken in all these other tongues, what this is gonna ultimately mean is gonna cause an incredible amount of controversy among the early church. And we’ll get to that as we journey through the book of Acts and into the letters of Paul. We’ll see all of this very clearly. The confusion triggered by the many tongues being spoken caused hearers to marvel but it caused others to scoff and accuse Jesus followers of being drunk. And this revealed the way that the message of hope in Jesus would continue to be opposed. So, as it was for Jesus, so it will be for the early believers and so it still is today. So, Peter gives this first recorded mass introduction to the gospel of Jesus and 3000 people believed and were baptized as a result. And, so, we can immediately see the change in Peter after having gone through Jesus death and burial and resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He’s transformed and 3000 people, according to the book of Acts, were baptized into the faith that day. And, so, many scholars concluded that the only place, anywhere around there, anywhere even around Jerusalem for the most part, anyplace that many people could have been baptized would’ve been the mikvah or the ritual cleansing baths found at the temple complex. And the ruins of some of those mikvah are still there, just below the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as the southern steps that would’ve led into the temple place that Jesus would have taught, a place that Jesus would have walked. And, so, it is known to be the birthplace of the church, a place we visit when we go to Jerusalem each year. So, our time in Acts today was the flashpoint that began what we know as Christianity, right? People were not known as Christians at first. This term would be actually a Gentile term that will be coined in Antioch once the gospel began to spread out but the story that we read from Acts today is the origin story of the church that collected itself around the teachings and ministry and belief in Jesus and it’s the same Holy Spirit that leads and guides us. And we’re on the same mission to bring light and good news. So, we have clearly moved out of the Gospels and clearly moved into the book of Acts, but now what we are reading is the story of the early church and its mission. It connects the dots to us because it is the same church and we are on the same mission. So, we may be reading the stories of those who have gone before us in earlier times, but we are now reading our own story and we are to collaborate in this story with the same Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We can often read these stories and their magnificence, and we read them as the exceptions to the rule, we read them as like something that You did that was magical at a time long ago and we would sure love to see that again, we would sure love to see Your power poured out again as if those things have passed away as if You were a different Holy Spirit as if Your power has diminished since then. Forgive us for this. You are the Spirit of truth and You have been sent by our Savior to advocate for us, to comfort us, to lead us into all truth, to lead us deeper into Jesus, to reveal the narrow path that leads to life. So, come Holy Spirit, even as we read of the stories of the origin of the faith we invite You to renew us in our faith today. Come Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website andd, of course, that’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

And we mentioned, we announced yesterday the global campfires coming back together for 2019 at the family reunion 2019. It was a tradition that we began last year and had a blast at the Family Reunion and so we’ve just decided to do it again, but we needed to find a place to have a little more access, a little more people. It sold out last year so quickly. And, so, we went and searched. We found a great camp up on the lake, not too far from the airport, not too far from Nashville, very very convenient, wonderful place to stay, wonderful place to play. It’s going to be amazing. And, so, the Family Reunion for 2019 will take place August 31^st through September 2^nd 2019, which is Labor Day weekend here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. If you’re staying on site the cost will depend on, you know, what kind of accommodations that you want. So, check them all out. We recommend everybody comes. Stay together, play together be together, eat together, get to know each other, like deepen the relationships with people that you may have been praying for and only know by voice for years. Make those connections and your brothers and sisters who are going through the Scriptures with you, have them in your life. This is this is what community and family is all about. So yeah, we recommend you come and hang out and stay and check all that. If you’re staying off site, the cost is $55 per person. It includes two evening meals, plus our time together in the evening as well as use of the grounds, which are spectacular. If you’re staying on site, there are a number of options. You just gotta check it out. It’s gonna be a blast. You can find out about the Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion 2019 at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. And based on the fact that we’ve only announced it once, looks like we’re gonna have a good time, a lot of you want to come, and we’re so excited to host you just have a wonderful time together in community here in the rolling hills of Tennessee where we spend our lives.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. The link is on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 20:14-21:22, Acts 1:1-26, Psalms 121:1-8, Proverbs 16:18

Today is the 3^rd day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian…I’m just thinking to myself…have been still saying May like for these last couple of days. I just had this…this brain melt…like, “have I been saying June?” It’s June and it’s a bit of a big day for us because we’re gonna begin to move into some new territory when we get to our New Testament reading. We concluded the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John yesterday, which will bring us to the book of Acts when we get to the New Testament, but before that we are continuing our journey through the book of second Samuel and the reign of King David. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week, second Samuel chapter 20 verse 14 through 21 verse 22.

Introduction to the book of Acts:

