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dailyaudiobible · 2 years ago

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03/21/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalms 64:1-10, Proverbs 11:22

Today is the 21st day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together. And our next step is leading us to the final chapters of the book of Numbers. I believe the day after tomorrow is when we will transition out of Numbers and into the next book in the Torah, Deuteronomy. But for now, we are squarely in the book of Numbers. And today Numbers chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 39.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there are some things in the gospel of Luke today that are just so beautiful, so beautiful and so important for us to look at and examine and apply to our own lives and in our own contexts. So, yesterday Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted then He came to Nazareth where He announced His ministry and the fulfillment of prophecy, which ultimately, after a conversation took place, had Jesus on the edge of a precipice where the…the other Nazarenes who lived in Nazareth were going to throw Him off the mountain and He passed right through them and went on His way. Today we open up the gospel of Luke and we find Jesus, about 20 miles northeast of Nazareth on the north, northwest edge of the Sea of Galilee, in a village called Capernaum. And Capernaum would become Jesus’ adult home and sort of like home base for his ministry. And let’s not get lost in the story because we read Matthew and Mark and so we kind of know how this flows. This is the very beginning. Jesus is just announcing. He's been baptized. He’s announcing what He’s here to do. Everywhere he goes He's doing that and the word is beginning to spread quickly. But Jesus isn't walking around the countryside as a rabbi with 12 disciples following him around yet. He doesn't have disciples yet. That's what’s so beautiful about all we got to see in today's reading. So, Jesus is in Capernaum. He is teaching. The people, they are amazed. They are bringing their sick to Him. The sick are being healed and recovering and being restored to health and wholeness. And, so, by the next morning the village is full of people and Jesus is like, I got a go to other places too. Like, I was sent here to do what I'm doing here all over the place and the crowds are pressing in on Jesus until they basically press Him all the way down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is called Lake Gennesaret. You see that in some of your translations. They’re the same. The Sea of Galilee, Lake of Gennesaret. The crowds are pushing Jesus down to the shore. There are fishermen who are on the shore with their boats cleaning their nets. They've come in from fishing. They fish at night. They have to fish at night. The sea of Galilee’s a deep lake. So, during the day as the sun is warming the water, the fish will go lower down deeper further down than nets could reach. And, so, they go out at night when the fish come up to the warmer water that remains in the evening where the nets can catch them. And, so, this is the next morning and they’ve been working all night and they don't have a big catch and they're putting their stuff away and getting ready to go to bed so that he can get up at nighttime and go back fishing. Meanwhile, Jesus is being pressed by a crowd down to the shore and there's a couple of boats there and He climbs into a boat like just randomly. Like, that’s so funny to me because…I don't know…in this day and age you just don't climb into the back of somebody's pickup truck. You don't just get into the passenger side of their car just because the car happens to be sitting there. So, here's some fishermen cleaning their nets. They're not in the boat. Here comes this guy. And they would've understood what the commotion was about, who this person is. Like, this is somebody doing something important. Jesus ends up in the boat and He’s just like, hey, will you take me out away from the shore a little bit. Like, basically what Jesus is wanting is to put some distance between the crowd and Him so that he could teach them, He could say what He is going to say to them without getting mobbed. And, so, they do they do. They row them out a little ways and He sits down in the boat and He teaches the crowd. It’s also just a beautiful acoustical thing since I’m an audio engineer and I love this stuff. I love that Jesus rowed out a little ways, just a little bit in the water and used the water as like natural amplification, so that he could sit down in the boat and just talk to the people and that they could all hear Him. It’s a beautiful thing. And that's what Jesus does is He teaches from the boat and then when he's done teaching, He asks Simon, who will become Simon Peter, who will become a disciple of Jesus because it happens to be His boat that He climbed into if they would go out and cast their nets again. And these are professional fishermen Jesus is talking to, fishermen who had worked all night and it is now day and they’re being asked to go out counterintuitively and…and fish again. And, so, they're not disrespectful. They're just like, you know, we've been fishing all night but if this is what you want this...this is what we’ll do. We’ll go out and we’ll show you how fishing looks up close and personal. And they cast their nets and it is unbelievable, the hall of fish. It takes to boats to fill them all up. And they bring them to shore, and this is astonishing to them. The amount of fish and the time that the fish were caught, this is astonishing and the implications are astonishing because this is a big catch. This is the moment when they finally broke through to a financial victory with some level of hope. They were just rewarded amazingly for the use of their boats for a little while. Peter though, Simon, he's thinking deeper. Like, there's other things going on inside of him. Like he’s not just a simple person. He may speak before he thinks but he's…he’s not shallow and he's…he's the one seeing what's going on here. He's the one that's actually understanding the deeper implications, like this is more than fish, this is more than money, this is a miracle. Whoever this person is, whoever this Jesus is there’s something else going on here. There…God is showing up in our midst. And Peter can see that and Peter comes before Jesus, gets down upon his knees and just asks Jesus to…to leave him, that he's a sinner, that he does not deserve to be in this man's presence. That is the moment though. That is the moment Jesus looks for in each of us and that is the moment that Jesus immediately tells Peter, don't be afraid you’ll be catching people now. This is Jesus’ invitation to come and follow Him. At the moment when Peter realizes that he has just been blessed of God he is also presented with a choice because there is the invitation of God to come and follow. And as the gospel of Luke tells us, and I quote, “when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him.” They left it all on the shore. They left the windfall. They left this blessing. They left this alternative life. They were in the presence of something that was more important than any life they could create for themselves and they…they knew it in the moment and they made a decision because they had an invitation and they left what they had. They left the life they had and the life that they were preparing for for an adventure with God. This is such a beautiful depiction, a beautiful picture for each of us because this is the moment. This is the moment of faith that we all come to where we look at the life that we have and the life that we are trying to arrange for and we realize we are in the presence of something holy, something bigger, something cosmic, something greater and more pervasive and more present than anything we've ever felt. And the words fail but the reach, the leap, the jump, the freefall into the adventure with God through faith. The leap of faith helps us to realize we’re actually safe for the first time. We’re where we belong for the first time. Things were difficult for Jesus and His ministry. We know how the story ends. Things were difficult for Jesus disciples, especially after He had ascended to the Father, and they were to go into all the world. Things got very difficult for every one of these people, but they had experienced God, and it was irreversible and may that be our story brothers and sisters. May that be our story.

Prayer:

