A Walk Through The Word

Zephaniah 1:1-3:20 ~ Revelation 10:1-11 ~ Psalm 138:1-8 ~ Proverbs 30:11-14

Today is the 19^th day of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you this lovely Christmas week that is certain to be full of busyness and it even kind of gets busy in the Bible as we move through quite a few books.  Today is no different.  Today we’ll be reading an entire book in the Old Testament as we move our way toward the end of the year.  Of course, in the New Testament we are in the final book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, but in the Old Testament we’ve come to the book of Zephaniah.  

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

The book of Zephaniah is also a book that is part of the books of minor prophesy contained in the Old Testament.  It is written in full in three chapters which we’ll read today. Although the prophetic word is for the children of Israel, it is also a call to repentance for all the surrounding nations and even the whole world.  

Zephaniah contains similar themes to some of the other books of prophesy. It announces the impending judgment of God.  It is a call to repentance and a declaration of restoration.  God always restores.  And even though these words were uttered and transcribed in the 7^th century BC, we can look at them through the lens of the 21^st century AD and find dramatic relevance there.  If we change the names and places, things look remarkably now as they did then, which is the case in so much of the Bible as it becomes this mirror into our souls.  

So we begin Zephaniah chapter 1 verse 1 through 3:20 today, the entire book of Zephaniah, and we’re reading from the Holman Christian Bible this week.

Commentary

So as we’ve been moving through these minor prophets and are kind of moving toward the final book in the Old Testament as we near the end of the year, I hope you’re seeing the arc that is contained in all of the books of prophesy. Some of the books of prophesy are longer and we’ve been through them, so the development of the story takes a little longer, but in these minor prophets, things we can read in one sitting, you see it completely where there is injustice and abandonment of the relationship, the intertwining of God and man that is broken and mankind moving in completely inappropriate and destructive directions.  

God comes and says this is not going to work and if you continue on this path, I’m going to make sure it doesn’t work because this is totally not the way it is supposed to be at all, not as individuals, not as people groups and tribes, not as nations.  It is not moving in the right direction.  It is moving in the wrong direction.  So I will come and judge this.  I will come and break it apart because it is total annihilation waiting to happen.  I will break this down.  I’m not putting up with this.  But I will take you back.  I still love you.  You have cheated on me beyond description, but I cannot not love you.  I do love you.  I will take you back if you will return to me, if you will come home, if you will come back and live faithfully.  I will restore everything that you have made a mess of, things that I cannot allow to continue because of the evil that you are creating, but if you come back, if you return to me, I will take you back and I will restore everything.

That is the arc of all of the prophets.  That is the arc of the whole Bible and it can be incredibly helpful in the arc of our own story.  We can locate ourselves in these stories very specifically at times and kind of know where we are, which begins to explain all of the things around us and what we are going through.  But it doesn’t matter where we are in the continuum, we are always headed toward redemption if we will return to God.  We will only ever be heading toward restoration if we will return and be faithful to the Lord who will not surrender us and will keep coming and coming for us.  Then if we will return, if we will repent, if we will come home and come back and live in a faithful relationship that is collaborative, we will be heading toward wholeness the whole time.  We’ve pointed these things out along the way, but I was just noticing it in reading the prophet Zephaniah today.  I was seeing it once again and it was just leaping out to me.  I’m bringing it up to us.  Even as we come to the end of the year, may we notice the arc in our own lives and even as we approach the New Year, may we go into it understanding this. It is one of the beautiful ways that the scriptures stay so dynamic and so relevant in our lives.

Prayer

Father, we are deeply, deeply grateful and now that we’ve spent another almost year in the scriptures, we see once again this is not a thick book of mysteries that no one can decipher.  It is a dynamic book that is alive and can speak into our identity.  It can go so deep that it goes down to what is only true of us.  So we invite you, Holy Spirit, to plant these words into our hearts and minds that they may affect everything about us, mind, body and spirit.  Come Jesus, we pray in your precious and powerful name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com, that is home base and that is where you find out what is going on around here, so be sure to stay connected.  The Prayer Wall is there and people are praying all of the time, so check that out.

Other ways to stay connected, like I mentioned yesterday, one great way would be the Daily Audio Bible Friends Facebook page.  So just look for DAB Friends and there is a conversation that is continually there.  There is like always somebody around, so that is a beautiful thing, as well as the Daily Audio Bible Facebook page which would be www.Facebook.com/DailyAudioBible.  So be sure those are on your list if you do social media.  Check that out.  

The date for Christmas shipping from Daily Audio Bible has come and gone, but the More Gathering for Women, that has not come and gone.  That is coming.  That is coming this April.  I’ve been talking about it.  That is something that you can still consider as a very, very unique Christmas opportunity for the woman or women in your lives.  You can find the information about it that you would want to know at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  You’ll find the More Gathering.  It is pretty easy.  It is hard to miss.  All of the details are there, so check that out.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in the last days of the year, thank you so much.  Thank you so much.  We are a community and we’ve never been anything but this, so thank you for your partnership in allowing Daily Audio Bible to keep all the servers spinning out the spoken word of God to anyone who will listen to it, anywhere no matter what is going on in life, anytime no matter where you are in the world.  So there is a link for that at www.DailyAudioBible.com on the home page.  It can be found in the app if you push the More button that lives in the lower right-hand corner of the app.  Then if you like the mail the best, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

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

And that’s it for today.  I’m Brian kind of moving through Christmas week just like you are.  It’s lovely to have each other.  Really.  Really lovely to have each other this time of year and move through this together and keep the rhythm of God’s word in our lives even in some of the busiest days of the year.  So that’s it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you and I will be here waiting for you tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi everyone.  This is Mary Jo in St. Louis.  This message is for my friend Paul in Barcelona.  I just wanted to tell you that I am praying for the people in Syria and I confess that it is easy in our lives to get caught up in our own little worlds and our own little prayer concerns, but on the Israel trip we were at the very north top of Israel and we stood on a mountaintop and looked over into Syria and Brian led us in a prayer, to stretch our hands and pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria.  I have to tell you that the Spirit of God moved over me in such a powerful way and ever since then I continue to pray for them.  So don’t be discouraged if you don’t see responses on social media or on the prayer line.  You do have brothers and sisters praying along with you.  And that is for everyone.  Love you all.  God bless.

Hello Daily Audio Bible.  This is Dawn in Piney Flats, TN.  I’m calling with a prayer request for my son, Tyler D.  I’m asking for some serious prayer because he is just really at a point in his life where he is completely mixed up.  I don’t know what to say.  I have two other children and they are not anything like him at all.  He has got some major issues and problems.  He’s been into a home a couple of different times for schizophrenia and he’s heard voices.  I mean, I don’t even know if it’s real.  I don’t even know anymore.  I can’t believe anything that he says.  He can’t come home.  He’s 22 and he can’t come home anymore, can’t be around his other siblings, which completely breaks my heart to pieces, that I can’t even have any contact with my own son. He calls and leaves messages on our phone.  It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even talk to him.  It’s just hard to explain.  I know there are probably a lot of moms out there that think I’m terrible, but it is just…  I believe it is demonic possession and that is why I’m asking for prayer.  Daily Audio Bible family, just please pray for Tyler D. I don’t know what to do.  I don’t know what to pray.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  My name is Dennis from the Seattle, WA area.  This is my first time calling in.  I’ve just started listening within the last couple of weeks and I’m so blessed by this ministry.  I have a couple of needs that I would like to share.  On October 14^th of this year, one day after my wife and I celebrated 26 years of marriage, we got word that my wife’s brother was killed in a double homicide.  It’s an unsolved mystery.  We don’t have any real suspects on who did this.  Fortunately, my wife’s brother knew the Lord.  He’s home with Jesus and we’re thankful and praising God for that, but we are praying for justice for these two families that were affected and that the love of God would touch each member of these families that continues to grieve the loss of their loved one.  Then secondly, I was laid off from my work of 16 years in the wireless industry earlier this year and I’ve been really struggling to find gainful employment and really, although I’m trusting the Lord for his provision and I know that he is always the one that takes care of us and meets our needs, it’s becoming challenging financially and just stressful on my wife and my relationship, so I’m just praying that God would direct me appropriately to the job and the industry that he has for me in his timing, that he is ultimately sovereign and in charge of this whole situation, but that he would __________ me financially and otherwise and help us to just rest in him and be a wonderful witness to the people around us so that we can continue to persevere in faith.  So I’m just praying for those two things and I’m lifting up all of you that I hear daily on these broadcasts, just the many needs around the world.  I praise God for all of you and thank you for this ministry.  In Jesus’ name.  Bye-bye.

This is Candace from Oregon.  I want to send my greetings to the mom and dad in southwest Florida that have a son named Danny whose dad says we need a 1000 prayers, 1000 people to pray, and I’m one of them.  Let’s pray. Lord, thank you for all that Danny has already accomplished in his life and all the traction that is going to be giving him as he moves forward, but it is really perplexing sometimes to know how to move forward, so we pray, Lord, that you will give him inspiration, that you will just light a fire in his heart for something that you have for him, Lord.  I pray this as well for my son who is just two years older than Danny and is in a transition point knowing that he has to move on now to whatever this next thing is.  Be with them, Lord, in Jesus’ name, and be with Pelham and Molly, Pelham in particular as he wants so much to be the dad that you want him to be, Lord.  We agree with Pelham in this request, in Jesus’ name.  

Hi, this is Bonnie from Virginia.  I wanted to request you all to pray for my Vivek.  His sentencing hearing is on this December 21^st at 9 a.m.  We are hoping to have him back home, that judge could grant him mercy since this is his first crime.  It is really sad at home right now.  I’m not even excited about the Christmas season because my son is not with me.  If he could get out on that day and we could have him in the house with us during the Christmastime, that would be a big, big Christmas gift for me.  Also pray that his dad found out about him being in jail and so he is now trying to reach out to show his love towards my son, but his dad is still accusing me for our separation, but I don’t know why he does not understand that he was the one who started having affairs with the other woman and has now his own other family with his wife and two children.  It is really hard in this situation, having my son in jail and my ex-husband accusing me. Please do pray for us and help me to trust in God.  Thank you and I really appreciate your prayers.  Bye.