Okay. Like we mentioned yesterday, and as we mentioned today, we’re moving into some new territory in the New Testament. We’re about to begin the book of Acts, which unveils what happened after Jesus ascended to the Father. And practically speaking, we can call what we’re about to read “second Luke” because Luke and Acts share the same author and Acts picks up where the gospel of Luke left off. So, the first portion of Acts, the part that we’re about to dive into will focus on the ministry of Peter and then will meet this zealous Pharisee named Saul. And Saul was doing everything he could to wipe the name of Jesus from the lips of anyone who dared to speak it, but in the midst of that quest he met Jesus in a life-changing way on the road to Damascus. And, so, this man, Saul, would eventually become the apostle Paul and we’ll spend the latter part of the book of Acts getting to know him. And we’ll get to know Paul as good as we’ll know anyone else in the Bible. He will influence most of the rest of our time together because his letters make up the bulk of the remainder of the New Testament. But as we enter into this new territory in the Bible we need to recognize that the fuel that energizes the stories that we’re about to read in the book of Acts comes from a promise, a promise that the Holy Spirit would come. Nothing of the early church would’ve been possible without the Spirit of truth. And we would do well to remember this because it’s the same Spirit that empowers us to bring light and good news into the world today. So, we have closed the books on the Gospels, the stories of Jesus life and ministry, and now may we drink deeply from the book of Acts because we’re considering our spiritual heritage, but more than that, we’re looking at what the power of the Holy Spirit did and continues to do in and among us. And, so we begin. Acts, chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You once again for bringing us into this new month, into this new week, into this new book, into this new territory on our journey through the Scriptures. And as we move our way through the sixth month of the year and we are so grateful for the promises that You poured out to us in the Psalms today. Our help comes from You. You made heaven and Earth. There is no one else to help us but You won’t let us stumble. You will watch over us day and night. You will stand beside us and protect us. The sun won’t harm us by day, nor the moon by night. You’ll keep us from harming watch over our lives now and forever. We take that heart, Lord. We commit Psalm 121 to memory and plant it deep in our hearts is a constant word of encouragement and reminder that we are never separated from You. Come Holy Spirit we pray into this day. 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 today’s the big…or…a big announcement. One year ago we decided to do something that we had never done before and it was based on something that we had done a lot of times. So, back in like 2011, 2012 we literally went all over the world on this thing called the Family Gathering tour. And we really just gathered as a community in so many cities and in so many places and it was a beautiful thing to watch the community come together. And that lasted for about 18 months and then so last year we decided to not do a Family Gathering in the bunch of different towns but to do a Family Reunion here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. And I thought, “well…yeah…I imagine a few people would like to come to that, that would be…that would be fun to just kinda come together over Labor Day weekend and have, you know, a cookout and just be together, like a family reunion.” And Jill and Mike, they were more convinced that lots of people would want come but I’m kind of pragmatic and I’m like, “I think some people would want to come.” Well, as it turns out, lots of people wanted to come. And, so, we had our first ever family reunion last September…last…late August, September, Labor Day weekend. And we found this place in the rolling of the Tennessee and we had a blast, a blast together, but the only the only downside was it was sold out. Like, literally, a lot more people wanted to come then were able to come. So, this year we’re praying into, “do we do the family reunion again? Do we do this again? We need to find a better place to do this to accommodate more people” because the idea is to come to a place, right, and just kind of camp out together, be together as a family, just, we have this common language. We’re going through the Bible together. And, so, I’ve witnessed infinite amount of times…well infant is kind of a big word…many many many many many many countless times everywhere we go that the Daily Audio Bible community comes together it’s instant, like immediately we’re on the same page because we’re doing this every day together. And, so, it’s a beautiful thing and that happened at the Family Reunion. So, anyway, to make this long story a little shorter we’re gonna do the Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion 2019 over Labor Day weekend, which is August 31^st through September 2^nd, 2019 here in the rolling hills of Tennessee in Nashville and this time we found a larger place up on the lake. And it’s beautiful, private beach, canoeing, waterslides, wall climbing, all kinds of sports, beautiful grounds, wonderful place to have a family reunion…camp Whichiwakun. It’s a large YMCA camp up on the lake just minutes from the airport from Nashville. It’s gonna be awesome. So, it’s where the global campfire comes together, and we had so much fun last year that we’re gonna do it again this year. Registration is now open. The cost is $55 per person. This includes two dinners, the use of the beautiful grounds to play and enjoy as well as just being together, two evenings together, where we’ll share together and be together and be the global campfire together. So, that’s the cost if you’re just kinda like be staying somewhere else, but we wanna recommend, come, hang out, stay, be family together, let’s have a family reunion. And, so, there are a number of different options, whether you wanna tent camp, whether you want to bring an RV, whether you to stay hospital style, like in men’s dorms and women’s dorms or you wanna bring your family, there’s a yurt village there. There are bunk houses. So, you can see all of this at dailyaudiobible.com in the Initiatives section. Just look for family reunion 2019. And registration is open. Last time we did this the event sold out it in a week and I was shocked. So, I wouldn’t wait…I wouldn’t wait around. We are so looking forward to this. It is gonna be a blast. Family Reunion ‘19 where the global campfire comes together here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. And you can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link, it lives on the homepage. Thank you for clicking that link. Thank you for your partnership. We would not be here if we were not here together. So, thank you as we move through the summer for your partnership. So, 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, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996, Springhill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 19:11-20:13, John 21:1-25, Psalms 120:1-7, Proverbs 16:16-17

Today is the 2^nd day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you. So, we got a brand-new week here we’re walking into. We got a brand-new month that we’re walking into. So, things are resetting, and we get to live into the fresh new start. Today with all of our beginnings we’ll also be ending the book of John, the gospel of John, which means that will be ending the Gospels for this year. And of course, the Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the stories of Jesus life and ministry. So, after today we’ll be moving into the book of Acts, and what happens next. So, let’s set center ourselves in where we are in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, of course, we’re working our way through second Samuel and the crazy story of King David and the disintegration of his family. His son Absalom tried to instigate a coup against his father and we read through that entire story. Of course, Absalom lost his life in that attempt. And then after that attempt was squashed then the people had to decide what to do with their King David, are they gonna bring them back? What’s gonna happen? So, we’ll pick up that story. Second Samuel chapter 19 verse 11 through 20 verse 13 today. And we will read from the New Living translation this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for bringing us safely into this new month and into this new week and we thank You for bringing us to the end of the Gospels for this year. In a way, it’s a little bittersweet because we’ve been walking with You, Jesus, through the stories of Your ministry and life since the beginning of this year and obviously we’re not gonna top talking about You, You’re our Savior. We adore You but we’re leaving those narratives, those stories behind. And, so, we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and prepare our hearts as we move into new territory in the Scriptures in the New Testament beginning tomorrow. And yet we linger here today with Your final words Jesus, “you follow me”, and that was in response to the question Peter asked, “what about him?” And You said, “what is that to You?”, which is one of the more poignant questions of our lives because we spend so much of our lives in comparison to somebody else. And, so, the question, “what is that to You” is incredibly poignant and incredibly valuable on a daily basis. Holy Spirit help us to ask that question before we respond in thought, word or deed, and may we remember Your words, “You follow me.” We pray these things in Your mighty holy name. The name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

You can find out all the different links by clicking the Community link in the navigation bar at the top at dailyaudiobible.com. The Prayer Wall is also there. Of course, all of these things can be found in the Daily Audio Bible app as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link right on the homepage. I thank you profoundly 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, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 18:1-19:10, John 20:1-31, Psalms 119:153-176, Proverbs 16:14-15

