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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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08/03/2021 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33, Romans 16:10-27, Psalm 26:1-12, Proverbs 20:19

Today is the 3rd day of August, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian, it is always great to be here with you today as we do what we do and take another step forward together through the Scriptures. So, let's dive into that, we’re in the book of 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament, which we will finish up soon. And today, in the New Testament, we will conclude the letter to the Romans. We’re reading from the God's Word Translation this week, 2 Chronicles 33 verse 14 through 34 verse 33.

Commentary:

Okay, so we are definitely reaching the conclusion of 2 Chronicles and we did conclude the letter to the Romans today. One of, if not the crowning jewel from the pen of Paul anyway, where the claims of sin in our life are explained and the fact that Jesus opens up salvation to anyone and everyone who will believe and live into it, whether Jew or Gentile, is unpacked. The fact that we are all reborn into something new that God is doing in this world, in which Jesus was the firstborn, is unpacked. And this puts us all on level, like a level playing field. We are all lucky. We are all fortunate to have this rebirth and we are all equals in Christ, one in Christ. No one’s better than anybody else and no gifting is better than anyone else's, we’re all here with a purpose. These things have been explained and unpacked before our very eyes, as we've read through the book of Romans. And it’s really impossible not to at least look at what Proverbs is telling us today because it's talking about gossip and gossip is such an insidious thing, like it seems like it's not. But people are talking about each other behind each other's backs, like continually as even a part of our cultural norms and yet when have you ever found out that there was gossip going on about you and that ever produced something good in you? When, for that matter, have you ever perpetrate…like have you ever passed around gossip? Get together with some friends have some coffee and then sort of just eat one of your other friends behind their back for lunch just having conversation; what you think this, what you think their thinking what…oh well, I heard this and you just keep going and going. Do you leave a conversation like that is feeling the joy of the Lord in full inside? And even if you could say “yeah, I feel pretty good,” how would the person that you have been gossiping about feel, were they to hear the conversation that just happened. Gossip is…it's just in the dark behind the scenes and it divides, it brings division, it's divisive. The counsel of the Proverb is “do not associate with a person whose mouth is always open, that person goes around telling secrets,” according to the Proverb. And this is pretty straight up right? It's not like it's…we got a sit here and ponder what's really being said, we've all experienced gossiping, we’ve probably all participated in gossip. What kind of time and energy would it free up if we just didn't participate? Even if we took a week off just to test, just see what kind of difference that would make, especially if we’re kind of habitual and that's what we do is gossip. We’ll be incredibly hard pressed to find any mention of gossip in the Scriptures in which it's a good thing and that anything good comes of it. But we see from the council of the Scriptures is that our words matter. They have the power of life and death. And if we’re gonna use them in some sort of dark way, than some sort of dark thing is going to happen. And at minimum, it's worth considering.

Prayer:

And so, Holy Spirit come, come into that. Come into the things that we let fly out of our mouths. The things that have been born in our hearts before they ever were formed into words and communicated. The things that have been swirling around in our minds before we ever send them. We need You in those places before these things are ever forming, before he ever…well, before we ever go around as a gossip and tell secrets, so that we are a person that shouldn't be associated with because our mouth is always open. That’s the council from the Scriptures from the Proverbs today. May that sink into us, may it change us we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it's the website. It’s where we find out what's happening around here and all…all of us be familiar with the Community section of the website or app for that matter, because well, in the Community section, that's where the Prayer Wall is and that is where it lives, and it is always happening. People are praying for one another. People are asking for prayer. And there's always a place to reach out and so definitely check that out in the Community section, the Prayer Wall. There are also links to different social media channels where we’re we are participating in. So, that is also a good thing to know, so check out the Community section on the app or on the website.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, as we move through this year, as of said many, many times, we wouldn’t be moving through the year, or around any Global Campfire if we weren't in this together. So, thank you, thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com or if you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app which is the little red button up 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.