Hi everybody.  This is Alicia from Kansas.  Happy Friday. It’s December 16^th.  I want to call and mention a few names. Anthony, you called and talked about the seizures you’re experiencing from withdrawing from a medication.  As a psych nurse and as a person who had to be detoxed off of probably the same medication, it took them a year to taper me off the drug to avoid seizures, so they had to put me back on the medication.  You’re going to be in my prayers.  Again, it took a year for them to taper me off of it, but I will be praying for this.  Pastor Gene, thank you so much for your prayer.  You are in my prayers also and on my list.  Byron, you called with a word for Jordan:  God loves you.  Sometimes I’m so ashamed to call in because I’m having such a struggle right now, but Byron, your words were just beautiful.  Jordan, I hope you heard them.  I know I did. Biola, it’s always just a blessing to hear you, to hear you pray and for my brother with the 12-year-old daughter with a porn addiction and you’ve got a porn addiction, I think alcohol, and a son with an eating disorder.  My prayers are with you.  I’ve been through all of those because of my own childhood abuse issues and being handed pornography at the innocent age of 5 years old.  Just know I’m praying for you all.  Brian, today your message was so powerful.  I’m going to actually listen to it again.  I’m so very grateful that I can come here and even though I don’t see you all, I just believe and have faith that you’re praying just like I’m praying for you.  God bless. Everybody have a great weekend.  Bye-bye.  

Habakkuk 1:1-3:19 ~ Revelation 9:1-21 ~ Psalm 137:1-9 ~ Proverbs 30:10

Today is the 18^th day of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible and welcome to a brand new week.  This is the last Sunday in the season of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas that we have traditionally as a Christian church used to contemplate the mystery of the arrival of God among us and with us and to also continue to long for his second advent, his return to us, so we have one more week in this season.  Of course, one week from today is Christmas Day.  

SONG played on today’s DAB “O Come O Come Emmanuel” Trinity Music http://apple.co/2hvVmei

So as we move into this final week of Advent and prepare for the hurry and scurry and mad dash that it can be toward Christmas Day, may we not forget the longing and may we not forget the mystery of what is going on here.  May we not exchange it for a lot of bright lights and glitter.  May we stay rooted in what is happening here and the reason for all the celebration. Part of the way we do that is continuing with the rhythm of the scriptures in our lives, so that is what we’ll do.

We’re in a new week.  We’ll read from the Holman Christian Standard Bible this week and continuing to kind of move quickly through so many of the different smaller books of the Bible and we’ll read another one in its entirety today, the book of Habakkuk.

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

The book of Habakkuk is the eighth of the minor prophet books in the Old Testament.  We don’t know a whole lot about Habakkuk, but there is Jewish rabbinical tradition that tells us that Habakkuk was the son of the Shunamite Elisha raised from the dead in the book of 2 Kings.  

Because of the way the narrative is written, many scholars believe that Habakkuk may have been a temple prophet.  In most cases this would mean that he was a prophetic musician gifted on instruments like the lyre or the harp or the cymbals.  Some scholars believe that Habakkuk’s lyrical and poetic nature indicates that he was probably a Levite or a king in the temple as a temple prophet.

In his writings, Habakkuk is wondering aloud what God is doing in his time. He sees injustice.  He sees misfortune around him and has what seems to be some doubt.  He dares question and God dares answer.  

Once again we’re shown in the scripture that we do not know all we think we know.  In fact, we know very little of what is really going on and Habakkuk presses into that. We see in this book one of the most beautiful pictures of the story of our lives, a story of doubt and questions being transformed into absolute trust and interconnection with the sovereign Lord. So although we’ll be reading it in its entirety today, hopefully it will have a lingering impact on our lives.  I love the book of Habakkuk.  

So we begin Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 1 through 3:19.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word.  Here we are in the last two weeks of this year, and we thank you for all that you have done and all that you have yet to do in our lives through your word in this year.  So even as we enter into perhaps the busiest time of the year, we are also staying very present to what you are speaking and we enter into this great mystery that you would come for us, to rescue us, to restore us.  It is unspeakably beautiful and the hope of our salvation.  So as we go through this week, this Christmas week where everything speeds up, it also becomes apparent that everything around us all over the world is telling the story.  We may have given it its own nuances and it made it a great marketing thing, but all around the world we are telling the story, the story of the Savior come to save us as a little child.  So we invite you into all of that as everywhere we notice reminders of our story. So even as we’re busy, help us to stay present to the fact that the whole earth is crying the story out and may we, with our whole hearts rejoice in it.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray in the name of Jesus, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  That is, of course, is home base for all of us.  It is where you find out what is happening inside the community.

Man, here we are!  This is Christmas week.  It feels just really to me like a couple of weeks ago it was just Christmas week last year. I mean when I sit down and think about it and lay out all that has happened in the last year, yeah, it’s been a long, hard year on a lot of levels and I can see that, but it just seems like the year went by really fast when I’m just kind of glimpsing at it real quick. Here we are, Christmas week and I’m excited to celebrate the arrival of the Savior.

Where would we be if this had not happened?  That is what Advent is about, thinking about that, that we were longing for a Savior to come and rescue us and the people who followed the Lord God waited and waited and then he came and then they didn’t even recognize his coming until the victory was won.  Then here we are now waiting for another arrival, the one that puts all things right.  So I plan to use this week in all its activities and festivities to kind of keep that kernel, that core as we move ourselves toward Christmas Day.  I hope you’ll do the same.  

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It is where you find out what is going on around here.  The Prayer Wall is there and things that people are praying for even through this season.  You can see them at a glance and stay connected and respond and dialogue can happen there.  

Of course, there is the Daily Audio Bible Friends Facebook page.  Just search for DAB Friends and you can get into the dialogue that is continually happening there.  

There are lots of ways.  If this is a season where you’re maybe a little down, maybe feeling a little alone, because I get the Christmas blues too, I hope what we can hold onto is we cannot be alone.  Jesus did come and he is within us, intertwined with us.  We cannot be alone.  But at times at family gatherings and stuff like that that happen around the holidays, if there is not much going on, then it can feel like we’re alone, but there are places to reach out.  We have each other.  I mean, we’re virtual.  We’re all over the world, that is true, although thousands and thousands of friendships and relationships have developed over the years in many, many cities all around the world.  There are places to reach out inside this community just to hear and be heard and respond and be responded to so that you know that you’re not alone.

We’ll be having our annual Family Christmas, virtual Christmas party this week. If you find yourself by yourself or the season isn’t what you’ve had in the past, it’s a little different, looks a little different this year and it has kind of gotten you maybe in the blues, the annual Christmas party is something you can play.  It lasts the length of a party and you can keep that on and hear the voices of your brothers and sisters and know that you’re not alone. So all this will be available.

Then I should mention today is the final day for any kind of shipping from Daily Audio Bible for Christmas.  And that is domestic.  So if you’re in the United States and kind of wrapping up some things and just looking for final ideas, maybe the Daily Audio Bible Shop will have some for you and then we can get those to you, but it has to be ordered today so we can get it out first thing in the morning and then that will finalize all the shipping that we’ll be doing for Christmas this year.  It gets a bit insane in the Colorado warehouse where we roast the coffee and ship everything.  It gets a little bit crazy and that craziness is slowing down, thankfully, so everyone can enjoy the holiday season.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link.  It is on the home page and it lives there.  As we end the year together, thank you for your partnership in helping the New Year begin well.  The link is on the home page.  If you’re using the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner. And, of course, the mailing address, if you prefer that, is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And of course we are a community and a beautiful one at that.  If you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi again my Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Homeward Bound.  I wanted to share something very special with you that encouraged us very much and I pray it will encourage and bless your heart as well.  A few weeks ago a lady from our church, Diane, passed away.  Her family asked my husband, her pastor, to do the memorial service.  Four days before the service my husband had a dream about heaven.  He had recently taught from the book of Revelation about the colors of the jewels, foundation, the throne and the streets of pure gold. He experienced all of this in his dream and saw the amazing vivid colors, the bright light from the throne and the light reflecting off of all his people.  When he looked around he saw our friend Diane who had passed away.  He then saw the Book of Life and there was her name written there.  My husband woke up and wept because he had never experienced this before and it was so real.  We believe God gave my husband the dream to share with the family and also to share at the memorial service.  I pray this will encourage those of you who have recently lost loved ones.  Heaven is truly for real.  God bless each of you more than you could ever imagine.  This is Homeward Bound.  Bye-bye.  

Hello.  Leaving a message for my sister, Elaine O.  We’ve been separated for over four years because of something terrible we did, my husband and I to her and her husband.  I love her.  I am so sorry.  I am deeply sorry this took place.  I miss her so much.  I’m now 71 years old and I was hoping there is some way I could get to see her before I die.  I am not dying now, but time is just flying by.  I have a wonderful family I would love her to meet and I would love to meet her family.  Please, Lord, bless all of us and may we see each other.  At one time we were all such a caring family when greed got into, __________ ruined everything.  I trusted my sister with everything and I understand her but it was just an amount of money that we never, ever, ever…that I would never be able to repay and I am so deeply, deeply sorry.   I __________ the last penny to them.

Good afternoon Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Lee from New Jersey.  Today is December 14^th and I’m listening to the December 13^th podcast, if I’m not mistaken.  I was a little bit behind.  So I listened to the end of the prayer requests from a gentleman who did not leave his name.  Hee was behind, he has been a listener for six years and he got into a fight and he got stabbed on the back of the knee.  Brother, I’m praying for you, man, because you know whenever I hear the brothers call in, situations like this, I can relate.  So I’m just going to pray for you, my brother, that God will intervene in your situation right now, that God will help you find peace, whether that be through your walk every day with God and by meeting godly people, that different people will __________ you and will help you find God and also find peace within your heart.  Also so God will give you mercy for the some of the things that you have done and, of course, that does not label you.  That is not who you are.  That is not who you are going to be for the future.  So God has given you a name already.  God has a future planned out for you already.  All you got to do is listen.  So God bless you, my brother.  Call in and give your name.  Give your name so we can all be praying for you, for you to find inner peace, to find comfort in the Lord, and to know that God loves you regardless of the mistakes that you have made, it does not matter what they are.  God bless you.  We love you, my brother.  Virtual hugs from a brother to a brother.  We’re here for you.  Keep calling in.  God bless.