Today is the 1^st day of June. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you as we walk through this threshold into the 6^th month of the year. So, well done. We have completed five months consecutively every single day in order and we have reached the 6^th month of the year. And if you’ve made it this far then you understand that the Bible washing into our lives and speaking to us each and every day as we come together in community like this makes a profound difference in our lives. And, so, let’s buckle in and get into this 6^th month of the year. We’re working our way through second Samuel, and in the New Testament we’re also working our way through the gospel of John and yesterday we experienced the crucifixion of Jesus for the final time this year, as told in the Gospels. And tomorrow we will conclude the gospel of John. And, so, as we begin this 6^th month of the year we’re also moving into what happens after Jesus ministry and we’ll begin the book of Acts in of couple of days. We’ve been reading from the New International Version this week. We’ll continue to do that today and we’ll go back into the book of second Samuel where David has massive problems on his hands. His son, Absalom, has an active military coup going on against his father. He is trying to usurp the throne of David and his government and his warriors are on the run, something that David understands pretty well. He had to run from King Saul. Now he’s running from his son, King Absalom and we’ll see how the story plays out. Second Samuel chapter 18 verse 1 through 19 verse 10.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for another week in Your word and we thank You that You’ve brought us into this brand-new month and we look forward to all that You have yet to speak to us as we begin to prepare ourselves to move into the story of all that came next as we move into the book of Acts. And, so, as we begin this new month and release the old month and release this week and prepare to begin a new week, we are sitting at a crossroads, and the resurrection is right smack in the middle of it all. And, so, Holy Spirit come, and may we contemplate the resurrection today and all that it means for us in our lives going forward. 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. So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

The Daily Audio Bible shop lives at dailyaudiobible.com. There are a number of resources there for this journey. The Prayer Wall lives at dailyaudiobible.com, a wonderful place that’s always available for prayer and encouragement. All of these things are available in the Daily Audio Bible app as well. You can navigate to them by pushing the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link, it lives on the homepage. I thank you profoundly 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, if that’s what you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey y’all, hey this is Annette in Oklahoma getting back from a wonderful trip from Florida. I had got the opportunity after many years to do a motorcycle build for my dad. I love my daddy so much and it was just my way, a small token of my appreciation for my daddy being so good to me and the best dad probably ever except for maybe your dad, right? So, anyways…but hey…I wanted to thank everybody for praying for the state of Oklahoma and Texas, Kansas, Missouri, I think some Illinois action going on up there. Boy, keep everybody in your prayers because, I tell you, we all know that prayer works, prayer covers other people, they really, really do. So, thank you. I’ve gotten many messages, I’m sure many other people have too and I thank you all for thinking about us all, okay. I really love what I call the Peter Frampton verses of the Bible, I really love that. [singing] I’m in you, you’re in me, they gave it a love, love that I had never had [singing stops]. Yeah. Okay. Anyway. I’ll leave the singing to Jill. Hey, I love you guys. Have a wonderful day. Bye-bye.

Hi Daily Audio family, my name is Amber, I’m from Illinois and today I just wanted to give prayer to all of the people that are in trouble right now just feeling like their suffocating and that…just to encourage that there is good times ahead. Right now, my life has been content and normally I’m one of those people who is like, “ooo… everything is going good, what’s gonna happen, I know there’s something waiting.” But I just wanted to send some encouragement to everyone and let you know that good times are ahead and that I am praying for you. Have a good day and I love you. Bye.

Hello, my name is Chris from Northern California and I am a longtime DABber for many years. I am so grateful to this ministry, I’m so grateful for this fellowship, God bless you Brian and Jill and China and family and all of you wonderful back behind the scenes people. The reason I’m calling is this is belated, April 20^th, the community prayer group, I believe one of the first people that called in was a lady from California probably in her 60s, I’m in my 60s. So, I really related to her call. She was asking for forgiveness, she said her husband had health challenges and they’d gotten into an argument and she was praying for job wisdom and retention because you’ve got four more years until retirement and she needed this job to take care of her and her husband. So, I want her to know I’ve been praying for her and I imagine a gazillion other people have been praying for her that didn’t call in I put this off so long. So, just prayers for this woman, prayers for us seniors that feel…I don’t know…worried about the future and feel less able to handle things due to illnesses or weaknesses or frailty our brain not working as well. So, thank you so much for this, for calling in and we’re praying for you. And thank you for all Daily Audio Bible. This is Chris in Northern California.

The DAB family, this is Byron out in Florida I wanted to give a shout out to my Jesus and a praise report. So, when I was in school years ago I read this short story by Kurt Vonnegut and basically it was about this professor who had discovered the power of telekinesis, moving things with his mind and he was using it to destroy the world’s stock pile or what we call today, WMD weapons of mass destruction. So, whenever he read about the location of some armament somewhere he would just concentrate his thoughts on them and just destroy them. And this comes to mind because we have this same power in prayer. Whenever we hear injustice anywhere in the world we can start lobbing prayers on it and God can take action. And on my way to work every single day I drive by this place, this old broken-down porn shop, sells pornography, and every time I drive past I say, “hey Lord, tear this place down, get rid of this place, tear this place down.” And praise God, today I drove by the thing, I almost missed it because it didn’t close down it’s been erased, it’s been torn down to the ground, only the sign was there and it’s an empty blank space. How amazing is that? And my God answers prayer and that He can do what we cannot and His arm is strong and we do this every day in this community. We do lob prayers on places where Satan is raising his ugly head and we tear down strongholds. So, I just want to give a shout glory to my God for His faithfulness and encourage you all that whatever you see, that evil in this world, start pulling it down with those prayers. We have that power in Jesus’ name. Love you all.