Jesus we long for that to be our story and that is our story. You came near. Whether we were expecting it or not, You came near. And in that moment, we had eyes to see, and we could see well beyond what we were seeing. We could see for a moment what it might be like to be reunited with You and become whole again. Often when we face challenging hardship and difficulty it's confusing to us. The wilderness and the lessons in the wilderness, they become confusing to us because we lose our eyes to see and ears to hear, we become distracted. Holy Spirit, come. Remind us that we are invited to encounter You every day always, that You will never leave or forsake us, that there is nowhere that we can flee from Your presence, that You are always with us and that we get to enjoy this dance of life together following You, leaving behind the life that we were making for ourselves in exchange for a life with God. Come Holy Spirit. Remind us of what's going on here. What's real here. We get so distracted so often. Return us to the moment when we knew, return us to the moment and the joy of our salvation we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you deeply. We wouldn't be here if we weren't here together. And, so, thank you deeply. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app. That's the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning, everyone this is Abby from Maryland it's been a while since I called but I'm calling. Val in Vegas actually made me call this morning just listening to the podcast from March 17th. And she really just spoke live to me, you know just this morning on the 18th I'm here just thinking about how I didn't do this, I didn't do that, I need to do this, you know, I'm just slacking off and things like that. But she made me really think about the goodness of God, the fact that I'm alive, I'm awake, I have air in my lungs. I mean, like she said God's just sprinkled lots of joy into us. I just really, really love and appreciate you Val in Vegas. Every time I listen to you there's just this excitement in your voice and I pray that the joy of the Lord will continue to be yours, friend. And I pray for everyone in my community DAB. I may not call in but I'm listening. I'm praying along and I pray that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guide all of your hearts and mind in Jesus’ name. And I pay for Brian and his family that the joy of the Lord will continue to be his strength, that the anointing of God will continue to rest upon him and his family. I'm praying for you all. Blind Tony, Biola from Maryland. I mean there's too many…Diane Oliver I think that's her name. You all are amazing. You all inspire me. Continue to just continue to encourage each other and pray for each other. God bless you all. You all have a blessed day, week, year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello, my Daily Audio Bible family this is Blessed Assurance calling Saturday March 18th in the evening. I'm calling because Sparky gave some advice a few weeks ago about how we should call in our prayer requests. I've been a listener for 10 years and this is only about the third time I've called in. This may sound like a trivial matter to many people, but I know a lot of you are in the same boat as I am. I'm really struggling with all this inflation. And I know…I’m very grateful for all the blessings God has given me. I really am, but as so many of you also know it's really hard for us going from paycheck to paycheck to meet our bills. And tonight, I just found out that my…my home insurance has gone up $124 a month and I just don't know how I'm going to make that payment. I'm using tonight to pray and commune with my savior. And that's awesome and I do his feel His comfort, His arms around me but I'm just asking for a hug from Victoria Soldier and Val in Vegas and Sparky and the rest of you because you guys know what we're going through here. I love you all so much. Until we meet again. Love you. Bye-bye.

I'm basking in the spirit while I'm lying in bed the sun hasn't risen yet and I'm glad that I'm not dead it's quiet and it's dark and it seems like the world's asleep but I can feel you all around me God inside too real deep it feels like I'm glowing but I know that can't be true pre-dawn is my favorite time to come in prayer to you there are no real distractions no voices cars or lights no human interference no arguments or fights only me reflecting thoughts that spring from deep within thoughts now filled with gratitude that used to be about sin I come to you for power I come to you for grace I come to you my father because there really is no other place I lift you up for what you've done you've done so much for me I praise you God for who you are and how you've set me free it seems like I just can't get enough I'm praising you every day the closer that I get to you the more I love to pray thank you God for lifting me for loving me for setting free thank you God my eyes can see a concept like eternity the sun's up now and I'm still in prayer and I can still feel you everywhere inside outside all around even deep below the ground you truly are awesome

[email protected]. Like to give a shout out to Deborah Canney and your sister Judy. And my condolences Judy on the loss of your husband. And I'd like to give a shout out to your brother Beau and his wife. Know that you all are daily in my prayers and often in my thoughts. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful…

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Chantelle calling from London. First of all, I just want to say this is my first time doing this and it's exciting and encouraging to know that I have a family all around the world who is praying just as I am praying for you all as well. I've been a part of the DAB family for the last two years now and it's been such a blessing to my life. And, so, I really felt lead the other day as I was listening to…to share my prayer request, which is for my brother who has been struggling with suicidal thoughts and just mental health issues for the last, I would say, about a year. And he has been raised in the ways of the Lord. He knows the word of the Lord. I think the enemy really attacks him when it comes to his thoughts about himself, self-belief, and you know, his place and in God's heart and knowing that there's nothing that he could do that we'll ever separate him from the love of Christ. So, I just wanted to ask you all to help me to pray that the word of God would rise up in his heart, that he would just become that mighty man that God has ordained and destined him to be and be able to speak the truth over the lies that the enemy is just spouting in his mind. And I just pray. I know that God gave me a vision and I know that he's going to be such a pillar for his generation. He's only 15 years old but he's such an intelligent lovely creative young man and I know that the enemy is at work in trying to attack what God has put in his life. But I reject that in Jesus’ name and I would just be so grateful for your prayers. Thank you so much. I love you guys.

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mattanaministry · 19 days ago

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Mattana Ministry

Welcomes You To :

Advent Program: 23 December 2024

Theme: He Came to Change the World (6)

Scripture: Matt. 1:19; Matt. 5:17 & John 3:17

Message:

At the time of Jesus’ birth, devout Jewish men studied the written Law, called the Torah, and the Oral Law, called the Mishnah. The Oral Law was a record of the important oral traditions and teachings that stood alongside the written Law. The Mishnah dealt mostly with subjects that appear in the book of Leviticus, attempting to provide more elaborate explanations than were given in the written Law. Joseph, and later Jesus, were educated in both of these laws.

Matthew wrote his gospel for Jewish Christians. He is careful to note that “Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose (Mary) to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly ” (Matthew 1:19). Nazareth was a small village, and a divorce would have been a disgrace—not just to Mary, but to her family and Joseph’s family as well. Joseph wanted to protect her from the gossip and condemnation that would have fallen on her and their families.

The Mishnah also spoke to the subject of gossip. Gossip was punished severely according to the Oral Law. It was a common rabbinic thought that leprosy was a consequence of gossip. This lesson came from the passage describing a time when Miriam was given leprosy for a week as a punishment for speaking against Moses behind his back.

It is almost impossible to adequately stress what Joseph must have felt when he learned his betrothed was already pregnant. Joseph’s early decision to divorce Mary shows his great compassion, not only for his betrothed but for all who may have sinned gossip when they discovered the pregnancy.

Why would God have chosen this set of circumstances to surround the birth of Christ? Later, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus would teach His disciples that He had not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).

Jesus was born into a culture that needed a greater understanding of their religion. The circumstances of Jesus’ birth were thought to be a disgrace when, in truth, they were about grace. Our culture needs a greater understanding of who Jesus is as well. Many people feel condemned by our beliefs and therefore make Christmas about anything but Christ. Every family has a story of disgrace, and Christmas teaches us that we can respond with grace. If we follow Joseph’s example, we may earn the right to share the truth about Christmas more often. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).

Look for the chance to share the grace of Christmas with someone, maybe even someone we love, today.

Please feel free to leave a review of this message.

https://www.soulcenters.org/directory/mattana-ministry/#listing-reviews

#christian faith #christian broadcasting network #christianity

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sashayed · 2 years ago

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My other favorite part of Mark is Mark 6, when Jesus comes back to Nazareth [to HELP, and TEACH, you're WELCOME, i imagine him saying loudly], and everyone's like "Well well well, look who's got alllll the big ideas now, that's Miriam's Yeshua, you remember, the carpenter's boy with all those brothers running around, the one whose sister married that Moshe from Kenneret, no you're thinking of the other sister, sweet girl, good hips, still single, I keep telling her you're not getting any younger, well anyway apparently he's Mister Miracle Man in the Big City now but I remember when he got so worked up arguing about whether moths have souls that he cried til he barfed. [loudly] Nice haircut Yeshuleh! Looks expensive!" and Jesus is so embarrassed that he literally can't do miracles

ALT

time for me to review The Whole Bible. ready? ok. to be honest my favorite part of the gospels is Mark 8.22-26, when Jesus spits in some nice blind man's eyeballs and accidentally gives him cosmic consciousness. guy's just like "may i have a teaspoon of visual response to stimulus" and jesus is like "oh sure" and gives him God Vision. fuckin...ayahuasca sight that perceives the interconnectedness of all life. "oh is that not normal? does everyone not have that? nuts. ok try these eyes. are those more regular? great. maybe lie down by yourself for a while and please don't mention this to anyone"

#ok he can do a little miracle for sick people. he can do as much miracles as an aspirin.#and anyone who's gone home for thanksgiving and endured their neighbors asking them ''how the big job is going'' can relate!!#bible cw #i do not actually recommend the KJV if you are going to read a bible i just screenshot it here bc the language is so iconic #religious studies

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rosiewitchescottage · 6 months ago

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The Chosen S4 episodes 5 and 6

Spoilers ahead, so more under the cut.