Hi DAB family.  This is Joyce from California.  I wanted to call many times the past couple weeks but couldn’t because it has been really rough.  I recently heard eyewitness testimony that my parents began abusing me the day I was born, which was December 20^th.  As the day draws near, my birthday, I find myself struggling.  The abuse continued pretty much every day and it got worse and when I was a kid they leave me in this bedroom __________ made up strange stories and couldn’t be trusted so as to prevent people from believing me.  I also learned that they purposely sabotaged my studies which I wasn’t aware of.  They want me to fail out of medical school because it contradicts the stories they told about me for a long time and I think it was because they had to keep up appearances because my dad was a pastor.  After learning all this, I realized I can’t allow them in my life at this point, even at a distance.  By the grace of God, I forgave them and I treated them kindly for many years, but hearing this made me realize I have to know how to contend for the dreams that God has put in my heart.  I want to be a physician scientist after his own heart.  I know God will use our brokenness for his kingdom.  I believe he will restore and turn everything around like he did with Joseph and his 12 brothers.  There is no suffering that is an accident that he can’t use.  So please pray with me for this.  I know I’m not alone and God is pleased with me, but my heart is hurt.  Thanks family.   I love you. Joyce from California.  

Hi, this is Matt from Fargo.  I’m a long time listener but first time caller and I really need prayer today. First off, I was laid off from pretty much my dream job last Friday and this week I’m dealing with some kind of skin infection on my feet.  This is on top of a struggle I’ve been dealing with for a long time, really pretty much my whole life with a sexual sin addiction.  So I’m asking you to pray for me.  Please first off, pray for God to set me free from sexual sin.  Second off, please ask God to heal my skin on my feet and on the rest of my body.  And third, please ask God to help lead and guide me to the next employment that he has for me in my life.  Thank you so much for listening and for praying.  

Hey DAB brothers and sisters.  This is Byron out in Florida.  And Mark N., shout-out to you out in Davie, FL.  I’ll be praying for your cousin, Bucky.  I hope everything goes well with his heart surgery, but please give us a call and check in and let us know how that goes.  Your rendition of God Bless America got my heart to beating out of my chest.  I wanted to run outside and rip the nearest flagpole out of the ground and run through the streets with it, bellowing the chorus with you with tears streaming out of the my eyes.  That was awesome.  Thank you. I know we like to believe it sometimes but it isn’t true that God has only blessed America.  I want to hear what our Aussie brothers and sisters, our English ones, those in Africa, Asia, I want to hear what your guys’ version of God Bless America is whether you think you’re a good singer or not, whether it is in English or not.  I would like you to call in and just sing that so we can all get that same feeling, what it feels like from a different country because one day we know for sure that a multitude that no man can number from every single nation will be together and we’ll all be singing the same song finally, worshipping the Lamb that was slain.  I’m looking forward to that day and I would love to hear all your guys’ songs for just a picture of that glorious day to come.  I love all you guys.  Talk to you later.  

Nahum 1:1-3:19 ~ Revelation 8:1-13 ~ Psalm 136:1-26 ~ Proverbs 30:7-9

Today is the 17^th of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  It’s great to be here with you today.  I’m Brian. Of course, it is always a pleasure any time that we can continue in the rhythm of the scriptures as a community, which is exactly what we’ll do today.  So we’re at the end of another week and at the beginning of another book. We will be reading it in its entirety today, the book of Nahum

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

The book of Nahum is another book of prophesy written to the city of Nineveh, so 150 years earlier.  Even though it hasn’t been that long since we read this, 150 years earlier from this book God had sent Jonah to the city.  And when he delivered God’s message, Nineveh fell on its face and repented and was spared.  Now they’ve returned to their wicked ways and are as bad off, if not worse than they ever were.

Nineveh was the capital city of the great Assyrian Empire and its conquests were known to be very brutal.  It was the Assyrian Empire that destroyed Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel and took them into exile.  So again God sends a prophet to Nineveh, Nahum, preaching repentance and a return to God.  The Ninevites did not listen this time and the prophesy of judgment came true in 625 BC with the destruction of Nineveh and the falling of the Assyrian Empire.  

The ruins of ancient Nineveh exist until today.  They’ve even been in the news because of some of the destruction of them that has been happening.  Nineveh currently is in modern day Iraq near a city called Mosul and, of course, that has been in the news with all that has been going on. That is where Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire was and its ruins still are.  So that is where we are talking about.  

Nahum’s prophesy shows that God is merciful and he is very patient, but he is not a pushover and he is not going to stand for a nation’s sin forever. This should spur us all on to be the agents of change that we are supposed to be in the places that we live, to be the catalysts for repentance and a return to our God.  

So we begin Nahum chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 19.

Prayer

Father, we thank you for the relentless reminder today that your steadfast love endures forever.  In the Psalms we read this ancient call and response prayer and over and over and over confessed the truth that you are good and that your steadfast love endures forever.  So we invite you.  Come Holy Spirit and plant that truth right at the level of our identity.  We know it to be true and so often we’re living otherwise. We’re frantically thrashing around as if it weren’t true, so we invite you to come and bring this stabilizing reality into our spirits so that it overflows into everything about our lives. Your steadfast love endures forever, which means there will never be a moment that your love isn’t steadfast toward us.  Come Holy Spirit.  Make that a reality to us and change us in the process so that our steadfast love for you endures forever because this is a relationship that you’ve invited us to and we have accepted.  So it is required of us as well that we be faithful, loyal and intimately intertwined with you.  Come Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It is where you find out all the things that are going on around here and the resources that are here to resource this community.  So be sure to check that out.  There is still one more day left for Christmas shipping.  You can find things in the Daily Audio Bible Shop and they can still arrive for Christmas if you’re in the United States.  If you’re international, we will ship them, but the likelihood of arriving before Christmas is not something we’re super confident about.  Maybe but not sure about.  If you’re in the United States, we can still get it to you through tomorrow, so check out those things.

And then we’ve been talking about the More Gathering.  The More Gathering, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, that is instant registration.  The More Gathering is our women’s conference that we do each year and it is profoundly impactful.  All you have to do is find somebody who has been and they can tell you for sure.  It is hard to describe, but it is deeply impactful.  It is a gift of time.  It is less the gift of travel.  Travel is involved obviously.  This takes place in the Southern Appalachian Mountains outside of Atlanta in Georgia and it is beautiful there, really beautiful, but then it is the great exhale once you get there, just the exhale of not having to think about anything and just having the community around you that you’re going through the Bible with. Just the sisterhood that falls on that place is incredible and the relationships that are developed that become life-long friendships even across miles is really, really beautiful to behold. That is just to say the least. The More Gathering for Women, we bring this out this time of year because it is truly, truly a one-of-a-kind Christmas idea for the woman in your life or the women in your lives.  It doesn’t just have to be your wife.  It could be your sister or a girlfriend that you want to go with or something like that, so you can check that all out at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  You’ll find the More Gathering fairly easily and all of the details that you would want to know about it are there, so check that out.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we prepare to close out the year of 2016, then it is humbling that we get to do this at all and that we are about to finish 11 years, seven days a week is… I don’t have words to put to that.  I can’t believe that we’ve been able to do this together.  But that’s the thing.  We’ve done it together.  Everything we’ve ever done has just been kind of born out of what grew around this, the community that grew around this so long ago.  So as we prepare to move into our 12^th year of bringing God’s spoken word to anyone who will listen, anywhere on this planet, any time of day or night, and to build community around it so that no one has to ever feel alone again, to begin year 12 means we have to do another year together. Thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the home page of www.DailyAudioBible.com.  If you’re using the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner or if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. 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’s it for today.  I’m Brian. I love you.  I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.  

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hello Daily Audio Bible listeners.  This is Marcus from Columbia, TN.  I wanted to wish all of you an amazing heartfelt Christmas wish.  I listened to Brian’s message on Obadiah and it just kind of sunk in that we have brothers and sisters that are suffering around the world.  I pray that you would think of them this Christmas with all that they are possibly even suffering through in all parts of the world.  Brian, I thank you for this amazing program.  I listen to you almost every day and I am just grateful to be a part of this community.  So Merry Christmas everybody and have an amazing, life-changing New Year.  

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  It’s James, the teacher in LA with an urgent prayer request.  I’ve mentioned that I faculty sponsor for our school Bible club and the president of the club came to me yesterday afternoon, __________ call in, but a very good friend of hers from her church, another teen gal, was driving two of her friends to school I believe Friday morning and in some kind of freak accident, I don’t know all the details, but apparently some piece of metal debris or shrapnel managed to get flung into her car.  She was the driver, the young lady, not my student, but her friend Abbie.  It hit her in the head, knocked her unconscious instantly, caused a car accident for her and her passengers.  Her passengers had minor injuries, but Abbie, last I heard, had brain surgeries all weekend, is still in the hospital.  My student, Claire, God bless her, said that she knew if and when Abbie wakes up from this, she is just going to say that she is glad that it wasn’t someone who didn’t know the Lord who got hit because it would be a good witness that God doesn’t take out people that don’t know Jesus.  Guys, these are Kingdom people.  We need them healed to do God’s work in the world, so please pray that they would be healed to the glory of Christ.  I ask this in Jesus’ name, guys.  Thanks.  Love you. Bye-bye.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Alphaio calling from Delaware.  Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is an attitude.  It is a great way to acknowledge all that happens in our lives and to glorify the one who created us and who has us in the palm of his hand.  Life can be challenging.  Many times we feel downtrodden, no energy to go on, no motivation to finish the day, and no hope for tomorrow.  God never misses any detail of our lives.  He numbered the hairs of our heads.  God sees and knows it all.  He never misses your tears, your groaning, your pain and the many pleas. I choose this day to be faithful to glorify God and being grateful for all he has done and all he has in store for our lives.  All that happens to us, whether good or bad, comes with a purpose.  And remember that God could never let anything come to your life that he has no purpose for.  Be it for the greatest error in our lives or the greatest pain, it will turn your situation to one of divine purpose.  So rest in the assurance that Jesus has granted us full life.  He prayed that we would have a full life, so lead that full life today and forever starting with an attitude of gratitude.  Thank you, Lord, for all that you are doing, all that you could do, and for your constant pursuit of us whether we are ready or not ready for you.  Give us your Spirit to guide and to lead us to your loving arms even in our lowest moments. In Jesus’ name, amen.  Daily Audio Bible family, I love you all.  This is Alphaio from Delaware.  God bless you.