2 Samuel 17:1-29, John 19:23-42, Psalms 119:129-152, Proverbs 16:12-13

Today is the 31^st day of May, which makes it the last day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is great to meet with you here today on the last day of May, and the last day of our typical work week. So, let’s dive in and enjoy with the word of God has to say to us on this final day of the 5^th month of the year. We’ve been working our way through second Samuel, which is what we’ll continue to do today. We’ve been reading from the New International Version this week. Second Samuel chapter 17.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in our reading from second Samuel, we continued this pretty difficult story of the unrest that is in King David’s family that all began with his taking of Bathsheba. So, Absalom had a couple of experienced seers or advisors to aid in the implementation of a new government and the subsequent destruction of those loyal to David but one of those advisors, Hushai, was secretly loyal to David. And, so, we watched that all play out today and we’ll continue with the story tomorrow

But in John’s Gospel we face the crucifixion of Jesus. So, according to John, there was like four man execution crew who held Jesus body down and nailed it to a cross and then divided his clothes and Jesus was suspended then between heaven and earth, nailed to this cross for everyone to see. And according to John’s account, Jesus mother was there. And, I mean, how do you imagine the agony she must’ve been enduring? How do you put yourself in that position? Mary had given birth to Jesus and now she was helplessly watching him die but she wouldn’t abandon him. And even in his agony Jesus didn’t abandon her. Even though he was literally dying in front of them He loved his mother and He commissioned John to care for and protect her and John took her into his own home, according to the gospel of John. And then we read, for the last time this year, like, for the last time as we’re moving forward in the Bible, that Jesus spoke his final words, “it is finished”, and then He lowered His head and died, and His human heart stopped beating. He was dead. And because Sabbath would begin at sundown. Right, so, Jesus is crucified in the morning and this is going on into the afternoon, but Sabbath begins, like the new day in Judaism in the Hebrew culture, the next day actually begins at sundown. So, the religious leaders didn’t want anyone hanging on a cross through the Sabbath day. Jesus had already laid his head down in in death, but the two other criminals were still alive being executed alongside Jesus. And, so, to prevent them from being hanging there through the Sabbath day the Romans came and broke their legs as they were on the cross. I mean, this is like so inhumane…this picture is as inhumane is as it gets. It’s as brutal as you can imagine. So, these two men are still alive, they are crucified, they are dying, but they’re not dying fast enough. And, so, the Roman soldiers come while they’re hanging on the cross and break their legs and they did this because their legs were supporting their bodies and when the legs are broken than they can no longer…then they’re just hanging there by their arms and they would…they would die soon my asphyxiation. Jesus was already dead. Just to make sure they stabbed him with a spear and blood and water poured from the wound. So then, in a rush to lay Jesus to rest before Sabbath, it’s Joseph of Arimathea who approaches Pilate and asked to take possession of the corpse of Jesus and then Nicodemus accompanies Joseph to the cross. And Nicodemus…and again…this is according to the gospel of John…is the one that had come to Jesus and visit with him…went and visited with him at night. It was in the conversation with Nicodemus that Jesus spoke what we now know as John 3:16. So, Nicodemus comes to Joseph with 75 pounds of spices and ointments and they wrap the spices and ointments in these linen strips and they just do what they can to care for Jesus lifeless body. And because there wasn’t a bunch of time and no work could be done on the Sabbath then Jesus was placed nearby in a newly hewn tomb near the spot where he died. They would have to wait until after the Sabbath day was over to figure out where they were gonna permanently entomb Jesus but as understand it Jesus didn’t need those arrangements made. So, this is how we end our reading from the Gospel of John for this, the fifth month of the year. And, so, it would be good to take some time today to allow your imagination to carry you through all of the different stories, all of my miles that we have walked with Jesus since we began this year. So, just imagine His kindness, imagine His smile, imagine Him playing with the children who came to Him to be blessed. Just imagine what light in a world of darkness looks like and then come back to this cross where we see just how far darkness is willing to go and what darkness is capable of and understand that if we let it run in our lives it’s gonna take us to some…it’s gonna take us to some very dark places because it’s darkness and darkness…I mean…we are seeing in the gospel of John what it is capable of, how twisted it is, and how it can twist people. Jesus death was unjust, it was brutal and horrific, but the horror of it became the flashpoint that shifted the entire world. His death is why we’re here right now, it’s why there’s hope. So, take time as we end the month of May to contemplate what it cost Jesus that you might live.

Prayer:

Jesus that that’s where we find ourselves, and we continually repeat the same words over and over. What are we supposed to say in the face of that? Thank You. Like, thanks. Appreciate ya. Appreciate You. Appreciate You. We certainly appreciate what You’ve done for…I mean…there’s not the right words. The gratefulness we ought to feel, the humbling weighty gratefulness that we ought to feel isn’t something really that we can articulate with words, it’s something that we have to live out in a transformed life. So, Holy Spirit, we once again ask that You bring the cross starkly before our eyes and our hearts and our minds that we might be shaken awake yet once again to the utter hopelessness of the darkness that we toy with all of the time and to the example of what light in a world of darkness looks like and understand what we are called to do when we are called to take up our cross day by day and follow You. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray. In the name of Jesus’ we ask. Amen.

Song:

All I can Do (Thank You) - Mikeschair

I could write a love song
Tell You what I think You wanna hear
But it wouldn’t be good enough, no
Yea I could try so hard
To give it everything I’ve got
But I’m not ever gonna measure up

All I can do is thank You
For this life I never deserved
Wanna thank You for the grace
I know I don’t have to earn
You love me, You love me
Your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank You
All I can do is say thank You 

It would have been easy
But I’m glad You never walked away
Cause Your love runs deep for me
And I see this beautiful world
And it brings tears in my eyes
And I think it’s beautiful to be free

All I can do is thank You
For this life I never deserved
Wanna thank You for the grace
I know I don’t have to earn
You love me, You love me
Your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank You
All I can do is say thank You

For hope, for love, for all the ways You move
(You)
For everything You do
(You)
What else can I say but thank You
Thank You 

I could write a love song
Tell You what I think You wanna hear
But it wouldn’t be good enough

All I can do is thank You
For this life I never deserved
Wanna thank You for the grace
I know I don’t have to earn
You love me, You love me
Your mercy is proof
All I can do is say thank You
All I can do is say thank You
All I can do, all I can do, all I can do
Is say thank You
All I can do, all I can do, all I can do
Is say thank You

2 Samuel 15:23-16:23, John 18:25-19:22, Psalms 119:113-128, Proverbs 16:10-11

Today is the 30^th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here. We are…man…we’re staring at the end of the 5^th month of the year and today happens to be the 150^th day of the year. So, we are clearly making progress, step-by-step, day-by-day as we move deeper into the Bible and move deeper into our year together and spending some time reading through the book of second Samuel and the story of King David’s life. David’s life is not going so well right now where we are in the story. He has had to grab his government and his household and flee Jerusalem because his son Absalom has initiated a coo against his father that is gaining substantial momentum. And we will pick up that story. Second Samuel chapter 15 verse 23 through 16 verse 23 today and we’re reading from the New International Version this week.

