A Walk Through The Word

April 20, 2019

04/20/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 21:1-22:20, Luke 20:1-26, Psalms 89:1-13, Proverbs 13:15-16

Today is the 20^th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is always a joy, it is always a pleasure to come together with you around the global campfire each and every day. Obviously, we’re ending a week together. This is the day that is in between days. This is a day known as Holy Saturday. It’s a day that believers all around the world are sitting with fact that Jesus has died. If we’re putting ourselves back in story then yesterday was Good Friday, perhaps the blackest day to be to be noted by a believer and this is a day where we sit with the fact we’re in between. If we were back in the time and we had been following Jesus, then we would be very heartbroken and confused. And believe it or not that’s where were supposed to position our hearts while we wait, while we wait for tomorrow when everything changes. So, hopefully that becomes a part of your day, a part of your thoughts and prayers and meditations today. And as we move with that spirit forward we’ll move into our reading for today. We’ve been reading from the New Living Translation this week and today Joshua chapter 21 verse 1 through 22 verse 20.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another week in Your word and as we come to the end of this week we certainly do find ourselves in this Easter holiday season. And it’s easy for us to just skip today, to make today a preparation for tomorrow and not sit with the fact that for a time You laid cold and lifeless in a borrowed tomb while a tremendous celebration of Passover was happening all around the city and while many, many people were confused and heartbroken and completely lost because they had followed and hoped in You. And even though You had been clear along the way there was still this space and time were al was seemingly lost. And, so, we at least take these moments now to sit with that and to realize no matter what we had done, no matter what we would have done, no matter how we would’ve tried, we would invariably find ourselves lost without You. And, so, we invite You fully as we move our way toward tomorrow, but we can’t get tomorrow without going through today and without having gone through yesterday. And, so, Holy Spirit, come as we contemplate yet again the love, the overwhelming unspeakable love that You bestowed upon us by coming to rescue us. Come Jesus we pray. In Your precious name we ask. Amen.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello, this is Robbie. It is…I’m calling…it’s April 14^th and I literally just came home from the More Gathering which was fabulous. I’m so glad that I went but the reason I’m calling is at one of the sessions I really needed a hug and a lady came up from behind he gave me a hug and kissed me on the head and moved on before I could look up see who this angel was. So, just whoever you were I was in the very back row in the Ring of Fire session and thank you for the hug. You, more than you know, helped during a time when I really, really needed it. Jesus answered a prayer and you blessed me and hopefully he’ll bless you. So, again thank you for the hug. And Jill, thank you for the conference it was exhilarating, it’s life-changing. Thank you. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible community my name is Scott __ from Michigan. I’m calling on April 15^th mainly in praise and I want to share a story with you. Since I called late last year I was talking about the stress of almost like PTSD type stuff I was dealing with being in the ICU and the stuff that I see and deal with and I felt like ever since your prayers and calling in that God has shown that, you know, He’s there in both little and big ways. And I wanted to share a story from yesterday that really brought all this home. I was going about my day and ran into a young lady who…we were just talking there for a minute…and she wants to go into a nursing and she was asking me how I dealt with the stuff with nursing and all the things that I see and the first thing that came out of my mouth was that faith and just knowing that there’s more going on than I know, God’s in control, that helps me get through the day. And that had her open up and tell me a story about our father passed six weeks ago going in for it was probably a last ditch surgery but it didn’t quite work but the story was that before he went to the surgery he said he saw Jesus just walking, long flowing hair and a blue robe. He didn’t…she asked him…and he was lucent and he…she asked him if He said anything and he didn’t he just smiled. They were hoping that was a good sign that he would be healed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t healed but she said that before he passed and he was unconscious __ smile on his face…

Hi this is Tiffany from New Mexico and I just wanted to call in today and encourage all of you who are feeling alone. I’ve been there, and I know that you may be the only person you know that listens to the Daily Audio Bible. You may be the only follower of Christ in your family. You may be feeling misunderstood for various reasons or have some disease that you think no one understands or you may even feel so alone that you’ve thought of ending it all and we have heard you. But I want you to know the truth, you’re not alone. This weekend I was blessed to go to the More Gathering and I want you to know I saw an army. There is an army of women and I’m sure there’s also an army of men that have your back and fight for you in prayer when you call in or post on the Prayer Wall. Don’t believe the lies of the enemy that tell you you are alone. I want you to know that it is a just Jesus who loves you although you are His obsession. It isn’t just Brian that loves, as I’m sure he does. But there is an entire family of us that love you. We’re real, we’re not just voices on the phone or posts on a wall but we’re here and we love you and you belong. So, keep fighting the good fight because we’re behind you. Be encouraged today and don’t give up. That’s all I wanted to say but I’m praying for you all. Have a good day.

Hi this is Greg, I’m a frequent listener and I was listening to the April 13^th outcast and I decided to listen beyond the teaching and into and through Brian’s prayer and something he said was to pray that God be present in the moment and that to be with us during this week, throughout this week, as this week passes by and becomes a part of our history, a part of my history. And I really felt prompted to think about the practical things I can do before this week expires to advance God’s kingdom. I thought I’d share a couple of simple ideas that I’ve been blessed and I’m gonna commit to doing. Number one, give. And giving is always a great idea but if you’ve not given before, don’t give what you can’t and don’t promise to give what you don’t have, but whatever you do decide to do, do it quickly and with joy even if it’s a dollar a week or a dollar a month. And even better yet, make it a make a habit. Get that auto pay __ . I’m sure the Lord will bless you in doing so. And the second thing would be, you gotta pray, and not only pray but think about taking a day and giving the first fruit of that day, the very first moment of that morning to the Lord. And a couple of things that I’ve been blessed in doing is just laying down and letting the Holy Spirit guide me and actually moving my lips and praying out loud as an act of faith because I think the Lord really likes to hear from his children and think He’s blessed to hear from each of us and it might stretch your faith boundaries a bit by praying out loud. And the third thing would be to call this week and pray for a country. Pick a country whether we’re…maybe you’ve got friends who are in missionaries in a country where God’s children are being persecuted, maybe even a country that’s an enemy of the nation that you live in and just pray that the gospel could force fourth from the missionaries and saints, touching that country and that they do it __ Jesus and receive Him into their hearts and turn and repent and be healed and their land gets healed and maybe even that that nation…that that nation, the Lord’s gospel would pour forth and…