Jesus has joined The Gang on the road. They've been discussing the need for finding somewhere to spend the night, that's both affordable and won't draw dangerous levels of attention to Jesus' presence.

He suggests that they head to Bethany, to the home of his friend Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary.

Eema Mary is also staying there after having to leave Nazareth.

En route to Bethany, The Gang encounter a troop of Roman soldiers. They are permitted to compel any Jews to carry their kit for them, but for no more than a mile.

The Gang, Judas especially, are perplexed that Jesus puts up no resistance. In fact, after a mile, He volunteers to keep on going.

We see the point he's making, when the Romans just don't know what to make of Jews volunteering their services. The power balance has shifted.

Now the Romans are wrong footed and end up just taking their kit back.

Arriving at Bethany they're warmly welcomed, though Eema Mary is currently out, exercising her considerable skills of gathering edible berries and roots. She'll join them later.

Sister Martha jumps to it as hostess, getting food ready for the guests.

Sister Mary joins The Gang, in listening to Jesus talk.

Martha finally snaps and tells Jesus that she feels out upon, when Sister Mary isn't helping here and no one mentions it.

The Chosen has handled this moment well.

Jesus is all gentleness. He makes it clear what a wonderful job Martha is doing (and yes he says, Mary could be helping her more).

Hospitality is after all a cornerstone of their society.

But he explains that right now, listening to what he has to say will nourish everyone even more than Martha's excellent food is doing. So Mary's doing something equally valuable.

Members of The Gang go to fetch the remaining food from the kitchen. (Does Mary help this time? I'll have to look again and see. 🤔)

Jesus invites Martha to sit and listen with the rest.

Eema Mary arrives back and Jesus is delighted to see her. Mother and Son withdraw for some alone time. Mary washes Jesus hair as they chat.

He tells her of His frustration at not always getting His messages across, even with The Gang.

Mary reminds Him that they're only human.

'I'm human too'. Jesus points out.

Mary says that having changed His soiled swaddling clothes, she knows that he is. 😁

I love their relationship dynamic!

They're interrupted by Judas. He asked earlier for permission to go and see a friend living nearby. Is this a good time for him to go? Jesus says 'yes'.

It turns out to be Judas' old employer/business partner(?)

He's rather salty at seeing Judas again, and even more so at hearing that Judas isn't making a profit out of the mission. He to all intents and purposes suggests that Judas put his hand in the till.

This guy is bad news. 😡

As episode 5 draws to a close and everyone is having a sociable evening after supper.

We see Judas helping himself from funds.

*********************

Episode 6 covers the 8 nights of Hannukah

We hear Jesus telling the story of The Maccabees and The Dedication of The Temple.

We see the lamps being lit. prayers said and songs sung.

The Gang exchange gifts with each other, money has been set aside from funds for this.

One sweet moment sees John and Matthew giving each other writing related gifts. John gives Matthew a new stylus, Matthew gives John a new supply of parchment.

After Simon Peter called Pax with Matthew, The Thunder Brothers are doing likewise.

Big James discusses with Matthew about the money needed to buy new sandals for Thomas, who, quite understandably isn't feeling exactly festive right now.

But they don't want him feeling excluded.

Matthew checks the money chest and suspects that something is missing.

He speaks to Judas, who gets spikely defensive. (Yes, the rot is setting in. 😥)

He's got an idea about raising funds, which involves having somewhere in each community where people can donate money, if they wish.

Not surprisingly everyone points out the weak spots.

It's suggested that his best move would be to ask what Jesus thinks.

Judas finds their Rabbi.outside. He's watching a shepherd with his sheep, knowing them all by name.

The Gang already know that on the last night of the festival, which will be the next day to this, he'll be taking them into Jerusalem, where he will be teaching.

They all have a bad feeling about this.

When Judas tells him.his idea. All Jesus does is tell him to pay close attention to the words He'll be speaking tomorrow.

Is it me, or is Jesus looking at Judas as one who already knows what this man is going to do?

It turns out that all The Gang's misgivings were well founded.

Jesus pulls no punches.

Outside The Temple he gives his Good Shepherd speech, about laying down his life for his sheep.

He's making it obvious who he's saying that he is.

Senior members of The Sanhedrin are furious. They call it blasphemy

and begin to throw stones. 😮😮😮

James steps in front of Jesus. This is how his head is injured.

The Gang hurry their Rabbi and their wounded brother away from the scene of danger.

Meanwhile, Yusuf has sent a message to Jairus in Capernaum. He's warning about how some members of The Sanhedrin are plotting against Jesus.

Jairus tells Zeb, so he can get word to his sons. Zeb decides that he can't trust anyone else with such sensitive information. So he heads off in pursuit of The Gang himself.

He finds them back at their lodgings, treating James head wound.

As well as finding out just how serious the danger now is. There's some even worse news.

Earlier in the festival, they got news that Lazarus was ill. But Jesus insisted that there was no need for them to go to Bethany.

Now they're told that Lazarus has died. Of course everyone is shocked.

But Jesus'words tell them that what they'll be heading to Bethany for now will be something spectacular.

#the chosen

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riverdamien · 10 months ago

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Practicing the Cross: Forgiveness

Lent: Newsletter

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www. temenos.org

[email protected]

415-305-2124

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Journal of An Alien Street Priest:

Sloughing Towards Galilee!

Practicing the Cross: Forgiveness!

Luke 15:

Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about.

27. The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because he has got him back safe and sound."

28. He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in;

29. but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends.

30. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property -- he and his loose women -- you kill the calf we had been fattening."

31. 'The father said, "My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours.

32. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found." '

=====================================

Thirty-five years ago, after being kicked out of my denomination for being gay and becoming the prodigal son, I found myself on the streets being a whore, and ultimately I came back to a life of service which illustrated for me a lesson of God's love that:

Wherever we stray God leads us back to the Rock of Love."

Twenty years ago I was having some major problems with my teeth and put out a request through the newsletter for help in assisting me in paying for the expenses.

I received three responses: two from millionaires, the other from a well-heeled Catholic Worker:

"The two millionaires said almost exactly word for word: "We will pay for you to have your teeth pulled, you have chosen your way of life; the third: "Catholic Workers can not remain stable unless they are married so you are on your own; (I am now on my 30th year)," So I borrowed the money and it was only paid off five years ago by my friend Vicki--a most generous person I ever knew!

I felt like I was nothing, simply nothing for even asking! And for them they lost my total trust, not my friendship, but my trust!

I learned a lesson of not trusting the "have's" of the world like my kids. Money can always be used as a means of control, and no one does that with me. People who give, give for my work, not for me!

We make people "prodigals" when we do not share with others what we have!

But God in Jesus of Nazareth seeks us out, loves us, and welcomes us back.