Commentary:

Jesus on this day that we come to the last retelling of your sacrifice, your crucifixion, we see the injustice of it, we see how convoluted it all was, we see the drops of blood in the suffering of the beating that you received in the crown of thorns upon your head. These are images that are familiar because they’re so riveting and so deeply ingrained as a part of our faith in you. And, so, we stop…we stop here…understand that you went through this, you suffered this because of your love and obedience to the father and because of your profound love for humanity, which represents every single one of us who are breathing right now and everyone who has gone before us. Everything that comes next for us in the New Testament as we begin to read the story of what happened next and as we begin to move into some letters later on, its all overshadowed by what we’ve read about today, that you would become a sacrifice in order to rescue us. And, so, we take these moments to thank you and to acknowledge. Nothing remaining in the Bible and nothing else remaining in our lives would matter without this. And, so, we are grateful. We have acknowledged at every point that we’ve come to this story so far this year that there are no words, there really aren’t any string of sentences that would in any way adequately acknowledge what we’re talking about here. Words fail us. It’s almost better that we remain silent as a way to honor this.

Prayer:

We invite You, Holy Spirit, into this day, and we ask that You keep the image of the cross before us today as we contemplate this, as we meditate upon it, as we understand just how profoundly impacting to the entire world it is and how irreversibly it has changed our lives. It’s very easy for us to just blow by this but we should be thinking about it every day with a grateful heart. We don’t deserve to be here. We don’t deserve to be able to talk to You. We certainly don’t deserve to be in a relationship with You. You came for us, not the other way around. And, so, may our lives reflect our gratitude today in everything that we do and say, in every interaction that we have, in every conversation that we participate, in every choice that we make. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty 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. So, be sure to stay connected.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com also. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 14:1-15:22, John 18:1-24, Psalms 119:97-112, Proverbs 16:8-9

Today is the 29^th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today on hump day as we cross through the center of our week together. And we’ve been spending our time, at least in the Old Testament, as you know, getting to know King David and we’re in the part of the story where things have begun to really fall apart in his family. One of his sons, Amnon, raped his sister Tamar. Her brother Absalom, also David’s son, killed Amnon for this and then he had to go on the run to the north near the Sea of Galilee to the city of Geshur where he was in exile for several years and that’s where we pick up the story today. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Second Samuel chapter 14 verse 1 through 15 verse 22.

Commentary:

Okay. So, from the Old Testament and in the story of David we see that family matters never did settle down for King David after the issue was about Bathsheba and this continues to become more and more apparent as we move further into the story. So, David’s son Absalom had been in exile for three years for the killing of his brother Amnon who had raped Absalom’s sister, David’s daughter, Tamar. David allow that rape of his daughter to go relatively unpunished, but Absalom didn’t, and the result was loss. Absalom lost respect for his father and was sent away from his home. Tamar forcibly lost her innocence and then Amnon violently lost his life. So, in today’s reading, David’s general, Joab, concocted a plan that brought Absalom back to his home in Jerusalem, but for the next two years he wasn’t permitted an audience with the king. So, five years have gone by without father and son not seeing each other. And once they did, Absalom’s contempt for his father deepened. So, Absalom used his good looks and his status as a prince to undermine his father David, and he did this by spending time among the people making them feel heard. And, so, over the course of four years he won their hearts. Then he asked permission to leave Jerusalem and go to Hebron. Hebron was the place that David was first coronated as the King of the tribe of Judah. So, Absalom’s asking to go there to sacrifice to God, back to the original capital city of before David conquered Jerusalem and made the city of David. So, then once Absalom’s in Hebron he stirs up a direct rebellion against the king, which is gaining momentum as we leave our reading today and the news reached Jerusalem. And, so, all of those old instincts, right, all of those instincts that David had to learn while he was running from King Saul rose within David and he fled the palace in advance along with much of the government going into exile as this coup that Absalom is stirring up is moving forward. And, of course, we’ll continue that story tomorrow, but it’s important consider the ways that King David allowed this erosion to take place in his life and family, right? So, we were going along through first Samuel and into second Samuel, following the story of King Saul and watching David’s story become intertwined with that story. We followed all the way until David was the king of all Israel, and we watched him act honorably and we saw that the hearts of the people were for…like David had won their hearts, they were loyal to him. And then we watched the systematic dismantling, right, that began with David taking another man’s wife, and then having that man, who was loyal, loyal, loyal to David, having him killed. That’s where this story began that we have watched the disintegration of much of the royal family of because of these systematic choices. So, the choices we make have an impact and they reverberate in unpredictable ways in our lives as they did with the king. So, when we allow offenses to fester they become poison within our relationships and the poison can destroy the bonds that tie us together if it’s just left unchecked. This is what we’re seeing happen to the king and his kingdom but it’s no different for us. We will make mistakes. We will fall short. Some of them will be small, some of them will be big and the aftermath can be devastating. But in that broken time were still making decisions, right, and they’re still compounding. We’re either drawing up battle lines or making the problem worse or we can own our actions and repent. And when there’s broken relationships full restoration isn’t always possible. It’s a broken world. But humility and repentance and the hope of grace are miraculous forces within a relationship and they cover a multitude of sins. David didn’t do any of that. So, let’s consider David’s path as we reflect on our own paths today. Just being aware, just being awake and aware and willing to repent rapidly could push back massive amounts of conflict in our lives. Truly, if we think about. Like, if were able to say, “okay, I’m getting you mad. I’m feeling this…like…I know what’s about to happen here” and stop ourselves or if we’ve already said that thing in response and it’s already turning into a battle, if we stop and say, “this is gonna go nowhere, this is…this is taking us nowhere…we don’t need this conflict between us, we could save ourselves so much in the present and in the future.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for the way that it will speak to us and penetrate our lives. And even as we spent some time talking about the story of King David, we also recognize the story that is happening in the Gospel of John as we watch Jesus freedom be taken and the questions beginning. And we recognize that this will be the last retelling of this story this year. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit to give it the gravity that it deserves in our lives as we prepare to move forward in our year and in the story of what comes next. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, is home, its the website, its where you find out what’s happening around here. So, stay tuned and stay connected.