Prayers and Encouragements:

Hi DAB family this is Tammy from the Outerondex. I want to thank everybody for your prayers. I'm smiling again, I still have tears here and there but I’m smiling again and I just want to thank you all for your prayers and your continued prayers. I’m still in remission, praise God. I’m calling because I’m asking for prayers for a special friend. She’s 50 years old and she’s got a lot of mental health issues and she’s a cutter. And she just recently had…my husband and…she lives in across the country and my husband and I have offered for her to move in. She lives, she lives alone, her daughter is grown up, her parents live this side of the country, the East coast. But she just feels very alone. She says that she believes in God but I don’t know if she really knows the relationship you have with God when you become saved. And, she says that she has her, she prays to God and she asks God to forgive her but she just recently, her daughter told her she didn’t want to talk to her anymore and her relationship with her father is strained. I’m running out of time here. She’s a cutter and she cut herself and ended up having to get 19 stiches and, on the outside and two on the inside. And I want to help her and I believe God spoke to me tonight and told me to reach out to all of you. And maybe with all of us praying we could help her and maybe you can help me to help her. So, I love you all I pray for you all and God bless you all and please keep Christie in your prayers. Thank you, bye.

Hi DAB family. This is Praying Momma from SOCAL. And I really need your prayers. I just read my daughters journal and it said that she was suicidal and that she didn’t fear death and she is just going through a lot so I’m just crying out to you all because I know you pray and I believe that God hears my prayers right now. But He’s also hearing us together. I’ve appreciated all of you that have called in and everyone that prays for each other. Very thankful for you all and I’m thankful for you praying with me for my daughter Lauren. Lord, I just lift up Lauren to you right now, it’s 2o’clock in the morning and my heart has just been woken up to pray over her and her mind and her thoughts. In Jesus name, by the power of invested in us in the blood of Jesus, You’ve given us that power to come against any spirit that is just coming against my daughter. And I’m thankful for all of those that are praying with me over her mind, her heart, her spirit, her purpose and that her ability to know you Lord. Open up her mind to you Jesus. And come in and show her how much you love her. Thank you DAB family for praying. Thank you for praying over Lauren. I love her so much Lord and I know that You love her. Thank you.

Just wanted to take this time to, you know reach out to that Lady in regards to her daughter dealing with anorexia. And I just want her to know that you know that I called in the other day to Alberta from Tampa in regards to me, dealing with you know, depression and just had to call in again and you know just let her know that the mind you know, tries to take control of us and I’m learning that you know that the devils a liar and to just keeping having faith. And everyday is a new step and just have faith that you know, mentally your daughters gonna you know get better. Just want to thank you guys for just giving me hope every morning, you know, I feel like, I live double lives right. I work 9-5 very professional, successful individual. But when I get home it’s just like that’s when you know, I just deal with this. And just trying new different things and just having you guys every morning just gives me hope. And you know, I just, I’m a man of God and I just want to thank you guys for giving me hope every morning and Brian just being there and we all doing together as a community as a family. And you know, that individual that called in, the way he prays, the way he was talking in regards to the other day about the individual being charged and just the way how you guys teach me how to pray different and how to just open to God and just have faith. Let’s all just have faith. Hopefully, everything been changed. And I love you guys and I look forward to, just hopefully one day meeting everyone.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. I have a prayer request this morning. My daughter-in-law has a niece from a broken family who’s given up on life and tried to commit suicide unsuccessfully. When they revived her she was angry and started screaming that she just wanted to die. It just breaks my heart. My son and his wife have agreed to take her into their home and try to help her. They have a six-year-old little girl and a four-year-old little boy of their own as well. I'm just asking for prayer for them. I know this is a big thing, they're taking on and I just ask God to give them wisdom and guidance and protection. Please pray that their niece thrives in this new environment and accepts them into her life and that everything goes smoothly. Pray for protection over their own children as well. As they open their home to help their niece. I know it will be a rough road ahead. They’re Christians and they attend a church that offers a lot of support. Their niece is coming from a northern Pacific densely populated area to an entirely different rural Midwest dry climate. She's leaving behind a mom and stepdad who have had past drug abuse and a little sister and half-brother, a dad and a stepmom, a boyfriend, grandma, an aunt and an uncle. She's a beautiful young girl who has totally lost the will to live. She needs Jesus and to be surrounded by people who care more about her than themselves to help her find meaning and value in herself. Thank you. Your prayers are coveted.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Dr. John in Illinois. I had just heard Susie from Colorado. She has a mission in Haiti and I guess I would move most specifically because she is a missionary somebody that has served, and I don't recall how many years that she said 29 years maybe, but she's weary, she's exhausted. And sometimes it is hard. It's easy to say don't grow weary in well doing, sometimes is hard to limit so I just want to lift up Susie right now and Jesus name Father would You just provide cover for her, provide restoration for her heart. For her spirit, for her flesh, and Lord bless her because of her service and again doing what she is, she's caring and loving and providing for orphans, those that have no others. So, Father I would ask in Jesus name that You would meet that need. Father, because I know that You can. I know that You are able and Father, I lift up this loving heart from St. Louis and she's desperately crying out for her children Lord and all of us that have kids and grandkids know the fear and the desperation when your kids are sick or there are other issues. We do all we can in our power to try to help, but more importantly Lord, we have to depend on You and I guess we should seek You first in all that we do. So, I'm again I'm asking that we pray we seek God for this mother and his father, for this child, and there's a lot like them. So, I ask you Lord, would you do that, would you step in, would you make a way? And Lord we thank you.