But there is enough for everyone in this world, and why do I say that, well let's see, 2/3 of the world's population exists on less than $10.00 a day while the wealthy live in luxury.

Our governments, like our City, State, and Federal governments are now doing the same, always pleading scarcity, as their leaders make $150,000.00 plus, but the benefits for the poorest of the poor are cut.

The cross calls us to practice generosity, not scarcity in our lives. Each of us can give from what we have, and help one another.

From our crying scarcity can be found the smile of generosity to feed, and provide health, care, and housing for all.

Let us always remember that even in our straying God leads us back to the "Rock of Love!"A Rock of generosity, love, courage, always smiling at us! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!

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Stations of the Cross--Good Friday!

March 29, 2024

City Hall, Polk Side

12 Noon-2:00 p.m.

Volunteers Needed for Readers

Contact Fr. River!

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WE ARE BEGGARS!

Any gifts will be used for socks, food, pastoral care, hotel rooms when needed, prescriptions!

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minniefights · 1 year ago

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Generally doing okay but now with another Pneumonia infection

January 11, 2024

First of all, to be able to welcome this new year with my Mom is a miracle in itself. There were countless moments in 2023 where we thought it would be the end of her but she proved that she really is a fighter! God is gracious and sends miracle after miracle.

Mom is fully aware of this daily miracle she’s given. And she’s very grateful for it. During one of our daily prayer times during this Christmas season, she was in tears in her thanksgiving and praises to the Lord. We would like to thank you for endless support, prayers and concern. Thank you so much for fighting this battle with us!

For roughly 2 weeks after my Mom’s operation and a Pneumonia medication on the first week of December, Mom was very stable and was Pneumonia-free. Perhaps the most stable she’s been in a while. We were very happy. We were able to observe Christmas quietly here at home.

However, not for long because before the year ended Mom caught another Pneumonia infection. This is her 8th cycle of Pneumonia since June 2023. You could say she’s quite frustrated and sad about it. So here we go again back to the IV antibiotic cycle— sourcing out the meds, the frequent injections and dislodges, the round-the-clock medications and whatnot.

We had to go to the hospital for a quick xray and for that we needed to ride an ambulance because Mom is still not able to stand and ride the car. We’re lucky there’s an ambulance we can arrange and we made sure we would come early in the morning so there are less people in the hospital.

We’re on her 2nd week of medication and she has improved a lot. I’m also happy to report that besides the stubborn Pneumonia, mama is doing well overall. Her mobility has improved. She has regular PT sessions and she exercises (in her bed). She’s still bed-bound as of the moment. But able to sit down 2 times a day in a bed-side commode.

A personal reflection

There’s always some bad news at some point. There was a time I still get rattled but I cope better with it now. During the Christmas season, I reflected on the Holy Family and the many surprises that happened when Jesus was born. How they could have started to prepare for His coming, perhaps curating their humble home in Nazareth, not knowing Mary and Joseph would have to travel 70-90 miles to Bethlehem, where she would give birth in a stable! And just when they probably would’ve thought about the comforts of home, the angel then tells Joseph to bring his family to Egypt and stay there indefinitely. Blow after blow, surprise after surprise, and it’s not necessarily pleasant.

In the many surprises that happens in our life surrounding my Mom’s diagnosis, I think of Mary and Joseph’s radical acceptance, submission and humility. They said YES to every moment.

Often times now, I just pause for a while, breathe and find my way to accept each moment for what it is. I thought of this when we were at the ambulance, while I had to make so many (!!) arrangements to make a simple x-ray appointment happen. If Mary and Joseph could say YES, I can learn from their example and proactively respond with my own YES as well. Oh may God always give me the grace!

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junawer · 1 year ago

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sbeih.jpg on ig has made a video about this, too:

"I want to further highlight how white supremacy is one of the main reasons why so many white westerners support Israel's colonization of Palestine and are currently cheering on Israel's genocide of Gaza. And even in general, how white supremacy sits at the core of Israel's colonization.

The settler colony state of Israel just bombed one of the oldest churches in the world. The Greek orthodox church of St. Porphyrios in Gaza. This church is over 2000 years old and it was sheltering over 500 Palestinian Muslims and Christians seeking safety from Israel's ongoing airstrikes. But that did not stop the Zionist regime from bombing them and killing over 40 Palestinians.

You would think that white Christians would identify with these Christians who were just killed and associate with these Christians who were massacred in a Christian church. These are your fellow brothers and sisters in Christianity who were killed. But somehow, they still continue to defend and stand with the settler colony of Israel.

Why would they not identify with these Christians? Because they're not not white Christians. These are Arab Christians, Brown Christians. It doesn't matter that they were killed because they're not white.

White supremacy and its role in colonization is what is blinding so many white westerners and stopping them from seeing the genocide for what it is. Or I'm hoping that something as tragic as this church massacre might act as a moment for a lot of white westerners to sit and rethink their view on this matter. To where they ask themselves, Do I have a bias against Arabs and Muslims? Is that the reason why I've been standing with "Israel"? Is that maybe why many of them stood for Ukraine when they were being attacked? Fellow white Christians? But when they're Brown Christians, Palestinian Christians, it doesn't matter?

This is something that has never made sense to me, like any time I've had this discussion with pro-zionists, specifically ones who are Christian, and I ask them, So, you as someone who supports the settler-colony of "Israel", what is your view of Palestinian Christians? The Christians who, I'm assuming, are the descendants of the ones who have been on that land since Jesus came to this earth. And majority of the time, they just don't have an answer, or they somehow divert the conversation and make it about "Jihadism" or whatever. These are Christians who are from Bethlehem, Nazareth, and they're just blinded by their allegiance to white supremacy. This idea that if you are not white your life genuinely does not matter. This racism runs so deep that instead of supporting the group of people in the same faith, they rather support the group of a different religion just because they're white, and the Christians are not, the Christians are Brown.

This is the definition of the colonizer mindset. They genuinely are unable to see how the colonized are the victims. And this is in no way to belittle or dehumanize Palestinian Muslim bloodshed. Like, they shouldn't have to be Christian for them to care, but the fact hat even in that instance with Christians it doesn't matter. The colonizer will always identify with the colonizer. And the colonized will always identify with the colonized.

And even just looking at how white supremacy plays a role in how the settler colony of Israel operates, how the "Israeli" society treats non-white Jews. The Brown and Black Jews in Israel are second-class citizens. They are not treated and accepted like the white Jews. The white Jews being the Ashkenazi Jews, like the ones from Europe, Poland, or even America. A large percentage of the Jewish settlers in Israel are white Americans. I mean like, born and raised in Brooklyn. The Arab Jews, Mizrahi Jews, they haven't historically always lived among the white Jews. They live in their own areas, their own pockets. They are known in Israeli society to be the cheap labor, they don't work amongst the white Jews, they work for the white Jews, getting paid way less because they're not white.

Same goes for Black Jews, the Ethiopian Jews. The Israeli government has admitted to sterilizing Ethiopian Jewish women. Unknowingly. These women did not know they were being sterilized. To prevent them from increasing the Black Jewish population in Israel. So for the settler-colony of Israel this isn't even really about religion for them. This is about upholding a system of white supremacy built on the backs of non-white people. That's why, no matter what religion they come from, as long as you are white, they will stand with you, and as long as you are not white, they will stand against you."

If you're asking "why are western christians not condemning the bombing of palestinian churches?!" I would highly recommend researching and reading up on the term "Biblical Orientalism"; it's the same reason European and American missionaries have attempted to "convert" the already Christian Arab population.