Hey guys, Darrell Prizano down here in Georgia. I don’t call in too often but I’ve called in before. Listening to today’s message, April 15^th. Brian, I don’t know if you’re gonna hear this message or not but man, thank you, thank you, thank you, brother. Needed what you shared today in your commentary when you were discussing where Jesus is talking to…I think it was Jesus was talking to His disciples and He says that the kingdom of God is at hand. What does that…what that means is, the kingdom of God is here among us already. It is within us and I knew that as soon as you said it, as soon as you read it from the reading, but in your commentary you said, “how long are we going to simply be grateful for the grace of God in our lives and how it applies and yet continue to battle and battle and battle out our own inner darkness and not be effective the kingdom of God which we are, which is among us?” The job is right now, right here, while we are here, to spread his love. My gosh…because that is me - battling today, not effective for God today, get past it tomorrow and I can be effective. But what about today? What about when I share…talk about Jesus today as it were? They need me ready, in season constantly. The world needs that. Brian, thank you so much man. I really appreciate that. I needed to hear that today. That was a great great word __ read the gospel passionately. Love you guys. God bless you all.

April 20, 2019

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday April 20, 2019 (NIV)

Joshua 21:1-22:20

The Towns Given to the Levites

21 Then the leaders of the tribe of Levi came to consult with Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the other tribes of Israel. ²They came to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us towns to live in and pasturelands for our livestock.” ³So by the command of the Lord the people of Israel gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own grants of land.

⁴The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, were allotted thirteen towns that were originally assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵The other families of the Kohathite clan were allotted ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶The clan of Gershon was allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The clan of Merari was allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸So the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s command to Moses and assigned these towns and pasturelands to the Levites by casting sacred lots.

⁹The Israelites gave the following towns from the tribes of Judah and Simeon ¹⁰to the descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, since the sacred lot fell to them first: ¹¹Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasturelands. (Arba was an ancestor of Anak.) ¹²But the open fields beyond the town and the surrounding villages were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³The following towns with their pasturelands were given to the descendants of Aaron the priest: Hebron (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Libnah, ¹⁴Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵Holon, Debir, ¹⁶Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin the priests were given the following towns with their pasturelands: Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸Anathoth, and Almon—four towns. ¹⁹So in all, thirteen towns with their pasturelands were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

²⁰The rest of the Kohathite clan from the tribe of Levi was allotted the following towns and pasturelands from the tribe of Ephraim: ²¹Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Gezer, ²²Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four towns.

²³The following towns and pasturelands were allotted to the priests from the tribe of Dan: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, ²⁴Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four towns.

²⁵The half-tribe of Manasseh allotted the following towns with their pasturelands to the priests: Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two towns. ²⁶So in all, ten towns with their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clan.

²⁷The descendants of Gershon, another clan within the tribe of Levi, received the following towns with their pasturelands from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone) and Be-eshterah—two towns.

²⁸From the tribe of Issachar they received the following towns with their pasturelands: Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four towns.

³⁰From the tribe of Asher they received the following towns with their pasturelands: Mishal, Abdon, ³¹Helkath, and Rehob—four towns.

³²From the tribe of Naphtali they received the following towns with their pasturelands: Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three towns. ³³So in all, thirteen towns with their pasturelands were allotted to the clan of Gershon.

³⁴The rest of the Levites—the Merari clan—were given the following towns with their pasturelands from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam, Kartah, ³⁵Dimnah, and Nahalal—four towns.

³⁶From the tribe of Reuben they received the following towns with their pasturelands: Bezer, Jahaz,^[a] ³⁷Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four towns.

³⁸From the tribe of Gad they received the following towns with their pasturelands: Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for those who accidentally killed someone), Mahanaim, ³⁹Heshbon, and Jazer—four towns. ⁴⁰So in all, twelve towns were allotted to the clan of Merari.

⁴¹The total number of towns and pasturelands within Israelite territory given to the Levites came to forty-eight. ⁴²Every one of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it.

⁴³So the Lord gave to Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had solemnly promised their ancestors. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord helped them conquer all their enemies. ⁴⁵Not a single one of all the good promises the Lord had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything he had spoken came true.

The Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ²He told them, “You have done as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and you have obeyed every order I have given you. ³During all this time you have not deserted the other tribes. You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord your God right up to the present day. ⁴And now the Lord your God has given the other tribes rest, as he promised them. So go back home to the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you as your possession on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁵But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” ⁶So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went home.

⁷Moses had given the land of Bashan, east of the Jordan River, to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The other half of the tribe was given land west of the Jordan.) As Joshua sent them away and blessed them, ⁸he said to them, “Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies—the vast herds of livestock, the silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and the large supply of clothing. Share the plunder with your relatives.”

⁹So the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They started the journey back to their own land of Gilead, the territory that belonged to them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

The Eastern Tribes Build an Altar

¹⁰But while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called Geliloth^[b] near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar.

¹¹The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. ¹²So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. ¹³First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁴In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.

¹⁵When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ¹⁶“The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? ¹⁷Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord. ¹⁸And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.

¹⁹“If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord^[c]? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”

Footnotes:

21:36 Hebrew Jahzah, a variant spelling of Jahaz.
22:10 Or to the circle of stones; similarly in 22:11.
22:20 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Luke 20:1-26

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ²They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

³“Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴“Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

⁵They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. ⁶But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” ⁷So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

⁸And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Parable of the Evil Farmers

⁹Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. ¹⁰At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. ¹¹So the owner sent another servant, but they also insulted him, beat him up, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²A third man was sent, and they wounded him and chased him away.

¹³“‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’

¹⁴“But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ ¹⁵So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him.