All of the links to the different social media channels that we participate in are there in the community section. So, that’s a good way to stay connected. The Prayer Wall is there in the community section as well, which is also a fantastic way to stay connected.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop, where there are resources for this journey that we are taking together and ways to go deeper. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I could not possibly thank you enough. We would not be able to be here doing what we are doing in community and taking these steps forward every single day if we did not do this together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 13:1-39, John 17:1-26, Psalms 119:81-96, Proverbs 16:6-7

Today is the 28^th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we take the next step forward, settle into this week. Yesterday in the book of second Samuel, we read of Nathan, the prophet’s confrontation of David for the matter of Uriah the Hittite having him killed and taking his wife Bathsheba to be his own wife. And we mentioned yesterday that this is the turning points in David’s family. It’s like he’s lost respect at this point and we’ll begin to see things spiral for David as we begin to move forward. So, we’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today, second Samuel chapter 13.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we can see a clear distinction between life before Bathsheba and life after Bathsheba in David’s story before David took Bathsheba and her husband killed. And, so, in today’s reading from second Samuel some pretty terrible things happen in David’s personal life, things that no one, like no father would ever want to experience. His daughter, Tamar was raped by her brother Amnon. Amnon was then killed by his brother, Absalom, in revenge. Absalom was then exiled in Geshur for three years. And this is fascinating. Absalom’s mother was the daughter of the King of Geshur, which is in the north on the Sea of Galilee. It would later be known as Bethsaida, which is a city that some of the disciples of Jesus made as…called home and that Jesus did ministry in Bethsaida. So, we covered some ground, several years in today’s reading. And Absalom had been staying in Geshur and Amnon, of course, lost his life for raping his sister. And, so, after several years, David began to long to see his son Absalom again. And that’s where we leave the story. He will see Absalom again but things…things are not well between them and we will carry on with that story tomorrow.

And then in John’s Gospel, I mean, we’re nearing the end of the Gospels and where we’re situated now is the Jesus is having the last conversation with his friends at his Last Supper and we concluded this conversation today with a prayer. Jesus prayed a prayer over his friends, and it’s one of the most heartfelt prayers in the Bible and one of the most engaging things Jesus ever said. “This is the way to have eternal life”, Jesus said, “to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” It’s just simple. The way to eternal life is to know God, not to know about God, not to gather more information about God, not to get more the theology, not to get more doctrine, not to do more things on behalf of God, but to know God. The study of God and work for God, these are important, this is what we engage in everyday, it’s a natural outpouring of a life with God, but it’s not the other way around, right? Like, all of our activity for God isn’t necessarily making us closer to God. We actually draw near to God and all this activity is a byproduct. So, fundamentally, foundational, like bedrock in our faith, we must understand that knowing God in an intimate relationship and friendship is our primary purpose on the earth and leads us into eternal life. And then Jesus as he’s praying, and this prayer is known as His high priestly prayer, he says, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world. I’m asking you to keep them safe from the evil one”. So, Jesus prayer wasn’t to ask the Father to remove his friends from planet Earth but instead to send them into the world armed with the truth of God’s word and the Spirit of truth within. And notice what Jesus said, “just as you sent me into the world I am sending them into the world.” Think about it. According to Jesus we are commissioned and sent into the world in the same way Jesus was. So, don’t listen to that…or don’t go back and reread that and diminish that as a metaphor for something that’s lesser than it really is. We are sent into the world as the Father sent Jesus. So, are we living from that place? Do our lives reflect that reality? And unless we think that this high priestly prayer is something that Jesus prayed over his disciples, and so that was like that put them in a different place and they have a different status and they got a commissioning and they got like a better version of the Holy Spirit than we can ever have, we just have to listen to Jesus, His own words. “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.” Jesus was praying for you. He was praying for me. We are them. And here’s what Jesus prayed over us. “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” I mean, are we getting what…this is our Savior here speaking…like are we getting what he is saying because we subtly diminish the reality that Jesus is praying for all of the time. Most the time we look at this prayer for unity among us, like this is a prayer of unity, and it is. This isn’t just about getting along and playing nice together, this is about union. Jesus gave us the glory given to Him by the Father. That is mind boggling, but it was for a reason so that we could have union with God through Jesus. This is how Jesus said it, “as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You, I am in them and you are in me”. This is what being intertwined looks like. This is what union with God looks like. This is what collaboration and friendship and relationship looks like. This is what a relationship with God looks like, and it leads to eternal life. So, I mean, we’ve been examining what Jesus had to say at the Last Supper from the Gospel of John in depth over these last couple of days because this is the last time we’re gonna cover this territory and because it covers some of the most iconic verses in the Bible. After this, as we’ll see as we go forward in this week, Jesus will go to the garden of Gethsemane, He will be arrested, and we know how that story goes. So, this isn’t a bad time to, maybe on your own time, just go back and read John 13 through 17, reread this…all that Jesus has to say to His friends before He goes into His time of suffering in its entirety because the implications of what Jesus is saying here should irreversibly change us from the inside out. Like we should never look at the world the same again. It’s that big of a deal in our faith. And we should also consider the gravity of this conversation. This was the last time Jesus could have an intimate quiet conversation among friends. This is what He chose to say with the last moments of freedom He would experience. And what He had to say changed everything for them and we are included in it and it should change everything for us.