If you've already figured out that the answer is racism, you'd be right, but I would still recommend reading about biblical orientalism if only to fully understand this specific flavor of racism, how it affects Christian Palestinians, and how it is weaponized in the context of Zionism.

#palestine #white supremacy

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jdgo51 · 1 year ago

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR NOVEMBER 15, 2023

The Power of Acceptance

By Steven Thompson (Iowa, USA)

READ MARK 10:46-52

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to [Bartimaeus], “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”

MARK 10:49 (NIV)

"'I often recall our eldest daughter’s deep emotional pain and disappointment when a group of adolescent girls rejected her. I suspect if one girl in the group had supported her, she might have been accepted by the whole group. Few of us understand the powerful influences that we can have, either for good or for evil, in group settings.

In Mark 10, we read the story of blind Bartimaeus, who was expendable in the crowd’s eyes. But when Jesus showed compassion and respect for him, others began to see Bartimaeus’s worth as well. Their rebuking tone changed to one of acceptance because of Jesus’ respect for Bartimaeus. They called to Bartimaeus, “Cheer up! On your feet! [Jesus] is calling you.”

It takes courage to accept and love those who have been rejected by society. But we are called to follow Jesus’ example of showing compassion for all. As we love those whom our peers deem unworthy, it will empower our peers to follow our example."' Be there for those who may have been rejected by their peers, especially young people, but actually everyone can experience this type of thing. When others shun them, it is our place to welcome them with total acceptance.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Father God, sometimes it’s not easy to accept and love those who are disrespected by others. Through your grace provide us with courage to love all people. In Jesus’ name we pray." Amen.

Mark 10:46-52

"'46 Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” 48 Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.” They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.” 52 Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way."' if one shows complete faith in God, He will work in situations that baffle or bring us down. The blind man just wanted to see, simple as that. But he had to demonstrate complete faith in God/Jesus to been given back sight. God blesses us all in this way. Joe

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lesfeldickbiblestudy · 2 years ago

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Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 73 HOLY SPIRIT (PNEUMA HAGION) - 1 Psalms 51:11 and Luke 24:49 My, it’s good to see everybody again today. For those of you joining us on television, remember this is program one of the next series of four, and then we’ll complete book number 73. You multiply that times 12 and that’s the number of programs we’ve produced. One of these days we should be able to wrap it up and call it quits, but so far we’re going to keep going. We would like to welcome you to an informal Bible study, and you know, I’ve got to compliment you folks here in the studio. When we review these and look at these tapings, I come back to what someone said years ago. He said, “Les, do you realize that everybody that sits under your teaching has their own Bible?” And I’d never really thought of that before. So when we watched the film, sure enough, everybody’s got their own Bible. And I do, I appreciate that so much for those of you here in the studio, because we know our TV audience is doing the same thing. They grab their Bible, and they sit down and watch it with us. Okay, now I only have one announcement. We’re still going to let folks know that our one and only book of questions and answers is still available. We send it out with no other charge except for the eleven bucks for the book itself. This little book answers all of the questions that most people have. So, if you’re interested, you just call and the girls will get it out to you. We send everything out with an invoice, and you pay for it when you get it. All right, we’re going to continue on with our series that we started in our last four programs on the incarnate Christ, which is a coin term merely to define that Jesus of Nazareth was totally God and totally man. You know, that’s a concept that a lot of believers have a hard time recognizing—that when He prayed to the Father, He prayed from his humanity. He was totally human. He got tired. He got weary. There were times when He just simply showed His humanity. He wept when Lazarus died. The sorrow in that household touched him like it would any human being. But on the other hand, He was totally God, and He could raise the dead. He could forgive sin. I was thinking again last night, we hear these things and we believe them, but do you really sit back and picture it. If you’d have been there with those twelve on the Sea of Galilee—the waves are beating over that little boat, and the wind is roaring, and all He does is stand up and says, “Peace be still,” and everything’s quiet. Now we know the story, but do you really stop and think what that must have been like? No wonder the twelve say, “What kind of a man is this?” Well, He’s God, the same one who created everything! I think if anything has thrilled me in this series of lessons on the incarnation, it is that it brings home to me once again that had God not become flesh, we never would have had salvation. Do you know that? We’d have been doomed automatically. And at the same time, they came up with another thought. Now we know that the Old Testament, especially—let’s go back and look at it. I really didn’t intend to do this. I may even have to look and see if I can find it—Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4. This is the premise of most of the Jews’ thinking even today. That’s why an Orthodox Jew cannot swallow the New Testament, because they call our concept of a triune God polytheism. Oh, you’re worshiping more than one God, and we don’t. All right, here’s their reasoning. Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God (Is what?) is one LORD:” They can't get away from that. But now have you ever stopped to analyze this whole idea of a triune God? Have you ever stopped to think—could God have precipitated our great plan of salvation if there’d been only one person of the Godhead? Have you ever thought about that? What if there’d only been one person of the Godhead? Let’s just say God the Father.

Could He have consummated this glorious plan of salvation? Well, He could have gone part way, but what would He have done when He was ready to die? He would have to be resurrected. Who would do it? See, it falls over. But with the concept of a triune God, one of them could come down and become flesh and blood. He could die. He could safely go through death in the tomb, because you still had two persons of the Godhead to call Him forth, and they did. So you see, the more you analyze all this, the more miraculous it becomes, and yet the most logical of anything on earth. So keep all these things in mind and mull them over in your mind in your spare time. Just think these things over and over. What if there’d only been one person of the Godhead? What if one of them hadn’t come down and become flesh and blood? It is thought-provoking. Okay, so here we go for another series of teachings on the incarnate Christ, the God-man. Let’s turn to Philippians chapter 2, and we’ll drop in at verse 5 where Paul writes: Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” Now, my next series, whether I’ll start this afternoon, I think I will, is going to be on the Holy Spirit. And I maintain that the Holy Spirit is a person—the same as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Some people say He isn’t. In fact, sometimes I wonder if our translators felt that He was not a person, because how many times do you see the Spirit referred to as it and which? Don’t you often wonder, well, why not a personal pronoun? Well, some people don’t agree that He’s a person. Well, what made me think of it? What are the three parts that make up a person? Now you’ve been with me long enough, what is it? Mind, will, and emotion—that makes a personality. All right, what made me think of it? What word have we got right here? Mind—Paul says, “Let this mind (this part of your make-up) be in you, which was also in (Whom?) Christ Jesus.” He’s a person. He’s mind, will, and emotion. He’s a personality. God the Father is mind, will, and emotion. God the Spirit—and I’m going to show that—has a mind, will, and emotion. So let this part of the very personality of Christ be also in you, and the only way that can happen is by virtue of being born from above, and we become part of all that. All right now, verse 6: Philippians 2:6a “Who, (speaking of God the Son) being in the form of God,…” He was God from eternity past. Now some of the cults teach, of course, that Christ didn’t appear until many, many, many, many ages after the fact. That He was not eternal in His existence. But this says He was. He’s always been God from eternity past. Philippians 2:6b-7a “…thought it not robbery (or something that He could just grasp because He wanted it) to be equal with God: (Because He was, it wasn’t something He had to grab for. He had it.) 7. But He made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of (Not an emperor, not a prince, not a governor, not a dictator, not a senator, not a physicist, not anything else, but a what?) a servant,…” What’s the other word for servant in the New Testament? Bond slave! Well, on the totem pole of society, where was a bond slave? At the bottom, wasn’t he? So Christ became flesh, not like these televangelists try to tell us—that He was rich, that He had all the world’s goods. I said, hey, that’s not what my Bible says. My Bible said that He was comparing himself to foxes that had dens, and He didn’t, and birds that have what? Nests, He didn’t even have that. So, what was He? He was beneath everything. He put Himself down at the bottom rung, so that He could experience everything pertaining to the human existence. Philippians 2:7b “…and took upon himself the form of a bond slave, and was made in the likeness of (What?) men:” Now remember last time we taped, I kept emphasizing all the time, as I’ve already eluded to, that without Him becoming a man, could there have

