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Daily Transcripts
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08/07/2015
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Ezra 4:24-6:22 ~ 1 Corinthians 3:5-23 ~ Psalm 29:1-11 ~ Proverbs 20:26-27
Today is the 7th of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and I'm just working on a little bit of a jet lag thing, believe it or not, because we’ve been out in the Pacific time zone which is 2 hours different. It is not that big of a deal, it is just like the day starts later back in Tennessee when it feels like it is still starting earlier. It is sort of weird. You look at the clock and you're like, ‘where's the day gone? It is just beginning.’ It's not international travel where you're like ‘where am I? I know it is just 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but I'm going to bed. Goodnight everybody.’ It’s just enough to throw you off a little bit, so I'm thrown off a little bit. Let's see what happens with that.
We’re reading from the Modern English Version this week and we’re in this wonderful book of Ezra today.
Commentary:
It's interesting because Paul is diving into church unity right here at the beginning of the church. The message of Jesus and his life is becoming apparent and people are flocking to it, examining it, checking it out and becoming a part of this movement that is taking place. Paul is saying, “yeah, the thing is this isn’t a cult of personality that we’ve got going here. It is not going to work if you guys over there are saying ‘well, I go to the church of Apollos’ and you over here are like, ‘I go to the church of Paul’ and you guys over there, you go ‘I'm going to the church of Peter.’”
It would be pretty easy for us to do that denominationally now. “I go to this church.” “I go to that church.” “He goes to that church.” With the superiority that comes with it, we are right. “I go to the correct church. Everyone else doesn’t go to the correct church.”
Paul is like, “Look, this isn’t meant to be a theological dividing ground. There is one foundation and one foundation only and that foundation is Jesus Christ. Really, there is no other foundation to build on. This is the only foundation there is, so build on this foundation as you get to know this Jesus and are led by the power of his Holy Spirit.”
Paul says, “If anyone's work which he has built on the foundation is enduring, then he’ll receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer the loss of that. If it is gold, if it is silver, if it is precious, it will go through the fire. It will stand. If it is wood or hay or stubble, it will burn away, but the person himself, he’ll be saved, still going through the fire. Don’t you understand that the Spirit of God is now within you? You're not going to be cast away. Don’t spend your lives trying to align yourself with something so that you can get an identity from it when there is only one foundation by which you can get your identity. You are the temple of God.”
Paul is writing from a place where the temple in Jerusalem, the one that we just see being rebuilt in Ezra again because it has been destroyed, we’re far into the future now and it has been built again and it has been destroyed again and there is no temple of God in Jerusalem as Paul writes this, Paul is saying that is not the important thing right now. The important thing is that you understand that there is a foundation and that foundation is Jesus and you have the Spirit of God within you because of Jesus. You have become the temple of God and the temple of God is holy and you are that temple. That temple can’t be built on Peter. That temple can’t be built on Paul. That temple can’t be built on Apollos. It is only because of the foundation of Jesus Christ that we are here, so let's get this straight.
Paul is speaking to the Corinthians, “Don’t rely on your own wisdom. Don’t think you're wise. Don’t think you know all that you think you know. Become a fool that you may become wise. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, so don’t boast on how close you think you align yourself to the beliefs of somebody else.”
“Everything is ours. Everything is yours,” Paul says, “whether of Paul or Apollos or Cephus or the world or life or death or things that are present now or things that are out in the future. Everything is yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's.”
We flew back 1000 years to the wisdom of Solomon in the proverbs and it encapsulates all of this. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the heart.” This is where God is looking, not based upon what we think we know, not based upon the image we can portray, but what is real and what is true.
This certainly, most certainly has application today because the church has been trying to unify itself in its own strength for a long, long time. You don’t really find a lot of believers that are like, ‘no, I want the disunity. As much as possible, I want the diversity and disunity. I like the constant battle and struggle.’
We want the unity, but we forget that there is but one foundation and we much each build upon that foundation. That can only be done by the Spirit of God. That can’t be done with an agenda. That can only be done by the Spirit of Christ within us. It can’t be done by our overwhelming desire just to be right. It can’t be done with us building upon that foundation while doing everything we can to tear down someone else's building. Paul says there is a day and everything will be tested by fire and what is precious will stand and what is hay or wood or stubble will be burned away. God will look upon our hearts.