Good morning.  It is December 14^, 2016, at 8:11 a.m. and I am Sally in Brunswick and wanted to just call.  I’m a first time caller to the Dabber family, but I’ve been listening as a Dabber for a little over a couple years now.  I just want to thank Brian and Jill and family for the ministry that they have for this community.  It has been a real blessing to me and to my family.  I join in with prayers as I hear the prayer requests and so I’m just calling today to bless everyone and to thank everyone for the prayers that they offer up and also to have a prayer request of my own today.  I’m seeking God concerning some decisions that I need to make, ministry decisions.  I’m an associate pastor but have been in ministry for a little over 25 years.  I’m faced with some new decisions that I need to make and just trusting God for whichever direction I will go in and just would love the opportunity to lift this up for this particular season of my life and __________ of my family.  So I thank you.  Again, just want to bless everyone during this season and say thank you for the opportunity to hear your voices and to hear your prayers of intercession go up before the Lord and to be able to join with you in the atmosphere of prayer.  So I just bless each one of you and thank God for you and your lives.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  

Hi, good morning family.  Today is Wednesday, the 15^th.  This is Kim from California.  I haven’t called in a long time.  I’ve had a very busy year this year.  I got married and I want to thank all those that prayed for me and my husband.  I just want to say that right now I want to ask for your prayers.  My husband is actually in Florida today and he is looking at a house.  We’re going to be moving to Florida pretty soon.  His family is back there.  We know that family is the most important.  He’s looking at a house so I just want to ask for your prayers and if this is the right house for us, if this is the place God wants us to be, please let us know and let us get the house for a reasonable cost. I also want to say that those of you that are new to the Daily Audio Bible, please know that this is a good time to catch up if you’re behind on any of the podcasts.  Everything will disappear come December 31^st. I learned this many, many, many years ago.  It is just gone.  So if you need to catch up, now is the time to catch up.  I know my time is going, but I just want to tell all those women to go to the More Gathering.  I went there 2013.  I wrote on a little stone, they have something they do, and I wrote “bride” on the little stone.  It is something that you want in your life, and 2016 I became a bride.  I got married for the first time in my life.  I’m 59 years old.  So please have faith, women.  Please have faith.  It will happen.  I have such a good, good, good husband.  My time is going.  I just want to say I’m praying for Tim in Tampa, Sarah, Danny.  I’m still praying for Nancy in Seattle.  God bless you all.  I love you.  Bye-bye.

Hello.  My name is Mary R.  I’m just calling in response to the first gentleman who called in on December 14^th. I heard your prayer request. You’re now homeless after an accident and multiple broken relationships, it sounds like, simply needing forgiveness in your own heart.  I have no eloquent words for you, my brother, other than I’m praying for you.  I heard the cry of your heart through your message. I believe in the redeeming and restoring work of Jesus Christ on the cross, as I gather you do from your message and from your years of listening.  So I will just continue to be in prayer for you as you heal, as your spirit heals, as relationships heal, and as the Lord brings all good things out of this difficult time for you.  As your sister in Christ, I send my love to you and I will remember you.  God bless you.  

Micah 5:1-7:20 ~ Revelation 7:1-17 ~ Psalm 135:1-21 ~ Proverbs 30:5-6

Today is the 16^th day of the month of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian.  It is great to be here with you as we forge our way toward the end of another of our shrinking number of weeks left in this year.  It’s exciting.  It’s exciting because we are rounding the bend without a doubt.  So let’s get to it.  We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and we will conclude the book that we began yesterday, the book of Micah.  Today chapter 5 verse 1 through 7 verse 20.  

Commentary

We completed the book of Micah today and of course Micah is speaking prophetic words and some of them are very specific to the time and place that he is speaking them, but some of them are timeless and simple enough that if we could just simply absorb and then integrate by being awake and aware, integrate these things, it would be so profoundly helpful to us.  

He is musing about the situation that they are in and the prophesy is of judgment to come, but he is musing about how can we move back, how we can get back to where we need to be with God?  How is it that we humble ourselves and repent and actually be back in that place that we’re supposed to be?  And the way he says it is:

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?  

And then he kind of goes through this list:  Is it that I need to sacrifice burnt offerings, the special kind? Would that please the Lord?  If I could come up with thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil, is that what we need to do?  Or even do I give up my children for my transgression? Is that what would wash away the sin of my soul?  

What we have to do here is the question that gets an answer.  

He has told you, oh man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?  

It is like boom!  Mic drop moment, right?  Mic drop, walk off the stage, what else is there to say here?  It always boils down to something simple that is very understandable but very complicated to actually live into because it requires the diminishment of our own will and desires in most cases.  But it is this will and desire of ours that runs rampant, that gets us into so much trouble.  It is this same will and desire that got us into trouble in the first place in the book of Genesis chapter 3.  So we’re always kind of looking for how it is we can invoke God when there is nothing to invoke.  He is within us.  We must walk with him in collaboration.

So Micah is talking about what about these grandiose external things we can do, right?  These big offerings.  These rivers of oil, even the idea of giving up the children, which is over the top and something God never, ever asked for.  In fact, God even says in the scriptures that kind of thing has never even entered my mind.  But we always think it is like some kind of huge, huge thing that has to be done that somehow gets God to maybe pay some sort of attention when he is paying attention. He is totally paying attention and what Micah points out is it is not in the bombastic external things.  It is in the simple internal things of the soul. What does he require of you other than to do justice, to be just in all that you do and to love kindness in all that you are and to walk humbly with your God?  If those are our practices, if that is what we do, then we are moving toward wholeness.  There isn’t really anything else required outside of just believing this.  

So especially now in this season where goodwill is supposed to be all around us as we anticipate the arrival, the celebration of the arrival of the human one come to save us and long for the total restoration of all things at his second arrival, may we just understand that if we do justly in our lives and we love kindness and we walk humbly with our God, we will be doing what we are supposed to be doing.  It may take many shapes.  It may have many nuances based on our own personal life story and those within our sphere of influence and where we even are on this planet, it may take its own shape inside of us, but it is fundamentally leading us to repentance and wholeness.  May we heed the words of the prophet Micah so long ago and apply these things so fundamentally in our lives that they are burned in like a tattoo.  They are there.  They cannot be taken away.  It is written on our hearts that we must do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with our God.

Prayer

Father, that is our heart’s cry.  The thing is we acknowledge that we can’t do this without your Holy Spirit’s involvement.  We can try to be good.  We can try to behave.  We can discipline ourselves for a certain period of time, really correcting ourselves, and those things are very, very important, but we can’t pull this off before you truly without the collaboration of your Holy Spirit.  So we ask, come Holy Spirit.  Come.  Let us do exactly this, what is good.  What you require of us is to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with you, our God.  Help us live into that today and tomorrow and every day that follows it, for all of our days. We ask this in the name of Jesus who makes this a possibility.  Come Jesus, we pray in your name.  Amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s where you find out what is going on around here.  The three things that we’ve been talking about every day, I guess two of them have dropped off.  We are sold out of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for 2016.  You can obviously and of course still get resources from the Daily Audio Bible Shop in time for Christmas, but the Christmas cut-off is midnight of the 18^th, so just two days from now.  That’s if you are in the United States.  If you are hoping for something internationally for Christmas, then that deadline is past.  We will happily send things out, but we’re kind of down to it as are most people who are shipping things these days.  

But the one thing that is instant and still very, very much on the radar is the More Gathering for Women that will take place this April 6-9.  It is our annual women’s conference and it makes for really, really one of the most unique gifts you could give to a woman because you’re not just giving a trip or something like that.  You’re giving time and space to unpack and just be.  That is something we all have to fight for and rarely get.  So to have a few days where you don’t have to really do anything, you are just kind of guided through among friends some thoughts, some things to consider, and then go consider and really dig deep into your own life and the trajectory it is on and where it is headed and really have the space to hear from God and move forward and make whatever changes need to be made so that the path becomes clear, there is just a lot of value there and it is very unique.  So if you’re looking for something really, really unique for the woman, the spouse, the sister, the girlfriend, well, then check out the Daily Audio Bible Women’s Conference.  It’s called the More Gathering and you can learn all about it at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Between now and the end of the year we have the special advanced price discount that we offer each year around this time so you can take advantage of that.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in the final days of the year 2016, then we absolutely thank you and are humbled that Daily Audio Bible means enough to you to keep it moving forward.  Thank you humbly.  There are a few ways to go about this.  The Daily Audio Bible website, www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link that is living right on the home page.  If you’re using the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner.  Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  And really, thank you.  Thank you for helping us get ourselves into the new year safe and sound and strong.  

And of course, as always, as a community we consider one of our most distinctive things the fact that we are a loving community that shoulders each other’s burdens and prays for each other, and if you are carrying a load and you would like your brothers and sisters to help shoulder that load, then there is a number you can call – (877) 942-4253.  

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi dear family.  This is Pastor Gene M. from Bradenton, FL.  I love you very much.  Let’s pray. Father, I thank you and preemptively go on the offensive against the enemy of our souls that comes to _________, to destroy, to lie to us.  I rebuke him from our family relationships.  I rebuke him from our friendship relationships.  I go against him, Lord, because you say in your word that when we pray to you, we should ask to be delivered from evil, Father, and we ask to be delivered from evil, even before he attacks.  We know that he plans for us our __________ and to disrupt our lives. We take authority in the mighty name of Jesus and take every thought and every __________ that is not according to your counsel to the cross of Jesus Christ.  We submit it to the power of your resurrection.  O dear Father, help us.  Help us, Father, to resist.  To those of us that are married, help us to see when the enemy is attacking us, that our struggle is not against flesh or blood.  It is not against our spouses but against the enemy of our souls.  Help us as the enemy lies to us in our relationships with our children.  Help as the enemy tries to interfere as we try to minister and witness to others about Christ.  Help us when the enemy tries to plan sedition and wants to make us __________ that our devices and social media that do not bring glory to your name and that makes us win an argument but that affects our testimony with others.  Father, in the name of Jesus, Father, I pray for Alicia from Kansas and ask that you will continue encouraging her.  I pray for the daughter of my sister Melisa, pray that you will continue to strengthen her and take out all those suicidal thoughts.  I pray for the continued restoration of Abbie, daughter of my sister Jen and I pray for my brother New Creation and ask that you will continue to…

Hello Daily Audio Bible members.  Thank you for praying for everyone that you’ve prayed for all these years.  I’m calling, I don’t normally ask people to pray for me, but something has been happening to me that has made me so frightened I need to.  Father, we know that wherever two or more are gathered in your name, that you are there among them and so that is why I am calling you today, Daily Audio Bible members.  I’m withdrawing from a medication that I was given and it has been very painful because it has given me seizures.  My name is Anthony, if I didn’t say that.  But it is giving me basically convulsions and seizures and they are unpredictable.  I can never predict.  They happen all through the day and they even happen at night when I’m attempting to sleep. This has been making it difficult to meet my own responsibilities, to be there for my family and loved ones, and it has also just been very frightening for me in many ways including on a spiritual basis and I just ask if anyone is willing to pray for me that I can be healed from this condition.  The doctors don’t know how to help me right now and it has been the most traumatic experience for me.  But thank you and I’ll continue to pray for you and those of you that I hear about. God bless you.  Thank you.  Goodbye.