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the-desolated-quill · 7 years

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Vincent And The Doctor - Doctor Who blog (People Like This Episode?)

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Oh I hate talking about these kinds of stories! The ones that receive critical acclaim and are adored by fans because of how deep and meaningful they supposedly are, and then I have to come along and explain why those episodes are nothing but pretentious, patronising bollocks.

Okay. Two disclaimers. I’m not very fond of Doctor Who’s celebrity historical episodes because they’re usually just an excuse for the writers to wank themselves silly to a famous historical person as opposed to telling a compelling story (see The Unicorn And The Wasp and Victory of The Daleks), and I’m not a big fan of Richard Curtis. I do like Blackadder for the most part, but his other stuff I just don’t care for. (I don’t even like The Vicar of Dibley very much, which is positively sacrilegious I know). If you’re into either, fair enough. They’re just not to my taste. But the thing to bear in mind is my hatred for Vincent And The Doctor goes beyond personal taste issues. Not only do I think this episode is monumentally crap, I also found it to be extremely insulting, and I’ll explain why in a bit.

In the previous episode Rory was erased from existence, which means Amy can no longer remember him, although she still feels occasionally sad without knowing why. To cheer Amy up, the Doctor takes her to an art gallery to look at Vincent Van Gogh’s painting. This surprised me ever so slightly. I honestly didn’t think Amy would be the type to be into all this artsy fartsy stuff, but that’s only because we’re 10 episodes in and I still don’t actually know anything about her. Think about it. What have we actually learned about her? How has she grown since the first episode? First person to come up with a satisfactory answer wins a fiver.

It’s almost as if she’s suddenly obsessed with Vincent Van Gogh not because that’s part of her character but because the plot requires her to be. Also, since Rory was erased by the light shining out of Moffat’s crack (teehee), Amy seems to have been reduced to a wide-eyed, innocent little bunny rabbit in this episode. I can’t help but feel sorry for Karen Gillan. She’s a good actor, but Moffat rarely gives her any good material to work with.

Anyway the Doctor spots some weird creature in one of the paintings and decides to travel back to 1890 to meet Vincent Van Gogh, played by Tony Curran who admittedly does a marvellous job with the material he’s been given, although the less said about his awful pantomime-esque performance when he’s required to fight the invisible monster, the better. Here’s the problem with celebrity historicals, and I mentioned this in my review of The Unicorn And The Wasp. Usually these episodes are only entertaining to those who are interested in the historical celebrity. To everyone else, it’s just monumentally dull. I’ve never been that interested in Agatha Christie, so having to listen to the Doctor constantly talk about what a great writer she is made me feel a little bit nauseous. I’ve seen Van Gogh’s paintings. They’re okay. I’m not that much of an art lover, so I can’t really comment further, but to listen to the Doctor and Amy talking, you’d think Van Gogh was the reincarnation of Christ. It all feels utterly self indulgent. Like with Agatha Christie and Winston Churchill in their respective episodes, there’s no effort to actually explore what his life was like or anything. Instead we’re given this romanticised version of him that Richard Curtis can spend 45 minutes pouring his admiration over. It’s fine if you like Van Gogh, but spare a thought for the uncultured swines like myself who have to suffer through this too.

‘Oh look! There’s all his famous paintings! And they’re still wet! Oh no! Don’t put the coffee pot down on them! You’ll leave a stain! How can you not see how utterly perfect and amazing you are Van Gogh?! OMG! Look at his bedroom! Just like the painting! (Even though the bedroom wasn’t actually in that town. Also have you noticed that they built the bedroom to look exactly like the painting to the point where the proportions look really weird when the Doctor walks around in it?). Oh did you hear that? He doesn’t like sunflowers! How hilarious! And he fancies Amy! How sweet! Go PondGogh!’ And so on for another 40 excruciating minutes.