Prayer:

Jesus we take these things to heart, that You are in the Father and the Father is in You and the same is true for us because You are within us, that we are commissioned to go do what You did, to be Your hands and feet in this world, to be Your body in this world, to be operating in this world as You did, one body multiplied over and over and over encompassing this world becoming the body Christ. Allow us to get the eyes and the ears of the kingdom on this and begin to allow it to settle inside of us, who we really are and why we are really here. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

It’s where the Prayer Wall lives, it’s where the Daily Audio Bible shop, where there are resources available for this journey through the Bible in a year.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. The link is on the homepage. Thank you humbly 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 if the mail is your preference, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or comment there are a number of numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the Americas, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you’re in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call, and if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 13:1-39, John 17:1-26, Psalms 119:81-96, Proverbs 16:6-7

Today is the 28^th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we take the next step forward, settle into this week. Yesterday in the book of second Samuel, we read of Nathan, the prophet’s confrontation of David for the matter of Uriah the Hittite having him killed and taking his wife Bathsheba to be his own wife. And we mentioned yesterday that this is the turning points in David’s family. It’s like he’s lost respect at this point and we’ll begin to see things spiral for David as we begin to move forward. So, we’re reading from the New International Version this week. Today, second Samuel chapter 13.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we can see a clear distinction between life before Bathsheba and life after Bathsheba in David’s story before David took Bathsheba and her husband killed. And, so, in today’s reading from second Samuel some pretty terrible things happen in David’s personal life, things that no one, like no father would ever want to experience. His daughter, Tamar was raped by her brother Amnon. Amnon was then killed by his brother, Absalom, in revenge. Absalom was then exiled in Geshur for three years. And this is fascinating. Absalom’s mother was the daughter of the King of Geshur, which is in the north on the Sea of Galilee. It would later be known as Bethsaida, which is a city that some of the disciples of Jesus made as…called home and that Jesus did ministry in Bethsaida. So, we covered some ground, several years in today’s reading. And Absalom had been staying in Geshur and Amnon, of course, lost his life for raping his sister. And, so, after several years, David began to long to see his son Absalom again. And that’s where we leave the story. He will see Absalom again but things…things are not well between them and we will carry on with that story tomorrow.

And then in John’s Gospel, I mean, we’re nearing the end of the Gospels and where we’re situated now is the Jesus is having the last conversation with his friends at his Last Supper and we concluded this conversation today with a prayer. Jesus prayed a prayer over his friends, and it’s one of the most heartfelt prayers in the Bible and one of the most engaging things Jesus ever said. “This is the way to have eternal life”, Jesus said, “to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” It’s just simple. The way to eternal life is to know God, not to know about God, not to gather more information about God, not to get more the theology, not to get more doctrine, not to do more things on behalf of God, but to know God. The study of God and work for God, these are important, this is what we engage in everyday, it’s a natural outpouring of a life with God, but it’s not the other way around, right? Like, all of our activity for God isn’t necessarily making us closer to God. We actually draw near to God and all this activity is a byproduct. So, fundamentally, foundational, like bedrock in our faith, we must understand that knowing God in an intimate relationship and friendship is our primary purpose on the earth and leads us into eternal life. And then Jesus as he’s praying, and this prayer is known as His high priestly prayer, he says, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world. I’m asking you to keep them safe from the evil one”. So, Jesus prayer wasn’t to ask the Father to remove his friends from planet Earth but instead to send them into the world armed with the truth of God’s word and the Spirit of truth within. And notice what Jesus said, “just as you sent me into the world I am sending them into the world.” Think about it. According to Jesus we are commissioned and sent into the world in the same way Jesus was. So, don’t listen to that…or don’t go back and reread that and diminish that as a metaphor for something that’s lesser than it really is. We are sent into the world as the Father sent Jesus. So, are we living from that place? Do our lives reflect that reality? And unless we think that this high priestly prayer is something that Jesus prayed over his disciples, and so that was like that put them in a different place and they have a different status and they got a commissioning and they got like a better version of the Holy Spirit than we can ever have, we just have to listen to Jesus, His own words. “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.” Jesus was praying for you. He was praying for me. We are them. And here’s what Jesus prayed over us. “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one. I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” I mean, are we getting what…this is our Savior here speaking…like are we getting what he is saying because we subtly diminish the reality that Jesus is praying for all of the time. Most the time we look at this prayer for unity among us, like this is a prayer of unity, and it is. This isn’t just about getting along and playing nice together, this is about union. Jesus gave us the glory given to Him by the Father. That is mind boggling, but it was for a reason so that we could have union with God through Jesus. This is how Jesus said it, “as you are in Me, Father, and I am in You, I am in them and you are in me”. This is what being intertwined looks like. This is what union with God looks like. This is what collaboration and friendship and relationship looks like. This is what a relationship with God looks like, and it leads to eternal life. So, I mean, we’ve been examining what Jesus had to say at the Last Supper from the Gospel of John in depth over these last couple of days because this is the last time we’re gonna cover this territory and because it covers some of the most iconic verses in the Bible. After this, as we’ll see as we go forward in this week, Jesus will go to the garden of Gethsemane, He will be arrested, and we know how that story goes. So, this isn’t a bad time to, maybe on your own time, just go back and read John 13 through 17, reread this…all that Jesus has to say to His friends before He goes into His time of suffering in its entirety because the implications of what Jesus is saying here should irreversibly change us from the inside out. Like we should never look at the world the same again. It’s that big of a deal in our faith. And we should also consider the gravity of this conversation. This was the last time Jesus could have an intimate quiet conversation among friends. This is what He chose to say with the last moments of freedom He would experience. And what He had to say changed everything for them and we are included in it and it should change everything for us.

Prayer:

Jesus we take these things to heart, that You are in the Father and the Father is in You and the same is true for us because You are within us, that we are commissioned to go do what You did, to be Your hands and feet in this world, to be Your body in this world, to be operating in this world as You did, one body multiplied over and over and over encompassing this world becoming the body Christ. Allow us to get the eyes and the ears of the kingdom on this and begin to allow it to settle inside of us, who we really are and why we are really here. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

It’s where the Prayer Wall lives, it’s where the Daily Audio Bible shop, where there are resources available for this journey through the Bible in a year.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. The link is on the homepage. Thank you humbly 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 if the mail is your preference, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or comment there are a number of numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. If you are in the Americas, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you’re in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call, and if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

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

2 Samuel 12:1-31, John 16:1-33, Psalms 119:65-80, Proverbs 16:4-5

Today is the 27^th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you as we dive into the work week and move our way toward the end of this month. We’re reading from the New International Version this week and working our way through second Samuel. So, we’ll pick up with the story that’s unfolding before us, a sordid story. David has become king, he had taken another man’s wife, who happened to be a soldier in his military. And as we’ll find out, one of David’s elite warriors. When this warrior, his name was Uriah, Uriah the Hittite, when David summoned him back to Jerusalem from battle and told him to go home to his wife he wouldn’t, like, he wouldn’t. And that was David’s plan. He was gonna cover the whole thing up. So, David sent him back into battle and essentially…essentially murdered him by having him put on the front lines and then having people withdraw so that he was killed. This is the kind of things that Saul tried to do to David. So, it’s quite a turn in the story and we’ll pick it up. Second Samuel chapter 12.