Hey DAB brothers and sisters.  This is Byron out in Florida.  Jordan out in Detroit, I got a message for you straight from God.  God loves you.  God loves you.  God loves you.  God loves you.  I can’t think of a time where I’ve spoken so forcefully on the prayer line, but Jordan, don’t you dare give up on this 30-day challenge because if you have nothing else to say, you can say that God loves you.  Whether you feel it or not it is the truth.  You can call in every day and just say that, but you have to keep this going.  You have to. God shows up for those who do not quit so don’t quit.  God loves you.  It is the truth whether you have a good day or bad day, whether you’re feeling it or not. It is the truth.  Don’t give up.  I am praying for you.  I’m rooting for you.  We’re all rooting and praying for you, Jordan.  Don’t give up.  God loves you.  

Family, I hope you’re all doing well.  This is Biola from Maryland.  Shout-out to you, Egbert, my brother.  I’m praying for you.  I did get your message.  God bless you, my brother.  I pray that God would continue to help you in your walk with him.  Carol?  I don’t recall, but the sister who lives in Minnesota but couldn’t go to Israel because of an accident, I am praying for you.  The word of God says that he gives his beloved sleep.  The Bible says that you shall lie down and your sleep shall be sweet and I plead that word over you right now.  I generate it in your life.  I make it active, in the name of Jesus.  Sister, when you lie down your sleep will be sweet and you’ll be fully healed, in the precious name of Jesus.  Blind Tony, I hope you’re doing much better.  I’m still praying for you, in Jesus’ name.  God bless you, my brother.  I want to pray for the brother also who talked about addiction to porn and alcohol.  Brother, the Bible says that he who the Son has set free is free indeed.  The devil is using these to make you feel condemned and give you guilt.  I pray in the name of Jesus that the power of this will be broken in your life and your daughter’s life.  She is also addicted to porn.  In the name of Jesus I decree and declare, brother, that you are set free in the name of Jesus and you will be completely free, in Jesus’ name, that when you think about porn or alcohol, it will be disgusting to you, in the name of Jesus. You will no longer have any satisfaction in looking at porn or drinking alcohol, in the precious name of Jesus. As I have decreed, so it shall be, in Jesus’ name.  Brian and Jill, shout-out to you.  God bless both of you.  Okay, people.  Women, start registering for the More Conference.  This is a plug.  Jill did not tell me to do this, but I’m telling you it’s an awesome conference. You need to start registering and start taking up your spaces before the spaces fill up.  It is awesome.  I can’t tell you how awesome it is.  God bless you.

Hi Brian, Jill, Tyler, China, Ezekiel, Cristian and the DAB family. This is Garth from Bromley Kent, UK. As a family this year, we’re doing something different over the holiday season.  We’ll be traveling with friends to places we’ve never been before. Recently I saw a few of Jill’s posts on the DAB Facebook page that have had me thinking and reflecting.  After hearing Brian’s prayer on the 12^th of December, it triggered me contemplating about intentionally experiencing Christmas in a different way.  Always prevalent at this time as you look around are joy, peace, and love. The Holy Spirit was fundamentally bringing about the birth of Christ and his fingerprint is all over the biblical narrative, so this Christmas, apart from focusing on joy, peace, and love, which are easier to do, why not intentionally look for ways of enhancing the other Fruit of the Spirit in ourselves, in our environment and in those we come into contact with:  Kindness, goodness, patience, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness.  Against such, there is no law.  Brian, Jill, and family, thank you for your sacrificial giving to the Daily Audio Bible.  The Lord continue to bless you and keep you.  May the Lord continue to make his eyes shine upon us all this Christmas as we continue to focus on him.  We ask all this in the precious name of his son, Jesus.  Amen.

Good morning Dabbers.  Today is December 13^th.  I’m a burning bush that will not be devoured for the glory of our God and King.  This morning I heard many requests including a man who called and basically mentioned again how this time of the year can be difficult for some.  He lost his brother on Christmas Day.  I am praying for you.  A lady also called.  She is also estranged from her kids, and another lady, sorry I didn’t get the names because I’m driving, but you mentioned something about giving in to thoughts, negative thoughts in your mind that cause you to go into a dark place. I might be paraphrasing it, but I believe it happens to the best of us.  I just want to say this.  Whatever we focus on we empower to have complete control over our thoughts, our will, our emotion and our action.  So I am just challenging us today to focus on God.  Focus on what God has done for us this year.  In Liberia the end of the year there is a song we sing New Year’s Day. We say Happy New Year, we don’t die all, which means thank God, Happy New Year, I didn’t die.  I know it sounds like not a lot but if for nothing we have that to be thankful for.  I love you guys.  

Micah 1:1-4:13 ~ Revelation 6:1-17 ~ Psalm 134:1-3 ~ Proverbs 30:1-4

Today is the 15^th day of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian.  It is great to be here with you, 10 days out from Christmas and moving rapidly through some of the shorter minor books of prophesy in the Bible.  We’ll continue to move through them rapidly here for the next several days.  Today we’ll begin the book of Micah.  

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

Micah was a prophet who was contemporary with Isaiah so he seemed to have the same kind of voice in the king’s life as Isaiah had.  Pretty much everything else we know about Micah is found in the book of Jeremiah, that he prophesied during the days of King Hezekiah of Judah and that he was from the town of Moresheth.  

Micah’s prophetic book speaks directly against leaders who have led the people away from God and of the corruption that is involved in that. False prophets, rulers and priests had misled the people and because of that, judgment would fall, but Micah is not just a book of judgment and doom.  It is also hopeful and speaks of the restoration of God’s people and reiterates a message running through the entire Bible, that God’s judgment is certain and if we step out of his grace we’re certain to feel it.  But after judgment comes restoration.  So through the prophet Micah we see a clear line in the sand as we so often do.  God lays out his requirements for justice, obedience and loyalty, but he also shows what happens when those requirements are not heeded.  

And so we begin the book of Micah, chapter 1 verse 1 through 4 verse 13 today, reading from the English Standard Version.  

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word.  We thank you for its counsel, its comfort, just the rhythm of it brings an order to our lives that we are so grateful for.  So yeah, we’re moving through a lot of territory really quickly in one of the busiest seasons of our lives, this final season of the year, it’s always a little chaotic, and so we invite your Holy Spirit to help us stay present and hear.  Sometimes we’re listening for things that you might want to say to us right now, but sometimes you’re inviting us just to allow it to wash over us and blanket us and warm us around this global campfire that we share as a community here.  So Holy Spirit, we invite you to do whatever you want to do through your word and in our lives.  We sit here in awe of you, worshipping you in this season, this season where we’re longing for your second arrival.  We’re longing for all to be made right, but we’re also realizing that we play a role in this and that you have given us permission and authority to make things right and it begins in our hearts and moves into our homes. Help us.  Holy Spirit, come.  May we be your hands and feet in this world on this day.  We pray this in the mighty name of Jesus, the Risen Lord. Amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s the website.  It is where you find out what is going on around here.  

1.      So today is going to be the last day for the calls for the holiday greeting calls that we’ve been talking about for about a week. Yeah, so you need to get them in today. Today is the last day.  I mean, you can call them in, but they won’t be part of the Christmas Party that we’re cooking up that is the annual event.  So get your calls in today.  (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial, which is, of course, the prayer request line, so just don’t call in Christmas wishes combined with prayer request stuff inside of the same call.  If you have a prayer request, that is wonderful.  We are a community that loves each other very well.  Just make that a separate thing from the Christmas thing.  Alright? That’s my one request about that. And today is the last day, so make sure you get your calls in.  In fact, let me grab my little handy piece of paper here and give you all the numbers. So (877) 942-4253, that is the number for the Americas.  If you are in the UK or Europe:  44, 20-3608-8078.  And then if you are in Australia or the lands down under:  61, 3-8820-5459 is the number to call.  You can use any of those for these holiday wishes or prayer request calls.  Alright? So today is the last day.  

2.      The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box.  We are scraping the bottom of the barrel on that as well, so grab them while we’ve got them at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.  

3.      The More Gathering for Women is coming up this April 6-9 in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of north Georgia just outside of Atlanta in this lovely location.  Man, new life will be springing forth and that is exactly what will happen at the More Gathering.  But we make advance registration available this time of year and through the end of the year so that you can take advantage of it.  It makes for the most unique of all Christmas gifts, so check it out.  Send the woman in your life away for a few days with God.  Yeah, with nothing riding down, no responsibilities and obligations, that is a treasure.  So check that out at www.DailyAudioBible.com as well and take advantage of preregistration or advance registration.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, that can be done at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Thank you. This is how everything works.  It works because we’re a community.  It works because we love what we get to do together in having this rhythm of the scriptures.  It works because we do it together.  It’s only ever been that way, so here at the end of the year, if the Daily Audio Bible and the community here has been life-giving to you, then thank you for your partnership and being life-giving back into the community.  The link is on the home page.  If you use the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner.  If you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment or, today, holiday wishes, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.  

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hello Daily Audio Bible.  This is Jimmy in Georgia.  I’d like to call in a request today.  It’s my first time calling.  I’d like to call in a request for my wife and I.  We’re having some marital problems.  They are serious, any  marital problem is serious and I feel that it needs prayer, that we can work these things out and continue a great life.  I’ve got a great wife.  She has just been the most awesome wife in the world and I really love her.  I just appreciate your prayers.  Thank you very much.  