For the record, I don’t buy Van Gogh and Amy’s feelings for each other even for a second considering that they’ve only known each other for a day. Plus the whole thing feels less romantic when you remember that Van Gogh most probably had syphilis at the time.

But wait. This is Doctor Who, isn’t it? Better shove a monster in for no reason. What do we have this week? The Krafayis. An invisible monster that only Van Gogh can see and resembles a giant, mutant CGI turkey. Not exactly one of Doctor Who’s best monsters, now is it? So how’s the Doctor planning to see it? With some tech of course. But not something sensible like a pair of goggles or something. No. Instead he uses this awkward looking harness thing with a rear view mirror attached so that the only chance you can see the Krafayis is if it’s standing right behind you. What a stupid idea!

But as I said, this is all a taste issue. If you like it, good for you. I’m glad someone does. Where I absolutely draw the line however is when Richard Curtis starts giving us his patronising views on the blind and the mentally ill.

Yes the big twist is that the Krafayis is blind, and in one fell swoop it goes from being a savage creature of hate to being a cuddly little bundle of joy in its condescending death scene. They also perpetuate the age old myth that blind people have excellent hearing (which is not true by the way. it’s a lie created by the sighted to make themselves feel better). Oh and the reason why only Van Gogh can see him? Because he’s mentally ill and therefore can see things other people can’t.

How anyone can find this episode to be anything other than insufferable I don’t know.

There’s been a lot of debate as to what kind of mental illness Van Gogh may have had, but Curtis decides to go for bipolar with a touch of synesthesia. This is very dark and sensitive territory for Doctor Who, but with careful handling it could potentially be emotionally rewarding, spreading awareness to important issues surrounding mental health. This is not the case here. Curtis’ portrayal of mentally ill people consists of nothing but patronising and insulting cliches. He’s bipolar, which means he’s fine now even though he was sad a few minutes ago. Being mentally ill makes you a genius. Being manic makes you a loveable eccentric. Having mental health problems allows you to see the wonders of the world in a way ‘normal’ people can only dream of.

For those of you who don’t know, I suffer from manic depression. Do you see now why I might have a bit of a problem with this? Yes there’s a correlation between those with mental health problems and those who enter creative fields like art and writing, often because art and writing are an excellent way to express ourselves and to make sense of the world around us. I myself am a writer and have had a lot of time to refine my craft. Spending nearly three years stuck at home whilst recovering from alcohol addiction gives you a lot of free time to do such things. But I absolutely resent the idea that artists, writers and other creative people are good at what they do because of their mental illnesses, as though it’s some special gift bestowed upon us by the Art Gods. People who think that are either ignorant, pretentious or stupid, and I would be more than happy to give those pricks my mental illness so they can see what it’s fucking like to be me. I can assure you it isn’t pleasant.

But wait! It gets worse!

It’s tragic that Van Gogh never knew just how successful he would become, right? if only we could tell him or show him how famous and well regarded he would be. That in my opinion is all the more reason not to do it here, but Curtis just can’t help himself at this point. The Doctor and Amy take Van Gogh to the art gallery in the future, they all stand on this turntable thing as Van Gogh cries while Bill Nighy talks about how not only is Van Gogh the greatest artist who ever lived, but is also the greatest, most awesomest person ever born in the entire universe, all while some awful pop ballad plays in the background to drown us in slush.

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Good God, this is fucking awful! Who the hell thought this would be a good idea?! Talk about over-egging the pudding.

And then, big shock, Van Gogh kills himself. Amy is surprised because she thought showing him the future might inspire him to keep working. Me? I’m not in the least bit surprised. He gets taken into a blue box that’s bigger on the inside than the outside and travels to the future where he sees all the success and fame he will never get to experience in his lifetime. That’s more likely to cause his suicide than prevent it, if you think about it. And I HATE the Doctor’s speech about how life is split into good things and bad things. What is he, a fucking primary school teacher now? Depression is a little bit more complicated than that. But then again this is written by the same fucking moron who believes being mentally ill makes you a badass painter, so I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked.