“What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them?” Jesus asked. ¹⁶“I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others.”

“How terrible that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested.

¹⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’^[a]

¹⁸Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

¹⁹The teachers of religious law and the leading priests wanted to arrest Jesus immediately because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the people’s reaction.

Taxes for Caesar

²⁰Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. ²¹“Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. ²²Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³He saw through their trickery and said, ²⁴“Show me a Roman coin.^[b] Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

²⁵“Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

²⁶So they failed to trap him by what he said in front of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they became silent.

Footnotes:

20:17 Ps 118:22.
20:24 Greek a denarius.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 89:1-13

Psalm 89

A psalm^[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

¹I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.
²Your unfailing love will last forever.
Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.

³The Lord said, “I have made a covenant with David, my chosen servant.
I have sworn this oath to him:
⁴‘I will establish your descendants as kings forever;
they will sit on your throne from now until eternity.’” Interlude
⁵All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord;
myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.
⁶For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?
What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?
⁷The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.
He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.
⁸O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
You are entirely faithful.

⁹You rule the oceans.
You subdue their storm-tossed waves.
¹⁰You crushed the great sea monster.^[b]
You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
¹¹The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;
everything in the world is yours—you created it all.
¹²You created north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.
¹³Powerful is your arm!
Strong is your hand!
Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.

Footnotes:

89:Title Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
89:10 Hebrew Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 13:15-16

¹⁵A person with good sense is respected;
a treacherous person is headed for destruction.^[a]

¹⁶Wise people think before they act;
fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.

Footnotes:

13:15 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads the way of the treacherous is lasting.

New Living Translation (NLT)

April 19, 2019

04/19/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 19:1-20:9, Luke 19:28-48, Psalms 88:1-18, Proverbs 13:12-14

Today is the 19^th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today although this is the most somber day of the year in the life of a believer. Today is Good Friday. Today commemorates the day that Jesus was crucified. So, it’s important for us to keep that at the forefront of our thoughts today and maybe we’ll talk about that a little bit at the end of our reading today even though it is Good Friday it is another day and, as is our rhythm, we will take the next step forward in the Scriptures this year. And we’ve been reading from the New Living translation this week. Today Joshua chapter 19 and 20.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as I mentioned at the beginning, today is Good Friday and really, what else should or would we talk about. This is a day that we’ve been leading up to and we began to observe this season almost 40 days ago, I guess 37, 38 days ago on Ash Wednesday, which began the season of Lent and we talked about it along the way and some people observe Lent and some people don’t. And it’s not a command in the Bible. It’s a way of preparing our hearts to get here and to get through here and we can’t get to Easter, which is perhaps the most important day in the life of the believer. We would say maybe this is the most important day in human history, Easter, but we can’t get there without coming through here. And today is a day that commemorates the day that Jesus was nailed to a cross and hung in unspeakable agony, pain that I don’t even know how to…I don’t even know how to think about, but it wasn’t just a physical pain, it wasn’t just the physical torture that would eventually cause his heart stopped beating it…it was the weight of the sins of the world upon his shoulders and the utter and complete rejection of everyone, it was the weight of the verbal abuse in the lying, it was the weight of being spit upon and smacked around, it was the weight of the world upon his shoulders. And, so, thankfully, we do understand that Easter is coming. Thankfully we have that hope but if we put ourselves back with the disciples, if we put ourselves back with the people who were following Jesus at a distance, if we go back to the people who were talking about the things that Jesus was talking about and it was spreading like wildfire and they were following this man and then we get to today and rather than any other number of things that could’ve happened that this day took the life of this person and his life was taken by crucifixion, a horrible death and we don’t know that we can look forward to Easter, right? He said stuff about this, but it was all cryptic and we don’t understand. And we watch Him bow his head in death then we would properly put ourselves in the confused and black day that it is because we do certainly look forward to Easter. We certainly do understand that that’s coming but today we put ourselves in the position of understanding that the light of the world went out, was snuffed out, and that Jesus came off of the cross dead and He was wrapped with spices and put into a tomb quickly to avoid all of the problems with Passover. And they had planned to get through Passover and come back and get his body and figure out what to do. That was the plan. So, we put ourselves in that position. And even if you go to a Good Friday service today, depending on the tradition you’ll probably receive Communion or the Eucharist, but an appropriate way to end a Good Friday service is that the candle gets blown out and everything goes dark and everyone leaves in silence because what worse thing could happen? Besides the light of the world being taken out of the world, what hope would be left after that? And that’s where we leave ourselves on Good Friday. We’ve been considering during the season of Lent, the weight, the cost of our freedom and we’ve invited God to reorganize and reprioritize our lives and take out whatever doesn’t need to be there and put in whatever does to just allow ourselves to lament and sit with it. And, so, we come to this day of ultimate grief. Now we’re face-to-face with what it cost to give us our freedom. We’ve been tracking with the Bible and through the sacrificial system and all the way through all of the things that would need to be done to remind a person of how helpless they are without God and then we get to this day and we see that people could still, could still, could still try to do away with the Lord. And yet, in spite of it all what the Lord’s saying through this scene that we commemorate today is that I am doing away with sin. Sin isn’t going to be the story anymore. Once and for all this is being dealt with. We’re not going to be separated anymore. We’re going to be united. And, so, that’s what we hope in as we move toward Easter, but today. Today we experience the blackness of the day that it is. Today we consider what it would be like if there were no Easter. Today, we consider the price that was paid to take the shackles off of our lives and give us freedom and we once again consider the shackles that we keep putting back on that don’t need to be there anymore.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, we invite You into the experience of this Good Friday. For some of us it’ll just be another day and we’ll be busy and get things done. For others of us, we’ll sit with the blackness of this day. And for most of us it’ll be something in between. We invite Your Holy Spirit to bring the year what it cost to remove sin as a part of our story to give us the freedom to walk away from a dead-end life and onto a narrow path that will lead to life. We sit with these things and we thank You Jesus. We are humbled. But the truth is the word…there aren’t the right words that at least that I know that can properly show gratitude and it be big enough. You changed our lives completely and utterly and we apologize for the shackles that we keep putting on ourselves and we ask that Your Holy Spirit lead us through this season to resurrection day and that those chains fall off once and for all. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Song:

Death Be Not Proud - Audrey Assad

Death, be not proud, though the whole world fear you:

Mighty and dreadful you may seem,

But death, be not proud, for your pride has failed you

You will not kill me.