been salvation for the human race? No, because the righteousness of God, starting way back in Genesis chapter 3, demanded a sacrificial death with the shedding of blood. And could a spirit do that? Do spirits have blood? We’re going to see that again when I get into the Holy Spirit lessons. No, a spirit doesn’t have blood. So, He had to become a human being in order for blood to be….no, I guess that just triggered another thought. I haven’t done it for a long time. We can just interrupt. That’s why I’m glad I run my own show. Nobody has to tell me what I can do and what I can't do. Okay, we’re going to go back and we’re going to look at some absolutes. So, put all this on hold for a minute. Come back with me to Romans chapter 3 and the very absolutes that every human being has to face if they want eternal life or salvation. They have to face them. They have to deal with it, and I want you to be aware of that today like never before. This fits right in with what we were talking about, that Christ had to become human. He had to have blood, and it had to be shed. All right, Romans 3 verse 23, what I call the first of three absolutes. I used to have two, but now I’ve put this one in as a third one. Romans 3:23 “For all (no one excluded) have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” An absolute. You can't argue with that. You cannot detour around it. You can't tunnel under it. You can't fly over it. What do you have to do? You have to meet it head on. I have fallen short of the glory of God. It’s an absolute. Nobody can be saved without understanding this—nobody. For the next one, let us go all the way back to Hebrews chapter 9. This is what made me think of this. See, I can prepare and prepare. Jerry and I can prepare, and I didn’t have any of these in my preparation. But here it is in verse 22. Hebrews 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; (But here’s the part that I’m looking for.) and without shedding of blood is (What?) no remission.” None. The other word for remission is forgiveness. So, without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness. And yet every human being is a sinner, because we’ve fallen short. All right, when these preachers are forgetting about the atoning blood and they’re feeding their congregations everything and anything but, do they stand a snowball’s chance in being forgiven of anything? No, because you have to have the blood. It’s an absolute. And you’re not going to compromise with God and say, now wait a minute, that’s kind of a gory situation. Do I have to face something like that? Yeah, you bet you do. The cross wasn’t pretty. Oh, we make necklaces now, you know. Iris hasn’t got one on, but anyway we make necklaces. We have prettied the cross, haven’t we? But was it? No, it wasn’t pretty. It was awful. It was awful! Why? Because sin is awful. I’ll never forget. Do remember, Iris, when we were in the mosques, the Golden Dome, way, way back? It was one of the first or second times when we took a tour to Israel. At that time, you know, the Intifada hadn’t started, and if we took off our shoes, we could actually go into the Golden Dome. Inside the dome on the bottom floor is this huge rock that comes up about 8 feet above the floor, where supposedly Abraham offered Isaac. Our Jewish guide was explaining how that the altar of Israel’s temple was quite likely in this very same spot. He was explaining the geography of the area, and how all the blood of these animals could be drained down, and it would go out through underground caverns and out to the Kidron Valley. Anyhow, we were talking about the slaughter of all these animals and somebody in our group—we weren’t that large a group, probably around 30 of us—made a comment that that was such a gruesome religion. Well, our little Jewish guide, of course, tried to explain the fact that when these priests killed these animals, it was such an instantaneous death that the animal never suffered one iota.

Anyway, the guide was trying to explain away the situation and take away the gruesomeness of it. I’ll never forget. I spoke up and said, but, Levi,… (That was his name.) don’t try to take away the horrors of the shed blood of the cross. When they offered that lamb, many times it was probably like a household pet, and to see that lamb shed its blood for their sin just tore them up. Why? Because that’s what sin does. The whole idea of this sacrificial system of worship and the shedding of all this blood was to show Israel the awfulness of their sin. But see, we’ve lost that. My goodness, today they don’t even call sin a sin anymore, do they? They’ve got all kinds of politically correct terms for it. But I’m old-fashioned enough, yet. I still say sin is sin, and it stinks, beloved. Sin stinks in the nostrils of a Holy God. But we’ve put all that aside. But we had better not, because we have to face the absolute “that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” And you can't argue it. You can polish it up all you want, but you’re not going to get around it. All right, now the third absolute is just the next page over, still in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6. Hebrews 11:6a “But without faith it is impossible to please him:…” There is no way, shape, or form that you can please God without faith. But faith in what? In Paul’s gospel for our salvation—faith in the shed blood: the death, the burial, and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How many church congregations are hearing that anymore? Well, I just had a guy call last night from one of our cities. He said, “Les, my wife and I have been visiting churches, one right after the other, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, since you’ve been out here.” And I was out there in April. “We can't find a church that’s preaching this,” He says. “We don’t hear it, not at a one.” Now, I don’t know how many Sundays that would be, but whatever. I know this is true, because they don’t like it. Then Sunday school, I have people who have been under my teaching and when they bring out some of these things, yeah, I got heads nodding all over the place. What do they think? They think you’ve lost it. Well, where do you get that? Right here and they can't see it. But anyway, those are your three absolutes. Now, if you’ll come back to Philippians. I don’t know what in the world got me off on that, but anyway, here we have the fact that we have to believe. We have to know what God’s Word says. A lot of faith today is in everything and anything but the gospel. Faith in God, faith in the miracles, faith in this, and faith in that, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about faith in the gospel, the finished work of the cross. Otherwise, Christ wouldn’t have had to come and become flesh, because it is paramount that that is the very center of our salvation experience. All right, back to Philippians chapter 2, reading the last part of verse 7 where we left off. Philippians 2:7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a bond slave, and was made in the likeness of men: (He was totally human) and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,…” Of His own volition He stood there and took all the abuse of the Romans, and all the verbal abuse of the Pharisees and the priests and so forth, without a word of opposition. Why? Because He was voluntarily becoming the Lamb of God! And a lamb, you know, never fights back. I guess that’s why God chose that as the typical sacrificial animal. A lamb does not know how to fight back. So, as a Lamb of God, He went without a word of argument and became obedient, just like Isaac of old. He became obedient unto death, not just death by a sword, not just death by a beheading, but the worst death that the human race has ever invented, the death of the cross. You and I do not even have an inkling of the suffering and the horrors of death by crucifixion. It just literally crushed the diaphragm so that they couldn’t breathe.