Richard Curtis clearly thinks he’s written a sensitive and sympathetic tribute to a renowned artist who tragically took his own life due to mental health problems. I think Curtis royally fucked up with a paper-thin story that’s both patronising and insulting. And remember I have mental health problems, so according to Richard Curtis, I’m a genius. So basically if you disagree with me... you’re wrong :)

#vincent and the doctor #richard curtis #doctor who #eleventh doctor #matt smith #amy pond #karen gillan #steven moffat #bbc #review #spoilers

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jess-oh · 7 years

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Reflection

I think it’s been easy for me to avoid posting just bc of a constant stream of YouTube videos but I really don’t want to make a habit out of it and get better at just pausing or even deleting the YouTube browser, and typing typing typing. And actually concentrating on what I’m writing and not see this as homework because it’s not. It’s my choice to post or not and this just helps me better process everything that’s going on in my life.

Today, or last night rather, we actually had a pretty good turnout at Judy’s praise and prayer! Because of the many complications in transportation, I was definitely tempted to just give up and go home but I kept myself accountable. I knew that former me would never let something like this stop me and wouldn’t even see it as an issue so why was I going to let it stop me now?

I am really happy that I went though. I really poured my heart into our prayer about the freshman class just because it had been something on my heart for a while and I really do wish only the best for them. When we shared about our experiences at retreat, I ended up going last which kind of sucked but as it got closer and closer to my turn and debated how to share or rather, even what to share....I realized that I’m not done processing. In fact, far from it.

Yes, God emphasized many gifts within me. But I think more than that, He wanted to tell me, “You are not weak.” And whilst sharing, I couldn’t help but just really focus on what God was saying to me and relive the moments that I felt at retreat. Starting from day 1, he used Christy to show me that I am filled with joy, compassion, kindness, and truth and that these things aren’t bad and they do not make me weak and despite the things that I learned growing up, these are not bad qualities or traits. Sidenote: I was kind of overwhelmed when everyone’s attention was on me because I was expecting everyone to just kind of listen but look in aimless directions. I didn’t expect people to actually look at me while I talked. But back to retreat, I was really sensitive in elementary school and my sister always got annoyed with me whenever I cried just because I did so all the time. I remember coming to school crying in the morning before going to class. I remember never feeling like I was enough for my parents. I remember wanting attention because neither of them were ever home. I remember feeling left out because my sister had kids to hangout with in her age range but I had no one. I remember my self esteem issues and fear of judgment first originating from my sister because of her constant judgment towards me. I remember not feeling safe in my own home. I remember feeling the least comfortable in my own home than anywhere else. I remember in high school when I was depressed and self harmed myself to feel anything and to just reassure myself that I’m still human and can still feel pain and joy and emotions or anything. That I wasn’t just going crazy. That I wasn’t just a robot. That I was still human. And I needed to self inflict that pain to do so. And it wasn’t even ever for attention because I kept it a secret for a long time. I didn’t want anyone to know that it was something that I had done because it was just another thing that made me “weak” and I didn’t want anyone to see that. I remember crying alone in my room countless times and just needing a way to escape the pain. I remember when my family fell apart and we all yelled and screamed at each other and I just wanted to escape and I was so afraid of the verdict and I felt like it was all my fault. And that pain. That overwhelming pain. I remember how much pain I suffered through and yet, I still refused to let anyone in. Because I was afraid. Because I didn’t want to seem like I was weak. To anyone. I had to keep up this act. I just had to. I couldn’t bear with the idea that anyone saw me as weak and I was so afraid that I would just get left behind as a result. I didn’t want people to think that I couldn’t keep up.

So when Jennifer, Hannah Shin, and Judy praised me...I was shocked. On the second night after I shared to Hannah about how hard my grandparents’ health was affecting me and how I was trying to make an effort to pay the bills and take up another job to pay for my own apartment and she told me that I was the most selfless person that she knew and I was so shocked because just a couple hours earlier, I was thinking about how incredibly selfish I was for receiving this whole summer instead of giving back but I do think that it’s been important for me to just rest in the Lord and learn and listen instead of trying to go out of my way to give all the time. And plus, I think I’m getting back into the habit of giving. Especially after being so filled with compassion and just a longing to be there with my brothers and sisters. On night 3, Judy and Jennifer shared with me how they look up to me. Right? ME? I’ve always seen them as people that God has blessed me with and it’s honestly just an honor for me to call them “my friend.” But somehow, they found gifts that they long for and strive for that I have? What! Judy praised my heart of compassion and Jennifer to my heart of servantship. I think Jen’s comments really hit me just because she called out how a lot of the times, I didn’t get attention for my efforts but how God still sees exactly what I’m doing. And I know I’ve heard that so many times but she genuinely meant it. She honestly believed that God could see and really appreciated every little thing that I was doing, even when other people couldn’t. And that really stuck a chord within me. Judy, too. Judy has such a huge and caring heart that really longs to invest into others so the fact that she felt the need to seek after my heart of compassion was crazy. I really love them both, even if I can’t always put it into words. They mean so much to me and those words alone were so reassuring.