So may we once again and continually daily walk humbly with one another, walk kindly and gently with one another, having grace for one another, the grace that was extended to us through Christ who is the foundation by which we are even here. This is not to say that we don’t converse, that we don’t debate, that we don’t wrestle. That has always been a part of the church. That has always been a part of the culture by which the Bible came to us, but when we lose sight of the fact that our battle is not with flesh and blood, it is beyond that, and we turn our focus on to fighting with each other, debating with each other, trying really to assassinate each other in lots of big and small ways, we’ve lost sight. May we walk humbly with one another.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite you to come, examine our hearts, look upon our hearts. We welcome your Holy Spirit. We need your Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, into our lives, into our hearts, touching our thoughts and words and deeds, the things that we do and the things we leave undone. Examine these things. Reconcile these things. Sanctify our lives. We need you more desperately now than ever and as each day passes we need you more and more as you burn away our wisdom, the things that we think that we know in favor of instituting your glory and your eternal wisdom in our lives. It comes down to the fact that in the end it all burns away and we have nothing of our own left. Only what you have given us and you have given us grace and mercy bountifully and we love you for that. We ask for more that we might extend it to those all around us. Come Holy Spirit, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Announcements:
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base. It’s where you find out what's going on around here and what's going on around here is, like I said, just getting back into the saddle. Thank you to everyone who was in any way a part of our journey out West. Thank you for the hospitality, for the kindness, for the friendship. We love you all and are most grateful.
So I’ve been talking about Reframe. Well, I’ve been talking about Reframe all year because that has been kind of our guiding word for the year, but I’ve been talking about the Reframe book for the last week because it has become available finally for pre-order. The book itself releases October 1st, but we are certainly doing everything that we can to allow you to get started in that now. If you go to www.ReframeBook.com you’ll get more information there.
I'm looking forward to bringing the Reframe message in a week to the Heartbeat of Plymouth at the Penn Theatre in Plymouth, MI. That will take place on the 15th and 16th of August. You can go to www.HeartbeatofPlymouth.com for more information if you are in the area. Love to see you.
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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.
That's it for today. I'm Brian. I love you. I'll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Yeah, hello fellow Dabbers. Marcello here from Brisbane, Australia. Long time listener. Listen, I just heard Alex’ call and my heart just moved with joy for you, Alex. I think it is great that you're searching, that you're looking. I just want to encourage you. I just want to encourage you to keep searching. It does require you to have an open heart, though. So I ask you to have an open heart. Whatever your misconceptions or whatever you have learned to this point, forget about that and start afresh. If you ask God to show himself, just ask Jesus ‘if you’re real, show yourself to me,’ and if you do that sincerely, I can guarantee you he will, undoubtedly. So I just want to encourage you to hang in there. Just keep searching. Search the scriptures and you will see that God will show you how real he is in your life. Well, all the best. Thanks for calling. I would like you to please continue to call in, Alex, and any developments in your search, please encourage us all with your call. Alright, bye-bye now.
Hi, this is __________ from the Philippines. I would like to reach out to Alex who says he is agnostic but that he has __________ about God. First of all, thank you for calling and keep the desire burning. Keep the desire to learn about God. You can learn about him through the DAB listening daily and also through reading books, especially by people who are searching for God, like you. I think Lee Strobel may have a good book to read and aside from that, knowing God is important, but having a loving relationship with him is more important. We know our wives, we know who she is, what she likes, what she doesn’t like, but we go beyond that. We care for her. We love her. We’re unselfish and we serve our wives. We __________ initially and I guess __________ knowing God is important, of course, but having a loving relationship with him is more important. I hope that will be __________ as well. That's it. Continue listening to the DAB. Be active if you can. Call if you like it and know that you will be in my prayers. I’ll be keeping you in my prayers, you and your family. __________.
Hi, this is Debbie in Alaska. I'm a first-time caller, but I’ve been listening for about 3 years. Most days Brian gives us the opportunity to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. I heard that day after day and didn’t really pay much attention to it. I just assumed it had to do with being part of the community. One day I really listened to it and it dawned on me that it was a way to financially support the Daily Audio Bible community. At that point I purposed to go click the button in the upper right-hand corner. It took me quite some time to actually sit down at my computer because I'm pretty busy. I finally took the time to partner with Daily Audio Bible. I encourage you to do the same thing. If you have an extra $20, $30 or $40 per month, consider partnering with Brian and this community. It means a lot to me and I enjoy listening and it is my privilege to be able to partner with the Daily Audio Bible. Thank you.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Greg from Fallbrook, CA. Calling in today for a praise report. Last week I called requesting a prayer for my daughter Lauren who was having surgery on a lump in her breast. We were concerned that it might be cancerous. Called and asked for your prayers. She got the results yesterday and they said that it was fibrous. It's noncancerous. There is no cancer in her body. Praise God on that. God is the ultimate healer. And for all the Daily Audio Bible family and their loved ones, I want to ask the Lord to lift up their family members, anybody who is sick, needs healing, that the Lord can heal them. Thank you very much. Love you guys.