That’s why they had the block of wood under their feet. Then they could push their feet up once in a while and get a little bit of relief for the diaphragm and get a breath of air. It was an excruciating death. All right, this is what is pointed out then in this last portion of the verse. It wasn’t just death that He went through. It was the death of the cross. Again, nothing else could have consummated our salvation. He had to be lifted up. He had to shed His blood. He had to suffer, because that was all part of the payment of sin. Not because God is so awful; it’s because sin is so awful. And, my, we’re seeing it explode all around us. I take the Daily Oklahoman, and every day it is murder, rape, drugs, alcohol, and it’s coming like a flood. So, don’t blame God. Sin is awful, and in order to pay that sin debt, Christ had to meet all of the demands of a Holy God. On that basis I’m going to take you back for a minute to Romans chapter 5. I had a phone call yesterday where I had to use this verse, and I think since I’m talking about how much the cross accomplished, Romans chapter 5. I think we’ve got time. Let’s jump all the way up to verse 17. Romans 5 verse 17, now remember what we just saw in Philippians: how that Jesus Christ took upon Himself the form of a man that He might suffer death, not just death as may usually happen, but even the death of the cross. Romans 5:17 “For if by one man's (Adam) offense death (Death and sin, remember, are synonymous.) reigned by one; much more they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, (The second Adam and who is that?) Jesus Christ.” See that? Now to verse 18: Romans 5:18 “Therefore as by the offense of one, (Adam) judgment came (the curse) upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Everyone has had an opportunity. If they don’t take it, it’s not God’s fault. They’ve all had the opportunity. Now, this is all repetition to make the point. Romans 5:19-20 “For as by one man's (Adam) disobedience many were made sinners, (In other words, the whole human race fell under the curse.) so by the obedience of one (Jesus Christ) shall many be made righteous. 20. Moreover the law entered, that the offense (In other words, that sin could be seen for what it really was. It was written in stone so there was no arguing out of it.) might abound. But where sin abounded,(The worst, the most awful that you can think of—now what’s the rest of the verse?) grace did much more abound:” What a God! That no matter how vile a man may become, or what an awful sinner he is, God’s grace is greater than his sin.

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milanesa-enthusiast · 1 year ago

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[Image description: An image of Utena Tenjou lying on the ground, with the shadow of the Swords of Hatred above her. Text on top of the image reads "Died december 24". Beside it, a painting of Jesus of Nazareth, with text reading "Born december 25". Text below reads: "Welcome back, Revolutionary Girl Utena". End image description]

#rgu #op please add the id to the og post to make it more accessible!

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dailyaudiobible · 2 years ago

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03/20/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalms 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21

Today is the 20th day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today like every day, wonderful to be around the global campfire, wonderful to have this place to be together. And the purpose that we gather is to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And, so, let's dive in today. We are rounding the bend and coming to the conclusion of the book of Numbers. Couple more days and we will move forward before this week is out but we are still in the book of Numbers and our next step forward leads us to where we left off. Today we will read Numbers chapters 30 and 31.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have a really interesting scene in the gospel of Luke today and the scene centers around Jesus and the beginning of his ministry, but this is Jesus. And, so, we’re watching Him also model life on earth as it was intended to be for us, that we may follow the same pattern. So, Jesus was baptized outside of Jericho at the Jordan River where John was baptizing people. This is desert terrain. And once Jesus was baptized, He went out into the wilderness for 40 days. Jesus had His own wilderness journey and very likely His 40 days in the wilderness imitate the 40 years that the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness. And, so, from a symbolic perspective Jesus would be revealing that the wandering is coming to a close. But while Jesus is in the wilderness, He has an encounter with Satan in the desert and Satan is there to provoke or to test or to tempt him. and it's interesting the things that the evil one goes after. there are temptations to go after Jesus physical body. There are temptations for Jesus to worship lesser things. And there's a temptation for Jesus to test God all with a promise attached to these temptations. If you do these things, it's the easiest way to get what you want. If you do these things everything can be easy. Everything will be immediately better. Worship me, and you can have it all. There's no battle here. Worship me, and you can have all of it. If we pause and think about the seasons that we have spent in the wilderness, those seasons do wear us down and shake us till all that is unshakable is all that remains, and we do see clearly our utter dependence upon God. But if we are honest about the seasons that we've been in the truth is probably 90% of the time was spent thrashing around trying to figure out how to get away from the hardship or the difficulty or the challenge. It's in that thrashing around that we begin to experience those subtle and similar temptations. It can be so much easier if you take this path out of this wilderness even though you know this is the wrong path, even though you know this is not the right thing. It can all be yours in it can all be yours easy if you just step away from this wilderness, follow the path that I'm laying out for you, worship me, all will be good. And it's unlikely that we hear it like that. It's that we’re thrashing around looking for any way out instead of embracing the safety of the wilderness, knowing that once again we are utterly dependent upon God, and there are no shortcuts because we need…we need the lesson that we are learning for what comes next. And as it turns out in the gospel of Luke, Jesus resists the devil. The devil does leave Him and as the gospel of Luke says the devil leaves Him for another opportune time. And then the next scene is that Jesus makes it back to Nazareth, which appears to be the next opportune time because Jesus is in His hometown. He's come home to declare the inauguration of the ministry and the fulfillment of prophecy. And, so, the people have been hearing about Jesus and they're happy to hear Jesus and they’re intrigued very much by the way that He communicates and what He's saying but they’re also…there was skepticism and they just want to see Him do the things they’ve been hearing about and that’s when Jesus tells them a prophet really has no regard in his hometown. In the end, the people of Nazareth are enraged and they drag Jesus to the top of a cliff. This is…well the traditional place now is called Mt. Precipice. And, so, Jesus is able to overcome the temptation in the wilderness, but can He overcome a mob that is intent on throwing Him off the side of a cliff and that being the end of the story. And it's interesting because Jesus is here on this precipice and He just…according to the gospel of Luke, and I quote, “He passed through the crowd and went on His way.” So, we can look at the scene and go, okay, there…here's a miraculous kind of thing, Jesus somehow got cloaked, He had the power of invisibility and he just disappeared, and he went on His way. This is a miraculous event here. We can look at it as an event in Jesus’ ministry life. We also need to look at what's being modeled here in the life of Jesus and apply it to our own lives. Jesus overcame temptation in His wilderness journey, only to come and face cynicism and marginalization by His own hometown, His own people, where He had specifically come to announce His ministry, to announce what He came to do and to tell everybody this is being fulfilled. Like, you got to see, you are getting to see something happen that was foretold. In the end they just want the magic and in the end, they're going to throw Him off the cliff and in the end, they are denying what He came to tell them He had come to do. These are the voices of doubt. These are the voices of cynicism. These are the voices that say you'll never be able to do that. These are the voices telling Jesus we've known you since you were a kid and we’re not sure You are who You think You are or who You’re purporting Yourself to be, right? A direct attack on Jesus’ identity. Oh…we all experience these things. Every human being experiences these kinds of things and so often we experience these kinds of things from people that know us, like that we’re never really allowed to grow beyond who we were even though we’re double the age of who we were when we lived there in the hometown. Like, we get stuck. We’re pigeonholed. We’re put into a place and our identity feels attacked. And, so, being in that environment makes us feel small. What is the lesson here? He passed through the crowd and went on His way, which is indeed what He did. He went on his way and kept doing what He came to do. It would be very helpful for us to remember this scene as we walk through these seasons because we all will and there may be times that we need to follow Jesus, who is telling us we need to get out of here and pass through the crowd and go on our way and continue on the mission that God has given us.

Prayer:

Jesus, we invite You into that. That's not permission for us to become aloof and arrogant. That’s permission for us to just abandon everything that challenges us. That is an awareness that as we walk with You and follow in the pathways that You have laid out for us and as we see You at work in the world and in our lives and in our families and in our communities we need to be awake and aware to that which is attacking our identity and the mission that You have placed us upon and be willing to pass through it and move on our way as You lead us. Help us to see where we’re going and why. Help us to understand what You are doing. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website, it is certainly where to find out what's going on around here. And, so, certainly do that. You can also do all of this with the Daily Audio Bible app, which you can download from the app store that works with your phone or your tablet. And, so, check that out.