On night 2, I didn’t even think I’d really have any encounters but once they opened the floor to anyone with a family member struggling with an illness, my heart broke. Because it really does put me in so much pain to see my grandparents struggling so much. Especially my grandfather. I was watching a Try Guy video and Ned mentioned how his grandmother’s cancer left and returned and just thinking about my grandpa and what would happen if his cancer returned.... it really broke my heart. Of course, it really hurt me because he means the world to me but more than that, it hurt me to see him in so much pain and agony and anguish and I just prayed that if it is indeed in God’s will to take him away, then at least allow him to leave this Earth in peace. No longer in pain. Because hearing about how much he’s suffering and how much he just wishes God would take him out of his misery, really broke my heart.

God,

I am so weak. I couldn’t earn it and I don’t deserve it still you gave yourself away. Oh, the overwhelming, neverending, reckless love of God.

I don’t know what I ever did to deserve your unending and reckless love Christ but I am beyond grateful for it. Thank you for still accepting me and loving me even when I ignore you and spit in your face and yell at you and all these other things when in reality, you deserve only the highest and utmost praise. We are nothing compared to you. And I am so sorry that I am constantly trying to bear the weight of my own burden instead of relying on you for strength and support and guidance. But I do think that that’s something I need to work on. Just being more open in general and much more willing to listen.

God,

I want to return to Chicago so incredibly on fire for you and who you are. I want to shout your name and jump and feel free to just fully worship you and who you are.

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I have a confession to make. My sister is currently going through a breakup and of course I want to be there for her, but it does take an emotional toll on me, especially because I’m pretty much the only person she comes to about her emotional problems. And I am honored that she trusts me enough to share these things with me but I kind of wish that she would talk to other people and not just me so that it’s not just my burden to bear. Especially because I’m trying to just have my personal time with God right now but she keeps interrupting to vent more when I just really want to listen to the music and type out everything on my heart. But I keep having to pause it to hear what she’s saying and I’m honestly kind of annoyed. I don’t get a lot of time to just have my alone time anymore because my sister is constantly asking for my attention and to just be in my presence when I just want to be alone and recharge so it’s definitely taking a toll on me because I’m not getting enough time to recharge and reflect and really spend time alone with my thoughts. I hope she can find other people to vent to and look instead to the Lord instead of constantly seeking my support and attention because that’s really unhealthy for me.

When I hung out with Andrew shortly after retreat, I realized how much I just wanted to rejoice in God’s glory and all that He did and share the good news but because of Andrew’s religious beliefs. I felt like I couldn’t share it with Him, as much as I wanted to. And that discouraged me. I do want to be really good friends with Him to whom I can feel free to share everything with but, God is such an integral part of my life and I don’t think I can have a best friend with whom I can’t share the good news with.

That’s another thing about Lakeview. I really hope they can become a community where we can share life together and just be so head over heels in love with God and never ever feel ashamed of Him but instead, just feel this overwhelming desire to praise His name at all times and in all things. I want to be with people that are just as crazy about Him as I am. And I definitely learned that there is so much power in prayer and when Jennifer told me about how she believed that I’m going to a prayer warrior, I was so encouraged. Because I do really love to pray. That’s honestly probably one of my favorite things to do. Praying. Confessing. Rejoicing. Hurting. Guidance. Help. Hurt. Prayer. Prayer is so powerful and I have this overwhelming heart to help and care for those around me and I really do love to help and care and invest into them. And even though no one else will do that, at least at first, I hope that I can help cultivate Lakeview into this community that is just so incredibly unashamed of prayer and of who He is.

I mentioned this to Judy and during her praise and prayer today but I really want to get better at touch. I’m going to mention it again in a future post from retreat but I just really wanted to get this out there because I never once considered to want to get better with touch. But man, just thinking about how I would put a hand on someone’s shoulder and immediately be overwhelmed by all their pain and sorrow and worry, it filled me with so much heart. The heart to carry that burden with them and suffer alongside them and a deep investment in that pain. And this has happened before too. I remember being on the bus with Karina from church to Irvine once and I saw her cry from stress and I just really wanted to pray for her. So I decided to sit beside her and immediately, my heart was overwhelmed by her pain and I cried alongside her. Something that a lot of people forget is that Jesus WEPT. He knew that Lazarus would return but he still cried. There is so much weight to the simple phrase, “Jesus wept.” It’s so much more than just one man crying. It’s Jesus. God. He wanted to live life and share that with us and CRY and suffer with us down this path.