Hi family. This is Elsa from Houston. It's been a little over 6 months or so since I’ve called, but I wanted to reach out and ask for prayer. A team from my church and my husband are going on a missions trip and they left yesterday to Tamale, Ghana for a kids camp and wanted to see if you all would pray this prayer with me. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the open door to preach the gospel in Tamale, Ghana and for this group that will abound for your glory. We thank you that you have called and chosen this group of believers who heard your call and answered your commission. Please cover Pastor Mike, Nick, Cory, Renee, Letty, and Hannah and all of the staff of Pastor John __________ church and the Ghanain people with your precious blood. May they be in divine alignment with your will, Father. Please hide them under the shadow of the Almighty from evil or sickness that would try to thwart your plans and purposes. Thank you that everywhere they walk they will be spreading the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ as their lights shine for all to see. Please clothe them in your abundant grace, a robe of righteousness and a garment of salvation shining in your light and thank you that their feet are blessed for blessed are the feet of those who bring good news. Please surround them with guardian, ministering and warring angels to protect them in all they do and to deliver heaven's plans and purposes for this specific time. We ask you this in your Mighty Name, amen. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Hey, good evening Daily Audio Bible family. This is Vivian in Des Moines. Just calling. I was just watching the Global Bible Read. It was John 2 and John 3 that came out. It is totally amazing. It was so neat to see Brian and Zekey in the John chapter 2 version. But if you haven’t done this, you absolutely have got to do this. You can do retakes. You can view yourself or you can edit before you submit it. So if you're nervous about doing it, it doesn’t matter. You can retake it and retake it and retake it until you get a version that you like. So I just greatly exhort you. If you have not read, you have got to go out there and read. I'm also seeing a lot of United States and love seeing my brothers and sisters in the United States, but I would really like to see more of my brothers and sisters around the world. Love to see your faces and hear your voices. Anyway, I gotta go to sleep now. It's getting late for me. You guys have a good evening. Bye.
Hey fellow Dabbers. This is Joe the police officer from Georgia here. It's July 31 at 12:48 in morning, I guess you can call it. Late at night. Not midday. So anyhow, been struggling, just daily stuff, letting things get to me from time to time, such as family issues and all this stuff. But anyhow, I was driving around just a moment ago and had a guy stop me needing directions. He was from Ohio. A guy named James. He was coming down here to a resort here where I live and where I patrol. Anyhow, after me giving him directions, he thanked me and blessed me. I just wanted to call in and say what a blessing that is and how energized and motivated that made me feel. Dabbers, we just need to bless people whenever we have the opportunity to. Just tell people ‘bless you.’ ‘Have a nice day’ and ‘God bless you.’ You know, that could make their day and it could change their whole outlook of what is going on. This guy has been driving all day from Ohio, he told me, so even with his attitude of having to be sitting in the car all day and he had some issues with somebody having a blowout and slightly hitting his vehicle and tearing not the vehicle up but messing some internal features up, and he still had a good attitude and blessed me. So…
Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Heather from North Carolina. I'm calling for prayer. I don’t even know where to begin. My husband just recently left us, me and 2 kids. Today's reading of Romans 14 and Brian's commentary have really, really hit home. I struggle with such fear and doubt and unbelief. That is a large part of our separation, my husband and my separation right now. Today's reading on Romans 14 just…it is the story of my life. I’ve been a Christian most of my life, or so I thought. But I’ve always struggled with fear and doubt and unbelief to no end and it has interfered with so much in my life. Obviously, my husband, with him leaving, right now he's not walking with the Lord and I'm sure a lot of what I tried to superimpose on our relationship has to do with that. Please just pray that God would resurrect our marriage. I'm learning nothing is impossible with him. I'm praying and hoping that he has us apart to do a mighty work in both our lives, that he will…
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Tamarie 08/06/2015 23:28 |
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