Though you may dwell in plague and poison,

You’re a slave to fate and desperate men,

So death, if your sleep be the gates to Heaven,

Why your confidence?

When you will be no more,

You will be no more,

When you will be no more.

Even death will die.

Death, be not proud.

Death, be not proud,

Cause even death will die.

April 19, 2019

04/19/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 19:1-20:9, Luke 19:28-48, Psalms 88:1-18, Proverbs 13:12-14

Commentary:

Prayer:

Song:

Death Be Not Proud - Audrey Assad

Death, be not proud, though the whole world fear you:

Mighty and dreadful you may seem,

But death, be not proud, for your pride has failed you

You will not kill me.

Though you may dwell in plague and poison,

You’re a slave to fate and desperate men,

So death, if your sleep be the gates to Heaven,

Why your confidence?

When you will be no more,

You will be no more,

When you will be no more.

Even death will die.

Death, be not proud.

Death, be not proud,

Cause even death will die.

April 19, 2019

04/18/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 16:1-18:28, Luke 19:1-27, Psalms 87:1-7, Proverbs 13:11

Today is the 18^th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you for another day, another time that we can come in out of the cold or the heat or whatever but just come around the light of this global campfire and let God speak to us through His word. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and out today as we go back into the Old Testament we’ll read Joshua chapters 16, 17, and 18.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for all of the ways that it speaks to us, how it touches every part of our lives at one point or another. It penetrates deep within our thoughts and motives. It penetrates deep into our hearts, our emotions. It speaks into our relationships with each other. It leads us on the narrow path that leads to life. It leads us to You. And, so. we thank You for Your word. Father, as we’re here in this week that the ends the season of Lent that also commemorates Your death and burial and resurrection, we enter into this fully here on this Thursday, a day that has been called Maundy Thursday to represent Your last meal with Your friends where You washed their feet and modeled for us to be great in God’s kingdom is to be the servant. So, come Holy Spirit as we contemplate these things today and as we continue to sit with the question from yesterday. “What do You want me to do for You?” Come Holy Spirit into these questions, into these contemplations as we move into these holy days that commemorate our very salvation. Come Jesus we pray. In Your mighty name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Of course, what is going on around here is exactly what we were just talking about in the prayer. These days that are in front of us, we can go through them and they can just be other days as the clock continues to spin and the world continues to rotate around the sun, they can just be other days, but these days are given to us all throughout our church history to remember the magnitude of what happened on our behalf, the magnitude of the impact on the world, the magnitude of the impact of our eternity. And, so may we drink deeply of this time.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link that lives 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

It’s Dustin from Spokane Washington and it’s Friday April 12^th and I just listened to the Daily Audio Bible and wow that was a good episode. I pretty much cried during both of them, my phone just downloaded it twice for some reason. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you Brian, thank you Blind Tony, thank you everyone who participates in creating the podcast and thank you for everyone that calls in. Whenever you ask for prayers I pray right then for you in your name and in Jesus’ name and that’s pretty much it. Oh, and, Brian I love you too. I just wanted to say that. I don’t think enough people say that enough. I know you say that every episode. Just another one back at you. Anyways, I love all you and take care. Bye.

Hello, my name is Don Perry, I’m calling for my son Tyler Davidson. Tyler has been diagnosed with bipolar schizo-affective disorder and he has been battling this and struggling with this for the last five years. He refuses to take his medication and has tried to self-medicating with alcohol and his life is spiraling out of control once again. He’s been in jail over this issue. He’s been in several mental institutions. He can’t get his life together because of this problem and its characteristic for this type of diagnosis that they will start taking their medications, they think they’re okay, and that they will just stop taking them because they don’t need them anymore. They get their life together and they don’t remember how it was before they started taking the medication. I raised him in church, he is a godly child, and he is a sweet, sweet man. He’s 25 years old now and I still, as a mother of course, moms always see the little boy inside of their child as they grow up forever and, you know, I just I know he’s just got so much of to give to God and to the world. And, you know, so my prayer is that you will please pray for my son. I don’t know what to do. I am putting this in God’s hands. I just thank you so much. Bye-bye.

Hey DAB family, my name is Scott, I live in Fresno California and I’m calling today…I don’t call very often but I was gonna call in for friend. Anyway, I have one particular friend who has been married for 30 years and they’ve had a lot of struggles and challenges in their marriage but this past week my friends wife asked him to leave and it’s kind of blowing him away and it kinda blows me away but in a lot of ways I see this a lot with some other people. I have, oh shoot, at least three people around me who are involved in some kind of situation like this and, honestly, sometimes I start feeling like, why bother if people just decide to do what they’re gonna do. And even with my friend that I’m mentioning to you, as I see some of my other friends and I come around him to talk with him, it doesn’t seem like there’s an awareness or even a desire to press in and pray for my friend. I want to pray for his wife. And for some reason she’s just shut down. And I’ve known my friend for a while, he’s a good guy. It’s just they’re two different people, you know. And, so, I guess I just ask that that where two or more are gathered, you know, we lift up this couple, this relationship. Lord, I just…I just ask that you bring them back…