Parting thoughts, it is currently 6:13am. I’ve been awake since 4am. Honestly, I woke up a couple times before that too but I just got up after that to go and comfort my sister. Also, I don’t know if I was just half awake or what but I think I saw the door of Heaven. I saw my door but it looked much bigger than usual and there was this kind of holy light coming from the other side and that’s when I knew to comfort my sister through Christ and not just through advice based on my own personal experience. So I made sure to do just that. And I don’t know how well she took it but she does want to make an effort and go to church tomorrow so I think that says something.

#reflection

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01/23/2017 DAB Transcript

Genesis 46:1-47:31 ~ Matthew 15:1-28 ~ Psalm 19:1-14 ~ Proverbs 4:14-19

Today is the 23rd of January. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian and it is a pleasure and a joy, really an honor to be here with you today to take the next step in the scriptures this year. We’re kind of coming to this conclusion of Joseph's story. Of course, this story has been full of drama and twists and turns and today we find out if Joseph's father, whose name is Jacob, whose name has been changed to Israel, gets the word of his son's life, that he's still alive from the other children, the sons of Jacob, the first children of Israel. Genesis chapter 46, verse 1 through 47:31. We’re reading from the Contemporary English Version this week.

Commentary

Okay, so King David writes a psalm, a song and then later his son Solomon writes a proverb and they both just lay out a beautiful picture of what life can and should look like if we have a life of balance and margin. David starts out saying the heavens keep telling the wonders of God. He is saying look around you. The evidence is everywhere. There is nowhere to look that you cannot see the wonder of God. Without speaking a word they say more than can possibly be said about the wonders of the Lord.

And then he talks about the instructions and law of the Lord as being perfect, something that gives us new life, teachings that will last forever and give wisdom to ordinary people like us. God's instructions make our hearts glad. His commands give us light. Trusting in God's will, his decisions, his judgments is a good thing. They are right. They are correct. They are fair. They are worth more than gold. They are worth more than money and they are worth more than the best of foods. God's teachings warn us and by obeying them we are greatly rewarded.

And then Solomon says the lifestyle of good people is like a sunrise. It grows in brightness and gets brighter and brighter and more beautiful until it is full noon and it is full light. Whereas the lifestyle of the wicked is like total darkness and they don’t even know what makes them fall down.

So we’ve been given a roadmap and all we have to do is ask ourselves what the shape of our lives is. Is it murky? Is it dark? Are you tripping up? Don’t know where you're going? Or is life like a sunrise, like it is getting brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter? And as we contemplate that, well then we realize the road we are walking.

And here we are once again at a crossroads. The Bible continues to constantly bring us to the fork in the road and gives us a clear choice. It's a clear a path to what is right and it is a clear path to what is not in all of our choices. It's a matter of what do we want most? If we want the things that have kind of brought us darkness and have tripped us up but they have a lot of pleasure in them or for whatever reason, well then we can’t turn around and blame God for putting us in the dark because we came to a crossroads and we chose the dark, not God. He's not doing it. He didn’t do it. He's back at the crossroads saying, ‘You can come back. You can return to this point and choose a different road.’ But most of the time choosing correctly, because we get to these crossroads and we’re like, ‘I don’t know’ and we just kind of go with it, not necessarily choosing darkness on purpose, but this is life. This requires vigilance. This requires awareness. It actually requires participation. We have to be actively involved in our lives, choosing carefully the way that we’re going, knowing that everything that we do is a choice that goes somewhere and choosing wisely rather than trying to make the choice after we’ve already made the choice by the actions of our lives.