Commentary:

Okay. So, no doubt about it, the story happening in second Samuel in David’s life is…well…its sordid just like we said at the beginning. All of our time as we’re traveling along with David through first Samuel watching him be on the run from assassination plot after assassination plot, after plot, after plot, after plot, to have him killed, he’s become stealthy, he’s become a warrior, he’s had to grow up fast, he’s had to become a national hero or a national figure without any training. So, he has held on to God for dear life and some of his heart is poured out in the Psalms as he runs from King Saul, then he becomes King and he’s honorable through that process and everybody rallies to him and he’s the king and then this happens, right? This is a very large turn in the story of King David. Things are not going to go well in his family after this. It’s almost like this is the kind of story that nobody really wants to talk about like if you were back in this time. And yet, his family knows what happened and we’re gonna see that it appears they’ve lost respect and it’s certain that after the prophet Nathan came and told the story to David and David’s all angry and wanting to kill this person that he’s realized, that he realizes that the story is about him. And, so, we see him repent and things will never be the same again. And it just becomes a mirror of our own lives in so many ways because it is in the times of difficulty and hardship and wilderness of our lives that we are clinging to God for dear life, especially when we feel like there’s nothing else to cling to. And we find, as we look back over those times, that they were rich. They taught us how to trust. They taught us how to navigate. And yet, then when things get easy again, like when we get back in control again then we find ourselves wandering into things that have no possible good outcome and can really mess things up going down the line into the future. And, so we find in the story of King David, once again the Bible becomes a mirror into our own lives.

And then as we move into John’s Gospel we’re continuing to listen to Jesus speak His final words to His friends in the last recorded conversation that we find in the Gospels before Jesus was arrested. And, so, Jesus says, “I’ve told you these things so that you won’t lose faith, right, so you won’t abandon your faith, so you won’t fall away because you’re gonna be thrown out of synagogues and a time will come when people who kill you will think they’re doing God’s work.” How true that proved to be. How true that remains. Throughout history followers of Jesus have been have been subjected to appalling persecution. Even in our own lifetimes we’ve seen this brutality continue but it’s what happened to Jesus. Those who put Jesus to death, they thought they were doing the right thing. So, let’s be sure to take a moment to just consider the freedoms that we enjoy and that we take for granted every day because mixed in with the gratitude, we need to have the earnest plea for our persecuted brothers and sisters who, if they had the freedoms that we take for granted, it would be like the very kingdom of God itself for them. So, may we pray for the persecuted church today. I have spoken to a lot of people and a lot of places in the world and some of those places in the world aren't…you just can’t take safety for granted, especially in religious…in terms of religious freedom. And so often they feel forgotten. And it’s easy to forget them because we may find ourselves geographically or nationally or politically at odds with the nation that they live in. And, so, their trapped and feel as if no one cares. And Jesus went on to say, “when the spirit of truth comes, He will lead you into all truth”, which is something that we pray for on a continual basis because this is a promise given. And Jesus said that, “He’s not going to speak on His own will. He’ll tell you what He’s heard. He’ll tell you about the future. He’ll bring me glory by telling you whatever He receives from me. Of course, this is the Holy Spirit that we’re talking about. The spirit of God is within us and will lead us into all truth, but we have to ask ourselves, how much truth are we really after? Like, how much truth are we really seeking? Because often what we want is our cake and eat it too, right, to enjoy the light but keep shadows on the things that we that we don’t want to face or that we don’t want exposed. But, here’s the deal, hiding will not make us like Jesus. Even though we may battle this all our lives, we’re struggling to be true and walk in the light. This is what Jesus modeled for us. That’s what Christ like looks like. That’s what we’re supposed to be becoming. And then lastly, Jesus said, “I told you all this stuff so that you can have peace in me because here on earth you’ll have many trials and sorrows but take heart, I have overcome the world.” So, even as we hear those words, even as we read them today, we can just look around and see that this is true. We indeed will face trials and indeed we experience sorrow in this world. And at times it’s overwhelming. And at times is like a tsunami has washed us away. But Jesus is telling us that there is a peace that the world cannot give and the world cannot take because this peace can only be found intertwined in a relationship with God and that has been bestowed upon us. So, take heart. Take joy. Take peace. Jesus has overcome the world and through him so can we.

Prayer:

Father, we come into Your presence today acknowledging that a lot has happened in the Scriptures for us to consider. The story of David is certainly a complicated one, much like our lives. And we may have, at times, found ourselves doing things toward other people that had previously been done to us and we like, we know the story, like we know the pain that’s causing, and we find ourselves doing the same thing, like David. So, we invite the Spirit of truth into that. And when we listen Jesus, to Your words, as You’re coming to the end of Your conversation at the Last Supper and You are assuring Your friends that they won’t be able to take anything for granted. We have these freedoms that we take for granted that they did not have. And, so, any time that we face any kind of little obstacle we want to start screaming and shaking our fists at the sky when You prepared us for this in advance. So, come Holy Spirit and help us to understand and rightly interpret the circumstances of our lives and what the seasons of wilderness actually mean to us. And lastly Father, we pray for our brothers and sisters who feel and in many cases are forgotten in this world, trapped behind the borders, trapped behind cultures, struggling to survive and avoid the persecution that descends upon them regularly. When we think of them we confess a sense of helplessness because we don’t know what to do. And yet, we’re reaching to You Father, we’re reaching toward our brothers and sisters in the Spirit that they might feel comfort today, that they might have a sense that they are not forgotten. Come Holy Spirit we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, is the website, it’s home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here.  So, be sure to stay tuned and stay connected in any way that you can.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Prayer Wall at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app, that’s a good place to stay connected and pray for your brothers and sisters all over the world.

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link, it lives on the homepage and I thank you humbly and profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t do this together. If we didn’t come around the global campfire every day and keep the fire burning, if we didn’t do this together we wouldn’t be here. So, thank you 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, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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