Check out the different sections like the Community section. This is where different links to get connected on social media are but it's also the home of the Prayer Wall and that is always there and always available to us. As I…as I remind us often, it's always there. So, no matter what's going on, whether we’re just having a normal day or whether we’re…we’re just moving along, and the bottom falls out and we’re spinning upside down and we don't know what's going on or whether we’re having this mountaintop experience that we want to share with our brothers and sisters to encourage them. We can share. We can share back, and we can pray together. And, so, just be familiar with the Prayer Wall. That lives in the Community section, whether on the web or in the app.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if you find that being around the Global Campfire and showing up together each day and taking another step forward brings life and hope and good news then thank you humbly for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app. That's a little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is Josh. I go by Living Daily in Him Today. I called in about a year and a half ago for my daughter who was struggling with anxiety and having an anxiety attack when moving into the dorms. I'm just happy to say that she is off of all medications. It's been a long journey for her, but she is doing much better. Glory be to God. He is so faithful. But about a year ago she told us that she was pregnant and that there was lots of hard conversations and medical trips and finally last year she told us that she was going to be having twins. So, that was very not expected but the babies are doing excellent. They were born on January 12th. They spent about a month and 1/2 in the NICU. So, it was an awesome journey with her. But about a couple days ago they…her and her baby's dad got into a little argument, and we just really want to lift them up. We know that it's hard to go through anything like that especially when you're not married and you're not together. So, I just pray that you would just lift them up and be with us today. And dear God I also want to lift up Widespread Jesus. That is a huge blessing that you've been so encouraged, and we just want you to be able to glorified, and know that you can trust in Jesus and if you are faithful to Him he will show Himself faithful to you just like He has with me. I love you all have a great day.

Hey Daily Audio Bible I'm just calling about somebody who prayed for someone else who it was a lady who was struggling with her legs and then she just had to put her mom into a facility. So, yeah, just dear heart just know that you are loved and cared for. Yeah, there are just so many things going on, so many things happening so fast and sometimes it's all we can do is just cry out to God to cling to Him. And, so, that's what I'm asking you to do and anybody else. So, yeah, my mother passed away on March 1st and just…just being gone for a week so many things happened while I was gone. I mean it's like unbelievable it's like…just even trying to ingest. So…so…but I just wanna pray for everyone to just hang on just to cling on to Jesus. He's…He's the only one that we can cling on to. He's the answer. So, we thank you God and I thank you God for…for being able to pray and then being able to ask for prayer. So, in Yeshua's name __. My friends, love you. Thank you so much...

Hi this is Victoria Soldier just calling to pray for some of the DABbers. I just wanted to pray for Blessing in California as she was saying that she was having a problem sleeping well and some of the challenges that she's going through. And I wanted to pray for some of those that are going through depression and pray for our precious babies that are having some of the challenges that are coming on them with the schools and the…and the different direction and…and things that are directing them to something that's saying it's God but isn't God. We just ask Lord in the name of Jesus You are the way the truth and the light. Father, You help them to see the light. You have Your way, Lord. Bless my precious sister who's having a problem sleeping Lord. We ask You to have Your way, ask You to bless her with Your peace Lord. Give her such a sweet peace that she'll sleep, that she will sleep with a sleep that is sweet and peaceful Father. In the name of Jesus, we ask that You continue to have Your way. Continue to bless Kingdom Seeker, Kingdom…Lady of Victory and my brother Tony…Blind Tony, my precious brother, Blind Tony and Joe the Protector and God's Smile and my sister the Encourager, my precious sister the Encourager. Lord, continue to bless her, continue to encourage her God, continue to open doors, give life and favor to Your people, to all of Your DABbers Father and bless them in a mighty and special way. Let Your divine will be done in their life and all will give You the glory. Continue to bless Brian in being a grandfather and Jill as being a new grandmother again in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Hello, my DAB family this is Jamie in New Jersey Standing on the Word of God. I humbly ask you to please pray with me. Dear Father in heaven thank You for the establishment of Your church. Thank You for placing us with a body of believers who care about us and are willing to pray and believe alongside us for the desires of our hearts. It is such an amazing blessing to have a church family we can share life’s up and downs with and who help us grow stronger in our faith. Help Your church show itself strong and mighty in this dark world. Thank You for loving and choosing us in Christ to be wholly and without fault in Your eyes even before You made the world. Please help us keep our relationship strong, unified, and loving in the body so we can always find You amongst us. You have promised that if there are two of us calling Your name You are with us binding our hearts and blessing our souls with Your presence. Father, help Your church body to walk in a manner worthy of the calling You have given us. Help us in all our interactions with one another to have humble and gentle hearts. Grant us patience for one another bearing with one another in love. Let us truly reflect Your love to the world around us we pray in Jesus’ name Amen. Thank you for praying along with me my brothers and sisters. I love you all dearly. Have a good night.

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walkswithmyfather · 3 years ago

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“And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened.” —Luke 24:21 (MSG)

“When It Looks Like It’s Over (Praying Through Defeat)” By Elevation Church:

“Remember, we get the privilege of reading the Easter story with the insight of hindsight. We know how the story ends — Jesus’ friends didn’t. We jump straight to the miracle, but they lived through the mess.

Even after Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, it was easier for the disciples to accept His body had been stolen than to believe He had actually conquered death.

The miracle was in motion, and yet we read in Luke 24 about two followers of Jesus who were walking away in defeat. They had waited in Jerusalem for three days, but now they were making the seven-mile journey back to Emmaus. Why stick around? The show was over.

Jesus decided to journey with them as they walked away from their miracle. And although they were prevented from recognizing Him, Jesus taught them as He walked with them. He interpreted scriptures for them and gave them a deeper understanding of who He was — in the middle of their doubts and defeat.

It wasn’t until He sat down to eat with them that their eyes were opened and they recognized it was Jesus who had been walking with them all along.

This is still true for us today. In the middle of our disappointment, we’re tempted to quit. We lose heart. We lose patience. We lose faith. But even if it seems like God is late, it’s too soon to stop seeking Him. Just like the two travelers on the road to Emmaus, we often only see God’s fingerprints looking back.

There’s a difference between praying about something and praying through something. Don’t assume because your prayer didn’t get answered the way you hoped that a miracle isn’t in motion. Keep pressing on. Keep knocking. Keep praying. Prayer keeps you connected to God, and while He may not change your situation He will shift your perspective.

Consider this: Before Jesus went to the cross, He went to the grave of Lazarus — only He showed up four days after Lazarus had been buried. The situation was beyond repair. If Jesus had come sooner, Lazarus wouldn’t have died.

But when Jesus showed up, Martha, Lazarus’ sister, said through grief, “Yet even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you.”

Yet even now.

Even IF God is late and the door seems closed, will you have the faith to pray even now?

Bring your “even if” situation to the Father today and pray this prayer.

Father, even though You didn’t ______________ and even if ____________ doesn’t work out, even now, I look to You. You are still Provider, Healer, Comforter, and Sustainer. You can still do all things. You know the places where I have lost heart and lost faith — the places where I’m tempted to quit and walk away, but I don’t want to miss a miracle You’ve set in motion. So I commit today to keep asking. To keep seeking. To keep knocking. And to allow You to change me in the process. Even now, I trust You. Even now, I welcome resurrection. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

[Welcome Resurrection Devotional Day 5 of 7]

“That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” “What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago. “Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.” Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and the others who had gathered with them, who said, “The Lord has really risen! He appeared to Peter.” Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread.” —Luke 24:13-35 (NLT)

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