Prayer

Father, we need you. We need you in this. Well up within us, Holy Spirit, and show us where we are and where we’re going. We in our own hearts at this time echo the words that were spoken in song so long ago by King David. Let the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you, Lord because you are the rock, the mighty rock, and our protector. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base. It's the website for Daily Audio Bible and it is where you find out what is going on around here, resources that are available in the Shop, events like the More Gathering for Women that is coming up here in April that you can check out, the Prayer Wall is there where people are posting and responding all the time, so be sure to check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we share to build community around the rhythm of the scriptures every day, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the home page. You can find it also in the app if you push the More button that is on the home page of the app, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, of course, if you have a prayer request or comment, we are a community here. (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

Good morning DAB family. This is Shirley in Southeastern Washington. Just finished listening to the DAB. This is January 17th. Brian and Jill, once again just want to say to Brian and his family, I'm praying for you at this time as you mourn the loss of your mom. I know exactly what you’re feeling so I'm praying for you. Also wanted to say welcome to the family, Amanda. Just became our sister in the family of Christ December 27, 2016. Amanda, just know that we’re praying for you and just know that you don’t have to carry this by yourself. We are here. We are listening. God is listening and he helps us through each and every struggle that we go through because he knows exactly what we’re going through. So just know we’re praying for you and we’re so happy that you’ve become one of us in the family of God. Just know that we love you and we’re praying for you. God bless everybody. Have a good day. Bye.

Hi, this is Sonya from Ontario, Canada. I just wanted to send a message to Brian. Dear Brian, I'm a six year listener and I’ve never called in before, but today I'm calling in to you because you have become a friend and inspiration to my life. You’ve encouraged me to strengthen my relationship with God. I'm so sorry to hear that your mother has passed and my prayers are with you and your family. Please remember that you are a product of every laugh she shared with you, every tear she shed for you, and every piece of wisdom that she passed on to you. That has made you the beautiful child of God that you are. You are sharing the word of the Lord to all who have ears. You have created a community of people who love and support each other in God's name. Her love made you who you are. Your mother is free of suffering and is smiling with pride and joy and dwells in the warm embrace of Jesus. Brian, to you and your family, I pray that God keeps you and blesses you for always and eternity because you have touched millions of people's lives. Millions. And I love the DAB. Thank you.

This is Judy from Florida. I have a message for Amanda who is dealing with unforgiveness. Honey, you can’t forgive out of feeling. It has to be an act of your will. In other words, no matter what you are feeling, you act nice and keep your mind on positive things. This is very hard in the beginning, but if you will continue, one day life will be a whole new ballgame. When I went through this, I used to have so much trouble thinking of positive things that one day I sat down and made a list of positive things to think about, songs to sing or scriptures to quote. When my mind was giving me a fit about unforgiveness, I would get my list and on purpose begin to get my mind off the negative and on to the positive. Eventually the unforgiving feelings began to leave and life was good again. I'm praying for all of you, especially Brian and his family during this time of grief. Goodbye.

Hi, I'm __________ Flower, __________. I’ve been listening for about over a year now. __________ the Hardin family __________ the death of his mother. I call on behalf of my husband. He has chronic pain. He has been in pain for at least six years now. He's always also had problems with insomnia and it's getting worse and he's getting depressed. And yet he still goes to work to support us. He really needs help. He is not a believer yet, so __________ for God to save him. Won’t you please? I don’t know what God's will is. He is good and I trust him but it is hard to see my husband suffer. Please pray for him. Thank you so much.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Dorothy from Destin and I wanted to thank Lisa and Christy for praying for me. I still have the shingles, but I’ve had a lot of time to think and pray while I’ve been laid up with this. Brian, I am so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. I got to speak to my mom today and she is a nursing home and she really doesn’t remember very much, but I did get to speak to her and she asked me if she could live with me again. I know that is impossible, but one thing I was able to do was just tell her about my back porch and that I have a special place for her here and I told her how lovely it would be and explained to her about the flowers in my backyard and the roses and hydrangeas and I just knew from that moment it made my mom feel so much better. So I just thank God for that. And I thank God for all of you because every time I listen to you all, it makes me feel so much better. So God bless you all and have a wonderful day. Thank you again. Love you all. Bye-bye.

Hello family. My name is Kimberly. I live in Albany, NY and I’ve been a member of the Daily Audio Bible since 2011. I’ve called twice only and both times for my brother, both times for issues with his lungs. He has emphysema and he had a scare for two months and both times you guys prayed and both times he's doing okay. But today I'm calling for myself. Today I had a CAT scan as well on my lungs and it came back abnormal. Now I'm not really positive what that means, but I have to go see a pulmonologist and in my family, my mother, my father, my brother, both my grandparents have passed away from lung cancers which is why I get regular CT scans every year, and so I'm just a tad nervous. I really don’t want to carry this myself. I would like for you guys please to pray for me for my lungs and for health. I just appreciate you all so much. Thank you.

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