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  It’s James, the teacher in LA.  I want to respond to Paul in Barcelona.  Paul, I know I’ve actually emailed to you or talked to you through the forums years ago now, but I remember you because there are not a whole lot of people with the DAB who are also specifically working with Muslims overseas like I once did. I understand your frustration, not just specifically with Daily Audio Bible, but with western Christianity, western Christians.  I’ve got to say, since being back here in the States these last few years, I’ve begun to feel very convicted that I’m not moving in full obedience to Christ although I’m not sure what it would look like for me to move in full obedience to Christ right now.  And that is what I’m asking you for prayer for, family.  How do I respond to Christ’s commands with regard to forwarding the gospel in my life?  I feel like my heart has become very out of touch with Christ the last year or so since becoming a parent and I’ve blamed sleep deprivation and all sorts of things, but I think I’ve just gotten lazy and I’m not sure where to start or where to re-start, if you will.  So please pray for me, family.  I pray for you guys every day and I love you, even when I’m lazy and I don’t remember everybody’s names.  I’m not so diligent.  I pray that I become as amazing as some of you are.  I love you guys.  Bye.  

Hello to all my beautiful sisters and brothers in our community around the world. This is Dawn from New York calling with I what I hope will be a word of encouragement for all of us.  You know, sometimes when I listen to the prayer requests, especially the weekend, to the Community Prayer, wow, it can seem overwhelming when we hear all the heart-aching situations that people are living with, the loneliness, the pain, the family struggles.  Oh my goodness!  You know, every one of us has burdens that we carry and every family has its own unique blend of dysfunction.  I know mine does.  We all do. I had an especially tough day yesterday and I’m grateful to God for scripture this morning and the Holy Spirit encouraging me with some scripture that I want to share with you.  This is my reach out hug to all of you and a prayer for all of us through scripture.  I pray you’ll be encouraged.  This is Ephesians chapter 3:14-20.  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, amen.  God bless everybody.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible.  I’m calling for Jordan today from Michigan.  I heard you this morning.  It’s the 12^th of December and you sounded so down and I’m so sorry.  I just want to pray with you and lift you up.  Father God, I ask a special blessing on Jordan today. I ask that you would heal his heart, mind, body and spirit.  Lord, you say in your word that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to his design and purpose.  Lord, we pray that over Jordan.  Help him to know that in his heart and to cast all his anxieties on you because he cares for you and that we live by faith and not by sight.  Lord, give him the strength he needs.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  Jordan, my son is a teacher and I know he struggles too sometimes and I guess I just feel a special tug on my heart to your heart because my son is a teacher.  So I just pray for all the teachers today.  Jordan, don’t give up.  Hang in there.  We love you. Someone is praying for you. Goodbye family.  Have a great day.  Amen.  

Good morning Daily Audio Bible friends.  I’m a first time caller.  My name is Mary.  I’m calling from Melbourne, FL and I want to mention some prayers for some people. Bonnie, I heard your prayer about your son, Vivek, and we are praying for you.  And I know that he is having a hearing on the 21^st of December, so we will be praying.  I also want to pray for Jordan in Detroit and also Alex in Gainesville and all of our college students and people that are starting careers.  Praying that God will be with you.  Don’t give up.  He is there. You’re young and you’re learning how to put God in your life and keep him there, so be strong and have faith in our Lord.  I also want to pray for David.  I believe you live in the Carolinas.  You have had trouble with your stomach.  Have not heard from you for a while.  I pray that you would call in and let us know how you’re doing.  Pastor Gene, we’re praying for you always and every day that God will continue to be with you and lift you up and give you strength as you continue your job.   I’d like to also say thank you to David from Kansas.  David, you are such a blessing.  You pray for people and you really do touch our hearts, so thank you so much. Michaela from UK, I have not heard from you for a while.  Also Mike from Santa Clarita.  Mike, you touch my heart.  You have such a heart for God when you pray.  I hope that you will continue to pray in because you really have messages for people and you do bless our hearts.  Pelham, it was so good to hear from you.  When I first started listening in January of this year, I think you had lost a child and now it’s true.  I was looking at my notes that you’re going to be having a baby in the next couple of weeks.  We pray that all is well.  I’d also like to say thank you to Brian and Jill.  Finding the Daily Audio Bible has been such a blessing and it touches my heart.  I pray for all of you, that God will be with you, that we will all trust in him.  Don’t ever forget that he brings us joy, so trust him every day.  Family, I love you.  I’m running out of time.  God bless you.  Have a great day.  Bye.  

Good morning.  This is Joelle from Colorado and today is December 12^th and this is a holiday greeting for everyone in the DAB family.  I just wanted to say thank you.  Thank you so much for your fellowship, for being a resource that moves my heart and brings me closer to the word, that teaches me about prayer and struggle and gives me insight which has been incredibly valuable to me in my first year of listening. So I love each of you.  I pray for many of you and I don’t know what I would do without this amazing community and resource.  So Merry Christmas to each of you and your families.  To people who are struggling at this time to feel a sense of belonging and support, extra love to you.  And to people who are feeling the many blessings that God gives, thank you for sharing them with us.  To Jill and Brian and everyone, SarahJane and Natalie who is planning the More Retreat, everyone who works for DAB or in service of the partnership, thank you. And I love you and look forward to being part of this community next year and in years to come.  

Jonah 1:1-4-11 ~ Revelation 5:1-14 ~ Psalm 133:1-3 ~ Proverbs 29:26-27

Today is the 14^th day of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am, of course, Brian.  It’s great to be here with you today for another step forward.  Not that many more steps, friends, before we reach the end of the year.  I can’t believe it but it’s true.  We’ve been kind of sailing through a lot of territory as things speed up here toward the end of the year, not only in our lives because of the holidays, but because of the shortness of the books that we’re moving through and today is no different. We begin today a new book in the Old Testament, the book of Jonah.

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

Jonah is a book of prophesy that has a twist.  Jonah was a man in the 8^th century BCE, so a long time ago, who lived just north of Nazareth in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign for Jeroboam II.  Although he was a prophet, his mission was not to call Israel to repentance, nor was it to forecast the destruction of Israel’s enemies.  His mission was a unique one that he wasn’t excited about at all. His mission was to go to the land of Nineveh, enemies of God, enemies of Israel, and call them to repentance.  Of course, like I just said, Jonah was not excited about that idea at all and his pride and fear very quickly had him on a ship sailing in the other direction.  He’s way up in the north in the Galilee and he comes all the way to the Mediterranean coast and Japha, which is still a city today just outside of Tel Aviv, and he gets on a ship and he goes in the opposite direction of Nineveh. Of course, the story of Jonah is a famous one.  Jonah ends up in the belly of a whale and after three days of repentance he is spit up on the shore alive.  

So there are obvious foreshadowings of Jesus in this story and there are also obvious parallels to our own lives.  When we allow fear and pride to lead us, this fear of man that we were talking about yesterday, when we allow this to rule and govern us and lead us into disobedience, well then all we can do is find ourselves on the run. But running from God, not only is it stupid, it’s impossible.  God loves us enough to never stop pursuing us and although Jonah found himself in the belly of a whale, that whale became his salvation.  He would have drowned for sure in the open sea in a storm and although the journey must have been unspeakably uncomfortable and gross, God used the whale to deliver him alive and well on the shore, giving him a second chance which he takes.

There are a lot more nuances to this as we get into the story, but we may find our journey similar.  It is important to consider the fact that maybe God is not punishing us.  Maybe we’re in the belly of the whale and God is rescuing and saving us because we’ve been on the run and it’s not working.  

So we begin, from the English Standard Version today, the book of Jonah, chapter 1 verse 1 through 4 verse 11.  

Commentary

Alright, the story of Jonah is riveting because it is so full of tension and drama and humanity, but it is like a mirror of our own lives in so many ways.

Jonah gets this call from God and he is invited to do something he doesn’t want to do.  Part of that has to be the fear of man, like we were talking about yesterday.  He does not want to go to Nineveh, God’s enemies, and call them to repentance.  They are God’s enemies, so they are enemies of the people.  If he goes there and calls them to reconciliation with God and repentance and they hear him and God spares them, then how is he going to go back and face the people?  He can go back and say, “I just did what God told me to do,” but they are enemies.  So there is that layer going on and then there is just the fact that he hates these people.  He does not want them to be spared by God.  He wants justice.  He wants God’s mighty hand to fall and burn up the city and get rid of their enemies, so there is that layer going on.  

It all conspires to put him on the run and he runs a long way, from Nazareth to Japha, which is a pretty good distance, especially if you don’t have a car and he didn’t, so it is a good way.  He is already on foot on the run before he gets on a ship on the run to go further away from God, but God is having none of it.  We know the story.  It is really, really remarkable because God redeems Jonah.  God could have been like, “Well, you got what you deserved.  Now you are food for the fish,” but instead God redeems.  God rescues.  

There are times that we’re in the process of being rescued where we are still upset about the situation.  Because being in the belly of a whale for Jonah had to be – I don’t even know how to think about what that would be like, other than probably unpleasant.  Probably thoroughly unpleasant in every sensory way and terrifying, but here he is in this very uncomfortable, very weird place but it is also the thing that is keeping him alive.  So Jonah gets spit up, back alive on dry ground.  

God is always rescuing us.  Sometimes we’re still thrashing in the rescue, like a drowning person who is panicking and the lifeguard or rescue forces come to extract a person, but it becomes dangerous for the rescuer because the person is panicking and flailing and thrashing and all they need to do is be still and be rescued.  We do this stuff all the time.  

Once Jonah is in the whale, he begins to pray.  He knows what is going on and he gets spit up on the ground.  So he still has to make the long journey to Nineveh and it is a long journey from the coast of the Mediterranean all the way across the desert to Nineveh, a long, long, long way.  I imagine news of what was going on with Jonah probably started to spread and probably gave his message a lot more weight than it would have had, had he just gone.  Had he just gone, he would have obeyed God and the people would have had the opportunity to repent, but the story of the whale, if that was making itself known around the countryside and got its way to Nineveh, well that would make people pay attention to what Jonah had to say.  

When Jonah spoke, the people all the way to the king responded and the city was spared and Jonah is outside the city just fuming.  He is so upset that he is like, “I just want to die!”  It is so funny, but it is so tragic because it is so like our lives in all of the thrashing and all the things that we say. God’s message is ultimately, “This is not your call, little buddy.  I mean, who are you to decide whether or not I spare these hundreds of thousands of people?” Why can’t I, who created all of this, invite anyone I choose to stop going on the path of destruction and return to a place that will keep them safe?  Who are you to decide this?”  God is just saying, “Why can’t I rescue people who don’t even know what is going on, who don’t know their right hand from their left?  Why can’t I rescue them?”