Good morning my beautiful sisters and brothers. This is Don calling from New York but I’m actually calling from the More Conference on Sunday morning as we pack up to leave today. And my heart is so full and I’m so grateful. Thank you, thank you, for all of you who have been praying for us. This was very likely one of the most beautiful, well-crafted, __ precious women’s event that I’ve ever gone to, truly lovely, beautiful team, you amaze me, each of you, you really acted like one unit. It was pretty impressive to watch the way you all were with one another. Thank you so much for all the beautiful preparation. I wish I could tell each one of you what your contributions, your testimonies, meant to me. I want to note, Bonnie, your mentioning secondary losses was pretty incredible. And Ireland, when I think of you and your face I’m going to continue to smile because you make me smile. Communion together was very, very precious. Thank you so much for everyone praying. All right, I want to give a few shout outs to some of the lovely people I met, all my sisters on the bus on the way in, the shuttle bus from the airport. Danielle __ and her mom, dynamic duo, and Angie and the others. We all said we were gonna call in a little more, we’re gonna try. So, I’ll be listening for your voices. Angie from Salt lake City, I’m carrying you home in my heart girl. Jennifer and the beautiful friend from Canada game who came and I love you beauties in the back row. It was great to worship with you. Beth from Texas, __ with a rocking chair, thank you sweetie. Terry and Jenna who prayed with me. God bless all of you. So many sweet, sweet people I met. And especially it was wonderful to have time with God and the Holy Spirit. Thank you for all of you praying for us and thank you to the beautiful team.

Good morning this is Bridget from New York City. I’m calling to pray for Luke and Sharon. Dear Lord, we just pray for Luke right now Father God and I ask You Lord God that every time he comes into Your presence Lord to read Your word that You would cover that time Father God for him. Lord I just pray that as he gets distracted, as his mind becomes renewed Father that he would not allow distractions to keep him from reading Your word but would continue to read the Scripture over and over and over, following that he receives what You desire to give him through that Scripture Lord God. For Sharon, my sister, my husband, he smokes, and he has even dabbled with different types of things and my father was like that. I’ve been raised as a child by my father…not…exactly the same you experienced it but what God has taught me is that it all roots back to sin and the fact that the people that hurt me didn’t know God. Because of my mother’s choices, she allowed strangers to live in her home, which caused for those strangers to molest me and to do things to me from childhood up and my mother was an alcoholic and it all roots back to sin. And what God has taught me with my husband, in the past I personalized his smoking with him not loving me and that’s not the truth. So, I pray Father that You would reveal the truth to Sharon Lord about why her husband drinks and that she would not personalize it because You don’t personalize it God. But that she would see him from the broken place that he’s in God and that she would try to love him from that place and that through that You would deliver him God. In Jesus’ name.

April 19, 2019

04/18/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 16:1-18:28, Luke 19:1-27, Psalms 87:1-7, Proverbs 13:11

Prayer:

Announcements:

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

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:

April 19, 2019

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday April 19, 2019 (NIV)

Joshua 19-20

The Land Given to Simeon

19 The second allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. Their homeland was surrounded by Judah’s territory.

²Simeon’s homeland included Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their surrounding villages. ⁷It also included Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages, ⁸including all the surrounding villages as far south as Baalath-beer (also known as Ramah of the Negev).

This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Simeon. ⁹Their allocation of land came from part of what had been given to Judah because Judah’s territory was too large for them. So the tribe of Simeon received an allocation within the territory of Judah.

The Land Given to Zebulun

¹⁰The third allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun.

The boundary of Zebulun’s homeland started at Sarid. ¹¹From there it went west, going past Maralah, touching Dabbesheth, and proceeding to the brook east of Jokneam. ¹²In the other direction, the boundary went east from Sarid to the border of Kisloth-tabor, and from there to Daberath and up to Japhia. ¹³Then it continued east to Gath-hepher, Eth-kazin, and Rimmon and turned toward Neah. ¹⁴The northern boundary of Zebulun passed Hannathon and ended at the valley of Iphtah-el. ¹⁵The towns in these areas included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve towns with their surrounding villages.

¹⁶The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun included these towns and their surrounding villages.

The Land Given to Issachar

¹⁷The fourth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Issachar.

¹⁸Its boundaries included the following towns: Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. ²²The boundary also touched Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, ending at the Jordan River—sixteen towns with their surrounding villages.

²³The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Issachar included these towns and their surrounding villages.

The Land Given to Asher

²⁴The fifth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Asher.

²⁵Its boundaries included these towns: Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, ²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. The boundary on the west touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷then it turned east toward Beth-dagon, and ran as far as Zebulun in the valley of Iphtah-el, going north to Beth-emek and Neiel. It then continued north to Cabul, ²⁸Abdon,^[a] Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, and as far as Greater Sidon. ²⁹Then the boundary turned toward Ramah and the fortress of Tyre, where it turned toward Hosah and came to the Mediterranean Sea.^[b] The territory also included Mehebel, Aczib, ³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two towns with their surrounding villages.

³¹The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Asher included these towns and their surrounding villages.

The Land Given to Naphtali

³²The sixth allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Naphtali.

³³Its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak at Zaanannim, and extended across to Adami-nekeb, Jabneel, and as far as Lakkum, ending at the Jordan River. ³⁴The western boundary ran past Aznoth-tabor, then to Hukkok, and touched the border of Zebulun in the south, the border of Asher on the west, and the Jordan River^[c] on the east. ³⁵The fortified towns included in this territory were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen towns with their surrounding villages.

³⁹The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Naphtali included these towns and their surrounding villages.

The Land Given to Dan

⁴⁰The seventh allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Dan.

⁴¹The land allocated as their homeland included the following towns: Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶Me-jarkon, Rakkon, and the territory across from Joppa.

⁴⁷But the tribe of Dan had trouble taking possession of their land,^[d] so they attacked the town of Laish.^[e] They captured it, slaughtered its people, and settled there. They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor.

⁴⁸The homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Dan included these towns and their surrounding villages.

The Land Given to Joshua

⁴⁹After all the land was divided among the tribes, the Israelites gave a piece of land to Joshua as his allocation. ⁵⁰For the Lord had said he could have any town he wanted. He chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there.

⁵¹These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders allocated as grants of land to the tribes of Israel by casting sacred lots in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle^[f] at Shiloh. So the division of the land was completed.

The Cities of Refuge

20 The Lord said to Joshua, ²“Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses. ³Anyone who kills another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be places of refuge from relatives seeking revenge for the person who was killed.