It’s funny because he’s like, “Just kill me.  I’m angry enough to die!”  And what is he angry enough to die about?  Because God asked him to do something he didn’t want to do.  Oh, that is close to home there.  God wanted him to go and rescue and be his voice to his enemies.  Yeah, that is all through the Bible and that is all through our lives.  So if we’re feeling like we’re in the belly of the whale because we know we’ve been on the run and we know there are some things we need to reconcile, there are some people that have become enemies that we would just as soon see lightning bolts cast upon so that they get what they deserve, but God is saying no, I actually want you to be part of the redeeming story in their lives, I want you to set aside what you think you know and stop this fear of man and swallow this pride that has poisoned you and I want you to be part of the redemption story, well, may we consider the story of Jonah as we proceed.

Prayer

Father, we invite you into that.  It is close to the bone on a number of levels for sure.  There are a lot of layers here, but they touch us in the soft spots.  So rather than continuing the run, we invite your Holy Spirit to come, rescue us, Lord. Reshape the way we’re looking at things, the way that we’re looking at our enemies, the way that we’re looking at those we fear, those that we have marginalized, and let us see that we don’t really have a say here.  You choose who you want to redeem and you have come to redeem the world, so that means you have come to redeem those that maybe we’re not on good terms with or maybe that we’ve just had these attitudes toward, people groups that are just like, yeah, let’s do away with it, let’s just be done with it, when that may not be your plan of redemption.  Help us, Lord, to pray for our enemies and love those who hate us and live like Jesus. Come, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base.  It’s the website.  It is where you find out what is going on around here and we have these three items that are important right now:

1.      Call in your Christmas greeting while you can. The number to call is (877) 942-4253. And, yeah, you can just call up and say whatever you want to say to the whole community about the holidays, about Christmastime.  We compile all this together and make a Christmas party out of it and we call it the Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas.  It’s a lot of fun, so looking forward to putting that together.  Make sure you get your call in.  Now that is the prayer request line, so don’t call in a Christmas greeting that is combined with a prayer request.  Keep them separate and that will keep everything moving in the right direction.  But be sure to call.  

2.      The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box.  That is available and chockful of resources, some that you’ll want to keep, some that you’ll want to give away.  So we’re in the final days before those are sold out. Be sure to grab yours while you can. You can find out everything about it at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.    

3.      It is advance registration time for the More Gathering that will take place this coming April 6-9.  We do advance registration at this time because it is an opportunity to maybe get one of the most powerful and unique Christmas gifts for the woman in your life that is very, very specific and very, very unique. So check that out at www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Initiatives section.  Every detail you would want to know about the More Gathering, that is contained there.  So take advantage of that while you can.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in these final days of the year, then we thank you from a humble and true place.  Literally the Daily Audio Bible doesn’t exist if we don’t do what we’re doing together, so thank you humbly, deeply, honestly for your partnership in keeping everything moving forward.  There is a link on the home page.  If you use the app, you can push the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

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

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hey.  I got behind major, but I finally caught up.  Going on six years listening.  Man, I’ve had a rough year and also I guess early summer I got in a fight and got stabbed behind the knee which crippled me and I lost everything, became homeless. There has been so much heartbreak and broken relationships that have come from that and stuff even before that event.  I don’t know, but I need some teeth and I need reconciliation with people.  I need a forgiving heart and I need others to forgive me.  So please pray for me.  Thanks.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  It’s James, the teacher in LA, and this prayer is being sent to Rebecca from Michigan calling in about feeling lonely and concerned about being alone at Christmas and the holidays.  Father God, I pray for Rebecca and for all the other single people in our Daily Audio Bible family, particularly those who don’t have a lot of close friends to spend that time with.  Lord, I pray that first of all you would make your presence known to them, even as they hear this prayer, knowing that I wouldn’t be responding, Lord, if you hadn’t moved your Spirit in me to respond, Lord, that your Spirit in me is the same Spirit in them, that you are in all of us, that you are present to all us.  I pray that they would feel your presence in this moment and all throughout the holiday season.  I pray that they would learn to hear you and feel you in the stillness, Lord, and that in the time of being quiet and being alone, that they would be able to tune in to you more closely, get closer to your heart, hear what you have to say into their lives so that they can follow you and just get closer to your heart.  In Jesus’ name, amen.  Rebecca, if I lived in Michigan, my wife and I lived in Michigan, we would invite you over, but sorry about that.  Yeah, do you have people you volunteer with or anything?  See if they want to go do stuff with you, even if it is just inexpensive. Who knows?  Love you guys.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Hi everyone.  This is Reginald M. from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.  It’s just a little bit after 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon the 10^th of December.  My email address is KeepersoftheEarthOwner@gmail.com.  Pastor Gene, thank you for mentioning me in your prayer request/message as Keeper of the Earth.  Thank you for your prayer support.  I thank you, everyone, for having prayed for my son.  December 4^th was his 5^th birthday and it was the first birthday I was able to celebrate with my son in three years and it was a very nice day for the two of us to spend together, a couple hours.  I also want to give you some advice from a heart filled with love.  Pastor Gene, you’re always the majority no matter what the odds are against you, especially walking in obedience to Christ and you’re walking with Christ.  Number two, there is something that I would consider the root principle.  When Ruth was in the fields gleaning from the edges of the fields, she was still blessed by God and singled out by another man who was watching out for her.  Being in that situation, I would be looking for more positive opportunity after another or one glimmer of hope after another and just trust God with the process completely and watch what he does for you as far as opening doors and maybe even getting you out of there sooner than you imagined.  Have a great day everyone.  I love you all.  God bless. Bye for now.  

Father, I come humbly in prayer before your throne once again because you’re Almighty God and the deliverer of all men.  There are so many people among us who are hurting and in pain, with very serious problems, __________ and tears fall like rain.  You said you keep in a skin bag each and every one of our tears. You said every hair on our head is numbered and you know the sum of all of our years.  You said you had written down in your book every one of our parts before even one of them was ever formed and only you know our hearts.  And on top of that, you offered us adoption as sons once our hearts had conformed so we come to you through Jesus, humble, tired and worn, walking by faith to this place we consider safe. But then we have all these problem that won’t go away, even though we cry out to you day after day.  Like people with cancer and people who need a liver and so many other problems, Father, from which only you can deliver.  Strengthen us, Father, so we can endure to the end and if our faith gets a little bit shaky, please revive us again and help us to see that when we’re under such strong attack, that it is really just the wicked one trying hard to turn us back. Help us, Father, to commit ourselves anew.  Help us to surrender all completely unto you.  BlindTony1016@gmail.com.  I have to give a shout-out to Pelham and Molly.  Didn’t you say that you all were about to have a baby around Christmastime? It is around time.  It’s time for you all to check in, Pelham and Molly. Let us know what is happening with the baby report.  And once again…

Hey Daily Audio Bible.  This is Pelham from Birmingham calling.  Just wanted to call.  Apparently the Holy Spirit wants me to reach out to Mark from the Four Corners region again. I think he called like on the 5^th, maybe a day or two after that, but he was battling addiction and an addiction to pornography.   I’ve faced both of those things, so I feel. Man, you’re on my mind and I’m praying for you and you have the victory already.  Don’t let the enemy lie to you.  Exposing it like you’ve done and bringing light to it is the first step toward victory over that.  I also just wanted to call because I need international prayer because I’m going to be a father any day now and I’m scared.  I’m not sure. I definitely don’t know what it is going to be like and I want to raise up a wonderful child that is a world changer. I don’t deserve a child, but God in his grace has blessed my life so much.  So pray for me and Molly.  I just wanted to reach out.  Hope everyone is doing great.  Blind Tony, you’re on my mind as well.  Thanks guys.

Hello.  I’m calling from southwest Florida and I just want to thank everyone involved with the Daily Audio Bible.  I’ve been listening for several years and I’ve never called in, but I feel like the enemy has been keeping me from doing that and today my husband said something.  He said we need 1000 prayers for our son.  I thought where can I get 1000 prayer warriors?  And then I realized I could get more than 1000 through the Daily Audio Bible.  So I’m asking you to pray for my son, Danny.  He is a 29-year-old wonderful young man with a degree, very bright, but has just not found his way and is struggling with the things of the world. I just pray that he’ll surrender to God and give up all of those things that are holding him down.  There is nothing we can do.  We’re putting him at the foot of the cross, but I would so appreciate prayer warriors for my son, God’s will be done in his life. Thank you all so much. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Thank you.  

Obadiah 1:1-21 ~ Revelation 4:1-11 ~ Psalm 132:1-18 ~ Proverbs 29:24-25

Today is the 13^th day of December.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I’m Brian.  It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today and every day as we continue the rhythm of the scriptures and our interaction and relationship with the scriptures that never ends and is never not new and always speaking.  So it is exciting that we can take this next step as we near the end of another year and as we end the end of the year, things kind of do speed up and they bring us to new books and letters continually and today is no different.  We will read the book of Obadiah today.  

Introduction of a New Book (Old Testament)

The book of Obadiah contains just 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Old Testament.  It deals with a very long-running family issue.  Contained in this one chapter is a prophesy of the complete destruction and doom of the Edomites.

So if you reflect back on the beginning of our adventure through the Bible, you’ll remember the story of Jacob and Esau.  Jacob’s descendants became the children of Israel.  Esau’s descendants became the Edomites and they were forever in conflict.  When God delivered the children of Israel from slavery and bondage in Egypt, the Edomites would not allow them to pass through their land on the way to their promised land.  At other points in history, when Israel was being attacked and overrun, the Edomites stood by silent and God reached the end of his patience and through the prophet Obadiah predicts their utter destruction.

We have good application for this today, too, for although we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and have been made children of God, therefore making us all family, all too often we see brothers and sisters at war with one another or standing by silently as brothers and sisters are destroyed before our eyes.  Perhaps they are getting what they deserve in our judgment.  The book of Obadiah shows a very clear picture of how God feels about that.

So we will read in its entirety the book of Obadiah, reading from the English Standard Version this week.  

Commentary

Alright, let’s talk about the proverb today, the 25^th verse of chapter 29:  

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Easy to blow-by some of these sometimes, but these little one-sentence proverbs are absolutely jam-packed with wisdom and have so many layers sometimes. So there is a lot more going on here than just don’t be afraid of people, just trust God.  This is speaking to the core of our identity because the fear of man speaks to how it is we are arriving at an identity.  If we’ll examine our lives, we’ll see just how true this is.  