⁴“Upon reaching one of these cities, the one who caused the death will appear before the elders at the city gate and present his case. They must allow him to enter the city and give him a place to live among them. ⁵If the relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing, the leaders must not release the slayer to them, for he killed the other person unintentionally and without previous hostility. ⁶But the slayer must stay in that city and be tried by the local assembly, which will render a judgment. And he must continue to live in that city until the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the accident. After that, he is free to return to his own home in the town from which he fled.”

⁷The following cities were designated as cities of refuge: Kedesh of Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah. ⁸On the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, the following cities were designated: Bezer, in the wilderness plain of the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the land of the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹These cities were set apart for all the Israelites as well as the foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed another person could take refuge in one of these cities. In this way, they could escape being killed in revenge prior to standing trial before the local assembly.

Footnotes:

19:28 As in some Hebrew manuscripts (see also 21:30); most Hebrew manuscripts read Ebron.
19:29 Hebrew the sea.
19:34 Hebrew and Judah at the Jordan River.
19:47a Or had trouble holding on to their land.
19:47b Hebrew Leshem, a variant spelling of Laish.
19:51 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Luke 19:28-48

Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

²⁸After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. ²⁹As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. ³⁰“Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³²So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. ³³And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

³⁴And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” ³⁵So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

³⁶As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. ³⁷When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

³⁸“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”^[a]

³⁹But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”

⁴⁰He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

⁴¹But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. ⁴²“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. ⁴³Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. ⁴⁴They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.^[b]”

Jesus Clears the Temple

⁴⁵Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. ⁴⁶He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”^[c]

⁴⁷After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. ⁴⁸But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Footnotes:

19:38 Pss 118:26; 148:1.
19:44 Greek did not recognize the time of your visitation, a reference to the Messiah’s coming.
19:46 Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 88

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm^[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out to you by day.
I come to you at night.
²Now hear my prayer;
listen to my cry.
³For my life is full of troubles,
and death^[b] draws near.
⁴I am as good as dead,
like a strong man with no strength left.
⁵They have left me among the dead,
and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
cut off from your care.
⁶You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
into the darkest depths.
⁷Your anger weighs me down;
with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude

⁸You have driven my friends away
by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.
⁹My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;
I lift my hands to you for mercy.
¹⁰Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude

¹¹Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?
Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?^[c]
¹²Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?
¹³O Lord, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.
¹⁴O Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?

¹⁵I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.
¹⁶Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.
Your terrors have paralyzed me.
¹⁷They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
They have engulfed me completely.
¹⁸You have taken away my companions and loved ones.
Darkness is my closest friend.

Footnotes:

88:Title Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.
88:3 Hebrew Sheol.
88:11 Hebrew in Abaddon?

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 13:12-14

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

¹³People who despise advice are asking for trouble;
those who respect a command will succeed.

¹⁴The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain;
those who accept it avoid the snares of death.

New Living Translation (NLT)

April 18, 2019

04/17/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 15:1-63, Luke 18:18-43, Psalms 86:1-17, Proverbs 13:9-10

Today is the 17^th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as we move into the center of our week together and I guess we’re moving through kind of the three-quarter mark through the book of Joshua, which is what we’re reading in the Old Testament right now. So, let's…let’s get to it…let’s take the next step forward. We’re reading from the New Living translation this week. Joshua chapter 15.

Commentary:

Okay. So, here we are just days away from all that this weekend represents, right? So, this Friday, day after tomorrow, is Good Friday, a day when we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, one of the darkest days, the darkest day on the Christian calendar. Of course, we know that Sunday comes but a day to truly, truly, truly, observe and reflect upon the kind of love that it would take to lay your life down and be tortured to death on behalf of the human race. And, so, as we’re reading through the Gospel of Luke at this time, we enter the story today and Jesus is passing through Jericho and He’s on His way to Jerusalem where all of His passion will unfold. And, so, we can put ourselves in this story. And we’re also coming to the end of the season of Lent. So, those of you who observe lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter that are intended for many things, one of them certainly reflecting upon the price, the cost of sin. It’s a time of fasting and lamenting and repenting. It’s also a time of completely opening our lives, our hearts, everything that we are, our entire identity to God, and just asking Him, “what do you see in my life that does not belong in my life? Where are the nooks and crannies that I’m hiding things and they’re poison and they’re seeping into my life and affecting everyone around me and affecting my relationship with you and affecting how I live in this world. I just keep them around. I don’t know why. Show me where they are so that they can be gone. And even the good things. What are the good things in my life? How does my life need to be ordered as I enter into the resurrection and commemorate your resurrection and understand that that brought me new life and I am resurrected with you into eternal life? How do I approach Easter after coming through this season of Lent new, ordered, properly ready to go into the world?” Which brings us to the story of Jesus walking through Jericho. And just as a little aside, so many of the places that we read about in the Scriptures today are places you can see in the in the Promised Land films. When we’re talking about all these different territories in the book of Joshua, so many of those places are places and Jericho where Jesus is passing through in the gospel of Luke, that’s a place, it still exists. And, so, Jesus has reached this point now where He’s been moving south out of the Galilee deep into the Jordan Valley to Jericho where He’s going to be making a right and heading west and going uphill the whole way to Jerusalem. So, He knows what is upon Him, right? He tells His disciples in the gospel of Luke. He pulls them aside and instructs them on what’s gonna happen when they get to Jerusalem and they don’t understand, right? According to the gospel of Luke they didn’t understand any of this. “The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.” That’s a quote from the gospel of Luke. So, Jesus knows what’s going to happen to Him in Jerusalem on every level, is walking toward Jerusalem isolated, no one understands. And that may have been our cry through this season of Lent or through the last five years. Nobody understands. That’s not true. Jesus actually does understand what it means to be isolated and misunderstood and we see that as He’s moving through this inside of himself. You can only imagine. What do you do when you’re walking with a bunch of your friends but you know that at the end of this trail you’re going to die and you’ve tried to tell people that but they don’t understand, but you must continue to walk forward because it is what you were born for. And, so, off you continue alone and misunderstood toward this with no one to shoulder the burden with you. Imagine that. And, so, imagine when Jesus is walking by Jericho, possibly preoccupied, I mean this would have to at least occupy a portion of your thoughts as you’re walking toward your death and through the noise of the crowd and all of the hustle and bustle around them He hears someone in the distance, yelling, “son of David! Jesus, have mercy!” And Jesus stop’s and He asks a question. And we may know this question but what will we need to do today is personalize this question. Jesus is on his way to die for the sake of the world and has a blind person asking Him to have mercy upon him, and He stops what He’s doing and allows the man to be brought to Him and He asks him, “what do you want me to do for you?” As we move through this day and into Monday Thursday, and Good Friday, and Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, may we carry this as a leading torch forward as we continue this contemplation on what it cost to make us free, allow Jesus question to penetrate your soul where nothing is off limits. “What do you want me to do for you?”