How people perceive us, how people think about us is a huge motivator in most lives, so on the one hand we have this personality that we present to the world and then we know that there is an inner life behind all of that portrayal, this whole life that is inside of us that not a lot of people get to see. We have this presentation that is effectively showing us what our fear of man is.  Then there are the ways in which we sort of govern ourselves and won’t boldly step into our faith because of what it might look like and then what it might look like touches so many parts of our lives.  If we would sit down and examine this, we would see yeah, there are plenty of places I have walled myself in because of the fear of man.  

The fear of man is all throughout the Bible.  We could pick so many stories, like the story of Saul.  We see a life completely lived this way and it brought the downfall of a king.  Then we juxtapose this with Jesus and we see a completely different way of living. Humanity, totally different. Jesus was devoid of this which means we are to be devoid of this as well or, as the proverb says, that is a trap. That is a snare.  You will be safe if you will trust in the Lord, but you will be trapped if you are afraid of man and what he thinks about you if you are trusting in the Lord.  

So may we consider the ways in which we do this because we do this in subtle ways, ways that are just culturally ingrained in us, this idea of comparison.  I mean, our whole marketing system is set up this way.  If we could have this we would be that.  And if we could get ahead this way over another group of people we would be superior.  We’re invited into this constantly, but the Bible is saying it’s a trap.  It’s not going to work.  If you’re really after safety, if that is why you’re doing the things that you’re doing, it’s not going to work.  Trust in the Lord.  So this one sentence containing a mere 15 words actually is speaking to the deepest places inside of us.  May we consider the ways in which we’ve trapped ourselves out of a fear that is nothing more than a snare, but if we would fear and revere and honor and trust in the Lord, we will be safe.  

Prayer

Father, we invite you into that.  I mean, we can certainly see it in this season of the holidays.  We can certainly see it, but it’s touching us in different ways all of the time.  We’re always pulled in this direction.  So come, Holy Spirit, and free us from that.  We reject that.  We renounce that.  Help us know what it looks like to live in fear of you, in awe of you, and trusting in you and not garnering our identity in the fear of man.  This is an invitation to freedom.  Help us, Holy Spirit, because this is complicated. It’s a pretty sophisticated web in our lives.  Help us find these different places, disentangle ourselves from them, and live free. Come Jesus, we pray in your precious name, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It’s home base.  It is where you find out what is going on around here and it is three things right now:

1.      Call in your holiday greetings.  Just a couple more days and we’ll stop taking those, so call in your holiday greetings.  (877) 942-4253, that would be the number to use.  We compile all these and create our Annual Christmas Party.  Virtual as it might be, it is still very, very real and very beautiful as we enter into the nativity story, the story of Christmas, and just spend some time together.  It is a lovely thing, so don’t be left out.  Call yours in while you can.  Now that’s the prayer request line, so like I’ve been saying, there is one rule about this. Don’t combine your Christmas greeting with a prayer request.  Make those separate things.  If you have a prayer request, call that in separately and that will help immensely. In fact, that is what will get it through.  But don’t hesitate.  Get your Christmas call in.

2.      The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box, we are running out of them.  You can still get yours.  We’ve packed them full of resources this year like Promised Land, the double DVD, a look at the land of the Bible is in there.  Bible Stories About Jesus is in there.  The Family Christmas CD is in there.  Jill’s album, the latest one is in there.  My latest book Reframe, From the God We’ve Made to God With Us is in there. The films that go along with that book on DVD are in there.  And this is the last time those will be available.  That’s in there.  Your choice of our house blend of Windfarm coffee or our English Breakfast Tea, that is in there, your choice.  Some of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards and the ever popular Daily Audio Bible Christmas Bulb for the year that can only be gotten in the Christmas Box, that is in there as well.  So check it out:  www.DailyAudioBible.com in the Shop.  You can see everything that I’m talking about.  Get yours while we still have them.  

3.      The More Gathering for Women coming up this April – advance registration is available between now and the end of the year and we make this available because it makes for the most unique of Christmas gifts for the women in your lives.  So check it out at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  You’ll find the More Gathering and all of the pertinent information you would want to know contained there.  So check it out.  

If you want to partner with Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link.  It lives right on the home page.  Cannot possibly articulate words of gratitude for those of you who have clicked that link. That is how the Daily Audio Bible exists.  That is how these servers spin and continue to push the spoken word of God throughout the entire world and into each of our ears each day.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your partnership here at the end of the year.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can push the More tab in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

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

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

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Hi family.  Hey, the reason for my call, I just heard Egbert and Anne and the reason for my call is it is a tough time of year for many of us and I’ve been struggling.  I struggle with every holiday and I refuse to admit it because I look around and I see the joy that people seem to have running around, and their families and everything is great and it seems like my family has been fractured, although this family is amazing.  And I just wanted to reassure you that what you do, what you’ve done in the name of Christ will mean more than all this time you spent with your family.  I know it is very hard to be separated.  I’m separated from my daughter and my ex-wife, I’m not sure if they even have a relationship.  But every Christmas is difficult for me because my brother died on Christmas Day, my younger brother, after a battle with cancer.  But it was actually a thing of joy when he passed from this life to the next and it was sorrow for all of us who miss him, but the joy because he knew where he was going.  He knows who he is and if we change our focus from ourselves to Christ, then the joy is just overwhelming.  That is what I struggle with every day.  Family, it is so comforting to have you and to be able to pray for you and have my eyes closed, to know that I love you so much.  I just want to give you all a big hug, a hug like you would get from your dad or your grandfather.  

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  I’m calling you guys because you’re the first people I wanted to call after I called my husband.  They called me from my son’s afterschool program saying that he banged his head really hard on the floor and he is having trouble remembering things, so my husband __________ check him out and I’m leaving work as quickly as I can. I’m on the road, but just calling for extra prayers that everything is okay and that we handle it well.  Thank you.  

Hi Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Homeward Bound and it’s December 8^th about 9 a.m. in the morning.  What a precious blessing it is to be able to call you in times like these and to know that the power of heaven is ours as we lift our prayers for one another to the Lord Jesus.  I would like to bring my best friend, Vickie, to you in prayer at this time.  Her husband, Paul, was in a head-on collision with a semi-truck two days ago and he is in critical condition.  He is alive only by a miracle of God.  Paul has a broken pelvis, broken ribs and ankle, but no brain or spinal injury.  He lost a lot of blood in the accident and is on a ventilator at the moment.  After surgery today on his ankle, he is in critical but stable condition.  Please pray, family, that the Lord would save his life and pray also for his wife, Vickie.  They both love the Lord so much and have a huge amount of support from their church family in Monterey.  Thank you so much for your prayers and I will bring you an update soon.  May the Lord answer every prayer ever mentioned on this prayer line and reward you prayer warriors more than you could ever imagine. God bless you all.  This is Homeward Bound.  Bye-bye.  

Hi everybody.  It’s Alicia from Kansas and you know I try to…I’ve noticed I…  Anyway, I’m seeking prayer.  It’s the holidays.  I struggle with being alone and I struggle with listening to the lies of the devil. I am striving to overcome all my addictions and right now I don’t have conversation really or contact with any of my five kids, two of them I’ve not met, the 17-year-old and the 29-year-old. My 24-year-old daughter recently quit talking to me because I broke her trust because I became angry with her father and told him a couple of things he didn’t know about her and I couldn’t keep that secret because it says…there is a thing __________ your secrets, but right now I miss my children.  I have so many Christian friends and I have all of you praying for me and I pray for you and I know shame is not from the Lord, but I feel so ashamed that I just can’t pull it together when I’m hurting like this over being alone and over my children and the damage I caused.  If you would please pray for me.  Thank you so much.  

Hi everybody.  This is TJ from Vermont.  About finishing my third year with the Daily Audio Bible.  It has changed my life.  Thank you so much, Brian and Jill, the crew, prayer warriors, all those who listen and call in.  I pray for you every day.  Can’t get to them all and I kind of cover things up with beatitudes and The Lord’s Prayer to fill the gap.  But I just wanted to call in and pray for those who are lonely and isolated this time of year during the holidays.  I pray that you receive fellowship.  I’ve been there and this community has helped me so much, but I just want to make a couple suggestions, things that have worked for me and hopefully they will work for you.  It’s just try to focus on the first commandment and just worshipping God and loving God and those blessings will wash over you ever day.  I found a couple hymns that I actually sing.  I have a terrible voice, but I sing those hymns and the blessings just wash over me and they are so powerful.  When I do that and I connect with God in that way, then I ask for what I need.  And at this particular time I asked for fellowship.  I asked for better relationships, for friends, and I asked for a church and it’s all been given to me.  I found wonderful people, people like in the Daily Audio Bible.  So just focus on that first commandment and then go with Matthew 7:7 and ask and it will be given to you.  Seek and you will find.  Knock and the door will be opened unto you.  It will take time.  If you focus on God first and that first commandment, loving him and praising him, it’s going to happen for you.  I just wish that for you.  I’m praying for you.  God bless you.  Merry Christmas.

Hello brothers and sisters.  This is Shannon from Oregon.  A few years ago after studying Ezra and Haggai, the Lord moved me to write a song from Haggai called Consider Your Ways.  Today I’m heading into the studio to finish recording vocals for Consider Your Ways.  Last night as I was reading Haggai and reviewing Ezra 1-6, the Lord impressed on my heart how desperately we as his people need the message of Haggai today. When the remnant of Israel returned to Jerusalem, they came to rebuild the Temple.  They started the work but then faced opposition from enemies and stopped. For 14 years the foundation sat and the people turned to their own houses, building them, paneling them, then God sent a wake-up call through his prophet and his Spirit stirred his people after hearing Haggai’s message and they got back to work.  They pushed through the enemy opposition and saw God’s deliverance and they finished building the Temple.  I believe the Lord will use Consider Your Ways to move people into his works in ways I can’t even imagine.  Please pray for God’s blessing on this song and the others I’ve recorded. Pray that it gets sent into the ears and hearts he wants to move.  I’ve been facing enemy opposition in the process of recording this and two other songs. Pray that like the remnant stirred by God’s Spirit, I will walk by the Spirit, resist the devil and fulfill every good purpose God has for me.  I love you family.  If you want to connect with me, my email is Shannon@ReidSaunders.org.  [singing]  Consider your ways, O my people, O my people.  Consider your ways, O my son and my daughter.