Prayer:

Jesus, we sit with the question and before we even speak because our initial reactions would probably be how we would like You to make life easier for us, how we would like an obstacle removed from our path, how we would like the treasury of heaven to open up and shower us with blessings. We would try to design for ourselves what we perceive to be an abundant life because this is what we believe that You have promised to us. And somewhere we wrote into the text that we get to define what that’s gonna look like and that we don’t have to surrender to You and just flow through life with You. Instead, we get to constructed it of our own accord. And then when You don’t show up and give us the abundant life we’ve defined then it turns backwards on us. We’re not doing any of that. We’re not even answering the question yet. We’re allowing the question to begin to peel back the layers of our lives. What do we really want You to do for us? And we invite Your Holy Spirit into the question as we seek the answer, the answer that is true, the answer that is what we really need. The blind man on the side of the road, he knew what he needed. He needed to see. And maybe that’s what we need. Maybe we need to see things as they are because we’ve been looking so narrowly at our own lives. But we feel the question continuing to penetrate, “what do You want me to do for You?” And, so, as we go with this into the next days, we invite Your Holy Spirit to reconnect us with our own hearts so that we can see what it is that we really need. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Song:

Light – Gungor

Your eyes, they opened

And love was spoken

The tears came tumbling down

Your heart was broken

The words was spoken

The tears came tumbling down

And the blind gain sight

As we met our Light

All the joy and fight

The gift of life

Your hands, the creases

Your feet, Your breathing

You’re mine, You’re perfect light

And the blind gain sight

As we met our Light

All the joy and fight

The gift of life

I can’t take my eyes off of You oh my Light

I can’t take my eyes off of You

April 18, 2019

04/17/2019 DAB Transcript

Joshua 15:1-63, Luke 18:18-43, Psalms 86:1-17, Proverbs 13:9-10

Commentary:

Prayer:

Song:

Light – Gungor

Your eyes, they opened

And love was spoken

The tears came tumbling down

Your heart was broken

The words was spoken

The tears came tumbling down

And the blind gain sight

As we met our Light

All the joy and fight

The gift of life

Your hands, the creases

Your feet, Your breathing

You’re mine, You’re perfect light

And the blind gain sight

As we met our Light

All the joy and fight

The gift of life

I can’t take my eyes off of You oh my Light

I can’t take my eyes off of You

April 18, 2019

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday April 18, 2019 (NIV)

Joshua 16-18

The Land Given to Ephraim and West Manasseh

16 The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan River near Jericho, east of the springs of Jericho, through the wilderness and into the hill country of Bethel. ²From Bethel (that is, Luz)^[a] it ran over to Ataroth in the territory of the Arkites. ³Then it descended westward to the territory of the Japhletites as far as Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer and over to the Mediterranean Sea.^[b]

⁴This was the homeland allocated to the families of Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

The Land Given to Ephraim

⁵The following territory was given to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim.

The boundary of their homeland began at Ataroth-addar in the east. From there it ran to Upper Beth-horon, ⁶then on to the Mediterranean Sea. From Micmethath on the north, the boundary curved eastward past Taanath-shiloh to the east of Janoah. ⁷From Janoah it turned southward to Ataroth and Naarah, touched Jericho, and ended at the Jordan River. ⁸From Tappuah the boundary extended westward, following the Kanah Ravine to the Mediterranean Sea. This is the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim.

⁹In addition, some towns with their surrounding villages in the territory allocated to the half-tribe of Manasseh were set aside for the tribe of Ephraim. ¹⁰They did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, however, so the people of Gezer live as slaves among the people of Ephraim to this day.

The Land Given to West Manasseh

17 The next allotment of land was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph’s older son. Makir, the firstborn son of Manasseh, was the father of Gilead. Because his descendants were experienced soldiers, the regions of Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan had already been given to them. ²So the allotment on the west side of the Jordan was for the remaining families within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These clans represent the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph.

³However, Zelophehad, a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴These women came to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us a grant of land along with the men of our tribe.”

So Joshua gave them a grant of land along with their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. ⁵As a result, Manasseh’s total allocation came to ten parcels of land, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan across the Jordan River, ⁶because the female descendants of Manasseh received a grant of land along with the male descendants. (The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the male descendants of Manasseh.)

⁷The boundary of the tribe of Manasseh extended from the border of Asher to Micmethath, near Shechem. Then the boundary went south from Micmethath to the settlement near the spring of Tappuah. ⁸The land surrounding Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh’s territory, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. ⁹From the spring of Tappuah, the boundary of Manasseh followed the Kanah Ravine to the Mediterranean Sea.^[c] Several towns south of the ravine were inside Manasseh’s territory, but they actually belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. ¹⁰In general, however, the land south of the ravine belonged to Ephraim, and the land north of the ravine belonged to Manasseh. Manasseh’s boundary ran along the northern side of the ravine and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. North of Manasseh was the territory of Asher, and to the east was the territory of Issachar.

¹¹The following towns within the territory of Issachar and Asher, however, were given to Manasseh: Beth-shan,^[d] Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphoth-dor),^[e] Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

¹²But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns because the Canaanites were determined to stay in that region. ¹³Later, however, when the Israelites became strong enough, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves. But they did not drive them out of the land.

¹⁴The descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked, “Why have you given us only one portion of land as our homeland when the Lord has blessed us with so many people?”

¹⁵Joshua replied, “If there are so many of you, and if the hill country of Ephraim is not large enough for you, clear out land for yourselves in the forest where the Perizzites and Rephaites live.”

¹⁶The descendants of Joseph responded, “It’s true that the hill country is not large enough for us. But all the Canaanites in the lowlands have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shan and its surrounding settlements and those in the valley of Jezreel. They are too strong for us.”

¹⁷Then Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, “Since you are so large and strong, you will be given more than one portion. ¹⁸The forests of the hill country will be yours as well. Clear as much of the land as you wish, and take possession of its farthest corners. And you will drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, too, even though they are strong and have iron chariots.”

The Allotments of the Remaining Land

18 Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle.^[f] ²But there remained seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their grants of land.

³Then Joshua asked them, “How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given to you? ⁴Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land and map it out. They will then return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of their new homeland. ⁵Let them divide the land into seven sections, excluding Judah’s territory in the south and Joseph’s territory in the north. ⁶And when you record the seven divisions of the land and bring them to me, I will cast sacred lots in the presence of the Lord our God to assign land to each tribe.

⁷“The Levites, however, will not receive any allotment of land. Their role as priests of the Lord is their allotment. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh won’t receive any more land, for they have already received their grant of land, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.”

⁸As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua commanded them, “Go and explore the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots here in the presence of the Lord at Shiloh.” ⁹The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. They made a written record and then returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the Lord to determine which tribe should have each section.

The Land Given to Benjamin

¹¹The first allotment of land went to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph.

¹²The northern boundary of Benjamin’s land began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar on the hill that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴The boundary then made a turn and swung south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.

¹⁵The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From that western point it ran^[g] to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,^[h] ¹⁶and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel. ¹⁷From En-rogel the boundary proceeded in a northerly direction and came to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.) ¹⁸From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley.^[i] The border then went down into the valley, ¹⁹ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea,^[j] which is the southern end of the Jordan River. This was the southern boundary.

²⁰The eastern boundary was the Jordan River.

These were the boundaries of the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

The Towns Given to Benjamin

²¹These were the towns given to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their surrounding villages. ²⁵Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite town (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim^[k]—fourteen towns with their surrounding villages.

This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Footnotes:

16:2 As in Greek version (also see 18:13); Hebrew reads From Bethel to Luz.
16:3 Hebrew the sea; also in 16:6, 8.
17:9 Hebrew the sea; also in 17:10.
17:11a Hebrew Beth-shean, a variant spelling of Beth-shan; also in 17:16.
17:11b The meaning of the Hebrew here is uncertain.
18:1 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.
18:15a Or From there it went to Mozah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
18:15b Or the spring at Me-nephtoah.
18:18 Hebrew overlooking the Arabah, or overlooking Beth-arabah.
18:19 Hebrew Salt Sea.
18:28 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Kiriath.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Luke 19:1-27

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. ²There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. ³He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

⁵When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

⁶Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. ⁷But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

⁸Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

⁹Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man^[a] came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Parable of the Ten Servants

¹¹The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. ¹²He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. ¹³Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver,^[b] saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ ¹⁴But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’

¹⁵“After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. ¹⁶The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’

¹⁷“‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

¹⁸“The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’

¹⁹“‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’

²⁰“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. ²¹I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’

²²“‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, ²³why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁴“Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’

²⁵“‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’

²⁶“‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ²⁷And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’”

Footnotes:

19:10 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
19:13 Greek ten minas; one mina was worth about three months’ wages.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 87

A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

¹On the holy mountain
stands the city founded by the Lord.
²He loves the city of Jerusalem
more than any other city in Israel.^[a]
³O city of God,
what glorious things are said of you! Interlude

⁴I will count Egypt^[b] and Babylon among those who know me—
also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia.^[c]
They have all become citizens of Jerusalem!
⁵Regarding Jerusalem^[d] it will be said,
“Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.”
And the Most High will personally bless this city.
⁶When the Lord registers the nations, he will say,
“They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.” Interlude

⁷The people will play flutes^[e] and sing,
“The source of my life springs from Jerusalem!”

Footnotes:

87:2 Hebrew He loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. See note on 44:4.
87:4a Hebrew Rahab, the name of a mythical sea monster that represents chaos in ancient literature. The name is used here as a poetic name for Egypt.
87:4b Hebrew Cush.
87:5 Hebrew Zion.
87:7 Or will dance.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 13:11

¹¹Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears;
wealth from hard work grows over time.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Joshua 21:1-22:20

The Towns Given to the Levites

The Eastern Tribes Return Home

The Eastern Tribes Build an Altar

Footnotes:

Luke 20:1-26

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

Parable of the Evil Farmers

Taxes for Caesar

Footnotes:

Psalm 89:1-13

Psalm 89

A psalm[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 13:15-16

Footnotes:

Joshua 19-20

The Land Given to Simeon

The Land Given to Zebulun

The Land Given to Issachar

The Land Given to Asher

The Land Given to Naphtali

The Land Given to Dan

The Land Given to Joshua

The Cities of Refuge

Footnotes:

Luke 19:28-48

Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

Jesus Clears the Temple

Footnotes:

Psalm 88

Psalm 88

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 13:12-14

Joshua 16-18

The Land Given to Ephraim and West Manasseh

The Land Given to Ephraim

The Land Given to West Manasseh

The Allotments of the Remaining Land

The Land Given to Benjamin

The Towns Given to Benjamin

Footnotes:

Luke 19:1-27

Jesus and Zacchaeus

Parable of the Ten Servants

Footnotes:

Psalm 87

Psalm 87

A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 13:11

A psalm^[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm^[a] of Heman the Ezrahite.